Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service will take place on Tuesday, December 24th at 7:00 PM.  This service of scripture and carols is the perfect way to begin the Christmas holiday and reaffirm the true reason for the season.  Be sure to invite your family and friends!

Memorial Poinsettias

We are currently taking orders for memorial poinsettias.   This year the cost will be $7 per plant.  Our worship and music committee will be arranging the plants and they will be on display the remainder of the Advent season.  The plants may be taken home or given to a shut-in after the Christmas Eve service.

If you wish to order a memorial poinsettia, please stop by the church office and fill out a form, with payment, no later than Sunday, December 15th.  The list of memorials/honorees will be printed in the worship bulletin for the Sunday, December 22nd and the Christmas Eve services.

Bible Study Update

During December the Bible Study group will be meeting on Wednesday, December 11th and Wednesday, December 18th at 9:30 AM.  For the 11th we will be discussing Romans 3:21 through 8:39.  For the 18th we will finish Romans.

Beginning in January we will be challenging ourselves to read the Bible in a year.  We will be using "The Year of the Bible: An Enhanced Guide to Reading Scripture Together" by James E. Davison as our guide.  If you are interested in participating in this please see Reverend Fry to get a copy of the guide book.  We would love to have some new members join us in the new year!

Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign

This holiday season the Mission committee is helping with the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign.  We have signed up to ring the bell and collect donations on three different dates.  This past Saturday a few church members (including the three above!) rang the bell at Tops in Batavia during the afternoon.   We would love for other congregation members to participate.

The remaining times we need help with are:

Friday, December 6th from 2-5 PM at the LeRoy Tops

Wednesday, December 11th from 5-7 PM at the Batavia Walmart

If you are willing to help, please contact Susan Boyle at 704-2495.  You don't have to do the whole time slot, we can split it up among different people.  Thanks for your help!

Book Club News

The book club will be having our Christmas gathering on Tuesday, December 17th at 6 PM at Sunny's Restaurant.  The book we will be discussing is "The Dog Who Danced" by Susan Wilson.  We would like to invite everyone to join us for this evening of fun whether you have read the book or not!  If you would like to attend, RSVP to Susan Boyle at 704-2495 or call the church office at 344-2931.

From BarnesandNoble.com:

If there’s been a theme in Justine Meade’s life, it’s loss. Her mother, her home, even her son. The one bright spot in her loss-filled life, the partner she could always count on, was Mack, her grey and black Sheltie – that is, until she is summoned back to her childhood home after more than twenty years away. 

Ed and Alice Parmalee are mourning a loss of their own. Seven years after their daughter was taken from them, they’re living separate lives together. Dancing around each other, and their unspeakable heartbreak, unable to bridge the chasm left between them. When they find a little black and gray dog by the side of the road, they take him in. 

Fiercely loyal, acutely perceptive and guided by a herd dog’s instinct, Mack has a way of bringing out the best in his humans. Whether it’s as Justine’s partner, or just the ebb and flow of a family’s rhythms, it’s as though the little Shetland Sheepdog was born to bring people together. 

Everyone needs Mack.  But to whom does the little dog who danced belong? 

Giving Tree

Through December 15th we will be collecting for the annual Giving Tree.  The funds raised will be used to help area families who are in need this holiday season.  In previous years our congregation has been very generous with support and we hope that you will consider helping once again with this worthy cause.

Donations can be placed in the collection plate in an envelope designated for the Giving Tree or they can be given to Jocelyn Barie (409-1349).

If you are aware of a family who should be considered to receive assistance this holiday season, please contact Jocelyn or a member of the Mission Committee.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Christmas Cantata

EBPC is excited that the choir will once again be doing a Christmas Cantata this year.   The cantata, "The Heart of Christmas", will take place on Sunday, December 22nd during the regular 10:30 AM Worship service.   The choir will be led by Mark Barie and accompanied by Beth Funderburk.  This is a great service to invite your friends and family to so be sure to share the date with them.  For more information contact the church office at 344-2931.

Thank You!!

The Christian Education Committee would like to thank the entire congregation for your support of our Annual Holiday Happenings Craft & Vendor show that was held on Saturday, November 9th.  This year was our biggest year yet!  For the first time we had vendors on both floors and we expanded our Chinese Auction to include more than 50 items.  We received many generous donations from our church family for the bake sale, kitchen and Chinese auction.  In addition, many people came out to help the day of the event or to shop with our many vendors.  Thank you for helping to make this our most profitable Holiday Happenings yet!!

Clothing Donations

The Mission Committee has recently begun collecting donations for a community clothing closet.  We are looking for donations of gently used men's, women's & children's clothing.  We are in the process of setting up "Bethany's Closet" in a room downstairs where we will be able to have people from the community who are in need come in to our church and "shop".  Thanks to Roberta & Phil Tracy the room has recently been painted and racks have been put up.  If you know of anyone who could benefit from this service, please contact a member of the Mission Committee--Susan Boyle, Audrey Kellogg, Edna Wenhold, Jocelyn Barie or Roberta Tracy.

Any donations can be left in the Fellowship Hall and the committee will take care of getting them sorted and added to the clothing room.

Thank you for your help!!