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Friday Email - 6 DEC 2013

Movie Night TONIGHT – Vaughan Fellowship Hall
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED FOR THE MEALS ON WHEELS CHRISTMAS LIST!
Children’s Christmas Pageant
Family Advent Workshop - This Sunday, 5:00pm, Vaughan Fellowship Hall  
Voting Rights are Human Rights - Human Rights Day
Advent Reflections & Taizé Worship
Christmas Cantata
Forums in December
Help plan Sunday morning Forum for January through May
CUCC Annual Christmas Dinner
SPCA Christmas Project
Christmas Cards for Wounded Soldiers
Menu of Compassionate Gifts
Loaves and Fishes Chili Sale
Cookies for Christmas – Last day to order is December 11

 
Movie Night TONIGHT, Friday, December 6  – Vaughan Fellowship Hall
The Deacons are sponsoring a viewing of the film "Into Great Silence" as an introduction to the Advent season. The film will be shown in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall starting at 7:00pm.  The film follows the routine of monks of the Grande Chartreuse who have taken a vow of silence. There is no dialogue, though the chants and sounds of daily life provide a sound track for your own quiet time. The film is three hours long.  During a short break midway through the showing, the famous herbal Grande Chartreuse liqueur will be served with snacks.  Put this unique Advent event on your calendar! Below is a description of the film provided by Netflix

Director Philip Gröning's study of the Grande Chartreuse monastery introduces a world of austere beauty as it follows the daily activities of the resident monks, whose silence is broken only by prayer and song. With no sound save the natural rhythms of age-old routines, the documentary -- a Special Jury Prize winner at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival -- captures the simplicity and profundity of lives lived with absolute purpose and presence.

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED FOR THE MEALS ON WHEELS CHRISTMAS LIST!
The Donation Boxes for the Meals on Wheels Christmas List are nearly empty!  Please consider donating an item from the list below to our Meals on Wheels Clients.  These gifts may be all these individuals receive this season.  Let’s make it a great Christmas for these older folks – many who are all alone.  Thank you for your support!  May God Bless You this Holiday Season…

Monday, Dec. 9, the Retirees’ will be wrapping gifts for Meals on Wheels Clients.  It’s not too late to donate a gift!  Drop boxes are provided around the church to collect your donations.  You can also place a monetary contribution in the collection plate Sunday during worship with “Meals on Wheels” in the memo line.  Monetary contributions will be used to purchase gift cards.  These gifts are often the only ones these individuals receive during the Holidays.  All gifts should be new.  Requested items are:

    Gas and Gift Cards         Holiday candy, cookies, and snacks
    Gloves and Hats              Holiday soaps, towels, etc.                
    Umbrellas                         Fleece throws
    Postage Stamps              Holiday Gift Sets appropriate for
                                                older folks

 The Retirees will be wrapping your gifts Monday from 10:00am – Noon in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall.  Anyone who is available at that time to help wrap will be WARMLY WELCOMED!  Bring a sandwich and join them for lunch; dessert and drinks will be provided.

Children’s Christmas Pageant – The Children and Youth will present their annual Christmas Pageant this Sunday, December 8, during the 10:30am worship service.  Please come and enjoy this annual event – there will be lots of singing and joy during this service.  Come and see what wonderful children and youth we have in our church.  They are an inspiration to all of us.


Family Advent Workshop  - This Sunday, 5:00pm, Vaughan Fellowship Hall.  We’ll have pizza and a cookie swap for the children, youth, and their families. This gathering will serve as our December Family Potluck.  (Sponsored by the Sunday School)

Voting Rights are Human Rights - Human Rights Day – Celebrate Human Rights Day by attending a presentation by Allison Riggs, Staff Attorney for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.  Sponsored by ACLU of NC, Amnesty International-Group 213, Human Rights Coalition of North Carolina, and Wake County Chapter, UNA-USA.  Monday, December 9, 7:00pm, Cameron Village Library, 1930 Clark Avenue, Raleigh, NC  27605.

Advent Reflections & TaizĂ© Worship – Join us as we share scripture, meditation with soothing music, centering silence and prayer, and singing and sharing with each other what Advent means to us.  It will be an opportunity to relax and renew one’s spirit as we journey toward the Light of Christ being birthed into our lives and our world! Tuesday, Dec. 10, 7:00pm, Vaughan Fellowship Hall.

Christmas Cantata – Let the sounds of Christmas brighten your holidays!  The choir will be performing God's Son Is Born: A Christmas Cantata, by Peggy Hoffmann, during the 10:30am Worship service on Sunday, Dec. 15th.  Come hear lovely music written by this talented composer and long-time church member.  You won't want to miss this one!

Forums in December – The forum this Sunday, Dec. 8 and next Sunday, Dec. 15, will be facilitated by Elizabeth Queen, an intern at NC Justice Center and a student completing degrees at Duke Divinity School and at UNC School of Social Work.

December 8 - The Role of Government and the Common Good.  The role of government has always been debated but today differences have led to gridlock, dysfunction and unbending partisanship. Can we recreate a government that serves the public interest and rises above self-interest?
December 15 - The Role of Faith Communities in Restoring the Common Good.   What can faith communities offer to the public discourse and how do we do it?

The theme for the last two Forums in December is Hunger in America…
December 22 - A Place at the Table - One Nation. Underfed.  (Part 1) 50 million Americans don't know where their next meal is coming from.  This documentary tells the powerful story of three Americans who maintain their dignity even as they struggle just to eat. It may change forever how we think about the hungry.

December 29 - A Place at the Table (Part 2)

Help plan Sunday morning Forum for January through May - The time has come to plan the Spring Forum topics. In recent years, various groups and individuals have volunteered to organize topics and speakers for approximately a month at a time. What would you like to learn about or discuss? An open planning meeting will be held after church THIS SUNDAY at Noon in the Hoffmann Room.  We will be brainstorming, so come with your ideas or join up with others to volunteer to organize a month of Forums in the spring.

CUCC Annual Christmas Dinner - Our annual CUCC Christmas Dinner will take place on Saturday, December 14th.  Social hour begins at 6:30pm, with dinner at 7:15pm. It will include vegetarian offerings.  If you are able to do so, please bring your favorite Christmas dessert to share with others.  There will be approximately sixty-five people attending the dinner.  I look forward to seeing you at the Christmas dinner as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Submitted by Robert Parrish for WFG.

SPCA Christmas Project - The children's Sunday School classes are supporting the animals at the SPCA this Christmas.  We are collecting food, treats, collars, leashes, kitty litter, and monetary contributions to add to our Sunday School offering.  We will have a box in the Fellowship Hall and one in the narthex through December 15th for donations.  Please notice the posters the children have placed down the hallway and on our bulletin board.  They are very excited about this project and hope that you are, too.  The children of this church continue to amaze us all by their love of giving and doing for others, including God's animals.


Christmas Cards for Wounded Soldiers - The children's Sunday School classes are sending Christmas cards to our wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital.  If you would like to send one you may drop it off in our classroom and we will be sure it gets in the mail.


Menu of Compassionate Gifts - Is there someone you plan to give a gift to that doesn't really need yet another gift - family member, neighbor, friend or coworker?  How about choosing from our Menu of Compassionate Gifts?  Six local charitable organizations have been selected and our menu tells you what your donation might do.  The menu is available on the table in the back of the sanctuary and online, too.  You will receive cards to give to the recipients of your gifts. So give it some thought; then give gifts that give twice.  Contact Gray Woodard or Jeanne Ledbetter for more information.


Loaves and Fishes Chili Sale - It is time to place your orders for meat and veggie chili in freezer containers.  We have increased the price of our chili for the first time in seven (7) years. Both meat and veggie will be $12.00 per quart. Please place your orders by Sunday, January 19, 2014, with Shannon Core (919-846-0902) or use the sign-up sheet on the hallway bulletin board.  Pick up dates and times will be Friday, January 24, 2014, from 4:00pm -7:00pm, and Saturday, January 25, 2014, 9:00am - Noon at Hudson Memorial Presbyterian Church on Six Forks Road in Raleigh.

Cookies for Christmas – Last day to order is December 11
For those of you who love Christmas Cookies, but don’t have time to make them (or no desire to do so), Susan Maleszweski will be happy to bake them for you.  Below are the types of cookies available.  Only $9.00 per dozen (two dozen minimum, please).

COOKIES  COOKIES  COOKIES  COOKIES

Attractively Plated/Wrapped
Sold Assorted Only
$ 9.00 per Dozen - 2 Dozen Minimum

Cookies

Orange chocolate chip shortbread wedges:  crisp shortbread / orange peel                                              
Cranberry Polenta Squares:  crunchy cornmeal studded with tart cranberries
Anginettes:  anisette flavored frosted Italian wedding cookie
Raspberry Almond Shortbread:  buttery shortbread filled with seedless raspberry jam
Triple Chocolate Biscotti:  chocolate with milk and white chocolate chips
Peanut Butter Kisses:  soft peanut butter cookie topped with a milk chocolate kiss
Cream Cheese Butter Cookies
Coffee:  crisp coffee flavored
Eggnog:  drizzled with rum frosting and a sprinkle of nutmeg
Lemon:  cream cheese with a hint of lemon
Almond:  delicate almond cheese flavor
2 Bite Bar Cookies     Sold Assorted Only
Decadent Fudge Frosted Brownies:  rich chocolate brownie with fudgy frosting
Apricot Almond Linzer Bars:  almond topping/ crust with apricot jam peeking through
Date Squares:  old fashioned oatmeal topping/crust with date nut filling
LAST DATE TO ORDER:  Wednesday, December 11, 2013            
PICK UP @ CUCC:  Sunday, December 22, 2013, after church in the library
CASH ONLY PLEASE…..NO CHECKS ACCEPTED
To Order, Call 919-937-9726 or 919-698-4914 or email Susan Maleszweski
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Susan