Life at Faith….December 30

9

Brian Fitzgerald & Martin McCormack Acoustic instruments & voice-and the Faith Church Choir

In the Sanctuary

11:45am Catered Sunday Dinner ($10) Illingworth Hall

(a freewill donation will be accepted) All Welcome to all of these, but no further dinner reservations can be made/purchased after Thursday, January 17.

Welcome to Worship

We have enjoyed worshiping with you today and hope you will join us again soon. Please stop at the Welcome Center in the Narthex to receive information about Faith Church.

Please pray for the family of Ruth Mehl who passed away on December 23. Men’s Bible Study takes place on Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. in the Conference Room. All men of Faith Church are invited to join this group. January 3, Samuel 19-24 God delivers David.

Wired Word Discussion Group, Sundays at 8:45 a.m. in Illingworth Hall Come enjoy lively, spiritual discussion! Did you know the Wired Word discussion group is also a Bible Study? Each week two or three hot topics from recent news headlines are presented in print and discussed in light of Scripture.

10

Faith Breakfast Bunch meets on January 12. Whether you are new

to Faith Church or have been a long-time member, you are invited to join us at 8:30 a.m. at the Old Country Buffet 17125 N. 79th Ave. Glendale.

Cents-Ability Next Dedication:

Sunday January 6

Cents-Ability is a small first step in the battle against hunger and poverty. Congregations invite every member - of all ages - to contribute a few cents at every meal and gather them into a Cents-Abilty can. If you don’t have one of those, gather it into a container or envelope of your own.

This simple act is an expression of thanks for what we have received. It is also a commitment to share with others in response to Jesus’ command “You give them something to eat.”

When members bring their offerings to church on the appointed Sunday, which for us at Faith Church is the First Sunday of Every Month (Jan. 6, Feb 3, etc.), all of those coins “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” as they are received and dedicated.

Your gifts benefit local hunger ministries as well as the national and international projects of the Presbyteri-an Hunger Program. (PHP). They help alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes for people around the world.

Peace/Justice/Mission Committee has a new chairperson of Cents-Ability, Kathy Owens. Watch for her to share with you more information about how to make your Cents work!

Next Sunday, January 6, is Food Bank Sunday. Barrels will be in the breezeway to receive

gifts of non-perishable food items. The food banks use these items to supple-ment the produce and perishable items in the food boxes they give to hungry people and families. If you prefer to make a monetary gift, please use the pink food bank envelopes to be found in the pew racks in the sanctuary. All food and cash gifts received during January will go to the Agua Fria Food Bank. Valued Donations: Peanut Butter, Pasta, Rice, Canned Meats and Fish, Canned Soups, Canned Vegetables, Boxed Meals, Cereal, Protein Bars. Agua Fria Food Bank welcomes clean prescription pill bottles, with the labels removed. Please place your donations in the bins in Illingworth Hall. Thank you!

11

JANUARY 8, 15, 22, & FEBRUARY 5

Council Room

and repeated at 5:30 pm

Led by Rev. Bob Malsack

Join us as Rev. Malsack uses Richard Foster’s “celebration of discipline” as a basis for the discussion. The latter part of the past century saw a

reawakening of interest in spirituality. For the Christian community, Richard Foster provided a resource that showed us in his words, "a treasure chest of jewels that has been stored in the attic that we have forgotten about. His book was entitled, A Celebration of Disciplines and describes some of the practices of Christians down through the ages, and even Jesus himself, that enabled them to love the Lord their God with their whole being.

All are welcome!

FAITH CHURCH and the other Presbyterian Churches in the West Valley Coalition for Habitat have a new home under construc-tion. (It began in September - you can read more about them in the glass bulletin board in the Breezeway.) It is anticipated the dedication will be in February. Rande Christopherson and Kelley Arnold attended the Board Meeting on December 12.

Saturday, January 19 will be an interior paint day and Faith Church volunteers are invited to help. 12251 W. Statler, Surprise, AZ 85374. Volunteers are asked to arrive no later than 7:15 a.m. Closed heel and toe shoes are required. Please contact Kelley Arnold before January 16 if you would like to volunteer to paint. For those interested in all volunteer opportunities at Habitat, information will be available on site.

Contributions to Habitat entitle donors to an Arizona State Income TAX CREDIT up to $400 per individual return or up to $800 for a couple. It is important that individual contributors from Faith be identified as Faith members. Forms are available for that pur-pose. For more information, contact Kelley Arnold at 253-732-5693. Kelly will have a table set up in Illingworth Hall with ALL the information you will need to make

your donation.

We have celebrated Advent and the Christmas Season which means on Wednesday, January 9, the coffee and donuts will be waiting for our traditional Un-Hanging of the Greens.

12

JANUARY 10, 2019 Illingworth Hall

Dinner 5 pm Program to follow Dinner tickets $8

Leanne Leonard is the Executive Director of the Agua Fria Food & Clothing Bank which has been faith-fully serving the southwest valley for over 22 years.

In 2017 AFFCB served just under 50,000 people with emergency food assistance, and just under 15,000 peo-ple with emergency clothing assistance. But AFFCB isn’t just about food and clothing! It’s so much more. There are so many needs in this community. Join us on January 10

th to hear from Leanne

about what the Agua Fria Food & Cloth-ing Bank is doing to serve those in need in the community, and find out how you can get involved. The mission of the Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank as a faith-based, Non-Profit Organization, is to provide services to families and individuals in the Southwest Valley who are hungry, in need, or facing crisis.

Friday, January 11 - 10 am Council Room

What does it mean to have eternal life? Do we think that Jesus meant we would actually move around this planet forev-er, or was he speaking in

metaphor? Even if we have faith, it might also be good to have a plan and to think about how we can live forever in our actions, and in the memory of those who come after us.

In this workshop we will explore the values that have been handed down to us through the generations, and the val-ues that we want to pass on for the generations to come. We will consider what is means to engage in stewardship, and how we can take our place in the chain of people who have provided for us. There will be opportunities to partici-pate in activities and share so please bring your enthusiasm for both learning and teaching as we explore our life-legacies together.

Workshop Facilitation: Maggie Harmon, Ministry Relations Office for the Presbyteri-an Foundation, Southwest 510-688-8595

maggie.harmon@presbyterianfoundation.org

13

You may hear sermons and special music on our website. Go to the “home page”, look for Worship with Us, directly below click on the square marked “Recent Sermons” and the square marked “Special Music”. Enjoy! Printed copies of most sermons are available.

Monday, January 14

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward journeys through Mississippi’s past and present examining the ugly truths at the heart of the American Story and

the power – and limitations – of family bonds.

Jojo is 13 years old and trying to under-stand what it means to be a man. His absent white father, Michael, is being released from prison and his absent white grandfather, won’t acknowledge his existence. His mother, Leonie is an Inconsistent presence in his and his toddler sister’s lives. Leonie is black and is simultaneously tormented and comfort-ed by visions of her dead brother who died as a teenager and only comes to her when she is high.

Rich with Ward’s distinctive, lyrical language, “Sing, Unburied, Sing” is a majestic new work and an unforgettable family story. Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.

Share with us why you have

treasured a book or why you

re-read one of your favorites.

AND . . . Meet an author

January 23 at 1:30pm

Calvin Library P.A. Schoenfeld was born in Alexandria, Indiana. At age three, her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona for her

father’s health. Once she completed her education and received her RN degree, she worked in a number of hospitals from West Coast to East Coast. She returned to the Phoenix area with her husband Donald in 1999. It was sixteen years after her mother’s death, that her curiosity peaked about a box she had found in her mother’s closet. The box turned out to contain a treasure-trove of love letters written to her mother between 1927 and1935. That discov-ery set the wheels in motion to write the love story.

The Starve Hollow Affair, set in the Midwest during the Great Depression tells the story of Anna who is swept off

her feet in her senior year of high school by the romantic attentions of a young man from impoverished circumstances.

14

Ecumenical Prayer Circle: Together with 12 other Sun City churches who share the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, please pray today for the people and ministries of All Saints of the Desert. Each week we pray for members of Faith Presbyterian Church in alphabetical order. Ray and Judie Larson, Barbara Livergood, Jean Longenbach, Tim Lovewell, Rev. Bob and Marsha Malsack, Ann Manus, Rory and Jan Mattson. Don’t like driving in the dark? Faith Church will provide your ride to Thursdays@Faith! If you no longer drive at night but you would enjoy participating call Marsha at 623-974-3611 at least two working days before the event. We’ll arrange your transportation via En-voy America at no cost. Be part of the fun again! If you have an email address on file with the church you will be receiving weekly emails giving you the bulletin announcements for the up-coming week. This information is also available on our web site - go to the home page and click on the orange button - that says “Click Here” for the announcements. If you would like to opt-out or opt-in to this service please contact the church office: 623-974-3611.

Sunday flowers. You may dedicate one of our silk floral arrangements that stay at Faith Church for $25, or you may still order fresh flowers at a cost of $50. Remember loved ones and special moments with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Please sign-up on the flower chart in the Narthex or call Shirley Engwall at 623-440-3736.

All Committee Chairs: be sure to turn in your 2018 Committee Annual report to the Administrative Assistant by Wednesday January 23. Emailed digital Word or Excel files preferred, but clean hardcopies are accepted. Hardcopies and handwritten reports will be scanned and inserted into the Annual Report as is. The Annual Re-port goes through several rounds of review by leadership before finalized and distributed to the membership on Sunday, February 17, 2019. The following Sunday, February 24 will be holding the Congregational Meeting after Worship.

ACTIVITIES: December 30 - January 5, 2019 Sunday, December 30 8:45 a.m ..... Wired Word - Illingworth Hall 9:00 a.m ..... Choir Practice - Sanctuary 10:00 a.m ..... Worship - Sanctuary 11:00 a.m ..... Chat ’n Coffee (weekly, ALL WELCOME) - Illingworth Hall Monday, December 31 - OFFICE CLOSES AT 12 NOON No Events Planned Tuesday, January 1, 2019 - OFFICE CLOSED Wednesday, January 2 8:30 a.m ..... Staff Meeting - Conference Room 9:00 a.m ..... Library 10:00 a.m ..... HR/Personnel - Conference Room Thursday, January 3 9:00 a.m ..... Mens Bible Study - Conference Room 9:00 a.m ..... Quilters - Knox Room 9:00 a.m ..... Tai Chi - Westminster Room 9:15 a.m ..... Benevilla - Iona Room 11:00 a.m ..... Royal Oaks Worship/Communion 1:00 p.m ..... Stewardship - Conference Room 2:00 p.m ..... Bell Choir - Sanctuary 3:00 p.m ..... Choir Practice - Choir Room Friday, January 4 - Office Closed - No Events Planned Saturday, January 5 9:00 a.m ..... Session Retreat, lunch served - Illingworth Hall

Please remember Faith Church as Beneficiary in your Will, Trust or IRA.

15