TTHHEE VVOOIICCEE of Second Church NON PROFIT

United Church of Christ ORGANIZATION

50 Park Street US Postage Paid

Attleboro, MA 02703 Attleboro, MA

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Permit # 122

December 2016

HANGING OF THE GREENS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27

TH, 10 AM

ADVENT MUSIC SERVICE

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18TH

, 10 AM

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24TH

, 6 PM

Second Congregational Church of Attleboro, UCC Reverend F. Vernon Wright V, Minister

ruachwrights@msn.com William A. MacPherson, PhD., Director of Music

Kara Lehane, Executive Director, Jack & Jill School – 508-222-1149 seccongo.jackandjill@verizon.net www.jackandjillattleboro.com

Amie K. McCarthy, Director of Christian Education Fred Saunders, Administrative Assistant / Curator

BSA Charter Organization Representative c: 508-918-0123

Jack Baptist, Sexton Office: 508- 222-4677 Fax: 508- 222-2148

office2nd@verizon.net www.attleborosecondchurch.org Find us on Facebook!

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

AT SECOND CHURCH

As a covenant community we are committed to the belief that all people

are created equal before God, and that the love of Jesus Christ is inclusive.

We celebrate our diverse congregation, and we welcome persons of any race,

gender, age, marital status, family structure, sexual orientation, gender identity or

expression, ability, and economic circumstance to full participation in our

community life and ministry.

We strive to reflect these beliefs in the language and content of our worship

and in our lives together.

To receive TTHHEE VVOOIICCEE by email, call the office or send an email

TTHH EE VVOO II CC EE We seek to be a church of the open mind, the warm heart,

the aspiring soul and a vision for God’s world.

Outreach &

Missions

Women’s Fellowship

One Plus One

Jack &

Jill

Prayer Shawl

Ministry

Women’s Spiritual Group

Christian Education

Martha Circle

Music &

Dance

Calendar

Page 3 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 3 Page 3 Page 4 Page 3 Page 3 Page 7

MINISTER’S MUSE WHOLESOME COMMUNICATION IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

I want to thank you for being a part of the church. We have much to be glad about. Right

now we are in a fairly loving and wholesome place. But in the past I have noticed that we

can sometimes have problems with communicating conflict. Communication is important

to any organization but it is particularly important for a church like ours; a congregational

church can become a congressional church if we are not careful.

I attended a seminar recently taught by Rev. Doug Bixby of Evangelical Covenant Church

and Rev. Sarah Weaver of the Rehoboth Congregational Church. Doug and Sarah have

deep connections because Sarah’s mother, who is Congregational UCC minister in

Connecticut, and Doug used to minister in the same town. Doug knew Sarah when she

was just a child! When Sarah became Minister at Rehoboth as a young person straight out

of seminary Doug offered to be her mentor. The subject of the seminar was based on the

book Doug has recently published called “Navigating the Nonsense: Triangulation and

Church Conflict.”

A church as a gathering of people will always have a certain degree of conflict.

Members will disagree with one another about what things should get done

and how to pay for it. Some people may like a sermon, or an innovation in

worship, others may not care for it. The only way to deal with differences is to

speak directly and civilly with the person one disagrees with. In a church like

ours, with our various hierarchical structures such as councils and committees,

it can be quite tempting to try to mediate a conflict. One hears a complaint and

offers to confidentially "carry" the complaint to another person. We all want

to be helpful people! However, the perceived complaint is not always the true

complaint. Additionally, attempting to mediate spreads the anxiety from the

person who harbors the negative feelings in the first place to you, “the

mediator”, and to the object of the complaint (usually a minister, staff person,

or committee chair). Upon hearing that someone has a problem, the recipient

of the complaint has to wait, festering over the problem until the day arrives

when the issue of the un-named person with the complaint can be nebulously

aired. With communication like this, the joyful, loving communion which is

Christ’s church becomes an anxiety mill.

I am personally going to do a better job of being more direct with my

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SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UCC G O D I S S T I L L S P E A K I N G

A monthly newsletter December, 2016

communication. I would invite you to try to be a little more direct with your communication. You can reach me by cell phone

twenty four hours a day. All members of the church have phone books with the numbers of fellow members in case you have a

disagreement with one of them. Disagreements are natural, but triangulating disagreements through a series of committees can

create great harm. If you want to learn more about triangulation I have some literature I can lend you. At some point I would like

to invite Doug Bixby himself to come and speak to us and share his insight directly.

Let us endeavor to get out of the basement of triangulated committee conflicts and come together to the light of the upper room of

collaborating with Christ! A church like ours has the potential to be a place of not just cooperation, but a place of great

collaboration. Together we will be able to do all kinds of amazing things. The Spirit is with us all. We have all been endowed

with deep gifts.

Yours in Christ, Reverend Vern Wright

LITURGICAL THEMES This year I will be delivering a sermon

series based on the lighting of the

Advent Candles. Christmas is the time

that we look forward to the indwelling

of God in humanity via the birth of

Christ. We look forward to the hushed

glow of our infant lord in the manger,

the rejoicing of the shepherds and the

heady words of the prophets. Peace to

you in this beautiful season. Amen.

Rev. F. Vernon Wright V

November 27th

First Sunday of Advent

Hanging of the Greens

Scripture: Isaiah 60:1-11

Worship Theme: Hope

If I were to ask you the question: what

do you hope for? What would be the

first thing that would come to mind? If I

were to ask you the question and then

ask you to write an essay about what

you hope for, how would your first

response change? If I were to ask you

this question a third time and have you

meditate on the word hope for twenty

minutes, how might this answer change

again? Where do we live in that

spectrum between our superficial hopes,

our rational hopes and our deeper,

spiritual hopes?

December 4th

Second Sunday in Advent

Communion Sunday

Scripture: Isaiah 9:1-7

Worship Theme: Peace

We all have the instinctive knowledge

that a world governed by perpetual war

and terror is not the world envisioned by

faithful people. We spend a lot of time

and energy in strategies designed to

influence others to be peaceful and

forget to tend to our own lamps. As a

result sometimes even when we work

for peace we become less peaceful.

This Sunday we shall explore the

meaning of inner peace and how we can

best achieve it.

December 11th

Third Sunday of Advent

Scripture I John 4:7-21

Worship Theme: Love

“There is no fear in love, but perfect

love casts out fear…” In this wise

statement we come closer still to the

Christ child in the manger. Have you

ever said that you loved God and

harbored secret anger for your neighbor?

I know I have! What's with this human

nature of ours? How do we get to a

more loving place?

December 18th

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Scripture: John 15:1-11,

Matthew 1:18-25

Worship Theme: Immanent Joy

The story of Joseph is interesting.

Mary, the young woman he is engaged

to, is found to be pregnant. Being a

righteous man he thinks of a way to

dismiss her privately without causing

her public shame. But then he has a joy

filled dream of angels and in that dream

he sees things differently. In the Gospel

of John it says that, if we abide in God,

God’s joy will be complete in us. This

Sunday we shall explore together what it

might mean to live more joy-filled lives.

December 24th

Christmas Eve

Come to our traditional Christmas Eve

candle-lit service!

December 25th

Christmas Day

Worship Theme: A great light

Come gather around for carols and good

cheer. Wear your pajamas if you want!

NEW BOOK STUDY

AND CENTERING PRAYER GROUP

Emanuel means “God With Us.” One of

the best ways of opening to God’s

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presence is by being present to the now.

Starting on Thursday, December 8th

at 11:30 am to 1:00 pm we will be

reading, reflecting on Echart Tole’s The

Power of Now and engaging in

Centering Prayer. Join me. Together we

can endeavor to have a clearer, more

centered Christmas season.

BOARD OF DEACONS The lead Deacons this month are Susan

Brown and Marcia Weidner. Contact

any deacon if you are interested in being

an usher one Sunday. We’d love to

have your help. Call Ralph Giannetti

the night or two before at 508-226-4618

and let him know if you need a lift.

Communion Visitations continue each

week to our shut-ins. If you are unable

to attend church and would like to

receive communion, please notify

Reverend Wright or the church office

and arrangements for a visit will be

made. Our visits offer a special time to

quietly partake in Communion, offer up

prayers, and know your church family is

with you.

WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP The Women’s Fellowship Executive Committee wishes to thank ALL the MANY helpers who came together to make another Holiday Fair both fun and successful. We continue to put our collective experience to work for a good cause and in a terrific spirit of fellowship. So many donated items are put to such good use and we receive many compliments on how warm, welcoming and engaging our Fair is every year. We invite ALL women of the church to

come out to our January meeting and

help us chart a course for our activities

in the second half of the church year.

Please mark your calendars now for our

May Breakfast on Saturday, April 29,

2017 Thank you!

Women’s Fellowship

Executive Committee

MARTHA CIRCLE Martha Circle will hold our Christmas

Luncheon on December 13th at 12:30

pm in Fellowship Hall. All women of

the church are welcome. We will have a

home cooked meal and our annual

Yankee Swap – great fun! Give me,

Sandy Saunders or the church office a

call if you are interested but not yet on

our list or if you have any questions.

Linda Wiswall

Women’s Spiritual Group Following the November 28

th pot luck

and the December break, the next

meeting of the Women’s Spirituality

Group will be on Monday, January 23,

2017. Jean Fisk will present a short talk

on New Beginnings, based on John

12:24, followed by a group discussion.

Start the New Year off right by joining

this lively group! The meeting will

begin at 7:00 P.M. in the Conference

Room. All women of Second are

invited to attend, and anyone needing a

ride can call Wendy or Marcia!

Wendy Oliver

ONE PLUS ONE One plus One is a group of adults who

meet to share Christian fellowship. It is

open to all members and friends of the

congregation and is a great way to get to

know new people and catch up with old

friends.

Please reserve Saturday, December

10th

for our annual Christmas party to be

held after the Oure Pleasure Christmas

Concert at Jackie Sampson & Rich

D’Amore’s house in Easton. If you’d

like to join with us this month, next

month or any month, watch the Voice

and contact me ColinCB@aol.com or

call the church office so we can add you

to our call list.

Colin Blair

MUSIC NOTES Adult Choir and Bell Schedules:

Regular rehearsals will be held on

Thursdays, December 1st, 8

th, and 15

th.

We will decide whether a rehearsal is

necessary on December 22nd

. There will

be no rehearsals on December 29.

The Adult Choir will sing on all the

Sundays in December. Bells will play

on Sunday morning, December 18th.

Choir and Bells will sing and play on

Christmas Eve, December 24th.

CHOIR CHRISTMAS CONCERT

The annual choir Christmas program

will take place during the 10 am service

on Sunday, December 18th. The Adult

Choir, Hand Bell Choir, Children’s

Choir and Intergenerational Liturgical

Dance will all participate.

INTERGENERATIONAL SACRED DANCE

The Intergenerational Dance Group

continues to meet Saturdays at 9am in

the sanctuary. We have been very

happy to welcome a few new members

lately and are always open to more! We

look forward to sharing a special piece

in worship on December 18th.

Peace,

Diane Osborne

Prayer Shawl Ministry The PSM will meet on Monday,

December 12th at 12:30 in the Ladies’

Parlor. Shawls continue to be a

tremendous comfort to individuals

experiencing a loss, illness or other

traumatic event in their lives. New

members are always welcome. We will

teach you the ropes. Please contact me

if you have any questions.

Roberta Ferguson

OUTREACH & MISSIONS The Food Pantry distributed bags of

food to 31 families on November 21st.

Thank you for your generous donations

of money and supplies. Spaghetti sauce,

canned Chef Boyardee Ravioli and

Beef-A-Roni, dry cereals (especially

children's), real fruit juices, tuna, peanut

butter, hearty soups, toiletries, detergent,

and bathroom tissues are always

welcome. The drop-off site is in the

Ladies Parlor with the Deacons each

Sunday or in the kitchen anytime.

Contact: Betsey Pray, rlpbpp@verizon.net

Mitten Tree Alternative: Local group

donations have already exceeded our

need for mittens, hats & scarves this

year. So we have a large Christmas gift

box in the Narthex for toiletry

collections: deodorant, soap, shampoo,

shaving cream, disposable razors, after

shave, toothpaste, tooth brushes, female

products, Chap stick, foot powder, Q-

tips, body lotion, band aids, etc. These

items will be shared by our Food Pantry

customers and by the local homeless

shelter.

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The Family Café will be "open for

business" on Wednesday, December

14th

in Fellowship Hall. Volunteers to

set-up, prepare food, serve beverages,

greet, work with children, clear tables,

break down tables & chairs, or wash

pots & pans are needed anytime

between 4-6 p.m. Book donations

(specifically for children & young

adults) will be gratefully accepted.

Measurements were taken for our

pajama and coat drives in October.

Gently used well cleaned coats and

down vests are welcome. Contact: Linda

Wiswall, wiswalllinda@gmail.com.

More coats, men’s white socks and

toiletries are needed by the homeless

shelter as well.

Habitat Work Day Sign-up: We will

be doing interior painting on December

17th at the Habitat build site on the

corner of Holman and Forrest Streets in

Attleboro. Please sign-up in Fellowship

Hall on November 27th and December

4th or on your own computer at

http://oldcolonyhabitat.org/volunteer/.

Be sure to print out your waiver and

bring it along to the site. Please

confirm with Charlie Oliver that you

want to participate. Our goal is to

provide at least five volunteers; won't

you be one?

Holiday Food Baskets: Please let

Reverend Wright know if there is a

member in need during this holiday

season. Outreach & Missions

distributed baskets for Thanksgiving and

is planning to put together additional

baskets to be distributed on Sunday,

December 18.

The next Outreach & Missions meeting

is scheduled for Sunday, December 4th

at 11:15 am in the Ladies Parlor.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

YOUTH GROUP

In December, the youth will continue

talking about justice. We've spent a lot

of time talking about what justice is and

brainstorming a list of groups who do

not always see justice in their lives.

Now it's time to figure out what we want

to do about it. We will spend this month

narrowing down our ideas and begin

developing our action project which will

certainly extend into January.

December 4th

- Please go directly to

Youth Fellowship at 10am. We will

join our families during the service for

communion.

December 11th

- Today we will be

serving coffee and treats during Coffee

Hour. Please arrive at 9:30 am and go

straight to the kitchen so we can prepare

some goodies for the congregation. We

would also appreciate it if you could

plan to stay to help clean up after Coffee

Hour. Many hands make light work.

December 18th

– No meeting – Enjoy

the Special Music and Dance.

December 25th

- No meeting - Merry

Christmas!!

ATTLEBORO GIRL SCOUTS We would like to thank Second Church

for the use of your kitchen and hall on

Saturday November 19th for our "Lovin'

Loaves" baking event. We were able to

bake 150 loaves of bread which were

distributed to local families for

Thanksgiving. The donations were

distributed through the Second Church

food pantry and the Attleboro Area

Council of Churches. We would not

have been able to accomplish this

without the generous donation of your

space and equipment. Thank you!

November is always a fun month at pre-

school as we celebrate literacy and

friendship. This year we recorded books

at home on construction paper gumballs.

We had a large gumball machine the

bottom of the stairs and had a “BALL

with books!” At print our students have

read 688 books at home with their

families. We enjoyed a nice night out

together at our PJ Story Time. Mrs.

Lehane was our story teller this year and

used all of her silly voices to keep us

entertained! The laughter bounced off

the walls and made all the grownups feel like kids again too!

One of our favorite events of the year

was celebrated – The Friendship Feast.

During this event, each of the 4/5 year

old classes made a special snack to

share. We enjoyed a snack family style

in Fellowship Hall. Each of our classes

made and wore a fun turkey hat and

gathered together to eat, sing and listen to a story about Thanksgiving!

Even with all of the above activities, the

staff managed to conference with all the

parents of our older classes. Now that

the children have settled into the routine

of school and teachers have gotten to

know their students it is a great time for

parents and teachers to share

information. Having regular contact

with parents is one of the things that

make working in the field of early childhood education so special.

We will be conferencing with our 3 year

old families on December 8th.

As we approach the month of December

we strive for as many quiet moments as

possible. Children will be working on

special “surprises” for their parents and

our classrooms will be festive. Our

schedule and routine will stay the same

as we focus on the theme of family and

love during the holiday season.

Warmly, Kara Lehane

4

December Birthdays

1 Chris Brown

Enoch Osborne

Mary Valentine

2 Brittney Cassidy

3 Phil Cotsalas

Ron Quimby

4 Tanner Martin

7 Zachary Withers

9 Max Lancaster

11 Owen James

Delia Plante

Julie Withers

12 Hannah Saunders

15 Nate O'Connor

16 Brett Trisoline

18 Nick Macomber

19 Myrtice Osterberg

Calvin Turcotte

20 Brenda Alsfeld

Harold Goldzung

Diane Zakhary

22 John Lepper

Alex Robinson

23 Caroline Griffin

Kimberly Saunders

Debbie Spatcher

24 Ruth Baker

Mariah Ramsay

Carolyn Werdin

25 Pete Cotsalas

26 Jaydon Taft-Pine

Larry Valentine

28 Camryn Janson

Mike Touloumtzis

30 Emma Meleo

Ken Ramsay

31 Peter Zakhary

5

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

6:30 PM

Bell Choir

Rehearsal

7:30 PM

Adult Choir

Rehearsal

2 3

Red Cross Blood

Drive, 9 AM to 2

PM

4

Second Sunday of

Advent - Peace

10:00 AM

Worship /

Communion

11:15 AM

Outreach & Missions

Committee Meeting

5

6:30 PM

Boy Scouts

7:00 PM

Deacons'

Meeting

6 7

6:30 PM

Cub Scouts

8

11:30 AM

Book Study

and Centering

Prayer

6:30 PM

Bell Choir

Rehearsal

7:00 PM

Christian

Education

Committee

Meeting

7:30 PM

Adult Choir

Rehearsal

9 10

9:00 AM

Intergenerational

Sacred Dance

Rehearsal

12:00 PM

Janson Family

Party

4:00 PM

Oure Pleasure

Singers Christmas

Concert

“O Holy Night”

11

Third Sunday of

Advent - Love

10:00 AM

Worship

12

12:30 PM

Prayer Shawl

Ministry

1:00 PM

Communion

Visitation

Meeting

6:30 PM

Boy Scouts

13

7:30 PM

Pastoral

Relations

Committee

Meeting

14

5:30 PM

Family Café

6:30 PM

Cub Scouts

7:00 PM

PFLAG Meeting

15

6:30 PM

Bell Choir

Rehearsal

7:30 PM

Adult Choir

Rehearsal

16 17

9:00 AM

Intergenerational

Sacred Dance

Rehearsal

18

Fourth Sunday of

Advent - Joy

10:00 AM

Worship

Special Music! Gathering Sunday

11:20 AM Church

Council Meeting

19

4:00 PM

Food Pantry

Distribution

6:30 PM

Boy Scouts

7:00 PM

Facilities

Committee

Meeting

20

January Voice

Deadline

6:30 PM

Administration

Committee

Meeting

21

6:30 PM

Cub Scouts

22

6:30 PM

Bell Choir

Rehearsal

7:30 PM

Adult Choir

Rehearsal

23 24

Christmas Eve

6:00 PM

Christmas Eve

Candlelight

Service

25

Christmas Day

10:00 AM

Gathering Sunday

10:00 AM

Worship

Gathering Sunday

26

6:30 PM

Boy Scouts

27 28

6:30 PM

Cub Scouts

29 30 31

Save the dates: SAT., DEC 3RD

, 9-2, RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE (Well need help at 8 and 2 with unloading and reloading the truck. Thanks!)

SAT., DEC. 10TH

, 4:00 PM - OURE PLEASURE SINGERS CHRISTMAS CONCERT

“O Holy Night”

7