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September
2009 Calendar
Click
here for the Current
Smyrna Calendar.
Worship and Church
Schedules
All of our regular activities will return in September. Please note the
following times:
Worship- September 13 —we return to 11 a.m. worship
September 13 — 9:45 a.m. Adult Sunday School begins again
Godly Play Sunday School- will meet during the church hour.
Wednesday Night Youth Challenge- September 23 —start of its
regular weekly schedule. This year the youth will meet at 6 p.m.
for a simple supper. The evening will conclude with an informal worship
service of prayer and praise from 7:30—8.
The entire church is welcome for the informal worship service.
Volunteers are needed to help drive the youth home after the service of
prayer and praise.
Women’s Fellowship Dinner- September 24 at noon—The first Fall
Women’s Fellowship Dinner will be served and they will continue on the
2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month.
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Neighbors
in Need (NIN)is a special mission offering
of the UCC that supports ministries of justice and compassion
thoughout the United States.
One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American
Indian Ministry(CAIM).
Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC's Justice and
Witness Ministries(JWM) to support a variety of justice
initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects.
Smyrna will be taking a collection for Neighbors in Need on
Sunday, October 4th- the same Sunday that we celebrate World
Wide Communion Sunday. Please give generously. |
Women’s Retreat Sponsored by Central
Pacific Conference UCC Women’s Board
A Women’s Retreat will be held at Camp Adams from October 16-18,
2009. It is titled “Creative Spirituality” with Rev. Denise Andersen as
resource leader. Rev. Andersen has been the pastor of Clackamas UCC for
19 years.
Camp Adams Registration will be due October 12, 2009. Total Retreat
Fee will be $100.00. The Complete Brochure will be available on the
Smyrna UCC Bulletin Board and more information will be available in
future “Beholds” If you are interested, save these dates.
Golf Outing
 (Some
photos take from this event which took place Sunday, August 9th at
Evergreen Golf Course. Click on thumbnail to see larger photo.)
 Dave
Akers, David & Bernadette Yoder,
Mary Namit,
Jean Akers, and
Ginger Redlinger
Benjamin Daniels takes a swing.
2009 Patriotic
Christmas for Our Troops
Donations will be accepted from Sept. 13th - Nov. 1st
Please help put a smile on a soldier's face for Christmas.
There will be a drop off box at Smyrna for the Patriotic Christmas for
Our Troops overseas, from Sept. 13th - Nov. 1st. You can either donate
requested and much needed items for our troops, or you can make
a monetary donation to help cover the cost of shipping.
Most Requested Items:
 | Letters of support |
| Canned and packaged snacks |
| Powered beverage mixes |
Personal Care: note: be sure that any powder is in its original
container. Place inside a ziplock bag as well.
Other Supplies: See full list for suggestions Fun Stuff Frisbees NERF
footballs Hacky sacks Decks of cards Handheld games books Stationary
Other Supplies — see full list
If you wish to look at the full list, then please pick up one in the
Narthex at Smyrna or e-mail Sandra Mahar at
SandraMahar@smyrna-ucc.org You can also see more
details by
clicking here.
To make a monetary donation, please make your check payable to
Patriotic Christmas and mail that check to Molalla Communications, ATTN:
Patriotic Christmas, PO Box 360, Molalla, OR 97038.
An Old Farmer’s
Advice (from AG TALK, thanks to Jon
Schriever):
Your
fences need to be horse-high, pig tight, and bull-strong.
Keep
skunks and bankers at a distance.
Life is
simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble
bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words
that soak into your ears are whispered … not yelled.
You
cannot unsay a cruel word.
The best
sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of
the stuff people worry about ain’t never going to happen anyway.
Don’t
judge folks by their relatives.
Remember
that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a
good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll
enjoy it a second time.
The
biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you
from the mirror every morning.
Good
judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad
judgment.
Lettin’
the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
If you
get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody
else’s dog around.
Live
simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak
kindly. Leave the rest to God.
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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:
Mary
Liechty; Robert Kyrk; Dave and Nancy Aamotdt’s son-in-law, Tracy
Matson; Gabriel Perkins, nephew of Ernie and Ethel Henderson’s
granddaughter-in-law.
“Thinking of
you”:
Ethel and Ernie Henderson, Jack and Willa Kieling, Frank
Peterson, Mickey Hester, Cheryl Sano
With Sympathy:
Please keep Ginger
Redlinger, Mary Namit and their family in your prayers as they mourn
the death of Ginger’s mother, Carol Moore
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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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 Back
to School
September means the kids will be going back to school, and all of us
need to remember to be careful drivers. It also means we will be going
back to our fall schedule. Worship will be at 11 AM starting the Sunday
after Labor Day.
Starting Wednesday, September 23rd, our fall schedule will kick off.
My plan this fall is to be in the church every Wednesday morning for
“office hours”. I hope that people will come by to see me to talk about
life, share a cup of coffee, and perhaps give me ideas for new programs
or sermons.
Also starting that Wednesday will be our Wednesday Night Youth
Challenge. This year the program will start at 6 PM with a light
supper. From 7:30 to 8 PM the youth will be in the sanctuary for a
worship service of Prayer and Praise. The service is for everyone
and we are hoping that both our church members as well as parents from
the youth program will join with the youth for worship. We will be using
some new praise music, and the Wednesday night service will be an
alternative to the traditional Sunday morning service. You can also help
support the youth program by helping to drive youth home after the
worship service.
We will be sending out about 1,000 postcards to our neighbors in
September inviting them to “check us out”. The cards will have
our fall schedule as well as referring people to our web site. Our web
site, www.Smyrna-ucc.org has
recently been updated with a new site for
missions including links to all of the various organizations we have
been supporting. In addition to the mass mailing we will be doing, we
will have extra postcards for you to send to friends who you would like
to have “check us out” as a possible church home.
Of course one of our goals of the postcards is to encourage more
people to visit our church. Once we get new visitors we should all make
an effort to make them feel welcome.
In addition to being around the church all day on Wednesdays, I also
plan to tutor in the Molalla River Middle School on Thursdays. Please
let me know if you would like me to visit you on either Wednesday or
Thursday afternoon.
Like the children, I am excited about going back to a regular fall
schedule. I hope you are too.
---Pastor
Dave
DavidAkers@smyrna-ucc.org
Smyrna’s Annual Blessing of the
Animals-2009
 To
celebrate the important part that our pets play in our lives, Smyrna
United Church of Christ will be holding a Blessing of the Animals
worship service on Sunday, October 4 at 3 p.m.
The service will be held outside in the grove and will last
about 30 minutes. Everyone is invited to attend with their pets (or
their neighbor’s pets). We will bless the pets and give thanks for all
the joy they bring to our lives. Feel free to come and enjoy the animals
even if you don’t have a pet.
No animal is too large or too small to be blessed.
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August Lectionary
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September 6
Psalm 125
Isaiah 35:4-7
James 2:1-10, 14-17
Mark 7:24-37 |
September 13
Psalm 19
Isaiah 50:4-9
James 3:1-12
Mark 8:27-38 |
September 20
Psalm 1
Jeremiah 11:18-20
James 3:13-4:3
Mark 9:30-37 |
September 27
Psalm 124
Numbers 11:4-6,
20-16, 24-29
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50 |
Excursions 4 All
August 2nd — The Slice of Summer Concert at Wait Park in
 Canby
— A group of us enjoyed listening to one of the Slice of Summer
Concerts, featuring
Pepe & The Bottle Blondes, which had some sizzling Latin sounds, and we
all enjoyed watching some dancing.
Sept. 20th — The Shady Dell Train Park in Molalla - We will
leave Smyrna at 1 p.m. to ride miniature trains at Shady Dell and have a
picnic lunch and fellowship. There are no fees, but donations are
accepted. I thought this would be a great place for little kids and
their parents to go. Anyone older can either ride the trains, if they
are able, walk through the park, or sit and watch the trains travel
around the park.
If you wish to come and have some fun, please give Sandra Mahar
a call at: 503-829-4449 or E-mail her at
SandraMahar@smyrna-ucc.org
—Sandra J. Mahar
Smyrna Recycling
For many years Smyrna has been a recycling center for
newspapers, cans, and bottles. We also have been recycling other
paper products; although, not as a fund raiser. Over the summer
we have begun collecting old eye glasses and cell phones for the
Lions Club. We also have begun collecting bottle caps, and corks
for the Turtle Ridge Wildlife Center.
Near the drinking fountain in the new addition, you will find
a box to collect printer cartridges from your computer. The
cartridges will be recycled, and Smyrna will receive a small
donation. Coming soon will be a box to collect small batteries
for recycling. Let’s all do what we can to reduce our impact on
the environment.
Recycle
inkjet? Reduce Pollution? Raise Funds
What to do:
Most of us have inkjet printers at home or work. Next time
when you have an empty cartridge, don’t throw it away.
Just put it in a Ziploc bag or the original cartridge box and
bring it to Smyrna. We have a special box in the new hallway.
Benefits to the Christian Education Committee:
| Smyrna will be paid up to $4.00 for each cartridge with
a print head. |
| Prompt cash payment for our Christian Education program
when a filled box is sent. |
| Free boxes…free shipping…no cost! |
Benefits to our community:
| Reduce pollution. Cartridges do not decompose for 1,000
years. |
| Save energy. Empty ones can be remanufactured and
reused. |
| No buying, no selling, no burden to anyone. |
Which cartridges? Cartridges with a print head
are qualified for payment. That includes most of
Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Compaq, Canon, Dell,Brother and
Apple
If you cannot tell the difference, bring it in anyway.
Everybody helps. We can make a difference. You can also get
empties from friends, neighbors, and small businesses.
On average, a person uses 2 cartridges a year.
You Can Help!
| Reduce pollution |
| Raise funds |
| One cartridge at a time |
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Treasurer’s
Report
General Fund
Balance 6/30/2009 $30,191.10
Receipts
6,300.89
Expenditures
7,742.16
Balance 7/31/2009 $28,749.83
— Irene
Schriever |
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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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