Dear Centenary Church Family:

We will light the first candle on the Advent Wreath at our 10:15 AM Worship Service this Sunday, December 3rd, as we mark the beginning of the Advent Season and the new Church Year. We are on our way to Bethlehem once again and the unique joy of these days of preparation for a promise fulfilled. I will share a special word with the children before dismissal for Sunday School classes for those in Pre-K through 12th grade. My morning Message, Here I Come…Ready or Not!, will be based on the Gospel reading from Luke 21:25-36 and the Prophet Jeremiah 33:14-16. Our Chancel Choir will sing a stirring rendering of Veni, veni Emmanuel (O come, O come, Emmanuel) by Zoltan Kodaly. We will share in the Sacrament of Holy Communion together…and the choir will offer a special Communion Anthem, I Remember You by Gene Grier, as we come forward to receive the bread and wine. Our Celebration of Found Coins is designated for the Global AIDS Fund of The United Methodist Church…please see the information below about this important outreach of our Church.
Our Annual Advent Pot-Luck Lunch and Crafts Workshop will be held immediately following Worship this Sunday. Please bring a dish or dessert to share and plan to join together for a time of fellowship and crafts for all ages as we begin our Advent journey.

Carpet Cleaning—Assistance Needed This Sunday with Moving Chairs: On Monday, December 4th, 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 Worship & our Advent Brunch this Sunday. We plan to restore the chairs to the Sanctuary on Wednesday evening, December 6th, 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 6th to help reset the chairs and Chancel furniture. Many hands make light work… Thanks for lending yours….

Reminder: TGIF Intergenerational Dinner and Lectionary Discussion and a lot of fun together will meet this evening, Friday, December 1st at 6:30 PM. A barrel offering is taken to defray the costs for the meal and materials. Persons of all ages are invited and encouraged to attend. (The annual TGIF Christmas Dinner will be held next Friday, December 8th, at The Barge restaurant in Perth Amboy. Please speak with Mike or Cathy Savoia if you plan to attend so they can make reservations.)

Centenary Book Club will meet this Saturday, December 2nd, at 9:30 AM in the Sunshine Room, instead of on Friday, December 8th (due to the TGIF Dinner at The Barge). The book for discussion this month is Ten Thousand Sorrows: The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War Orphan by Elizabeth Kim. The Book Club is open to all men and women.
Salt of the Earth:

Palestinian Christians in the Northern West Bank
Adult Class Advent Study
The Adult Class Advent Study is “Salt of the Earth: Palestinian Christians in the Northern West Bank.”. The DVD we are using consists of ten short documentary films made by two Presbyterian missionaries who served in the northern West Bank for more than three years. Through their films we are exploring the challenges facing the Christian Church in the land of its birth 2,000 years ago. We are also seeing and hearing the inspiring stories of individual Christians struggling to live their faith in a land where they are members of a minority religion surrounded by Arab Muslims and Jews. Join us for this exciting and timely study, Sundays at 9:00 AM in the Sunshine Room.

Centenary will be serving dinner at the Ozanam Shelter on Monday, December 4th. Please check the information on the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up to assist with food preparation or serving. For further information, please contact Glenna Gundell (732-463-1431) or Mary Ellen Heim (732-548-2587). Thanks.

Food Collection on Sunday, December 17th: Please bring 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

The Mitten Tree (actually a box) is now in the narthex. We are gathering mittens, gloves, hats, scarves, etc. for the Red Bird Mission in Beverly, Kentucky. This is a United Methodist Mission project in the Appalachian area of Kentucky. We will gather these items until December 10th and then they will be shipped to the Mission. This is also the place where we send our Campbell Soup labels.

There are still some items available for purchase on the UMW table across from the Church Office. There are afghans, hand-knitted scarves, and decorative plates which would make great Christmas and/or hostess gifts during the holiday season. All of the proceeds help to fund the projects of United Methodist Women.

Centenary United Methodist Youth Fellowship Gift-Wrapping Project will be on Saturday, December 16th from 1:00-4:00 PM (the youth will be baking cookies from 9:00 AM – 12:00 Noon and then have lunch). The Youth Fellowship will wrap presents again on Sunday, December 17th, after Worship. Bring your Christmas gifts with you to the Church on either the 16th or 17th to have them neatly wrapped in time to put under the Christmas tree…and to assist our youth fellowship with funding their projects. Thanks!

Have You Returned Your 2007 Financial Commitment Card? The financial support of everyone at Centenary is imperative if we are to meet our ministry and mission goals for 2007. 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.

Centenary United Methodist Church
200 Hillside Avenue – Metuchen, NJ 08840
(732) 548-7622

Presents

CAROLS
&
COOKIES

Get in the Christmas mood!

Join your friends and neighbors for an hour of singing your favorite carols. Then continue the spirit with refreshments of your favorite Christmas cookies.

Sunday, December 17th, 2006
6:30 PM

Donations will be Accepted
A Fund-raiser sponsored by the CUMC Music Committee

Global AIDS Fund:
To Bring Hope Where for Some There Is No Hope
Celebration of Found Coins on December 3rd
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference sets a goal of raising one dollar per church member of the Annual Conference and that 75% of the dollars raised be remitted by the conference treasurer to the treasurer of the General Council of Finance and Administration for the UMC Global AIDS Fund and that the remaining 25% be retained for programs combating HIV/AIDS in the annual conference and in other global connectional projects.
The preceding resolution was passed at the June 2006 Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. World AIDS Day is set for December 1st. The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church have established a goal of raising $1.00 per member over the next two years to create a fund that can be designated to help those persons impacted by AIDS. We will receive an offering for the Global AIDS Fund as our Celebration of Found Coins on Sunday December 3rd.
The Global AIDS Fund represents the commitment of every United Methodist to put a stop to HIV/AIDS in our world. The $8 million represents a $1 commitment from every United Methodist in the United States. It supports education, prevention, care, and treatment programs for people living with HIV/AIDS. The United Methodist Global AIDS Fund does not overlook the crisis in the US. About one million people are infected in the US and more are added to that number each day. The plan specifies that 25 percent of what each annual conference raises should be used in that conference for AIDS work, either locally or in global projects.
Some Numbers Have Faces
· Around 40 million people have HIV/AIDS worldwide
· 70% of them live in sub-Saharan Africa
· Five people die of AIDS every minute
· In the same amount of time, nine more people are infected with HIV
In a recent visit to the Greater NJ Annual Conference, the Rev. Adam Hamilton, Pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas, shared the manner of this challenge with his congregation. He told his congregation that for $10 a pregnant woman with AIDS could be given an inoculation that would reduce the likelihood that the child would be born with AIDS from 48% to 2%. He asked for a contribution equal to the cost of such an inoculation for each member of the family. The image that for $10 the life of a child could be saved had a much higher impact than asking for $1.00 for the “fund.”
We encourage you to respond generously and with compassion as we receive our gifts for the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund during our Celebration of Found Coins this Sunday. Further information about the Global AIDS Fund of The United Methodist Church is available on line at

http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/health/hivaids/aids-fund/.

Advent & Christmas Eve at Centenary
December 10, 2006 – The Second Sunday of Advent
Annual Sunday School Pageant — The Very Important Christmas Pageant: The Story of the Birth of Christ Told with Humor, Majesty & Awe! by Dennis Hartin
(Sunday School children/youth and teachers are reminded that the rehearsal for the Pageant will be held on Saturday, December 9th, from 2:00-4:00 PM.)
December 17, 2006 – The Third Sunday of Advent
An Advent Service of Lessons and Carols
with Chancel & Junior Choirs, Soloists and Festival Brass
6:30 PM – Carols & Cookies! Bring your family, friends and neighbors and get in the Christmas mood with your favorite carols and cookies! Help will be needed in providing refreshments, so keep this in mind as you bake your Christmas cookies and make an extra batch to bring to “Carols & Cookies!”
December 24, 2006 – The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Tree Christmas O
Christmas Eve — Sunday, December 24, 2006
7:00 PM — Christmas Eve Service for the Young of Heart and Spirit
Special Children’s Message, Carols and Candle lighting
11:00 PM — Christmas Eve Service of Carols, Candlelight & Holy Communion
Preacher: John D Painter Theme: Unto Us…A Child

Prayer for the Week of December 3: O God, we thank you for the unfolding drama of life, for its dreams and visions, its passion and its peace. We thank you for surprises that wait around corners that can transform our expectations into yours, O God. We thank you for the promise of even greater things to come, if we will but wait and watch. Thanks be to you, O God. Amen.

Some Thoughts for this Week:
Do not dare to live without some clear intention toward which your living shall be bent. – Phillips Brooks
Faith is taking the first step
Even when you don’t see the whole staircase. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Goals are like stars:
They may not be reached, but they can always be a guide.
It would be wonderful if we could forget our troubles
as quickly as we forget our blessings.
In church, fill a place, not just space.

We are sometimes known by the company we avoid.

I’m an idealist. I don’t know where I’m going but I’m on the way. – Carl Sandburg

Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today. – Cherokee Indian saying

“I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.” – Maya Angelou

Next Sunday, December 10, 2006 — The Second Sunday of Advent
9:00 AM – Adult Class – Salt of the Earth
10:15 AM – Worship
Annual Sunday School Pageant — The Very Important Christmas Pageant: The Story of the Birth of Christ Told with Humor, Majesty & Awe! by Dennis Hartin
Lectionary Readings: Malachi 3:1-4 Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 1:68-79 Luke 3:1-6
11:30 AM – Fellowship Time (Room 20)
5:30 PM – Junior Choir Rehearsal (Music Room)
6:30 PM – United Methodist Youth Fellowship (Youth Rm/Rm 20)

I look forward to sharing with many of you in Study, Worship and Fellowship this Sunday at Centenary.

Shalom, John