GOOD NEWS LETTER January, 2015 Mayfield Central Presbyterian Church No. Main St. Mayfield, NY 12117

Happy New Year! In one sense, New Year’s Day never catches anyone by surprise. We don’t need a desk calendar to know when it will occur. We may be unsure of the day of the week that it will fall on but there is a one hundred percent certainty that it will land on January 1. Just as Christmas day becomes the target of our best and most intense feelings of generosity, peace on earth and goodwill toward all, New Year’s Day becomes the target of beginnings for us; resolutions to be made and hopefully not broken, a review of the past year and a check list for the current one. But what about the rest of the year? Why do we seem to hold the spirit of Christmas in reserve from January to November and then pull it out quickly when the calendar flips to December? And now that January 1 has rolled around, it is time to pack up Christmas again and put it into the attic until next December. Imagine how your life and the lives of the people you impact would be different if we celebrated the Christmas spirit all year long, I wonder if the atmosphere in our homes would be different Would we give gifts to our friends and families for no other reason than because we care about them? We might make charitable contributions to organizations when their cash flow is tight rather than waiting until December when the surplus usually rolls in. We might volunteer our time and services during times when organizations really need it instead of waiting until Christmas when volunteers often outnumber those they are serving. The spirit of Christmas seems to bring out the best in us, so why shouldn’t we celebrate beyond the calendar borders of December into January through November? Remember Ebenezer Scrooge who after his transformational dream said, “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” Once you try it, I expect that you will decide that living Christmas all year is a great idea. But don’t get so wrapped up in Christmas all year that you forget to take down the outdoor decorations. If you hum carols all year long, you might get strange looks from folks in the grocery store. The best way to show Christ to the world is to love others as he did. It is one thing to tell about Jesus with your words, it is much better to tell about Him with your life. The underlying meaning of Christmas is an occasion that deserves a year-long celebration. Christmas should be put in your heart, not just on your calendar. Jesus Christ may have been born over two thousand years ago, but his presence is just as real today as it was when he was physically walking this earth. He is still touching lives and he is still changing hearts, so “Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!”

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Bonnie A HUGE THANK YOU

Thank you all for your very generous Christmas gift. I appreciate it so much. Jay and I are planning a trip to visit our granddaughter in Texas and we are looking forward to seeing her play volleyball.

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. 2015 Something Beautiful Sundays January 11 February 8 March 8 April 12 May 10 June 14 July 12 August 9 September 13 October 11 November 8 December 13

Bible Study Have you been wanting to have a closer relationship with God? Consider attending one of our Bible studies. We have good conversation, fellowship and fun as we study God’s Word and discern its relevance to our lives. We offer two Bible studies each week, Monday at noon and Tuesday evening at 5:30 pm. We start in January with the Apostle’s Creed until Lent when we will study forgiveness

January Thursdays Needlework Group & Quilters The Needlework Group meets on Thursdays at noon at the church. Bring your lunch and some hand work to keep you busy or just stop by with a good tale or piece of news. Libby Van Nostrand will teach knitting and crocheting or we all help one another. If you have something you want to learn or can teach let her know. We lost track of how many hats and mitten sets we knit in 2014 but there are 20 sets left over for next year (mostly small and medium in size) to distribute with the Santa Hotline gifts next Christmas so we have a head start on our 100 -150 sets for this year. The Quilters usually join us; call Joan Montgomery if you would like to quilt on Thursdays.

January 11 Annual Meeting Our annual meeting will take place on Sunday, January 11, immediately following church. It is a time to reflect on our ministry together, to plan for the future, to elect our elders and to vote on the pastor’s terms of call. Please mark the date and plan to attend this important meeting.

Annual reports for the year should be given to Janis Frisch immediately (or you may email her at janisfrisch2@gmail com).

January 26 Session Meeting Session will meet on January 26, 2015 at 6:30 pm. If you have anything to be brought before session, please see Rev. Orth or Janis Frisch.

SESSION NOTES Session approved a budget for 2015 and Rev. Orth's terms of call were reviewed. The terms of call will be voted on by our congregation at our annual meeting on January 11, 2015.

WITNESS SUPPORT Do you know that we must pay witness support of $43 for each member that we have? This includes young adults who have been confirmed. This money goes to support our local Albany Presbytery as well as our commitment to the national church. If each member of our church would consider paying their own witness support, this would help our budget tremendously. This money helps to support mission for the greater church and is part of our commitment as disciples of Christ. We ask that you prayerfully consider sending in your witness support for 2015 to help us meet our budget. An envelope for this purpose is provided

WORSHIP COMMITTEE NOTES After a busy and eventful fall and Christmas season the Worship Committee is ready to start thinking about Lent and Easter. We would love to have some more members on our committee to carry out the duties of the Worship Committee so speak to Nancy Frank or Pastor Bonnie if you would like to join this rewarding committee.

PASTOR PARISH COMMITTEE As the 2015 new year, the Pastor Parish Committee continues its search for a part-time Music/Choir Director to replace Mary Lou Bryan who retired last fall. Ads have been placed in our local newspaper as well as the Albany Times Union and the Schenectady Gazette. The position has also been posted in the Career Service Centers of The College of Saint Rose, Schenectady Community College, Skidmore College, and the American Guild of Organists. Recently the position was advertised the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists newsletter. We are very thankful to those who have helped fill in during this time and provide music for our Sunday worship services and special services during the holidays. We ask that you all continue to pray that we find a new Music Director soon, as music is such a vital part of our church ministry. (Psalms 98:4“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD…make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.”)

CHURCH SCHOOL NOTES Our Sunday School children presented a delightful Christmas program during the worship service December 14 which was enjoyed by everyone! Thank you to Kelly Wagar and Elaine Putman for their continued dedication to Sunday School and to Judy Wemple who helped along with all the performers.

In October the Church School children sold indulgences in church on Reformation Sunday and with the money they were able to sponsor two children in Kenya. Sponsorship provides tuition and everything that is necessary for a child to attend school and have a meal there each day. They have learned who these children are, Isaac Umisio and Delvin Saya, and they go to Galilee Primary School. The Sunday School children will be writing to them and are going to decorate a jar so that they can continue to support the boys. One of the children is planning to have his own garage sale and donate the money to the Child Sponsorship Program.

If you would like Sunday School envelopes please speak to Art Dahl. Total contributions will be included on parents' contribution records at year end.

MUSIC NOTES Over 150 people attended this year’s cantata, “Darkness Into Light.” They were rewarded with the expertise of 45 singers, friends and summer chorus musicians and 12 instrumentalists directed by Noel Wing and Luke Horst. Bill Trojan gave us great publicity with colored shots and black and white photos in the Leader/Herald It was a wonderful additionto the Christmas season. Thank you for whatever part you played, as performer or as a listener. Both are needed for a successful program DVDs of the cantata should be available soon at a cost of $5.00 Greg Hitchcock was able to record the concert for us.

Save the date of February 21 for another concert at 7 pm directed by Joshua Thompson. Area professional musicians from the entire NE, friends and colleagues of Josh, come together for an afternoon of practice and an evening concert. The musicianship and energy is outstanding and the programming always interesting.

The choir is always looking for additional members. Consider being a part of our group.

Mary Lou MISSION NOTES FOOD PANTRY We had a very fulfilling year helping feed the hungry and were able to give out Christmas baskets right before the holiday. We gave out frozen turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce, veggies, gravy, eggs, bread and milk cards to all that come to our Food Pantry. They seemed very pleased and it made us feel very good. Thank you to all who helped us in that event. And again, thank you to all who help us with food and monetary donations throughout the year - we could never accomplish this without your help.

Thank you to the Methodist Church, especially Ray and Rosemary Langley. It is so nice that both our churches have a 3rd Sunday to dedicate giving food items for the pantry. This year we have added fresh eggs given to us by Paul Bloom and we so appreciate that, Paul. At times we have extra bread items as well. The various organizations and businesses have given generously as well as members of our church. A great big thank you from Larry Akey and myself.

Anyone desiring to run the food pantry on either the first or third Tuesday or the month please call Ginny Mei (725-2970) and we will set up a time for you to help us. The time is 12:30 to 4:30 and you get to do a lot of sitting and talking to your partner - we always have two people per Tuesday to run the pantry.

Happy New Year to all from the Food Pantry.

Don't forget the third Sunday, January 18, is Food Pantry Sunday. We can always use cereal, peanut butter and jelly and pasta and sauce. We appreciate all your help. Ginny Mei

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 Jane Bouton January 10 Mary Seaman January 10 Rae Olson January 17 Andrew Haschytz January 18, 1994 Jane Brower January 19 Paul Marcais January 22 Evan Dutcher January 26, 1993 Rebekah Haschytz January 31, 1991

The Good News Letter Editor is Christine Dahl Please contact her before the 25th of the preceding month if you have information for the newsletter. The next newsletter will be published immediately after the annual meeting in early February.

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