Our UMW candy makers are making a fresh batch of Boomerangs for Valentine's Day. Cost is $4.50 a dozen. To order call Irene Morrissey (432-7932) or Dottie Lawson (432-0904) by February 5, 2012.

Our Roast Beef Dinner will be January 28, 2012. Tickets are available in the church office and on Sunday mornings between services. Same wonderful menu of roast beef au jus, rosemary potatoes, rolls, green beans almondine, salad, beverage and dessert. $10/adults; $5/5-12; under 5 free.

On Thursday night, January 19, 2012, the Administrative Council unanimously approved the budget for 2012, including the vision of an associate pastor as of July 1 2012. Our discussions have examined this issue and shared concerns and possibilities. We felt that the last few years we have preserved and strengthened the Bell Tower and church structure inside and out. We felt perhaps now was the time to look to the future and strengthen and build that future by investing in the children, youth and young adults in the church and community. The children of today are the future of tomorrow in our church, communities and nation, and we have a responsibility to focus on their spiritual growth, mission and ministry. We are asking you to please prayerfully consider your role as we move forward with the budget and effort. The following information is provided to help you understand some of our considerations about this issue.

Two poems by Ann Weems are offered here for an Advent Meditation: Yesterday’s Pain and Not celebrate?.

Advent blessings to you! As I move through this season, I've been thinking about
Mary. Fierce reader that I am, I'm fond of the way that so many medieval artists
depicted her in the moment of the Annunciation. When the archangel Gabriel
swoops in with his outrageous invitation, as these artists would have it, he finds
Mary with a book. Some artists portrayed her reading from the Hebrew Bible, specifically the passage in Isaiah that tells of a young woman who will bear a son
named Immanuel.