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Please support our Special Sunday!

Sunday, February 14th, 2010 is Special Sunday in Church School.  When our global family is in distress, when a disaster strikes, or when people are looking to better their lives, Church World Service (CWS) is there to help in partnership, providing the necessary tools to make a world of difference in the lives of those in need and for the future of their children.  On February 14th, our children will make Baby Kits.  In areas of extreme poverty or following a natural disaster, baby kits help young mothers care for their newborn babies.  These kits start out in the hands of one person here in the U.S., not made with the expectation of changing the world, but rather, with the hope of changing one person’s life.  Please support our mission by either donating items from the list below or making a contribution to this cause.  Donated items should be placed in the box marked “Baby Kits” located on the stage in Lentz Hall.  Monetary contributions should be payable to “PUCC” and directed to Kathy Vitantonio.  Your generosity to those in need is greatly appreciated!

Baby Kits: cloth diapers, diaper pins, receiving blankets (may be hand-knitted or crocheted), gowns or sleepers, sweaters or sweatshirts, t-shirts or undershirts (cannot use onesies), washcloths.  We are accepting sizes 0-3 months, up to 12 months.

CHOCOLATES & COOKIE SALE FOR FISH. . .

We will have our annual "Cookie Exchange Sale" on Sunday, February 14^th. This year the event has been moved to February and chocolate has been added for Valentine's Day. Last year, we donated $560 to the FISH organization from this sale. FISH is a Christian organization whose purpose is to provide emergency help for persons in need of shelter, food, or transportation. Its funds come from local churches, individuals, and 20% of the Doylestown CROP Walk proceeds. FISH serves many who have no church affiliation to which they can turn for support. Cookies & Chocolates are $10 a box and you select your own assortment from an array of "home made" goodies, which are then taped and ribboned for gift giving. Please have your chocolate & cookie donations to the church kitchen the week of February 8-12th. Also, please mark the box if you have nuts or peanut butter in the cookies or chocolates. If you do not wish to purchase cookies but wish to give a donation you may do so. A basket for monetary donations will be on the sale table. If you choose to write a check, please make it payable to Pleasantville Church and mark the memo line FISH.

Doing a New Thing: A Focus on World Mission During Lent

The earthquake in Haiti has turned our intense focus outward to a world that is full of inequities and human suffering. The outpouring of local congregations giving to the United Church of Christ’s Haiti earthquake response fund has been generous beyond all previous giving, including the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004. This tragedy gives us all an opportunity to see with our own eyes the important work that the United Church of Christ does in the world-wide church.

One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) is the way United Church of Christ members reach out to a world in need. Through One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS), we minister in the name of Christ to build sustainable communities, respond to disaster (such as the Haitian earthquake), and minister to refugees throughout the world.

Here at Pleasantville, we observe the Season of Lent each year by gathering every Wednesday evening for a simple meal and a time of worship and learning. This year our focus will be upon the church’s worldwide ministry through One Great Hour of Sharing.

Every week we will focus upon a different area of ministry in the world:

Our schedule each week will be the same:

                           6:30 to 7:15 p.m. Dinner together in Lentz Fellowship Hall featuring home made soup and bread from our focus country. No Reservations Required

                           7:15 to 7:30 p.m. Worship together with resources from each of the countries we are studying

                           7:30 to 8:00 p.m. Studying the church’s work in each of the five regions

                           8:00 to 8:30 p.m. Working together on a service project that will benefit people in need throughout the world.

Please join us on Wednesday nights, as we serve the world and deepen our Lenten journey.

Blessings, Pastor Hilary

On February 26 to 28, our youth will attend their Annual Mission Trip to Old First UCC in Philadelphia. As in years’ past, we are collecting items for the men’s shelter. At this time, you may hang the items on the tree in Lentz Hall. After the tree is removed, you may place the items in the big basket on the stage. Suggested items: men’s boxers (S-M-L-XL), men’s undershirts (all sizes), and men’s socks.

The Word Among Us

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…full of grace and truth."
(John 1:1 & 1:14 NASB)

The holy season of Advent begins this year on Sunday, November 29^th. In this season we await with eager longing the coming of God’s Messiah. The season of Advent is four weeks long and the name "Advent" means, "arrival." With each passing week we draw nearer to the arrival of the One who is the Word made flesh; the Word that came to dwell among us, full of grace and truth.

The Word of God dwells among us richly at Pleasantville, and in this season of Advent you will find some wonderful ways that the Word has been dwelling with your sisters and brothers in Christ. Twenty different people from Pleasantville Church have dwelt with the Word of God, reflected upon it, prayed over it, and offered in response a wonderful collection of Advent Devotions for each of the 28 days of the season. Pick up your copy of these inspiring devotions so you can journey more deeply into the gifts of the season.

In January, the Word will dwell among us with power in Peggy Dominy’s "Meet the Prophets" class. Peggy is a consummate teacher: thorough, knowledgeable, and most importantly – in love with the Word of God. If you have been hungering for an encounter with the Word, join this class for its careful study of the prophetic literature.

The Word has dwelt among us in acts of service and loving kindness, everywhere present in the life of our congregation. But one of the ways the Word dwelt among us came through the ministrations of 11 people from Pleasantville, who braved fierce weather to spend a weekend gleaning apples for the Palmyra Food Larder (see page 9). "Gleaning" is a biblical custom that allows the poor to follow the reapers into the field and collect the crops that are left over after the harvest:

The Word among us indeed!

The great and holy day of Christmas is the celebration of God’s Word made flesh through the Incarnation of Jesus. Let us be attentive to all that is possible when we take seriously the many and wondrous ways that Word dwells among us, full of grace and truth!

Blessings, Pastor Hilary