the gateway
A CHRISTMAS OF LOVE DECEMBER 2018 THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE CHEVY CHASE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
the Gateway | December 2018
A CHRISTMAS OF LOVE This Advent and Christmas season, we are celebrating love - all kinds of love. We celebrate God’s love born to us in Jesus. We celebrate our love for each other in a community of caring. We celebrate God’s call to reach out in love to the world beyond our church walls. We celebrate the joy of being fully and completely loved by God. December 2nd is another All Church Together Sunday. No meetings or classes between worship services – just one big fellowship hour to get to know each other better. In worship, all will be invited to write down a prayer request for this advent and Christmas season. Your prayer may want to remain focused on the true meaning of the season. You may ask prayers of safety for your family’s travels. During communion we will collect the prayers, and they will be handed out randomly as we leave the church. We will all pray for “our person” over the coming week. December 9th in worship we hear John the Baptist announce God’s coming into the world. Love is on the way! Make a highway! We will celebrate the reality that God loves us so much God cannot stay away. God must come to be with us. In the afternoon, the CCPC Christmas Concert will help prepare our hearts for the mystery of God’s love. The songs of Christmas are deeply moving, they make a highway in our hearts and souls for God to enter in. December 16th Bring in your winter coats! Our children will tell the story of Jesus birth at the first service Christmas Pageant. At the second service, John the Baptist tells us that anyone who has two coats, must give one of them away! Our Transition Assistance Program can use men’s winter coats and jackets. We will find a good home for all the other coats. So bring them all – women’s, boy’s, girl’s, men’s. Share God’s love. December 23rd The Eve of Christmas Eve! It is a ONE SERVICE SUNDAY at 10:00 am. This is a Sunday for leaping for joy! It is a Sunday for miracles. In worship we hear the story of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Both women are preparing to give birth. Mary will give birth to Jesus and Elizabeth, John the Baptist. Even while the babies are in the womb, they leap with excitement for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Christmas Eve this year we will welcome the birth of God’s love at four services: Family Candlelight Services will take place at 3:00 and 4:30. These will be interactive services to delight children of all ages. The story this year will feature not only a donkey, but two sheep as well! The Traditional Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols will be held at 7:30 and 10:00, with a musical prelude at 9:45. The beauty of this service is unsurpassed. Christ truly is born this night. Our world really does need love. We need God’s love that heals hate and fear. We need Jesus who teaches us how to love each other. Come, let us celebrate, for we are dearly loved.
God's Blessings,
Molly
Christmas at CCPC December 8 | 6:30-8:00 pm | FAMILY CAROLING NITE Let’s get into the holiday spirit with an evening of Christmas caroling! Karaoke-style, arranged for group singalong . A multi-generational event where we come together to sing carols that some of us have known since childhood, and to pass the tradition along. Christmas attire encouraged—Elf hats & reindeer antlers optional but highly recommended—Refreshments will be served. Free to all, but donations will be welcome—Proceeds to benefit the Youth Group
December 9 | 4:00 pm | CHRISTMAS CONCERT This annual concert by the Chancel Choir of Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church will feature Pinkham’s “Christmas Cantata” for choir, organ and brass quartet. The Junior Choristers are singing, the bells are ringing and audience carol singing will put all in a joyous holiday spirit. Bring a friend and enjoy music of the season together. A reception follows.
December 16 | During 9:15 am worship service | CHRISTMAS PAGEANT On December 16th, all of our children are invited to be part of the presentation of the story of Christmas in the annual Christmas Pageant during the 9:15 a.m. worship service. K-5th grade will rehearse during the first part of Sunday School in Westminster Hall on December 2nd and December 9th. The primary, mandatory dress rehearsal for K-5th graders will be Saturday, December 15th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon in the Sanctuary. (4-year olds/Pre-K do not need to be present for the dress rehearsal, they will meet for costuming on the morning of the pageant.) Come be part of this memorable telling of the story of Jesus’ birth. Questions? Contact Bobb Robinson at Bobb@chevychasepc.org.
December 24 | 3:00 & 4:30 pm |CHRISTMAS EVE FAMILY SERVICE Join us this Christmas Eve for our Christmas Eve Family Service. This child-friendly service will include the reading of the Christmas Scripture and singing of our favorite carols. This is an interactive service that is sure to be a joy to kids of all ages. The story this year will feature not only a donkey, but two sheep as well!
December 24 | 7:30 & 10:00 pm | CHRISTMAS EVE LESSONS & CAROLS Join us this Christmas Eve for our Traditional Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols. Services will be held at 7:30 and 10:00, with a musical prelude at 9:45. It is a truly beautiful service befitting the birth of Christ.
the Gateway | December 2018
CHRISTMAS JOY OFFERING Giving gifts is a dominant part of the Christmas season. We especially remember God’s great gift of love to us when he sent our Savior, Jesus Christ, to live among us. In response, we too are eager to give back to Him and spread that love. Part of our Christmas sharing as Presbyterians is the Christmas Joy Offering. 100% of the funds collected will be distributed to PCUSA and divided between the Assistance Program of the Board of Pension, schools and colleges equipping communities of color, and leadership development for people of color. Half of our annual offering allows the national church to stand with our pastors and other church workers in their hour of need. The need for church workers and their families is real and growing. The Presbyterian Board of Pensions provides critical financial assistance to eligible active and retired workers in the Presbyterian Church USA and their families. Those funds help church workers with urgent financial needs, retired church workers with financial and housing needs, and pastors with vocational leadership needs. The other half of the Christmas Joy Offering provides scholarships and some basic operating costs to five Presbyterian-related colleges and one college preparatory school whose major emphasis is serving students of color. These institutions have provided quality education to people who have contributed immeasurably to the church at large and to the world. Students are educated for the professions of their choice in an environment which supports and nurtures racial and ethnic heritage. Many of the college students are the first in their family to attend college and come from low- to moderate-income families. CCPC will gather our gifts for this special offering on December 9th. You will find donation envelopes in the pews starting soon. You can also donate by check made out to “CCPC” noting “Christmas Joy Offering” in the memo line, or by credit or debit card on CCPC’s website, http://ChevyChasePC.org/give/, noting the amount and “Christmas Joy Offering” in the “Other” donations boxes. Please give generously to support individuals who have served so faithfully and institutions that are educating our next generation.
THE PERFECT GIFT As we approach the holiday season, consider how you might make the friends and relatives on your gift list happier with an “alternative gift.” CCPC’s annual alternative gift market—Gifts of Hope—will be open after each church service on Dec. 2, 9 and 16. The catalog includes some perennial favorites of shoppers as well as a couple of new ones. The committee makes sure the choices include some nonprofits that CCPC members are actively involved in, such as the Transition Assistance Program and Shikokho. New this year is Solutions in Hometown Connections started by CCPC members to help refugee families with a variety of needs such as language tutoring, job searches, and help interfacing with government agencies, schools, and more. Mary’s Center provides DC and Maryland families medical, dental and behavioral health services regardless of their ability to pay. The National Capital Presbytery Disaster Relief Network’s Puerto Rico hurricane relief project is on the list to help areas where some CCPC members will be working on an upcoming mission trip. You’ll also be able to choose animals from Heifer, food gift cards for both Bread for the City and Interfaith Works, and child vaccinations from Doctors Without Borders. See the catalog in this Gateway or pick up one in the Narthex for more details. It’s easy to shop. Make your selection, pick a Christmas card for the recipient, and you’ll get an insert describing the gift. Pay by check or cash. (Note: While we can’t run credit cards during the market, you can pay online later, but checks and cash are preferable and don’t incur bank fees.) Gifts of Hope is a treasured family tradition. It’s the perfect place to shop for the person who has everything. Join us in helping make the word a better place.
the Gateway | December 2018
GRATEFUL FOR VOLUNTEERS: MARY FRANCES PEARSON
Some people wouldn’t be comfortable with the job of Stewardship Chair. Mary Frances Pearson, who has held the post for the last three years, considers it an honor. Pearson has the perfect background for it. “I identify with the story of Jesus who befriended the tax collector.” She spent the first part of her career working at the Internal Revenue Service as a tax lawyer. “The inscription on the IRS building says ‘Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society,’” she noted. “In church, pledging is the price we pay for our spiritual home, and I have no hesitation in asking for money. It’s honorable, and it is spiritual.” It helps that she has deep roots in the church she loves. The youngest of five children—and the only girl—she was baptized at CCPC. Both her parents were elders, and her father was a stewardship chair. Her brother Wiley chairs the Board of Deacons. “When I was growing up, we had little church boxes and we were asked how we were saving for our pledge,” Pearson recalled. “Older people were very involved in teaching stewardship, and it was ingrained in us in Sunday School that we had to give back, not just to the church but in general.” For the 2019 stewardship campaign, she reintroduced the boxes for Sunday School students.
Her stewardship training continued in high school when she became CCPC’s first youth deacon. “The church did canvassing of members back then and we deacons were paired with elders to visit people who hadn’t pledged or who had become uninvolved.” Pearson also taught junior high Sunday School while she earned her law degree at the University of Baltimore. “I drove to Washington every weekend to teach and be part of CCPC.” An expert on domestic and international taxation, Pearson was majority tax counsel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee before joining Ernst and Young in 1987 where she served in a variety of roles, including in the London office, until retiring in 2013. Her fundraising skills have been honed in part through her work as trustee and board chair of the Institute of American Universities in Aix en Provence. She first fell in love with the school and France when she spent her junior year abroad at the private institution for U.S. graduate and undergraduate students. Pearson, her husband Joe Howe, and their devoted dachshund Poncho spend four months in Provence every year. But she’s always glad to get back to CCPC and play a role in stewardship. “I enjoy asking people to step up and make a commitment, because we know from research that the more people are committed financially, the stronger is their faith and the spirituality of the church.”
Christmas Poinsettias and Flowers The beauty of our sanctuary duri ng Advent and the Chri stmas Season i s due to the generosi ty of our members and f ri ends who donate poi nsetti as i n memory, honor, or cel ebrati on of l oved ones. The Fl ower Commi ttee counts on your support year af ter year, so that we can gi ve Gl ory to God through the use of f l owers duri ng thi s j oyous season of the church year. The cost of poi nsetti as i s $20 per pl ant. Orders wi l l be recei ved duri ng Cof f ee Hour on Sundays, November 25, December 2, 9, and 16 or di rectl y to the church of f i ce through Sunday December 16. We Thank You i n advance f or your conti nued support.
Pl ease check one � i n cel ebrati on of � i n honor of � i n memory of These fl owers are dedi cated to the fol l owi ng person(s) ________________________________________ _________________________________________ __________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Gi ven By (name) ________________________________________ PHONE OR EMAI L ________________________________________ Check attached f or _______ dedi cati ons at $20. 00 each = $ ________ Make check payabl e to, CCPC, noti ng Chri stmas f l owers ( Li ne # 319) i n the memo l i ne. Check Number ____________ Cash ____________
GIFTS OF HOPE CATALOG 2018 The Gifts of Hope catalog is an opportunity to help people in need, such as refugees, hurricane victims, the hungry and homeless. The charities selected have links to our church or have been perennial favorites. At the market you may select your charity and pick up a Christmas card with a description of your gift, given in the name of the person you wish to honor. Shop Dec. 2, 9 and 16 in Chadsey Hall after each service. Cost No. Total
HUMANITARIAN RELIEF Founded by a CCPC member, Solutions in Hometown Connections connects volunteers in our community with resettled refugees to support their transition to life here in the U.S. CCPC members are traveling to Puerto Rico in January for the National Capital Presbytery Disaster Relief Network’s hurricane relief project.
ESL classroom materials
$10
SmartTrip card
$25
School supplies
$50
Building materials
$50
Vaccines for one child
$25
Cataract surgery
$35
Child Dental Check-up
$25
Prenatal Visit
$50
HEALING THE SICK Doctors Without Borders provides medical care globally to millions of people affected by armed conflict, malnutrition, or natural disasters. Mary’s Center provides health care, family literacy and social services to people in need in the D.C. area.
MOVING TOWARD SELF-RELIANCE Transition Assistance Program (TAP), CCPC’s outreach mission, helps the homeless & working poor obtain identity documents essential for getting jobs.
D.C. Nondriver’s ID
$20
D.C. Birth certificate
$23
(over)
Cost
Heifer International helps poor families world-wide through gifts of livestock. The goal of Heifer projects is to help families achieve selfreliance.
Flock of chicks Honeybees and hive Sheep or goat Other animal
No. Total
$10 $30 $120 $____
EDUCATING FOR A BETTER FUTURE For 22 years, CCPC has supported students in Shikokho, the Kenyan village where it has also established a medical clinic. To reduce elementary class size to 55 students per class, CCPC pays for three additional teachers
School teacher for one month
$25
Partial scholarship for one secondary student
$50
Feed 5 children for a week
$15
Feed 150 children for 1 day
$75
Grocery Gift Card
$50
RELIEVING HUNGER CCPC’s Orphan Day Care Program, Shikokho, Kenya, provides hot lunches to 150 primary school students and day care and lunch to 26 needy preschoolers. Your $50 will provide a grocery gift card for a family’s Christmas dinner or for an emergency when their cupboards are bare. The cards are distributed by Interfaith Works in Montgomery County and Bread for the City in D.C.
WHERE MOST NEEDED
Can’t decide? Let us select for you.
$____
GRAND TOTAL $___________ Your name _____________________________________ Phone or email______________________ Paying online: You can pay by credit or debit card or transfer directly from your bank account by going to chevychasepc.org/give. Click on “Donate Online.” Select “Other” and enter “Gifts of Hope” in the text box. Enter only your total, not the individual selections. Please leave your order form at the Gifts of Hope table, so that your donations can be forwarded to the individual organizations you have selected. Thank you for your contributions!
DECEMBER WORSHIP SCHEDULE December 2 Communion, ACT Sunday Services at 9:15 & 11:15 am Preaching: The Rev. Molly Blythe Teichert Music: First Service Singers & Chancel Choir Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-12 December 9 Services at 9:15 & 11:15 am Preaching: The Rev. Molly Blythe Teichert Scripture: Luke 3:1-6 December 16 Services at 9:15 & 11:15 am Preaching: The Rev. Molly Blythe Teichert Scripture: Luke 3:7-18
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The Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church One Chevy Chase Circle, NW Washington, DC 20015 office@chevychasepc.org 202-363-2202
December 23 | Communion One Service at 10:00 am Preaching: The Rev. Molly Blythe Teichert Scripture: Luke 1:39-45 (45-55) December 24 Christmas Eve Services at 3:00 pm, 4:30 pm, 7:30 pm, 10:00 pm
December 30 One Service: 10:00 am Preaching: The Rev. Eric Peltz Scripture: Luke 2:41-52
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