YOUR HOLIDAY CALENDAR FOR MISSION ROAD

Wednesday, December 7, 2016, 6:30 PM – Saints Chorale rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016, 7:45 PM – Prayer Circle meets at the church.

Saturday, December 10, 2016, 10:30 AM –Saints’ Chorale rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary.

Sunday, December 11, 2016, 8:45 AM – Breakfast (provided by Caryn and Ron Millard), join us for conversation and fellowship.

Sunday, December 11, 2016 – Sunday School Classes

• Nursery available – 9:15-11:30 AM, in downstairs Nursery.
• Children’s Pre-baptismal Class begins – 9:15-10:15 AM, taught by Debby Rushfelt
• Adult Sunday School class – 9:15-10:15 AM, team taught by Jonathan Bacon, Paul Bennetts, Jane Landrum and Dennis Wood in Church Library.

Sunday, December 11, 2016, 9:15-10:15 AM – Robin Payne will help children make gingerbread mangers in the Fellowship Hall. Families are invited to join the activity.

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Sunday, December 11, 2016, 10:30 AM – Steve Holben will speak on the theme "Are You the One Who Is to Come?" with Charles Athey presiding. Charles with Kennetha Kuttler will serve as the worship planners. The song leader for learning a new hymn in the “Community of Christ Sings” will be Dorothy May. The ministry of music will be provided by the Saints Chorale. Robert Sindt will provide the PowerPoint slideshow.

Sunday, December 11, 2016, 7:00 PM – Annual Christmas Program with Saints Chorale will be followed by snacks in the Fellowship Hall and a special guest. Plus, Jack Cave will lead a Christmas Carol sing-a-long in the Fellowship hall after the Christmas program.

Monday, December 12, 2016, 7:00-8:30 PM – Mission Bells rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary.

Sunday, December 18, 2016, 10:30 AM – If you took a tag and agreed to bring a Shoebox gifts for people served by the Central Avenue Center of Hope, the gifts should be brought to church and will be collected as part of the morning worship.

Sunday, December 18, 2016, immediately after church – Annual Cookie Exchange (must sign up by December 14 on sign-up sheet in Narthex).

Sunday, December 25, 2016, 10:30 AM – Christmas Worship Service. There will be no breakfast or classes on this date.

GINGERBREAD MANGERS AND CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Sunday morning, December 11, 2016, during the Sunday School hour, Robin Payne will work with the children to make gingerbread mangers in the Fellowship Hall. Families are invited to participate with their children as it is FUN and helps Robin with extra pairs of hands.

And mark your calendar for the December 11, 2016 at 7:00 PM when the annual Christmas program at Mission Road (with a special guest visitor) will occur.

CHILDREN INVITED TO SING

The children of the congregation are invited to sing one verse of the song “Little Drummer Boy” during the 10:30 worship on Sunday, December 18, 2016. Robin Payne will lead the children in the song. If your children wish to participate, please teach or practice with them the first verse of the song. The words follow:

Come, they told me, pa rum pa pum pum

A newborn King to see, pa rum pa pum pum

Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pa pum pum

To lay before the King, pa rum pa pum pum,

Rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum

So to honor Him, pa rum pa pum pum

When we come.

HONDURAS NURSE PROGRAM PLEDGE GOAL MET!

Thank you congregation for meeting the $5,750 pledge goal for 2017! Our support of the Health Ministries Association’s (HMA) efforts to hire a full time professional nurse to provide health care to villages in the area around the La Buena Fe region is a success.

Those who pledged may wish to write a check this month so that you can use the donation on your 2016 tax returns, or you can wait until January to take your credit in 2017. Please make your checks out to Health Ministries Association (or simply HMA) and give your pledge amount to Paul Bennetts. Please do not make checks out to Mission Road. Thanks again Mission Road Congregation for rising to the challenge!

The following are some images of Saira Giron, the nurse from Honduras that we are supporting with our pledges.

​Saira in the clinic attached to her home in La Boquita, Honduras.

​School children waiting for physicals and vaccinations at Saira’s clinic.

Saira’s home with school children waiting their turn in line for a school physical.

CHRISTMAS DAY SHOE BOX GIFT PROJECT

Again this year, the Mission Road Congregation is participating in the Central Avenue Center of Hope Christmas day Shoe Box Gift project. You’re encouraged to take a paper ornament (on the table in the Narthex) and fill a shoebox size box with items for the age group indicated on the paper ornament. Don’t seal the box (so the Center’s staff can see the enclosed items and match the box up with the best recipient). Suggested items include socks, gloves, caps, shirts, candy and personal items. If you take a tag, we need the shoebox gift returned on the morning of December 18 during the morning worship service.

COOKIE EXCHANGE

Coming on December 18, the Annual Mission Road Cookie Exchange. Signup and exchange your favorite homemade cookies with others. Details below:

What: Christmas Cookie Exchange

When: Dec. 18th.

Where: Fellowship hall immediately after church service.

How: "GREEN" Sign-up sheet is now available in the church Narthex.

Each participant should plan on making 60 (or more) cookies or pieces of candy.

Number of participants will determine how many cookies per bag to bring. For instance, if we have 20 participants, that would require each person to bring 20 bags of 3 cookies each.

Deadline for participating will be Wednesday, December 14, 2016. Each participant will then be notified by Friday, December 16 regarding how many packages of cookies they should bring.

URGENT NEED: CENTRAL AVENUE CENTER OF HOPE THANKSGIVING DINNER

The congregation has committed to provide $1,600 to help cover part of the cost of the Thanksgiving meal provided by the Center of Hope for homeless and low income families. To date we have contributions totaling $750. Your contribution is needed to meet this commitment. The money has already been forwarded to the Center (so they can buy supplies for the dinner), so checks should be made out to Mission Road Congregation with a notation that it is for the Center for Hope. You may give your donation to Pennie Bunkers or place it in the church offering next Sunday.

CENTER FOR HOPE GOFUNDMISSION PROJECT ALMOST AT GOAL!

The church’s new GoFundMission website includes a project to fund a new roof and painting/repair of the interior for Central Avenue Center of Hope. As of Sunday, November 27, 2016, a total of $4,355 of the needed $5,000 has been raised through donations on the https://www.gofundmission.org/projects/center-of-hope/ site. Only $645 more needed to meet the $5,000 goal before the December 6 deadline. Can you help?

THE COAT-MITTEN-GLOVE-HAT TREE IS OPEN FOR YOUR DONATION

Got a coat that still has useful life but it is just hanging in your closet? Got an extra set of new mittens or gloves or a hat or blanket? The church is now collecting winter wear for the Central Avenue Center of Hope. Bring your worn but not worn-out winter coats, boots, or new gloves, mittens and blankets to church next Sunday. There are folks in desperate need before the harsh winter weather arrives.

JANUARY 2017 WILL BE NEXT BOOK CLUB MEETING

The next book selection for the All Good Books discussion group is “The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt” by Eleanor Roosevelt. The book club does not meet in December but will resume meeting on January 12, 2017 at 7 PM in the Church Library. Mark your calendar.

You can always find a schedule of upcoming book discussions at allbooksclub.wordpress.com/meeting-dates-books/ Come join us!

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS

On Sunday, December 11, 2016, the adult Sunday school class continues its discussion of "The Journey of a People” Volume 3 by former Church Historian, Mark Scherer. Dennis Wood will lead the discussion wrapping up Chapter 12 ("To Move in a New Direction") focusing on “The Statement on Objectives for the Church” and then proceeding into Chapter 13 (“Educating for Change”).

DEADINE APPROACHING: 2017 DIRECTORY CHANGES NEEDED!

Please email ( mrcoc ) or provide Clint with a written update to any addresses or name changes for the congregational directory or newsletter mailing list. Certain college students and a few others have moved since October/November of last year and we are getting a number of newsletters returned for incorrect address information. Shortly, there will be a final proof copy of the directory made available in the fellowship hall for you to have one final check. NOW is the time to send Clint any new information that has obviously changed.

MISSED LAST SUNDAY’S SERVICE?

Would you like to hear the message from last Sunday or a Sunday service from 3 years ago? Audio recordings of many of the last several years’ worth of worship services are available online at https://goo.gl/wREl03. Note this is a new shortened URL that will take you to a Google Drive with many of the recordings from the past.

Recordings are located in folders corresponding to the year (2015, 2016, and so on).

If you missed a Sunday, this provides you a way to hear the music and the message.

The beginning numbers of each filename indicate the date of the service.

The first 4 digits represent the year; the next two digits indicate the month and last two digits represent the day of the month.

In most cases, the date is followed by a dash and then the first initial and last name of the speaker. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you experience problems playing these audio files be sure you’re running the latest version of your browser or try a different browser. In some cases, you may be required to download the audio file before playing it.

The following list includes some recent audio recordings:

4 December 2016 message by Paul Bennetts, Filename 20161204-PBennetts.mp3

27 November 2016 message by Jerry Rushfelt, filename 20161127-GRushfelt.mp3

20 November 2016 message by Dennis Wood, filename 20161120-DWood.mp3

13 November 2016 message by Clint Reine, filename 20161113-CReine.mp3

6 November 2016 message by Jack Cave, filename 20161106-JCave.mp3

CONCERNING PRAYER REQUESTS

Please know that any member of the congregation can post prayer requests or share information about members and events on the Mission Road Members Only Facebook page. You do not need to send the information for approval to anyone. In fact doing so may slow down the dissemination of your request. Be sure to include the person needing prayers and what situation has occurred (if you wish to share that information). If your post concerns an event or news item, be sure to include the basics in your posting (such as who, what, where and when).

For prayer requests, if you do not have access to Facebook, then please call Paul Bennetts or John Trinkl Sr., our Congregational Pastoral Care Coordinators.

IMPORTANT CONGREGATIONAL LINKS

The Mission Road Congregation hosts the following social media sites:

Congregational (public) website at www.mission-road.org

Facebook Page (public) at https://www.facebook.com/MissionRoad.CoC

Facebook Group (open only to congregational members) at https://www.facebook.com/groups/MissionRoad/

The All Good Books discussion group website at https://allbooksclub.wordpress.com/

Visit and "like" each of these sites to keep up-to-date on congregational news.

CONGREGATIONAL NEWS EMAIL

If you have news items and calendar additions or changes that need to be included in the congregational news email please contact Larry Birkby. His email address and phone number are both in the Church Directory.