Caroling as a Mission

The previous two years we have gone caroling as a church around the neighborhood, singing the Good News as a way of evangelism. This year due to the weather we had to postpone and revise the singing to indoors. So on the afternoon of December 23, four adults and four children went to the Betsy Ross House, followed by the South Portland Nursing Home. The residents from both facilities loved that we brought caroling books for them to sing along too, but especially loved seeing the children.

A Fun and Exciting Pageant for Peoples

It seemed that God was truly present at Peoples during worship on Sunday, December 23: the music, Karen Jenning's devotional message was inspired and inspiring as a personal witness of her faith journey and her children's impact on that journey; and most especially the children's pageant (see article below) which was filmed by NBC and aired on the channel 6 news Sunday evening. This included interviews of Andy Folley as Sunday School Superintendent, Samantha Foote as Mary, and Caleb Marston as a Magi. You can play the news clip here ...

Here's a comment from Susan Angell: The Christmas Story presented by our children with LOTS of help from many adults was just FABULOUS! It was a real joy to see them all in their costumes...Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the angels, the shepherds, wise men, etc. and the sheep and cows were especially endearing. THE SET designed by the Greer Family was PERFECT. The costumes were inventive and lovely. How fortunate we are to have so many talented children and adults ... Thank you one and all for this most wonderful service. Thank you Ellen and Pastor Gwyneth for Offeratory singing of "Mary Did You Know?". It was such a great service, I didn't want it to ever end .

Christmas Pageant!

The Sanctuary will take on a different look for the Christmas Pageant on December 23rd ... it will be remade into a stable.

This amazing production is a must see: Under the leadership and direction of Andy and Teresa Folley, costume creation by Melinda Marston and Susan Paige, set design by Linda and Eric Greer, Audio-Visual work by Doug Greer, and much assistance and support by all the parents, and most importantly ... all of the kids as angels, shepherds, cows, baby donkeys, wise men, star, Mary and Joseph. The production tells the simple story with word and song as the kids proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ born on Christmas Day.

On Saturday, December 22, all gathered for a dress rehearsal. This was followed by a pizza party with games like pin-the-tale-on-the-donkey. Then the cake candles were lit, and all sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus!

We hope all are blessed by this special celebration this Christmas. Thank you to all who have worked hard to bring about this Christmas miracle!

Church / Charge Conference

The annual church conference was held Tuesday evening, December 18 and have had positive feedback, especially on the presentation on "Warming Up Your Welcome" (see next article) put on by our district superintendent, Rev. Mike Davis.

For those who were not able to attend, here are some of the highlights from the evening:

Taize Worship led by Mike Davis -- This is a style of worship popular among younger generations today which is a bit surprising as it is very contemplative. WE were given permission to not like it! The worship included silence, meditative singing of one verse repeated for several minutes, Scripture, prayers offered from the people and more singing. Several folks attended the Taize worship at Peoples last Spring so this was not a new experience for a few.

Marlene Tordoff was elected as Recording Secretary. We offered a slide presentation to give thanks for the folks who have gone to be with the Lord this year. We've lost some folks who were very dear to us this year and had a chance to share about this. Mike offered some encouraging words, that "the hurt goes deeper because we've lived and loved together."

Mike spoke about the importance of mission shares in the conference, and our church's contribution which goes toward churches such as the Lawrence UMC that has brought in 47 new converts this year. Mike also presented a conference wide missions focus called "Nothing But Nets". With the purchase of nets to cover African children while they sleep to protect them from mosquitoes, the disease of malaria could be virtually wiped out. Malaria kills a child every 30 seconds - that's 3000 children every day. Nets cost $10/day, and the district has put out a challenge for each church to purchase 17 nets - that would be 1,000 nets for the conference. It was pointed out in the video that one little girl raised 1,000 nets all by herself so certainly 15,000 Methodists should be able to do the same! This is the first time Methodists have partnered with organizations such as the MBA and Sports Illustrated. We also were encouraged not just to take this on as a church but to partner with other area organizations - boy scouts, work places, etc.

A list of inactive members was voted on unanimously to begin the removal process. These are folks who have had no contact with the church for some time. The Darling trust fund was accepted unanimously. The lay speakers were all approved as well for continued ministry: Chris Ward and Merrill Kaiser (advanced lay speakers) and Art Tordoff (basic lay speaker). Mike Gray now holds his membership at Annual Conference so Peoples no longer is responsible for his candidacy process.

Pastor Jamie reviewed the list of folks who will be holding various ministry and committee positions for 2008. Earle Harvey presented a creative report on what it means to bring the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the to the ends of the earth, and such ministry stems from our Small Group Ministry as we are encouraged to serve together within the Food Cupboard, the Root Cellar, Red Bird Mission, and Heifer.

The pastors compensation package was approved. Pastor Gwyneth then presented the pastors report with a video presentation of photos showing our life together the last year, which was encouraging and fun. The conference closed with the presentation on Warming Up Your Welcome, and then we closed in a prayer circle as those connected with each other through Christ.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact the pastors or other attendees.

Warming Up Your Welcome Seminar

This was a seminar designed by Mike and Jan Davis and was presented during our church conference on Tuesday evening, December 18.

Have you ever thought about what it was like the first time you visited a church? Have you visited another church recently and felt uncomfortable not knowing anyone or not knowing where to find the bathroom or not understanding a part of the worship service? How much more so for someone who has never gone to church before -- we learned that 50-70% of residents in New England have no previous church connection.

People do visit though - at Peoples, we have at least one visitor almost every week. A few stay, but most do not. We need to ask why. The title of the seminar was "how warm is your welcome?" One of the quotes was: "Almost all churches say they are friendly, but few make friends." What would it mean to make friends with visitors at Peoples?

One suggestion was to think of visitors as guests. This puts the responsibility on us to ensure our guests are well cared for. Other suggestions, to get us thinking, were putting cones out on the nearest street parking spaces that say "Reserved for Visitors." The nursery space is also very important for visiting families, which is why we are in progress on this right now. How about finding your way around the building as a visitor? How many signs do we have to help folks find their way? Visitors make up their minds about a church within the first 10 minutes of arriving - that includes finding parking and finding the correct door to enter through. We need to make sure these first 10 minutes are as welcoming as possible.

It also very important that visitors be greeted by folks not paid to be there - in other words someone in addition to the pastor! It was also suggested that the ushers reserve the best seats (on the isles, toward the back) for visitors. Several folks shared experiences (within Peoples and while visiting other churches) of visitors being told to move out of someone's seat. If we are to be a warm and welcoming church, we need to be willing to give up our seat preference for our guest. On the other hand, we also need to be sensitive to visitors. It can be overwhelming with ten people trying to talk to them at once, and hugging is generally not a good idea with newcomers -- much better to offer a friendly hand and warm smile.

We were given a list of types of folks who might visit the church who are different than the majority that makes up the church today, whether we would want to worship with them, and whether our church would welcome them. How warm would we welcome an interracial or gay couple, a man wearing multiple piercings, or a parent with crying children?

We also discussed the difficult transition when visitors begin getting involved in the life of the church and begin bringing ideas and change that may seem threatening. It is difficult to let go of control and allow new folks the freedom to bring change.

So, whose role is it to welcome visitors? We learned that welcoming visitors is the responsibility of EVERYONE of us in the church! Mike left us with three challenges:
1. Welcoming our guests begins with me - every single person
2. During coffee fellowship or before worship, greet everyone within 10 feet of us. Ask visitors their names and show Christian hospitality.
3. Within the first 3 minutes after church, do not converse with other members until speaking with all of the visitors first.

District Yankee Swap

On Tuesday, December 11, Pastors Gwyneth and Jamie travelled to a Tri-State District meeting at the Exeter UMC. We started with worship together and Holy Communion, followed by some discussion with our District Superintendents, Mike and Jan Davis. The biggest question on people's minds was the status of Vermont coming into the New England Conference as its current Troy Conference seeks to merge with the New York Conference. Whether Vermont decides to ask to be included in New England will be decided during the Troy Annual Conference in June 2008. New England would then vote on whether to receive Vermont in June 2009.

It didn't take long until the party began though. Everyone brought $5 and under gifts for a good old-fashioned Yankee Swap. Each person drew a number, and starting with the lowest number each pastor selected a gift to unwrap and then could either keep or exchange it for some other unwrapped gift! It was a fun time with a lot of laughs.

We finished our time together with lunch (Methodists never get together without a meal). At Exeter UMC they have their kitchen right off the Sanctuary, and they had set up a beautiful dining area in the Sanctuary with candles and Christmas place mats. In addition, the church set up childcare so we were able to have some adult conversation.

Overall it was a great time, and well worth the drive to Exeter! Mike and Jan are hoping to set up more frequent district meetings throughout the year.

Fun Finance Presentation!

Keith Snoddy, Pastor Gwyneth and members of the Finance Committee presented our current financial situation in a thorough, easy-to-understand, and interactive format after church on Sunday, December 9. Attendance was about what we had expected -- fairly low. But everyone who attended seemed to be very excited about this format for presenting our financial situation to the church body that if you didn't attend, most likely you'll be hearing about it from someone who did!

Keith began with information on how the budget is put together and a simple pie chart showing the major expense categories and what they include - the largest expenses being building, pastoral compensation and mission shares to the Conference. Then the presentation shifted to looking at the same budget number but with a pie chart of ministries of the church. Yes, we spend money to heat the building almost every day during the winter, but how is our building being used to do exciting ministry? So expenses such as heat were divided among the categories of missions and outreach, discipleship, worship, fellowship, caring for one another, and support/administration. Folks enjoyed viewing photos of the church family engaged in such ministries.

The proposed budget for 2008 is $161, 539 (down from $167,283 in 2007), which will be voted on at Church Council on December 11.

After we discussed the projected budget, Keith then presented the income side, showing a pie chart of categories such as pledges, gifts, fundraisers, and building use -- with pledges amounting to by far the largest chunk.

In 2007, there were 40 pledges. Keith showed a slide with the number of pledges in each range. For example in 2007 there were 9 pledges in the range of $1-9 per week and 3 in the range of $150-199 per week. The average for 2007 pledges was about $42/week. If all were tithing, this would mean our average income per family at Peoples was $22,000. Although there are certainly some folks at this income level, the average is most likely quite a bit higher. This was eye opening to a number of folks who put it together that there are not many people pledging at even close to 10%.

The last piece of the presentation was the budget deficit, which is about $34,000 for 2008 (and was about $46,000 for 2007). According to Keith, the church has run a budget deficit for some 13 years. How do we continue to get by? One way is by not paying our total mission shares to the denomination, which are about $29,000. In so doing, we are breaking covenant with the denomination, so although we have been given a lot of grace over the years, we need to look at ways of getting back on track financially. Another way is through using income from endowments that have been designated for budget items. And in 2007 specifically, we have spent less through eliminating a staff position (secretary) and since we have not yet hired a music director. Pledges are up by about $4,000 too! Still, we will not be able to pay mission shares this year.

So what is the answer to this large deficit? Cuts in the budget would only amount to $2-10,000 and would reduce ministry so this isn't a great option. The only other cuts would involve staff - going to a half time pastor, which would be a sign that the church was beginning the stage of closing its doors ... and this is NOT where anyone seems to sense the church should be heading. Peoples church has an amazing potential for ministry, and a world right here that needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!

So what about income? One suggestion was to increase fundraisers. However, Pastor Gwyneth shared that we would like to see a day when the church had absolutely no fundraisers - that 100% of funds from bean suppers, auction, church fairs, etc. would go for missions such as the Root Cellar or Heifer International. In the short term, we may need to increase some fundraising though. We also discussed the danger of wanting to grow the church so that newcomers can increase the income -- rather we want to grow the church in response to the love of Christ we've experienced and can't help but share.

The presentation concluded with the reality that the biggest potential for growth is through pledging. If all active members and attendees were pledging at 10% (definition of the tithe commanded in Scripture), the church would have more than enough to cover the budget, and there would be room to grow in areas such as missions and discipleship with greater funding. What was amazing was the witness from several folks in attendance of the joy and blessing they have received in setting aside that 10% and trusting the Lord to provide for them and their family. The offering isn't supposed to be a burden but a joy!

Pam Beal of Finance suggested posting the presentation, perhaps in Ellis Hall. If there are any folks interested in working on this project, please let Pastor Gwyneth or anyone on the Finance Committee know.

Thank you to everyone on Finance (Pam Beal-Chair, Keith Snoddy, Walter Greer, Susan Angell, Chris Bowker, Earle Harvey), and to Rosemary Herd and Chris Ward for organizing the food, and for others who provided some of the food as well. Methodists can't meet without eating together, right?!

Advent Study - Preparing the Way for the Lord!

Many folks know Ruth McLellan as a very active member of Peoples, but in recent years has had more difficulty getting out of the house so isn't able to attend church. Folks visit Ruth, but it's not quite the same as the kind of connection shared with those who are blessed to be able to attend worship, Sunday School or other church activities throughout the week.

In contemplating this dilemma, and also wondering where we should host an Advent study, we found an answer to both by meeting in Ruth's home.

Pastor Gwyneth has been leading, and attendees in addition to Ruth have included Polly Morrill, Earle and Wealthy Harvey. We have been using a text called Devotional Classics from Renovare, which includes a few pages of reading from Christians spanning 1st to 20th centuries, as well as Scripture, discussion questions, and devotional exercises. We began with C.S. Lewis in the 20th century (1898-1963), and have gone back in time to read John of the Cross (1542-1591), Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), and we will finish up on December 17 with Augustine (354-430). The theme of these sessions as been "Preparing for the Spiritual Life" which was perfect for Advent.

The discussions have been encouraging for all of us, and we have all gone deeper in our faith together. We are planning to begin another session from the same Devotional Classics text in January on the topic of The Prayer-Filled Life, and will read from folks such as Thomas Merton, Julian of Norwich, Henri Nouwen and Soren Kierkegaard. We also have tentative plans to host a Lenten study on the topic of The Virtuous Life, which would contain readings from Gregory of Nyssa, John Calvin, Blaise Pascal and Teresa of Avila.

Next session will begin Monday, January 7 at 10am at the home of Ruth McLellan, and will meet for 5 weeks. Please let Pastor Gwyneth know if you would like materials as we will be ordering shortly.

Thank you Ruth for opening your home! And thank you God for growing us closer to You through each other.

Sealed up in time for snow

There have been some questions about how we have been doing the major work on the roof and exterior given the current financial state of the church. There are a few pieces of information that will help to clarify this and future projects.

As to our current financial picture, we are in slightly better financial shape than the same time last year despite a budget that was further behind. Likewise, the year before was worse at yearend than the budget for that year predicted. Both years have been much like several years before where much of our mission shares have not been paid and some money from investment income has had to be spent to cover ministerial support at the end of the year. The membership has been increasing contributions, but to cover the annual expence side of our budget with pledges and cash income, we need to continue to increase our commitment to bringing our resources together. 

Most maintenance, capital purchases and special improvements come from investment income and bequests. Some portion of this money can be used to cover annual expenses, but it is better for the financial health of the church to keep most of this income reserved for capital investments and upkeep for our physical capital - the building. Because our investments have been doing well, we do have money to keep the physical plant in good shape and cover some annual expenses. If the stock market turns down, we may even need some budget money to help with maintanance, but this is not a current concern.

Some of the recent projects have been paid for through insurance claims. Here are some notes from Doreen about the details:

Needed roof & steeple repairs was completed last week. This was an insurance claim due to roof shingle and steeple siding damage caused from the storm last April. The total cost of the project was $23,770, of that we had to pay $4,370, which came from investments that are specifically designated for maintenance.

The exterior lights of Ellis Hall & the sanctuary, are in horrible condition, we recently purchased and will have installed soon these replacement lights. They were purchased from Jim Darling's memorial, they totalled $1838 plus installation.

The breezeway windows and safety glass on the exterior of the sanctuary stained glass windows were finally completed two weeks ago. This was an insurance claim because the windows were damaged by pellet gun shots approx. 1 1/2 years ago. The total cost was $1,879, we have a deductible of $1000 per claim from our insurance carrier, they reimbursed us $193.99. The balance of the charges were for needed repairs on a breezeway window, which was damaged during the CIP several years ago, as well as maintenance on several stained glass windows. This money came from investments that are specifically designated for maintenance.

Entrance rugs were purchased to save on continued rental costs at a purchase price of $780. The payback will be a little more than one year.

Finally, there is an insurance claim that was recently settled to cover the damage to the fence on the back side of the church. Chuck Kamilewicz has been handling the contrators and the claim as well as clearing off some of the damaged materials. 

The church is overall in stable condition, though increased income is necessary to meet our full obligations of ministry each year. For further information, please come to the budget presentation after church on the December 9th after church.

Hanging of the Greens Blessing for All

The Hanging of the Greens worship service Sunday evening of December 2 was well attended, but especially by our little Peoples people! We sang carols as the kids decorated the tree and adults hung wreaths and other greens around the Sanctuary.

Then Rosemary Herd led the story telling time, only she had each of the reading-aged children do the reading, and parents and grandparents came up with their children to place one of the creche figures into the stable which now sits prominantly on the altar.

The kids brought their gifts to place under the tree for Red Bird Mission while we sang "We Three Kings." The lights were lowered as we sang "Silent Night" and the Lord was surely in our midst. .

The pastors were especially appreciative of being able to worship together as a family, and thank Chris Ward and Rosemary Herd for heading up the service, and Kit Pike for leading the hymns on piano.

Prepare your hearts for the coming of the Lord!

Christmas Fair Fabulous Fun Fundraiser!

Submitted by Susan Angell

Oh, you just had to be there! What an absolutely wonderful fair. The team work was extraordinary, the food to die for, the tables contained fabulous things and we all had so much fun. Rosemary Herd & Chris Ward, as point persons for UMW, worked tirelessly in the coordination. Rosemary’s enthusiasm was contagious and she was just so creative in solving glitches.

All those people that came to the Fair Meetings with their input certainly should be delighted at all their ideas that were put into action. Doreen’s floor plan of tables was brilliant and with a little tweaking, we want to follow it again. The name, Coastal Christmas Fair, was so inviting we plan to use that theme again next year. Carol Bruneau’s contribution of baked goods and unique confections; Sue Paige’s gift baskets, Linda Wade’s creative knits and crafts table, Nancy Greer’s mittens, Doreen Gay’s lovely jewelry and professional presentation, the yummy and inviting candy sold by Becky Snoddy and Janice Huelin, Amy Wellingtons’s tasty and tasteful baked goods table and her assistants on the day by Sharon Obie and Barbara Kenney, Mariah Bowker’s attractive ornaments, Kathy Brann’s sea shell themed table cloths, Betty Lane and others that assisted children in wrapping their secret purchases for parents, the other things that were either baked, cooked, knitted, crotched, created or donated by our people, were just so nice.

The newly created book room operated this year by Susan Angell was cozy as well as roomy. Thanks to all the people that came into that room and brought me food, treats and coffee and for Becky Gottlieb, Sam Siedl and our floater Kathy Brann for spelling me and checking on me to see if I was still alive. The trash and treasure tables and the people that manned them, were so wonderful. I personally think that T&T are really the hardest tables to set up and man but these gals led by Barbara Nelson and Joanne Kamilewicz inspire all they draft into helping by their inventive lay out of used items. The New and Nearly New table created by Doug Greer and family some years ago and set up this year by Carol Bruneau and her assistance on the day by Jodi Fyles, is a clever idea in action. The food!!!!!!!!!

We received a generous $200 in little donations to purchase the ingredients. What can we say about a kitchen and all the people headed by Brad and coerced by Chris, that produces lobster stew, crab meat rolls, chili, corn chowder, etc. other than, “we love ya”. What about those that set up the tables the night before the fair, all those that worked those tables on the “day” and then that mighty clean up crew? We have warm feelings in our heart for each and every one of you. The Spirit of the Lord was present in that hall, that’s for sure.


The people commented that our fair was the nicest they attended this year and their enthusiasm is the proof in the pudding. This year’s fair generated $900 more than last year’s (This makes more than $2,500 income!) Better yet, the camaraderie that we all felt, was priceless!!!!

What is Advent?

The word “advent” means “coming” or “arrival” and is the season in the church when we focus on Christ coming into the world as our Savior. The worship music, Scripture readings and prayers during Advent not only prepare us spiritually for Christmas (Christ's first coming) but also his eventual second coming. The mood of Advent is reflective and a bit solemn but expectantly hopeful, similar to the season before Easter called “Lent,” providing both a sense of anticipation, and a contrast of darkness with the joy of Christmas when we will celebrate the birth of Jesus who is the Light of the world!

How can we best prepare our hearts during the Advent season? One way is through daily reading and prayer, perhaps using the Peoples Advent Devotional books that were given out Sunday, December 2 which contain short writings by Peoples people. Faithfully attending worship provides an opportunity to experience the expectant hope of Advent as we light the Advent candles each week, sing hymns about the coming Savior, and hear the words of Scripture proclaimed.

Another common way to experience God's grace during the season of Advent (and Lent) is fasting. Fasting means abstaining from something, usually food for some period of time, certain meals, or on some regular frequency. But there are many kinds of fasts. One can fast from using their credit card, or fast from TV, or fast from junk food. Fasting provides a wonderful reminder to pray - when we hunger for that which we crave, we are instead reminded to pray. Fasting helps us to realize what we are holding on to too tightly in this world, and shifts our attention instead onto our beautiful Savior.

Fasting also provides additional time for prayer and missions - think of what we could do with those 3 hours of not watching TV, or the uneaten food we could provide to someone in need. Sometimes Christians experience great renewal during fasts, other times we feel nothing at all. But we know that Jesus fasted and prayed, and taught his disciples to do likewise. We do this in faithfulness to God, trusting in his grace.

The pastors are fasting as a family this Advent, including our daughters and baby! We are fasting from eating out. A little less McDonalds will do us all some good, and we are bound to spend more time as a family at home together too. What a perfect way to prepare for Christmas.

May God bless you in your fasting, whenever you might feel led to try it out! We are sure to appreciate the feast of Christmas that much more.

New Look for the Bulletins

Have you noticed the last few months something different about the bulletins in church? We are saving about $300/year in not ordering color bulletin covers. In addition, designing our own gives us the flexability of coordinating the theme with the sermon, using church photos or just a picture of the church. Although the bulletins will be black print only, we feel it's worth the cost savings. We did go all out for Christmas Eve and ordered special covers though!

What do you think? Please share your thoughts; we'd love to hear from you.