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DAY of SERVICE and LEARNING ~ Saturday, January 14
Sponsored by the City Mission Society of Boston
For those of you that have signed up, the City Mission Society's Day
of Service and Learning is tomorrow, Saturday, January 14.
The day of service offers an opportunity to participate in hands-on
service projects and will end with a celebration of music and worship at United
Parish in Brookline. We will meet at our church at 8 am and leave in carpools
for our designated service site (to be announced) in Boston. We will work from
9:30 am to 12:30 pm, then go to United Parish for lunch and closing
reflections.
For insurance purposes, CMS required registrants' names in advance
and that participants be 14 or older.
Day of Service
and Learning Schedule:
8:00 am Leave UCC Stoughton in carpools for assigned
service site
9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Service at assigned
site
12:30 to 1:00 pm
Travel to United Parish in
Brookline
1:00 to 3:00 pm
Lunch, reflection and closing
celebrations
3:00
pm Leave
in carpools for return trip to Stoughton
For more information, log on to:
Thank you for making it a day on, rather than a day off!
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The Life and Words of
REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Monday,
January 16, 2012 ~ 7:00 PM
First
Parish Universalist Church
790
Washington Street, Stoughton
Refreshments following the program.
Open
to the Community
A free will offering
will be taken to provide
food assistance to those
in need in the Stoughton community
through the efforts of
our local food pantries.
Sponsored by the Stoughton Clergy Association and
Area Congregations
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Come join us on January 17thfor a
day of service to others and good fellowship with others of your church family.
You need no specific skills. We will find something that you like to do and can
do easily. The projects that we work on are given to homeless shelters and
people across our country and the world through Church World Service. We have
sent six cartons of materials (clothing, hats, scarves, toilet articles, playing
cards, and magazines) to Seafarers Friend. They service seamen who are on ships
that come into Boston harbor from all over the world. Our thanks goes to Bob
Mullen for delivering these cartons to their Chelsea office for us.
Five of our very faithful ladies are no longer able to join us to
work on our projects. If you can help us in anyway we really need you. Please
join us on the 17thany time
between 9 am-2pm, you are welcome to come whenever it is convenient for you to
do so. Bring lunch and stay until 2pm. We will provide beverage and dessert.
If you can't make this time speak to Janet Clough about taking things to work on
at home. We think you will enjoy the time with us. Thank you.
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HERE'S YOUR "INVITATION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT"!
Pastor Jean will be offering a bible study program starting
this month called "Invitation to the New Testament: A Short-Term Disciple Bible Study."
Using Matthew's Gospel as a
starting point, this study will explore how the New Testament writers and the
early Christian community wrestled with the coming of Jesus - his life, actions,
mission, death, and resurrection - and the implications of his arrival for their
lives and their communities of faith. Moving through the Gospel of Matthew
sequentially, the overarching themes from this story of Jesus provide the
conversation topics for each of the eight eight sessions. Each theme is then
traced through other related passages in the New Testament.
Come join this conversation to study afresh
the story of Jesus, who he is, and his significance for our lives, and to learn
more about our calling to discipleship and to community.
Jean will be offering two different meeting times for Invitation to the New Testament: Tuesday
mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 and Thursday evenings from 7 to 8:30 (see schedule
below). THE DEADLINE FOR REGISTERING FOR THE THURSDAY EVENING GROUP IS
THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY
15; PLEASE SIGN UP IN THE LOBBY OR SPEAK TO PASTOR JEAN BY THAT
DATE.
Please also sign up for the Tuesday morning
group in the lobby.
If you have any questions, please let Jean
know.
Tuesdays
Thursdays
9:30-11:30
am 7:00-8:30 pm
Introductory Session
Jan. 24 Jan. 19
Jesus calls us...
#1 ...into God's Redemption Story
Jan. 31 Jan. 26
#2 ...to a Transformed
Life Feb. 7 Feb. 9
#3 ...to Minister to a Hostile World
Feb. 14 Feb. 16
#4 ...to Complex Communities of Faith
Feb. 21 Feb. 23
#5 ...to Serve One Another
Feb. 28 Mar. 8
#6 ...to a New Relationship with Tradition
Mar. 6 Mar. 15
#7 ...to Live in Light of His Coming Again
Mar. 13 Mar. 22
#8 ...to Experience the Gifts of His Dying
Mar. 20 Mar. 29
and
Rising
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"SPREAD THE JOY" - SUNDAY,
JANUARY 29
We have enjoyed a fairly mild winter so far this season but the cold
is already nipping at our noses and we know that those snowy days and freezing
nights are not far off. And thankfully, when those bitter cold days arrive, we
will sit snuggled up under a blanket in our cozy homes, our hands curled around
a warm cup of tea, not having to experience what it must feel like to be out on
the streets of Boston as one the many homeless.
Once again the Board of Missions and Outreach invite you to share
your blessings of warmth, food and comfort by "sponsoring" and assembling the
items listed below into ""Spread the Joy" kits to assist the City Mission
Society in their outreach to the homeless this winter. To ensure we have enough
supplies to complete 50 kits, we have gone ahead and purchased the items needed
or solicited donations. Dr. Betsy Disharoon, a local Stoughton dentist has
generously agreed to donate the toothpaste and toothbrushes for our
kits.
Each kit contains the following items so that you can help
"Spread the
Joy" of Warmth, Food and Comfort: scarf, hat, gloves, tea bags, hot chocolate packets, granola bars, peanut butter crackers,
socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, and shampoo.
For a donation of only $8 you can give this gift of comfort to the homeless. Our goal is to
assemble 50 kits and we will be accepting donations throughout the month of
January. That's a 2 day coffee tab from Dunkin Donuts in my house!
Then, during Coffee Fellowship on Sunday, January
29, we invite all members of the
congregation to join us in a "mini-mission" opportunity by making the scarves,
assembling the items into the kits, and writing cards and letters to the sick
and shut-in.
Let's continue to "Spread the Joy" of the Christmas season and warm
up the coldest days of February for some of the most vulnerable among
us.
For more details, please contact Marcia Olson [781-344-9547/baglole.olson@verizon.net] or any member of the Board of Missions and Outreach.
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We will be holding our
annual budget meeting on January 22nd,
immediately following
worship, to approve the
2012 Church Budget.
All members are urged to
attend.
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MAINSPRING HOUSE DINNER -WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15.
Our church will be serving
dinner at MainSpring house in Brockton on Wednesday, February
15.
We need 12 lasagnas, 3
aluminum pans of salad, and dessert. We need cooks and servers. The lasagna can
be made ahead and frozen; it just needs to be delivered to the church freezer
by Sunday, February 12.
Please see any member of
the Board of Missions,
or sign up in the church
lobby.
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WOMEN'S
FELLOWSHIP
Monday evening,
January 23rd at 7:00
p.m.
Women's Fellowship will meet on January 23rd at 7:00 PM. The program for the
evening will be given by The Rev. Charles H. Harper . Rev, Harper is a retired
UCC pastor who lives in Plymouth with his wife Pat. His program for us will be
readings of his poetry. These readings have been widely acclaimed as he
presented them at libraries, schools, churches, book clubs, and community
groups. Rev. Harper has had many of his poems published in various periodicals
as well as authoring two books. The subject matter of his poetry is eclectic,
touching on places and experiences of our everyday life with a fresh insight. It
will be a delightful and challenging evening. Copies of Rev. Harper's books will
be available for those wishing to purchase them.
Hostess for the evening will be Bonnie Bittner and Amy Fowler.
President Peggy Webster will conduct the business meeting.
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Pilgrim District Women
Winter Meeting
Tuesday, January 24,
2012
Christ Congregational
Church, UCC, Brockton, MA
As soon as you turn your calendar over to 2012, be sure to mark and
hold the date for the Winter Meeting of Pilgrim District Women, Tuesday, January 24,
2012 in Brockton. Our featured speaker will be the Rev. Bert
Marshall, New England Director of Church World Service. Plan to join us for
coffee fellowship at 9:30 am, followed by the program presentation and
a hot luncheon prepared by the women of Christ Congregational Church. All women
are welcome to come and bring a guest, whether or not your home church has an
active women's group. For reservations, contact Elaine Henriksen at
781-344-0789.
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PLEASE
HELP US UPDATE OUR PRAYER LIST
FOR
THOSE IN NEED
There are many people who need the prayers of our church. Since the
prayer listing is updated once a month, please review the names of the people
you may have added to the prayer list. Please let us know if their crisis has
passed and they are recovering, so that we can update the list with new
individuals who are facing a current crisis. Anyone removed from the prayer list
can always be added back on, if necessary. Thank you for considering those new
individuals that are in need of our prayers.
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PLEASE
WELCOME THE ASSEMBLY OF CHRIST
The Assembly of Christ, under the leadership of Pastor Frantz
Mangura, is renting our Sanctuary every Sunday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. They
will also be holding a Bible Study on Thursdays, 6 pm to 9 pm and on Saturdays,
from 9 am to 12 noon, downstairs in room #4. They began on Thursday, January 12.
If there is a need for these facilities by members of our church during these
hours, please contact Nancy Sullivan as early as possible so we can make the
necessary arrangements.
The
Board of Trustees
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First Congregational Church
of Stoughton
United Church of
Christ
An
Open and Affirming Congregation
Our Vision
We are called
together
to embrace God's
transformation
of our lives and our
world
by becoming and
serving
as Christ's
disciples.
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