United Church of Christ, Congregational 990 State St. Vermilion, OH 44089 vermilionuccc@gmail.com

December 2017

Church chatter

Pastor’s Letter

Christmas Service Information

Christmas Eve, Dec. 24th:

Morning Worship at 10:30 am

———

Pre-service music: 9:30 pm

Candlelight Worship service: 10:00 pm

New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31st:

Carol Service at 10:30 am

The church office is closed Dec. 22-26.

Office Info: Phone: 967-5212 DNS phone: 967-5230 T-F 9-2 p.m. Staff: Rev. David Zerby, pastor Jerry Boros, treasurer Jim Innes, Fin. Secretary Jennifer Bertoni, Office Mgr./Youth Dir. Shelly Innes, Christian Ed. Cecily Musser, Director,DNS Ted Williams, Music Director Corey Knick, organist

Mission Statement: We, the members of the United Church of Christ, Congregational, Vermilion, strive to love, serve, and grow as we live God’s message in our families, our church, our com-munity and our world, now and forever more.

Inside this issue:

Calendar 2

Grace’s Kitchen 3

Women’s Coord. 4

Christian Ed. 4

Music 5

Help Wanted 6

Poinsettia Form 7

As I write this I am coming off my continuing education week where I

attended Interim Minister’s Training. I’m not sure I could have timed the

scheduling of this training much better. It is exactly what I needed to pre-

pare myself, and therefore, the church on transitioning myself into the

role of doing intentional interim work.

I will be explaining more about best practices for interim ministry as it

relates to preparing a congregation for search and call at this month’s

board meeting. We have already been doing some of the work that is

part of an interim period. However, what we were accomplishing was

initially being done with the possibility of my profile being considered.

With that no longer being the case there are some changes that will

make sense for both the congregation and myself as we move forward

together in this process.

As we near the season of Advent I am excited about the new possibilities

we are preparing for as a faith community. As we begin to wind down our

bicentennial celebration which has helped remind us of where this

church has been it is time to fully commit ourselves to where our Still-

Speaking God is now leading.

Rev. David Zerby

Designated Transitional Minister

Page 2 Church chatter

December 2017

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

1 Carol Harrold

2 JoAnn Lewis

4 Eldon Langham

Megan Wade

5 Craig Riddle

6 Mary Hook

7 Mary Jane Burger

Brian Akers

10 Bud Ennis

12 Sue Opperman

John Trinter

Ruth Maurer

14 Gene Todd

21 Audrey Mosier

22 Olivia DeBolt

25 JESUS!

26 Timothy Fenton

DECEMBER

ANNIVERSARIES

12 Ron & Gloria Kocan

‘70

16 Art & Connie Greiner

‘89

17 Kevin & Kim Mc Guinn

‘88

22 Fred & Karen Rossi

‘90

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 8 AA

2

3

9 Missions

9 Confirmation

11:30 Advent Wksp.

2 Small Group

(Tucker)

4 7 Property

8 AA

5

7 Venture

6

6 Preschool Pgrm.

6 Bell rehearsal

8 Diaconate

7

4:30 Grace’s

Kitchen

7 Boy Scouts

8 8 AA

9

10

9 Finance

9:30 C&C

11:30 Cookie W.

11

10 Lucy Idol

8 AA

12 13

12:30 Marmaru

6 Bell rehearsal

7 Council

14

7 Boy Scouts

15

8 AA

16

10 Pageant reh.

17 10:30 Children’s

pageant

18 8 AA

19

Rachel Circle

7 Venture

20 1 Prayer Grp.

6 Bell rehearsal

21

7 Boy Scouts

22 Office Closed

8 AA

23

24 10:30 Worship

9:30 Carols

10:00 Worship

25

Christmas Day

26 Office Closed

27 6 Bell rehearsal

28

7 Boy Scouts

7 Membership

29 8 AA

30

31 8:30 History

Breakfast

10:30 Carols

Page 3 December 2017

Grace’s Kitchen News!

Odds ‘n’ Ends:

Many thanks to Cecily Musser, Kim McGuinn and Jim Estle for helping Jen move the furni-ture for the directory photographers!

———— Boy Scout Troop #447 is always taking orders for birdseed. 25 lbs. of Deluxe Birdseed or Black Oil Sunflower seed for only $15.00. They Deliver!

————

The foundation stones from the original church building have been polished and placed in a new setting at the back door of the church. We invite you to check them out. Many thanks to Riddle Funeral Home for their help with this project! Kudos to the 200th committee for all their hard work!

————

It is our tradition to help the Vermilion Salva-tion Army with the Red Kettle Campaign. Re-member - all funds collected in Vermilion stay

in Vermilion! We have one more assigned date: Friday, December 8. See or call Pat Zimmerman to get signed in for your best hour (or 2) to help needy folks in our school district!

———— Confirmation Class will begin again on Sun-day, December 3 at 9:00am and will meet the first Sunday of each month through May. Any youth interested in learning more about being an Acolyte? Please see Pastor David.

———— As you know, the church is in the process of creating a new directory. We’d like to take this opportunity to update everyone’s information. Sheets are in the back of church and will also be at coffee hour downstairs. Please let us know how best to contact you!

Grace's Kitchen is so thankful to the following individuals who have been faithful about making this ministry part of their lives. Pre-paring food both at home and at Grace's Kitchen in November included Shelly Innes, Judy Klucas, Mary Ann Brizzolara, Judy Brizzo-lara, Karen Howell, Karen Reising, Sally Fox, Linda Estle, Shirley Lehky, Mary Hook, Lori

Ozmun, Diane Langham, Courtney Traut, Pat Zim-merman, Julie Strittmather, and Ellen Johnson. Our great serv-ing/clean-up crew in-cluded Ryan Strittmather, Dan Ker-

nell, Mary Anne Brizzolara, Judy Klucas, Mary Hook and Judy Brizzolara. You are a terrific group!! Our next Grace’s Kitchen opportunity is De-cember 7th. You are invited to join us!

Grace’s Kitchen Needs for December: Butter Dried Onion Soup Mix Taco Seasoning You can take donations directly to Trinity Lu-theran, or bring them to our church labeled “Grace’s Kitchen,” and we’ll get them where they need to go!

Page 4 Church chatter

Christian Ed. /Youth News

CHRISTMAS IS COMING! The Christmas Pageant will be presented Sun-day, Dec. 17th. Rehearsals will begin Sunday, Nov. 26th. We will rehearse during Sunday School time and into coffee hour, finishing at 12 noon. We invite you to be a part of this special event!

Advent Workshop is December 3rd! Read To Feed is due December 10th!

————————————————- Calling all Youth - church decoration December 2nd!

We've been invited to help decorate the tree in the Fellowship Hall for Christmas. Bring a favor-ite ornament, if you like. We start at 9 am, and there will be FOOD! Jen will be calling you to see if you can make it. Hope to see you there!

Operation: Christmas Joy!

We’re participating again in this annual toy drive. As always, our focus is older children and teens. Please place toy donations beneath the tree in the Narthex. We’ll wrap gifts after church on December 10th (of course, visit the Cookie Walk first) and then meet at the Vermilion YMCA at 7 pm. On December 14th to coordinate the gift distribution. All ages are welcome to wrap gifts, and we’ll have kids 12+ at the Y.

Women’s Coordinating News

12th Annual Cookie Walk - Sun Dec 10 after worship

There will be signup sheets after church

December 3rd for : Bakers (cookies and confections) Set-up and Receiving Cookies on Sat., Dec. 9th- 10 a.m. to noon Sunday Cashiers and Workers Sunday cleanup—12:45 p.m.

Balance 10-1-17 (24,946.36)

Oct. Income 18, 947.45

Member Giving 10,493.17

Other Income 8,454.28

Sept. Expenses 26,380.44

Balance 9-30-17 (32,379.35)

Finance Report Oct. 2017

December 2017 Page 5

An Uncommonly Beautiful Christmas: Traditional Carols Rarely Heard

A concert by Choral Spectrum

Directed by Ted S. Williams

Sunday Dec. 10 at 3 pm

Friday, Dec. 15 at 7 pm

Lorain Historical Society Carnegie Center,

329 W. 10th, St., Lorain

General Admission: $20

Centuries of singing about the miracle of Christmas have produced a wealth of carols

from all parts of the world that are very traditional and well-known but rarely heard

in modern America. Some of the best choral composers have revisited these uncom-

mon carols and made these gems into beautiful arrangements. Choral Spectrum will

bring these carols to light in this performance.

Limited Seating Available:

reserve your ticket by December 1st by calling 440-669-0339.

Proceeds will benefit choral Spectrum and the Lorain Historical Society.

Page 6 Church chatter

We have small group conver-sations now scheduled to oc-cur over the next few months. Signup sheets for these con-versations have been posted near the door in Fellowship Hall. Each small group will be looking at the same questions in order for our church to complete its search profile. These groups are meeting in a variety of places at a variety of times to help ensure we have

as much congregational partic-ipation as possible. Please join us as we prepare for the next big step in our journey togeth-er. Discussions will be held: Sunday, 12/3, 2:00 p.m. at the home of Jeff and Cathy Tuck-er, 9501 Harrison Rd., Wake-man, OH 653-7195. Tues., 1/9, 3:00 p.m. in the UCC Lounge (host, Ruth

Maurer). Further discussions will be held in January at the homes of Pat Stein and Judy Williams.

Small Group Discussions

The church's Personnel Com-mittee is seeking applications from persons interested in a part-time job as our church's secretary. The position is avail-able beginning January 2018 and is a part-time position with morning and early after-noon hours throughout the week, for a total of approxi-mately 20 hours per week. Interested persons should submit a letter of interest and a resume to our church office labeled attention: Personnel Committee. Interviews for the position will occur in early De-cember.

Kurt Kuhnle, our ever faithful custodian, is retiring at the end of December. If you're interested in this part time position, please submit a letter of interest to the Prop-erty Committee via the church office by December 1st. Please include any experi-ence that you have with clean-ing positions and references.

Cathy Tucker is retiring at the

end of December from being

in charge of the church nurse-

ry during the worship service

each Sunday. If you or some-

one that you know might be

interested in the nursery posi-

tion, please send a letter of

interest to the church labeled

attention: Judy Kernell.

Help Wanted!

Page 7 December 2017

We hope to fill our sanctuary with lovely poinsettia plants. The cost is $8.00 per 6”pot. Please include your payment with your order. Place in the offering plate, or bring/mail to the church office at: 990 State St., Vermilion, OH 44089. All orders are due December 1st. Please pick up your poinsettia after worship on Christmas Eve. Please Reserve #___________Poinsettia(s) -OR- In Lieu of Poinsettias, please designate my donation for: ____General Fund ____Accessibility ____Youth Mission Trip ____DNS Scholarships In Memory of: __________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ In Honor of: ___________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Given By: _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ Phone/Email: ___________________________________________________________

Christmas Poinsettias—Order Form

990 State Street

Vermilion, OH 44089

United Church of Christ, Congregational

December Servants of the Church:

Ushers: Youth/Christian Ed.

Coffee Hour: Women’s Coordinating

Altar Committee: Jane Dean

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID Vermilion, OH 44089

Permit No. 18

No matter who you are

Or where we are on life’s journey

You are always welcome here. As we journey together we discover…

Love is the key! Love of neighbor, children, and creation.