Announcements and Calendar for the Week of Dec. 11, 2011

MESSIAH SING here today at 4:00! All welcome, singers and listeners alike. Professional soloists & orchestra, scores provided, refreshments to follow.

WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP will enjoy a field trip to Salem Cross Inn for our Dec. 14 meeting. Those who have registered with Ruth Stevenson should plan to meet at the church before 10:30 a.m. to carpool to Brookfield, Massachusetts.
Individually wrapped toothbrushes or full sized combs are the items we are collecting in December for Hygiene Kits for Church World Service. Leave your donations in the CWS basket in the Great Room.

BLUE CHRISTMAS: The holiday season, despite all its merriment and joy, can be a time of struggle for many. We may find ourselves sadly separated from those we love for a variety of reasons including distance, estrangement, or death – losses occurring both as recently as this year or as long ago as decades. There may be depression, ill health, job uncertainty or other pressures coincidentally occurring at this Christmas time. Our spirits sink as the days grow shorter. We feel the darkness growing deeper around us. We need encouragement to live the days ahead of us.
We need the space and time to acknowledge these feelings sadness; we need to know that we are not alone. We need encouragement to live the days ahead of us. A Service of Light or, as it is sometimes referred to, ”A Blue Christmas Service,” gives us an opportunity to gather in community to recognize our losses and to move from despair to the hope provided to us by the light of Christ coming into the world. All are invited to attend, pray, listen to song and scripture, reflect in silence and remember that we are never separated from God’s love.
For these reasons, First Congregational Church of Woodstock offers a special service on December 18 at 5:00PM . Join with others in sharing prayers, scripture, and music that acknowledges that God’s presence is for those who mourn, for those who struggle - and that God’s Word comes to shines light into our darkness and that we are never separated from God’s love. Everyone, regardless of church background (or lack of it) is welcome.
The short service will be followed by a brief time for light refreshments and fellowship.

THANK YOU to all who participated in Santa’’s Sitting Service yesterday. Our teens loved spending time with their young friends and we raised some money for our NYE (National Youth Event) Travel Fund. We are grateful to Dianna Rebello for organizing this event!

ML KING DAY OF SERVICE will be sponsored by Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries is on Monday, January 16. Put your faith in action with an afternoon of service work in Boston. Rev. Liz Walker will be the featured speaker at the celebration dinner. Speak to Debby Kirk if you would like to participate.


Calendar of the Week
Today
4:00 p.m. Messiah Sing
Monday - Community Kitchen
7:30 p.m. Sr. Bells
7:30 p.m. AA
Tuesday
7:30 p.m. Council
Wednesday
10:30 a.m. Women’s Fellowship Field Trip
Thursday
10:30 a.m. C.E.
7:00 p.m. Senior Choir
Next Sunday
10:00 a.m. Children’s Christmas Pageant/Visiting Bethlehem
5:00 p.m. Blue Christmas Service