P O
STUARTS DRAFT VA 24477
FINLEY
FOCUS
December
2005
Founded 1891
Picture by
From
the Pastor’s Desk
As our secular calendars come to an end for this
year, let us remember that we, the Church, go by a different calendar, a
calendar which is just beginning for us.
We begin this new church year by joining together for the four Sundays
before Christmas to celebrate the Advent of our Lord. But this season is more than just about
celebration; it is also about preparation.
Advent is the time when the church is also called to prepare itself not
just for Christmas, but for the day when Christ comes again.
The origin of Advent is not completely
certain, probably starting as early as the fourth century. Advent is derived from Latin meaning “coming
towards” ("ad", means "towards" and "ven/vent" is
core of the Latin verb "veno," meaning "come"). Sometime in the sixth century, Christians in
It would not be until the
Middle Ages that the Church started to associate Advent with the coming of
Christmas.
The season of Advent points us to the time
that is “coming towards” us, to the time when Christ will come again and make
all things new. Advent reminds us that
God’s time and our time not only intersected in history with the birth of
Jesus, who is God with us, but that they will intersect again at the Second
Coming, when God’s time and our time will once again come together in a
radical, cosmic way at the sound of the last trumpet.
Therefore, during this Advent season, as
we hear the words of prophets and angels proclaim the coming of Jesus Christ,
let us join in with our own voices in the same proclamation. Let us take time during this season to align
ourselves with God’s time and prepare ourselves, just as the earliest
Christians did so long ago, for the coming of the one who is always
present.
Let us also take time to rejoice in the
hope and knowledge that the one who came two thousand years ago in the city of
David at the cry of “O come, O come, Emmanuel” will be the same one who will
come again in all his resurrected glory at the close of the end of the
age.
May the hope, peace, joy, and love of
Christ be with you always during this time of his advent.
Dan
Health Topics
Five Tips for Maintaining a Healthy
Weight
1. Exercise! The goal should be 30 minutes of continuous
aerobic exercise five days a week. What
is aerobic exercise? It is anything that gets your heart rate up and gets you
somewhat out of breath, but not gasping for air.
2. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Every meal should have a serving of a fruit
or vegetable. Potatoes and corn do not count as vegetables. They are starches. Fruit juice also does not count as it is just
sugar.
3. Eat less saturated
fat. Saturated fat gets broken down directly into low density
cholesterol, the kind that clogs up your blood vessels. Foods high in saturated fat include butter,
cheese, mayo, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, fried foods, fast food, and
chocolate. Use canola or olive oil when
cooking, as they are low in saturated fat.
Switch to skim or 1% milk. If you
read labels on foods, try to buy those with less than 3 grams of saturated fat
per serving.
4. Drink more water. It has no calories!
5. Weigh yourself every week at the same time with the
same clothes on. The average American gains 1 to 2 pounds every year from age
20 to age 60. Weighing yourself weekly
keeps you aware of small weight gains and prompts you to eat less or exercise
more in order to get your weight back down.
It is time to order our Christmas
Poinsettias! They will be $8.00 apiece this year, with orders taken
from Nov. 6th - Dec. 11th. You can dedicate them in Memory or
Honor of someone. Please contact Mary Alice Lunsford at 337-1730 to
order.
Presbyterian Women
Presbyterian
Women will meet Tuesday, Dec.6, at
One of the Presbyterian Women’s main
projects for the year is the "Angel Tree," which benefits the Valley
Program for The Aging Services and children with special needs. PW will
decorate a Christmas tree with yellow angels for needy children, blue angels
for elderly males, and red angels for elderly females. We will need a donation
of money with each yellow angel to give to the teachers to take
the children shopping for shoes to make sure they fit properly.
If
you select a red or a blue angel, it will have what the elderly person
needs written on it along with a number. We will have a sign up sheet beside
the tree; please sign your name and phone number beside the angel #. This
enables PW to call you if the gift has not been returned by the
deadline.
The
Valley for the Aging Services helps the elderly throughout the county that
have no family and get by on a shoestring. What these people ask us for at
Christmas is more than likely the only present they receive. Please help
brighten their Christmas by picking one or more angels from the tree, getting
whatever is on the angel, wrapping it and returning it to the church narthex with the angel on the package by
Nov. 27, so the gifts can be distributed before Christmas.
From The Fellowship Committee
- Please join us for our monthly coffee after
worship on November 27.
- The next Men's Fellowship Breakfast will be on
December 4 at
- We will be having a Christmas luncheon on
December 11 immediately following worship. It will be "pot luck" so
please plan to join us and bring your favorite dish to share. Drinks and
great company with Christmas spirit will be provided.
Hurricane
Relief Update
The
The Stuarts Draft High School Choir, led by
Kelly Hughes, will be presenting some holiday music in our sanctuary on
December 11 at
Our own
chancel choir, joined by members of the Calvary United Methodist choir, will be presenting a Christmas cantata during
worship on Sunday, December 18. Be sure
to attend this special service.
Children’s
Concert
Beginning Sunday, November 27 through Dec.
18 the Elementary Sunday School classes will be practicing as a children’s
choir during Sunday School, singing some familiar and some new Christmas
music. They will be presenting their
music on Sunday, Dec. 18 in the evening, in costume. The Christian Ed committee
will be providing cookies and punch afterwards. All Elementary school aged
children interested in participating in this Christmas event, please attend
Sunday School all four Sundays to practice.
.Our Active Youth
Middle School Schedule –
December 4 – Meet from
December 11 – Meet from
7-8:30 at the Nelson’s
December 18 – No meeting –
children’s concert tonight
December 25 -No meeting –
enjoy Christmas with your family
Senior High School Schedule –
December 4 – Fellowship and
Devotion at the Coble’s,
December 11 – Fellowship and
Devotion at the Coble’s,
December 18 – No youth group
– See you at the children’s concert tonight
December 25 – No youth group
– enjoy Christmas with your family
January 1 – Fellowship and
Devotion at the Coble’s,
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Nursery
Schedule |
Visitation
Schedule |
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Dec 4 |
Sue & Jessica
Brubaker, Gina Henderson |
Darlene Bowles |
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Dec 11 |
Jill Matthews, Bing-Wo
family & Esther Winton |
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Dec 18 |
Crist family & Tammy
Steele |
Marjorie Shreckhise |
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Dec 25 |
No Nursery today |
Esther Winton &
Beverley Ellis |
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Usher List
Jane
Schumin (CH)
Paul Willey
Tom Elliott
Darlene Bowles
Esther Winton
Randy Fink
December 2005
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Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
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4 Men’s Breakfast 8:30 4Cents a Meal Offering |
5 |
6 Presbyterian Women |
7 Chancel Choir |
8 Katie Lowe’s Birthday |
9 Justin Orzech’s Birthday |
10 Human Rights Day |
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11 Covered Dish Luncheon SDHS Choir |
12 Session |
13 Lance Allen’s Birthday |
14 Chancel Choir |
15 |
16 |
17 |
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18 Cantata during worship Christmas Joy Offering Children’s Choir to sing |
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20 |
21 Chancel Choir |
22 |
23 |
24 Tommy Allen’s Birthday Christmas Eve Service Communion |
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25 No Sunday School classes or Coffee Christmas Day |
26 Ann
Schumin’s Birthday Wes
Boswell’s Birthday |
27 |
28 John Steele’s Birthday |
29 |
30 |
31 Mike Moneymaker’s Birthday |
Finley Memorial Presbyterian Church
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Presbytery
of Shenandoah, Synod of the Mid-Atlantic, Presbyterian Church ( |
Stuarts
Church Office
Telephone: (540) 337-3561
E-mail:
finleypc@cfw.com
Web address:
www.finleypres.org
Pastor’s
e-mail: dmatthews@ntelos.net
Reverend Dan Matthews
Session
Members
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2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
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Andy Wenner |
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Dan Hatter |
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Beverley Ellis |
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Jane Schumin |
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Steve Nelson |
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Lisa Seaman |
Paul Swink |
Donnie McCormick |
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Treasurers |
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Ann E. Willey, Receiving
Jack R. Blacka, Disbursing |
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Trustees
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Jack R. Blacka James L. Wellborn Donald Splaun |
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Presbyterian Women
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Nancy Southworth, Secretary Esther Winton, Treasurer Shirley Hendrickson, Historian |
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Secretary – Ann Willey |
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Music Director – Kelly Hughes |
Librarian – Art Hendrickson |
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Choir Director – Elise Blacka |
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Stated Meetings
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Morning
Worship 11:00 am |
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Session – Second Monday of the month Chancel Choir – Wednesday |
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Presbyterian Women – First Tuesday of the month |
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Youth Fellowship – Sunday evenings |
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Finley Men – First Sunday of the month |
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