North Liberty, Iowa

Join us throughout the month of December as we revisit the ancient story

of the birth of Jesus through the eyewitnesses. Each week the sermon

opens with a narrative in first person. The First Christmas series follows the

following order:

November 27 The Wise Man Lyle Muller Matthew 2: 1-2, 9-12

December 4 Joseph Brent Criswell Matthew 1: 18-25

December 11 Elizabeth Judy Bornkessel Luke 1: 5-80

December 18 Shepherd Gordon Doak Luke 2: 8-18

December 24 Mary Brydie Criswell Luke 1: 26-28

Beth Botsford Luke 1: 26-28

December 25 Eye witness accounts

January 1 The Innkeeper Ken Wall Luke 2: 6-7

Come explore how our lives are changed as we encounter the stories of

these individuals. Be challenged to look at how God is choosing you to ful-

fill a role. See how God may have different plans and that the good news of

Jesus Christ is for all. As we wind up the month we will see how God has the

power to change our lives as we make room for our Savior.

We celebrated the sacrament of Holy Baptism. On November 20, Blake

and Savanah Sexton were baptized. Their parents are Heather and Bruce.

Heather joined the church, while Bruce renewed his vows of membership.

We welcomed Tony and Olivia Swope into the church on the 20 as well.

They attend the 9:45 am service.

On November 27, we celebrated the sacrament of Holy Baptism for Henry

Bonnet at the 8:00 am service. Henry is the son of Patrick and Ashley Bon-

net. Patrick and Ashley joined the church that morning, too.

At the 9:45 service, we welcomed Mark and Rebekah Ahrens into the

church. They have two sons, Will and Henry. They transferred from First

United Methodist in Iowa City. Welcome to all!

In November we witnessed the passing of Gerry Enerson at our church.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 3, at 11:00 am at the Trini-

ty United Methodist Church, Cavalier, ND. Visitation will be one hour prior to

the service. Please remember his wife, Toni, and their two daughters and

extended family in prayer. Gerry was a great man of faith.

We will hold one service on Sunday, December 25 at 9:45 am. Come sing

carols and hear testimonies in this informal service on Christmas morning!

Come let us adore Him!

Peace,

Alecia

Ring in the birth of

Christ at one of our three

Christmas Eve services.

We will host services at

5:00, 7:00 and 11:00 pm.

Join in the singing of car-

ols, while hearing the

scripture of this most

wonderful night. We will

each service with the

singing of Silent Night,

while we light the can-

dles.

In the darkness there will

be a great light.

The new ministry action team met to strategize how Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes help us to a

world where violence and hate crimes are on the rise. After prayer, listening, brainstorming and

strategizing, here are the areas where we initially want to be in ministry. Given our mission to

Follow and invite others to follow Jesus Christ, we have a structure which to form our decisions

and ministries. The top two or three under each area are:

Celebrate or Worship -- Provide a Healing Service in January

Work with others to offer an interfaith service in the Spring

Support or Education – Offer Diversity and De-Escalation Trainings off-site open to the church and

public

Support Emergency Personnel, including police, EMTs, etc.

Recognize the need for further discussions for greater understanding

Serve -- Deploy a rapid response team, including clean-up and emotional support

Adopt a school to better meet the needs of community families

The list above mentions only a few of the many ministry ideas generated, both within our walls

and outside in our community. Other teams and ministries are planning to join us and were not

able to attend this first meeting.

If you would like to join one of the teams planning an above event or ministry, please join us on

December 18 from 6:00-7:30 pm at the church. All are welcome.

In the Monday morning small group, Forgiving Others, Forgiving Ourselves, Carol Hulbert of-

fered the following prayer, which seemed fitting for the season:

Father in heaven, bless us as we study forgiveness to work through guilt, shame, disappointment

and regrets. Help us to work each step that we need to reach forgiveness of others and ourselves.

Thank you for being our faithful and steadfast Almighty. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Our Children's Ministry Christmas Program will take place at 9:00 am on Sunday,

December 18. We ask that each child participating be present at Sunday school the

next few weeks to learn the songs. There will be a mandatory rehearsal on Satur-

day, December 17 at 10:00 am. We are really looking forward to it this year!

Our Christmas Eve services this year are at 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, and 11:00 pm.

Peacemakers just gets better and better with each month that passes! In November, our pre-teens

were taught how God is Mind-Blowing. They discovered that pursuing God is an amazing, never-

ending journey, and that being “bored” and “being with God” DO NOT go together! Our goal was that

these truths will lay a foundation for our preteens to overcome fears, erase boredom, and conquer

feelings of loneliness as they look to God for strength, meaning, and confidence.

The next Peacemakers meeting will be a grand overnight event in January.

Our big hit of the fall for our youth ministry has been the introduction of our small

groups. For 8 weeks, our students gathered together on Wednesday nights at the Piercy res-

idence for the sole purpose of diving deep into scripture and learning different ways to

study the Bible. It was such a huge hit with our students that many of them are sad to see it

end. Our EPIC small groups will start up again in February at the home of one of our EPIC

families. A huge and special THANK YOU to Abby Brown and Brent Criswell for taking on the

courageous leadership of our students in studying scripture these past 8 weeks!

Yours In Christ,

Beth Botsford Director of Family Ministries

Phone 626-2762

Email nlmfamilies@gmail.com

The holidays are hard. If you would like a chance to come, share and remember the life of

someone you have lost, please join us on Wednesday, December 21 at 7:00 pm in the Library.

Feel free to bring pictures or other things that make you remember them. Come and share the

good memories of those that we will always keep in our hearts. This will be hosted by Darlene

Smith and Jim Miller.

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This event is planned for Sunday, January 15, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. In addition to

a wonderful dinner, volunteers will be recognized for hours of service and awards

given to those who have reached certain milestones. It's always an evening of fun

and fellowship.

On Wednesday, December 21, from 10:00 am – 12:00 noon, the Pantry will be a distribution site for

the Crisis Center of Johnson Co.'s holiday meals. Families will receive a turkey, chicken, or other en-

trée, sides, vegetables, and a variety of other grocery items needed to prepare a holiday feast. We also

offer diverse options by purchasing ethnically varied ingredients for all families to create a traditional

holiday meal. Project Holiday is sponsored by MidwestOne Bank. To help out, shoppers can look for

red and white tags at over 60 Johnson Co. businesses and churches throughout November and Decem-

ber. Officials are asking area residents to bring the reminder tag, along with a $25 donation, to the

Crisis Center, 1121 Gilbert Court, Iowa City. Each donation buys a family meal for a local family in

need.

Thanks to the Hawkeye Chapter of 100+ Men Who Care and Deery Brothers Ford Lincoln, the Pantry

was able to buy our own van. We are able to transport large amounts of donations and orders much

more easily. We have much to be thankful for this holiday season.

We received a ton of food (literally!) - 2,599 pounds, from the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort food

drive. Once again, neighbors helping neighbors.

The garden has been put to rest for the winter after a very successful year.

Some of our produce this year: tomatoes, garlic, peas, beans, beets, carrots,

radishes, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, kale, swiss chard. It was a good harvest,

supplemented by many donations from local gardeners. Thanks to everyone

who helped. We're planning for next year.

During this Thanksgiving and Christmas season, we recognize our many bless-

ings. One way to show our gratitude is through volunteering. When you volun-

teer at the Pantry, you have the opportunity to show God's love by helping your

neighbors who are struggling. This can be a difficult time for many people,

and Pantry volunteers can demonstrate how caring our community can be. The next New Volunteer

Orientation is Monday, January 30, 2017, from 6:00—8:00 pm. For more information about the Pantry

and about volunteering, check our website (northlibertycommunitypantry.org) and our facebook page

(www.facebook.com/nlcpantry). Join an amazing group of volunteers. No matter what your skills are

and no matter how much time you can commit, there is a place for you!

Dave & Cindy Malott and Ken & Judy Bonnet will be hosting Lamplighters on Friday, December 9 at

7:00 pm at the home of Ken & Judy Bonner, 1890 Cypress Ridge, North Liberty. Please bring an appe-

tizer or dessert to share.

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November has flown by Creation Kids and Christmas will be here before we

know it!

In November the Preschoolers spent most of their time learning about

Thanksgiving and all the things they are thankful for. They were very thankful to

have their moms and dads come in and join them for our annual Thanksgiving Din-

ner that we had at the North Liberty Rec Center this year and combined with our

Coralville location. We had over 250 people join us for turkey, stuffing, and much

more!!! It was such a great time with everyone and a great moment to reflect on all that we are thank-

ful for! The Preschoolers also spent some time learning about feelings and emotions, Noah’s Ark,

good manners and more!

The school agers have been busy spending time outside, practicing chime bars, doing home-

work and reading and practicing Christmas songs.

As we look into December it looks to be busy as usual. We love the holidays with the children

and our families here! We have a few special events coming this month. On Friday, December 9 during

the day our Preschoolers will take some time in the morning to visit the residents at Windmill Manor

and sing some Christmas songs for them. Also, from 5:30—9:00 pm we are having our Parents Night

Out for all of our Creation Kids families. Our staff will dedicate their time to watch all children enrolled

and their siblings while the parents enjoy a night out.

We will be putting on our Santa’s Workshop on Saturday, December 10 from 9:00 am—12:00

pm. All Creation Kids families and church families are welcome to come. We will spend the morning

making crafts, decorating cookies, visiting with Santa and more! Please consider joining us for some

holiday celebration! Cost per child is $5, to cover the cost of materials.

On December 15 at 6:30 pm we will be having our Christmas Program at our School Age Site in

the First United Methodist Church. School Agers and Preschoolers will be singing some songs as well

as a Chime Bars performance. Our Coralville location will also be having there Christmas Program on

December 16 at 6:30 pm.

The preschoolers will be learning about Christmas and the reason of the

season, as well as fairy tales and winter!

Thank you so much to everyone that purchased cookie dough and Tupper-

ware for our fundraiser! Between all of our sites we raised about $3,200 to go

towards new equipment and toys for the classrooms.

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Thanks be to God for the generous outpouring

of gifts that our church received in November as

we celebrated the commitments of gifts for our

ministries next year. So far we have received 67

commitment cards totaling nearly $180,000 for

the 2017 General Fund!

If you have not already turned in your commit-

ment card, there are extra cards available on the

table in the front hall. You may place these in the

offering plate, or return them directly to the of-

fice.

Thank you to all who already turned in their esti-

mate of giving toward our mission and ministry

for the coming year! We celebrate each day God’s

rich grace in our lives and how we give of our-

selves in response to God’s gift of grace in Jesus

Christ.

The Hospitality Team is finalizing plans for the

initial phase of our group to be implemented.

We are excited to open up this opportunity to ALL

members of the congregation, giving ALL a

chance to serve Christ. We will be using the

online tool, Signup Genius, giving everyone the

opportunity to pick their date and type of service.

As our congregation grows by numbers and with

a larger facility in our future, we know more are-

as of service will be included.

This portion will include greeters, ushers and

minor coffee clean-up. The information and

training about Signup Genius, and how to volun-

teer will be forthcoming soon with the actual plan

starting in January. Prayerfully consider how you

can give to the church by your service!

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This Advent season will be celebrated with lots of special music throughout at both the 8:00

and 9:45 am services. Grace Notes, Acabella, Children's Choirs, Chime Bar Choir, and music stu-

dents will be sharing their gifts through music during worship. It will be an awesome way to cele-

brate and worship this season!

Acabella will be at both the 8:00 and 9:45 am worship services on December 11, presenting

"Rise Up Shepherds" and "Were You There On That Christmas Morn", (which will also include Bryd-

ie Criswell, singing). Additionally, Acabella will be traveling to Windmill Manor on Monday, De-

cember 19, to share music of the season with our friends at 6:00 pm.

Grace Notes will be singing at the 8:00 am services on November 27 (A Star Not Mapped) and

on December 18 (Look Who Just Checked In).

The Chime Bar Choir will be playing in both worship services on Sunday, December 4, sharing

the song "In The Bleak Midwinter".

The Children's Choirs will be presenting the Christmas Pageant on Sunday, December 18, at

9:00 am, between services. They will be re-telling the Christmas story through scripture and

songs. A reminder to parents to make sure your child is in Sunday School by 8:45 am to learn

the music. We will have our dress rehearsal on Saturday, December 17, from 10:00 to 12 Noon.

The Parenting small group has resumed at 8:45 am in Pastor Alecia's office. This group is led

by Rebekah Ahrens and is working from the same book they started on last September.

Starting November 27, Peggy Jedlicka will be leading an Advent study on the book

"All I Want For Christmas". The group will meet in the library at 8:45 am during the Advent sea-

son.

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November 18, 2016

Dear Friends,

As many of you have heard, a formal complaint has been filed by seventeen Iowa Conference lay and

clergypersons against our previous bishop, Julius Trimble. The complaint is in response to Bishop

Trimble’s dismissal of a complaint against Rev. Anna Blaedel, campus minister at the University of Io-

wa Wesley Center. In her witness to the 2016 Iowa Annual Conference session, Blaedel said, “I am a

self-avowed practicing homosexual. Or in my language, I am out, queer, partnered clergy.”

In accord with our United Methodist Book of Discipline, the complaint has been forwarded to Bishop

Gregory Palmer (West Ohio Area), president of the North Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops, and

to Bishop Hee-Soo Jung (Wisconsin Area), the College’s secretary. The College will handle the review of

this matter.

In a time when The United Methodist Church continues to be divided around issues of human sexu-

ality, I encourage the laity and clergy of the Iowa Annual Conference to be in prayer for Bishop Trimble

as well as for those filing the complaint. May each one of us demonstrate the love of Christ by engag-

ing in deep listening and treating one another with respect and tenderness. I also invite you to pray

for the thirty-two member Commission for a Way Forward, which has been charged to develop a com-

plete examination and possible revision of relevant paragraphs in our Book of Discipline regarding hu-

man sexuality.

My prayer is that, in the days ahead, each United Methodist and local congregation will be open to

developing new relationships as, together, we seek the unity of heart and spirit that Christ desires of

us and that our world so desperately needs.

Blessings,

Bishop Laurie

Mission, Inc., is set up like an upscale clothing store. They provide clothing and shoes to the

homeless while also offering affordably priced, quality, used and nearly new apparel to bargain hunt-

ers just looking for great deals.

The revenue generated by Mission Inc. is used to assist local ministries by bridging the gap

through moderate financial support in times of need. The availability of funds depends on sales

which are supported by the community. They are always in need of new and gently-used clothing do-

nations as well as patrons.

Store hours are Monday through Friday from 9:30—5:30 pm and Saturday from 9:00—3:00 pm.

Location is 4 Hawkeye Drive, Suite 104 in North Liberty. Please consider shopping locally and sup-

porting this new outreach ministry.

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4 Lucan Botsford

4 Olivia Smith

5 Brennan Plank

6 Marilynn Cook

7 Teresa Gaffey

7 Mary Ann West

7 Kevin McCreedy

8 Lindsay Nash

8 Marisa Garcia

8 Gabe Steburg

9 Thomas Lampkin

9 Kaelyn Triggs

9 Brenda Pastin

10 Charlotte Young

11 Nate Byers

12 Harold Meyer

14 Jill Pippert

15 Carol Hulbert

16 Anthony Rodriguez II

17 Annette Enerson

21 Bryan Davis

21 Katelyn Davis

23 Angie Richards

24 Kirk Brotherton

26 Henry Thompson

27 Jolyn Morgan

30 Kuansay Khamphilanouvong

30 Piper Schoon

31 Maddie Reid

7 Carl & Jen Richey

18 Arleigh & Sue Clemens

31 Bryan & Jenna Davis

December 9—Creation Kids Par-

ents Night Out

December 9—Lamplighter’s

Christmas

December 10—Santa’s Workshop

December 15 & 16—Creation

Kids Christmas Programs

December 17—Rehearsal for Kids

Program

December 18—Kids Program

December 21—All Church Carol-

ing Party

December 21—Grief Group

December 23—Church Office,

Pantry & Creation Kids—CLOSED

December 24—Christmas Eve

Services—5:00, 7:00, 11:00 pm

December 25—One Service—

9:45 am

December 26—Church Office,

Pantry & Creation Kids—CLOSED

January 1—One Service—9:45 am

January 2—Church Office, Pantry

& Creation Kids—CLOSED

Remember……

If school is cancelled due to

the weather,

Creation Kids, Pantry and the

Church office will

also be closed.

If there is only a delay,

Creation Kids, Pantry and the

Church office will be open.

Join the carol-

ing party set for Wednesday,

December 21 at 6:00 pm.

Anyone can join the choir to

sing that evening!