Faith United Methodist Church 522 East 6th Street

Cheyenne, WY 82007 Phone: (307) 638-3184 www.faithcheyenne.org

E-Mail: info@faithcheyenne.org

Sent with a prayer to:

DECEMBER 2015

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

6 pm Final Goal Setting Meeting

3 4

5

6

Board Meeting

7

8

9

10 11 12

13 B = Ken Merklin Potluck after church

1:30 pm Church Conference

14 15

Pastor not in office 16

17 Pastor in office from 1-4 pm

6 pm Lion’s Club Christmas Dinner

18

19 B= Bonnie Merklin

20

Birthday Party for Jesus

21

22 B= David Stuart

23 B= Gene Lamb Pastor not in office

24 Pastor in office from 1-4 pm

5 pm Christmas Eve Service

25 B= LuAnn Wall

CHRISTMAS DAY

26

27

28

29

Pastor not in office 30 31

Pastor in office from 1-4 pm

JAN 1 NEW YEAR’S DAY

JAN 2

B=Birthday A=Anniversary

BEST WISHES TO YOU IN THE COMING NEW YEAR OF 2016

Seeds of Faith Faith United Methodist Church December 2015

Dear Friends and Members of Faith UMC: Yet another Christian Year has passed as we enter Advent, and we are about to bid farewell to the calendar year of 2015. We reminisce about the past, but these are not end-ings in themselves. With God, endings are never endings; they are new beginnings. With Christ, there is always new life just around the corner, and we celebrate that fact once again in this season of light. This season of Advent reminds us that our faith is one of an-ticipation and hope, that God’s work and plan continues to unfold on big and small, planned and unplanned, past and future ways. The Christ has come in Bethlehem of so long ago, and Christ continues to come into our world as the Kingdom grows. The work of God marches on throughout history on a grand scale and in hidden, personal ways. The coming of Christ is proclaimed with trumpets and angels and in the hidden, forgotten manger on a cold Bethlehem night. Our God is always doing a new thing, even as we mark endings. Our tasks as people of God honor that grand worldview and the importance of everything we do on a small level, for God is among it all. We mark endings as new beginnings in this month as we seek the Christ in our ever-important work, power-packed with activities, worship, and opportunities for Christ’s ser-vice. Most notably, our annual Church Conference will be Sunday, December 13th at 1:30, with a potluck lunch preceding. This is an integral meeting for the present and future year of the church. Furthermore, our final Goal Setting Meeting will be Wednesday, December 2, where we wrap up that process and look toward the future of our church. This is an im-portant time of discussion about how we live as the Body in big and small ways. We take one opportunity to serve our neighbors in our annual Lions Club dinner, and, of course, we prepare for the Christ in our Advent worship and receive the Christ child once again in our Christmas Eve service. God’s goodness never ends as our tasks as Christian peoples roll on. We look to God for God’s ever-revealing plan and Christ for his direction throughout this season and in all situations. I look forward to sharing this month with you in all of its joys and all of its obligatory stresses. More importantly, I hope to share this season of Advent with you as we rediscover what it’s really all about. Christ, yet again, is doing a new thing. Christ has come, Christ continues to come, and Christ will come again. Christ comes in secret and in public; Christ comes personally and to the whole world. Let us celebrate and work as the Body of Christ, the Church, in this miraculous fact, never letting endings be endings. Grace and peace in this season of light, Pastor Jeff

The Vision of Faith United Methodist Church is to empower all people to seek the

fullness and assurance of God’s Love.

The Mission of Faith United Methodist Church is to invite everyone into a loving

community, explore the Good News of God’s Love, and serve God and our neighbor

throughout the world.

Please keep these in prayer for health, safety, and well-ness: Ministry of Faith UMC Places facing War and Unrest Bishop Stanovsky and Conference Leaders Our Government Leaders Mary C. Love & family Tony Sofia & Darlene Seward Sharon Cloyd Doris Ward Norma Wilkins & family Cheryl Cates & family Delbert Hansen Ilene Windom Donna Cool Wanda Romero Duane & LuAnn Wall Dorothy Allen Thelma Harrell

Faith United Methodist Church has been preparing cookies for Davis Hospice for our outreach project for over 2 years now. Please let me know if you would like to supply 3-4 dozen cookies for a week. I will take names and deliver them each Monday morning. For your convenience, bring the cookies to church on Sunday or call me and I will pick them up. The cookies are really appreciated and not a crumb is left. Thank you so much for making this project a real success. If you don’t feel like baking, a small monetary donation will also be appreciated. LuAnn Wall

Designated Giving for December: Salvation Army: Help us decorate the MITTEN TREE in the back of the sanctuary with mittens, gloves, hats and scarves to help keep warm the less fortunate in our community. Your donations are sincerely appreciated!

Upcoming Events -No Bible Study in December. We will resume again in January.

-Please check newsletter and calendar for upcoming meetings and events

Please keep these families

in prayer who grieve:

The family of Jeanene Dieters The family of Larry Allen The family of Frank Baber Kris Hollingsworth & family Sharon Prince & family Wanda Romero & family Damon Hart & family

Merry Christmas from the UMW!

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who filled a box for Operation Christmas Child. We collected and turned in 35 boxes! Thanks to an extra donation we received, the UMW only paid $3 toward postage.

Lion’s Club Christmas Dinner: The UMW is planning, preparing and serving Christ-mas dinner to the Frontier Lion’s Club on Thursday, December 17th. Volunteers are needed to help serve this meal. You will be rewarded with a great meal! Please contact Donna Newland if you have questions or would like to help.

It will be a busy and fun advent season as we anticipate celebrating the birth of Jesus. Due to the special activities, there will be no regular UMW meeting in December. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, January 28, 2016 in the Fireplace Room at 6:30 pm. All ladies are cordially invited to attend.

We are giving thanks to all of you who have helped us in our recent health issues; for your cards, prayers and food and this has been so appreciated. Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful. Thank God for his Son...too wonderful for words. Faith United Methodist Church is the BEST! Duane & LuAnn Wall

PASTOR’s HOURS: Pastor Jeff’s normal office hours are: Tuesday 1-4 pm and Wednesday 12-4 pm If you need to stop by to see him, you are welcome to do so. If he is not at the church, he may be visiting members of the church or doing other church business. Please leave a message on the church phone at 307-638-3184 or call his cell 307-701-1811 and he will get back to you as soon as he can.

FINAL GOAL SETTING MEETING will be on Wednesday, December 2nd at 6 pm Pastor Jeff invites you to attend the comple-tion of our Goal Setting Process as we wrap up some final details and discuss the future of our church.

Congregational Advent Reflections This season of Advent, we light candles each week anticipating the coming of Christ while we reflect on important topics of the season. Members of the congregation will share their thoughts on each subject during this season:

ADVENT 1: November 29: Audrey Wren THEME: Hope

ADVENT 2: December 6: Tawn Howe

THEME: Love

ADVENT 3: December 13: Shari McWilliams THEME: Joy

ADVENT 4: December 20: Mike Daharsh

THEME: Peace

Birthday Party for Jesus: Faith Church will observe the annual Birthday Party for Jesus on Sunday, December 20th after the church service. Refresh-ments will be served in the Fellowship Room. Baby bottles will be distributed to fill with monetary donations for Life Choice Pregnancy Care Center. Thank you for your donations.

Please join us on this special evening as we will celebrate the birth of Christ!

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Thursday, December 24th at 5 pm

Sunday, December 13th: Join us for a potluck after the church service. The UMW will make sure everything is set up with plenty of room for all the delicious food you bring to share for lunch!

CHURCH CONFERENCE: Sunday, December 13th at 1:30 pm Please stay to attend this very important annual meeting to discuss our church business.

HYMN NOTES

The inspiring true

stories behind our

favorite hymns

It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old; From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold. "Peace on the earth good will to men, From heaven's all gracious King!" The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. Still thro' the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled; And still their heavenly music floats, O'er all the weary world. Above its sad and lowly plains, They bend on hovering wing; And ever o'er its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing. For lo, the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold; When with the ever circling years, Comes round the age of gold. When peace shall over all the earth, Its ancient splendors fling; And the whole world gives back the song Which now the angels sing.

It Came Upon The Midnight Clear by Edmund H. Sears

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly

host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on

earth peace, goodwill toward men!" Luke 2:13-14

Edmund Hamilton Sears is the author of two Christmas carols that are mirror images of each other, written fifteen years apart. He was born in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, on April 6, 1819, and attended Union College in Schenectady, then Harvard Divinity School. He was ordained in the Unitarian ministry and chose to devote himself to small towns in Massa-chusetts, where he had time to study, think, and write. At 24, he wrote "Calm on the Listening Ear," a Christmas carol based on the song of the angels in Luke 2. It proved very similar to the more famous carol he would later write. Having the same meter and theme, and it can be sung to the same tune: Calm on the listening ear of night/ Come heaven's melodious strains,/ Where wild Judea stretches far/ Her silver-mantled plains./ Celestial choirs, from courts above,/ Shed sacred glories there,/ And angels, with their sparkling lyres,/ Make music on the air. Fifteen years later, he wrote its more famous twin. "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear" is an unusual carol in that there is no mention of Christ, of the newborn Babe, or of the Savior's Mission. Sears, after all, was Unitarian. The author's only focus is the angelic re-quest for peace on earth. Notice again the date of the hymn. It was written as the clouds of civil strife were darkening the United States, setting the stage for the War Between the States. We can grasp the concern that drove Edmund to write this hymn by reading a stanza now usually omitted from most hymnals: Yet with the woes of sing and strife/ The world hath suffered long;/ Beneath the angel-strain have rolled/ Two thousand years of wrong;/ And man, at war with man, hears not/ The love song which they bring:/ O hush the noise, ye men of strife,/ And hear the angels sing! Edmund Sears became well-known because of his hymns and books. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1871, and took a preaching tour of England where he was met by large congregations. He died in Weston, Massachusetts, on January 16, 1876.

From “Then Sings My Soul” by Robert J. Morgan

From the Finance Committee: As we approach the end of the year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their generous donations this year. With your support, we have met all our financial obligations. Can’t make it to church, but you would still like to donate? You can now donate to our church using PayPay on the website: www.faithcheyenne.org and click on the PayPal link! Thank You! Penny Franz, Chairperson

Do you recycle your aluminum cans? Did you know that if you bring them to the

church, someone will take them to the recycling place and donate the money to the

church? Bring your cans and toss them over the fence in the back!

What do you do with old, worn out ink cartridges from your printer?

Did you know that we can turn them into Office Max for $2.00 credit? Bring your

old cartridges and leave them just inside the box in the office and Penny Franz will

take them to Office Max for a credit on our office supplies!

Save your Campbell’s Soup Labels!!

Place give us the entire labels for your convenience and put in the large Campbell’s

soup cans near the front and back doors of the church.

Box Tops for Education needed by McCurdy Ministries

Bring to the church and the box tops will be mailed to McCurdy.

As you are aware, parking around our church is at a premium. Please remember to be courteous to those members who are handicapped that need to park close to the church. Please remember to pull up all the way so that as many cars as possible will be able to park on the streets by the church. Your consideration will be very much appreciated.

Sunday, January 10th, 2016 After church, there will be a light lunch served to everyone who stays to “unhang” the greens and take all the Christmas decorations down and put away until next year.

Sunday, February 14th, 2016 Celebrate the first Sunday of Lent and Valentine’s Day by staying after the church for brunch served by the UMW. More details will be in the January newsletter.