Announcements for December 2, 2007

The rose is in celebration of the birth of Emma Marie Cate,

born on November 16, 2007 to Scott and Jen Cate.

She is the great-granddaughter of Art and Lida Cate.

Happening Today - First Sunday in Advent

Worship 8:15, 9:45 and 11:15 Sanctuary

Adult Bible Study 9:45am - Fireside Room

FCW Craft and Bake Sale - Price Hall

Y.E.S. Practice 11:15 - Sanctuary

Tuesday, December 4^th

PATH 8:30, 9:45 - Price Hall

Home Visit Team 1pm - Health Ministry Room

Bells Appealing 4:30pm - Sanctuary

Christmas Musical Practice 5:30 - 7:30pm - Sanctuary

Staff Parish Ministry Team 6:30pm - Health Ministry Room

Wednesday, December 5^th

Staff Meeting 10am - Health Ministry Room

FCW Luncheon 11:30am - Price Hall

Celtic Communion Noon - Historic Church

HELP 1:30pm - Fireside Room

Jr. High Youth 4:30pm - Price Hall/Youth Room

Sr. High Youth 6pm - Price Hall/Youth Room

Praise Team 6pm - Sanctuary

Celebration Singers 7pm - Sanctuary

Thursday, December 6^th

Book Club 1pm - Fireside Room

Friday, December 7^th

PATH 8:30, 9:45 - Price Hall

Miracle on Main Street 7pm - Sanctuary

Saturday, December 8^th

Memorial for Nancy Bolster 1pm - Sanctuary

Miracle on Main Street 7pm - Sanctuary

Next Sunday, December 9^th  - Second Sunday in Advent

Worship 8:15, 9:45 Sanctuary and 11:15 Historic Church

Youth/Westminster Woods Breakfast - Price Hall

Adult Bible Study 9:45am - Fireside Room

Y.E.S. Practice 11:15 - Sanctuary

Miracle on Main Street 2pm - Sanctuary

Visit our website!

www.eldoradofederatedchurch.org

Our Christmas trees this year were donated by Phyllis & Mike McGee, Wendy & Terry Silverthorn and Dorothea Engstrom.  Thank you!

Do you need a prayer?  The prayer chain is available at all times for your prayer request.  If you have a prayer request, please call Dot Polston , Norma Paulin  or Carol White .  We need more links added to our chain - if you believe in the power of prayer; you can add powerful strength to our chain.  We need you and you have only one call to make to pass on a prayer request.  Call Dot Polston if you would like to be a part of this powerful ministry.

Sunday Bible Study - All adults are invited to Sunday Bible Study at 9:45am in the Fireside Room.  Our present focus is the Atonement and our teacher is Dr. R. C. Speoul, pastor, theologian and Bible teacher on radio and TV.  Questions?  See Burney Sheeks.

The Little Blue Book - Take Advent and Christmas one day at a time!  Enjoy a 6 minute daily reflection on the weekday gospels in The Little Blue Book from December 2 through January 13.  Time of day will vary for you, but this booklet gives you a pattern for prayer.  The right hand page is the gospel reflection.  The left hand page is the feast about various traditions and customs of Christmas.  This Advent booklet is based upon the writing of Bishop Ken Untener, a friend of neighbor of our very own Leslie and Dick Bush when they lived in Saginaw, Michigan.

FCW ANNUAL CRAFT AND BAKE SALE - The annual craft and bake sale today will help you find those special personal gifts you cannot find anywhere else!  Buy one of Carol White's Apple-Nut Strudels, store it in the freezer, then warm it up for Christmas morning.  Or pick up a small gift basket to have on hand as a hostess gift for a last minute party invitation.  Perhaps you will find the perfect stocking stuffer for the grandkids.  Hats for the Homeless will be on sale as well as Federated Cook Books to benefit Grace Place.  So make your wish list and bring it to the Craft and Bake Sale, and start or finish your Christmas shopping! 

TREE OF KINDNESS – Federated Church celebrates Christmas with the community with our 8^th annual Tree of Kindness, a ministry that shares the gifts of Christmas. This year our families have been recommended by Placerville School District and El Dorado High School. Be sure to see the picture of happy tears drawn on the back of one of the applications! 

Federated’s gifts will include jackets, warm clothes and blankets (the primary need identified by previously adopted families)

Donors may select families by picking an envelope from the Tree of Kindness in Price Hall now through December 16

Can’t provide for a whole family? Ask your friends to join you in adopting a large family and experience the joy of partnership!

Have resources to spare? Select two or more families!

Who do you connect with outside of Federated? Work, school, community groups, social clubs? Suggest that your group adopt a family!

Volunteer! Contact Robin Stanley, birdwomanca@comcast.net to say you can help on Monday or Tuesday, December 17 or 18:

Deliver gifts

Help set up Price Hall for gift pickup

Be an elf! Help distribute gifts, wrap as needed, tie up those last minute details

Leftovers—phone calls (bi-lingual too!), delivery, etc.

Please choose a Tree of Kindness family - your blessings will overflow!

Alternative Christmas Gifts - Today is your last opportunity to purchase Alternative Christmas presents in Price Hall from 9-11:30am.  Choose from giving blankets to rabbits to many other choices; or you can be part of a granary in the Cameroons.  What an opportunity to help others!

FEDERATED BOOK CLUB - Please join us.

December 6^th - Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski

January 3^rd - The Mapmaker's Wife by Robert Whitaker

Prime time invites all to the "25th Annual Tuba Christmas" on Saturday, December 8 at 1pm. Admission is FREE.   Place: CK McClatchy High School, 3066 Freeport Boulevard,  Sacramento. No Reservations Needed. We will meet at the High School at 12:30pm. Maps are available in the church office. Save the Date - Bring a friend.

Federated Church Women’s annual Christmas luncheon will be held on Wednesday, December 5^th at 11:30am.  The Foothills Women’s Chorus will be performing.  We know you don’t want to miss this introduction to the Christmas season.  Make reservations for lunch to Cathy - 642-2918.  If you can’t make it to the luncheon, please come to the sanctuary at 1pm for the beautiful music.  All are welcome.

This month FCW spotlights Federated Church women, NAN FRANZ and her mother MARY HARMON.  This mother/daughter team illustrate the old adage that “the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree!”  Mother Mary, a transplanted Minnesotan, moved with her family to Shingle Springs in 1973 (daughter Nan was then 5).  They have been active at Federated Church ever since. Mary was a social worker in Sacramento County. She is an avid quilter, walker, and school volunteer (with her grandchildren). She did counseling at Juvenile Hall, is on our Home Visit Team, attends exercise classes here and volunteers at Kamp Koinonia every year, in the kitchen, with sewing, and making lots of cookie dough. Daughter Nan is a Ponderosa High and Sac State graduate with a degree in psychology. Her husband Cory, their four children and the stray animals she adopts keep her busy. She is also a gardener, crafter, walker, school volunteer and volleyball coach. Her team won a county championship last summer!  For us Nan is the “Kitchen Queen!”  She manages a faithful and capable crew of helpers to feed the children snacks and lunch during Kamp Koinonia.. Then there are the children’s Christmas and spring musicals, for which she organizes both rehearsal snacks and after concert receptions. Mary and Nan are both modest about all they do and prefer to work behind the scenes. We are thankful that God has brought them into our fellowship!

Miracle on Main Street - Where mangers once stood and carols were sung, Christ is continuing to disappear from “holiday” celebrations. This lively musical reaches directly to the heart of the matter, and from the voice of children comes the ultimate truth - “A Christmas without Jesus is like giving a present without a gift inside.” Federated’s children’s music ministry presents “Miracle on Main Street” on Friday, December 7, and Saturday, December 8, at 7:00 pm, and on Sunday, December 9, at 2:00 pm. Reception in Price Hall following each presentation.  Please bring a canned food item to help the SHARE food closet.

Federated Sunday at Upper Room December 16 - Shift Times Have Been Shortened!  The third Sunday of every month is Federated’s turn to prepare and serve the meal at the Upper Room, a local soup kitchen that serves a hot meal to low-income and homeless people 364 days a year.  Since we have such an efficient crew, we’ve shortened the shift times.  Preparation is from 1:30-3:30, and serving is from 3:30-6:00.  The sign up sheet is in the church entry, or call Helen at 622-0273, ext. 16.

Family Carol Sing - Thursday, December 20^th at 7pm.  Come and enjoy singing in the Historic Church followed by refreshments and fellowship in Price Hall!

Health Ministry 

Home Visit Team meets in the Health Ministry Room at 1:00 pm.  See you there!

Health Holiday Survival Tip # 3  The Post Thanksgiving Tricks!

Okay, we all feasted last weekend and our waistbands may be feeling a little tighter, or our well worn jeans feel like they just came out of the laundry.  Do not fret!  Just plan today how you will go for a 45 minute walk, hike or bike ride, play your favorite sport, or call a friend for a round of afternoon golf.  The weather is not frightful yet, so enjoy being active and outside!

Caregivers:  The El Dorado Family Caregiver Support Program is offering a series of FREE classes in El Dorado Hills on Thursdays from 1:00-3:00 pm starting Dec. 6th.  Call 621-6252 for more information/registration or see the Health Ministry bulletin board for class descriptions.

“Legal Made Simple” is the focus of the December 19 workshop with Diana Steele, attorney with El Dorado County Senior Legal services.  Learn about trusts, living wills, estate planning to plan now to safeguard yourself and those you love.  Workshop held at the Placerville Senior Center, 937 Spring St from 1:30-3:00 pm. 

YOUTH MINISTRY AT FEDERATED

Fellowship and fun for youth 7^th-12^th grade

Junior High Youth Group meets from 4:30-6:00, and Senior High meets from 6:00-8:00 pm, Wednesdays.  The groups include games, discussion and a light supper. 

This week’s topic is “Putting Christ in Christmas.”

God still needs a few good carpenters…

And roofers, painters, wheel chair ramp builders, and just generally handy people with a heart for spreading God’s love!  That’s exactly what our youth do when they go to Mexico over spring break to build houses and to Native American reservations over the summer to do home repair.  The Mexico trip costs youth $550 and the Sierra Service Project trip costs $410.  One thing we are doing this year to help offset costs is offering crosses made from carpenter’s nails.  Youth will be in front of the church from now until we leave for Mexico or SSP with these crosses.  Your donation for a cross helps defray the costs of these mission trips.  Check them out toady!

For more information on any youth activities, contact Helen Mansfield at

622-0273, ext. 16.

Children & Families Programs

Welcome to Bartholomew’s Basement!

Bartholomew’s Basement is the name of our children’s classroom area downstairs.

Children are encouraged to be curious and feel at-home in this space that is created just for them.

Children's Sunday School lessons & activities are offered at the 9:45am worship.  The nursery is open as a changing room during the 8:15 service and staffed for baby/toddler/PreK care during the 9:45am worship service.

Babies, Toddlers and Pre-K’s:  The Nursery is open for happy and loving play time with our energetic and loving Nursery Caregivers:  Deanna Vincent and Jocelyn Lane.

The nursery is upstairs in the back hallway. Our nursery has a changing table, clean toys & a safe & fun play area.  Be sure to leave your cell phone number with the staff and turn your phone on vibrate so that we can contact you during worship if your child needs you.

9:45am Worship Today:

Right After Children’s Time ~ Children go downstairs with Jodie for a lesson and activities that pertain to Advent and the same scripture that the ‘grown-ups’ are studying in the sanctuary.

Grades 5 & 6 Meet in the Tent Room for 6/5 Alive!

Tuesday Evenings ~ Dinner is Ready!

Dinner/Choir Practice/Child Care/Conversations with Pastors

Feed your family a yummy & nutritious dinner between 4:45pm-6:30pm. 

We alternate between PIZZA and home-cooked meals.

Young Children who are not in choir get to play & do craft projects downstairs with Carlie Regan so parents get a break!

This Tuesday, December 4^th, will be our LAST Tuesday Dinner until January.

Calling all Jars!

We would like to make “snow globes” in the Children’s Program.