Saturday, January 15, 2011
Jan 14 2011 newsletter
January 14, 2011
Fairlawn West United Church of Christ
Greetings in the season (the season after Epiphany) where we are learning about who is this one who has come...Who really is this guy Jesus? What do you know about him, really? We can never know enough about him. But then, its just not what we know, but what we have experienced of the risen Christ as well. Use this season well! The Jesus Creed
Now here are things that are happening and bits of pieces of news:
- Congregational Annual Meeting, Sunday, January 30th around 10:45 am following the morning worship service. It will be in theFellowship Hall. Here is the proposed 2011 budget. The nominees are: Council - 2011/2012 term Mary Austin, Kate Lowery, _____ (open slot). Unexpired 2010/2011 term Betty Dalton. Trustees - 2011/2012/2013 term Kathy Sasowsky, Eileen Cox. 2010/2011/2012 unexpired term Ben Ziska. Preschool Board - 2011/2012/2013 term Martha Loar. Treasurer - 2011 term Julia Hines. There will be on the agenda an item about a new front sign to be shared with New Covenant Community Church.
- "Lunch on Us" at Miller Ave UCC Mission (corner of Miller and Edison, one block west of South Main Street). The last two Saturdays of January - 22nd & 29th - at 11:00 am our congregation is hosting these meals which serve on average 125 people. We will prepare the meals on the Friday evenings before in our kitchen. On the Saturdays we will meet at FW to travel down to Miller Ave. The neighborhood around Miller Ave called the Summit Lake area, is severely declining. There are many vacant lots from torn down houses, many boarded up houses and many homes in disrepair who have people living in them. These monthly meals provided by area UCC congregations the last two Saturdays of each month not only provide food for hungry folks, but a place of community and relationship. If you could help with menu planning, shopping, preparation, and/or serving, let David Loar know, deloar@yahoo.com, 330-760-7169.
- 2011 offering envelopes are available. Kasey Ziska our Financial Secretary will be passing them out in the front lobby after the Sunday morning worship service or contact the office to have them sent to you - office@fairlawnwest.org
- The Centering Prayer gathering will be every week on Sunday mornings at 8:45 am for 20 minutes in the Northeast Room. The once a month gathering on the 1st Sunday of the month will continue after the worship service in the Northeast Room. Brian Comunale has just returned from a 9 day silent centering prayer retreat in the mountains of east Tennessee. He also continues with training and practice with the Contemplative Outreach Northeast Ohio which we are invited to be a part of also.
- Family Promise. There are now two families in the network, a single father and a child and a single mom with two children. For the third year in a row, we will be hosting the "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" fundraiser for FP on Sunday, February 27th in the afternoon. Walkers from the 50+ congregations that make up Family Promise will walk a mile with the anticipation that the weather will be cold and snowy. We will be looking for walkers and sponsors to pledge money for the walkers.
- The Fairlawn West Preschool will be open for registration for the 2011-2012 school year starting on Tuesday, February 22nd. The school fills up quickly just from returning students, so if you are interested or know of someone who would be interested, contact our director Julie Staiger preschool@fairlawnwest.org , 330-864-4685. The registration fee is $95.00 for the 1st child and 1/2 off for additional children. Spots are reserved once the registration is paid. The preschool is in the mornings and extended care is available prior to the beginning of the school day and through the afternoon.
- Weekend Custodian. We have continued the employment of Walter Richmond as our weekend custodian. Walter is a senior at Garfield High School. He worked for us this summer doing a lot of work outside and clean up and repair in our bldg through a federally funded youth work program. Daniel Hauenstein continues as the Mon-Thurs evening custodian. Julia Hines is the supervisor of the custodial crew.
- The summary of the December Council of Elders meeting.
- The Fairlawn West office will be closed on Monday, January 17 for the Martin Luther King holiday.
- The Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Day Coalition present "Walk the Journey, Pass the Torch, and Embrace the Dream" Sunday, January 16th at 5:00 pm at Wesley Temple AME Zion Church, 104 North Prospect Street, at the corner with Perkins/MLK. The speaker is the Rev. Dr. Vince L. Monden, the pastor of Wesley Temple.
- Interfaith Service at Temple Israel, 133 Merriman Road, Friday, January 28, 7:30 pm. This is the annual shabbat service that the Temple invites youth groups from the area to share in worship and learn more about Judaism. Adults are welcome to. The sanctuary is usually packed for this service.
- "Religion and the Death Penalty", program Tues, Feb. 15th 7:00 pm at Fairlawn West. This is sponsored by Summit County chapter of Ohioans to Stop Executions with the invitation being extended by the Rev. Mark Frey (pastor of Bath UCC), Chloe Ann Kriska (Akron Area Interfaith Council), Karen Leith (Catholic Commission of Summit County), Sister Mariellen Phelps (Dominican Sisters of Peace), Minister Gloria Slaughter (House of the Lord).
- a great web site to visit Nooma
-Sunday worship 9:20 am
-Prayer for Others & Praise of God, 2nd-5th Sundays of the month 10:45 am Northeast Room
-Centering Prayer, 1st Sun of the month, 10:45 am Northeast Room (staring Feb 6th the prayer group will also meet every Sun at 8:45 am in the Northeast Room)
-Bible Reading & Reflection, Thursdays, 9:00 am at the Summit Mall food court, presently in the book of 1st Samuel.
-Council of Elders, 1st Saturday of the month, 9:00 am
-Board of Trustees, 3rd Monday of the month, 7:00 pm
-Fairlawn West Preschool Board, 3rd Thursday of the month, 4:30 pm
"offering hospitality to all God's children"
We are an Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ
2095 West Market Street, Akron, OH 44313 330-864-2179 office@fairlawnwest.org http://www.fairlawnwest.org
get regular updates of news from Fairlawn West at: http://fairlawnwest.blogspot.com/ and Facebook
Friday, January 07, 2011
summary of Council of Elders meeting Dec 18
The Council of Elders (Mary Austin, Paul Richert, Alison Oswald, Dick Pasher) met on December 11 with an opening devotional and a discussion of the Core Value "gathering as a community known as the body of Christ". Steve Myers, treasurer, walked us through the budget for 2011. We will be operating with a 60,000.00 + deficit. We recommended the budget to the congregation at the annual meeting. We discussed the AOK fund task force work. We talked about the progress of the work of the nominating committee. The task force has met and begun to discuss some policies on how to use the fund and ways to administer the fund. We discussed the visitation ministry that John Gossett is developing. We took time in the middle of the meeting to read a devotional to help us to keep centered spiritual with God in the midst of all the business. We had an hour long conversation about our relationship with New Covenant Community Church. We are repaying NCC several thousand dollars because of our agreement that says their fee is 1/2 of our building expenses. They pay a monthly fee based on past years costs. This year we at Fairlawn West have tried to be more resourceful in the ways we care for the building and to be more energy efficient which has meant our costs were down $20,000 from the previous year. It is felt we need to have a bit more conversation within our own leadership and then approach the 3x3 shared team with New Covenant to consider changes in the agreement. We closed with a prayer for Dick and Dottie Pasher and then all shared in the "Go forth into the world...".
Monday, January 03, 2011
Lunch on Us at Miller Ave UCC Jan 22 & 29
We are hosting "Lunch on Us" Saturdays Jan 22 & 29 at Miller Ave UCC Mission in the south Akron Summit Lake neighborhood. Join us in preparing meals for 125 and serving them. |
