Williston-West Church

PASTOR’S NOTES
Eric Kelley

It seems like just last week that the Deacons were putting their heads together to plan the Advent Program, John Tewhey was stretching his creativity to produce another Christmas Pageant with our children, Tom Riddell was working hard to bring the message to the Sunday School, Jim McGirr was pulling out all the stops for creative music and I was planning for Christmas Eve with the help of a large supporting cast. Already it is another chapter in the long history of Williston-West Church.

What a wonderful season it has been. The preparation paid off in a big way. The highlight of the Advent program was the night that Carlton Lane shared Christmas family memories of traveling to Brooklyn, New York in 1910, while Dottie Abbott gave us a perspective from Highland Lake and Dottie Jackson gave us a vision of Black Strap in Falmouth. Millie Perkins rounded the evening out with a glimpse of Christmas past in New Jersey and Rhode Island. My profound gratitude goes out to them for all they have brought to our church over the years and what they continue to bring. What a gift they brought to those of us gathered in Memorial Hall in front of the fireplace which is a special gift in memory of Sylvia Fengler who was with us for a short time but has left a big mark on all of us.

John Tewhey brought the Christmas message home with an all-star cast featuring Lefty and Dusty, cowpokes crusty! It was fantastic and perfectly timed to be followed in the evening with our candle light service. All that Tom Riddell has done with our children and Jim McGirr does with music is frosting on a most wonderful ‘cake’.

As we have entered the year 2001 on the shoulders of a Christ centered Christmas we are poised for another creative and prosperous time. I look forward to sharing with you in new and creative ways the impact Christ continues to have on our lives. Don’t miss any of this journey with Christ through the Galilee and on up to Jerusalem where he gave us the gift of love in a way of life we are called to follow today. When you miss church you miss a lot.

Grace and Peace,

Eric

Letter From Friends
Steve & Gina

Dear Eric and friends,

Merry Christmas from your Dixiecrats - Steve and Gina!

We're settling in well in Norfolk, though we miss you all very much and find it hard to believe we'll have Christmas without the Christmas Fair and the wonderful Christmas Eve service and fellowship. Steve says he's never had so many people ask him what his personal religious leanings are - at least once a day, somebody asks, and he artfully answers, "we're still church shopping." He's already, for the first time in his life, heard someone speaking in tongues - frankly, it was quite odd. But there's incredible diversity overall in the faith community, including strong Episcopal and Catholic communities, and some UCC too!

Steve chose one UCC church at random on his first Sunday here, and found himself the only white person at the service! A service, which lasted 2 hours and included, lots and lots of singing, and a terrific gospel choir; the minister announced during the service he was pleased that a visitor from Maine, the motherlode of Congregationalism, was present. It seems that most of the UCC churches here previously were with the Christian Church, one of the 4 denominations that comprises the modern UCC, and they seem a little less "progressive" and a little more evangelical - but the hymns, order of worship, prayers and concerns run true to what we know at WWC. Gina is well, tuckered out from her graduate studies but exploring Norfolk now that she's home for the holidays.

Hope you all are well and, as they say here, are having a blessed Christmas.

Love, Steve and Gina (Vegh)

$25,000 Challenge Grant – 77% of Goal and Counting!
Stewardship Committee

As of January 3, 2001, thirty-nine members and friends of Williston-West have stepped forward with pledges or contributions to the $25,000 Challenge Grant to our endowment. The total to date is $19,270. The goal of the anonymous donor is to raise awareness of the endowment and its importance to the church. Contributions and pledges so far range from outright gifts of $20 to $1000 and pledges over the three-year period of up to $1,000. In order to receive the full $25,000 of the challenge we need to raise another $5730.

The Stewardship Committee is encouraged by the fantastic response to this Challenge. The anonymous donor has made a payment to the Endowment for the year 2000 for $9000 to match the gifts and pledges of members and friends for this first of the three year Challenge.

Inside the cover of this month’s newsletter is a Challenge Grant pledge form, for your convenience. The pledge form can be returned to the office or placed in the Sunday offering.

Thank you to those listed below who have recognized this opportunity to increase our endowment.

As I leave as the chair of the Board of Deacons after three and a half years, I am so grateful for having had this opportunity to serve the congregation and to assist Eric in worship. The deacon's role, as defined so long ago by the Apostle Paul, is to serve and in that process, I have been privileged to work with extraordinary and wonderful fellow deacons and to find my own spiritual understanding deepening.

The board of deacons has become an active board, with a mission for providing opportunities for spiritual growth for the congregation, whether through Lenten or Advent programs, Bible study, visitation or alternative worship. Our board meetings have been able to include time to discuss faith issues as well as logistics of worship services. To share our feelings, doubts, convictions and faith has been incredibly special.

I have learned so much in my time on the board of deacons and experienced a sense of community that I will miss. It has been an honor to be part of the board for as long as I have. I am delighted that Bill Whelan will be the next chair of the board, knowing that the community and the board will benefit from his integrity, thoughtfulness and willingness to share his own faith journey.

Thanks to all who have contributed photos for the collages, which hang in our dining room. A new one will be ready for the annual meeting for the year 2000. If you take informal shots during the next year at your committee meetings or events and want to pass them on I will be collecting for 2001.

Dear Friends at Williston-West:

Thank you so very much for keeping our team, the staff in Codaesti, and especially the babies in your prayers. Prayer was very much needed, and still is.

We found Romania to be a very poor country. It was very hard to see children begging in the streets. So many things we take for granted are just not available to the people there. They have had a 40% inflation rate this year. The average Romanian earns between $80 and $100 a week. Luxuries are a bottle of soda, a 40-cent taxi ride, a chance to eat at McDonalds (yes, we say two).

Each year about 10,000 babies are abandoned. They arrive at "clinics" tiny and malnourished, many with other physical problems such as visual defects, spina bifada, mental retardation, and heart defect. They receive small amounts of food (soup, cereal and formula) through a bottle, and are rarely held or emotionally nurtured.

Our team of 7 worked with about 30 babies, age’s 5 weeks to 2 years. We fed, held, changed, cuddled, played with and loved these dear little ones, and found them to be so responsive to attention. The day they began hugging back was a great day! And we encouraged them to hug each other through the bars of their cribs, because cribs were packed so tightly in each room. Some of the littler babies were in the same cribs, and enjoyed being near each other. Each day I would put a blanket on the floor and get my 8 babies out to climb over each other and explore. They loved it! They rarely get out of their cribs unless volunteers are there.

This was the first year Global Volunteers went to Codaesti. There will be no more teams in until spring because of the condition of the mountain roads in the winter, but next year there will be 9 teams. With that much attention we hope the babies will thrive emotionally as well as physically.

Did we make a difference? I believe we did. We brought with us so many donated items, clothing and medicines. Contributions from the volunteers and others will provide food for the winter. An organization in Minnesota will get the babies out of their old painted metal cribs and into wooden cribs. We hope to raise enough money to provide a full time aide position. This could be funded with $1000 for a year. The most exciting thing is that a sweet 7-month-old, Bogdon, will be able to have open-heart surgery in Bucharest in January. There are so many answers to prayer in these last few months. Please don’ t ever doubt that you, as a congregation can help. Your prayers have made a difference and I thank you so very much for your prayers and the support I felt from you as we worked there.

In Christian Love,

Rachel

Flower Committee Request
Diane Tyler

Are you interested in donating flowers to be displayed on our Altar one or more Sundays during the months of January and February, perhaps to honor a friend or relative? If so, please contact the Church office. You may provide the flowers yourself, or send a check for $25 or more and we will purchase the flowers.

Either way, you will be recognized in the church bulletin and the monthly newsletter for your kind contribution.

If you plan to donate flowers in honor of, or in memory of someone, please provide the following information:
- - your name
- - your phone number
- - specify either 'In Honor Of' or 'In Memory Of'
- - name of the person flowers are donated for.
- - whether you will provide the flowers or will send a check.

Here are the available dates:

January 14
January 21
January 28
February 4
February 11
February 18
February 25

The Bible Workshop - A Faith Journey

Does your familiarity with the Bible begin and end with childhood stories? Would like to know more about the Bible but are embarrassed to admit how little you know? Does your embarrassment get in the way of a deeper understand of God?

Begin the New Year with Basic Bible Study at Williston-West Church on Thursday evenings, beginning January 18^th through February 22^nd, 7-8:30 PM. No previous biblical knowledge assumed.

Cost for the 5-week session is $15.00. For more information call the church office at 774-4060. Williston-West is an affirming and inclusive community, so all are welcome.

Silent Auction Notes

The silent auction had many friends in local businesses that support our efforts. Now it is our turn to thank them by being good customers of their customers. Let them know where you are from. Here are some of them:

Here are some of those friends:

This year the silent auction at the Fair was a great success thanks to those who solicited items from the local businesses. We set a record with over $4,400 in receipts.

When you see them, remember to thank: