Northside Presbyterian Church Weekly eUpdate |
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Coming Sunday and Beyond
This Sunday is the Third Sunday of Advent. The choir will perform its annual Christmas Cantata, "The Promise Fulfilled," to enhance the worship service. The Chaney family will light the third Advent candle.
There will be a Comital Service for John Peeples on Saturday, December 13, at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church. Please be in prayer for Rev. Cheryl Peeples and her family. Cheryl was associate pastor at Christiansburg Presbyterian Church. |
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Joy Gift Lunch Sunday, Dec. 14 following the Christmas Cantata Baked Ham will be provided and there will be a vegetarian option.
Please bring a side dish and a dessert if you are able. Helpers in the kitchen are alway welcome and needed.
Following the meal, there will be an interactive program where attendees of all ages will participate as characters in the Christmas story. |
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Christmas Joy Offering
The Mission Committee is sharing this information about our upcoming Christmas Joy Gift Offering, which we will receive over the next two weeks. The committee encourages everyone to consider a gift this year! You can find several stories about how the Joy Gift Offering has been helpful to Jinho Kim, a Korean missionary: Finding his voice to comfort the voiceless | Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Soren Briggs, who at 17 years old, is the youngest ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque New Mexico: Connecting church with everyday life | Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). |
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History of the Christmas Joy Offering
Presbyterians have long celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ by giving generously to an Advent offering. The Christmas Joy Offering dates back to the 1930s when the former Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) began an offering to supplement inadequate retirement income and provide supplemental medical insurance for former ministers, missionaries, church workers and their families. It was first officially called the Joy Gift in 1949.
In the former United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA), a Christmas offering was first taken in 1960. It was called the White Gift-possibly named after a regional tradition elsewhere known as the White Elephant Gift-and its funds were used for general mission and world relief. In 1964 the name was changed to the Christmas Offering, and receipts provided support for health and welfare concerns related to children. The emphasis on global work with children continued until 1973, when the offering was used to assist former servants of the church who were living on inadequate pensions. In 1974 racial ethnic education was added, and in 1979 nursing home care assistance was also included. Funds were distributed evenly between the Board of Pensions and racial ethnic education.
In 1988 the PCUS and the UPCUSA offerings were joined into one offering, the Christmas Offering Joy Gift. It was agreed that neither the Board of Pensions nor the racial ethnic schools would suffer in the merger of the Joy Gift and the Christmas Offering. In 1989 the offering was renamed the Christmas Joy Offering, and in 1991 the 203rd General Assembly changed the distribution of funds to 50 percent to the Board of Pensions and 50 percent to the Presbyterian racial ethnic schools and colleges.
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Pledge Time The end of the year is approaching and pledges should be paid up by then. Year-end financial statements will be available in early January. If you need to know what your current giving level is, please email secretary.northside@gmail.com with your request and a report will be sent to you. |
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Annual Reports It's coming up on that time again -- annual reports are due to be presented at the congregational meeting in January. Chairs of each committee and those in leadership positions should begin compiling your notes and data so you can have your full written report to Bruce by Dec. 30. Format isn't important because the content will be dropped into a template. Please email your report to secretary.northside@gmail.com |
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Prayers and Squares The Prayers and Squares group will NOT meet this month.
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Monday Night Supper
There was no meal on Monday due to the inclement weather. We don't serve meals on any day that Montgomery County schools are closed.
Volunteers to help prepare and pack meals are always welcome and needed. |
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Volunteers -- December 14 Nursery: Rosemary
Usher: Steve
Greeter: Frieda
Fellowship:
Scripture: Sandi Candle Lighters: The Chaney Family |
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Officer on CallDec. 7-13 Betsy Stinson 540-552-4529
Dec. 14-20 Forest Arnold 443-757-2223
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There are a number of open slots for volunteer service. See https://www.northsidebburg.org/volsign/ to sign up. |
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Homebound Members For those wishing to keep in touch with our homebound members, here are some addresses: |
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Janis Brown Heritage Hall, Room 307
3610 S. Main St.
Blacksburg VA 24060
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Nedra Underwood English Meadows #112 3400 South Point Drive Blacksburg, VA 24060
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Harvey Sowers 140 Maple Dr. Christiansburg, VA 24073
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Sue and Joe Herbein 6964 Pinehurst Place Radford, VA 24141
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Jan and Leon Geyer
English Meadows #242
3400 South Point Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24060
Jan is now in Kroontje for rehab after her fall.
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Mary Rhodes English Meadows #H116 3400 South Point Drive Blacksburg, VA 24060
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Pastoral Care "Offer prayers and petitions in the Spirit all the time." – Eph. 6.18 Please be in prayer for: |
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Jan and Leon Geyer Matthew Harper Betty Manus Margaret Bender Kristin Adams Elnathan Rathjen Robyn Gregg Brenda Payne Keith Wright Michael Schreiber Jeff Kallas - Bronwyn’s husband Our Monday Night Congregation |
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Lindsay Salany Mary Rhodes Asa Peeples Lea & Ricky Teasdale Christy Knox Lavetta Cumbee Daniel, Erika, and Ted Harper June Rieley Bob Dawson – Jane's friend Kathleen Bonelli - Jane's sister-in-law Mary Jones - Jane's aunt Deanie Heath Andrew Harper |
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Please let the church office know if names should be added to or removed from the list. They will remain on the list for a month unless we are told otherwise. |
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Coming Events
• Dec. 10 VT Classes End
• Dec. 10 1:00 pm Prayers and Squares
• Dec. 10 7:30 pm Choir Practice
• Dec. 14 10:00 am Worship
• Dec. 14 10:05 am 2 Cents a Meal
• Dec. 14 11:00 pm Christmas Joy Lunch and Program
• Dec. 15 5:00 pm Monday Night Supper
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Lectionary for Sunday Isaiah 35:1–10
Psalm 146:5–10 or Luke 1:46–55
James 5:7–10
Matthew 11:2–11
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December Birthdays Cameron Gaylord Dec 1
Barbara Wierwille Dec 3
Jane Jones Dec 15
Joe Herbein Dec 16
Marj Robinson Dec 17
Charles Bostian Dec 30
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“Welcome home!
Come walk with us!” |
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Northside Presbyterian Church, reflecting the love of God, celebrates inclusion and diversity. Whoever you are, whatever your ancestry, ability, or identity, you are made in God’s image. Wherever you are in your faith journey, come as you are. We welcome you and invite you to walk with us. (adopted by the Session, April 21, 2024) |
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DO YOU KNOW? You have an online way to support Northside! Your REGULAR OFFERING, PLEDGE, OR 2 CENTS A MEAL. Go to the page on our church website (northsidebburg.org), and click the button. OR just scan the QR code below to take you there: |
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The rainbow flag was created by paul2520 based on the original Daniel Quasar version, which was released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License ([1]).Colors: “5 half sized stripes representing trans and non-binary individuals (light blue, light pink, white), marginalized POC communities (brown, black), as well as those living with AIDS and the stigma and prejudice surrounding them, and those who have been lost to the disease (black)”. [2], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92282672
This weekly newsletter was sent to the Northside congregation email list. If you would not like to receive this email please email secretary.northside@gmail.com.
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