Ivanhoe News
Volume 177, Issue 23
January 2016
Thank You!
“I thank my God every time I remember
you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my
prayers for all of you” (Philippians 1:3-4).
The generosity of the people of Ivanhoe Church is inspiring. In all aspects of our ministry together, you
always go above and beyond. But, as I received a
Christmas gift from you, once again I say, “Thank
you!” from me and my family to you and yours.
With Gratitude,
Pastor Kris
Adult Education Study – Coming Soon
For Lent – February 2016
Painting the Stars
"Mystery is a condition of awe, of resting precisely in
an unknowing, long enough for the silence to have
its way with us. The goal of this curriculum is to create some space for us to inhabit this mystery more
deeply, and explore the relationship between science, particularly evolution, and religion. Perhaps
most importantly, the hope is that each participant
will feel from the inside what it is like to be the presence of all this creativity showing up after 13.7 billion years as him or her. Without this felt sense of
being one with the creative process that is ceaselessly animating life, the conversation will remain objective and academic. We invite you to engage these
seven weeks with an awareness that you are not
separate from the creativity that produced you."
-- Bruce Sanguin,
Author of Participant Reader
“It is not over, this birthing.
There are always new skies into which
God can throw stars.
When we begin to think
that we can predict the Advent of God,
that we can box the Christ
in a stable in Bethlehem,
that's just the time that God will be born
in a place we can't imagine and won't believe. Those
who wait for God
watch with their hearts and not their eyes, listening,
always listening,
for angel words."
Mark your Calendar / Upcoming Events
Sunday, January 31, 5:30pm = Chili Cook-Off
(Donations go to Back Bay Mission –
Adult Trip to Biloxi = April 3-9 )
Sunday, January 31 = Souper Bowl of Caring
Wednesday, February 10 =, Ash Wednesday
“Drive Thru” = 7-8am + simple service @ Noon
Ann Weems
Ivanhoe News 1
Board of Deacons
Board of Trustees
Ken Flaks/Ken Kelting, Co-Chairs
Peter Fruehan, Chair
Submitted by Robert Money
Our Journey of Hope Continues
Our Journey of Hope Training Program will resume in
January. A make-up session for those who could not attend session one in November will be held on Wednesday, January 13, at 7:00. The program will then resume
with session two on Wednesday, January 20, at
7:00. Both sessions will be in the Fellowship Hall and will
last about one and one-half to two hours.
Our Journey of Hope Program consists of a series of
training sessions designed to give participants the tools,
training and support to raise up cancer care ministries in
churches and communities. The sessions are designed to
equip and empower attendees to effectively minister to
people dealing with cancer and other diseases as well as
support for caregivers. The program design includes video presentations, discussions of the video and other pertinent issues that many have experienced.
We would like to take this opportunity to express
our thanks and appreciation for a wonderful year!
Each member of this congregation has gifts and
abilities that have strengthened the mission and
ministry of Ivanhoe Congregational Church.
For all of your time, effort, hard work, and prayers, please accept the thanks and appreciation of
the Board of Trustees. It is truly a blessing to be a
member of this congregation.
We wish everyone a happy and blessed New Year!
This is the day that God has made, let us rejoice
and be glad in it!
News from Your Mundelein Cooperative
Preschool
If you have any questions, please contact
Pastor Kris or Ken Kelting.
Thank you to the Thompsons for hosting the meal after
Caroling. Thank you to all the carolers for sharing in the
celebration.
Men’s Social Club Luncheon
The Men's Social Group lunch will be held at 11:30 am on
Tuesday, January 19, at Crossroads of Ivanhoe, just east
of the church. Please contact Ken Kelting with any questions or if you need transportation.
Ecclesiastical Council for Scott Cunningham
On Sunday, January 31st at 3:00pm,
The Fox Valley Association
will be holding an Ecclesiastical Council at
First Congregational UCC, 461 Pierson Street,
Crystal Lake, IL 60014 for
Scott Cunningham.
Representatives from the Preschool, the Church’s
Board of Trustees, and Pastor Kris met together in
November to explore ways to create closer
relationships between the church and school. One
outcome of this meeting is you will occasionally
see what we are up to in your church newsletter.
December is busy with holiday preparations. While
typing this I heard one of the children in the other
room, “We need to get Jesus a present, his birthday
is coming up.” We will also visit the Marriott
Theatre to see Seussical, the Musical. In
preparation, children have been hearing Dr. Seuss
books and doing projects based on his books.
In January, we are starting a new class, open to
any three, four, or five year old. Children can
attend Tuesday and/or Thursday afternoon. The
class will focus on Math & Science skills, presented
through hands-on- learning. In the words of Dr.
Seuss, “We will have lots of good fun that is funny,”
as we stretch our learning. Call the preschool at
847-949-1899 or email Carol at
[email protected] for more
information.
Ivanhoe News 2
Christmas Gifts for Children of Avon Township
Senior Choir December 20, 2015
Caroling
Ivanhoe News 3
2015 Ivanhoe Youth Christmas Pageant
Action Auction 2016
The Action Auction will be held on Sunday, February 28. This event has been a fundraiser (and “funraiser”) for many years at Ivanhoe. The donations,
volunteer work and generosity of our members
make this a successful event.
The day begins with our worship service and special music for the Lenten season. After the service
the following takes place:



Silent Auction in Fellowship Hall 11:00 to 11:45
Luncheon in Fellowship Hall 11:45 to 12:45
Live Auction in Sanctuary 12:45 until auction is
complete
In the Fellowship Hall, you will find a table where
you can pick up your "personal auction paddle”.
Your paddle is used for the Live Auction and the
paddle number is used for bidding on Silent Auction
items.
If you are unable to attend the auction, just select
those items you wish to bid on and a budget maximum, then ask a church member to bid for you. You
will be billed for your Action Auction purchases, so
no need to bring your checkbook.
If you have any questions, please contact Mary
Lou Beals, Dennis Beals, Lee Dickinson, Diane Temby,
Keith Temby, Sherri Kelting or Ken Kelting.
MLK Day
For a number of years, St. Peter UCC in Lake Zurich
has held an exciting and vital Martin Luther King
Celebration on MLK Day – this year, January 18 at
10:00am – 12:00pm. All are invited!
Donations for the Silent Auction should be new
items. Past offerings have included gift baskets,
home decorations, garden tools, handcrafted items
and toys for children. If you have donations for the
Silent Auction, please arrange to have them at the
church no later than 10:00 am on Saturday, February 27. You can put them in the library. Please make
certain that you have provided the donor name
with your donations.
The Luncheon is a potluck meal coordinated by
the Auction Committee. A sign-up sheet will be
posted in Fellowship Hall in early February.
The Live Auction will be held in the sanctuary.
Donations for this event in the past have ranged
from: theme lunches/dinners/breakfasts at member's homes or restaurants, gift cards, tours of area
museums, pies, cakes, large or special craft items,
theater tickets, Cubs tickets, or home theater or
Ivanhoe screen movies. This auction is always a fun
event and no one is too shy to bid. If you are donating for this auction, you will be asked to fill out a
form and give your information to Keith or Diane
Temby no later than Sunday, February 14, so that
the programs can be printed in time for you to take
home and review on February 21. Last minute
items are always welcome.
Wauconda FBLA Presents…..
MEALS FOR ALL
Dinner is sponsored by the
Moose Lodge of Wauconda
Dinner includes: Homemade soup, chili,
salad & rolls
Dessert includes a variety of flavored cheese cakes
and is sponsored by the WHS – NHS
Organization
Wednesday, January 13
$1
4:30-6:30pm
$1
Dinner is located at the Moose Lodge
We will have the WHS band quartet playing!
Ivanhoe News 4
Board of Christian Education
Wellness Ministry
Sandee Dwire, Director
Traci Smith
Thank You!
Happy New Year! We hope none of you are stressing
about your New Year’s resolutions – remember, just 20
minutes of activity a day like walking can be a simple
step toward a happier, healthier you!
The Board of Christian Education would like to thank
the congregation for helping make this year's Cookie
Walk and Raffle a huge success. Your generous donation
of cookies and your purchasing of boxes of cookies and
raffle tickets provide the financial support for many of
our CE programs throughout the year.
Mark your calendars, our kickoff workshop for 2016
will teach us tips & tricks to help relieve a common issue
many of us share:
A special thank you to Lisa Shirley who turned our
student's artwork into a beautiful "star of wonder," and
congratulations to Zelma Dunn, this year's raffle winner!
Get Out of Lower Back Pain!
January 25, 2016, 7 pm
Allison Wilmes, an experienced holistic movement
therapist, will teach us easy, effective and gentle movements to release lower back tightness and pain. You'll
learn how to sit correctly to avoid pulling on your back
muscles, how to retrain your brain to connect with your
muscles, and how to add a few simple movements to
your daily activities that don't take a lot of time. It
sounds too good to be true but it works like a charm; feel
it for yourself!
Ivanhoe Book Club
After taking a break through the fall and Advent seasons, the Ivanhoe Book Club would like to start up
again, and we are looking for new members. If you like
to read and are interested in being part of this group,
please contact Sandee Dwire at [email protected].
The book club meets four times a year and chooses
books from a wide range of genre. It's a great way to be
in fellowship with other book lovers!
If you have suggestions for additional topics you would
like to see in 2016, please email Traci Smith at
[email protected].
Happy January Birthdays
Women’s Guild
For all Ivanhoe women
The January meeting offers another opportunity to support the Home of the Sparrow: We will make fleece
blankets to help take the chill out of winter for women
and children in need. Meet on 1/16/16 in the church
hall at 9:30am - refreshments included!
Anne Tinsley
Peter Ogilvie
Jim McCormick
Robert Money
Susan Nicholson
Jamie Pogue
Liz Johnson
Mark Kakenmaster
Shirley Kostas
Dillon Schaap
Kathleen Gruebele
Ivanhoe News 5
January 3
January 7
January 10
January 13
January 14
January 17
January 18
January 23
January 24
January 28
January 31
Historian's Corner
Steve Schmidt
Maybe you heard there was a “War on Christmas” on
coffee cups. But modern concerns about a war on
Christmas are hardly new, writes Carl Philipp Emanuel
Nothaft: In fact, the first war on Christmas occurred in
the 16th century.
December 25th came into popularity in the 8th
century, when the Venerable Bede, an English monk,
used the date of the winter solstice as Christ’s birthday.
Bede formed his opinion using Latin sources that
emphasized solstice symbolism, but also hinted that the
birthday could have fallen earlier.
The date remained uncontested until the Reformation
during the 16th century, writes Nothaft. When scientists
and chronologers took up the question, they tried
linking together biblical events with the plausibility of
things like a census being called during the rainy winter
months. One scholar, Beroaldus, suggested that
Christmas be moved to the autumnal equinox instead.
“The debate over Jesus’s birth date was more than a
sterile and technical question of historical chronology,”
writes Nothaft.
Anti-Catholic sentiment added fuel to the debate.
Protestant theologians, struggling to separate
themselves from Catholicism, attacked the Catholic
calendar. Swiss theologian Rudolf Hospinian suggested
that the Catholic church chose December 25th in order
to convert the pagan Roman Saturnalian feast into a
Catholic one. By attacking the historical basis of
Christmas, Protestant theologians could challenge
Catholic dogma and lay their own claim to religious
practice. The argument culminated when the Puritanled English Parliament banned the celebration of
Christmas in 1647.
Christmas was reinstated in 1660 when King Charles
II was restored to the monarchy, but debates about how
and when to celebrate it have continued throughout the
centuries.
Northern Illinois Food Bank
Full on Faith 2016
All congregations are invited to put faith into action by
helping hungry neighbors during Full on Faith week at
the Northern Illinois Food Bank! Sign up to volunteer in
Park City during the week of February 22-27, 2016 and
help the Food Bank fill all volunteer shifts with members of faith groups. The Food Bank supplies food to
food pantries, soup kitchens, after school programs and
more in its 13-county area. Volunteers at our three centers make it possible to serve 71,000 neighbors in need
each week
We have made a reservation to volunteer on Tuesday,
February 23, from 1-3:30pm at the Park City facility
serving Lake County. Sign up at the coffee bar or talk to
Ken Flaks. For more information;
www.SolveHungerToday.org/Full-On-Faith
FYI - Thanks to volunteers, partners, and donors, a gift
of $1 provides $8 worth of groceries to neighbors in
need in Northern Illinois.
(CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL NOTHAFT
Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 72, No. 4 (October
2011), pp. 503-522 University of Pennsylvania Press)
Ivanhoe News 6
Judy and Julia
( These “Words of Remembrance” were shared by Julia Hart
at the memorial service of her grandmother Judy Bubin on
November 28, 2015.)
So I’m not one of Judy’s kids. I’m not even the oldest
grandchild. I am the second of only five people on this
earth allowed to call her Grandma Judy. And that’s a pretty special privilege.
She was a cool grandma – there’s no denying it. I think
Amy once had her listening to the Black Eyed Peas –
“Where is the Love” was track 1 on a mix CD in Grandma’s
Camry for a long time. Dan never failed to get her laughing. Like my Mom said, she loved to laugh – loved to surround herself with people who would make her laugh.
Corinne was the same way. She always knew how to calm
her or distract her on a difficult Alzheimer’s day. And Annie, all you have to do is look at some of these pictures to
know that there’s a family resemblance there…
But I had the privilege of joining this church with my
Grandmother about 5-6 years ago when I was a senior in
high school. I don’t think many granddaughters get to say
that they joined a church with their grandmother at 18
years old…
When Grandma moved to Grand Dominion in Mundelein
(Grandparent Domination, as we called it), she told me
that she would love to join a church again. She hadn’t
been going for years, but having grown up in a United
Church of Christ down in Hinsdale, she wanted to start
going again. I said that I wouldn’t mind finding a regular
church too. So we started shopping.
We spent an entire summer “trying out” churches. Sunday after Sunday, visiting a different worship service every week. Libertyville, Mundelein, Grayslake. There are
some really lovely churches in Lake County. But Ivanhoe
was different. I think we knew that immediately.
The Church was beautiful, welcoming and bright. I remember exactly where we were sitting on that first Sunday. I loved the words “no matter who you are or where
you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” And I
think Grandma felt an instant connection to the United
Church of Christ all over again. But the people really sold
it. There was such a family presence at Ivanhoe - a smaller congregation with a strong sense of community – that it
wasn’t a difficult decision after that first Sunday.
So every week (or almost every week) I got up went
over to Grandma’s on Sunday mornings. I had a cup of
coffee with her, read the comics. And then we would go
to church together. “Judy and Julia” – I was told the alliteration made it easier to remember our names. I
started to learn her favorite hymns, and I could tell
which ones she remembered from her childhood: her
voice would get louder, she wouldn’t need to look down
at the hymnal, and she’d sing with a sort of bounce.
Some of those hymns we are singing today.
Church got a little harder when I went away to school.
I took her whenever I came home for weekends or
breaks, but all of a sudden there was a whole group of
Ivanhoe people who were willing to pick Grandma up
on the Sundays when I was away. This display of kindness and compassion, going out of their way to pick
Grandma up on a Sunday morning, is something that
my family and I appreciate deeply. It meant the world
to her to keep going to the church. Those were true
acts of friendship, and a testament to the kind of people
we met here.
I watched as it became more difficult for her to flip
the pages of the hymnal and sign her name in the attendance book. I think that was really frustrating for
her. But Ivanhoe never left her behind. Visits from Pastor Kris and other church members kept her in the loop
and always raised her spirits. How cool is it that something as simple as joining the little white church on the
hill could provide so much comfort and community?
It makes me happy to see all of the people she loved
so much in the same place, especially a place as beautiful and meaningful to Grandma as Ivanhoe. I think it’s a
wonderful place to celebrate her life and love.
But I want to say a special thank you to the Ivanhoe
church, to all of the people who made this such a great
community for my grandmother. Thank you for giving
me a couple hours with my grandma every Sunday
morning and for bringing “Judy and Julia” together in
that way.
Ivanhoe News 7
JANUARY 2016 - Ivanhoe News
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
1
SATURDAY
2
New Year’s Day
3
4
Worship
10
5
11
Worship
12
18
19
Worship
Martin Luther King
Jr. Day
Men’s Social Group
Knit & Crochet
1:30-3:30pm
24
25
26
Worship
________________
Wellness Workshop
Get Out of Lower
Back Pain!
7pm – 8pm
Knit & Crochet
1:30-3:30pm
Worship
7
8
Choir
7:00pm
13
Knit & Crochet
1:30-3:30pm
Board of Trustees
7:00pm
17
31
6
Knit & Crochet
1:30-3:30pm
Board of Deacons
7:00pm
14
Men’s Service Club
8:30am
15
Choir
7:00pm
20
21
9
16
The Crib 6:00am
Women’s Guild
9:30am
22
23
29
30
Choir
7:00pm
PADS
27
28
Choir
7:00pm