Articles
from The Pulpit Rock
Worship begins at 10:30 with the choir practice at 9:00 am . Contact Joe Stoddard
if you are interested in joining the choir (jstoddardjr@hotmail;
781-599-6932).
Sunday School starts their year of learning and fun at 10:45 am, following the
Children's Story. If you would like more information about the Christian Education
program, please contact
Chris Stevens (cjs_ros@verizon.net; 781-599-
2843).
HAM & BEAN SUPPER
The Ham and Bean Supper will be held on Saturday,
November 15th from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. There will be exciting door
prizes.
Seating is continuous so come
when you can. The winners of the Nahant scenery art contest will be announced
at the supper. Winning entries will be published in the 2009 edition of the
Nahant Phonebook.
Advance tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children under
12. Tickets on the day of the event are $9 for adults and $5 for children.
Advance tickets are being sold every Sunday after church. See Ione Hansell,
Cal or Marrit Hastings. Bring your friends and family to a wonderful supper
and some great camaraderie.
CHRISTMAS FAIR NEWS
Sign-up sheets for donations and volunteers for the
Old-Fashioned Christmas Fair on Saturday, December 6th, are on
the tables in
the Companionway. Please
check
your calendar, review the sheets, see what you can do, or make and sign up! Please
note that this is our major fundraiser and we need all of you to help, in any
way, big or small to help raise money for the church budget. Thanks for all you
can do!!! We will be setting up the tables for the Christmas Fair Wednesday thru
Friday, December 3rd – 5th.
DLH
FAIR CRAFT WORKSHOPS
The Christmas Fair Crafts Workshops are scheduled
Nov. 5th, and 12th (NO Crafts on the 19th or the 26th). Those who
cannot attend
the workshops and would like
to help by making items at home, or, if you are planning to donate or make items
for the Gifts & Crafts Table, please let me know as soon as possible. Also,
if you have any yarn, fabric, acrylic paints, beads or other crafty raw materials
to donate, please drop them off at the big Oriental table, in Swansburg Hall.
Thanks!!! Donna Hanlon
SILENT AUCTION AND RAFFLE ITEMS SOUGHT
If you have anything worthwhile or unique that you
would like to donate to be raffled off or entered into our silent
auction. Please
contact
Maureen Edison, Cal or Marrit Hastings.
JEWELRY WANTED!!
Our Christmas Fair is in 4 weeks!! Please search
your jewelry boxes and drawers for jewelry: old or new, gold or
silver, costume or
rare. Please give to Maria
Welsh (781-581-2015) or Chris Alexander (781-864-5367) as soon as possible so
they can sort and prepare for sale. Thank you!
FLORIST FOAM NEEDED
Please leave used foam by Rev. Larry’s office.
HANDBELLS ON CHRISTMAS EVE
Hallelujah! Hand bells will again be part of our
Christmas Eve music program! If you have played hand bells before
or would
like to learn, there will be three
rehearsals following worship service on Dec. 7th, 14th, and 21st, and a brief
warm up before the Christmas Eve. The bell choir will be under the direction
of our Church Musician, Joe Stoddard. Contact Marrit Hastings or Joe Stoddard
for more info or to sign up. 2009 NAHANT PHONEBOOK
FOR SALE
The 2009 edition of the Nahant Phonebook will be on sale
at the Nahant Holiday Fair to be held at Town Hall on
Saturday, November 29 and at our December 6 Christmas
Fair. The $10 phone-book makes a great holiday gift.
This edition features a cover designed by famed local artist Norman LaLiberte.
The phonebook also includes winning entries in the Nahant scenery art contest.
Numerous students at the Johnson Elementary School participated in the contest
under the guidance of art teacher Susan Beebe. The selection committee consisted
of Norman LaLiberte, Pete Rogers, and Carolyn Jundzilo-Comer.
Thanks to: the Organizing Committee (Nancy Cantelmo, Elisabeth Foukal, Marrit
Hastings, Laurel LaLiberte, and Clinton Norton). the Trustees who assisted
with the sale of ads (Bill Crawford, Elisabeth Foukal, Cal Hastings, Laurel
LaLiberte,
Tim Maguire, Teri Motley and Chris Rogers); Clinton Norton and Rich Stevens
for the layout of ads; Maureen Edison, Catsy Fowle, Donna Hanlon, Ione Hansell,
Lissa
Stempek, and Kathryn Titus for mailing cards; and Marrit Hastings for inputting
all the names, addresses and phone numbers.
FLEA MARKET AND BAKE SALE
The Flea Market and bake sale on October
18 was a great success, with over $1300 raised. Thanks to everyone
who worked
to make this a fun and worthwhile
event.
And thanks to everyone who donated items, came to purchase others, and
those who rented tables.
TIDES FUNDRAISER
May Alexander with her prize from the Tides fundraiser
held October 23. Thanks to Maria Welsh & her helpers for
a great evening! Over $300 was made on beautiful raffle items,
and The Tides will be donating 10% of their sales to helpmake
this successful event.
BREAKFAST MEETINGS
The monthly Breakfast Meetings will resume
on January 9th.
The free breakfast starts at 8 a.m., with the presentation to
follow ALL OUR WELCOME. Please come and bring one or more friends.
The general purpose of the
Breakfast Group is to
provide fellowship and to develop a resource for
special projects of Nahant Village Church Boards
and Committees or of the community at large.
MY BROTHERS TABLE
The NVC serves at MY BROTHERS TABLE again on Sunday,
November 9. Please sign up in the Companionway and join us.
Contact the Missions Board (Nancy Cantelmo, Lisa Pires, Rob Alexander, Pattie
Aswad, Carol Crawford, Maureen Edison or Lisa Torchiana) for further information
or transportation to MBT.
FROM BUILDING & GROUNDS:
RESTORATION AND TREE WORK
COMPLETED
Roof – No More Leaks!
The roof restoration project has finally come to a successful completion
with the recent addition of a membrane deck inside the bell tower.
This installation
included copper flashing all around the exterior of the bell tower, as well as
membrane flashing around each of the columns that support the bell tower and
attach it to the bone structure of the church. New wooden pieces were installed
to overlap the membrane flashing approximately 6 inches. This restoration work
has eliminated the leaks and should result in a dry Sanctuary for many years
to come. As part of the restoration work, the bell tower louvers were removed,
repaired, scraped, painted and reinstalled, including all of the trim around
the bell tower. The damage to the blue painted ceiling caused by the roof leaks
was repaired in conjunction with the bell tower restoration.
To facilitate the bell tower restoration work, we removed the bell from the bell
tower when we had the right equipment on site. The bell dating from 1837 had
not been in use for a number of years. This is the original bell from the first
church building constructed on this site prior to the existing structure being
built. Plans are to move the bell to a permanent display location outside the
main Sanctuary entrance.
The entire roof restoration project was funded by generous contributions of members
and friends of our church, and a $50,000 matching grant from the Town of Nahant
Community Preservation Act (CPA). A heartfelt thank you to all who participated
in this major restoration project.
Other Restoration Work
As part of our ongoing repair and maintenance program, some repair work was done
on the north nave (not related to the stained glass window), the area around
the robing room, and replacement and/or repair of all the casement and plate
glass windows on the two levels of Swansburg Hall. This work was completed by
Westmill Preservation Services, who restored the chapel and the east nave of
the church.
The funds for this work came from the 4% annual limit on the Capital Building
Endowment Fund. Depending on the availability of funds, plans for next year include
the restoration of the front of the main church, including the companionway.
In preparation for this anticipated work we have embarked on a tree removal and
pruning program.
Tree Work
The large cherry tree located at the right of the portico was old and diseased.
The arborist recommended that the tree be cut down because the annual maintenance
of a dying tree would equal the one-time removal cost. An attempt was made to
put the downed tree to good use. The second tree that was removed was a dying
hard pine near the westerly property line. It was deemed to be a safety hazard
because of pine needles and cones on the sidewalk.
Pruning accomplished included a large maple tree on the Olson property, which
extended over and was striking the roof of the sanctuary (this was done with
the knowledge and full agreement of the Olsons). A second tree pruned, a large
oak at the east end of the property, was overshadowing the chapel roof and stained
glass window, as well as new trees planted in memory of parishioners. In addition,
at the rear of the church and Swansburg Hall, trees along the rear property line
were trimmed to ensure that we do not incur wind damage from moving branches,
and to ensure as much air and light as possible, to minimize dampness and rotting.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO UPDATE
THE NAHANT TELEPHONE BOOK
Volunteers are needed with the 2009 edition of the
Nahant Phonebook to be published by our church as a major fundraiser.
We need to get local businesses to advertise, look up telephone
numbers, mail out cards to residents that do not have a listed
number, do lay-out work, and proof read. Anyone interested in helping
is asked to contact Clinton Norton (advertising and layout), or
Marrit Hastings (for all other aspects).
We hope to have the new phonebook available for sale at the November 29th Nahant
Holiday Fair and our Christmas Fair on December 6th.
NAHANT SCENERY ART CONTEST
There will be an art contest of Nahant scenery, with
winning entries to be published in the Nahant Phonebook. Judges
will be well-known
local artists. The contest
is open to all ages. Entries must be of Nahant scenic sights or views and cannot
be larger than 9” x 12”. The contest is open to all. The deadline
for entries is October 31st. Entries can be mailed to NVC, Phonebook Art Contest
c/o 42 Nahant Road or sent digitally to nahantphonebk09@live.com.
Electronic Giving at Center of Fall
Stewardship Campaign
Stewardship is caring and custody of some-thing dear
which has been entrusted to you. It is protecting resources on
the one
hand, while raising necessary funds
to continue the objective at hand.
The Village Church survives by very close attention to both careful spending
and even more careful raising of annual pledges to offset an ever-growing set
of expenses. There is a small endow-ment which was raised ten years ago to help
avoid deferring necessary plant maintenance beyond what was reasonable. Regular
operating expenses must be raised each year from the congregation.
The Stewardship Committee undertakes the responsibility each fall of making sure
the mem-bership list is up to date, then building a small campaign of letters
and pulpit talks leading up to Stewardship Sunday in early November. This is
the same Sunday throughout the UCC churches.
In a change from the past few years, this year we will emphasize the use of the
new electronic giving capability, which lets church members set up a program
that will automatically deduct a fixed sum each week or month from their checking
account. This provides easy record keeping for both the member and the church
and helps even the flow of contributions to the operations of the church. Each
member of the church will be visited directly to discuss this important annual
pledge campaign.
For 2006 and 2007 pledge campaigns the church received 61 and 59 Faith Promise
cards with amounts of $103,405 for 2006 and just over $100,000 for 2007. You
don’t need a green eyeshade to recognize that our numbers are flat in a
rising cost situation. This represents a significant shortfall from the needs
of our overall budget.
Another important matter is confusion created by well-meaning members who solicit
donations outside the regular stewardship program for specific church events
that were not part of the annual plan. A church member who underwrites the cost
of such an event has certainly given to the church. But this doesn’t support
our regular heat, light, and salary obligations. Without seeming ungrateful for
a generous gift, we have to say that we need contributions to the Stewardship
Program FIRST. We don’t want the special events to compete with the basic
needs of the Church. As with all things temporal, these priorities are set by
the Trustees, and it is important to respect the decision-making process established
by the by-laws.
A new area for the Stewardship Committee is sometimes called “planned giving.” That
is a polite way to describe a request that members include the Nahant Village
Church as part of their estate planning in their wills. Such funds would help
build the endowment for future needs. Members of the committee plan to attend
a workshop in March, as this is being written. Details are necessarily slim until
we can learn how other churches approach this important, but delicate issue.
Looking back over the history of the Nahant Village Church, we are stewards for
a joined mission begun fifty years ago. Neither church came to the current marriage
with deep endowment pockets. We have survived by frugality, by the hard work
of skilled church members to do many renovations and repairs, and by three important
capital campaigns.
Of these, the first was raised to join the two churches together, doubling the
useful building in our present Cliff Street location.
The second, ten years ago, raised over half a million dollars for necessary infrastructure
repairs and maintenance. Roughly half of that was spent on the kinds of jobs
that you never see, and the balance was set aside as endowment to provide a small
income stream to stay ahead of such jobs in the future. Painting the interior
of the Sanctuary and completing the organ restoration, are just two examples.
Finally, two years ago, we needed specific additional funds to repair the slates
on the main church roof.
We all know from our own household expenses how such increases as healthcare
and the price of oil, to name only two, affect our own monthly budgets. As stewards
for the Nahant Village Church, we need to provide equally for our church as for
ourselves. The Church looks to each one of us to provide regular program operating
funds in our annual pledges, to dig deeper every ten years or so for specific
major projects, and to share some of the fruits of our labors to support the
Church for our children’s generations when we’re gone.
The Stewardship Committee: Herb Motley, Chair; Elisabeth Foukal, Cal Hastings,
Teri Motley, Chris Rogers, and Rev. Dr. Larry Titus (ex-officio)
BOARD OF MISSIONS
Have you ever wondered about those extra envelopes
that you find in the bulletins? On the first Sunday of every month
the envelope
is for a special Communion
Sunday Missions offering. Donations are for members or any Nahant residents
who are in need, i.e. food, housing costs, clothing, medicine, or other needs
in these challenging economic times. If you or anyone you know requires assistance,
contact Rev Larry, Nancy Cantelmo, Moderator, or the Chair of the Missions
Board.
On the second Sunday of every other month, your donations help
provide meals at My Brother’s Table. It is our privilege at Nahant Village Church
to serve Sunday Dinner at My Brother’s Table in Lynn every other month.
The vegetables are paid for by your donations and the meat is generously
donated by a member. You can also be part of the NVC team to help with the
numerous
jobs involved in serving, including purchase and delivery of food, food preparation,
dish washing, serving food to those who need help and talking with the guests
who come there. Please consider joining us on the second Sunday of July,
September, November, January, March, and May.
When you see these envelopes in your bulletin, please think about
contributing whatever you can to these two worthy causes.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Those at the Jesmond: Lucy Doane
Those at Home: Bob McCoy, John Keller, Ed
Peterson, Tom Johnson; Way Swaim
Those in Iraq: Brandon Carter (Trudy Joyce’s relative),
and Adam D Costello
Other requests for: Randy Gray (ongoing chemo-therapy),
and Agnes Manson, at the Grosvenor.
Community
Events
Peace Vigils are held at the rotary at the end of the Nahant Causeway
from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the 1st Tuesday of each month. This is
a gathering of local folks who want to support the troops in the
Middle East and to inspire efforts to bring them home.
Check
Calendar for
Office hours, Committee Meeting times, and other events. |
