Click here for the Current Smyrna Calendar.

Have you seen and admired the new main entry doors to Smyrna United Church of Christ? As with anything new, there is a period of adjustment. Simply put, just remember — enter through the right side door (left side is locked to entry, not to exit) turn the handle all the way down before pulling the door open. Getting out looks easier but you must push the bar all the way in on either door.

Smyrna KIVA Team

We started a team with KIVA last month to provide our congregation with an opportunity to provide small loans as investments to entrepreneurs in poor countries. You can learn more by going to the web site www.KIVA.org.

How Kiva Works Choose an Entrepreneur, Lend, Get Repaid

1. Lenders like you browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our micro-finance partners worldwide.

2. Kiva's microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, our partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur's chances of success.

3. Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.

4. When lenders get their money back, they can relend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.

Women’s Retreat:

Women’s Retreat at Camp Adams October 1618, 2009 Sponsored by the Central Pacific Conference United Church of Christ Women’s Board

This year’s Women’s Camp will focus on “Creative Spirituality,” discovering ways to tap into our creativity as a form of spiritual practice. This will be a “hands on” experience. So, come with openness and a playful spirit! Join us at Camp Adams to worship, discuss, meditate, sing, and play together. It’s our chance to greet old and new friends, walk in the woods, and share our joys or sorrows as we build community among the central Pacific Conference women. Total Retreat Fee: $100 Preregistration: $60 Amount due on arrival:$40 Make checks payable to United Church of Christ Women (may pay total in advance) See the flyer on the Narthex bulletin board for more registration info or call Nancy Klingeman 541-753-3350

Roberta Daniels 96th Birthday!

Roberta Daniels’ with sons Tom, Terry and Richard Daniels, celebrating her 96th birthday in Smyrna’s Friendship House.

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:

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 email Sandra Mahar at SandraMahar@smyrnaucc.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.

Smyrna Marketing

In an effort to get more people to consider Smyrna as a church home, we sent out 1100 post cards to families who live around our church. The post cards listed our activities, and invited people to look at our web site and “check us out”. If you see new visitors at church, please make every effort to make them welcome. And if you have specific people you would like to invite, please send them a card. The post cards are available in the narthex.

Pre-Halloween Potluck Party

Come join the fun and delicious food at Smyrna's PreHalloween Potluck Party. Everything will begin after worship service on Oct. 25th. We will have a potluck and fun games, prizes and crafts. Everyone is welcome to dress in their favorite costume, if they wish. We will also have a contest for the craziest hat. So dig out your hats and have fun decorating them silly. Hope to see you there.

—Christian Nurture Committee—

Willa Estelle Cole Kieling

Willa Estelle Cole Kieling, 86, of Canby, died Sunday, Aug. 30. She was born March 29, 1923, in Monument, Colo., the youngest of four children of Annie Laurie Cole and William Henry Cole. She was the granddaughter of pioneer families that homesteaded around the Bijou Basin, southeast of Denver, in the mid1800s.

Her American ancestry can be traced back to R. Cushing, born 1642, Plymouth, Mass. Willa’s family moved to Nampa, Idaho, in 1926. She graduated from Nampa High School in 1941, attended Nampa Business College then moved to Portland in 1942. During World War II, she worked as a secretary and as an outfitting ship fitter.

She met Jack Kieling after the war and they were married on Sept. 10, 1947, in the First Presbyterian Church in Portland. A member of Smyrna United Church of Christ for many years, Willa taught Sunday school, helped with the Women's Fellowship meals and quilting projects and held various offices. She was also a 20year member of Extension, helped with Loaves and Fishes when it was at St. Patrick's and volunteered at Lee and Trost grade schools for 20 years.

Survivors include her husband; sons, Gregory and Brian, of both Canby, and Matthew of Vancouver, Wash.; eight grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. Her parents, sisters, Laura Gibson and Lois Ballard, and brother, Marion Cole, preceded her in death. Family graveside services were held Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Smyrna United Church of Christ Cemetery, followed by the eulogy in Smyrna’s Sanctuary. Memorial contributions may be made to the Smyrna United Church of Christ. Cemetery.

“Thoughts about what matters”

The September 8 issue of The Christian Century raised two questions for me about priorities. The first article was titled, “Economics for Disciples,” and told the story of a man who graduated from college in 1960. At graduation his parents sent him an insurance policy to help protect the future of his young family. The man returned the policy with a note saying that rather than paying monthly premiums, he would store up his treasure in heaven by sending money overseas to support the poor.

The second article was entitled, “Regretfully Yours,” and told of an ethics course that begins each year with the question, “If you were to live to be 80, what would you like to be able to say about yourself?”

As you might imagine, neither of these articles preached the importance of building up your savings and investments. In both cases, the stress was on doing now what you can for others. The death of Willa Keiling reminded me of the importance of doing things now as well. Three weeks before she passed away she sent me to church with a bag of food for the Service Center and with change she had been collecting for our Children’s Safe Drinking Water collection. She didn’t know she was going to die. She just lived in faith and acted.

I also recently came across a web site which has me reflecting upon how much we have to give. The web site is www.globalrichlist.com. On the site you can plug in your annual salary and see how you compare with the rest of the world. The site tells you your ranking i.e. you are the 60 millionth rich person in the world. Knowing there are 59 million people with more wealth than you is one thing, doing the math and realizing there are 5,940,000,000 who are poorer than you is another. Greatly have we been blessed, and greatly ought we to share.

Two ways you can share this fall are by supporting the Children for Change offering which will go to support our troops overseas with Christmas gifts, and by considering a loan on the KIVA web site (see the other article in this month’s Behold). Through the wonder of the internet we can each make a loan as small as $25 to small businesses in the poorest parts of the world, truly making a difference in someone’s standard of living.

And if you would like to get involved closer to home, please consider joining our Wednesday Night prayer service, and giving some youth a ride home. Reaching out and sharing is at the heart of who we are.

---Pastor Dave

DavidAkers@smyrnaucc.org

Wednesday Mornings with Dave

As part of my commitment to be more involved in the community, I plan to spend every Wednesday morning in the Pastor’s office at Smyrna. Of course I can spend the time working on my sermon, or praying, or dreaming up new mission efforts. My hope, however, is that I spend it visiting with people who drop in to talk. The coffee will be on, and I will be working on my listening skills.

Back Bay Mission Work

Smyrna members Barbara Daniels, Linda Dunn, and Mary Lee and Robert Schuebel spent September 1319 working with 12 other participants from Central Pacific Conference (Idaho and Oregon church members) helping with Back Bay Mission work in Biloxi Mississippi. They filled dumpster after dumpster with debris from the bulldozed home of a 92yearold man facing fines if it was not removed. This year they were able to stay in the new facilities built for volunteers and managed to get to worship services in a UCC church in New Orleans. Next year CPC will send volunteers in November.

Click on these thumbnails to see larger pictures.

Smyrna’s Annual Blessing of the Animals2009

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.

SERRV Catalog Sale

For those who like to do some Christmas shopping early—the Stitch Club is having a SERRV catalog sale during October. We will close it the first week of November so that the orders will certainly be here on time to wrap for Christmas. But shopping early isn’t just for our convenience— the artisans in Africa, with the help of SERRV, are working toward a new project inKenya. They have built a large building and hired a manager to assist those working toward earning money to send their children to school, feed their family and even pay medical expenses. The project, “Plant a Seed,” will increase better relationships with countries in Africa. You can either lend or donate toward this by calling 18884234423. The SERRV organization has worked 60 years with the World Fair Trade Organization. This is an opportunity for us all to help in whatever way you can. The Stitch Club thanks you very much for help with this mission project.

—Virginia Yoder—

New Member Class

We will be holding new member classes in November with the plan to take in new members on Sunday, November 22. Anyone interested in becoming a member of Smyrna should contact Pastor Dave. The class will meet once after church for about an hour and will go over background material on the United Church of Christ, on Smyrna, and on the questions you will be asked to answer during the November 22 worship service. Our only requirement for membership is a desire to follow Jesus.

Of course we welcome everyone to be involved in our church and our mission efforts whether you become a member or not. Membership does give you the opportunity to publicly state that you support the efforts of our congregation, our Christian Education and youth efforts, and our mission efforts.

The class will meet after church on either November 8th or the 15th, depending upon which Sunday is more convenient for those interested in joining Smyrna.

Excursions 4 All

Sept. 20th  The Molalla Miniature Train Park at Shady Dell was canceled.

Oct. 18th  The St. Paul Fall Harvest Festival at The French Prairie Gardens. We will leave the church at 12:30 p.m. for The Fall Harvest. The Gardens close at 4 p.m. which should give us approximately 3 hrs. to have lots of fun and have a treat. Admission is: $8.00 per person or $30 for a family of 4, children 2 yrs. old and under are free. Treats are extra. Entertainment and Attractions Include:

Pigtucky Derby  Pig Races
Two Acre Pumpkin Patch
Two Acre Corn Maze
Hayrides
Farm Animal Display
Hay Maze Obstacle Course
Pumpkin Sling Shot
Toddler Hay Maze
Toddler Tricycle Races
Kid's Corral Pig Barrel
Train Rides
Two 20 Foot Hay Slides
Tonka Toddler Dirt Play Area
Chicken Coop with Observation Window

Also included are: some bunnies, sheep, a 1600 lb steer, and a llama. There are some yummy treats from their bakery: sausage dogs, ice cream, fruit milk shakes, fruit smoothies, hot apple cider, corn of the cob, caramel apples, fresh baked cookies, fresh baked pie, and many more treats. If you wish to have some fun and a treat with your family and friends, then please contact Sandra Mahar at SandraMahar@smyrnaucc.org

—Sandra J. Mahar

Thomas Daniels Web Consulting