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Spirit & Sparks 1 October 2016
The Congregational Church of Weston, UCC, 130 Newton Street, Weston, MA 02493 www.westonucc.org 781-899-5417 781-647-1165-fax
Spirit & Sparks God is still Speaking, We are Responding, Come Journey with Us
Grace to you, and peace from God our Creator and
the Lord Jesus Christ! The air is damp and a bit
cool today, and I am not sorry. Two days ago, I
crunched the first leaves that have fallen from the
enormous trees in the front yard of the parsonage.
They were a colorful contrast to the still-green of
the grass and trees around them. Fall may catch us
up short this year, and the single red trees
surrounded by summer bloom may be rainbow-
like before we know it. That’s the way with
seasons. They come and go in accordance with a
clock that changes yearly and with no apparent
condescension to our human whims. There are
events, there are emotions and there are
circumstances that are entirely out of our control,
and they don’t all have to do with the changing of
seasons.
We like to be in control, but no matter how much
we may desire it, we know that there are aspects of
our lives that are part of a rhythm that is beyond
us. Contrary to what we may sometimes feel
about this truth, our presence within this rhythm,
within this gift of life is not without hope.
Through God’s Grace, we are blessed with eternal
hope. Because God loves us—so much that God
sent Jesus to redeem us—we are in God’s care.
When we sometimes feel at a loss for what to do,
we need to pray. Sometimes our prayers need to
be for direction in how to act. Sometimes, our
prayers need to be for the patience to allow God to
act. Sometimes, our prayers need to be for the
strength to endure what will continue to be.
Many individuals consider autumn to be the
beginning of barrenness; a harbinger of the dark
and cold. In thinking this way, the simple changes
of light and color become somehow synonymous
with sadness and despair, as if the falling of leaves
FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
somehow corresponds to the decline of our hope. If
a rather tumultuous election season combines with
the shortening of days to make you fear, I invite you
to believe along with John Keats [An English
Romantic poet, of the early 1800s]: The same
winds that drive the leaves from branches also carry
seeds to the beds from which they will grow in the
spring.
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's
being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the
leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter
fleeing,
Yellow, and black, and pale, and
hectic red . . .
O thou . . .Who [carries] to their
dark wintry bed
The wingèd seeds, where they lie
cold and low . . .
until [your] azure sister of the
Spring shall blow
Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth,
and fill . . .
With living hues and odors plain and
hill:
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh, hear!
. . . O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
God is our Great Preserver, who can resurrect more
than seeds from the ground and economies and
politics from turmoil. Believe in Jesus Christ, our
resurrection and our life, who continues to reveal to
us that hope is never lost.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Lisa
OCTOBER 2016
Spirit & Sparks 2 October 2016
THANK YOU to all who participated in
our Rally/Raffle Sundae Sunday and
signed up to teach, help with the
pageant, assist in the classroom and be a
light bearer. It was a fun time, and
didn't that yummy ice cream with all of
the toppings just make all the
difference! There are still plenty of
teaching slots open so please contact
Cathy by email or phone if you would like
to consider teaching. The time
commitment is minimal, everything you
need is handed to you, the rewards are
mighty.
OCTOBER IN FAITH DISCOVERY What's in My Bible continues during
October! Using songs, games and code-
breaking, third graders Lighthouse
Keepers continue their exploration of
what's IN the Bible, and how to find
where some great stories are.
Special Sundays; October 2 is World Wide Communion
Sunday. We’ll all be together in worship
and partake of Communion by intinction.
Our worship service will be especially
children-friendly. I personally love this
service because it reminds me that
people all over the world are gathered to
worship and praise the same changeless
and loving God, each group in its own way.
And we all come to be spirit-fed at the
same Table. We ARE the story!
October 9 is a One
Room Sunday.
WHERE'S THE FOOD? Food Drive is
underway! In the next column there is
the chart of what to bring when. This is
a fun way to serve our neighbors who are
hungry or who are having trouble putting
food on the table.
10/2 Cereal
(regular
sizes)
10/30 Canned baked
beans
10/9 Rice and
pasta
11/6 Canned meat
and tuna
10/16 Canned
beef
stew
11/13 Coffee and
tea
10/23 Spaghetti
sauce
11/20 Condiments
(ketchup,
mustard,
relish)
Every Sunday, Bring Your Bibles!
Any Sunday, Bring Your Friends!
Stewardship Heads Up: During 2016 we
are offering our donations each week to
help find good homes for abandoned
dogs and cats. Parents, you can help by
helping your child remember to bring a
coin offering. There are coin envelopes
on the Faith Discovery Table and in the
classrooms. Offerings are collected in
the classrooms. For every envelope
collected a glass stone is placed in the
jar on the table. LET’S FILL IT UP!!
Spirit & Sparks 3 October 2016
FAITH DISCOVERY CONT’D
Our October Lightbearers:
10/2 William Franks
10/9 Griffin Tanny
10/16 YOU?
10/23 Julie Wilkins
10/30 Griffin Tanny
October Stewardship Ideas for
Children
* Bring in your coin offering to help find
good homes for abandoned dogs and cats
* Bring in food for our Where's the
Food? food drive
* Help on Work Day, October 2
THE PASTOR’S CORNER:
BOOK STUDY
We will gather for our first discussion of
Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow:
Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness on Monday, November 1st. For
that day, please plan on having read through the
end of chapter 1, on page 58 (to include the
preface and all introductory materials). All are
welcome at any time, and my hope is that our
conversations might move us to action in
response to current racial tension in our
country. That is simply put; our conversations
may well be difficult, but I pray we might
move forward together to do our part in ending
racial inequality in our nation. Please email me
at [email protected] to indicate
whether you would like me to order you a copy
of the book. I will place the order on
Wednesday, October 5th, so please let me know
before then. With Amazon Prime, I should
have them in time for worship on Sunday the
8th of October.
BENEFIT CONCERT SERIES
Join us for an evening of song on Saturday,
October 15th at 7:00. Pastor Lisa guarantees
this concert will lift your spirits. Originally
from Mali, West Africa, Balla Kouyaté is a
djeli, a musician and oral historian in Malian
society. He learned his instrument, the balafon,
from his father, who is the guardian of the
world’s first balafon, which dates from the 13th
Century and is recognized by UNESCO as one
of the 19 Masterpieces of the Oral and
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Balla’s group, World Vision, is a fusion of his
traditional music with Jazz, Blues, Cuban, and
other genres. Their tight-knit melodies and
rhythms have wowed audiences at festivals
across the country including the 2009 Folk Art
Market, the 2008 Lowell Folk Festival and the
2007 Chicago World Music Festival. Balla has
performed in 2016 with Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk
Road Tour both at Harvard and Tanglewood,
and with recording artist Bela Fleck on tour.
Tickets for the evening are $18/adults,
$12/seniors and students, and $5/children under
10. A portion of the proceeds will support the
programming of the Kita School outside of
Bamako, Mali. Call the church office at
(781)899-5417 to reserve seats.
CROP WALK ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER
16! Sponsored by the Weston Clergy
Association to benefit Church World Service
and local food pantries, the Crop Walk has a
long tradition of support from CCW. If you
would like to join Pastor Lisa for the walk,
Spirit & Sparks 4 October 2016
please let her know before the end of worship
on Sunday, October 2 (World Communion
Sunday). If you would like to sponsor her or
others who choose to walk, you can see her
anytime, or contact her by phone or email! The
walk begins at 1:00 PM on the 16th at Weston
Town Hall. My daughters will also be
providing a water and apple stop at the
parsonage on Laurel Road for the walkers, so if
you would like to represent CCW on the corner
there, please also tell Pastor Lisa. The more the
merrier!
PASTOR LISA’S INSTALLATION
Invitations are going out to Weston churches
and all churches in the Metropolitan Boston
Association of the United Church of Christ!
My thanks to Faye Rogers Baron for creating
and printing the lovely invitations! I hope very
much that most of you also will be attending
my installation as the settled pastor here at the
Congregational Church of Weston on Sunday,
October 23rd at 3:00. This is the day we
celebrate our covenant as pastor and people
together, as well as with the denomination of
which we are a part. Clergy are invited to robe
for this, perhaps the second most formal of
UCC services. I hope that all members and
friends of the church will attend as we celebrate
our ministry together! You will also have the
opportunity to meet some of my family, if all
goes according to plan!
CONFIRMATION CLASS
Our confirmands, their parents and mentors met
on September 25th to plan fall activities, and
this looks to be a great year! On the weekend
of March 10th, we will be heading to the Prindle
Pond Conference Center along with
confirmation classes from other MAUCC
churches for a retreat called “Not That Kind of
Christian: Re-articulating Faith for a New
Generation. The retreat will be led by the Rev.
Matt Carriker, who is the Protestant Chaplain at
Brandeis University, and Pastor at Agape
Spiritual Community, a new UCC church start
in Waltham, MA (Pastor Lisa serves on the
advisory board of Agape as it seeks official
church status within the UCC). Please hold our
confirmation class in your prayers during this
year of discernment and continuing faith
discovery!
BIBLE STUDY
Join us! Each Tuesday at 9:00, we meet to
discuss the Bible, gathering around our various
translations. We have just begun reading the
letter to the Hebrews, credited to the apostle
Paul but of questionable authorship. We are not
on a deadline! There are days where our
conversations respond only to several verses,
and others when we plow through several
chapters. At root, our time is about fellowship
as much as about study, and we hope you will
join us!
OCTOBER REMINDERS
Date Altar Flowers* Greeters/Ushers Coffee Hour Hosts (table settings, beverages provided & set up by CCW)
10/2 Banghart Higgins Townsend
10/9 (Columbus Day Weekend) vacant vacant S. Kuhn 10/16 vacant vacant vacant 10/23 NO MORNING WORSHIP 10/30 Cabot Cabot R. Brown
* Altar Flowers cost $55 when the church orders through Leiby’s or you may provide your own.
Spirit & Sparks 5 October 2016
FALL WORKDAY, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2016 8 AM START
COFFEE, JUICE & DONUT HOLES SERVED
Please bring your favorite yard tool.
Email Michael Higgins at [email protected] with questions and to let him know if you can help.
FAITH COMMUNITY NEWS
Birthdays
October 1 Liz Cabot October 2 Lindsey Barnard October 4 Sharon Kuhn October 5 Cindy Murtha Tanny October 7 Mikayla Higgins
October 11 Phil Saunders October 11 Alisandra von Lichtenberg October 21 Francisco Shelton October 26 Owen Ramsey October 30 Emily Barnard
OUTREACH Habitat for Humanity Thank you to all those who participated in the Build Day on September 24th. The event hasn’t occurred yet as of this writing, but we predict it will be a fun and productive day for all, not least for the two single women and their families who will soon be moving into the duplexes we will be building.
SEED Institute, Uganda Jessica and Paul Schendel will be heading for Uganda again in October to check on progress at the SEED Institute, which was officially opened in 2015. Since their last visit, a new Director has been appointed, the first few students have been
enrolled and there is much planning to do in connection with the student scholarship fund. Stay tuned for an update when they return!
Spirit & Sparks 6 October 2016
SPECIAL WORSHIP & GATHERINGS
Sundays thru Thanksgiving “Where is the Food?” – Faith
Discovery’s Food Drive Collection
Sunday, October 2 8:00am
Work Day
Saturday, October 15
7:00pm Balla Kouyate Concert
Sunday, October 16 11:30am Faith Discovery Parent Meeting
Saturday, October 23 3:00pm
NO morning worship today Pastor Lisa’s Installation
Sunday, October 30
10:30am Stewardship Appeal Sunday
Sunday, November 6 10:30am 11:30am
Daylight Savings Ends All Saints Candle Lighting Service Deacons Meeting
Sunday, November 13 10:30am Pledge Consecration Sunday
Sunday, November 27 10:30am First Sunday of Advent
Wednesday, November 30 7:30pm Mid-week Advent Worship
Saturday, December 3 4-7pm Trim-A-Tree
Wednesday, December 7 7:30pm Mid-week Advent Worship
Saturday, December 10
6:00pm Mudville Madrigals Concert
Sunday, December 11 11:30am Pageant Rehearsal
Wednesday, December 14 7:30pm Mid-week Advent Worship
Consult www.westonucc.org for the complete calendar
Spiri & Sparks
November 2015
On November 1st:
Spirit & Sparks 7 October 2016
The Congregational Church
of Weston, UCC 130 Newton Street
Weston, MA 02493
Phone: 781-899-5417
Fax: 781-647-1165
Pastor’s Email: [email protected]
Office Email: [email protected]
Website:
www.westonucc.org
The Congregational Church of Weston, UCC 130 Newton Street Weston, MA 02493
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