Tower Clock
Newsletter
HAMPSHIRE COLONY
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Pastor Jack Stites • Home: (815) 441-7650 Church: (815) 875-2329 • [email protected]
DECEMBER 2010
2010
Church Council
Moderator
Darren Schafer, 303-8525
Financial Secretary Pam Warren, 303-5012
Clerk
Trisha Schafer, 872-0896
Treasurer
Pat Schou, 872-3681
Trustee Chair
Marge Albrecht, 875-3555
CEE Team Chair Clyde Wray, 815-488-9192
Diaconate Chair (open)
Highlights from the November Board
Meeting:
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Ministry Teams
CEE TEAM MINISTRY
Chair
Clyde Wray, 815-488-9192
Member
Curt Yelm, 872-0057
Member
Todd Sanders, 879-3761
Member
Buc Grey, 815-878-5874
Member
(open)
DIACONATE MINISTRY
Chair
(open)
Member
Marcia Roberts, 875-2081
Member
Carol Fisher, 872-5211
Member
Carmen Grey, 875-9208
Member
(open)
December Meetings:
Tues. December 21st
Trustees
Council
– 6 PM - Office
– 7 PM - Lovejoy Library
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The Council set the rental price for
the Parsonage
The parsonage is being cleaned & a
few repairs & painting in preparation
for its rental.
The financial state of the church was
discussed & the Council voted to have
a congregational meeting on Dec 12th
The children’s Christmas program will
be held on December 19th during
worship service
If you have any questions please contact:
Darren Schafer, 2010 HCC Moderator
E-mail - [email protected]
Cell # - 815-303-8525
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild & sweet,
Their words repeat
Of Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men.
~ The Bells of Christmas, adapted from
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Legend of the Candy Cane
I just love this story as we approach Christmas and even if you’ve heard it before, it’s worth
repeating. According to this legend, in about 1900, a candy maker in Indiana designed the candy
cane to tell the true story of Christmas.
The most obvious symbolism used in the candy cane is its shape. Turned one way, it looks like a
“J” for Jesus. The newborn Lamb of God was named Jesus, meaning Savior, because He was
destined to save His people from their sin. John 1:29, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world!” Turned the other way, candy canes remind us of the shepherd’s staff.
John 10:11, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
The hardness of the candy reminds us that Jesus is our rock of refuge. Genesis 49:24, “…the
Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.” The whiteness brings to mind the Virgin Birth and the sinless
life of Christ. Matthew 1:23, “The virgin will be with child . . . and they will call him
Immanuel --which means, ‘God with us.’” We also are made as pure as the snow through the
cleansing action of His blood. 1 Samuel 1:18, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow.”
The traditional candy cane has 3 small red stripes to remind us of the soldiers’ stripes by which
we are healed. Isaiah 53:5, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for
our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed” (the KJV actually says “stripes”). The larger stripe represents the blood shed by Christ
on Calvary’s tree. Hebrews 13:12, “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make
the people holy through his own blood.” Revelation 1:5, “To him who loves us and has freed
us from our sins by his blood.”
Our current culture is attempting to push Christ right out of Christmas. As His children, we must
do what we can to share the hope, love, joy and peace that Christmas brings. So, whenever you
think of Christmas remember the story each candy cane can tell and share with the world around
you that Jesus is the only reason for the Christmas season!
God bless you and have a very Merry Christmas!
Pastor Jack
Spiritual Reflections:
THE CHRISTMAS LIST
HAMPSHIRE COLONY’S
ANNIVERSARY
March 23, 2011
Would you be interested in being on the
180th committee?
Please call the church office.
2011 will mark the bicentennial of
Reverend Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864).
The Homestead Board is involving the
community of Princeton in a variety of
events to honor Reverend Lovejoy.
December Greeters: 5th
12th
19th
26th
** Please sign up at the center post
(In back of the sanctuary)
Hampshire Circle
December 9th Hosts –
Betty Hodge 875-2482 &
Marsha Notschaele 872-1816
Lunch at The Big Apple at 1pm Please RSVP to hosts.
Give a gift of laughter, Give a gift of song,
Give a gift of sympathy, To last a whole life long.
Give a cheerful message, Give a helping hand.
Tell your neighbor That you understand.
Wash the supper dishes, Help to dust the room;
Give a smile to leaven Someone’s hour of gloom!
Give a gift of sharing, Sweeten dreary days
For the lost and lonely, Give yourself ALWAYS!!
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Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories
and love of kindred, and we are better throughout
the year for having, in spirit, become a child again
at Christmas-time. ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder
Youth Fall Update
Youth Group and Kids Klub have
been meeting every Wednesday throughout
September, October and November.
Attendance at Youth Group has been
averaging 20 teens. Attendance at Kids
Klub has also been averaging 20 children.
So the church is a busy place on Wednesday
nights! Kids Klub has been studying the
Judges and Kings of Israel, and working on
Sword Drill and Memory Verses. Youth
Group has been focusing on the Life of
Christ, with plenty of time for games and
skateboarding. 15 of our Kids Klub children
attended a Kids Klub fun day at Kasbeer
Church with 150 other Kids Klub children
from all over Bureau County. Buc has also
been attending games and activities at
LoganJHS and Princeton HS in order to
meet and encourage teens. Carmen has
attended several Kids Klub trainings.
December Plans
Youth Group
Dec 11 – Christmas Caroling to Shut-ins –
followed by a Christmas Party at Buc and
Carmen’s Home
Dec 31 – New Year’s Eve Party – Logan
Junior High
Kids Klub
Dec 19 – Children’s Christmas Program
Dec 22 – Matinee at Apollo Theatre
The
Tower Clock
Newsletter
Hampshire Colony
Congregational Church
604 South Church Street
Princeton, IL 61356