Nov 2015 Newsletter
Congregational
Connections
The First Congregational Church of Leicester
Nov 2015 Issue
Strawberry Hill Fair: November 14
See Oct Newsletter for more details
**NO ELECTRONICS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR SALE AT THE FAIR PER THE TRUSTEES.
Woman’s Association Meeting:
November 4 at 12:00 noon
The Woman’s Association meeting will be held at the church. After a brief meeting we will be setting up for the fair. Lots of help needed. Please bring with you any finished products or donations of toys, attic 
treasures Christmas items, sewing, knitting, country store, and gift baskets you have for the fair. Please bring a scratch ticket of any amount to the meeting I will be making a tree of tickets for a basket. Only baked goods will be accepted the day of the fair. We will be collecting hats, gloves, mittens, scarves and white socks for Worcester Fellowship. They may be brought to the meeting. Pizza & Dessert will be provided. We are looking for volunteers to help with the collations we provide to Church members after a family funeral. Please see Ann Orsi for details.
Our next meeting will be December 2nd. We will be attending the Christmas Brown Bag Concert at Mechanic’s Hall. Please call Judy Ivel for reservations and details.(508) 892 -3321. (See Page 3 for more information)
Marie Frascolla, President 508-892-0038
Advent Readers Needed:
The first Sunday in Advent is November 30. Each Sunday during Advent we light a candle in the Advent wreath and reflect on a particular theme. I am looking for volunteers for each of the 4 weeks of Advent to come forward as a family, individual, or friends to light the candle and say a few words about a particular theme. I warn you that it involves more than reading something pre-written, but I am excited to work with you in adding your own thoughts – a few sentences – to the ritual. Participants will be given a book of Advent devotionals by the Still Speaking writers to share. Let me know if you are interested.
Christmas on the Common: December 5th
Free Christmas Concert at 7p.m. here in our sanctuary. The program will be “JOY, JOY, JOY: Celebrating the Season, the Story, the Savior,” created by Deborah Craig-Claar & David T. Clydesdale and presented by the Christian Community Choir under the direction of Kathleen Hosterman. The choir is an ecumenical ministry with approximately fifty people representing some sixteen churches. A collation will follow the performance. Please contact Judy Ivel or Cindy Lapointe to sign up to bake, work or contribute in any way. Also singing with the choir this season are Jackie Henderson and Pastor Doreen.
Musical Notes
On Sunday, October 11, the music committee met after fellowship time in Russell Hall. During our discussion of possible goals for the remainder of our church year, Bonnalee Bohlman, the committee’s 
newest member, volunteered to become our “ears:” she wants to collect input from you, the congregation, and share it with Bob and the choir.
More specifically, she would like to know some of your musical preferences. Is there a certain genre of music you want to hear more often? Less often? Is there a particular piece of music you loved and would like to hear again? (It could be a prelude, a postlude, a hymn or an anthem.) Are there Christmas and/or Easter selections you’ve been missing and would like to request? Do you have friends who play musical instruments? Our suggestion box is open!
If you have a request or an idea you’d like to share, please put it in writing and include your name. Give it to Bonnalee or, in her absence, any music committee member. If you prefer, you may email Bonnalee at bonnalee20@charter.net. We’ll never know what you’re thinking unless you tell us!
A Note from the Pastor
Grace and peace to you, my friends. In the rapidly approaching season of Thanksgiving, I want to express my gratitude to you, each and all of you who support the church with your prayers, with your time, with your financial gifts and with your presence. As you get busier and busier with holiday preparations, may God gently nudge you to take a breath, to take a moment, to remember that your value to God is not based on what you accomplish or what you give. Remember that God loves you because God is love, and you are part of that love – yours for the taking. I hope that you receive it with joy and share it with abandon.
As a nation, we side aside this one day to acknowledge that we have been gifted, and to give thanks for our gifts. As participants of a faith community, we have many such opportunities. Hopefully you experience several moments of thanksgiving during weekly worship, and thankfulness is also a theme of many of our bible study and book group discussions. I believe that the importance of developing an attitude of gratitude cannot be over-stated. I wondered if thankfulness was a “fruit of the Spirit” according to scripture, but it is not listed among the attributes noted in Paul’s letter to the Galatians (love, peace, joy, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). Instead, it is understood to be a spiritual practice rather than an outcome. Practicing gratitude is likely to bring about such fruits.
Some people may find themselves in situations in which it is difficult to feel grateful, but spiritual masters will tell you that there is no situation that gratitude will not improve. If you cannot be grateful for your broken arm, you can, perhaps be grateful for health insurance or good care, or a loving family member who cooks for you while you are incapacitated. When we find ourselves overwhelmed with hardship and heartache, of course we need room and time to acknowledge and grieve the hardship, but we ought also seek out the blessings to count. Bitterness, resentment, and self-pity will lead us astray; they will lead us away from the life God intends for us. These things mislead us about ourselves and others and the world.
I am reading a book called Radical Forgiveness, by Colin Tipping, and gratitude seems as much a them in the book as forgiveness. In fact, he says that there is a level of being in which there is nothing to forgive – ever; only things to be grateful for. He says that we are, like Jesus, part human and part divine – made of both body and spirit. Our souls / spirits use our bodies to achieve various spiritual understandings. Everything that happens to us in our bodies (including heart and mind) happens in service to this spiritual growth. It is radical, alright, and I am getting a lot out of it. If you are curious and would like to borrow the book, let me know. If you get it yourself and would like to talk about it with me, I would love that.
In regards to making gratitude a spiritual practice, well, there are many ways of doing so. I try to let my first words each morning be “Thank you, God.” Some keep gratitude journals, writing down a few things to be thankful for each day. One Lenten season I made a practice of writing thank you notes to people at least once a week. Some say grace before meals, some offer prayers of thanks before going to bed. As part of my summer spirituality series based on Barbara Brown Taylor’s An Altar in the World, I often expressed gratitude to nature – “thank you tree, thank you bird, thank you calm lake or cooling breeze.” I often include messages of thanks in birthday cards I send, telling people some of the things I appreciate about them.
I would love to hear about your spiritual practices of gratitude. What do you do? How has it impacted your life? What inspired you to develop such a practice? If you don’t have any gratitude practices, I encourage you to try it. If you need ideas, support or encouragement, I am here for you. Blessings, Doreen
Super, Super, Saturday
Kelly Gallagher
On October 17th, Pastor Doreen, I, and 400 others attended “Super Saturday”, a series of workshops sponsored by the Mass. and RI Conferences. I attended two workshops. The morning one being a “Sacred Conversation on Race” which focused on the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. Our facilitator and Conference Minister, The Rev. Kelly Gallagher, took us step by step through the entire episode of events and at each step asked us questions such as; how would you feel, what would your reaction be or what should, could or would we do? The consensus seemed to be that we need to keep this discussion going on all levels, home, church, and community. Click here to read more.
The afternoon workshop was on “Testing Your Churches Vital Signs”, facilitated by The Rev. Don Remick, also Associate Conference Minister. Over 40 people attended, which shows what us
Don Remick
and many other churches are going through. This workshop didn’t give a ‘cure’ for the problems we may be facing, but did identify ways to see where we are and maybe where we want to go. Workshop time as always was a wonderful mix of prayer, music, and ministry. I always enjoy these days of introspection, learning, and being in community and urge others to consider experiencing as well. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to see me or Pastor Doreen. I also have lots of reading material from the afternoon class for any who are interested.
Peace, Ken Latham, Delegate
Open and Affirming (ONA)
Many of us at our congregation feel that is it time to explore option of becoming an Open and Affirming church. At times I wondered why we need this. Don’t we welcome all to our worship? In the ONA toolkit I received from the UCC this paragraph really stood out to me:
“Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of faith often experience emotional and spiritual injury in churches that condemn their capacity to love and seek love. Because they’ve learned that “All Are Welcome” usually doesn’t apply to them, they can’t assume that any church will be safe for them and their families”
We aren’t the first church to enter on this journey so we reap the benefits of other’s experience. I have a starter tool kit from the UCC, a person who will mentor and provide more materials from the UCC and of course our wonderful pastor Doreen. I don’t know where this path will lead us but I know we need to do this together. That means I need your help. My prayer is that we can form a core group that can put together a program of open dialogue and study, one that will make all in the people in our congregation feel that their voice is heard without judgment. This doesn’t need to be done in a hurry; I would not
Charlene & Maura’s wedding – family love and support
want anyone to feel we rushed into a decision, whatever that may be. The UCC states:
“a successful ONA process is an extended time of prayer, dialogue, study, and discernment. Don’t rush to a decision. Be thorough and give the congregation enough time to assimilate and discuss new information “
Please let Pastor Doreen and/or Deborah Arsenault know if you are will to work with us.
Woman’s Association: December 2
We will be attending the Christmas Holiday Brown Bag Concert at Mechanics Hall. This year’s concert will feature the New England Conservatory Symphonic Winds & Chamber Singers with the Navy Band Northeast. Bill Drury and Erica Washburn from the New England Conservatory conduct a broad repertoire of holiday cheer. The students will be joined by Navy Band Northeast, a 35-musician ensemble based on board NAVSTA Newport and is one of 11 official U.S. Navy bands worldwide. WICN 90.5 FM, New England’s Jazz & public radio station sponsors & broadcasts this concert live that day.
All ladies interested in attending should make a reservation with Judy Ivel at 508-892-3321 or ljivel@verizon.net as soon as possible. Please feel free to invite a friend. We have 
secured 3 tables of 8 on the floor at Mechanics Hall. Any seats not spoken for by November 22nd will go to the gentlemen of the church. Judy will run a waiting list for those men interested in attending.
The concert starts promptly at 12 noon. If you wish to car pool from the church lot – departure for Mechanics Hall will be promptly at 11a.m. – entrances into the Main Hall at Mechanics begins at 11:30 a.m. – so there will need to be time for parking at the event & scooting into the Hall. The concert is free and it looks like lunch will be $6.00 this year and Judy will arrange for that. The only thing you need to remember is to bring a drink. If you forget, one may be purchased at the back of the Hall. We are so lucky to be able to do this. Mechanics Hall has been so gracious to us these last few years reserving tables. It’s a wonderful event – hoping to see you all there.
THANK YOU!
“There are no words” to express our gratitude for all you each do. How do we find the words to thank so many of you for “being there” for us in so many ways? It is extremely heartwarming and sometimes overwhelming to see the outpouring of support and generosity so many of you give to us. Your thoughts and prayers, cards of inspiration, e-mails, phone calls, meals, flowers, and visits mean a great deal to us. At the risk of leaving someone out, we want to thank all of you and especially Pastor Doreen for your love, support, and blessings to me, Ken, and Lauri through this journey. God is truly good and so are all of you. “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May God’s face turn toward you and give you peace”.
Ellie & Ken Latham
