Dear Centenary Church Family:

With the joyous sounds of festival brass filling our Sanctuary, we will gather for Worship at 10:15 AM this Sunday, December 16. The Gray Family will lead us in lighting the third (rose-colored) candle on our Advent Wreath. Our Harris Ringers will offer Away in a Manger, arranged by Frances Callahan just before we receive our “Barrel Offering.” Assistant Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight will share a message with the children, after which Pre-K children through 12th Grade youth are invited to participate in Sunday School classes. We will then share in our Advent Service of Seven Lessons and Carols featuring music by our Junior and Chancel Choirs and several congregational Advent carols. Between Scripture lessons read by members of the congregation, the Junior Choir will sing Come to the Manger, Emmanuel by Liebergen; the Chancel Choir will sing Prophets Knew by Lloyd Larsen, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, arranged by Zoltán Kodály, and Dancing Into the Promise by John Carter; and, soprano Shirley Mosteller will sing Mary, Did You Know by Lowry/Greene. At the conclusion of our service we will all join in singing several Christmas carols as we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth on December 25. Our Celebration of Found Coins for December 16, 23 and 30 is designated to the United Methodist Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery Appeal. Further information about the appeal and the opportunity to donate online are available at http://bishops.umc.org//interior.asp?ptid=21&mid=11099 Don’t forget the Carols &Cookies! program on Sunday evening at 6:30 PM. (See article below)

Reminders:

Friday, December 14 — 6:30 PM – TGIF Christmas Dinner at The Barge in Perth Amboy. Please let Michael or Cathy Savoia know by this evening if you plan to attend. Call 732-826-1921 and leave a message.

Centenary United Methodist Youth Fellowship Gift-Wrapping Project: The Youth Fellowship will wrap presents at the Church on Saturday, December 15 from 1:00-3:00 PM and Sunday, December 16, after Worship. Bring your Christmas gifts with you to the Youth Room to have them neatly wrapped in time to put under the Christmas tree…and to assist our youth fellowship with funding their projects. Thanks!

Carols &Cookies! Sunday, December 16 at 6:30 PM in our Sanctuary: Bring your family, friends and neighbors and get in the Christmas mood with your favorite carols and a cookie exchange! As you bake your Christmas cookies this year plan to make an extra batch to bring to “Carols & Cookies!”

Carpet Cleaning—Assistance Needed This Sunday Evening, December 16, with Moving Chairs: On Monday, December 17th, the carpets in the Sanctuary and main hallways at our church will be professionally cleaned in time for our Christmas celebrations. In preparation for the cleaning, we need to clear out the chairs and other items from the Sanctuary and surrounding halls following our Carols and Cookies program this Sunday evening (starting at about 8:00 PM). We plan to restore the chairs to the Sanctuary on Tuesday evening, December 18, beginning at 7:00 PM. Again, any persons who are able to come and assist with this task are asked to be at the church on the 8th to help reset the chairs and Chancel furniture. Many hands make light work… Thanks for lending yours….

Food Collection—Sunday, December 16: Thank you for bringing cereals, staple food items in plastic jars or cans, and paper products to share with persons in need in our area. We are deeply grateful for your generous sharing.
Special Appeal for Diapers and Infant/Toddler Food for Amandla Crossing: Your assistance is needed to provide diapers (sizes #4, #5 & #6…not pull-ups) and infant & toddler food for children at Amandla Crossing. Please bring the items to Centenary and leave them in the boxes provided in the Narthex. Thank you. —Your Mission Committee

Thank You! We want to extend our special thanks to those who have been preparing our church for the Christmas celebrations. Hanging Decorations and Wreaths on doors and in the hallways: Sue Brownlow & Sylvia Woodfield; Hanging Wreaths in the Sanctuary: Jeremy Ringler & Scott Woodfield; Purchasing and Putting up Christmas Tree: Chris Rose, John Ringler & Joe Thompson on behalf of the Worship Committee; Decorating the Christmas Tree: Pastor Terrilisa Bauknight and members of the Centenary United Methodist Youth Fellowship.

Refreshments: Persons are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshments following our Sunday Worship services on December 23 & 30. Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of these two available weeks or signing up for one of the many available weeks on the new 2008 Refreshment Chart in the Narthex. Information on what you need to provide is available on the information sheet attached to the Refreshment Chart. Thank you for providing hospitality on a Sunday morning.

Flower Arrangements for 2008: Persons are invited to sponsor flower arrangements for our Worship services beginning on January 6, 2008. A new 2008 Flower Chart has been posted in the Narthex. Floral arrangements cost $25.00 each week to sponsor. Information is available from our Flower Chairperson, Linda Serentino (732-940-2135) or by calling the Church Office. Thank you for providing these beautiful tributes for our Sunday services.

PECANS, PECANS, PECANS: United Methodist Women are again selling pecans, cashews, pistachios, candies, trail mix, etc. this year. So don’t go out and buy any pecans from anyone else. You will find the items for your holiday baking and giving on the table outside the church office. There is a blue box in which you can place your money. Thanks.
Centenary United Methodist Women still has a number of items for sale. They are on the table outside the church office. These items were made for the Metuchen Fair and will make wonderful gifts for your Christmas giving. There is a blue box in which you can place your money. These items will be removed from sale after this Sunday. Thanks.

2008 Offering Envelopes Available: Weekly offering envelopes for 2008 are now available on the table in the hallway beneath the Mission bulletin board (near the Men’s Room). Please check the boxes and take your packet of envelopes (arranged alphabetically) home with you…and please take a packet for a neighbor or friend, if you see it still there. Mailing out these offering envelopes costs quite a bit per set, so by taking them with you, you assist us greatly in reducing mailing costs. If you do not find a packet of envelopes with your name on them and wish to have a set, please notify the Church Office, and Sue Brownlow, our Financial Secretary, will prepare a set for your use. We encourage everyone to use these envelopes to share their gifts with the church as it makes it much easier for our financial teams to maintain accurate giving records throughout the year. Thank you.

Have You Returned Your 2008 Financial Commitment Card? The financial support of everyone at Centenary is imperative if we are to meet our ministry and mission goals for 2008. If you have returned your Financial Commitment Card indicating your pledge for the coming year, thank you. If you have yet to return your Commitment Card indicating your intention to share from your resources, we request that you do so as soon as possible. Additional Commitment Cards are available from the ushers during Worship each Sunday, and from the Church Office. Thank you for your faithful support of our shared ministry.

The 2008 Deluxe Christian Family Appointment Calendars for Centenary United Methodist Church are now available in the Narthex. Please pick up a copy for your use at home or work, and you may want to take an extra calendar or two to share with neighbors and friends. We are grateful to Costello-Runyon Funeral Home for again providing these beautiful calendars to the congregation.
Assistance Sought for Older Man: Michael Dubois, a young woman, is seeking a person who would be available to stay with her father at their Edison home during her frequent traveling as a flight attendant with United Airlines. The person would have to be available part-time, as needed…or the person could live at the home of Ms. Dubois and her father. Anyone who may be interested in assisting, or know of someone who may have an interest, please contact Ms. Dubois directly at 732-261-9252.

O Come, All Ye Faithful!
Celebrate the Advent and Birth of Jesus the Christ at Centenary
Sunday, December 23rd – The Fourth Sunday of Advent
10:15 AM Worship
(There will be no regular Sunday School Classes on December 23. Children and Youth attending that Sunday will gather in the Perry Room to celebrate Jesus’ birth with a Birthday Party.)
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Joseph Prepares to Take His Place
Monday, December 24th – Christmas Eve
7:00 PM — Christmas Eve Service for the Young of Heart and Spirit
Special Children’s Message, Junior Choir, Carols and Candle lighting
Preacher: Terrilisa Durham Bauknight Theme: A New Old Story
11:00 PM — Christmas Eve Service of Carols, Candlelight and Holy Communion
Chancel Choir, Carols and Candle lighting
Preacher: John D Painter Theme: Jesus Puts a Face on God
Sunday, December 30, 2007 – The First Sunday After Christmas
10:15 AM Worship
(Note: There will be no Sunday School Classes on December 30th)
Christmas Carol Sing—
A Final Opportunity to Select Your Favorite Carols to Sing

Adult Study for December 23, 2007: Charles Wesley’s Three-Hundredth Birthday. In honor of the tercentennial of Charles Wesley’s birth (December 18, 1707), the Sunday morning Adult Study will reflect on his life and his poetry. Writer of more than 7,000 hymn texts, John Wesley’s “kid brother” Charles had a significant impact upon the birth of the Methodist Movement in Great Britain and in the early days of American Methodist expansion across the frontier. Wesley’s hymns continue to influence us today. Come and learn about this “Sweet Singer of Methodism” in our Sunday morning Adults Study at 9:00 AM on December 23 in the Sunshine Room.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers’ gardens. – Douglas Jerrould

God is a verb, not a noun proper or improper. – R. Buckminster Fuller

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar

The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious. – Martin Luther

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. – Yogi Berra

AIN’T IT SO: Quit worrying about your health. It’ll go away. – Robert Orben

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. – John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the U.S. (1961-1963)

Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. – Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. — Maria Robinson

Faith is a pipeline. It can flow in health, in terms of water or oxygen, or it can be filled with poison. What values do you pour through there? – Robert Schuller

If we never undertake more than we can possibly do, we will never do more than we can possibly do.

Prayer for the Week of December 16: God of eternal hope, who visits us in so many ways if we will but look around us, we thank you for the signs and wonders that stream toward us from your creation. We thank you for color and laughter, for singing and silences, and for birdsong and tiny creatures. We thank you for all the beauty that waits for us and delights our souls. Amen.

We pray that the rather ominous weather predictions for Sunday will change so that we may all enjoy our special Advent events. I look forward to seeing and sharing with many of you in study, Worship and Christian fellowship this Sunday at Centenary.

Shalom, John