The Spire

The Rutland United Methodist Church Newsletter

DECEMBER 2008

Office Phone: (802) 773-2460

E-Mail Address: RutlandUMC@aol.com

Office Hours: Monday – Thursday

8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Staff:

Rev. Deborah Estey – Pastor

Bert Ladd – Business Administrator

Lorraine Dotson – Administrative Secretary

Matt O’Morrow – Custodian

Youri Youkov – Interim J.O.Y. Choir Director

Ann Reed – Organist/Pianist

Karen James – Music Coordinator / Bells of Joy Choir Director

Linda Allen and Marsha Johnson – Sunday School Superintendents

Cathy Fleming – Nursery Staff

Thanksgiving will soon be over and now is the time when we begin to reflect on the Christmas season. We imagine the manger scene in our minds. We see the animals along with Mary and Joseph. But I am always amazed on how we see the “peaceful” ox and the “humble” ass kneeling at the stall. In this 21^st century, we are far removed from the daily touch with other created orders of being.

I grew up on a farm in upstate New York. We had pigs and cows and huge gardens. Cows had to be milked, by hand, each day. Pig sties needed to be shoveled out, and clean, sweet-smelling straw was added to the cow stalls.

There was also a chicken farm across the road from us. Many times I would go over to help gather the eggs. The noise was loud and the smell was pungent.

Most people today spend almost all their living hours far removed from such natural, earthy realities. We dress ourselves in manufactured fibers, feed ourselves with laboratory-devised nutrients; we dwell in homes, live with furniture created from synthetic substances, and breathe in air which has been first grossly polluted, then filtered, heated and cooled by humanly devised mechanisms. We even entertain ourselves, not with the sights and sounds of nature, the stars and the crisp December air, but with the television set.

When we come upon this record that Christ came, not into a human habitation, but to a stable; and that his birth was heralded, not by any pre-Christmas media blitz, but by a bunch of herald angels out on a lonely hillside; we are not at all sure what to make of it. Might there be a message here, a word that calls out toward us in our cozy, 21^st century cocoons?

What about those animals? We devise ridiculous TV cartoons about “The Night the Animals Talked”; quite forgetting that cuteness had no part at all in the original manger scene at Bethlehem. The animals were there; along with the manure and the flies. We sing Christmas songs about the patient ox and humble ass. I have never heard a song about the noise of the animals or the swarming flies.

Yet we are not the first generation to be offended by the stark reality of that Bethlehem stable. In 1635 the Queen of Austria instructed her architect about one of her building projects in these terms: “The church must be a sumptuous and magnificent sanctuary, in order to compensate as much as possible for the extreme vulgarity and poverty of the place where the Eternal Word chose to be born.” (Faces at the Manger)

Yet that is where it all took place. Christ was born in the grunge and the grime, the smell and the din of a stable.

The message for us might be that the birth did happen among the animals because it sets us in our rightful place; not at the center, where we like to be, but as one with all the rest of God’s creation – animal, vegetable, mineral.

Christmas is not about what we want. Christmas is about what God gave us in the humble stable – Jesus – Emmanuel – Christ with us - the greatest gift of all !

The weeks keep rolling by and we continue in a track of being short for the approved budget. Below is a list showing how we have done the last few weeks.

This gives us an average of $2,715.72 per week, and we need an average of over $3,500.00. We all know the economic times are tough and we appreciate all everyone is doing, and we are trying to cut costs and bring the expenses down to the income. There is only so much we can do to cut these costs, however. We ask that you continue to be faithful in your giving, and we will try to make the best of a hard situation. Thank you for your faithfulness.

Being a "Challenger" simply means that you agree to match funds for the bottles and cans redeemed in a given month. This typically runs between $10 and $20. To make this mission a success, please bring your redeemable cans and bottles to church on a regular basis.

Poinsettias will decorate the Chapel from Christmas Eve through the season of Epiphany. Vigil candles will be lit for our Worship Service on Christmas Eve. Poinsettias may be removed following the season of Epiphany.

Order forms are available in the church Chapel. Each $12.00 donation covers one memorial/ honorary listing in the bulletin. The deadline for ordering is December 7^th.

Insulated Cups with an RUMC embroidered inset make a great Christmas gift or keepsake. Proceeds go to the church fuel fund. To place an order, contact Marj Hodgson: 773-2239.

The Ministry Team is again putting together Christmas baskets. These extra staples and special treats go out to those in our church family who are in need of our support during the holidays. These hard-working families are so grateful to have some food in their cupboards and the ability to serve a holiday meal for their loved ones at Christmas.

Traditional holiday food items, plus everyday staples like sugar, flour, rice, canned vegetables and fruit are welcomed anytime. Please bring perishable items like breads, pies, fresh turkey or ham, milk, juice, butter, etc. to church on Sunday, December 21^st (the Sunday before Christmas). If you would prefer to make a monetary contribution, we would be happy to shop for needed items. Food as well as small gift items for the families are welcomed. These baskets will be delivered to families on and after December 21.

Thank you for sharing with our brothers and sisters in Christ this Christmas. Please contact me, or anyone on the Ministry Team, if you have any questions.

Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ The Lord. Luke 2:11

An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" in the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.

But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz. The black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien.

The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason. His most powerful tools are the simplest.

It is December and time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I don't know where the year has gone, but it seems that it can't be a whole year since we celebrated his birth in 2007. What a privilege that we can do this, however, that we are free to worship according to our own choice. May this season bring you peace and joy and love. May God's light shine upon you.

The Rutland UMC Cookbook is a wonderful collection of recipes from our Church family and makes a great Christmas gift. There are still some books left – just waiting to be sold, priced at $7.00 or two for $10.00.

The deadline for submitting articles for publication in the Spire is the 15^th of each month. Articles received after the cutoff date will be printed in the next month's issue. The Spire will be mailed out on the 20^th of each month, starting January, 2009. Email articles to: rutlandumc@aol.com

The United Methodist Women Christmas party will be held on Tuesday, December 9^th, at 12:30 p.m., at the South Station Restaurant. Buffet and regular menu items are available.

Sunday, December 21^st, during the 10:00 a.m. worship service. All are welcomed to this annual event.

Wondering how to ring in the new year with your family safely and spiritually? Please join us on December 31^st, starting at 6:00 p.m., for a New Year's Eve Potluck Dinner, followed by worship service, and a movie: "It's A Wonderful Life".

The ‘Christmas–cookies-for-the-shut-ins-of-our-church-family-project’ is in full swing.

Cookies and helpers are needed to deliver them. A cookie baking signup is in the Chapel.

Please bring your cookies to the church office by Thursday, December 11^th for delivery on Sunday, December 14^th. All help is greatly appreciated.

Annual Fuel Fund Drive

With the price of heating oil at an all-time high and the installation of pellet stoves in the church and parsonage, contributions are welcomed to help offset the cost of the stoves (including installation and pellets/corn), and the heating oil that is needed for backup. Thank you in advance for your help in this matter.

The Annual Tree of Remembrance tree lighting ceremony and memorial service will be held at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 9^th, at the Franklin Conference Center in Rutland. The service is a time for community members to gather to remember and honor someone who has died.

Remembrance Ornaments are a special way to honor someone who has touched your life. Ornaments may be ordered by calling the RAVNAH Hospice Department. Order forms are also available in the RUMC Chapel.

In my last report I began to relay the various classes which were formed in the early 1900 and mentioned one of the classes was the Mary Noe Circle of King’s Daughters.

One I attended in my teenage years was the Epworth League mentioned just briefly in my last report. This group of young people was organized as early as 1898. In 1901 Mrs. Frank A. Wilkinson was president of the Young People’s Society. At this time there were 65 members. “During this period a deep spirituality seems to emanate from the annals of the years, in work accomplished.”....Miss Edna Walters, first Vice President reporting for the Spiritual Department of the Society, says, “The Society has grown spiritually since the Prayer Services before the regular meeting.” About this time the name was changed from the Young People’s Society of Christian Service to the Epworth League.

Also, about this time physicians were informed that the Department of Mercy and Help were ready to furnish assistance wherever needed. A garden was planted and flowers were taken to the sick and shut-ins. A “Penny a Day Club” was successful in adding money to the treasury as well as the Building Fund of the church.”

In the absence of Pastor Rev. Duffield, on his annual vacation, the League had charge of the Morning Service for one Sunday. It was called, “Epworth League Day”. The service consisted of the reading of four papers”

In 1904 the League made a study of Robert Morrison’s Life under the direction of the Department of World Evangelism. They presented an interesting program on “Messages from the Mission Field”. Bible study classes were held as well as studies of popular books such as, “The Life of Christ”, "Daybreak in the Dark Continent”, and "The Challenge of the City”.

“On May 8, 1910, a Mother’s Day service was conducted by the League in place of the Evening Service. This was the first time in the City of Rutland that a Mother’s Day was observed. “In an old newspaper clipping we read: “this is a service in memory of, and in honor of mothers. It is customary for those who attend these services to show their filial regard by wearing the floral badge of Mother’s Day, a white carnation.

On May 3, 1911, a “Poverty Social" was held, the admittance fee being a pair of old rubbers which were placed in a barrel at the door...these were sold and the proceeds were added to a fund for the relief of the starving people of China.

If anyone knows where the large frying pan from the church kitchen is, please call the church office. Also, Some of our members received the wrong lids for their covered pans following a church dinner. Please check to see if you have the correct rectangular or round glass lid.

Thank you all for the wonderful response to our monthly request for church supplies! This month’s request is for calcium chloride (Ice Melt, etc. PLEASE, NO ROCK SALT).

Thanks to all the individuals that unloaded and installed the replacement parsonage windows.

Thanks to everyone that helped cleanup on Fall Cleanup Day on November 1^st. The church grounds look great!

While preparing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to the address below. If we pass this one and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful, special people who have sacrificed so much would get:

I want to thank all of the members who have returned postage paid membership reply cards. A reminder to those who have set the card aside and not returned it: please reply ASAP.

Marc Whitman has put together information in a website devoted to his beloved wife, Meredith, who is battling brain cancer. You may access the site by typing in your web browser address line or click on:

Lexi Moore has put together a list of needs for those wishing to offer their help to the Whitmans.