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Friday Newsletter

December 6, 2024

This Sunday--2nd Sunday of Advent

10 am: Worship Service & Sunday School

11:15 am: Coffee Hour

11:30 am: New Song Chimes Rehearsal

3:30 pm: Youth Collective


*Bring your Caring Tree gifts*

From the Pastor's Desk


The angel wings have arrived! Check out these beauties in Boulder Hall. The children and a few adults decorated them during the Advent Craft event specifically for our December “Month of Angels.” We invite the entire congregation to stop by and snap a photo for a special project we're working on. Commemorate the season and make a couple memories with this fun photo booth! There is a step stool for our shortest friends. If you want to share your photos with us all, please email them to vik@salemwestpres.org. You can also share your photos on Facebook and tag the church page! 


For those who like to doodle during worship, we are building our own flying angel display and you are invited to color in an angel to add to it. The angel Gabriel is all over the place as the Christmas story is told in Luke 1, and a couple other unnamed angels then arrive in Luke 2, so we will be exploring these winged beings all month. I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we delve into the thin spaces and resonant experiences in our lives.  


Ever onward,

Pastor Kelly

From Personnel


Westminster’s beloved office manager, Krisha Horn, is stepping down from her position at the end of 2024. Krisha has faithfully served in this role since 2022 and prior to that as the education director for 4 years. She will be missed and we are looking forward to hearing about where life leads her next. There will be a celebration for Krisha during coffee hour on Dec 22 @ 11am. Please come and wish her well! Cards and/or gifts are being coordinated by Maggie Sather (maggiesatherhome@icloud.com). 

Looking Ahead


December 9 @ 6 pm: Women's Night Out Cookie Exchange

December 15 @ 12:30 pm: Youth Collective Christmas Party

December 16, 1-6 pm: Red Cross Blood Drive

December 22 @ 10 am: Christmas Cantata featuring Chancel Choir and Chamber Orchestra

December 24 @ 5 pm: Christmas Eve Children & Family Service

December 24 @ 8 pm: Christmas Eve Service

December 25-January 3: Church Office Closed/Staff Out

January 4 @ 3 pm: Doug White's Memorial Service

January 12 @ 11:30 am: 2025 Budget Informational Session

February 2 & 9 @ 11:30 am: New Member Class


Access the full church calendar here. To add or correct something, please email office@salemwestpres.org.

Opportunities

Women's Night Out at WPC! Cookie Exchange is Monday, December 9 at 6 pm. Bring five dozen cookies to exchange and a salad to share.


The Next Gen Committee is working on putting together a Sunday School Info and Child Protection Renewal Training for all our volunteers for children and youth in January. This will be a training to refresh everyone on the rules of child protection, how to use and access the Sunday School curriculum, and best practices for flow of the Sunday School time. Please complete this survey form to help us pick dates for this training as soon as possible!

FYI


The 2025 budget informational session has been moved from December 8 to January 12.


Our Peace Offering this year totaled $2,493.00. Of this offering, $1,246.50 went to PC(USA) for the denomination's peace efforts, $623.25 went to presbytery for projects in the Oregon area, and $623.25 went to our own youth group's mission fund. Thanks to all of you for your donations.

Give

They've moved once again! The Table of Plenty food boxes are back in their original area by the drinking fountain in the narthex. This is where you'll find them when you bring your food donations on the third Sunday in December (December 15) for our needy neighbors to enjoy during the Christmas holiday season. Thanks to one and all for your donations to the Table of Plenty.


The Presbyterian Giving Catalog celebrates its 10th Anniversary with the 2024-2025 issue. No wrapping is needed for the 40+ gifts available through the catalog, not to mention no waste! Generous gifts to the Presbyterian Giving Catalog are signs of our gratitude: feeding the hungry, comforting the brokenhearted and sharing our faith with young and old. The catalog includes gifts that represent causes close to anyone's heart, such as hygiene kits, cookstoves, teacher training, and beekeeping supplies. 


Join and help save lives at a community blood drive in Salem, Oregon — Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. That’s why Westminster Presbyterian Church in Salem is on a mission to help save lives by hosting a blood drive on December 16 from 1:00pm to 6:00pm. The community is invited to take part in this special event and donate blood for hospital patients in our neighborhoods and across the nation. The need for blood is constant, but only 3 percent of the U.S. population donates! By rolling up a sleeve, donors can play a critical role in the treatment of accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease. To make an appointment or to learn more, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Completion of a RapidPass® online health history questionnaire found at RedCrossBlood.org/rapidpass is encouraged to help speed up the donation process. All the best to you this joyous and giving holiday season. Bill Nelson: (503) 576-1278 and the rest of the Blood Drive team at Westminster!

Thanks


To the intrepid group who worked to make our sanctuary and other spaces so beautiful for the Advent and Christmas season!

Pray


For Helen Schafer who has entered hospice care. (Her address has also recently changed, so please contact the church office for the updated information if needed.)

In the Community


First UCC in Salem is looking for a Music Director. Contact our church office for a copy of the job description.


We're invited...

Westminster Presbyterian Church

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3737 Liberty Rd. S 

Salem, OR 97302

PHONE: 503-364-3327

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