Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I have a big apology to offer! I need to tell you a funny story. I was talking to a woman the week before Christmas and she was telling me about her sister who is an excellent cook, but, she will not share her recipes. If on the rare occasion that she does share them, she always leaves out one ingredient and so people always tell her, I made your _____ but it didn’t taste the same as when you make it. I could not believe she would do this but then….
On Christmas Eve I started to make my mustard sauce and since Jay had one of the cards that I gave to the congregation sitting on the table, I decided to use that one instead of getting my recipe book out. I made it and as I was about to put it in the double boiler, I noticed there was no mustard in my pot and I realized that I left the mustard out of the recipe. How can you have mustard sauce without mustard?
I want to tell you that I was just stressed, and Tammy was after me to get her the recipes so she could type them up and I could then blame it on her. But she typed the recipes and then asked me to look at them before they were printed to make sure they were right. I did look at the breakfast casserole recipe and found an error which she corrected and then I told her to go ahead and print, never looking at the mustard sauce recipe. So that is how it got left off.
The recipe should read, To 2 beaten egg yolks, add 3 TBPS prepared mustard. The rest of the recipe is right, but it is really hard to make mustard sauce without the mustard. Jay just laughed at me and wondered how many people tried to make the mustard sauce.
I am so sorry! It really is good and goes so well with ham. Mine came out fine when I realized what was left off the recipe.
I decided that this was the perfect end to a VERY imperfect year! I hope no one ruined a recipe on my account. Please add 3TBSP. of prepared mustard to your recipe and it will be fine. Just another example of how God uses “cracked pots” to do God’s work!
My prayer is that despite difficult circumstances, you all had a very Merry Christmas and remember Christmas is a season, not just a day. Take time during the 12 Days of Christmas to celebrate a bit each day remembering the reason for the season.
Yours in Christ, but definitely ”cracked,”
Bonnie
A Huge Thank You!
A huge thank you for all the wonderful and amazing Christmas/Pastor Appreciation gifts. I was totally overwhelmed. I am so grateful for all of you and the love that we share for our Lord and Savior who calls us to be the church in this broken world. I could not do this job without all of your help. This year has stretched me, sometimes in ways that I wish I had not stretched but God is good and has brought us to a different place and time in the life of this church. Let us move forward into 2021 renewed in our discipleship together.
SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL SUNDAYS
The second Sunday of each month is Something Beautiful Sunday. Please bring to church something that is beautiful to you. It can be a picture, a knick-knack, or anything that is special and beautiful in your eyes. Place the item on the table at the front of the sanctuary and we will honor those items as gifts from God.
BIBLE STUDY
Our January Bible study is called, “When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box.” This is a video Bible study and you do not need to buy the book for this study. Bible study will begin on Tuesday, January 12, at 6:00 p.m. This study will continue until our Lenten study begins. Our Lenten study is called, “Entering The Passion: A Beginner’s Guide to Holy Week”, by Amy Jill Levine. I would like you to have the book for this study if possible. You can get it on Amazon for $8.35 or from Christian Book Distributors for $12.99 or Cokebury for $10.49. This study will take us to Easter.
January 10 Election of Elders
We will have a special congregational meeting after church on Sunday, January 10, 2021 to elected two new elders. The nominating committee will make recommendations of the elder candidates they have been working with and these candidates will be presented for consideration. As soon as the church service has finished members attending on ZOOM or Facebook live will be asked to stay on-line while non-members may end their session. The sole item of business at this meeting will be to elect the two officers so that they may be ordained during the following week, January 17.
January 17 Ordination & Installation of Officers
During these unprecedented times, we will be ordaining and installing officers in person and virtually. Depending on the COVID situation, elders may be installed and ordained virtually or in person on January 17 during the worship service.
January 21 Parkinson’s Advocacy & Education Group
The Parkinson’s Support Group will meet on Thursday, January 21st at 2:00 pm in Fellowship Hall and will have discussions.
January 25 Session Meeting
The next session meeting will take place on Monday, January 25 at 6:00. Speak to Janis Frisch or Rev. Bonnie if it is necessary to bring up anything before this meeting.
LOOKING AHEAD
February 14 Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of Mayfield Central Presbyterian Church will be held in person and on-line on Sunday, February 14 immediately following the church service. The business of the church will be conducted at this meeting including review of 2020 events, review of the 2021 budget, and voting on the pastor’s terms of call. Please plan to attend this important meeting.
February 17 Ash Wednesday
Please join us for an Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m., as we enter into the season of Lent with the imposition of ashes and a short worship service.
SESSION NOTES
Did you know that we have to pay witness support for every member of our church every year. This money goes to support the ministries at the Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly levels. There is a $46 per member witness support that we pay to Albany Presbytery every year. We prayerfully ask that if you are able that you consider adding $46 to your pledge or tithe to help us cover that cost. An envelope is included in the newsletter for your witness support. We are a connectional church and this money is important to supporting ministries throughout PCUSA. We appreciate your support of this cost.
PLEASE SEND ANNUAL REPORTS of committees and activities to Janis Frisch at janisfrisch2@gmail.com or in her box at church.ASAP.
CHURCH SCHOOL NOTES
Our Sunday school children presented a delightful Christmas program during the worship service December 20th which was enjoyed by everyone! Congratulations on a job well done. Thank you to Kelly Wagar and Elaine Putman for their continued dedication to Sunday school and to helper Laurie Harrington. And of course to all the performers!
WORSHIP NOTES
With “Angels Are Among Us” as our Advent theme, the worship committee members were busy decorating the church – inside and out. We hope you enjoyed the theme dressed in white – feathers galore, tiny deer, angels on a lighted tree, the cradle for baby Jesus beneath the cross and stars twinkling down. The usual decorations of a Christmas tree covered with angels and windows with greens and more angels. Also, several days of time and effort went into the wooden ornaments that were given out each week.
Outside the church were wreaths at the doors and beautiful pine trees with special lights. Each week another color was added: Hope week – purple lights; Peace week – golden lights; Joy week – green lights; Love week – red lights; and Christmas Eve/ the Christ light – white. We hope you have taken an evening ride to see the beauty of the Advent wreath/trees. A big thank you to everyone who helped to make all of this happen!
The wreaths and trees will soon be returning to “storage” as we prepare for the next season of the church which is Lent. “Entering the Passion of Jesus: Picturing Ourselves in the Story” will be our next theme. In planning for this, we will need some participation from you. We are looking for one or two frames. We would love to borrow some that are very old and ornate if they are available. We would also like to have some photos of members of our church family from the past year – not portraits but snapshots of people engaged with other people. Suggestions might be: peeling potatoes for the ham dinner; outside fall clean-up; packing food baskets or distributing food; etc. Photos can be emailed to nan515115@nycap.rr.com or brought to church. If you have a frame to share, please contact Nancy Frank (518-661-5328) or Mary Seaman (518)567-8341.
In the meantime, wear your masks, wash hands often, stay safe
– and pray that 2021 will see the end of Covid19.
DID YOU KNOW?
… that members of the church sang Christmas carols around the village and at the Nathan Littauer Hospital Extended Care outside the windows and doors while staying socially distanced and masked.
…that the Niles Scholarship applications will be available at the church January 15, 2021, and must be returned to the church by April 15, 2021?
…that 76 Christmas baskets were distributed on December 21st. Special thanks to Chrystal Hinkle and her “Food Pantry Elves” for all their time and effort to make this happen.
OUTREACH NOTES
FOOD PANTRY
Hi everyone, I just want to take some time to thank you for all your support to the food pantry. All the people who gave their time, food items and money. We have increased our numbers during this past year to nearly double. We put out more food than ever. I have to believe that it is not going to get better for a while. Too everyone have a happy and healthy New Year. Blessings to all, Crystal
FRIDAY’S TABLE
Friday’s Table is still taking place. However, due to the Covid Pandemic we can only have 4-5 people preparing the meal and serving take-out by the front door. The folks truly appreciate the meals and is good to touch base with them as they pick up their dinners. The Mayfield Group will be serving again on Friday Jan. 15th and we start preparing at 2:00pm
Please let Mary DiSanto-Rose know if you would like to help by email: mdisanto@skidmore.edu or phone 518-224-2080.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
We have a rather complete list of birthdays of our members. If you are not on it and would like to be, please call Ann Mallin at 773-8198 or email her at amallin1@nycap.rr.com.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to these members:
Janet Kucel January 4
Mary DiSanto-Rose January 8
Eileen Pelosi January 9
Jane Bouton January 10
Mary Seaman January 10
Andrew Haschytz January 18
Jane Brower January 19
Evan Dutcher January 26
Rebekah Rafus January 31
Joan Klohe Feb. 1
Thelma Childs Feb. 2