November 2018

Volume 19 Issue 10 St. John’s United Church of Christ

538 E. Thomas St. Coopersburg, PA 18036

610-282-3310

On the Journey … at St. John’s

Greetings, Back from my two-week trip out west. I was really happy to hear how much everyone enjoyed harpist Joanna Mell. A busy November is coming up quick. Saturday November 3

rd, June Thomas is

back with her Wooden Ships Crosby Stills and Nash Tribute band. I would be happy to see June perform in our sanctuary under any circumstance. Wooden Ships will be a special treat. Order your tickets $15.00 in advance from Pastor Teresa or me. Thursday November 8

th is our Community Mental Health Discussion Seminar. Top

people in their field of mental health will be present to offer help through an open discussion and private break out rooms. This is another way St. John’s is serving our surrounding community. Sunday November 18

th is Vespers with Steve Guyger. Craig Thatcher will tell you in

his opinion Steve is second only to legend harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite.

I am so excited to have Steve perform for us. He is another example as to how blessed we are to have such top professionals in our Vespers series. So, one of the council agenda items was preparing for 2019. Pastor Teresa and I will meet with our accountant to present a budget. A one-day planning retreat was also discussed. The topic of council members for 2019 was raised. I was asked directly what I would do about continuing on council. My position was if a council can be formed and the congregation wants me to continue for another year, I will serve. With that Martha Helverson and Glenn Kranzley, both who committed to serving out two vacancies for the remainder of 2018, agreed to stay on for 2019. Bill Knittle also made a commitment for 2019. Neil O’Brien, currently serving on council for this year, told me he has way too many responsibilities with work and family. I understood and I am grateful for his help the last few months. So, council needs a volunteer or two or three to step up for 2019. Let me know. Grace and Peace, John Ruby/Council President

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OVERCOMING STIGMA- FINDING HOPE FOR MENTAL HEALTH

St. John’s, along with Chestnut Hill UCC in Coopersburg, will be presenting an outreach awareness event, Thursday November 8th at 7pm. This event is for everyone in the community.

Our event will bring a wealth of information that will target just about everything associated with mental health. The evening will present numerous agencies and professionals , dedicated to treatment and support, for anyone struggling with this serious health issue.

The breakout groups will focus on ,"Perseverance", "Life Cycles", “Bullying,” "Suicide", and other related mental health issues.

The cost for attending this great event is two hours of your time.

Nursery will be provided at no cost. If you have any questions or need more information, please see Pastor Teresa or John Ruby, Council President.

THUMBS UP to Chris Fahy, son of Bryan and Maureen Urmy

on attaining his Eagle Scout level of scouting.

Thumbs Up for the second Vespers evening---if you missed it, you missed a very special performance of lovely harp music, wonderful singing and inspirational narrative by Joanna Mell.

A fabulous experience!

Thumbs Up for the Blessing Box and Kyle who made it!

NOVEMBER MILESTONES TO CELEBRATE

Please help keep this listing up-to-date by contacting the office with

additions and/or corrections! Thank you!

Happy Birthday

12 Lenore Bamberger

13 Brian Fegley

29 John Ruby

Happy Anniversary

3 Bryan & Maureen Urmy

8 Donald & Diane Kuhns

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EVENING VESPERS – SAVE THE DATES

We are so excited to be beginning our third year of Evening Vespers. We are blessed to have wonderfully talented musicians to guide these special moments of respite in our Sanctuary. They ALL enthusiastically responded immediately to our invitation. You will recognize many of these musicians and have the opportunity to meet some whom you may not have heard before. The music promises to be diversified with each musician bringing their own unique style with great passion and spirit. ENJOY and bring a friend or neighbor.

Date Theme Musician 2018 NOV 18 Gratitude Steve Guyger

DEC 16 Christmas Promises KATO

(Pat & Craig Kastelnik)

2019

JAN 20 Chart a New Course Craig Thatcher

FEB 17 Awaiting in Grace Carol Broughton

MAR 10 Strong and Tender -to be confirmed-

APR 14 New Awakening Maggie Spike

(Maggie & Eric Gernerd)

MAY 19 Imagine – Fulfill Hidden Promises John Carelli

JUN 9 Sunshine and Growth Mike Holliday

The evening will flow between readings and music, with somewhat more emphasis on the music. There will be an opportunity to move about the sanctuary as one chooses. In addition to personal prayers and anointing with Pastor Teresa, there will be a prayer station where anyone may write a prayer request and put it in the basket. We’ll continue to offer light refreshments immediately following Vespers.

Looking forward to seeing you at Evening Vespers.

We are now part of the Amazon Smile Program! This is the way the corporation of Amazon.com gives back to the community. You must shop through Amazon Smile every time. Your Prime membership and passwords stay the same and are not shared. .05% of every sale goes to the church. Below is the link to take you directly there. Please share with family and friends! This is an easy way to give back to the church. Any questions, speak to Pastor Teresa. Her email is RevTeresaMartin@outlook.com https://smile.amazon.com/ch/23-6286946

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DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ENDS NOVEMBER 4 DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK

MISSION OF THE MONTH

WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT The mission of Wounded Warriors is to “honor and empower wounded veterans by fostering the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history.”

MENTAL & HEALTH SUPPORT Wounded Warriors provides Mental Health Support with stress recovery programs, care networks and long term support. The Health and Wellness programs envision a generation of Wounded Warriors well-adjusted in body, receiving the care they need to maximize rehabilitation and live active and healthy lives. Through adaptive sports, health, nutrition, and recreational activities, WWP helps warriors achieve independence and pursue an excellent quality of life.

CAREER & VA BENEFITS COUNSELING WWP envisions a generation of Wounded Warriors who are economically empowered. They are not unemployed or underemployed, and have opportunities to pursue a meaningful career or own their own business. WWP offers employment services to encourage economic empowerment for warriors to provide long-term financial stability for themselves and their families.

WWP connection events ­– such as hunting trips, sporting events, and

educational summits – support the long-term recovery of warriors by connecting

them with fellow service members and their community. These connection

events provide a safe, enjoyable forum for warriors to develop interpersonal

bonds with peers and learn more about other WWP services.

NEW ADDRESSES

Smart Communications/PADOC Amanda Hein #OV3949 SCI Muncy PO Box 33028 St. Petersburg, FL 33733

Carol Hoats 1632 D 33rd St. SW Allentown, PA 18103

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JOINT CONFERENCE VISION AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Recognizing the trajectory of the decline of Churches (locally and beyond), both Penn Northeast Conference (PNEC) and Pennsylvania Southeast (PSEC) believed it critical to become proactive about creating positive change and began talking seriously about the concept of joining into one unified Conference in February 2016. In spring of 2017 an expanded transition team was formed to vision and develop a model of a new, merged conference.

The Joint Conference Vision and Development Team (JCVDT) began to focus on a vision, mission and purpose for the potential new Conference.

The team has been intentional about seeking input from stakeholders across both conferences regarding their hopes and concerns for such an action. We have made use of surveys, Annual Meetings, town hall gatherings, Association meetings, Area Mission Council meetings and Zoom meetings. We had a joint retreat with the PNEC Board and PSEC Consistory, and met with Conference staff, the Committee on Ministries, Association representatives and Area Mission Council Conveners to inform our work. The JCVDT thanks everyone who has contributed ideas and insights.

More recently, the team has been focusing on developing a model of how a new conference might function – including primary services to be offered, what staffing would be needed, where staff should be located, what budgetary support will be needed, etc.

Drafts of necessary documents are prepared: including statements of purpose, mission, vision and values, the case statement, the draft conference model, draft staff model, the FAQ sheet, the motion, the General Synod resolution and a potential new name. Please contact Marlene if you would like to see any of these documents.

Soon the churches and authorized ministers of our two conferences will be provided with advanced materials, including all relevant documents and the wording of all votes.

The Board of Directors and Consistory of each Conference have approved the motion and recommend that we form a new Conference. Our next step is to vote on this at our respective Conference 2018 Fall meetings. (November 3 for PNEC).

If both Fall conference meetings approve the motion to create a new Conference, a resolution will be presented to General Synod 32, in June 2019.

Why are we doing this? We believe that God is doing something new and that the mission of God in Christ will be strengthened if we work together in partnership, spreading the gospel of love, compassion and justice.

Grace and Peace, Marlene

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COB CORNER

Things have been busy for the COB Team!

First, thanks to all who dined at Bella's and Alcamo! Your participation is always appreciated! MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the COB 2019 kick off at Brick Tavern Inn once again! Every Tuesday in November, they generously donate a portion of your dining check to COB. This fundraiser is wonderful as will be your dining experience at Brick Tavern! Please help begin COB 2019 with a BANG!

Please remember to check out our webpage www.cobcares.org for up to date info and just because it's really well done!

RAFFLE WINNERS! We were finally able to do our raffle drawing at the awesome 5K event on Oct 20! COB reaches far and wide as evidenced by our $10,000 winner being from NYC! Mark Payne was visiting a friend in the area and stopped by Link's, was persuaded by one of our volunteers to buy a ticket and won! Mark has generously donated a portion of his winnings back to COB after looking at the website! The $500 stub was a ticket purchased by someone who wanted their proceeds donated back to the cause and had "Recipient" on it. The first $250 was won with a stub that Jeff and Nancy Carr filled out with their 3 daughters, Amanda, Angie and Emilee on it and so those winnings go to NY, CA and Bethlehem and the other $250 was won by Burr Shaw. $2650 will be donated back to COB!

5K was, as I said, an awesome day with 94 participants registered. Please check the website for winners in each age category. The kid's Fun Run was enjoyed by everyone, the DJ music kept everyone happy and moving as it did get a little chilly when the sun was in! Things ran smoothly with help of the APO service fraternity. Such a fun day!

2 more fundraisers: Brave for Brews hosted by Braveheart Highland Pub in Hellertown on Nov 4 at 11AM. Go to http://www.eventbrite.com/ to register. We appreciate the generosity of Braveheart as the proceeds from this event were chosen to go to COB. Always Pretty at 32 S. Main St., Coopersburg is hosting a fundraiser 10/25-11/8 for eyebrow and lip waxing. They will donate 100% of their proceeds to COB for these services. Appt only 610-282-1888. Again, we appreciate their generosity!

Lastly, from Glenn Kranzley, Sunday, Nov 11 will be Celebration Sunday, our annual wrap up of the COB campaign. We will thank God for all of his blessings and give checks to our 3 recipient families who will be joining us that day. You may also remember that one of our recipients, Melody Clayton, is a US Navy Vet so there is a tie-in for Veteran's Day too. And we expect to have Mr. Richard Cartegena from the social work department at the VA Clinic in Allentown to say a few words about the needs of our deserving veterans. Then we'll all share cake and beverages with our guests after service.

As always, thank you for all of your support of the Community Outreach Benefit!

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IN LOVING MEMORY

CLAIRE C. BISER

Claire C. Biser, 91, of Center Valley, passed away Tuesday, October 23, 2018, in

Phoebe Allentown Health Care Center. She was the wife of the late William R. Biser.

Born in Wilson, she was the daughter of the late Walter F. and Josephine N. (Rinker)

Craft. Prior to retiring in 1986, she was employed as a registrar at Lehigh University

for 18 years. A member of St. John's United Church of Christ, Coopersburg, Claire

sang in its choir and was a volunteer at the Southern Lehigh Public Library since

1998. Survivors: sons, Mark S. and wife, Michele (Rosato), Greensboro NC, Neal W.

and wife, Gloria, Coopersburg; four grandchildren; five great grandchildren. She was

preceded in death by grandson, Michael C.

Contributions: in lieu of flowers, to church or library .

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Matthew 5:4

PLEASE REMEMBER OUR WEBSITE:

(STJOHNSCOOPERSBURG.ORG) OR OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

(ST JOHN’S UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, COOPERSBURG)

HAS UP-TO-THE-MINUTE CHURCH INFORMATION

RISE AND SHINE YOGA

Wednesdays, 9 - 10 a.m.

St. John’s parlor

$10 class

Please contact Carol at 610.428.1236

to register

OUR MISSION:

To know and share the love of God through worship,

fellowship and outreach to the community.

St. John’s United Church of Christ 538 Thomas Street Coopersburg, PA 18036 www.stjohnsucccoop.org RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

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