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Atonement Ministries 116 W. Glen Ave Syracuse, NY 13205 (315) 492-9065 ©2012 Atonement Ministries |
Atonement Lutheran Church Newsletter - The Messenger
The Messenger is published weekly, except for holiday weeks and an abbreviated schedule over the summer. If you prefer a copy of the Messenger that you can print, click on the link below:
Print version of this issue
Messenger Archives
December 15, 2009 - Volume 30, #46
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Save a Tree, Save a Stamp, Save some Money!
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- No Messenger Next Week
Note: There will be no Messenger published next week! Please keep this issue to refer to for times for Christmas services and assisting at worship schedules.
- Hanging of the Greens - December 20
Please join friends and family for a great pasta dinner, hosted by our youth group, followed by the hanging of the greens!
Dinner follows the 10:45 service (about noon). Reservations are appreciated and can be made by calling the church office at 492-9065.
After dinner, everyone is invited (and bring friends!) to decorate the church for Christmas. There are both heavy- and light-duty decorating chores, so there is something for everyone!
Youth Group! Your help is needed for the Hanging of the Greens Pasta Dinner, a fundraiser for youth group activities (see Mrs. Holmgren for your setup/serving/cleaning assignments).
- Worship at Christmas
Please join friends and family at worship this Christmas. Come celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Christmas Eve:
7:00pm Family Service with Children's Program
10:30pm Festival Candlelight Eucharist featuring the Clinton Strings Pastor Gaetz preachingChristmas Day:
10:00am Christmas Day Carols & Communion Pastor Suarez preaching
- Christmas Plants
Don't forget to order a beautiful Christmas Poinsettia that will grace our sanctuary for Christmas. Plants are $11 each. Donations are being taken after worship on Sunday December 13 and 20 - or may be mailed to church. Be sure to include your desired memorial inscription.
...and, can you help?....
You may never have heard of a "Plant Santa" but you can be one.....with very little training, and no chimneys involved! How? By looking over the Christmas plant delivery list in the Sunday bulletin and choosing a home to stop by with a Christmas plant. Your brief visit will assure our shut-ins that they are not forgotten this Christmas season......and after you have left, the plant will be a daily reminder that they are in our prayers as we enter into new year as the Atonement family.
- Holiday Basket Needs
We are gathering the necessary items for Christmas baskets and need your help. Our food pantry, like so many others, is running low, as are our donations. Please help where you can.
Contributions are always welcome. Last year, filling out the baskets, after sorting through the donations, cost almost $900.
Many of our families have children who are off from school and need to be fed the two meals that they usually get at school. At Thanksgiving and Easter we feed at least 20 families and at Christmas we do about 20 baskets plus meat to an additional 30 families. Any help is appreciated. Most needed items include:
- Peanut butter and Jelly
- Mac and cheese (boxed)
- Hi C or other fruit juice drink
- Cereal
- Jell-O and pudding mix
- Coffee/Tea
- Canned beans and corn
- Canned cranberry sauce
- Quick bread mixes
- Canned fruit & peaches, pears or mixed fruit
- Holiday candy
- Spaghetti and spaghetti sauce
- Soups & especially chunky type
- Cans of stew, spam, tuna
- Raman noodles
- Boxed Scalloped/AuGratin potatoes
- Seasonal funfetti cakes and icing
- Welome Gavin!
Gavin MacIan Wilson
Born 12/6/09 at 10:29am
Weight: 7lbs, 15oz
Height: 21.5in
Congratulations to Jon and Natalie, and to big sister Addison!
- Thank You from the Crafty Ladyes
We would like to thank everyone who helped make our bazaar so successful this year! The winners of our raffle were Carole Barr, Grace Wildman, and Bobbie Mettler. In case you missed the event, you can still purchase some items that are for sale in our little shop next to the narthex. This year profits were used for the new ceiling in the coffee ship, Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets, and towards the Bus ministry. In addition, we have some other projects in mind that you will hear about later!
- The Crafty Ladyes
- Fourth Week of Advent
Two kinswomen meet. Both women are expecting, yet because of their pregnancies each would face a very different reception from their family. For the "mature" Elizabeth having her very own son would finally remove the stigma of childlessness. As far as the world was concerned, she was on the road to happiness at last. For Mary, becoming pregnant so early in her relationship with Joseph would be a deep embarrassment. She was clearly on the road to disgrace. Two kinswomen, facing two very different consequences based on the ways of the world. If God didn't have a hand in this story, we can imagine how their lives might have played out in ancient Israel. Elizabeth would have been highly praised, while Mary would have been hidden away in shame. But once again, this is God's story to write, not ours. And once again, everything is turned upside down. For Mary is not condemned for her predicament according to the customs of her people. Instead she is congratulated by her kinswoman Elizabeth; who even though she stood to lose by this family scandal, was nevertheless inspired by the Holy Spirit to recognize and rejoice in the sometimes baffling ways of God.
~ Shalom y'all, Vicar Christine
- Congratulations Miss Sue!
Susan Heard, one of the teachers in Atonement's Child Care Center has been awarded Child Development Associate Credenials by the CDA Council for Professional Recognition.
- Year End Contributions
Please remember that, in order to qualify as a 2009 charitable donation for IRS purposes, your year-end gifts to the Church must meet one of the following criteria:
- ...be received in the offering or in the church office on or before December 31st.
- ...mailed to the church with a postmark no later than December 31st. Our books will remain open until January 11th to insure that we can properly account for gifts mailed prior to December 31st.
We plan to send out giving statements the week of 12/15, but if you have a question as to where you stand in your giving, please call the church office at 492-9065 and someone will get back to you. Year end statements with the complete record of your 2009 support of our common mission will be mailed promptly in January.
- Altar Flowers and Eternal LIght
The 2010 Memorial Charts are posted at the parking lot entrance to the church. It's time to get these important memorials spoken for.
- Two arrangements of flowers are placed on the Altar at a cost of $40 per week. Your memorial inscription is listed in the bulletins and after the services the flowers are delivered to shut ins or those in the hospital. You may designate persons if you wish, by calling the church office the week before your flowers are placed.
- The Eternal Light (red candle) that burns in the main sanctuary at all times as a reminder of Jesus' presence may also be placed as a memorial. The cost is $4/week or $15/month.
Please make your choice as soon as possible to avoid conflicts. AND, please be sure to list all the information we will need for the bulletin. Your donation is due the week before your chosen week.
- January Means Business
As we move into the New Year, our attention will turn to the business of the congregation. Please mark your calendars with the following important date:
Sunday, January 24, 2010 PREPARE FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING
As we have in past years, we'll have a "pre-annual" meeting between services (about 9:45). Bring your questions! Annual reports will be available for distribution.Sunday, January 31, 2010 ANNUAL DINNER/MEETING
Immediately following the 10:45 AM service we will gather in the Fellowship Hall for dinner and then move to the Chapel for the business meeting (about 12:45pm).
- Acolyte Training
On January 8th at 9:45 there will be acolyte training for new acolytes.
Meet Deacon Karen Douglass in the front of the sanctuary.
- Happy Anniversary!
January Anniversaries
1 Wilfred & Alice LaFountain (2005)
12 James & Chris Crane
14 Natalie & Jon Wilson (2006)
15 Ruth & Thomas Merchant (1994)
20 Aiko & Robert Martin (1970)
29 Thomas & Barbara Nelson (1953)
- Happy Birthday
December Birthdays
1 Karen Douglass, Lacey Gardner, Joyce Jecen, Tom Irwin
2 Bruce Kilhefner
3 Linda Malmendier
6 Rentis Lawson, Robert B. Shultz, Alice Huber, Lilith Kench
7 Heinz Aserian, Christina Nelson Abbott, Alexis Kelley
8 Cassia Ellis
10 Betty McNamara, Tajiarae Thurston, Shaun Brown
11 Erica Tyo, Brett Scanlon, Shawn Young
12 Alexander John Voltz
13 Ruth Kummrow, Kim Siddall
14 Cathleen Woodward
15 Barbara Spinks, Stephen Strumlok
16 Bill Gessler
17 Jeff Morton, Stephanie Allen, Charles Wolff,III, Barbara Miller
18 Geraldine Savolainen, Stefan Thoryk, Jon Wilson
19 Connie Casler, Alexandrea Gaetz, Dana Caiello
20 John Douglass, Sr., Linda Hill, Allen Wells, Catherine Kelley, Karen Veverka, Trevor Valletta
23 William M. Gilbert, Fredrick Hill, III
24 Lewis DePalma, II, Athena Griffin, Jonathon Fitzgibbon
25 Jean M. Graumenz, Nicolas Arthur
27 Ethel A. Ulrich
28 Doris Young
29 Alexandra Lewis
30 Marjorie Monds
31 Virginia Wiggins, Susan Palmer, Harold Wilber, Sr.
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