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ContactNorth Bethesda
United Methodist Church
Volume 47 Issue 12
December 2018
A Word From the Bishop: Before It Is Too Late Posted by Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling on Nov 15, 2018 Editor's note: Bishop Easterling shared this 'sacred poem' on Facebook on Oct. 27, the day of the Pittsburgh synagogue shootings.
Page 2 December 2018 Contact
North Bethesda
United Methodist Church 10100 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda MD 20814 Phone: (301) 530–4342
E–mail: [email protected]
Website: www.NorthBethesdaumc.org
Office Manager: Chris Lee
Office Hours: Tuesday -Thursday
8:30am– 3:00pm
Pastor: Pastor Jeff Jones
cell: (240) 994-1505
Minister of Visitation: Linda Thompson
Music Director: Tony Ashur
Coordinator of Education: Renee Newman
Contact Newsletter Editor: Valerie Blane
Contact Newsletter Publisher: Chris Lee
5 Penny Clarke 13 Lois Gawler 14 Mark Aehle 16 Ulric Gibson 16 Dick Getzinger 17 Stephanie Lehmann 24 Vera Jennings 25 Sue Enders 28 Kimberly Thorpe 31 Karina Mobley If you have corrections or addi-tions, you can contact Diane Tabat-abai at 301-983-6878 or [email protected] Famous birthdays: 1 Matthew Shephard Sojourner Truth 8 Jean Sibelius Flip Wilson 18 Cicely Tyson Stephen Biko 25 Sissy Spacek
Mark your calendars for Sunday, December 16 worship service for the joyful Lessons and Carols service, featuring the choir, soloists, and brass players.
Dear church family, Thank you for your prayers, cards, and concerns during recuperation from my recent fall and illness. Your kindness is much appreciated. Virginia Nanzetta
Volume 47, Issue 12 Page 3
Preacher Feature
Snow fell today, covering everything with a brilliant white, a reminder of Christmas, that God’s love covers everything with love and forgiveness through the work of Jesus Christ.
“I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: ‘Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.’ The Enthroned continued, ‘Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.’” (The Message Revelation 21:3-5)
Eugene Peterson, writer of The Message, died this fall. He was a long time Presbyterian pastor in Bel Air, MD, influencing many clergy with his writing and encouragement. He was clear that Jesus, by being born in Bethlehem, moved into our neighborhood, so that we would know for sure how much God loves us and how much help he is giving us drying away our tears and making everything new. What great news that is!
Christmas is the celebration of how close God comes to be with us, the celebration of what you and I can become to make the world a better place. When we can see God make everything new, we have a chance to fix our troubles. When we can see how we are supposed to live through Jesus’ example, we can be the source of encouragement and hope for our troubled world. It is good news!
Christmas also stirs the senses, helping us to feel fully alive, even in the mid-winter. Remember the smells of trees and wreaths, cooking and baking aromas coming from the kitchen to prepare food and share love with one another.
Remember the lights on trees, candles in the window, in manger scenes. Seneca Park’s light exhibit is a great ride and celebration of Christmas.
We have warmth from hugs of family and friends, the human touch blessing one another. We need to find ways to share that comfort, warmth, and love all year long. There is the warmth of coats, sweaters, and scarves, reminding us that God’s love can warm us up when we have grown cold towards others.
Christmas means that God has moved into the neighborhood, reminding us that people matter to God. We are encouraged to reach out to others as a symbol of our awareness of God’s moving into our lives, into our neighborhood. Are there people you can reach out to and show God’s love to, that you don’t normally consider? You could make a contribution to a charity to feed people at Christmas or a gift to the Board of Child Care, for our children and youth to help them grow into responsible adults.
You can give through Gifts of Caring. Bless a member of your family or a friend by giving to a worthy cause and receive a card to give to that friend or family. See Missions in Johnson Hall.
God in the neighborhood, means God, the creator of all, is close by. We can use his love to renew our lives, renew our commitments, be a blessing for others. We can renew our spiritual journey by letting God influence us with a deeper prayer life, devotional life, pursuit of the holy. Be the shepherds and listen to the angels.
Merry Christmas, Pastor Jeff
Page 4 December 2018 Contact
Travelers’ Christmas Eve Many people travel over the Christmas Holidays and miss the chance to be in their home church for Christmas Eve. The Traveler’s Christmas Eve service on Thursday, Dec. 20, at 7:30 pm gives you a chance to share the story of the birth of Christ with our choir and in our beautiful sanctuary with our awesome organ.
Plan now to join us if you are traveling. Mention this option to friends. This service is growing in participation. In 2017, we had the same number of people at Travelers’ as we did on Christmas Eve itself. Come and join us.
Pastor Jeff
Smile.Amazon.Com Plans
Many of us use Amazon.com for our shopping. You can bless North Bethesda UMC with donations from Amazon for your purchases. Just go to Smile.Amazon.com. When you get to choose a charity to support, type in North Bethesda United Methodist Church. We are a recognized member of their community and will receive 0.05 percent of every dollar of your purchases. Remember to start at Smile.Amazon.com, log in with the smile part first, and your purchases will automatically get counted on our behalf. Amazon will send us a check. Thank you.
Pastor Jeff
NBUMC/FERNWOOD CONNECTORS This fall, we established a connection for conversations and issues between NBUMC and Fernwood Montessori School to help improve our relationship and to deal with issues when they arise. We meet monthly to review and support each part of the partnership. If you have suggestions or concerns you should talk to Michele Bernot, Ed Swanson, and Pastor Jeff.
Through this connection, we received the support of the school for our harvest festival, and they provided the moon bounce as their contribution. We look forward to further good work.
The next project, in conjunction with the Arts Committee, is collecting toys and clothes for the Greentree shelter in our community.
Volume 47, Issue 12 Page 5
We will highlight a favorite Christmas Carol each week, learning their stories and celebrate the coming of the Messiah.
12/2 Good Christian Friends, Rejoice
12/9 Joy To The World
12/16 Lessons & Carols with Choir
12/23 Hark the Herald Angels Sing
12/30 Away in a Manger
Special services include:
Dec. 20 our Traveler’s Christmas Eve for those who have to be away, 7:30 pm
Dec. 24 Children and Families Christmas Eve service, 6pm
Dec. 24 Traditional Christmas Eve service, 10pm
More than 8 out of 10 people join a church because they were invited to come by a friend. December is the perfect time to invite people to come to church. Give the gift of love and welcome, by inviting friends to join you.
Pastor Jeff
Worship Theme
The Lectionary
December 2 Beginning Lectionary Year C • Jer. 33:14-16 • Ps. 25:1-10 or UMH 756 • 1 Thess. 3:9-13 Luke
21:25-36 December 9 • Mal. 3:1-4 • Luke 1:68-79 or UMH 208 • Phil. 1:3-11 • Luke 3:1-6 December 16 • Zeph. 3:14-20 • Isa. 12:2-6 • Phil. 4:4-7 • Luke 3:7-18 December 23 • Mic. 5:2-5a • Luke 1:46b-55 or UMH 199 • Heb. 10:5-10 • Luke 1:39-45 December 30 • 1 Sam. 2:18-20, 26 • Ps. 148 or UMH 861 • Col. 3:12-17 • Luke 2:41-52
Advent Story
The Living Nativity, an Upper Room Advent Study book, will be our Advent Devotional. Read along as St. Francis, who really created the outdoor nativity scene in the 1100’s, grew to understand the power of the Incarnation. This is the idea that God has come to dwell with us, to move into our neighborhood.
We plan to read this together on Sundays after coffee hour as one of the options for Christian Education. There is a website at the Upper Room with additional resources to help make this Advent season memorable and spiritually uplifting.
If you would like a copy, sign up or let the office know. The cost is $13. If you cannot join us for the conversation, you can certainly benefit from reading an inspirational devotional from the Upper Room. The author led our conference pastors in spiritual formation resources earlier this year.
Pastor Jeff
Page 6 December 2018 Contact
The Narthex Windows Basics of Christian Faith
This window was given by the Sherrow family. The anchor is the Christian symbol for Christ’s great love and sacrifice for us. These three, Faith, Hope, and Charity (Love) are the foundation of the Christian faith.
Many thanks to Ardoth Hassler-Short for this information.
Valerie Blane
British Mystery Words earwig - eavesdrop zapper – remote control unit Madchester – Manchester, from the music scene of the 1990s jack all – nothing, as in “There’s jack all wrong with it.” Valerie Blane
More Tidbits from Cornwall Upper crust: Bread was cooked by first making a fire in the oven with lots of twigs and sticks. Then the fire and twigs and sticks would be swept out, and the dough inserted. After the bread was cooked, the servants would be given the bottom layer, the children the next layer, the women the next layer, and the men the upper crust.
Eavesdrop: There was a space between the lower part of the thatched roof and the upper part of the walls. Neighbors could hear conversations inside. And speaking of thatching, bugs and small animals would live in the thatching, hence the cover on four poster beds.
Drop off: On carriages and stages, some people had to sit on top with the driver. There were no guard rails. If one fell asleep, he would “drop off.”
Valerie Blane
Volume 47, Issue 12 Page 7
No Giant Card Sales Dec. 9 to Jan. 6
Due to logistical and security issues that developed over the summer, your Giant card committee members have decided to suspend sales from Dec. 9, 2018 through Jan. 6, 2019. We regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers. Giant cards WILL be sold Nov. 4 through Dec. 2, and we will resume sales on Jan. 13, 2019. Giant cards can be purchased in Johnson Hall after worship by cash or check in amounts from $10 to $100 and can be used like gift cards when shopping at Giant. Five percent of the value of every card you buy goes to support the wonderful ministry of NBUMC to our members and to people around the world. The program was begun by Lyndale George in 1992. To our stalwart customers and others who buy occasionally, thank you so much.
Paul Hurlburt, Giant Card Program Manager
Cookbooks are Here!! Our cookbooks will be available just in time for the Christmas shopping season. We are selling them for a very modest $13.50 each. Get them before they are all gone!
Chris Lee
Valerie Blane
Grateful Appreciation Many thanks to all of the wonderful people who gave me rides to radiation and MRI and doctors’ appointments and have brought me food. Hats off to: Ardoth Hassler-Short, Linda Thompson, Joanna Voight, Mark and Rose Aehle, Janet Replogle, Joye Jones (including the day of the snow/sleet/ice storm), Paul Hurlburt, Flora Milans, Renee Delacroix, Ken Ow, Chris Lee, Natalie McManus, Carol Malmi, Ludmila Gawrisch, Jacqui and Gordon Cragg, Mary Lou Griffin, Emmett and Jane Ward, and my friends from Virginia: Susan and Eric Lengel and Abby Owen. I apologize if I have left out a food person, especially since all of the foods were feasts!
And special thanks to Ardoth for organizing the Lotsa Helping Hands.
Valerie Blane
Page 8 December 2018 Contact
The Story Behind “Green Grow the Rushes”
Although having its beginnings as a religious song, “Green Grow the Rushes” has evolved into a camp song with religious overtones. It has been dated at least from England’s conversion to Christianity between 300 and 500 AD, depending upon the part of England. This song, according to a few sources, grew out of Cornwall with a mixture of Christianity, Hebrew, and paganism. It was often sung as a Christmas Carol. Variants have been sung since at least the 1200s.
The words are, from the cumulated twelfth verse:
I’ll sing you twelve O! Green grow the rushes, O. What are your twelve O? Twelve for the twelve apostles. Eleven for the eleven who went to heaven. Ten for the Ten Commandments. Nine for the nine bright shiners. Eight for the April rainers. Seven for the seven bright stars in the sky. Six for the six proud walkers. Five for the symbols at your door. Four for the gospel makers. Three, three, the rivals. Two, two lily white boys, dress them all in green, O. One is one and all alone and evermore shall be so.
The approximate meanings are: 12 for the twelve apostles 11 for the apostles who went to heaven minus Judas 10 for the Ten Commandments 9 could be the sun, moon, and planets (the number seen back then); the orders of angels; the delights of Mary 8 could be the Hyades star cluster or the rains from Noah’s flood 7 could be the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades; or the traditional planets; or the seven stars of Revelation, chapter 1 6 could be the six jars of water that Jesus turned into wine 5 could mean the mezuzah; a pentagram at the door to keep away witches; a sign to protect Catholic priests during the Protestant revolution; the five wounds of Christ 4 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John 3 the Magi; the Trinity; Peter, James, and John
wanting to be the greatest disciple 2 can refer to the transfiguration of Jesus with Moses and Elijah; Adam and Eve (although obviously Eve was not a boy!); Castor and Pollux; Christ and John the Baptist 1 is God
Valerie Blane
Volume 47, Issue 12 Page 9
Page 10 December 2018 Contact
NBUMC Serves the Interfaith Works Women’s Homeless Shelter.
Many thanks to all the dedicated volunteers for their compassion and commitment in providing and serving delicious dinners to the 35 residents of the Interfaith Works Women's Homeless Shelter during the week of October 28 through November 3. Thanks also to those who helped prepare the lunches (Mark Aehle, Dayna Fellows, Kathy Devadas, Jacqui and Gordon Cragg). As Sabina Rai who coordinates the volunteer program at the shelter said, “THANK YOU, Jacqui, and everyone at North Bethesda United Methodist Church for another amazing week! Our ladies LOVED all the food provided by you and friends at NBUMC. We are grateful for your generous support and services.” We were delighted to have several new volunteers joining the teams. We welcome Olanma Okoji, Samantha Noble (she also served in July), Cecily Barnard, and Kim Santoro, as well as some of Cheng Sithole's staff from his company, Epic Consolidated Services (http://epicconsolidated.com/), Nicole, Jay and Sheng’s cousin, Hez, who prepared and served dinner on the Monday night.
We plan to serve again for two weeks in 2019 and will apply for the weeks of July 7 through 13 and October 27 through November 2. We will let members know the dates as soon as they are finalized. As always, anyone wishing to experience this mission of compassionate service to our less fortunate neighbors will be most welcome to join a team. Jacqui and Gordon Cragg
Greentree Women’s Shelter
This year, the Arts Committee is again sponsoring a drive for clothes (women’s and children’s), diapers, toiletries, toys, and children’s books for Christmas for the Greentree Women’s Shelter. We will have the large wagon installed in the narthex soon to accept your gracious donations. Please be generous. Thanks!
Valerie Blane
Volume 47, Issue 12 Page 11
Retrospective
From the one page Contact of September, 1983. Submitted by Tony Ashur.
Now that the new church season is underway, there are two musical events scheduled which should be called to your attention. First, a program in the evening of Sunday, October 9, in the sanctuary at 8:00 PM features “Anabel” who comes to us from the Maryland Eastern Shore to provide an evening of sacred vocal solos. She has given many programs in a number of locations as a means of sharing her Christian messages in an entertaining way.
On December 11, also on a Sunday evening, will occur a concert at NBUMC by the choir and additional singers. Three works have been planned for this program, “Magnificat in C” by Pachelbel, “Ceremony of Carols” by Benjamin Britten, and “Christmas Contata” by Daniel Pinkham. For this program we are inviting all those who would like to participate but cannot commit themselves to our year-long choir rehearsal schedule to join us for special Monday night rehearsals which will begin on October 10 at 7:45 PM.
We urge all of you to support these events and others during the church year. We also have an open door policy to anyone who wishes to join our choir. No audition is necessary, just a willing spirit. You will find our choir as friendly a group as one could hope to find. Rehearsals are each Thursday at 7:45 in the choir room. And don’t forget our Children’s Choir. We ended up with only two participants last year and we would like to see this group expand. The Children’s Choir meets each Thursday afternoon at 4:00 PM.
Finally, we need a replacement in our bell ringer’s group. The group has consisted primarily of members of the United Methodist Women, but anyone may join. Attendance at 10:00 AM rehearsals is a requirement. This year we hope to establish other bell groups for those who attend school or who work regular hours. We will continue to meet with a young people’s group Sundays after church as we did last year.
Henry Benedict.
Bishop Easterling to Visit December 2
3—5 pm Bishop Easterling will be here for the Annual Visit to the Districts/Region. We are hosting the Annual Event. Come meet the bishop and help host other congregations in our Greater Washington District and Central Maryland District with refreshments as well. We anticipate about 300 in attendance. Pastor Jeff
Page 12 December 2018 Contact
NBUMC RECONCILING FELLOWSHIP MINISTRY It was a pizza party! It was a warm time of fellowship! It was a time of discovery. It was a time for making decision! What a great time the reconciling fellowship ministry group had on Saturday October. Twenty-five folks of all ages gathered in Johnson Hall for Papa John pizza. (Note: As Diane Walsh Barberesi explained to the gathering, Papa John has revised its marketing philosophy and has adopted an all inclusive message. As a reconciling congregation, it seemed appropriate to support the company.)
As part of the far-ranging dialogue during this fellowship time, Karina Mobley and John Replogle spoke to how teenagers are approaching and embracing their LGBTQ peers. Their words, which were so well presented gave those in attendance a feeling of hope for the future. Ikaia Sithole shared his experience riding on the United Methodist float at the recent Pride parade. His presentation was classic Ikaia-humorously and succinctly narrated. You almost felt you were on the float with him.
The reconciling group had been discussing the purchase of a rainbow themed candle for the sanctuary. At the meeting, three choices were provided. The winner was based on the number of votes by those in attendance, including children. The candle is shown below.
The candle will be placed somewhere in the front of the sanctuary because as one participant noted, the church is moving forward which supports placing this in the front. Once the candle is purchased, it is the desire of this fellowship group to have the candle blessed by the pastor at the end of a future service. Details pending.
Another recommendation discussed changing the title of “affirming” within the bulletin, identifying our reconciling statement to reconciling. This will be brought before church council to seek approval of this change.
Future activities include having more fellowship meals like this one, reaching out to other reconciling churches, having speaker workshops and staying active as a place of safety.
The NBUMC reconciling ministry is an all inclusive group. All are always invited to come and join us when we meet. Stay tuned to the newsflash for the next fellowship time.
Rose Aehle
Diane Walsh Barbaresi
Volume 47, Issue 12 Page 13
Many Thanks I have been editor of the Contact for about five and a half years. It has been an extremely enjoyable adventure for me, one that I hoped to continue for many years. However, the cancer from three years ago has metastasized, leaving me with more doctors’ appointments and less stamina. This will be my last Contact. Many thanks to Chris Lee, my partner in this endeavor, who is a jewel. Thanks also to all of the contributors over the years.
Sincerely,
Valerie Blane
The Making of the Contact
I thought readers might find it interesting to see the process of creating a Contact. It starts with the publication of the last issue, almost always the fourth Thursday of the month. Then, we start to work on the next one.
To give lead time to both Chris and me, I usually set the Contact deadline for the 15th of the month. (Occasionally, such as in December, for example, this deadline needs to be pushed up because of Christmas.) This gives people time to create their articles and to email them to me to edit. It also gives me time to write my articles.
Some people are good writers; some people are not. For each article, I check for grammar, noun/verb agreement, active versus passive voice, variety of sentences, punctuation, chronology, and intent. I also look for supporting sentences in each paragraph and how they flow. Sometimes this process takes a short time, sometimes a long time. I will edit articles from between four to maybe twelve times or more, making sure they are correct in all areas.
On or about the 15th of the month, I will send the articles I have to Chris. Chris is the publisher. She arranges the articles on the pages, checks for length, spacing, and correct font. She creates the calendar from the main church calendar as well as from special days from committees and the congregation. She also does the graphics, including finding historical figures to accompany the articles, which is a time-intensive job. She also finds interesting little tidbits, including special days for the calendar, such as Guy Fawkes Day for November 5.
On the fourth Tuesday of the month, Chris and I get together at the church office to review and edit again. We check each article, each picture, and the appearance of the Contact. I edit each article again, sometimes several times, to make sure everything is correct. Chris emails me a draft in the late afternoon. I print it out at home and go over everything again. Yes, I have found mistakes even at this late date. I email Chris the corrections by Wednesday morning. Chris corrects the last mistakes and begins printing.
On the fourth Thursday, I go in and fold all of the copies. The wonderful Contact ladies arrive around 11 AM to put on the circular stickies and the labels. Then Chris takes the lot to the post office. And the process begins again!
Valerie Blane
Page 14 December 2018 Contact
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love, I’m just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love, I’m just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.
–by Sharon Jaynes
Volume 47, Issue 12 Page 15
