Week of November 20, 2016 - Church of the Apostles UCC

Food Bank
Needs: Specifically—cold cereal, rice or rice helpers, pasta, crackers, dry soup, and canned items, including soups, fruits, beans, baked beans, tomatoes, and tuna.

Market Basket
Now is the time to think of Christmas! Are you going to be baking more? Are you trying to think of a gift that people would use? Consider grocery cards. We have cards for Giant, Stauffers, and Weis in denominations of $20, $25, $50, and $100. The discount the stores give the church helps us to feed other people at the Saturday Morning Breakfast. On the first three Sundays in November (in the church office after church), you can pick up the cards you ordered in October, and you can also order what you need for December with a check or cash.

Help Needed
We will decorating the church for Advent and Christmas on Friday, November 25 and Saturday, November 26 from 9:30 am—12:00 pm. Many hands make light work, and we really need many hands to accomplish this! Please come and join us even if for only one hour. We have something for everyone to do. Please call Bernie Fickes at (717) 393-6644 to let us know we can count on you. Thank you so much!

UCC Christmas Fund
This is the month we give a gift to the UCC Christmas Fund. It supports retired ministers in various ways when they are in need. Your gift enables us to support this mission.

Thank You!
Thanks to the efforts of dozens of volunteers, close to 600 quarts of soup were prepared this year. The bulk was sold by the bowl or quart at our bazaar with the leftovers being donated to Transitional Living Center, Parish Life Commission (for the garage sale and lunches with the pastors), and the Education Commission (for the youth dinner and Advent celebration meal). Proceeds from sales at the bazaar will be split between our general budget and support for outreach ministries throughout the upcoming year. This labor of love was only possible because of the efforts of all the volunteers who cut, chopped, cooled, stirred, loaded, unloaded, served, washed, dried, and cleaned for five days of bazaar week. Thank you!

Survivor’s Circle on Election Impact
Samaritan Safe Church Lancaster is hosting a Survivor’s Circle on Tuesday, November 29 at 6:15 pm to open up safe space for giving voice to any concerns this election period has raised up within sexual or domestic violence survivors. Light dessert will be available at 6:15 pm and the Circle will begin at 6:30 pm in the Community Room (lower level) at the Samaritan Counseling Center (1803 Oregon Pike, Lancaster.) Please RSVP by Friday, November 25 to Dianne Renfro at (717) 560-9989 x254 or via email to DRenfro@scclanc.org.

Thanksgiving Community Service
Church of the Apostles, and other local churches, will hold a Thanksgiving service on Tuesday, November 22 at 7 pm at Salem UCC of Rohrerstown (2312 Marietta Ave, Lancaster, PA.) Both Apostles Bells and Apostles Choir will be participating in the service.

Advent Workshop
The Advent Workshop will be held on Sunday, November 27 from 10:30 am—1 pm. Join us in the Fellowship Hall for crafts and snack while we make ornaments, decorate the West Lobby Christmas tree, create cards for shut-in members, and decorate cupcakes.

Children’s Sunday School—Christmas Eve
Attention children who are not already in the choir or in the 7 pm Christmas Eve service: your help is needed! We will need angels, shepherds, and sheep for this service. Please come early (15 minutes early), and as you arrive for the service, please go to the Parlor. There, we will have Sunday School teachers to help you pick out your costume. You will be guided to a leader of your group according to your costume in the back of the Sanctuary where you will be told when you need to come forward during the service.