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May
2009 Calendar
Click
here for the Current
Smyrna Calendar.
 Pastor
Search
Committee
The Search Committee has been
meeting regularly the past couple of months and from our
ad we've received quite a few profiles. We've reviewed the
profiles and are in the process of sending our church profile to
most of them for their review. At that time we will be
asking the prospective candidates if they are still interested
in our position. If they are, we will conduct a phone
interview as the next step in the process. If any of you have
any questions at any time, please don't hesitate to contact a
search committee member. We will have a schedule of the
steps and where we are in the search process posted
in Friendship Hall in the next couple of weeks. Committee
Members:
Barbara
Daniels
Roger Engle
Joel Daniels
Beryl Fisher |
Levonne Gano
Helen Odell
Ginger Redlinger
Audrey Yoder |
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Mother’s Day
Breakfast
Smyrna UCC Men’s Group
will serve Mother’s Day Breakfast 9:30 a.m. Sunday, May 10 Honor
a mother or mother stand-in At Smyrna UCC with A tasty breakfast she
didn’t have to prepare
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Palm
Sunday Baptisms
In addition to our usual Palm
Sunday celebration this year, we also celebrated the sacrament
of Baptism. Thirteen members of our youth group decided to
publicly proclaim their faith during our April 5th service along
with one of the youth group member’s mothers. It was a wonderful
celebration followed by our annual Easter Egg hunt.
The following people were
baptized:
Madelyn Louise Harmon
Lacy Lillian Johnston
Courtney Lynn Parish
Tonnee Parish
Jordan Wolff
Sarah
Loucinda Milner
Amy Jo Donaldson (Sarah’s mother) |
Alyssa Ann Barber
Dakota Rae Okert
Cara Ashley Johnson
Tessa Marie
Frost
Brittany Rae Barnett
Harley Elizabeth Gallaty.
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We are proud of these young
ladies. It was wonderful to have them stand before us and affirm
them as children of God, disciples of Jesus, and members of the
Christian Church. And of course it was wonderful to have all
their families and friends filling up our church. |
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“New
Addition Cookbook”
(Now Under Construction)
Several members of the Stitch Club met
again this last week to begin sorting recipes and making more decisions
on our “New Addition Cookbook.” Our plan is to submit our final draft in
July so that hopefully it will be available for sale on November 20, at
the Women’s Fellowship Bazaar.
We still are collecting recipes and
especially want to include family favorites. We request that all recipes
be those you have tried and found successful. If you can include a
sentence or two about its origin or who you got the recipe from, that
makes it more interesting.
I have included a few that we have
served many times at Smyrna. You may remember Mamie Eyman’s Swedish
Meatballs from the 1950’s when some of us wore red vests with dïrndl
skirts and served our annual Smorgasbord as a fundraiser. Of course the
Yoder Ice Cream is included as well as Genevieve Nicholson’s Chocolate
Cake with Chocolate Frosting. I could tempt you with more but perhaps
you should just buy the book!
Stitch Club Members are hoping to put
the earnings toward more comfortable chairs for the Friendship House.
—Elaine— |
Graduates/ Sunday
Graduates/Teacher Recognition Sunday will be June 7th. If you
know of anyone graduating this year from grade school, high
school or college, please let Angela Stierle know so the
Christian Ed Committee can send them an invitation to be
recognized on June 7th. Below, please find the requested information
for the graduate to fill out.
Please have them filled out
and given to someone on the Christian Ed Committee before May
31st even if the graduate cannot attend. If they can't make it,
we would like to recognize them in next months Behold. Thank
you.
2009
Graduates
If you or someone in your family is
graduating from 8th grade, high school, college, grad school, trade
school, etc. please fill out the following information and return it to
Angie Stierle, Board of Christian Education, no later than
Sunday, May 31. Graduates will be honored on Sunday, June 7, 2009.
Name
Parent(s)
Name of school or college
Future plans
Interests
 There are a number of
ways to save money when registering for Camp Adams. There are brochures
and registration forms on the table in the Narthex. Early Registration:
If you are registering for a Camp Scholarship, You need to get your
registration in to Levonne Gano by May 10 so she can get it to the
Conference by May 15. Volunteering: If you volunteer to work at camp for
one week, you will earn a Volunteer Service Credit of $100 to put
towards camp registration. Bring a friend Discount: If you bring someone
who has never been to camp before, you will each get a $15 credit.
Indicate the friends name at the time of registration. Financial Aid:
Visit CampAdams.org and print out a financial form. Mail to the
Conference Office in time to arrive by May 15.
Smyrna Camp Scholarships: Women’s
Fellowship raises money for 2/3 of the cost of camp for Smyrna
affiliated youth. There will be applications in the Narthex. Please see
Levonne Gano, Camp Coordinator, or Carly Sether for more information.
Camp Fees:
Work Camps Free
Youth Camps $260
Young Adult $125
Family Camp $125 adults
$100 children 4-11
Free children three and under
Camp fees cover:
Program materials
Camp t-shirt
All meals and lodging
Camp photo CD
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Many of the names on the prayer list come from a list of people
that the Diaconate sends cards to every month. Some are get well
cards, others are simply “thinking of you” cards. If you know
anyone who should be on the prayer list in the Behold, please
let Jeannie or Elaine know. If they would enjoy receiving cards
let someone in the Diaconate know.
Healing and
better health:
Roger Engle, Ethel Henderson, DaNelda Strode,
Mickey Hester, & Frank Peterson
“Thinking of
you”:
Dick Cheadle, , Burt Gottwald,
Michael Gottwald, Norton Nicholson, Cheryl Sano,
Darrell Melcher, Gale Blatchford, Marlene Seethoff, Jack & Willa
Kieling, Evelyn Wormdahl, Helen Kappler, Debbie Fisher, &
Eleanor Holbrook
Sympathy:
Prayers of sympathy and support go to
Steven and Eileen Boss on the loss of their nephew, Martin Eltritch
of Mulino.
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Mission Statement
Smyrna United
Church of Christ is striving to be:
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A place of peace where we teach the word of God and the story of God’s
love. |
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A spiritual haven where we accept and care for all humanity in an
outreach of grace. |
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A lighthouse of God’s light, where worship, teaching, learning and
spiritual growth take place in community powered by thought and action. |
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A Christian people, working for God’s realm in ecumenical
harmony with other people of faith and conviction.
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Please let us know if you want to
be removed from the Behold!! mailing list.
You may also choose to view a very
colorful version at our church website,
www.smyrna-ucc.org . If you would prefer it to
the printed edition, we can arrange that too. You will be
reminded each month when a new Behold!! is available.
Contact
smyrnaucc@canby.com
or
behold-email@smyrna-ucc.org
Announcements are available on our
website each week as well.
In order to avoid an interruption,
let us know if you have a change of address. |
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 Take
Up Your Cross
As part of our Lenten study this year,
we invited everyone to “Take up a Cross”. We handed out testimony
crosses made by homeless people in Vancouver with the invitation to
carry the cross with you for a day. Whether going to school, at the work
place or office, or at meal time, we carried the cross as a testimony to
our faith.
The crosses were made of “flawed wood”
that had been discarded. The wood had knots and scars. The flawed wood
gave us an opportunity to testify to the ways God has taken our flawed
lives and still loved us. The crosses, while made of flawed wood, were a
thing of beauty and many people took them as gifts for their friends and
relatives.
One of our members hung the cross from
his car rear view mirror. Several times he was asked by people in
shopping center parking lot where he got the cross— a perfect
opportunity to witness to his faith and his church. Another member had
it lying on a table in a restaurant while waiting to meet an associate.
The waitress admired the cross, and the member made sure she read the
words on the back- “Anyone in Christ is a new creation. The old has
passed away. Behold everything has become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:16).
Some crosses were sent as far away as Chicago and California.
Carly, our youth director, took her
cross to her Biology class, and had the teacher stop in the middle of
the lecture to ask her what she had on her desk. Carly shared the cross
and its message. Later the professor asked if she could get a cross for
him. Carly took him a cross the next day, and he thanked her while
remarking that he was an atheist. There may be one less atheist in the
world now.
One of our Lenten goals was to move from
being tourists to pilgrims- followers of Jesus fully engaged in the
journey. We journeyed together, learning to read the scriptures with
both our head and our heart. We confessed our sins, our fears, and our
hopes in writing, and then turned our “written scrolls” over to God. And
we witnessed to our faith, with our presence and our crosses.
Lent is over- but the pilgrimage
continues, and so does God’s blessings. May you bear the mark of
Christ’s love and become a living testimony to God’s grace and glory.
---Pastor
Dave
DavidAkers@smyrna-ucc.org
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SERRV
Catalog Sale
Do you like to catalog shop? The
new SERRV catalog has many new items. Now is your opportunity to
shop and also help poverty-stricken people in India, Vietnam,
Pakistan, Bagladesh, Nepal, and many others in the world.
If I can call in our order by
the first of June we should receive that order by the middle of
June.
The SERRV catalog cover states
that their mission is to eradicate poverty where ever it
resides. Let’s help them out!
—Virginia Yoder—
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Earth Day/Arbor Day
Cliff Parsons of
Willamette Seedling in Canby generously agreed to provide
fir seedlings for Smyrna’s recognition of Earth Day. It was an
appropriate choice with Arbor Day and Earth Day only two days
apart. On Sunday, April 26, Pastor Dave passed out the fir
seedlings, ready to plant. |
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How To Plant
Your Garden
First, you Come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on
the roses....
For
the garden of your daily living:
Plant three rows of peas:
1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul
Plant four rows of squash
1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness
Plant four rows of lettuce:
1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another
No
garden is complete without turnips:
1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another
To
conclude our garden we must have thyme:
1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends
Water freely with patience and cultivate with love. There is
much fruit in your garden because you reap what you sow. Source
forgotten |
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May Lectionary
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May 3
Acts 4:5-12
Psalm 23
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18 |
May 10
Acts 8:26-40
Psalm 22:25-31
1 John 4:7-21
John 15:1-8 |
May 17
Acts 10:44-48
Psalm 98
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17 |
May 24
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Psalm 1
1 John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19 |
May 31
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:24-34
Romans 8:22-27
John 15:26-27; 16:4-15 |
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 Youth
Group Car Wash
Smyrna’s UCY will wash your
car at Molalla Fire Station 1-4 p.m. on May 9 Donations accepted
for Relay for Life
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Ucy Activities— past and
future
Newcomers: The UCY,
Smyrna's Church Youth Group, will be meeting once a month and
every Wednesday night for 4th — 12th Graders. Sandra Mahar and
Carly Sether are inviting the UCY Members and Newcomers to come
to some kind of an event, do a community service project, help
with fund raisers, plus attend the Wednesday Night Youth
Challenges. 
Happenings
in April 2009:
April 1 — 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Wednesday
Night Youth Challenge - Filled Plastic Easter Eggs for the Palm
Sun. Easter Egg Hunt. Snacks were provided.
April 8 — 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Wednesday
Night Youth Challenge—Made tie-Dyed Shirts to wear at the Easter
Breakfast. Pizza was provided.
April 15, 22, and 29 - Wednesday Night
Youth Challenge at Smyrna from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Snacks were provided.
April 12 - Easter Sun. - 7:30 - 8:45
a.m. - Annual Easter Breakfast.
Everyone enjoyed a delicious breakfast
made by our youth and met all of the new kids in their splashy new
tie-dye shirts. They also served coffee hour after worship.
Plans for May 2009:
May 6, 13, 20, & 27 - Wednesday
Night Youth Challenge at Smyrna from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Snacks or
Pizza will be provided.
---
Sandra Mahar
- UCY Coordinator |
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EXCURSIONS 4 ALL
Christian Nurture has decided to start a
new group for Everyone. It is called EXCURSIONS 4 ALL, and is going to
be Coordinated by Sandra Mahar. Sandra is planning on having a box in
the Narthex for Everyone to put their suggestions of places you would
like to go too in it. The group will try and meet approximately once a
month to do something fun.
May 31 - EXCURSIONS 4 ALL will be
going on their first excursion to Silver Falls State Park. We will ALL
be leaving the church at 1:00 p.m. via your own car or car pool and
meeting at the South Falls Day - Use Area, which is $3.00 per car, and
you can purchase the parking permit at the entrance booth. Silver Falls
offers more than 9,000 acres of spectacular scenery. The park's most
famous feature is the spectacular Trail of Ten Falls. There are five
falls that are more than 100 ft. high. All of the trails are easy to
moderate, and you have a choice of hiking approximately 2, 5, 7, and 9
miles. Everyone is welcome!
You might want to bring along a sack lunch
or snack, and some bottled water. Also, make sure you bring a camera.
Please contact Sandra Mahar either at the church or phone her at:
503-829-4449, so she will know ALL who are planning on going.
Sandra J. Mahar - EXCURSIONS 4 ALL Coordinator
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Treasurer’s
Report
General Fund
Balance 2/28/09 $25,661.35
Receipts
8,894.43
Expenditures
(7,459.69)
Balance 3-31-09 27,096.14
— Irene
Schriever |
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