CentralNEWS/November 2011

VOLUME 19 NUMBER 10

296 Angell Street Providence, RI 02906 401-331-1960

From your Senior Minister

Dear Friends,

“Hope is born again in the faces of children.
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth, brightening all things,
Even hate, which crouches breeding in dark corridors.”

I hope you love that piece of a poem by Maya Angelou as much as I do. It makes me envision the faces of children looking up as we celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism in our beloved sanctuary. To walk into their sunsets reminds me of the privilege I have had of coming to know so many wise older people who are part of the Central family.

The thought of hope spreading around the earth reminds me of a relationship between a Palestinian and an Israeli who disagree about most everything, yet can work together for peace because they trust one another. And the image of hate crouching, breeding in bleak corners is all too real for so many of us in large and small ways.

I know that when I do a hope filled act, what our Jewish friends call a mitzvah, it makes a difference in my mind and heart. I like to think it makes a difference in the life of our world. I hope you find a way to spread hope in your life, in the lives of your neighbors and even your enemies. For, as another poet (dear Emily Dickinson) reminded us, “hope is the thing with feathers – that perches in the soul – and sings the tune without the words – and never stops – at all –

Yours, with hope, faith and love,

Rebecca

Thanksgiving Festival Service 10:30 AM

On Sunday, November 20, we celebrate our faith in our traditional Thanksgiving Festival Worship. You are encouraged to reach out with an invitation to friends and neighbors to join you on Thanksgiving Sunday–a Service where we thanks to God for the abundance with which we have been blessed, to hear inspiring preaching, and to listen to fine music–and an experience that may enhance your friends own Thanksgiving traditions.

Preludes begin at 10:10 a.m. This year’s music will feature the Coronation Te Deum by William Walton, accompanied by organ and brass octet! This large work is only one of the pieces we will sing, as well as our anniversary hymn, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and “We Gather Together.”

Thanks we bring!

Friends we bring!

Our thoughts and prayers are with

Margaret Hagy – Her son, William Hagy, died in September.

Kathy Jellison – Her father, the Rev. Frederick Jellison, died in October.

Lisa Griffith – Her mother died earlier this year.

Dean Wood – His brother, Duncan Wood, died in October.

New Members

New Member Orientation*

Tuesday, January 24

Faith Exploration*

Wednesday, February 1

New Member Sunday

Febraury 5

*These meetings are held at the home of the Rev. Rebecca Spencer 15 Taber Ave at 7 pm.

Baptism

The Sacrament of Baptism is an important part of our worship life together. In an effort to uplift our celebration of Baptisms in our community of faith, we will be offering Baptisms during the following Sundays of the church year.

Sunday after Epiphany January 15, 2012

Sunday after Easter April 15, 2012

Meetings to prepare for Baptism will be held in our Fireplace Room at 9 am on the Saturday of the preceding week. Please speak with the Rev. Rebecca Spencer if you would like to be included in this very important part of life at Central – - The Sacrament of Baptism

Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

Tuesday, November 22 at 7pm Temple Beth El – Providence

The Rabbi Leslie Gutterman Sermon: “The Last Leaf”

Guest Preacher

From Kat

Greetings and may God bless you with grace and peace! A colleague passed along a book to me that has me thinking a lot about blessing. The book is called To Bless the Space between Us by John O’Donohue. The nearly 100 blessings cover a wide spectrum of experiences, and they remind me that even the most simple task can be sacramental if we turn our focus to God and look for God’s presence among us.

This Fall was full of blessings and new beginnings. In October, we blessed and commissioned our confirmation class, their mentors, and their families. As a congregation, we reached out our hands to them and made promises to support and care for them as they embark on their journeys of faith and exploration. This year’s class includes Noah Kim, Sam Nozaki, Sam Leander, Ezra Rice, Liam Maloney, Jina Pappas-Hori, Diane Newberry, Alex LaMotte, Meghan Buonanno, Katharine Templeton and mentors Barry Bayon, Rob Schmidt, George Delany, Bill Claflin, Rob Edwards, Joan Harrison, Liz Viall, Laurel McLaughlin, Sandi Seltzer, and Amy Hebb.

Other blessings took place this Fall as well—we blessed the New Orleans Mission Team as they departed for their work week, then received the blessing of their presence and reflection upon their return. We were also moved and uplifted by our WORD Chicago Mission Team, which shared their wisdom and reflections with us on October 16.

I’m also looking forward to the chance to be blessed by God in creation as I lead the college and young professionals group on a backpacking trip in the White Mountains. I’ve already been blessed by the opportunity to work with Central members, Karen Hopkinson and James DeBoer, who are helping facilitate the retreat. By the time you receive this, we should all be safely down from the mountain, renewed and refreshed by our adventures in the wilderness.

You may notice shoeboxes beginning to appear on the stage in Chapel Hall—yet another opportunity to bless others with a reminder of God’s love for them! The shoe boxes will go to our college students at exam time—consider bringing written notes, Halloween candy, and other goodies for the boxes. We are also collecting donated food and money for our local neighbors in need in partnership with the United Church of Christ, we are participating in “Mission 1”, a national campaign of generosity. Our goal is to collect 1,111 food items by 11-11-11. Please bring canned goods to with you to church this Sunday!

There are many ongoing chances for you to pass along God’s blessings to others—whether it’s through active service like participating with us in a Habitat for Humanity build, signing up to be a mentor with the Mt. Hope Learning Center or volunteering Tuesday mornings at Amos House or through a more personal, one on one ministry of listening and care for others. There is also the simple gift of silence and taking the time to notice the many ways in which God is blessing you life.

As the leaves change and fall, I am present to the fact that many of us are in the midst of transition in our own lives. How fitting that Advent is just around the corner—an entire season of waiting and expectation. When the future is unclear, it is ironically difficult to remain centered in the present. My prayer is that God will bless us all with the awareness to notice God’s miraculous presence and work, not just in the promise of Spring and Christ’s birth, but in the crispness of the cold, the comfort of hot chocolate, and the reality of God with us now. Amen!

Kat

From Claudia

In great thanksgiving I am reflecting on our annual mission trip to New Orleans last week. It was a wonderful trip with 29 participants who worked terribly hard rebuilding in areas still devastated by the flooding that covered 80% of that city during Hurricane Katrina. 90 breeches in the levees will do that… Those who go with me volunteer to change lives, but what we have discovered is that it is OUR lives that are the ones that are changed!

I am reminded of a discussion of this in Good News in Exile by Martin Copenhaver, Anthony Robinson, and Will Willimon: “There are those who complain that this new emphasis on “hands-on” mission outreach ministries derives from our need to feel good about our efforts. But we see it differently. Where once we served the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable because they need us, now we more fully recognize that we need them. Where once there would have been almost exclusive emphasis on how much we have to give, now we also freely and joyously recognize how much we stand to receive.”

And, we do receive. In talking to members of this mission group we return again and again to the blessings of such work. And it’s not easy to put this into words. Last night some of us were reflecting on the fact that an experience like this is hard to explain. We try, but often we see the eyes of our family and friends start to glaze over! This is something that MUST be experienced…and once that happens we are never the same—we are transformed.

“We are not always the givers. We are also receivers. We have even come to recognize that, in God’s economy, it is hard to determine who is the giver and who is the receiver because both participate in the endless echo of grace.” (Good News in Exile)

So, we go back to New Orleans year after year. And, year after year the blessings multiply—for others and for ourselves and for those to whom we try to explain this experience of participating in the building of God’s realm. We reach out to those whom the world has forgotten as the media moves on to coverage of the newest disaster. We don’t forget those who are still suffering. What we do is small, but remember Jesus’ parable about the mustard seed! God’s realm is like that seed that grows and grows and sends out strong, healthy branches!

In this season of Thanksgiving I am giving thanks for those who were sent out from this place to offer themselves in willing service. Those whose hands became blistered and raw, whose legs and arms ached, who braved insects and sun and heat in order to serve others, who returned from work every day filthy and exhausted… I give thanks for willing hearts and strong faith…and God’s grace which sustains us all.

In gratitude,

Claudia

CHURCH SCHOOL NEWS!

“Oh how I want to be in that number,

when the saints go marching in!”

Greetings, Church School families!

It’s that time of year again when we honor our ‘saints’ on All Saints Day (Sunday, Nov. 6th), during the opening processional hymn in morning worship (please come to Chapel Hall to line up for this, at 10:15). The children have been working on drawings of their saints, and class discussion is always lively around this topic!

If this is your first experience of the All Saints Processional, you might be surprised to see the saint drawing mounted on a large brown paper bag! When your child brings his/her saint home that day, you can read the instructions taped inside the bag: please fill the bag with canned and dry foods, and return the next Sunday to church! The bags can be brought to the food collection baskets, as usual, during worship. In this small way, we practice one saintly quality of giving generously to those in need.

Another way we continually give is with our Church School offering. We are not only raising money for Heifer Project International, but we also want to sponsor a family in Haiti. Please don’t underestimate the importance of each quarter (or dollar!) in the collection basket, and the consistency of your giving, as your child is leaving worship for Church School!

Hope to see a lot of you at the Family Fun Night planned for Friday, Nov. 4th! The Religious Education committee has planned this with the Community Baptist Church, nearby on Lloyd and Wayland Ave., from 6 – 8 p.m. Please come on down for some Friday family fun and fellowship with one another!

Love and blessings,

Cathy Clasper-Torch

Fun-Filled Friday Night

Join us on NOVEMBER 4, 6-8 PM at COMMUNITY CHURCH

Did you know that Community Church (372 Wayland Ave., Providence) has a BOWLING ALLEY, a POOL TABLE, a PING PONG TABLE, and a HALF-PIPE in its basement? Please join the RE Committee and our neighbors down the street for this fun-filled Friday night and bring your friends. We’ll also have our Bingo ball and games for younger children. There will be a small-suggested donation for pizza, drinks and dessert.

Noon Book Group

Rebecca’s Noon Book group next meets on Thursday, December 1 to discuss Morley Winograd’s Millennial Momentum. All are welcome to join this lively group.

In the Shade of the Green Tree

Green Greetings from the Conservation Committee! (aka “the Green Committee”). There are many activities planned and challenges ahead for our Church as we strive to be better stewards of the gift of God’s earth. We will share some thoughts with you about them here each month. This first column is about what you can expect from us this year.

Promise number one: we won’t preach. Really, who doesn’t suffer at times from the “green Fatigue” of the commercial world? But we hope to move you, to engage you, in a process of growing awareness and mindful action that will become a routine part of the life of our Church. This is a spiritual journey. We have been entrusted with God’s gift of the earth and we hold it only temporarily in trust for the benefit of our children and grandchildren. To be mindful of this is itself an act of Christian conscience.

Promise number two: You will see some tangible changes in our church. Not overnight, but someday soon. To get there requires some study and thought, followed by talking and planning, then action and hope. For example, we hope to install special meters to measure the heating and cooling patterns of our church. That should give us solid data to study alternative paths of energy use. Another effort is to install a bike rack. We need it to make it easier to ride bikes to church. That’s simple and effective—and just way more fun than data meters!

Promise number three: We will listen. Let us hear from you. We want your ideas and we need your expertise. We are on an important journey together that is not easy and will take time. it’s a bit like trying to live a good Christian life. It won’t always turn out as planned but we will walk the path together and be better for the trying.

So let’s head down that path and have some fun along the way!

-Bill Templeton

MISSION 1

Mission 1: The UCC churches are all joining together this November for Mission 1, an initiative to combat the ever-increasing problem of hunger in the United States. From November 1, 2011 through November 11, 2011, Mission 1 seeks to raise an additional $111,111 in donations for Neighbors in Need, write 11,111 letters to Congress and otherwise engage churches in combating hunger in their own ways. Please join Central is collecting 1,111 items of food, to be donated to Camp Street Ministries. Collections started Sunday, September 25 and will end November 11^th. Needed items are: cereals, pasta, stuffing, or cans of tuna fish, corn, peas, beans and gravy. Items can be brought to the front of the church and placed in the basket during the first hymn, second verse.

West Lawn Terrace

As you prepare for Thanksgiving and remember all for which you are thankful, take a moment to think of our new Terrace on the West Lawn. You can for $200 purchase a brick there and commemorate a person, an anniversary, or a celebration, and help Central’s Step Forward campaign at the same time.

DEACON’S BENCH

“I have made you neither heavenly nor earthly, neither mortal nor immortal, so that, fair and sovereign artificer of thyself, you might mould and fashion yourself into that form you have chosen.”

–Pico della Mirandola 1486

This past afternoon after church, my daughter and I were discussing the importance, in this digital age, of committing things to memory; specifically poetry. She was wondering just how much information it is possible to store in our minds and I assured her that with proper diligence, one could commit pages and pages of verse by rote. It struck me as vaguely ludicrous that I of such limited RAM space should be the one to advocate for the retentive power of the human mind. I have been known to forget to put the lunches in backpacks before school and, while I do know what gender our cats are when I really think about it, the kids have taken to reminding me on a regular basis. There was that one Dylan Thomas poem that I set out to memorize, but sadly I can recall 1970’s television commercials with greater accuracy. I do know, however, that learning great works of literature makes the mind a more beautiful place to dwell. While some things fade, the above quote has tenaciously stuck in my mind over the years.

The oration is an imagined conversation in which God the creator discloses the unique nature of humankind’s place in the world. We are neither heavenly nor earthly; mortal nor immortal. For me it means that while I might struggle all week trying to make sure teeth get brushed, assignments get completed, meetings are attended, and chores get tended, that I have the good fortune to come to church on Sunday and try, just try, to grasp the divine. I might find it in a sermon, in the profound kindness or quiet graciousness shown by the others who worship here, or in the sublime music resonating through the sanctuary. But it’s the modest, the mortal, and the absurd in our daily lives that make those glimmers of the Divine all the more precious.

The Second Letter of Peter 1:3 reads, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature…” Because we have been given this gift of participation in the divine nature, the passage exhorts us make every effort to confirm our calling, adding to our faith, our goodness, our self-control, our knowledge, our godliness, and our affection and love for those around us. We are indeed “fair and sovereign artificers of ourselves” in our everyday struggles and our faith journeys. Some seem to glide effortlessly, others of us might struggle and stumble our way there, but ultimately the journey into our faith makes our world a more beautiful place to dwell.

-Laurel McLaughlin

A Stewardship Moment

The Stewardship Committee members have done some reading from a very interesting book, Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate, and have found that the major reasons people give are:

#1 belief in the mission of the institution,
#2 a high regard of the staff leadership, and
#3 the fiscal responsibility of the institution.

We hope that you agree with us that we have a great mission, wonderful leadership, and a financially strong and responsible church. The Stewardship Committee is working on the details of our 2012 – 2013 campaign. You will be hearing more about the campaign in the near future.

This Old House

Yes, this title applies to Central Church and our parsonage.

Starting in mid-summer, then stopping the week of October 10^th, we had a leak in the parsonage dining room. Mystery? Why? Was it the chimney roof or plumbing?

The final determination was the cast iron stack pipe from the 3^rd to 2^nd floor had an 18” crack. It required opening a closet wall, which will have to be re-plastered and painted. The dining room ceiling and plumbing was a $1,500 + job with a lot of cleanup handled by Tony.

We have started the maintenance of the church side doors. Cost is $36,000. Hope you like red! The scaffolding is visible evidence of correcting structural flaws that contributed to the leaks in the Sanctuary. Wilson Chapel was re-painted in October. Estimated cost is $10,000. Insurance claims from last year’s winter storm will pay for this.

I’m always available to discuss or explain.

-Ed Bishop

THE MORMONS – CCC Adult Sunday School

9:00 a.m. on November 6, 13, 20 and 27

Fireplace Room

This month Central’s Adult Sunday School continues to explore various Christian denominations. The Mormons is a documentary about one of the fastest growing religions in America—12 million and counting! Among its members there are corporate and other leaders and even some presidential candidates! Do you know what the Mormons claim to be and what they believe? Come find out! Questions? Call Claudia.

Darrell West Lecture Series

Friday, January 6, 2012 6:30 pm

Elaine Pagels – Professor Scholar

Author, The Gnostic Gospels

Growing up in a family of scientists, Elaine Pagels was taught that scientific discovery had made religion obsolete and irrelevant. Despite this early training Pagels, the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University, is now one of the country’s leading scholars of religion.

An intensely inquisitive and thorough historian, Pagels’ impeccable scholarship has won her international respect. As a young researcher at Barnard College, she changed forever the historical landscape of the Christian religion by exploding the myth of the early Christian Church as a unified movement.

Her findings were published in the bestselling book, The Gnostic Gospels (1979, Random House), an analysis of 52 early Christian manuscripts that were unearthed in Egypt in 1945. Known collectively as the Nag Hammadi Library, the manuscripts demonstrate that the early Christian movement was far more diverse that previously thought. They also indicate how women, prominent in certain Christian groups, were subsequently excluded from governing positions in its emerging hierarchy. As the early church moved toward becoming an orthodox body with a canon, rites and clergy, the Nag Hammadi manuscripts were suppressed and deemed heretical.

Pagels wrote The Origin of Satan (1995, Random House) after two tragic events in her life—the 1987 death of her six year old son, Mark, to a respiratory disease and the 1988 death of her husband of 20 years, physicist Heinz Pagels, in a rock climbing accident. The book is a culmination of her reflections on the many ways that various religions have given imaginative form to what is invisible.

 

Her latest book Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation will be available in March 2012.

Fulfilling Your Soul’s Purpose

A 12 Part Series on Doing Work You Love with Judith Drew, PhD, CRC

If you are at a turning point in your work because you are unemployed, underemployed, or want to return to the work force, this group may be for you. Changing careers or jobs can be extremely stressful, especially in this economy. The bad news is it takes time to find the work that matches your soul’s purpose. The good news is by increasing your understanding of your values, needs and personality; you can find a truly fulfilling job that enhances the quality of your life!

Please join Dr. Drew in this dynamic series that will help you develop your authenticity, personal insight, faith in your unique gifts, and help you find that a job that you love so that you can fulfill your soul’s purpose. Dr. Drew will assist you in determining the right career/ job match for you, as well as teach you how to look for the work you want, how to write resumes that get noticed, and how to find the hidden job market, even in this economy.

With over 25 years of practice as a career counselor and vocational expert, she has a wealth of experience in helping individuals make better career choices based on their values and personal mission, which has resulted in hundreds of successful job searches. Dr. Drew wants to share what she has learned to help you on your path to the job you love.

If you are interested in this free series, an organizational meeting will take place Monday, November 7 at 6:30 pm in the Deacon’s Room. After this meeting, the schedule for the series will be set. The group will be limited to 12 people, so please register with Dr. Drew at 475-1610 to attend the organizational meeting.

Tree Trimming At Central

 

On Sunday, December 11, immediately following the church service, please stay and help us trim Central’s Christmas Tree. This year we’re celebrating Christmas in Haiti to benefit the Haiti Task Force. There will be music, crafts, and a light lunch. Plus, we’ll be making Christmas cards to send to members of our Church at Fontamara.

We also hope to raise enough money to send at least Haitian children to school next year. A full scholarship, which includes everything one child needs to attend school for a year costs only $150! The Music Committee will be selling ornaments—made from a beautiful piece of Haitian art called The Schoolyard—priced from $5 to 4150 (with special $1 ornaments just for kids). Each Christmas ornament will be personalized with your name and gift, whether it’s a new pair of shoes, doctor’s visit, school supplies, or year’s tuition. A special mural in Chapel Hall will commemorate $150/full scholarship donations. Please visit our table during coffee hour and help us send a Merry Christmas to our friends in Haiti!

IT’S TURKEY TIME AGAIN!

Each year Central’s congregation donates turkeys and Thanksgiving food to Camp Street Food Pantry. The pantry hands out 400 boxes with Thanksgiving food each year. This year they need even more than usual. Here’s how you can help.

 

Here’s how can you help?

1. Buy a turkey (12-16 lbs.) and bring it to 190 Camp Street Tuesday-Friday, 10am-1:30pm or to Central Church’s refrigerator between Friday, 11/18 and Monday, 11/21.

2. Bring Thanksgiving food to church on any Sunday and fill the baskets: Instant Mashed Potatoes; Canned Sweet Potatoes; Stuffing Mix; Turkey Gravy; Dessert Mix; Canned Fruit.

3. Write a check to Camp Street Community ministries–Thanksgiving food–and place it in the collection plate or bring it to Camp Street.

4. Turn in Eastside Marketplace Receipts for our participation in their Friendship Fund. Deadline: Monday, November 14.

All non-perishable items are always welcome, but the emphasis for the next six weeks is on holiday food. We hope you can help! And, Thanks.

CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON FOR THE BLIND

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8

Central Church is one of several organizations sponsoring a monthly activity in cooperation with IN-SIGHT, an agency which helps visually impaired persons develop skills to make living with limited vision easier.

Traditionally, Central has chosen to provide the December activity and over the years has developed step-by-step plans to make it a memorable event for hosts and guests alike.

We need volunteers to prepare casseroles (recipes & pans provided), act as greeters, coatroom attendants, and luncheon servers (9:00am-3:00pm). Sign-up sheets are available in Chapel Hall during Sunday’s Coffee Fellowship and in the church office during the week or you may call Marilyn Edwards, 751-2763.

Neighbors in Need

Imagine a world without discrimination and oppression.

Formally incorporated in 2005, Mano en Mano-Hand in Hand is the “go to” agency in Downeast Maine for Latino, immigrant, & farm worker issues. As a 2010 NIN grant participant, Mano en Mano provides a wide variety of direct services: Educational Services and Scholarships, Outreach & Community events, and Affordable Housing to farmworkers.

Imagine a world without hunger.

2010 grant receiver Church of the Apostle, UCC, Lancaster, PA discovered in the local newspaper a ministry to at-risk adolescents as an alternative to street gang membership. The ministry, Digit, teaches life skills through youth-centered programs with a focus on sustainable agriculture. Church of the Apostles offered part of their 21 acre green space to Digit space to grow, harvest, and sell more produce while transforming the lives of area youth. Digit promotes gardening without chemicals and pesticides.

Neighbors in Need helps these agencies and more. Central will receive the Neighbors in Need offering on Sunday, November 20.

Here comes…. The Sandwich Brigade

The Mission & Action Committee invites you to come to the church kitchen at 9 am on Sundays, November 6, 13 & 27 and on Saturday, November 19 to help make 200 lunches for Crossroads. This annual mission effort is a lot of fun and does a lot of good. Parents bring your kids…kids, bring your parents!

Please call the office, 331-1960 if you are able to share your Thanksgiving dinner with a church member who is alone on this holiday. Or call if you are alone and would like to be part of a Central Church family Thanksgiving dinner.

Fall Church Clean-up Day

Saturday, November 19

Please help clean the church building and grounds Saturday, November19 from 9 am to 12 noon. We need expert or not so expert help cleaning, dusting, washing windows, raking, weeding…you will surely find an area of interest. Coffee, doughnuts, and good company abound! Call Ed Bishop, 274-4666 with questions.

NOLA Mission Trip Update

The New Orleans Mission trip was a great success. Many thanks to all of you for the many different ways you have supported this trip! We saw more improvement this year and were able to do some major work on two houses. Plus, a third group worked on Beecher Memorial UCC Church again this year helping to bring that church closer to a certificate of occupancy so that congregation can return to worship in their sanctuary. We felt that we really made a difference in the lives of those still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina, and are looking forward to sharing pictures and more stories during the NOLA Mission Sunday just before CCC’s own Mardi Gras in February!

CCC MEDITATION GROUP

Thursday November 3

6:00-7:00 p.m. in the Deacon’s Room

Join us as we explore our faith through thoughtful reflection including Lectio Divina and a variety of prayer practices. Whether you call it meditation, contemplation, mindful deliberation, or any other descriptive name, the practice of spending regular time in such a practice is just plain good for the body and the soul. Call Claudia with any questions—331-1960.

ANGELLIC KNITTERS

Sunday, November 13

11:45-1:00 p.m. Chapel Hall

A special table has been reserved in the front of Chapel Hall for all who knit! Come join us as we enjoy a Mission Lunch of soup and bread lunch and then knit while we listen to Herman Dekoe, the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Providence. Questions? Call Janice Libby or Claudia.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Thursday December 8

7:00-8:30 p.m. at May Grant’s house

On December 8th we will meet to talk about The Paris Wife, a book about Hadley Richardson Hemingway by Paula McLain. This book is set during the same time as Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast and we thought we’d read that at the same time. “The Paris Wife” brilliantly captures the voice and heart of Hadley Hemingway as she struggles with her roles as a woman—wife, lover, muse, friend, and mother—and tries to find her place in the intoxicating and tumultuous world of Paris in the twenties.” It sounds great. Questions? Call Claudia.

WORD High School Youth Group

 

Upcoming Events

Nov. 5 – 8:30AM – 1:30PM – Habitat for Humanity Build (Ages 16+)

Nov. 6 – 11:30-12:30PM – New Member Lunch

12:30-2:00PM – Movie + College Care Package Creation

Nov. 13 – 11:30-3PM – Thayer St. Lunch + Leaf-Raking Fundraiser

Nov. 20 – 3:30-5PM – Laser Tag

NEOS Middle School Fellowship

 

Upcoming Events

 

Oct. 30 – 4PM – Organ Concert / Costume Party at Central (prizes for costumes!)

Nov. 13 – 11:30-1PM – Lunch + “Hang Time” at Central

Nov. 20 – 2-3:30PM – Laser Tag

This year is National Youth Event!

Thousands of UCC Youth from around that country will gather at Purdue University for 4 days of worship, exploration, and leadership training. We’ll also participate in a lead-up mission trip that will include hands-on work with communities in need. Mark your calendars NOW for July 7-14, 2012! The trip is open to students currently in grades 8-12. Registration opens Nov. 7 and does fill, so please sign up ASAP! Cash or a check to Central for $50 reserves your place on the trip. Put “NYE” and the name of the child in the memo. Final deadline for registrations is Dec. 1. NYE only happens once every four years—you don’t want to miss it! The total cost of the trip will be comparable to other mission trips and will depend on fundraising during the year. Scholarships are available based on need through Central and the RI Conference. Questions? Call the Rev. Kat Townes at 401-331-1960 x223.

New Member Luncheon

Sunday, November 6

Please join the Membership Committee in welcoming new members of the Congregation at a luncheon immediately following the Sunday service on November 6. As is our custom, the luncheon will be a potluck, and members of the Congregation are requested to bring a salad, vegetable, side dish, or dessert to share; the Membership Committee will provide the main dishes. The New Member Luncheons are an enjoyable time of fellowship and a relaxing way to meet and welcome new members to our Congregation. We hope you’ll join us!

Christmas at Central

It’s coming!

Sunday, December 4 11:30 am – 2 pm