Announcements 12/31/2024
The Flowers on the Altar are given by Evelyn Heinrich in loving memory of family: My parents and siblings and especially Noel, belated for his Christmas Birthday.
Today one service at 9:30 -Charge Conference at 10:30 am
We will be holding a Charge Conference after the one service, around 10:30 am, on December 31 to vote whether to approve the proposed 2024 budget. The balancing of the budget needed to be done after the Church Conference on 11/15, once the pledges were received and were compared with the proposed 2024 expenses. The proposed budget includes a 3% pay increase to the church staff. We will also vote to approve the candidacy of our seminary intern, Veejay Strama, for ministry. All church members are invited to attend this short meeting to review and vote on these two important items.
Today - Hymn Sing, Sunday, December 31, 9:30 am
King’s Sunday, January 7, 2024, 8:30 and 10:45 am
We return to two services, at 8:30 and 10:45 am, on Epiphany, or Kings’ Sunday 1/7. Church school and Coffee Hour are at 9:30 am and Adult Ed is at 9:45 in the Concord Room. We will be bringing forward our special Advent Mission Project gift during the services.
Please join us in our special giving on “Kings’ Sunday” 1/7/24
This year we are supporting Greater Lowell Community Foundation Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund, which supports the efforts of Greater Lowell organizations to help ensure those in need are welcomed and connected with housing, employment, transportation, food, acculturation, and other related support. On Epiphany, also known as “Kings’ Sunday” next Sunday, January 7, we will bring our monetary gifts from the savings we have made and will offer them to support this Advent Mission Project.
Flower Chart available
The Flower Chart for 2024 is now available on the board in the hallway. Please sign up for the dates you would like for 2024.
Church School and Adult Ed will not meet until January 7th. There will be no classes for either on 12/24 or 12/31
Confirmation Class 2024
We plan to offer the confirmation class starting from January. Please pick up the registration form in the welcome area and return it to Cheryl Ortolf, our director of Christian Education. There will be 8 classes this spring and 1 retreat. For more info, please see Cheryl or Pastor Bob.
Prayer Wall in Fellowship Hall
The Church Council recently created a prayer wall on a rolling partition in the Fellowship Hall, asking you to post prayers of what our church will look like as a result of the on-going Inclusion discussions. The Council recently decided to expand the purpose of the wall and we invite you to post prayers on any topic that you wish to have other members of our church family pray about.
Adult Study Opportunities
Advent Study will conclude on Thursday 1/4 and Sunday 1/7
There will be no adult class today 12/24 or Thursday 12/28.
Adult Ed will conclude the Advent Study of The Heart That Grew Three Sizes: Finding Faith in the Story of the Grinch by Matt Rawle on Thursday 1/4 and Sunday 1/7.
Early Bird Bible Application
Early Bird will not meet for the next two weeks. We will convene again on Tuesday 9 January at ten o’clock.
Advent Conspiracy
What Would Jesus want for His Birthday?
Just as the Wise Ones traveled great distances to bring precious gifts to the child Jesus, so too, we want to give gifts this Holy season that would make the heart of Jesus glad.
Again, this year, we are following the principles of The Advent Conspiracy:
* Worship Fully * Spend Less on things people do not need
* Love all * Give more of ourselves, our time, our lives
We are encouraging each other to save the money we would have spent on gifts that those we love really don’t need, and instead give a life-giving gift that truly matters.
On Epiphany, also known as “Kings’ Sunday” – January 7, we will bring our monetary gifts from the savings we have made and will offer them to support our Advent Mission: “Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund.”
Please join us in our special giving on “Kings’ Day” – January 7th.
Checks may be made payable to AUMC with “Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund” in the memo.
Greater Lowell Community Foundation
“Since its inception in 1997, the Greater Lowell Community Foundation has maintained the clear mission to improve the quality of life for the people in the communities we serve by connecting caring donors with local nonprofit organizations that best serve the causes that matter most to them.”
Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund
“On August 8, 2023, Governor Maura T. Healey declared a state of emergency due to rapidly rising numbers of migrant families arriving in Massachusetts who need shelter and services, and the severe lack of availability of those resources.”
“With the influx of new refugees and immigrants arriving in Greater Lowell, GLCF is leading the effort to provide support to local nonprofits charged with these resettlements. The GLCF Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund will support the efforts of Greater Lowell organizations to help ensure those in need are welcomed and connected with housing, employment, transportation, food, acculturation, and other related support.”
Big Thank you from the Bair and Swan Families
Thank you from the Bair and Swan families to those who have contributed to and sent boxes to my grandson. They haven’t started arriving yet but soon there will be at least a box a week. Joyous days when the mail arrives. 55 deg. and wet. Muddy outside and in. But it will be 120 deg. in the Summer, so he is content with rain. He says “things have been very busy lately, but we are making a difference and keeping people safe here.”
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