NEWS IN THE PEWS
December 8, 2024
MADRIGALIA CONCERT: As part of our 200th Anniversary Events, there will be a Madrigalia Holiday Concert today at 3:00 P.M. Church members can still purchase discounted tickets ($10) by using the link Vicki Sherry sent via a church-wide email on Tuesday, November 26th. Ticket costs at the door: General Admission – $25; Senior Admission – $20. There will be a reception after the concert in Fellowship Hall.
HILLSIDE SPECIAL SANTA: Today is the deadline to return your gift.
CHRISTMAS FOOD BASKETS: Today is the last day to donate to our Adi Gift Card / Christmas Food Baskets. We are providing gift cards to 4 families this year. Checks may be made out to First Congregational UCC with Christmas Basket on the memo line.
OUR NEXT SHARED CONFIRMATION SESSION will meet today from 2:00-4:00 P.M. at Mt. Rise UCC.
OUR ADVENT DEVOTIONAL BOOK STUDY will not meet today due to the Annual Financial Meeting.
MORNING CIRCLE will not be meeting at Church during the winter months, December through March.
LIGHTING THE ADVENT CANDLES: If you or your family are interested in lighting one of the Advent Candles on the Advent Wreath, please sign-up on the rolling board in Fellowship Hall. Thank you.
CHRISTMAS EVE READERS: If you are interested in reading one of the Christmas Eve Lessons, please sign-up on the rolling board in Fellowship Hall. Thank you.
ANNUAL FINANCIAL MEETING: will be held today, immediately following the worship service. The budget for 2025 will be discussed and voted on. Also, the final version of our church’s Open & Affirming (ONA) Statement will be voted on.
ONA VOTE: Our church has always had a policy requiring members to be present at a Congregational meeting in order to vote for a proposal or to approve the budget. The Church Council has decided to extend the vote to people who are attending the meeting via a live stream. This is something that we did during Covid. We will be using this process on December 8 for the vote on O&A. If you are watching the service and the Annual Financial meeting after the service, via the Facebook Live stream you can vote by texting your vote to Jim Franzen's phone at 585-880-3929. These votes will still be anonymous because Jim does not have names associated with the phone numbers. We will check later that the phone numbers are associated with valid current church members. Remember, in all cases, you must be a church member to vote. Given the importance of this meeting. we do encourage everyone who is able to attend in person.
THE AKOMA CONCERT has been rescheduled for Saturday, February 1st at 4:00. This concert is free.
PERINTON CONGREGATIONS FOR GREATER ROCHESTER HABITAT FOR HUMANITY is looking for volunteers to help finish construction of its house at 207 Melville St. In Rochester. If you would like to help, look for the display on the wall behind the Coffee Hour tables. Choose a date(s) from the lists and print your name and phone number. Call Frank Stein at 704-4510. He will forward your information to the work coordinator. Thank you for your interest in this important work. The Board of Missions and Outreach.
KNITTING CIRCLE meets at 1:00 every Monday except the last Monday of the month. You can knit or crochet if you have that skill or learn something new knitting a hat on a circular loom. New this year is knitting a scarf on a long loom. Come join the fun and fellowship. All are welcome. We donate many of our hats to various charitable organizations. Questions: contact Irene Utter at iutter@rochester.rr.com or call 585-425-7408.
SAVE THE POP TABS to help the Rochester Ronald McDonald House. Place them in the plastic jug in Fellowship Hall.
IN-PERSON WORSHIP: The bulletin can be accessed via the QR code on your mobile phone or tablet. Prayer requests must be emailed to Pastor Greg at revgregrup.ucc@gmail.com by 8:00am on Sunday with the subject line Joy or Prayer Concern. You can view the Virtual Worship Service on Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/First-Congregational-United-Church-of-Christ-Fairport-NY-174043249305098/. An audio Worship Service will be uploaded to our church’s website each week, usually on Monday.
PERINTON FOOD SHELF current list of most needed items can be found on their website at https://perintonfoodshelf.org/#needed. SMALL SIZES ARE PREFERRED.
LIGHT THE NIGHT: Thank you to Dave Mosher for Lighting the Night in December in memory of Pat Mosher.
THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH
Sunday:
3:00 PM Madrigalia Concert
Monday:
1:00 PM Knitting Club
Wednesday:
11:00 AM Advent Book Study
7:00 PM Worship Ministries
Thursday:
7:00 PM New Life AA
Rev. Gregory J. Rupright, Pastor
Rev. Dr. John N. Cedarleaf, Pastor Emeritus
Beatrice Benedict, Organist
Heather Watras, Director of Music Ministries
Vicki Sherry, Administrative Assistant
Christian Copyright Licensing International #2320160
Phone: 585-223-0224; Website: fairportucc.org
Office email: vsherry.ucc@gmail.com
