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thE-Steeple
Pastor’s Page
Happy New Year
It can be so confusing when we talk of the New Year. The calendar tells us the New Year begins on January 1st, while the church says the New Year be-gins on the 1st Sunday of Advent. Of course New Year is different again for those in school… so many chances at a new beginning it can be hard to keep track. De-spite the church calendar saying New Year’s begins in late November, I think we should start something new right now.
As you may know one of my tasks as interim minister is to help prepare for whoever comes next. In essence my role is to help you begin again new, and say goodbye to the old. To help figure out what needs to start new again it is nec-essary to review what is done today, and then work together to tweak what must be tweaked, but more importantly lift up and celebrate all that works great. In virtually every church what works great and is worthy of celebration far out-weighs what needs to be tweaked. Williston Federated Church is no different.
To assist me on this journey I have begun a 2 step process. The first I outlined to the Official Board in December. Namely I have asked each commit-tee to document what they do. Specifically I have asked that each committee prepare a standard operating procedure if you will that outlines the who, what, where, when, why and how of their responsibilities. For example what is the procedure for managing the weekly offering: Who is responsible for the offering, when and who counts it, where is it counted, and how is the deposit made? Who updates the records, how are they updated and finally why do you do it this way? By collecting this information for each and every task undertaken at the church, a guidebook of standard operating procedures can be established which will al-low your new minister as well as future staff, committee and board members to hit the ground running. No longer will significant time have to be taken to figure things out, i.e. the approximately 15-20% of my and Sal’s time each week trying to figure out things that are done, but where there is no documentation to sup-port these tasks. It is my hope to have this information from committee’s by the end of February.
The second task involves you. Beginning this month I would like to sit down and talk to you. It can be in groups or 1:1. Specifically I want to hear from you what you love about Williston Federated Church, what is missing and what you think needs to be improved. This information will help both myself and the search committee focus on the strengths of the church and call the right person; ideally someone who can help lift up those areas not quite functioning where you want them to be.
By all of us working together we can make the New Year even better than the last and position Williston Federated Church for only good things in the months and years ahead. I do hope you will join me with this exercise.
In Christ’s Peace, Rev. Randy
Inside this issue: Pastor’s Page Communion Mission Committee Message Official Board Meeting Book Club January January from Karen Allen Offering Envelopes Men’s Breakfast Kingdom Dreams Thank You Church Family Church Directory Dismas Centering Prayer Labyrinth Memorial Tree Lighting Calendar Enjoy Christmas Photo’s More Photo’s
Williston Federated Church
United Methodist Church and United Church of Christ – Federated 1899
An Open and Affirming, Reconciling Congregation
Mission Statement ~ Our church is a community which seeks, welcomes and gathers people to share the Gospel of
God’s love, enables people to find fullness of life through Jesus Christ,
goes into the world to live lovingly and justly as servants of Christ, and
responds actively to human need.
January, 2016
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JANUARY 2016
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Communion
Since my arrival here at
Williston Federated Church
questions have arisen about
how we serve communion.
It is my understanding that
in the past intinction was
used during the summer
months and serving people
in their seats during the
winter months.
As you have noticed, after
discussion with the
Music and Worship Committee, I have switched us over to intinction only. This has
people wondering how safe and sanitary that method is during cold and flu season.
Let me assure you, it is.
A number of years ago a study was conducted by the Anglican/Episcopal church. The
results of that study showed that intinction was the safest way to share communion.
Specifically the safest way is when individuals break off a piece of bread themselves, or
take a host, and dip it themselves into the juice. The fact they use wine had no bearing
on the findings as they also provide a non-alcoholic option.
The reason why this is safer is because the recipient of communion is the only one
touching the elements they consume. When serving people at their seats, a number of
hands are involved in handling the juice cups. People touch them to get them ready,
when filling them and possibly when handing them out. Multiple hands versus none;
quite the difference. We did confirm these findings with health professionals in our
congregation and they concur that intinction is the safest overall.
So rest assured, you are safe in our method of celebrating and sharing the table. To
help reinforce this we will continually remind our acolytes and servers to use hand
sanitizer before holding a chalice or the bread in a napkin, and to let you break off your
own piece of bread. I hope this alleviates any concerns you may have had.
In Christ’s Peace,
Rev. Randy
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Happy Holidays WFC Book Club! Thank you Shirley for hosting the small group in
December.
The book for January is 'Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project'
by Jack Mayer. A compelling story of love and courage in the
midst of fear and confusion. Life in a Jar is a project that be-
gan in the fall of 1999. Four rural Kansas students discovered the
story of a Polish Catholic woman who saved Jewish children
from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.
In case you still need the book, there are three copies at the
Dorothy Alling Library. We will meet in the Fellowship Hall for
our
Pot Luck and book review on January 27th at 5:30pm.
OFFICIAL BOARD MEETING
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A Message from The Mission committee ~
Thank you WFC members for all your generosity
this holiday season!
Together we supported:
*21 families with Thanksgiving baskets;
*100 gifts to children in Williston and
St. George;
*Christmas offering to UCC Emergency Fund,
VT Refugee Resettlement, Camp Agape
* Alternative Gift Shop provided a unique
gift to friends and families – support given to
many local, national and international charities.
Thank you for all your help to make this a brighter holiday season for those in need.
Come and join us at our Official Board meeting .
On January 12 , 2016 the Official Board Meeting will be held at 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall . All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
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Offering Envelopes The 2016 offering envelopes are now available,
they are on the table going into the Fellowship Hall.
Each box shows the name of the offerer, please pick up your box.
If anyone who did not receive a box would like one, please
contact Barbara Bristol at 863-5807.
January Events from Karen Allen The following is the Education's
contribution to January’s news.
We are having a fellowship "dinner"
or outdoor picnic on January 17.
If it is bad weather I think we will
want to play games in the
fellowship hall.
Thank you to all the talented and
wonderful kids (and a few
"older" kids) that made our
pageant a success. Many thanks to Bruce Allen for all his work organizing and directing again
this year. It was a wonderful message. Thank you to all the parents who helped.
I don't have the exact results of the cookie/cake/brownie mix collection for the foodshelf, but chocolate chip cookies were the big winner. For January, let's see what our favorite pastas and sauces are. I love shells and Davis loves bowties. Bring in your favorites and we'll put them on our graph.
We will have a couple of new teachers for the winter term. Mary Lou Rodes will be teaching the younger elementary group and Bruce Allen will be teaching the middle elementary group. Sandy Connolly will continue teaching the older group. Thank you so much for the dedication to our children. (We won't tell anyone that you are doing it because it is so much fun!)
The Education Committee will be meeting on Tuesday
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Men’s Breakfast Notice: The men of the church meet on the
fourth Wednesday morning each month with breakfast served at
7:00 am.
If there is anyone who would like to help prepare the breakfast,
you should come at 6:30 am. Hope to see everyone there.
Ken Stone
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Kingdom Dreams, Violent Realities
As follow up to the
December 13
interfaith prayer
and remembrance
vigil, we are
inspired to begin a
“sacred
conversation on
guns and the
common
good.” There is
a 3-session Bible study reflecting on Gun Violence from Micah 4: 1-4, published by the
United Methodist Church and supported by the Resolutions to Reduce Gun
Violence, 2008 Social Principles of the UMC. This Bible study also reflects the 2013
VT Conference United Church of Christ Resolution to Reduce Gun Violence.
Speak to Charlie or Ruth Magill about days and time to schedule the study and receive
copies of the above statements.
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Dear Church Family ….Thank you so much for the wonderful gifts! We appreciate the thoughtfulness and generosity that went into providing them. We look forward to enjoying another year together. Blessings, Carolyn, Ashley, Michelle, Cindy, Martin, Charlie, Karen, Mark, Randy and Sally.
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Directory Update:
The Membership committee is ready to push the 'print' button for the 2016 Directory. Many of us now prefer our cell phones for com-munication. If you would like to share those numbers for the Church Directory, please call or send a note to the office. 878-5792 or [email protected].
Dismas Coordinators needed for the rest of the year
The third Tuesday of each month, our church takes and shares a meal at the Burlington Dismas House. This is a half-way house for nonviolent criminals working on reconciling with our society. These dinners feed about 12 people. The coordinator will work with other church members and friends to prepare, deliver and share the meal. This dinner is served at 6 PM. If you can coordinate the meals for this winter, sign up on the bulletin board. Many thanks to all who have helped in the past—your support is appreciated. Contact Vickie Walker at 497-0017 or [email protected] or Polly Malik at 879-6968 or [email protected] if you have any questions.
Centering Prayer Silent Prayer and Bible Reflection The Thursday morning group encounters moments of clearer understanding of the
faith journey, moments of learning and moments of spiritual connections. This group meets from 8am-9am. The group begins with 20 minutes of silence, followed by a sharing of re-sponses to a few Bible verses. The method, called Centering Prayer, will be practiced by some in the group, others will practice whatever form of silent prayer or meditation they choose. Information about Centering Prayer is available. Anyone is welcome to come once a month, once a year, or once. If you would like to join the group and are not on the email list, please contact Donna Fellin-ger - [email protected] 802-355-1700.
Walk, Pray, Sing, Meditate, Reflect -- Find peace and reflect at our front lawn laby-rinth. Labyrinths are ancient spiritual pathways found across the world and embraced in Medieval times and since as a support for prayer. The large center stone serves as a place to sit and reflect; or sit on the bench which is placed in a spot so you can observe our beautiful steeple. The labyrinth is a way of slowing down … of being thought-ful … of spending time with God.
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A MONTAGE OF OUR CHRISTMAS PAGEANT
