News * NOtes 12/11/08
Dear St. John’s Church family and friends,
The first item this week comes from Andrea McCusker, concerning her sister, Christine, who is dealing with cancer in her brain:
I received the email below from one of my sister, Christine’s friends and I think it will be a great gift for her. But I need help from all of you. The more letters, the more happiness we will bring her. So, if you wish, please write a letter to Christine using the templates provided or doing your own thing. I plan on having Garrett, Ahna, Luke and William decorate the box with things that remind them of her. Thanks for your letters in advance. You can either email them to me (celts [at] Comcast [dot] net) or send them to my house: 2 Gold Post Rd Dover, 03820. Love you guys! Andrea McCusker
“Good morning! I happened to catch the Oprah program on Wednesday and thought I would share it with you. The program centered on the poor economy and the realization of people trimming their spending accordingly. One of Oprah’s gift suggestions was a gratitude box. Simply stated, you create or purchase a small box and fill it with cards bearing special hand written messages. Oprah provided the option of downloading the templates of three cards; My holiday wish for you, Thank you for, and What I love about you. The templates are attached along with the link to Oprah’s website http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081118_tows_holiday which provides additional information. As I watched the program, my thoughts went immediately to Christine. And I can only imagine the joy Christine would get from reading them. My suggestion would be to include presenting a box to Christine on Christmas Day filled with personal messages from each family member. She will treasure this gift for years to come. Happy holidays! Marian”
Sue Williams asked me to share this notice with you: Join Amare Cantare for its 2008 Holiday Concert, featuring Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols (SATB version) with guest harpist Piper Runnion-Bareford. The performances will take place at 8:00 pm on Sat Dec 13 at St George’s Episcopal Church in Durham;
3:00 pm on Sunday, Dec 14 at Christ Church in Exeter, and 7:30 pm on Wed Dec 17 at Holy Trinity Church in Newington. General admission tickets are $12 at the door and $10 in advance. Students and seniors are $10 at the door and $8 in advance. Advance tickets may be purchased at Baldface Books, Dover, NH, the Durham Book Exchange, Durham, NH, Water Street Books, Exeter, NH, and Serendipity, Portsmouth, NH. For more information about Amare Cantare, visit our website at http://www.amarecantare.com or call (603) 664-5974.
Then let me reiterate the special announcement that I sent out earlier this week - about the benefit for Deb Kelly, who lives with esophageal cancer and Guillian-Barre Syndrome. It will happen this Saturday, December 13th, from 4 till 11 PM, at the Dover Elks Club. They are asking for $10 admission - more if you’d like to donate more. And they would love to have help from her St. John’s Church family in making casseroles or desserts (they can be dropped off at 4 PM).
My feet have barely touched the ground this week as I have reflected on all that God is doing in and through the life of St. John’s Church these days. You have given a mountain-high pile of Christmas presents for children in our area - many more gifts that I ever thought we’d be able to commit to; you have given 219 pairs of socks to distribute through the schools; you have donated over $516 toward the Global AIDS Fund (and I’ve been told more is coming in); we are one of the most active, ongoing supporters of the Dover Cooperative Ministries Food Pantry; and all this comes on top of contributing 25 Thanksgiving baskets (as you heard about a week or so ago). This is happening while our economy is struggling!! And all of this is happening as we approach Christmas, with its demands on our pocketbooks!! The important point about all this isn’t how much money we’ve given, but how many people will be touched by the love of Christ through us! Thank you for your faithfulness!
From many folks sitting in the pews last Sunday afternoon, I understand the Cantata was very well received!! As one who was participating, it’s not always easy for me to tell. The music was fun - many different styles of music in this year’s Cantata - and it carried the hope-filled message of Emmanuel, God with us. There are lots of people to thank: our musicians (George Reagan, Ed Mitchell, Dawne Rogers and Steve MacKenzie); Lisa Perrine and the Bell Choir; our narrator, Keith Launchbury; the audio-visual creator and tech, Claire Bloom; and of course Barb Johnson and the choir! You’re all the best!! Thanks very much!!
It was pointed out to me last Sunday that my computer made another mistake, and incorrectly typed the times of one of the Christmas Eve services in last week’s News & Notes, so I thought I’d publish the list again. I hope the computer doesn’t go off on its own again. Here’s the list:
6:30 PM Family Service with the Adult Choir, a telling of “Have You Seen Christmas,” and communion
8:15 PM Our Carillion program returns (now that the bells have all been rewired, and the instrument is functioning very well). Presented by Guy Eaton and Andy Galt.
9 PM “Light for our darkness; Love for our World,” worship service with candlelight, led by Rev. Nancy Jo Johnson
11 PM A “Journey to Bethlehem” with carols, communion and candlelighting
Both the 9 and 11 PM services will conclude outdoors (weather permitting) with candlelighting by all who are present.
Finally let me share another group of interesting thoughts from the Lexophiles’ list:
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France , resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.
You are stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.
A calendar’s days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted: ‘Taint yours, and ‘taint mine.
Blessings on you. See you in church Peace, Mark