As many of you know, Pastor Brad has been ill this week. He was admitted to the hospital last Sunday morning with pancreatitis and then developed a fever. He is now regaining strength but is in a lot of pain and has requested no visitors. He hopes to be home from the hospital to continue recovery at home within a few more days, but his doctors are determining the best course of treatment for him. He is thankful for your prayers and good wishes. 

Even with Pastor Brad recovering, the church is still celebrating the final week of Advent, and then Christmas! We will welcome guest preacher Rev. Dr. Carol Mariano in worship on Sunday, December 23 at 9am and 11am. Pastor Laura will lead worship for the Blue Christmas service on December 23 at 2pm, and at all three Christmas Eve services, at 5pm, 7pm, and 9pm on the 24th. Vince Fratello, with help from Tom Blakney, is planning to preach on December 30 at the one service at 10am, and Pastor Laura will be back to begin the New Year series, "Foundations of Faith" on January 6 at 9am and 11am. 

Pastor Laura will be on vacation from December 25-January 4. She will be travelling to the east coast with her family.  The church office will be closed from December 25-January 1 and then volunteers will man the church office. In case of emergency, you may call the church office and leave a message on Laura's voicemail (extension 12). She'll check those and get back to you every few days while she is gone or you may call Pastor Laura's cell at 206-595-9607. For pastoral emergencies that require someone local, Rev. Kathryn Morse, pastor at Kennydale United Methodist Church and Rev. Casey Banks, Associate Pastor at Bothell United Methodist Church, will be available. Rev. Morse can be reached on her cell at 206-491-4045. Rev. Banks can be reached through Pastor Laura or Rev. Morse.

• 2018 Contributions: If you would like a donation reflected on your 2018 contribution statement, it needs to be received in the church office (or post-marked if mailed) by 12/31/2018. Questions? Contact Wendi in the church office.

• Gift a Hood:  Want to give a different gift this Christmas? Give an extra gift to the AUMC kitchen fund for the new stove hood! It will be much appreciated.  

• Planning a Fundraiser? This is a reminder that all fundraising activities at the church need to be coordinated and approved through the AUMC Finance Team. Please contact Jim Phillips, the Finance chairperson, with your fundraising plans, ([email protected]). Here is a copy of the Aldersgate Fundraising Policy. 

This is a special request for a team of volunteers to help fold and assemble the Sunday bulletin on Fridays between 10am and noon.  For many years, probably 15 or more years, Alex and Jean Ritzen have faithfully done this job week after week without complaint.  They have been a joy to work with. But now they cannot come every week, thus the need for volunteers.

 

It usually takes two people about 45 minutes to an hour to assemble the bulletins.  With 4-8 teams of two on a rotating schedule (like the ushers or liturgists), you would only need to help every 4-8 weeks (unless you want to help more often then that.)  In addition, there will be plenty of people for you to call when you need a substitute. Please contact Wendi in the church office if you can help.     Flo Monkman, Renee Kroese, Lew & Shirley Green have already signed up to help but we hope more of you can join them. 

If you made an advent wreath at our Wreaths & Treats event, please save the plastic base and return it to AUMC in January to reuse next year.

We are pleased to announce that our new choir director is Allison Renn, who will start leading the choir January 2, 2019. Allison comes to Aldersgate from Wisconsin, by way of North Carolina and California. Fueled by her lifelong love of music, she consistently strives to inspire adults and children to embrace their musical talents in her varied roles as a music educator, conductor, vocal performer, and composer. She has taught in many public and parochial schools, focusing primarily on choir and general music programs. Additionally, Allison has been volunteering or working in churches since high school. Allison earned her undergraduate degree in Music Education and Vocal Performance form the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and she completed her graduate studies at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, focusing on Vocal Pedagogy and Performance. When not making music, Allison loves to read, sew, bake and play outside with her husband and three children.

Have you read the article about homeless youth in the Seattle Times? King County is in crisis with over 1500 youth and young adults living on the streets. 20% of these young people have been kicked out of their families because of their gender identification or sexual orientation that is not acceptable to their families.

 

The CRC and Outreach teams have invited Kimberly Turner to speak on a program sponsored by Friends of Youth and The Y on how the community can address this problem It will be held on Sunday, January 6 at 10:15am in Friendship Hall. Please put time on your calendar to either stay after 1st service or come early for 2nd service.

The Pastor's class will resume on Wednesday, January 16 . It is offered at 10:00am and 7:00pm, same class at two different times. For the first few months of the new year, we will do an in-depth book study on Brian McLaren's book, "We Make the Road by Walking." It is designed to be a year-long study for spiritual formation, reorientation and activation, or reactivation of our focus on faith. During each class we will examine more thoroughly the scriptures, commentary, and discussion questions presented in the book. We will be utilizing this resource for many of the sermons on our Sundays through Easter and beyond.  Our Bishop has recommended this book as together we approach the upcoming General Conference. We will have the book available for purchase in January for $12. 

We celebrate the tradition of presenting Bibles to our 3rd graders as a gift from the congregation. It is our prayer that this gift will honor our children's growing faith development and enhance their faith with God's word. We will present Bibles on January 20 during worship. If your child is in third grad and would like to receive his or her Bible, contact Jen Hoerber at [email protected].

Got a New Year's resolution? Vince Fratello can help with his introductory series of yoga classes at Aldersgate after the New Year. The classes will be taught at the most basic beginner level and will be organized to accommodate all body types and physical abilities. Class 1 always starts at the beginning so don't worry. The series will tentatively be ten Saturdays, January 5 to March 9 . Class time will be 9:00-10:15am. Students will be asked to bring a sticky yoga mat (ask if you are unsure) and Vince will supply the rest of the props. The cost will be $50 per student for the entire series-you can try out the first class with no financial commitment and scholarships are available if needed. If you have questions you can contact Vince . We hope to see you there!

Calling all kids in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades to try something new. Time to ring, swing and shake, just to name a few. There's no music experience required, you'll be ringing just fine in a blink. There's laughing, ringing and some fun with tennis balls, come see what you think. Kids Bell Choir will start back up on Sunday, Jan 13th. Rehearsals are on Sundays from 6:30 - 7:30pm (first Sundays of the month will be right after Club 345 from 7:30 - 8:00pm) in the Sanctuary. Please contact Pam Johnson if you are interested in joining in on all the fun at [email protected] or (206) 200-8254.

Club 345 is open to all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders and meets once a month usually on the first Sunday evening for dinner and a fun activity. The next meeting is February 3 at 5:00pm. Volunteers are always needed to host the Club 345 activity or to provide the dinner.  Please sign up on the CYF bulletin board by the church office.  C ontact is Jen Hoerber .