December 2007
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! Sunday, December 2nd marks the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of a new liturgical year in the church.
Advent, which means “coming,” is the period of preparation for the birth of Christ which begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends at Christmas. The liturgical color is purple. The color purple symbolizes the royalty of Christ, Christ’s reign of our hearts. It is also the color of penitence. In the early church, the Advent season was a time of fasting and reflection; a time to reorder one’s life toward greater harmony with God. Advent is meant to be a sacred, holy and quiet time.
Yet most of our associations in preparing for Christmas are secular: buying gifts, sending cards, decorating our homes. These traditions can be sacred and special in their own way, depending on our intention and state of mind. If we find ourselves in a state of stress about pleasing others, or creating the perfect Christmas for our families, we may want to step back and remember what it is that we are celebrating at Christmas.
The season of Advent invites us to slow down, to create time for reflection on the meaning of Christ’s birth. Our readiness for Christ is about making room in our hearts for something new to unfold in our lives, something unexpected, that only God can create.
The United Church of Christ offers an easy way to help us to reflect on the meaning of Advent. For those of you with email access, you may go to the web site: http://www.uccvitality.org/generosity/get-our-daily-advent-devotional-by-email.html to sign-up and receive a daily devotional for Advent. If you do not have email, there are many books available that have daily readings for the Advent season. One of my favorites is, Watch for the Light – Readings for Advent and Christmas, a collection of reflections by famous spiritual writers published by Plough Publishing House.
Our consumer culture can make the holidays feel like a pressure cooker. When we notice ourselves feeling stressed and overwhelmed, we can stop, breathe, and hear the voice that says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
May we each experience the peace of Christ this Advent and Christmas season.
In expectation and hope,
Patrice
2007 Advent and Christmas Season
at Sanbornton Congregational Church, United
December 2 – First Sunday of Advent. Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. with Communion;
Reception of new members
December 5 – Book Discussion of “Let Your Life Speak” by Parker Palmer at 6:30 p.m.
December 6 – Spirituality Group meets in the undercroft, 5-6 p.m. All are welcome.
December 9 – Second Sunday of Advent. Worship Service at 10:00 a.m.
December
16 – Third Sunday of Advent. The choir will perform special music during
the worship service at 10:00 a.m. They will perform Herbert Sumsion’s “The Holy Birth” for
choir and organ.
December 19 – “Blue Christmas” Worship Service Remembering Those We
Miss at Christmas, 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
December 23 – Fourth Sunday of Advent. “Angel Sightings” service at
10:00 a.m. All are welcome to dress up as or bring their favorite angel to the
service!
December
24 – Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols, at 7:00 p.m.
December 30 – First Sunday after Christmas. Family Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. No church school or child care. The Sacrament of Baptism will be celebrated.
Please join us as we celebrate and anticipate the coming of God's light and love into the world. We look forward to sharing this very special time with you.
A Note from the Pastor – The holidays can be especially difficult for those of us who have suffered significant losses of loved ones over recent years. If you are having difficulty coping or would just like to talk to someone, please do not hesitate to call me for a pastoral visit. Also, please note that a special service is being offered this year, a “Blue Christmas” service that provides a time to remember those whom we miss at Christmas. This service will be held on Wednesday, December 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. If you would like to participate through offering music or a reading, please let me know. Thank you, Patrice.
Free Pilgrim Hymnal
If you are interested in a copy of the PILGRIM HYMNAL for your music library pick one up in the undercroft. Some have been kept for historical purposes and for possible use as needed. We are out of storage space and so are discarding these. Help yourself!
IRS Rule
To count as a deduction for 2007 taxes, donations must be received
by the Financial Secretary or the Treasurer before
Musings from the Moderator
As I type
up this message, I suddenly realized there are only 61 days until the Annual
Meeting!
This being
the Dec.- Jan. Belfry, I wanted to be sure and remind
you to put this date, January 27th , on your
‘2008' calendar ! But I realize there are many other upcoming events that are
on our minds. Not the least of which is preparing for that remarkable day in
the Church calendar. The day our Savior was born. Let us prepare our hearts and
minds - and spirits, for the celebration of that beautiful day. But, returning
to that 61 day comment, this will serve as another ‘friendly’ prodding to all
the Committee chairs to get their annual reports - Ready for Phil by Dec. 31st
-
.Enough said (‘til our next Council meeting’)!!!
Another
item from my Musings last month. That relates to the Conference Mission
Trip with the Back Bay Mission in
We are all
aware of the importance of the Stewardship program currently winding down. At
last check on Sunday, Nov. 25th, we had reached the 82 % of goal figure! Many, many thanks to all who have entered into this facet of our
‘stewardship’ of faith. We still have a ways to go, and I am praying
that long before our Annual Meeting, we will have collectively committed our
Church community to the financial target our committees felt were necessary to
continue to move forward into our ‘Vision’ for 2008. This is also the time for
the ‘stewardship of talents’, when we recognize our minutes and hours are also
a gift from God. According to the Nominating Committee, they have filled all
the Officer and Committee positions for the coming year. A
heartfelt thanks to all.
And
lastly, a special thanks to all of you who helped put together and help at our
‘year - end’ special events. These two seasonal fund raisers take a lot of
time, and preparation, to ‘bring it all together’. On behalf of all of the
Church family, your effort and accomplishments are truly appreciated.
Wishing
all of you a beautiful Advent and Christmas...
Annual Meeting
Reports for January 27th 2008
All committee reports are due on or before January 1st 2008.
If possible, please E-mail documents to
Use Microsoft Word.
Font type – Times New Roman.
Font size – 12 pt.
Those of you who don’t have a
computer, please give your reports to
Christian Education
The Committee is most appreciative of the anonymous donor
who provided funds for the purchase of a pager system for the church
school. The system, Parent Seekers, has
been purchased and will be put in service this month. Many churches around
Our Food Allergy Policy is being reviewed and updated, as it will be on an annual basis. It will now be posted in every classroom as we now have children in classes other than the Nursery who have allergies.
We are very proud of our children in Grades 3-8 who, as part of their Stewardship project, provided and served the meal for Bread & Roses recently. Parents of these children were more than happy to assist in this project and we are so thankful for their enthusiasm.
Grades 3-8 will be spearheading an all-church mission,
Pennies for Peace, to begin mid-December.
We will be implementing a few Family Sundays this term. There will be no
Our teachers for our second term, beginning December 2,
2007, will be:
Submitted by Karna Feltham on behalf of the
Christian Education Committee 12/07
The Green Team
On Wednesday November 14th, the Church Council made an historic decision to adopt the Peace
& Justice Committee's proposal to
GREEN OUR CHURCH. A "
personal and institutional lifestyle changes toward sustainability. It endeavors to connect spiritual
practice and environmental awareness (increase our moral footprint) and work towards environmental peace and justice. Printed copies of the Green Church Program will available in the back of the
sanctuary, soon.
Our church's GREEN TEAM consists of P. & J. committee members Fred Ficken and Susan working
with Elizabeth & Richard on SETTING UP the RECYCLING PROGRAM, Cheryl Elliott, Marty Merry, & Lee Hart working on continuous education, Karna Feltham, representing the Christian
Education Committee, and
STATUS and give notice of & review of the events we plan around the themes of Environment and
and Sustainability. We are hoping a member of the Trustee Board will serve on the GREEN TEAM,
also, as the Trustees will be inevitably involved with many of our activities. We plan to do our work by specific assignments, & communicate mostly by email and phone. Interested? We would
welcome you to join us.
Lee Hart for the PEACE & JUSTICE COMM.
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE HISTORY By Milly Shaw, Historian
------Doug Embree has played
the organ for Christmas Eve Services since 1978...29 years!!
------The Christmas Eve Service was started in 1950 when
Rev. Edward Ernst was our minister with Christmas Caroling ,
12/24/50 on the Sunday evening. Catharine Currier was organist from 1918
to1971 and played the electrical/reed organ which had been purchased in
1949. No records show of a Christmas Eve Service in 1951-1953; however in
1954 Rev. William Keech was our minister and the
Christmas Eve Service was resumed by him and has been held ever since.
The Women's
------The Estey organ pipe organ was installed in 1968. The nativity scene tradition was established in 1974 during the pastorate of Rev. Richard Crooks. Jennifer LeBel was the first baby Jesus with her parents playing Mary and Joseph. (Editor note: watch for Jennifer in the role of Mary this Christmas Eve.)
------From the early '70's the opening of the service began with a solo voice singing "Once in Royal David's City". Mary Lou Crooks was the organist when that tradition was begun. Doug Embree became organist when the Crooks left.
------The annual report for 1983 reads from the Deacons "deepest thanks to Kay Stewart and Mr. and Mrs. Peter Merrill for the creche, a work of art to be treasured for many years by children and adults together."
------Until recent years few Protestant churches held Christmas Eve service and so people from the surrounding area attended ours. Now, virtually all churches hold services. Our church has been a pioneer in this.
Seeds of Stewardship
Praise the Lord! God is good! You, the members and friends of the Sanbornton Congregational Church, United Church of Christ are answering the call! You have taken a big leap of faith by helping to increase pledging to the church for 2008 by 10%. That will go a long way toward making our church self-sustaining – one of the goals set forth nearly three years ago for out Vision 2008.
As of this writing we have reached 82% of our goal. It is you who are making our community of God so vital through your faith, your gifts of money and the many talents you share every day.
If you have misplaced the pledge form that was mailed to you
a few weeks ago, just ask for another or jot your pledge on a piece of paper
and send it to Rea Alkema,
Please look at the poster in the undercroft to see how we are climbing up the “Generous Tree.” We are almost there. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to announce at the annual meeting in January that we have reached the top?! Then we can continue to rejoice and thank God again for “providing the seeds for you to sow …” and remembering that “God will swell the harvest of your benevolence and you will always be rich enough to be generous.” (II Corinthians 9: 10-11)
Shirley Powers and Lee Hart for the Stewardship Committee
Missions Committee
It is the season for Peace on
Earth, Good Will to all Men. While the
reality may be vastly different, it is in our faith that we are encouraged that
this may someway come true. It is by our
loving and generous hands reaching out to help others that we put our faith
into action.
Many thanks to all the folks who
brought in warm clothing to be donated to the Shea
Farm – a halfway house for women in
Our Annual Mitten Tree is a
wonderful tradition in our church.
Beginning on Sunday, December 2nd, we will be collecting
mittens, gloves, hats, and scarves for the Tilton-Northfield-Sanbornton Santa
Fund. Because of the distribution schedule, we have to turn everything in on
December 12th. We hope you’ll
be generous once again.
Last month our Sunday School group joined Michelle Chapman in the Bread and Roses
Kitchen and did a wonderful job. The
guests at the Kitchen were so pleased and appreciative of all their hard
work. Thank you to everyone! On the other “front” of our Local Hunger
Relief, the First Fruits Food Pantry can really use our help. Food donations are down and the needs are
increasing so please remember that the donations you make on the first Sunday
of every month is greatly appreciated and will continue to buy much needed
foodstuffs to help the needy especially as the winter months come upon us.
After talking with the folks at
the homeless shelter and New Beginnings, we will be sending our hygiene kits to
them in January. So if you are able to
donate an extra bar of soap, toothpaste, or shampoo that would be a tremendous
help. Please just bring the items to
church any time that’s convenient for you and place in the basket in the
Narthex.
We do
ask a lot of you – the clothes from your closet, the food from your pantry, and
your compassion gift of money to help those in need in our community and
beyond. With tremendous faith and
generosity you give. Please know in your
hearts how very much we appreciate all that you do to help us in the Mission
Committee reach out - Together we do make a positive difference.
Committee members:
Thanks For Helping!
Many thanks to all who helped with fundraising this year. We appreciate all the organizers, cooks, bakers, kitchen help, servers, dish washers, crafters, donors, table setters, decorators, sales people, distributors of flyers, sign posters, cashiers and all those who worked in many capacities to help reach our goal. Thanks to all who worked on the Brunt Family Singers Coffee House in February; the Ham Dinner and the Flea Market in June; the Golf Tournament in August, the Fall Feast in October, the Holiday Fair in November, the Shoppers’ Breakfast and Book Sale in December and Election Meals throughout the year. If we clear $500 from the Shoppers’ Breakfast, we shall have reached our goal. Why do we fundraise? A portion of our operating expenses and a large part of the funds we spend for outreach are dependent on fundraising. Without it we could not accomplish all the things we hope and wish to do. And without you we could not accomplish the fundraising. Thank you all again.
- Liz Merry and
From the Minister of
Music
The choirs are well into their preparation for Advent and Christmas; it is always a happy job for me to select the music we’ll sing in these seasons. There is so much wonderful music it is hard to select the few pieces which we’ll work on, and sing to the best of our abilities.
This Advent we’ll be singing two Messiah choruses: “And the Glory of the Lord” and a week later
“O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to
These pieces, old friends that they are, bring back memories. Kay Stewart sang the “Good Tidings” aria with us many times, and every time I hear the piece I can hear her voice as clearly as if she were in the room.
On the 16th, Advent III, we’ll sing “The Holy Birth” by Herbert Sumsion. It is a beautiful and inventive setting of familiar and not-so-familiar Christmas music, beautifully crafted, and delightful to sing and, I hope, to hear. Kaylah Barton has a solo.
On the 23rd, Advent IV, we’ll sing “The Blessed Son of God” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, from his cantata “Hodie”.
And on Christmas Eve, the familiar carols and descants, and an anthem or two. As Britten set in “Ceremony of Carols”, the 14th Century “Wolcom yole, wolcom alle and make good cheer. Wolcom alle another yere! Wolcom!
Dennis
“Deepening Our Roots”
A Sermon by Rev.
Isaiah 65:17-25
Sanbornton Congregational Church, UCC
November 18, 2007
The following sermon
was preached to celebrate our church’s heritage in commemoration of our
church’s 236th anniversary, November 13, 1771.
“For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)
Perhaps a day will come, when we feel no need to look back at what was, when everything is so right with the present that remembering history will be something we no longer feel is necessary or important. This seemed to be part of Isaiah’s vision anyway.
Until that time though, on certain occasions it seems
important to remember – the people, the experiences, the
history that has shaped us. Doug Embree thought so.
He was the one who approached me and said, “There have been so many
remarkable people in this church. We
should set time aside for lifting them up, remembering them. Maybe we can call it “Heritage Sunday.”” Doug should know – having served with us for
30 years as our organist extraordinaire.
He claims the Catholic Church as his spiritual heritage but will always
be an honorary member here. As one small
example of how much he cares about us, he delayed his plans to go out to
Inspired by Doug’s idea and example – today, we begin, what I hope will be an annual tradition at our church. That we, at the time of our church’s anniversary, November 13, 1771, take time to remember the “former things”; to lift up our spiritual ancestors, to celebrate our rich spiritual lineage.
So, I asked our historian, Milly Shaw (truly another inspiration and example to us all) – where she thought we might begin, who might we remember today?
She suggested two of our spiritual ancestors – who served together in this church around 1865-1870: Dr. James Buswell Abbott – known as the “beloved Physician,” and Rev. Moses Thurston Runnels, Jr. who served as pastor of this church from1865-1886 – the fourth pastor to serve in a 94 year time frame.
In remembering Dr. Abbott and Rev. Runnels, we get a sense of that particular time in history – what it was like here in Sanbornton, what was important to them, what kind of challenges they shared.
At that time –
Such were the conditions and the life of Sanbornton during Abbott’s and Runnels’ time.
We know a good something of Dr. Abbott’s life because of the beautiful eulogy Rev. Runnels wrote on the occasion of Abbot’s funeral service on July 8, 1870.
Yet they shared more than just the desire to serve this church.
Both men had a very deep sense of where they came from and a pride in their family and historical roots
Abbott’s family lineage went back to the first
Puritans. Born in 1799, James Abbott was
a descendant in the 6th generation of George Abbot – a Puritan who
moved from
As Runnels writes in his eulogy of Dr. Abbott –
“Puritan Congregationalists…feared God but not man…most of
them subjected to the severe hardships of frontier life….these were the
influencers under which James Abbott was born and nurtured and from which he
never swerved.” (A Sermon preached by Rev. Moses T. Runnels, at the funeral of Dea. James B. Abbott, M.D. at
It is fitting that Runnels pointed to Abbott’s family history as significant. Runnels compiled and wrote the seminal works documenting Sanbornton’s history and genealogy. Roberta Yerkes Blanshard in her profile of Runnels written for the Sanbornton Historical Society describes the Genealogy and Historical Volumes as:
“a massive pair of volumes totaling 1,662 pages, with painstaking indexes, 75 illustrations, two large folding maps. Volume 1, Annals is dated 1882; Volume 2, Genealogies, 1881. They are a Sanbornton (considered)… ‘one of the very best town histories to come out of the 19th century’ according to editor of Historical New Hampshire, R. Stuart Wallace.” (Moses Thurston Runnels: The Man , p. 7)
Runnels started work on these volumes almost by happenstance as part of his pastoral visits to the congregation during that time. Many of his visits were to elderly parishioners who remembered stories they had heard during their youth of the first settlers of this area. He realized that their stories were treasures – and started to take notes about them. So began a project that would take nearly his 21 year pastorate to complete. It was a task he undertook voluntarily and without compensation.
Runnels eventually was reimbursed for the debts he incurred for the project, but it was minimal sum received at the end of the project.
What else did Dr. Abbott and Rev. Runnels share in common?
They were both graduates of
Runnels went on to seminary after graduating from
Of course, they shared a commitment to living out their
Christian faith. Runnels described Dr.
Abbott as a person with “tenderness of heart”; “soundness and correctness of
judgment” and “firmness of will” – qualities “found combined together in… full
and happy proportions.” A Sermon preached by Rev. Moses T. Runnels,
at the funeral of Dea. James B. Abbott, M.D. at
As an example of how Dr. Abbott lived out these qualities – in addition to his service to our church as a Deacon and superintendent of the Sabbath School for 16 years – was how he carried his daily profession: his compassion for the suffering for the people in his care; his prompt and faithful response in times of crisis; his sound diagnosis of medical problems.
Rev. Runnels too was a faithful Christian – serving this
church for 21 years. But sadly, his
devotion to the historical volumes he created put his ministry somewhat under a
cloud. He was criticized for spending
too much time on this historical work, to the detriment of work in the
parish. It is perhaps why he left
Sanbornton to return to his hometown of
Yet, something else bound these two men together. Each man lost a son to illness. Abbott’s deepest sorrow was the loss of his elder son in January 1865 – a son who was studying and training to follow in his footsteps.
Runnels mourned deeply the loss of his only son, his namesake.
Their losses bring back Isaiah’s vision of a new heaven and new earth – “No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out lifetime…”
As we get just a glimpse of these men – since time does not permit us to go much deeper – we realize how much we – in the times we are living – are a fulfillment of a vision they could only dare imagine. When we think of the hardships they suffered – traveling great distances by horse and buggy to tend to the sick and the suffering in bitter cold winters; the hard life of the people they served – of scarcity, cold, hunger, illness – they would gaze upon us with amazement – the warmth of this church and our homes at the flick of a switch; our cozy, plush cars; the abundance of food year round at our supermarkets; the technology of our hospitals and advances in medical care.
Oh, how they would be amazed… at the comfort of our lifestyles….the conveniences, the availability of choices, the sheer abundance and extravagance of it all. Would they approve? Would they find delight – if they could magically have been transported 140 years into the future to this present time and place?
As we imagine what this community, this church will be like in say, 150 years – what would hope to see? What kind of world do we imagine for our children’s children’s children?
With all that we have, will life be as comfortable and tolerable for them?
We can only hope that for future generations, Isaiah’s vision will hold true: “They shall not labour in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD – and their descendants as well.”
Or in the words of Rev. Runnels, remembering his beloved colleague and friend, Dr. Abbott: “Seek first, therefore, as did your departed brother, ‘seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness’ and all other needful things ‘shall be added unto you….’”
A Sermon preached by
Rev. Moses T. Runnels, at the funeral of Dea. James
B. Abbott, M.D. at
Amen.