News & Notes 10/8/09
Hello My Friends!
This is going to be a long issue of N&N, so I’m going to be brief about what I write.
Some who receive N&N may remember Bill Cunningham, who was active at St. John’s in the 1990’s. Following a long battle with lung disease, Bill has died, and his funeral will be here on Saturday, at 2 PM. A reception in Hartford Hall will follow the service, and I’m sure Claramae would appreciate any desserts that you might bake and bring to the church.
Sunday morning during worship we’ll be focusing on the call of Christ to be in mission and ministry as a congregation - and we’ll look at the work that we have already done for the recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina - and our next trip, which is scheduled for April of 2010. I’m sure the service will be a blessing, and hope that everyone will be present!
This Sunday afternoon we will celebrate the “Blessing of the Animals,” at 3 PM, on the lawn of the church (weather permitting). If it’s raining, I think we’ll try it in Hartford Hall - which raises the importance of your pets being adequately restrained. Nancy Whitehouse and Jana Marie Whitten will be there to provide hands on healing and prayer for animals and their owners as requested. A special offering will be received for the Cocheco Valley Humane Society. Many thanks to Jinny Scott who has done the lions share of the planning for this event!!
Looking ahead:
*Sandy will be taking a holiday on Monday, and her office will be closed.
*Monday is also the deadline for the November “Bell-Wether.” Diana Schuman is covering for Claire Bloom with the November issue - please send your contributions to her.
*We have been invited to presentations by the “New England Pilgrimage for Peace - Walking for the radical notion of Peace” - this Saturday at 8 AM at the Eliot UMC, and at noon at St. Mark’s UMC in Kittery.
*Next Friday we will hold a Red Cross Blood Drive - and this month it’s in memory of Don Cheney, who was instrumental in establishing the blood drives and St. John’s, and who faithfully worked on them for years and years!! The blood drive will take place in Hartford Hall from 1 till 6 PM
*The next “Clean-Up Day” around the church will be Saturday, October 17th - from 8 AM till noon. There are LOTS of jobs to do - some big and some little. Any time that you can give will be appreciated, and if LOTS of people turned out to help, we’d get all the work done!! Won’t you help?
*The Older Adult Luncheon is coming along quickly. It’ll take place on Tuesday, October 20th, from 11:30 AM till 1:30 PM. Members of “Rock My Soul” Gospel Group will be here for the program. If you haven’t made your reservation yet, be sure to call Sandy, in the church office, soon!!
*Lee Domann will be in concert at St. John’s on Sunday, October 25th at 7 PM. This is a return trip for Lee, and those who heard him the first time around speak wonderfully of his music.
This brief note from Jinny Scott: “In your News and Notes…would you mention that we are still are in need of a woman co-teacher for the Senior High ? Thanks. Peace, Jinny”
A number of folks have responded affirmatively to invitations to coordinate different “table/rooms” for our “Holly & Harvest Fair” - on November 7th. That’s wonderful, and I hope if any one of them asks for your help, that you will say “yes,” as well. There will be detailed information in the bulletin this Sunday - and sign-up sheets in Hartford Hall. In the meantime, please be creating those crafts that you do so well - or making preparations for baking your favorite cookies/squares/breads/pies/etc - or making fudge/candy - or searching for those quality items to place for sale on the “White Elephant Table” - or searching for those “nicer” women’s cloths to sell in Hannah’s Boutique - or cleaning out your books to donate to the book sale - or . . . .
Here’s news about how we can be of help to those who have experienced some devastating storms in other parts of the world:
The United Methodist Committee on Relief RESPONDS IN GEORGIA, THE PHILIPPINES, AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
The Philippines office of the UM Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is working with its local partners, including Action by Churches Together and the National Council of Churches, to provide relief to the estimated half-million people affected by Typhoon Ketsana, also called Ondoy, in the Philippines. Immediate relief activities include the distribution of emergency provisions, such as bottled water, blankets, canned fish and rice. Donations for UMCOR’s relief work can be made through Philippines Emergency, Advance #240235 <http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=240235&id=3018639&CFID=56959&CFTOKEN=36110470&tr=y&auid=5380794>.
UMCOR is working with the North Georgia Annual Conference to assist with recovery
efforts from massive flooding in 17 counties, caused by severe storms moving northeast from the Gulf of Mexico. The deluge resulted in at least nine deaths before the rain stopped. Cleaning buckets from UMCOR’s Relief Supply Depots were ready to be sent to areas in need. Teams interested in volunteering for flood cleanup and repairs should contact the conference’s call center (678-533-1443). Donations for UM participation during the initial phase of recovery can be made to Advance #901670 <http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/advance/donate.cfm?code=901670&id=3018992&tr=y&auid=5380476>.
UMCOR is in close contact with local partners to respond to the Sept. 30 earthquake and tsunami that struck the Samoan Islands-including American Samoa, which is part of the California-Pacific Annual Conference-and Tonga, which borders Samoa, as well as a response to the unrelated earthquakes affecting Indonesia Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Melissa Crutchfield of UMCOR said she has been in touch with the agency’s Indonesia office but added that it was difficult to obtain information from Padang, the hardest-hit city. The death toll is expected to be in the thousands, and damage is widespread from the two events. Donations can be made to Indonesia Emergency, Advance #217400 <http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=217400&id=3018580>,
and Samoa Tsunami, Advance #901670 <http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=901670&id=3018992>.
Many in our congregation know the recently retired priest from St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Dover. Not long after retiring, Father Bob Ervin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I thought those who know and appreciate Bob would want to read his note:
“I am so grateful to many people - family, close friends, and others - who have offered me support during these months of learning to live with pancreatic cancer.
“Now, I want to share news - good news - about new developments in recent days. (I’m broadcasting it via this email, which unfortunately is more like a news release than a personal letter. But it’s fast, and saves effort and energy.)
“My oncologist has been very pleased with the downturn in my cancer marker tests over the course of chemotherapy: I started at 4700 in June, and was at 350 by late September. This apparently is a rare, even dramatic, occurrence. It means that the tumor is shrinking. (I’m not sure it means that the growth is slowed: I went back into the hospital in mid-September because my duodenum had been blocked again, and a second stent was put in to clear the passageway so that eating food could resume.)
“I was referred to a premier surgeon of the pancreas, Dr. David Lewis of Lahey Clinic. He is offering me the possibility of longer life. I am going for surgery on October 14. If all goes well, he will take the tumorous part of the body of the pancreas, also the spleen and most of the duodenum, and attach the small intestine to the stomach. It is a difficult procedure, and there are no guarantees of successful outcome. Recovery is slow and painful, and complications are almost to be expected. (Are we not warned to be careful about what we wish for?) The best thing to happen, so far, is a break from chemotherapy, so that I can build myself up for the surgery; already, I feel almost back to normal.
“In the meantime, I continue to work as chaplain at the hospital, worship at St. Thomas’, enjoy my family, read books, and try to be open to whatever God wills and the doctors can arrange.
“Susan and I will join our daughters - Anne, Caitlin, Maggie and Tory - and Anne’s husband Andy (they are expecting another daughter, in December) and our granddaughter Ramona for a Bruce Springsteen concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey this coming Friday night. The Murdochs will go back to Maine, to attend a wedding on Saturday, while the rest of us hang out in New York City and enjoy “The Barber of Seville” at the Metropolitan Opera. Then back home for two days of work and normal life, then surgery on Wednesday and many weeks of recovery.
“I continue to feel encouraged by the good wishes, embraced by the love, and carried by the prayers of people who care. Thank you so much.
“With enormous gratitude, I remain Yours truly, Bob Ervin”
Participate in the 3rd Annual Reverse Trick-or-Treating!
On Halloween night, schoolchildren, - and high school/college students and adults - across the U.S. and Canada will unite to help:
END poverty among cocoa farmers
END abusive child labor in the cocoa industry
PROMOTE Fair Trade
PROTECT the environment by giving Fair Trade chocolate to adults while Trick-or-Treating door-to-door in their communities on Halloween. The chocolate is attached to a card with information about social and environmental justice issues in the cocoa industry and how buying Fair Trade certified chocolate provides a solution. Parents rave about how Reverse Trick-or-Treating transforms Halloween into a meaningful event when youth activists give back to their neighbors and to cocoa growing communities. Reverse Trick-or-Treating kits are FREE thanks to the generous donations of Fair Trade chocolate companies: Equal Exchange, Alter Eco, Sweet Earth, and La Siembra & others in Canada. Participants pay the cost of postage only.
DEADLINE TO REQUEST KITS: Oct. 13 Order yours TODAY! We always run out long before the deadline! Join us, and together, we will reach nearly a quarter million households this year! Visit www.reversetrickortreating.org for more information!
Looking for Fair Trade Halloween candy to distribute to kids at your door?
Visit https://www.globalexchangestore.org/SearchResults.asp?Cat=263.
Reverse Trick-or-Treating is an initiative launched by the human rights organization Global Exchange in cooperation with Fair Trade company Equal Exchange and is a collaborative effort of countless children, youths and adults supported by institutions including nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, Fair Trade companies and schools.
To end this issue of “News & Notes” I thought I’d share something sent to me - things we should all be aware of. Here goes:
Life is sexually transmitted.
Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks.
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
Now didn’t that just complete your education? See you in church! Peace, Mark