Newsletter

The Annual Meeting of the First Congregational Church - United Church of Christ, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, was held at 7:00 P.M. on Friday November 7, 2008, in the Church Hall. Following are the minutes of the meeting:

Annual Meeting Nov. 7th 2008

Called to order at 7:00 PM

1st item of business: Annual reports

Each report reviewed separately and passed

New Business:

Motion passed to do same donations as last year

Motion passed to give Outreach $200.00 not to duplicate benevolence support

Flower and music committees no monies needed

Salaries:

Minister...Raise housing allowance $100.00 per month

Janitor...Increase to $140.00 per month

Treasurer...Raise to $175.00 per month

Organist...to remain as is

Discussed:

Trustees would like to install a temperature alarm system for church parsonage.

Trustees are getting a locked mailbox.

Uses for church parsonage. Property will be taxed if Minister does not live there.

Motion to adjourn at 8:15 PM

Our church family offers many thanks to the Esoteric-Sherwood Lodge of the Masons, who, through Joe Bridge, Lodge Secretary, donated a monetary gift to our church. The donation, from the Lodge’s Commitment to Masonry Fund, will be used to help offset our general fund deficit.

Many, many thanks to the Masons for this gift, and for all of the good works they do throughout the world. We appreciate the financial help they have given us.

Joe Bridge, one of our faithful church members, is also The 29th Masonic District Deputy Grand Master of the Masons. Congratulations to Joe on achieving such a distinguished position.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

- Martin Luther King Jr.

On Sunday October 26^th, we gathered in love and in thanksgiving to dedicate our new Handicapped Access Ramp - to the glory of God, in honor of Walter I. Mercier and in loving memory of Walter’s wife Rejeanne R. Mercier. We also dedicated our new Handicapped Wheelchair Lift to the glory of God and in loving memory of Winifred E. Brough. We are thankful to the families and friends of those who have established these commemorations to their memory and to their honor and to all others in our congregation who have worked so hard to help make our day of dedication, renewal, and hope possible.

Winnie Brough’s son Alex selects from the food table at the reception following the dedication.

On Sunday November 16^th, we welcomed Michael Murphy as the newest member of our church family.

Michael is a Junior at Fitchburg State College, where he is a History Major. He lives in Lowell, is full of Christian energy, and desires to participate in the life and fellowship of our church. He is also the fiancé of Beth Klopfer!

The congregation has now seen our choir in their beautiful new robes purchased by the Ladies Benevolent Society. What a beautiful sight to see the choir processing, recessing, and singing during our services of worship. Since we can only afford a part time Minister of Music, the choir rehearses two times each month and sings on the fourth Sunday of each month. If you are interested in joining the choir, we want you!

The choir sings the Introit from the back of the sanctuary at the beginning our service of worship.

I would like to thank everyone for their contributions of hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves that kept me warm in the Sunday School. I look forward to this every year, and it warms my evergreen heart that everyone wants to help to warm a child who is unable to do this themselves. I hope everyone had a warm and joyous Christmas. And see how Elf Carmen takes good care of me!

The Outreach Committee wants to thank everyone for their donations on Thanksgiving Sunday for Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen. This, as always, was a huge success. The Sunday School also had their own food drive and did especially well. Also their collection of soda cans and bottles was also a success raising $15.00, which also went to Lorraine’s. The children are very proud for what they did, as are we Sunday School staff. We thank you for your help in this annual endeavor,

On Thanksgiving Sunday, November 23^rd, our congregation collected bagsful of food for Lorraine’s Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen. In these dire times, we are thankful that we could help Lorraine’s in any way we could, so that they may share our Christian love and bounties with those who are truly in need. Thanks to all of you who contributed to this year’s food collection, including our Sunday School which had a special food drive of its own!

And always remember these words of Jesus Christ from Matthew 25, who said, “³⁴Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food.”

As we head into a new year, please remember that the expenses of our church continue to grow, as do yours, and we rely on our income from your pledges and weekly offerings to pay our ongoing bills, as well as to support the ministries of our church.

Many blessings and thanks to all of our members and friends for the many gifts that you continually give to our church, especially during these tough economic times - be it your time, your talent, or your financial aid. And please know that your time, talents, and participation in worship are just as important as any monetary gifts we receive.

As we awaited the birth of Christ with anticipation and awe, each Sunday a church family lit our Advent wreath. On December 14^th, the Bill McKinstry family lit the Advent candle of Love and led the congregation in prayer and song.

Others who participated in lighting the Advent candles this year were Jim Burns and Ronda Guido; Phyllis and Norman Sisson; and Ruth and Beth Klopfer and Michael Murphy. What a wonderful way to remind ourselves of the true meaning of Christmas.

Congratulations to our Men’s Club on the success of their October 18^th Roast Beef Supper! They, with the help of the men and women of our congregation, served a wonderful meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, butternut squash, pickled beets, rolls, homemade desserts, and coffee, tea, and milk. They netted $1,115.00 on behalf of our church. Thanks to all who helped make this dinner such a success!

Congratulations also to our Ladies Benevolent Society who raised $1660.80 at the annual Holly Berry Fair. Crafts, baked goods, tag sale items, and lunch foods were all very popular as customers streamed into the fair all day on Saturday November 22^nd. Many thanks to all of our women and men who worked to so to made this year’s fair such a fantastic success.

The Sunday School Christmas Pageant and party were a great success! The children did a wonderful job, and we all had a lot of fun. The “Twelve Days of Christmas” was great fun and a learning experience for all of us. The party was great, with Santa handing out gifts, along with his elf helper Carmen. The refreshments and goodies were great, and we thank everyone who helped by donating goodies and time, to make it a great success. WE THANK YOU!

Our Junior Youth Group is an amazing group of youngsters. They will start to meet again on the 4^th Sunday of March, 2009, from 11:30 to 12:30. They will continue to meet on the 4^th Sunday of every month, ending July 25, 2009. I look forward to meeting with them again. When we meet in March, we will be working on new bookmarks for the church hymnals. If anyone has any questions about the Junior Youth Group, you can contact me at the church on Sundays or call me at home at 593-1272. This group is for children in grades 1 through 6.

as I am new at leading the Senior Youth Group and not sure which direction to take, I sat down with the group and asked them what they have done in the past and what they would like to do in the future. I feel that it is important to do things for the community and to try to live a good life, but also equally important is to have some fun. It can be very difficult growing up in today’s society, and many kids grow up too fast.

We meet every 3-4 weeks after worship, during coffee hour. We have met a few times and have contacted those who couldn’t be there. They have come up with some really good ideas. A few of the teens went to Six Flags on November 1^st. Many of them have helped at the church fairs, helped with the Sunday School, and have helped clean up after coffee hour. We did want to collect gifts and bring them to the children at the Shriner’s Hospital, but they are booked through February. We will have to wait until then to make a trip there. The group will be helping at Lorrain’s Soup Kitchen - half of the group in December and half in January. I have also done a little research for the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield and the Salvation Army as well. We will continue to find different things to keep us busy. We have not seen a few of the members since October and hope they will rejoin us in 2009.

On February 17^th all TV stations are required by the federal government to switch to digital transmission. This means that if you don't have a TV with a digital tuner, you’ll need to get a DTV converter box. Any television sold after May 25, 2007, should already contain a digital tuner. For older TVs, converter boxes are available for $50-$70, at more than 9,700 stores, including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, and RadioShack.

The government offers 2 FREE converter box coupons to every household, valued at $40 each. The coupons resemble plastic gift cards and expire after 90 days. To apply for coupons, visit www.dtv2009.gov or call the 24-hour DTV Hotline 1-888-388-2009. You can also fax an application to 1-877-388-4632 or mail one to P.O. Box 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000. The program expires March 31, 2009.

PLEASE KNOW THAT THERE ARE SOME VERY UNSAVORY CHARACTERS OUT THERE who are trying to cash in on the confusion over the DTV switch. Coupons from the government are FREE - repeat FREE! No one needs to come to your house. And there are no subscription fees! Don’t get fooled. If you have cable or satellite, you don’t need to anything! Again, don’t get fooled!

If you have any questions, please ask me at church, or call me at 562-6127. I will be more than happy to help anyone I can through this DTV changeover.

The Bellringer

October - November - December 2008

www.ucc-chicopee.org

Last modified: 01/04/09