Avon Congregational Church

Email Bulletin<= o:p>

Friday, Septemb= er 5, 2008

Calendar, Announcements, Christian Education

Service Projects, Pr= ayer List; Birthdays

Sunday Sept 7	Homecoming Sunday, Church Open House, Sunday S= chool Registration, services resume 10:30 schedule
Saturday Sept 13	Stone Soup 8:30 – 11:= 30
Sunday Sept 14	Sunday School begins
Saturday Sept 20	Race for the Courageous
Saturday Sept 27	Avon Day, look for ACC and Avon Nursery School Booth
Sunday Nov 2	Heritage Sunday, honoring our longtime members=

Announcements=

Welcome, Benita!

We ar= e pleased and excited to welcome our new Director of Music Ministries, Benita Rose,= who has begun her work with us as of September 1^st. Our picnic following worship today will include a welcome reception for Benita, and = her husband and daughter, Tony Gibbs and Victoria Gibbs. Tony will be singing= and playing our service today. Please welcome them to ACC! =

The Rose-Gibbs Duo were winners in the 2008 International Chamber Music and Ensembles Competition, professional division, 3^rd prize, held = in Boston throughout the months of April and May. Tony Gibbs, holds a M.Mus.= Ed. from University of Connecticut and B.Mus.Ed. from Northwes= tern University, where= he studied saxophone with Fred Hemke. He is recently retired from the positi= on of principal saxophonist with the U. S. Coast Guard Band. As soloist with this ensemble, he has performed throughout the world and for several U.S. presidents. The Rose-Gibbs Duo has performed at various venues, including international saxophone symposiums and chamber music recitals.=

Avon Nursery School Library at Avon Congregational Church<= o:p>

Book Collection Drive

The nursery school = is trying to build its library of books for the children. Currently most of = the selections used in the classroom come from the staff’s own personal collections and those borrowed from the town libraries.=

Donations of age appropriate fact and fiction books that your children m ay have outgrown would be greatly appreciated and well loved. Those wishing to donate a new book would be rewarded with a book plate honoring their generosity. A lis= t of books that would be special treasures is posted on the bulletin board out= side the nursery school classroom. Thank you in advance to all of our library angels for sharing our love of books and literacy.

Joan Parks

Minister Search News

Have you filled out the survey yet= ?

Pastoral Search Surveys: More Info. =

All 4 surveys are ready and available. Now our church’s web site has links to the = on line versions. Go to: www.avon-chu= rch.org. Look under the Pastoral Search Committee heading. Like the printed versio= ns, you can do the on line surveys at your leisure. Answer some questions now= and some later. The software is very smart. You can revisit the survey on lin= e, and finish the questions you didn’t answer. All responses will automatically be emailed to the chair of the Search Committee.

P= LEASE NOTE: Only one It’s All About You Survey should be completed per<= /u> family.

Homecoming Sunday Sept. 7

Kids!

Come in and meet your classroom teachers and hear about our plans for this y= ear. At 10:30 we all attend Congregational Worship, which is followed by an all-church BBQ. Parents, be sure to register your children for Sunday School classes; at 10:00 a.m. a table will be outside the western entra= nce of the church (playground side).

If you have friends or relativ= es who are “church shopping”, this is a good day to invite them = to join you. Visitors can meet the minister and other staff and get a tour of the church. Call Chris Graesser 677-7156 to RSVP or speak to an ush= er on that Sunday.

Service Projects

&nb= sp;

Gifts of Love’s Pantry is nearly empty!

= =

Their critical needs are:

Pasta

Soup

Jelly

Canned vegetables

Baby items

Looking for a Wa= y to Help? Would you like to help = your church but really don't have the time or inclination to attend meetings? The Deacons are looking for people willing to make call= s on your own time -- to coordinate Sunday flower donations, ushers, lay readers, and our Tender L<= /strong>oving C<= /strong>are Ministry (when meals, transportation, or other caring acts are needed wit= hin the church family, calling upon those church members who have already off= ered to provide these services to other members). Each job could be shared with one or two other people, and done for terms shorter than a year.&nbs= p;If you have questions, or would like to volunteer for any of these opportunities, please contact Sue Crowther: 678-0713 or sd= crowther@aol.com. Thank you!

&nb= sp;

Attention runners/walkers. The Race for the Courageous wil= l hold a 5k road race 9/20 at 8= 0 Fisher Drive Avon. The run starts at 9:00 and the walk is at 9:45.

&nb= sp;

For more information and registration please google “race for the courageous”.

&nb= sp;

Neil Pau= l

The Next Stone Soup session will be on Saturday, September 13^th, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Join us in t= he church kitchen while we prepare a meal for Loaves and Fishes, a soup kitchen in = Hartford. C= ome for an hour or the whole morning - we'd love to have you join us!

Christian Education News

Sunday school

officially starts on

September 14^th.<= /i>

If you have not alr= eady registered your child(ren), please do so Sunday Sept 7 at the table outsi= de by the playground door. Thank you!

All children are= welcome in worship this Sunday. Kids,= please ask an usher for an activity sheet and crayons. Following worship our chu= rch family will gather for a picnic and an ice cream social.

Sunday school= starts next Sunday, Septem= ber 14—all children in First-Sixth Grade will = meet in Fellowship Hall following the Children’s Message that day.<= /o:p>

Please Pick Up a= Copy of the new Christian Education booklet, which contains information about our program and special activities and dates. = The booklets are available in Fellowship Hall and at the Sunday School regist= ration table.

= ;

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; ACC

Faith Enrichment Program

&nb= sp; REACHing for Faith

In the upcoming 2008-2009 year, ACC is offering a new small-group faith enrichment opportunity. It’s called REACH – that’= s an acronym for Reconfirmation Experience for Adult Christians.

This program is being offered in the strong belief in the need for the church = to offer something for adults that is analogous to our confirmation program = for youth, taking into account our adult perspectives, experiences, questions= and challenges; it aims to be helpful to those who want to explore their fait= h, deepen it, wrestle with it, or simply become more conscious of the faith = they hold.

We’ll meet once a month from October to April, on a weeknight evening (or, if a= ll participants happen to prefer a daytime, it could be that as well). Meeti= ng preparation will include readings and simple exercises to help us connect with the themes and challenges of the faith journey. At the end, each participant will write and share with the group his or her own Faith Stat= ement.

Please sign up on the hall bulletin board or by calling the church office (678-0488).

Anyone interested is welcome! =

Prayer List:

Family and friends of Marie McCabe – mother of Liz Moore; Family and frien= ds of Greg Parsons – son-in-law of Gladys and Bob August; Janie Aylswo= rth, daughter-in-law of Barbara Aylsworth; Barbara Ruppert

Lynn Adams

Kay Altschwager

Bob August

Gladys August

Jerra Barit

Dick Brown

Jacob Coleman

Lois Crilly

Julia Davis

Stanley Fuller

Anne Jones

John Joyce

Sherry Ave= Lallemant;

Jim Lapides;

Lauren

Jeanne MacGill

Deb Mella;

Pat Parker

Clare Passaur

Philip

Phylis and Heidi, friends of Eleanor Innes

Christopher Renner;

Ernie Rettig

Ella Tall – sister of Alice Noyes

Joe Woodford

all military personnel

=	Birthdays: Sue Smith, Ken Bratton, Abigail Morgan, Samantha Bergen, Lisa Eells, Emma Tierney, Barbara Presutti, Dorothy Olson, Betty Douglas, Enid Greacen, Te= ssa Bratton.

Search Nook in Fellowship Hall= / Search Surveys

A co= rner of our Fellowship Hall has been converted into a comfortable space for yo= u to actively participate in the search process. Three upholstered chairs, a d= esk, and a side table have been grouped together to form a welcoming conversat= ion and communication area.

Please visit regularly to:

1. Check on our progress and activities,
2. See what questions we would like you to answer and <= /p>

3. Pick up and drop off printed congregational surveys.

We have a news binder, a bulletin board with posted questions,
plus a write-in notebook. The posted questions will be the same as those = in the Big Picture Questionnaire. You decide whether you’d like= to answer these questions on a separate survey, or write them in a notebook filled with comments from other church members.

Completed printed surveys may be placed in the desk drawers. All the surveys that w= ill be available at the Search Nook will also be available on-line. If you wo= uld like to take them electronically, please follow these links. The Big Picture Survey is at the end of the Minister Expectations Survey in the on-line version.

Minister Expectations Survey Link: http= ://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=3DbFvB1si_2fKYhdiPQgQEAiww_3d_3d

It's All About Faith Survey Link: http= ://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=3DBX_2fIPtbzguy6ia_2b5g_2bTTRw_3d_3d

It's All About You Survey Link: http= ://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=3DtUKDYN5khcie2OPEc7_2b7_2fA_3d_3d=