january 2015 messenger

8/9/2019 January 2015 Messenger

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JANUARY 2015

Volume 29.1

St. Johns

United Church of Christ

St. Johns is a community of faithcentered in Jesus Christ, seeking

guidance and direction through theHoly Spirit, and demonstrating

Gods love to all people in wordsand deeds.

An Open and AffirmingCongregation

503 Stuart CircleRichmond, Virginia 23220Telephone: 804.358.9291

Email:[email protected]

Web Site:stjohnsrichmond.org

Published monthly 2013 St Johns UCC

Good NewsThe Rev. Roger Nicholson has accepted the call to be our short-term interimminister! He will begin his work with us on Monday, January 12, 2015 and wpreach for the first time on Sunday, January 18.

Roger is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), one of theUCCs sister denominations in the Reformed tradition. He has served interimin five other congregations and has 40+ years of experience in congregationministries and denominational administration. He also has special training ininterim ministry, pastoral care of adults and children, and spiritual direction.

Roger sees the church as a community of Gods people gathered togetherand empowered by Gods Spirit to proclaim the love and power of Godthrough word and action. He has a love for preaching [and] the use of lan-guage to open up the mystery of faith and brings openness and affectiontoward all kinds of people and a willingness to listen and to learn, as well a willingness to guide and direct.

Roger is married to Pam and they have two adult children and a three yearold grandson.

On Sunday, January 18, the congregation will have anopportunity to get to know Roger before worship at aspecial congregational breakfast from 9:30-10:45 am.

This will be an informal meet-and-greet occasion.


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2 The Messenger | JANUARY 2015

...from the PresidentThe New Year is upon us and my greatestwish to all is peace on earth and blessingsto the community of St. Johns. We are astrong community which pulled together

during Advent in the absence of an InterimMinister and provided everyone with a verymeaningful time.

I would like to thank everyone whoparticipated in our many church activitiesduring the year. It shows what a committed

group pf people we are who love, care about and choose to callSt .Johns their home.

The church looks absolutely beautiful thanks toSonny and his teamwho did their magic to our beautiful sanctuary. Greening Day startedwith a wonderful community lunch and then on to our task.Our worship and communion services have been absolutely beautifuland many thanks toJulia, Bryan, Ginna and Karen Mariewhoworked so hard to make them perfect. Our visiting preachers added aspecial touch! Our special visitors during the Childrens moment wereso very meaningful! The Fellowship Tea was beautiful and a specialthank you to all who provided the wonderful food!

The council continues to update our Constitution/Bylaws and will bebringing this document to the congregation sometime in early 2015.

The search committee has been working very hard and we thecongregation are so grateful to such a dedicated and committedgroup. We anticipate that we will have a new pastor sometime in2015.

We are on to another year with much hope and renewed spirit.RevRoger Nicholson, our new short term Interim Pastor will be joining usin the pulpit on January 18th. We will have a meet and greetbreakfast at 9:30 am that morning and the service at 11:00 am.Please make every effort to be there!Happy New Year to all!

Betsy BighinattiCouncil President

Preaching ScheduleWe are blessed to have members of our church whobring the gifts of preaching to us during this interimFor January 4th, Epiphany SundayThe Rev. BeverlyLyndsey will preach and offer Communion. Then onJanuary 11,The Rev. Dr. Lex Tartaglia , who has beenserving as consultant to the Search Committee, willpreach. There will be no Communion that week as wwill return to our previous pattern of communion onfirst Sunday of the month. Our Interim will guide uprocess our future pattern.

We give our thanks for the leadership during this timThe Rev. Karen -Marie Yust, Dr. Julia Eliades, MsErin Burnette, The Rev Alexa Slonin and The RevAndrew Terry(Rev. Terry represents Richmond Hillfor their care and inspiring sharing of their gifts of

worship. We have indeed been blessed and nurturedthem all. Any thanks would only be complete by iningMrs. Shirley Townsend, our Music Director andOrganist, our choir,Sal Anselmoand without a doubtSonny Darnellof the Altar Guild and his team.

Worship Teams:Have you noticed the smiling faces that welcome yoon Sunday morning? The sound for worship? Theacolytes? The offertory leaders? Well all of thesepeople support and lead worship. They are organizeinto teams that serve two weeks in a row on rotating

basis. There are five teams. So every 10 weeks a neteam works for two Sundays

We are praying that someone will be led to be thecoordinators of these well organized teams. Wouldbe willing to make a call to each captain once a weemake sure all remember. Then, if there's a vacancy have the privilege to fill it! Please contact GinnaMinasian Dalton 703-869-0191 [email protected]

Peace

Ginna Minasian Dalton Chair of Worship and Musi

Pledges & Offering EnvelopesMembers of Church Council

Betsy Bighinatti, PresidentDesiree McNeice, Vice President

Marjorie Barbour, Secretary

Bryan Anderegg Laura TottyJeff Hetzer Arthur DeweyVivian White Helena DeLigtBill Watson Karen-Marie Yust

Ginna Minasian Dalton Please pick up 2015 offeringenvelopes in the Parlor.

Please make final 2014 contributionsno later than January 15, 2015
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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3 The Messenger | JANUARY 2015

Generous Response to Angel Tree Thank you for your most

generous response to the AngelTree requests for gifts for ouradopted St. Johns families thisyear. Those who received yourdonations want to express theirdeeply felt gratitude for yourgiving. Their appreciation will lastlong after the Christmas season isover.

Again, thank you!

Christmas FundWe are continuing to collect funds through January 4th for Veterans of the Cross. Funds are used to provide supplememonies for pension and health insurance premiums to low-income retirees as well as emergency assistance to clergy alay employees and their families throughout the year. Pleasconsider giving a gift to help care for those who have caredus during their lifetime of ministry to our churches.

Parking Lot Pays Off! St. Johns youth raised over $350 parking cars for the annuDominion Christmas Parade. They plan to use the monies tcollected for youth activities and in support of the church.

Back to Old Testament Times After celebrating Epiphany on January 4 and Jesus baptismJanuary 11, children in the Toddler, Primary, Jr. Youth andFaith Place classes will return to their study of characters inOld Testament. Frommid-January throughFebruary, the focuswill be Moses and theIsraelites. Watch forburning bushes and10 commandmenttablets to appear!

Circle Center Adult Day Services On December 14 through the wonderfully generous support

of St. Johns congregation,$712.00was raised for CircleCenter Day Services. If you would still like to make adonation, we are continuing to collect funds for the centerthrough January 4th. St. John's played a founding-role for theCircle Center, which provides day services to frail and elderlyadults while their caregivers go to work; they also help toeducate and support the caregivers. $50 provides a lunch forone person for a month, $60 provides 5 showers for thosewho are no longer able to shower at home. Checks can bemade payable to St. Johns UCC (Circle Center in the memoline) and can be placed in the offering plate or mailed to St.Johns. Thank you again for your support

CARITAS Here Soon Our congregation has once again agreed to be an INTAKECENTER for CARITAS February 14th through April 17, 2015.The CARITAS guests will be gathering in our Fellowship Hallevery evening (approx. 4-7pm). We will need lots of volun-teers to accomplish our mission of extravagant welcome tothese, our neighbors. Watch for more information and sign-up sheets.

Exploring Faith through Art Adults meeting 9:45-10:45 on Sundays will continue toexplore the good news of Jesus birth and early life throughthe artwork of John August Swanson. Swanson is known forhis vibrant details and interpretive flourishes. Join thediscussion January 4th and 11th.


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4 The Messenger | January 2015

St. Johns Financial Picture YTD as of 11 -30-14

2014 Budget Budget YTD Actual YTD

Income

Pledge Payments* $127,000 $116,417 $103,978 Cash Offerings $22,000 $20,167 $13,514 Other Income (Endowment Contributions $122,850 $120,262 $128,218

Parking Lot Rental, Wedding Income, etc.)

Total Income $271,850 $256,846 $245,710

Expenses Personnel 166,549 154,826 152,506

Committees 22,191 20,342 18,326Operations/Maintenance 122,390 113,871 96,604Local Benevolences 7,300 7,258 5,572Other 9,600 7,250 7,250

Total Expenses 328,030 303,547 280,258

Income/Expenses Total (56,180) (46,701) (34,548) surplus (deficit)

NOTE:

1. Income includes a total of $85,000 annual contribution from Endowment Fund ($7083 monthly)

2. Annual Deficit to be covered by Endowment Fund and General Reserve Fund 3. 2014 Pledge Budget is $126,000. 56 pledges for $118,000 Were pledged.

Year to date have received $103,978

Second Sunday after ChristmasJanuary 4, 2015

Jer 31:7-14

Psalm 147:12-20

Ephesians 1:3-14 John 1:10-18

First Sunday after EpiphanyJanuary 11, 2015

Isaiah 42:1-9

Psalm 29

Acts 10:34-43 Matthew 3:13-17

Second Sunday after EpiphanyJanuary 18, 2015

Isaiah 49:1-7

Psalm 40:1-11

1 Cor. 1:4-9 John 1:29-42

Third Sunday after EpiphanyJanuary 25, 2015

Isaiah 9:1-4

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

1 Cor. 1:10-18 Matthew 4:12-23

January LectionaryReadings
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=277http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=277http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=277http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=278http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=279http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=280http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=279http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=280http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=280http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=279http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=280http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=279http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=278http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=277http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=277http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=277http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=277


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5 The Messenger | November 2015

Chili Pot Luck Lu January 4, 2015Our traditional chili competition hasmorphed into a chili potluck and recipeswap this year! This will allow for all thosewho love a good bowl of chili to contributeand taste! On January 4th, bring a pot ofyour favorite chili to share after

congregational worship. Stay to enjoy a good meal and help with de-greening the

sanctuary, and dont forget to bring copies of your chili recipe to pass out!

Contact Helena DeLigt at [email protected] or Kim Vann by email [email protected] more information.

De -greening the Church will follow right after the Cook off !

SnowyWeather

Should we get winter weatherand are forced to cancel worship,

please watch for our listingon channel 12 TV,

orcall the churchs main phone number at

(804)358-9291and listen to the recording,

or check your email for an e-blast.

The FirstWeddingof 2015 atSt. John's

Meredith Snow and Brian Daley

Rehearsal and Weddingon Friday

January 2, 2015(rehearsal at 10:00 am and

wedding at 6:00 pm) 150 guests

St. Johns Community Players has had a very busy and successful 2014 and we are sograteful for all your support.

This spring, we will present our annual Cabaret.Our Strolling Cabaret has a performance in honor of Valentines Day. We will present our Childrens Theater production this summer. And our main stage production in November will mark the 10th anniversary for our community theater. We will be bringing back one of our most

successful shows from the past and will make that announcement further into thyear. Thank you again for your continued support!St. Johns Players

Richmond, Virginia

WelcomeChris!

Chris Ward joined

St. Johns in November, and we are blessed to have him in our churchfamily! Chris was born in Minnesotagrew up in Connecticut. He came soto attend the University of Richmondhas lived in Virginia ever since. Chriworks at Capital One in the Financedepartment, and when hes not chasin Alex around with Abby, he enjoysmovies, cooking, and golf.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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January 4 January 11 January 18 January 25

Chris and Abby Ward

To order fresh flowers to be placed on the altar in honor of a special occasion operson or in remembrance of someone, please sign-up on the flower chart on th

bulletin board in the hallway near the nursery or contact Sonny Darnell at743-7528 or [email protected]

$45.00 for two beautiful bouquets.

WelcomeTeam

Leader

SoundSystem

Acolytes LayReaders

FellowshipHosts

NurseryHelpers

Tellers Facilities AltarGuild

Jan. 4 JustinBarbour

DavidPittman

SeanBarbour

BetsyBighinatti

Sarah Allen

Jeff Jacobs TBA Justin Barbour Erin BuGeogiann

Stinnett

Jan. 11 RichardBighinatti

Chris Ward Josh Lyle Sal AnselmoErin Burnette

Cheryl Goode Abby WardChris Ward

RichardBighinatti

Cheryl Goo

Jan. 18 RichardBighinatti

Chris Ward Josh Lyle Scott SiefertTrey Lyle

Laura Totty Laura Totty RichardBighinatti

Sonny Dar

Jan. 25 Lynn Snyder Dan Mascher Cammie,Eddie Allen

HelenaDeLigt

Cheryl Goode

Don Warren Marjorie andJustin

Barbour

CharlotteQuick

Fellowship Coordinator: Sal Anselmo 358-1696Tellers Coordinator: Bud Higgins 301-5059Lay Readers Coordinator: Sal Anselmo 358-1696Altar Guild Coordinator: Sonny Darnell 743-7528

Please find a substitute if you are unable to perform your ministry and contactyour team coordinator AND the office to let them know who will be filling in for

you. Thank you for making our church ministries run smoothly!


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JANUARY BIRTHDAYS6 Frieda Walsh8 Kathy Freise10 Judy Brown10 Stephanie Workman14 Hank Allen14 Suzanne Foltz20 Fritz Will, IV

21 Maude Ganzert22 Bruce Miller23 Vicky Lyle24 Bryan Etter25 Joachim Altenkirch25 Charlotte Quick

20151

11:30 am NA Meeting

2OfficeClosed

10 am Wedding Rehearsal

6 pm Wedding

3

410 am Choir rehearsal

11 am Worship /COMMUNION

NOON Chili LunchDe-Greening the church

5 6

11:30 am NA Meeting

5:30 Search Com

7

5 pm Card Ministry

811:30 am NA Meeting

5:30pm Worship/Music

7 pm Choir Rehearsal

9

Office

Closed

108:30 am Indian Orthodox

Church

119:45 am Faith Formations


11 am Worship

12

7 pm Church Council

13.

11:30 am NA Meeting

5:30 Search Com

14

5 pm Card Ministry

15

11:30 am NA Meeting


16

Office

Closed

17

11 am NA AnniversaryParty

189:00 am Congregational

Breakfast9:30 Meet Rev.

Nicholson

9:45 am Faith Formations10 am Choir rehearsal11 am Worship

19 20

11:30 am NA Meeting

5:30 Search Com

21

5 pm Card Ministry

22

11:30 am NA Meeting


23

Office

Closed

24

259:45 am Faith Formations


11 am Worship

26 27

11:30 am NA Meeting

28

5 pm Card Ministry

29

11:30 am NA Meeting

7 pm Choir Rehears

30

Office

Closed

31


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january 2015 messenger

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