GREENSTONE GAZETTE Nottingham Presbyterian Church PC (USA) 497 W. Christine Road Nottingham, PA 19362-9760

December 2018

Phone: 610-932-0556 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www. nottinghampc.org

Bringing the love of to our community by fostering an accepting, nurturing and compassion- Label ate environment. Expanding our missions, infrastructure and worship experiences to meet the community’s needs. Passionately and enthusiastically developing op- portunities for personal and spiritual growth. Seeking partnerships with local organizations in pursuit of God’s vision for the greater Nottingham area.

2018 Poinsettia Order Form December Highlights An opportunity to honor or memorialize our loved ones to the Glory of God! Celebrate the Season Through Sunday, December 16th, the Board of Deacons with us Sundays at 10am will accept orders to purchase Poinsettias to beautify the Sanctuary for Christmas. These flowers may be placed in 1st Sunday in honor or memory of your loved ones, with the names listed December 2 on a special bulletin insert on . Communion Pick up your Advent Devotions After the Christmas Eve Service, the flowers may be taken home or directed to others whom you designate on December 7@7pm Christmas Caroling the form. Please fill out the bottom of this sheet, detach it, at Herr’s. Meet at the Church and place it in the offering plate with your check.* ------December 9 2nd Sunday in Advent

I wish to order: 4 to 6 Blooms @ $6.00 each. December 16 3rd Sunday in Advent Color: __Red __ White Total Amount $ ______Choir Sings Your Name:

Phone/email: December 23 4th Sunday in Advent Children’s Impromptu Pageant Given in, ___Honor ___Memory of (check one):

December 24 Christmas Eve Service 7pm Designated Recipient of Flowers: Me _____

Name of Recipient if other than me

Please make your check payable to NPC Deacons Fund, order must be received by Sunday, December 16th. Please include payment with your order and note poinsettias in the memo area of your check. GREENSTONE GAZETTE

Join US! No experi- December ence needed: Volunteers The Choir will Carol at Herr’s Friday Dec 7. Readers: Meet at the Church at 2 Ruth Ann Sumner At the November Presbytery 6pm to go over. We wel- 9 Cindy Sudnikovich Gathering, the Presbytery come, young and old for 16 Bill Moore UNAMIOUSLY voted to install this NPC holiday tradi- 23 Carol/Jack Dunlap The Rev. Merritt Schatz as Pastor tion. The Choir will also sing Sunday Dec 16 dur- 30 Dar Gray at Nottingham Presbyterian ing Worship. Join us! Choir practice is 9am on Church. She is ours!!! Techni- Dec 16 before Worship. Head Usher: cally she was a Transitional Pas- Dave Pohlig tor prior to this. An Installation We welcomed 3 new

Deacon of the month: Service will be held at NPC in members November 25. Jerry Jackson January or February 2019, when Leona, Ron and Chris. Presbytery scheduling permits. Welcome! Communion Prep Team: Pastor Merritt serves on the Pres- Dar & Steve Gray bytery Committee Engaging Our Donna & Gerry Davis Mission, which among other things provides grants for new Communion Servers initiatives in the Donegal Presby- December 2 Mark Roney tery’s Churches. She is an active Debbie Roney member of the Presbyterian Dis- Dar Gray aster Assistance Team, and has Carol Dunlap deployed earlier this year to Georgia. We are blessed! January Sale of Camp Donegal—The Volunteers Presbytery also voted to sell Camp Donegal for a cash price of Readers: $760K. Experiencing lower at- 6 Tenille Dewees 13 Gerry Davis tendance in addition to $50K/ 20 Ruth Ann Sumner year just to keep the camp, 27 Jim Lewis prompted this final decision.

Head Usher:

Deacon of the month:

Communion Prep Team: Donna Davis Ruth Ann Sumner The Deacons are collecting food and monetary do- Communion Servers nations to support Divine Sent Food Cupboard. January 6 This will support their Christmas meals. Divine Gerry Davis Sent supports many Seniors, so low sodium, low Donna Davis sugar items are welcome. Food and money collec- tions will continue until December 16. Suggested items: Canned vegetables, canned fruit, Website: rice (1 lb packages), applesauce, boxed mashed Nottinghampc.org potatoes, boxed , , gravy. GREENSTONE GAZETTE

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, December 2018 Once again we come to the end of the year. But wait, we still have a month to go! Funny how the year can seem so long in January (especially if you are a child with a late in the year birthday!) but seems so short once we come to December. We still have a month to go - one whole twelfth of the year - but it seems like the year is almost over. Maybe if we knew the exact date and time of Jesus’ Second Coming, we would feel that way about Advent too. On the other hand, maybe this is why God doesn’t give us that deadline. We would wait until the last minute, then scramble. Advent, this reminder that God has come to earth in Jesus Christ and that Christ will come again at a time of God’s own choosing, is our wake-up call. We are to live now as if the Coming were announced to be tomorrow. This Advent season we will be focusing on what the Incarnation means for us today. It is easy for us to look back nostalgically at the romantic story of a child born in the midst of winter, in the midst of a census called by an occupying government. We know the story has a happy ending - at least ultimately with the resurrection. But there are many ups and downs throughout Jesus’ life - from the flight of his family to Egypt to escape Herod’s frantic attempts to hold on to power, Deacons are collecting NEW to Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. It is in the fullness of Jesus Christ’s life, a life UNWRAPPED toys until Dec lived fully human and fully divine, that brings our faith the depth and reality that gives us strength each day to live into God’s vision for all. It is in the completeness 9 for the Toys for Tots drive. of God the Son’s unity with humanity that demonstrates what we are called, as the Help fill our box. Body of Christ, to proclaim in our witness to God’s loving mercy and grace offered through forgiveness of repentance from sin. Where do we see the signs of Christ’s Incarnation in the world today? We see them in the kindness shown by many Mexicans to strangers who are traveling through their country to seek asylum in ours. Though the media have been more focused on those who are irritated by these strangers, we know that many more have offered comfort, food, and shelter to those who have so little. We may not all agree on the rights of persons to come to this country seeking asylum, but I don’t believe any of us want them to go hungry, or exposed to the elements of weather or violence. Many of those offering help have very little themselves. But they see in these travelers the faces of Mary and Joseph fleeing with the infant Jesus. So they respond. And in responding, they are the Body of Christ, reaching out to the least of these. We see Christ’s incarnation in our daily lives as well. In the kindness of a member who rushed home to get a nebulizer machine when I mentioned that the one the doctor had ordered probably wouldn’t arrive for several days. In the love which our deacons show, on our behalf, to a woman who needed help. In the cards we send to our homebound members. In the backpacks lovingly, and prayerfully, packed before the start of school - and in the relationships which this project allows us to have with various community groups. In the child we sponsor. In the joy we experience as we worship and fellowship together. In the spiritual growth we have Christ the King Sunday through our study of the Scriptures. The list goes on and on. In this Advent Season, and beyond, let us consider how the Incarnation of Nottingham Presbyterian Jesus Christ, God’s Word made flesh, God’s only begotten Son born that we might Church: Seeking partner- live, impacts our days and nights throughout the year. In our meditations, let us ships with local organizations hear God’s call to each of us to be part of the Body of the living Christ, sharing in pursuit of God’s vision for God’s love in many ways, to all. the greater Nottingham area. In Christ’s love, Pastor Merritt GREENSTONE GAZETTE

Oxford Presbyterian Women’s Christmas Fellowship Dinner December 11 at 6:30pm in the OPC Fellowship Hall. All women are invited. Please RSVP to the OPC Church office by Tuesday December 4th, 610- 932-9640. Shoe Drive Fundraisers for Funds2Orgs St Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Oxford They are collecting GENTLY WORN or NEW SHOES to support Funds2Orgs. Shoes are used to support small businesses in developing countries. St Christopher’s has bins on their porch for the shoes. Cookie Walk St Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Oxford Saturday December 8 starting 9am is the annual Cookie Walk. Charlie Zahm in Concert St Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Oxford Friday December 14, at 7:30pm (go early for a seat) Alzheimer’s Association Caregivers Support Group Starting Saturday January 5, 2019 at 10am Meeting the first Saturday of the month. Visit www.alz.org/delval to learn more about caregiver programs and resources. Ten Thousand Villages Gift Shop Oxford Presbyterian Church has a gift shop room. The room is open First Friday Dec 7 from5-9pm and Saturdays and Sundays until Dec 16 from 9am-1pm Invest in the world. Shop fair trade.

On our Website:

Items of Interest (articles to read) “Groups work to avoid Puerto Rico land grab” We express our sympathy to Ruth Barker at the “Stated Clerk issues statement on executive order death of her sister Mary Stevens, and to Audrey regarding family separation at U.S. border” Stanley at the sudden death of her husband Gibbs. Plus others!

Nottingham Presbyterian Church—Bringing Our Website: the love of Jesus to our community Nottinghampc.org GREENSTONE GAZETTE

End of Year Contributions Disasters in God’s eye (continued) If you wish to make an End of Year financial As Isaiah proclaimed at God’s direction, “Then you Contribution, and have tax credit for 2018 tax year, will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for please be sure to have it TO THE CHURCH by De- help, and God will say: Here I am. ‘If you do away cember 30, 2018 or POSTMARKED by Friday De- with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing fin- cember 28. ger and malicious talk, if you offer your food to the If your End of Year contribution is prepaying year hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then 2019 contributions, please note that so we can put it your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noon day.” (Isaiah 58:9-10; read the Advent Devotionals whole of ch. 58 for more context). Isaiah, and the other prophets, were warning the Israelites of the consequences of failing to follow God’s way. In- cluded in this failure was the all too human predi- lection of pointing attention away from one’s self on to others with blame (pointing finger and mali- cious talk). However, just as God raised up judges for the redemption of Israel, the prophets also offer a ray of hope from God, a path to redemption and reconciliation with God. Advent Devotionals are available at the Church. Now, back to the original Biblical reference from They will also be on our FaceBook page daily. John 9:1-7 - who sinned? What was Jesus’ re- You can also see our FaceBook page on our web- sponse? No one. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works We’re on FaceBook at: Our Website: might be revealed in him.” Jesus was not saying Nottinghampc.org Nottinghampc.org that God made this particular man’s life difficult just so that God could get a little glory. I believe Disasters in God’s eye Jesus was saying that God allows suffering to con- During study of The Story we are having this year, tinue in this broken world because humanity needs the question came up about God’s punishment. to see how God acts. When the world was perfect, Here is Pastor Merritt’s response: humanity still couldn’t see, or follow, the goodness Mistakes occur. No one is perfect. of God. We acted, and act, in ways contrary to Natural disasters occur. Sometimes these occur be- God’s goodness. If God removed all suffering im- cause we have been poor stewards of the planet; mediately, if all our actions received the appropriate sometimes these just occur; it could be that some- response, good or bad, immediately, we might bet- times (like the flood in Noah’s time) God acts, or ter follow God’s way. However, we would do so simply because the world is broken and disasters out of fear, not out love or a desire for righteous- occur. ness. We would, in effect, be robots programmed What I also find is that in all these circumstances, for behavior. We would not be capable of love as innocent people can be hurt. When we try to lay God offers and desires love. The relationship be- blame for disasters by naming them as God’s pun- tween God and ourselves, and with one another, ishment, we offer our very fallible human judg- would not be freely given love but a response dic- ment on some, if not all, who are innocent. In con- tated by the fear of punishment. God, who is love, trast, even when the evidence is clear, Jesus com- weeps with us, mourns with us, chastises us, and mands us, “But I say to you, Love your enemies brings us hope. God, who is revealed most perfectly and pray for those who persecute you, so that you in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, may be children of your Father in heaven; for he calls us to share in this redeeming act, this reconcil- makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and ing and gracious gift of God. sends rain on the righteous and on the unright- How was God’s work revealed in the man born eous.” (Matthew 5:44-45). blind? Jesus healed the man. Mr. Rogers, quoted Since God makes the sun rise and the rain fall on frequently these days, said, “In times of trouble, both good and evil, righteous and unrighteous, we look for the helpers.” Jesus tells us to look for, and need to be careful about what we presume God’s to be, the healers. To do this we have to hold our- judgment to be. (continued on next column) selves, and others, accountable, as well as comfort, support, and respond to needs. (cont. on next page) GREENSTONE GAZETTE

Disasters in God’s eye (continued) Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program However, pointing fingers and speaking malicious- Pennsylvania has a Property Tax/Rent Rebate Pro- ly (and often ignorantly) are not the same as hold- gram for eligible Pennsylvanians age 65 or older; ing ourselves and others accountable. God alone is widows and widowers age 50 and older; people the ultimate and righteous judge, the gracious and with disabilities age 18 and over. The DEAD- merciful Redeemer who holds us accountable for LINE to apply for 2017 year is DECEMBER 31, the sake of reconciling and healing. Let us respond 2018. to God’s grace by answering God’s call to be heal- https://www.revenue.pa.gov/ ers (of persons and of circumstances). GeneralTaxInformation/ Pastor Merritt Schatz PropertyTaxRentRebateProgram/Pages/ default.aspx Or you can search “Property Tax Rebate Program” at: www.revenue.pa.gov Congregational Spread the Word! Meeting

At the November Congregational Meeting the fol- lowing people were elected: Session (Elders) On the Lighter Side... Class of 2021 - Jerry Jackson Class of 2020 - Jim Lewis (finish last 2 years) Deacons Class of 2021 - Connie Lewis (2nd term) - Jolan Squires Class of 2020 - Chris Dolinger Class of 2019 - Alice Witmer will finish out her 1st term Memorial Committee (at large members) - Roger Moran - Jane Walker Nominating Committee - Eddie Squires - Yvonne Here - Gerry Davis

The 2019 Budget was presented. The Session votes on the Budget, but it is presented to the Con- gregation for informational purposes.

To watch something fun go to youtuve.com and search: Silent Monks Sing the Hallelujah Chorus A Super Thank you to Brian Dewees as he Session. Brian headed up the Pastor Nominating Committee that brought us Pastor Merritt. He sur- Contributions to our Newsletter are Welcome! vived some bumpy waters in Nottingham Presbyter- Send items to the office at: ian Church’s history—but we all came through with [email protected] or to Nina Hansen at: our Savior’s guidance! Thanks Brian. [email protected]