PRESBYTERIAN MESSENGER

UPCOMING EVENTS. . .

Every Sunday 10:00 AM Worship

Communion served 1st Sunday of Month

Choir Practice 8:30-9:30AM

Knitting Group 2nd Sunday of Month in

Sanctuary 12-1:30PM

Every Tuesday – Bible Study 7-8:30PM

Every Wednesday –

Bible Study with Rev. Lou Kilgore 10-11:30AM

Bell Choir Practice 7PM Sanctuary

Tue 12/12 Mission Meeting 10AM

Thu 12/21 Longest Night Service 7PM

Sun 12/24 Fourth Sunday Advent 10AM

Christmas Eve Candle Light Worship Service 9PM

Mon 12/25-Jan 1/1 Office Closed

No Bible Study Tonight

Please note there will be no Bible Study tonight, Tuesday, December 5, at 7PM due to Pastor Lou needing to be at a special event for his daughter.  Wednesday, December 6 Bible Study will be happening at 10AM.

Christmas Thank You

When you see Linda Latham, Roberta Oliver and Nancy Critchley, please thank them for their beautifying efforts around our church. Our new, gorgeous door swags were created and donated by Roberta Oliver, Linda Latham filled our urns on the porch with natural Christmas greenery and Nancy Critchley readied the big pots by the memory garden for the winter season. Thank you for being caring stewards of our church!

The Longest Night

December 21st is the longest night of the year. Christians often associate the darkness of the nighttime with every-thing that is hard in life.  The coming of the night is a time of vulnerability and sometimes aloneness.  When the night is long it reminds of our fears and losses.

Christmas is a celebration of light in the darkness. But sometimes we can’t get to the celebration because the grief or loss is overwhelming us.  This may be the first year at the holidays without your mother or your husband.  Perhaps you have lost your job, experienced a divorce, or you or a friend are fighting for life against cancer.

This year we will set aside a time to acknowledge the hardship and the loss that comes in life. You are invited to come to a service of prayer, poetry, encouragement and comfort.  During the longest night service you have per-mission to be sad, or depressed.  This is a place where you can be honest about how it feels to be surrounded by the signs of wonder and joy when you just don’t feel that way.

This service is not for everyone but it may be just what you need. Even though it takes place in December, it is not a Christmas service.  This service may be just the thing to help you or your neighbor or your friend who is wondering how they are going to make it through the holidays.

Mostly in times of hardship and grief we need to know that we are not alone. Come to the longest night service and you will discover that you are not alone.  Bring someone who needs some encouragement and prayer.

Thursday, December 21 at 7:00 PM. The service will last for one hour & there will be a time of refreshment to follow.

2018 Stewardship Update

If you have not yet made a 2018 pledge, please consider supporting your church generously and sacrificially so that we can be more and more of what God is calling us to be and do. We have to raise $120,000.00 in gifts and pledges to continue to grow as a community and fulfill our mission.  We are off to a great start!  As of this week, we have 56 pledging units totaling $80,200.00   We are still waiting for pledges from 25 households.  If you are one of these, please send us your commitment now and help us reach our goal and make our budget for next year.

Thank you to everyone who has committed their support!

If you have not pledged you can still do so by dropping an Estimate of Giving card in Sunday’s offering plate, calling or emailing the church office with your pledge at 201-891-0511 or emailing our bookkeeper, Lynn Collins at lcoll43@aol.com.

Please make our job easy and help us to make plans for next year’s ministry!

Thank you!

Reading Group @ HMPC

The Book Club meets on the 4th Friday

of the month and anyone is invited to

come and discuss the books.

12/15 100 Year Old Man Climbs Out the Window by Jonas Jonasson.

Christmas Season at HMPC

December 10 – 2^nd Sunday of Advent  HMPC Bell Choir performing at 10AM

December 17 at 8:30-11:15AM – Breakfast with Baby Jesus.  High Mountain Church will celebrate the story of the birth of Jesus with a Nativity Pageant for all ages.  We will celebrate in pageant on December 17.  The day will begin with a breakfast and craft making to prepare for the pageant.  Parents of children of all ages are invited to come to the church at 8:30 and get something to eat in the Covenant Room.  Then, the children will go upstairs to get ready for the pageant at 10AM.  Parents of the littlest children may want to help out as we transform ourselves into Shepherds and Angels.   Please mark your calendars and bring friends to come and bring this wonderful story to life.  Get your cameras ready!

December 21- The Longest Night Service   This gathering is organized to offer support and encouragement for those who will be having a difficult time this holiday season.  As everyone speaks of joy and happiness it can be overwhelming to deal with the grief and loneliness that many of us face.  Anniversaries of death and loss of any kind including divorce or diagnoses that can ruin your joy can really make you feel alone and lead you to isolate because you may feel that no one wants to hear how you are doing.  This is not a Christmas service.  It is a service of encouraging music, readings and sharing.  On the longest night of the year when darkness claims more than its share of the day, we gather to know that there are others who need some sense of community and love.  This is a great gathering to which you might invite a friend or family member to come with you and be encouraged as you light a candle or two.  The service is at 7PM and usually lasts for 45 minutes – 1 hour.

December 24 – 4^th Sunday Advent Service and Christmas Eve Service at High Mountain Presbyterian Church

Christmas Eve Morning This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Advent and we will light our final Advent candle at 10AM during regular Worship service.

Christmas Eve Evening Please join us on Sunday, December 24^th at 9PM for our Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship service celebrating the birth of the Christ Child.   HMPC Bell, Choir, Adult Choir and guest musicians will be performing on this most holy of nights.  Everyone is invited!

Winter Coat Collection

The Wyckoff Family YMCA is collecting gently used winter coats from now until December 9 to be distributed by the Father English Center in Paterson. The Y is located at 491 Wyckoff Avenue, Wyckoff and is open 7 days a week (except Thanksgiving). The drop box is by the main reception desk.

Building a Life of Blessing

We Believe in You – Stewardship 2018

A long, long time ago, as far back as we can even remember, God spoke to Sarah and Abraham and invited them into a relationship. They accepted.  The terms were simple.  God said “Let’s walk this life together. You be you and I will be me.  I will use you if you are willing to bless all the families on the earth.  I will give you blessings of food and, health, and spirit, faith and courage and you will in turn share these blessings with those you will come to know so that together we can respond to the broken condition of this world. “

The High Mountain Church stands in that tradition and promise. We are building a life of walking together with each other.  We are committed to sharing what we have so that others will be strengthened for a life of faith and courage.  God is calling to us and asking us to bless the world on God’s behalf.

Here is a list for you to see just a few of the ways we have shared with others from what you gave in 2017. Your gifts of financial support have gone to:

Center for Food Action and CUMAC food pantries to relieve the pain of hunger.

Summer Camp Scholarships to encourage young people in adventure and faith.

Pastoral Care services for local hospitals for those who do not have a church community.

Strengthen Our Sisters, breaking the cycle of domestic violence.

Presbyterian Hunger Fund and Habitat for Humanity, responding to the causes of homelessness and hunger.

Safe Space and Oasis in Paterson, providing safe options for children and parents.

Mission at the Eastward, making homes safer, warmer, and dryer in Appalachia.

Disaster Response in the USA and the World Workers rights campaigns for fair food practices.

New City Kids, a ministry after school for Paterson youth and children.

HMPC Live Stream

http://highmountainpres.org/hmpc-live-feed/

HMPC is live to view, Sundays at 10am EST. Feel free to browse the HPMC YouTube channel, for past streams. Hold your control button down and click on the following: HMPC YouTube Channel for a selection of pre-recorded services

Prayers & Announcements

Announcements for the Sunday Worship

Service should be emailed to the church

office. If you would like the community

to pray with you please call the office at

201-891-0511.

Sunday Servers

One great way you can help HMPC is through your Stewardship of Time. By volunteering once a year, once a quarter or once a month, as a Greeter, Reader, or Hospitality person, you keep our Worship service and spirit of community going! These jobs are super easy and if you would like to try one, please call church office at 201-891-0511.

Christmas Angel Tree ends Sunday, December 10 

To participate, bring unwrapped new toys, books, clothing, or stuffed animals for children from birth to age 13. Write your name on an angel ornament made by our Faithworks children, and hang it on the tree in the Covenant Room. The Outreach Team will deliver the gifts the following week to Bergen County Office for Children. To make a monetary gift this Sunday, add “Christmas Angel Tree” to the check memo line. The Mitten Tree will continue until Sunday, Dec. 17.

Outreach Team Donates $1000 for South Sudan Relief Work

Severe famine and ongoing fighting between ethnic groups have made survival difficult for millions of people in South Sudan.

“Half of the population, six million out of 12 million people, are experiencing food vulnerability, and lack of water is always a problem,” said the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, PDA director. “Because of the violence, another four million people are fleeing to camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the capital city of Juba, or leaving for refugee camps in neighboring countries.

“South Sudan is a six-year-old country and for four of those six years, it has been embroiled in internal conflict,” said Kraus.

PDA is funding large-scale emergency relief projects and working through Presbyterian Relief and Development Agency (PRDA), the humanitarian arm of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan (PCOSS), to find solutions to the growing challenges which are now spilling over into neighboring countries as hundreds of thousands leave their homes.

The Outreach Team chose this project so we can impact an international crisis which has been mostly ignored by the world community.

                                       HMPC Sunday Servers: Fourth Quarter 2017

*Assigned families can decide who will be reader. Please inform Chris (201-891-0511), who is reading one week before you are scheduled. If you will not be available for your assigned date, please try to switch with someone else and inform the office of this change.  Please check PM regularly to see the date of your assignment.        

Thank you for taking time to assist with this church service!