December 2020—January 2021 News from Hope and the Southern Province Advent-ing Christmas… When we consider the word advent, many images come to mind….a beginning, newness, an announcement, a season of the church year, good news, a revelation/vision, an angel’s greeting, preparation...just to name a few. But 2020 has been nothing if not different for all of us. Does the Advent of Christ speak to us still today? Let’s begin by saying, this has been a very threatening year for me and for many of the people in my life. I have always lived a life connected to people. My family, my peers, my fellow church members, students, childhood friends and mentors have expressed deep and anxious thoughts in the midst of this pandemic and national transition. And so Advent 2020 is something different and strange. But if the word advent continues to have meaning, then the heart of the word still gives hope to the world just as it did over 2000 years ago. The nation of Israel was struggling to find a way to live out the spirit of the Law and keep the heart of the faith. Rome was demanding money, allegiance and submission to foreign Deities. The people of the land were looking for a way to serve God and live a Godly life as expressed in Micah the Prophet: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. And Mary and Joseph were trying to wrap their minds around an Advent Announcement that the Messiah would be born to the Holy Family in a little town with few credentials and little significance. So, Friends, for me Advent still speaks to our world while we wait in the darkness of doubt, fear and disease. The God who deliberately chose Angels to speak to Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds speaks to a waiting world (Continued on page 2) From the Interim Pastor
Transcript
December 2020—January 2021
News from Hope and
the Southern Province
Advent-ing Christmas…
When we consider the word advent, many images come to mind….a beginning, newness, an announcement, a season of the church year, good news, a revelation/vision, an angel’s greeting, preparation...just to name a few. But 2020 has been nothing if not different for all of us. Does the Advent of Christ speak to us still today?
Let’s begin by saying, this has been a very threatening year for me and for many of the people in my life. I have always lived a life connected to people. My family, my peers, my fellow church members, students, childhood friends and mentors have expressed deep
and anxious thoughts in the midst of this pandemic and national transition. And so Advent 2020 is something different and strange.
But if the word advent continues to have meaning, then the heart of the word still gives hope to the world just as it did over 2000 years ago. The nation of Israel was struggling to find a way to live out the spirit of the Law and keep the heart of the faith. Rome was demanding money, allegiance and submission to foreign Deities. The people of the land were looking for a way to serve God and live a Godly life as expressed in Micah the Prophet:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
And Mary and Joseph were trying to wrap their minds around an Advent Announcement that the Messiah would be born to the Holy Family in a little town with few credentials and little significance.
So, Friends, for me Advent still speaks to our world while we wait in the
darkness of doubt, fear and disease. The God who deliberately chose Angels to speak to Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds speaks to a waiting world
(Continued on page 2)
From the Interim Pastor
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through the Word, the Advent Wreath, the Lighted Star in our church and the soft glow of candles in the night.
Let US hear the call of Advent this year with ears tuned to the music of
the Angel’s chorus: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men.” And let us be advent-ing Christmas this year
with all the joy and hope that we can hold in our hearts. Amen.
(Continued from page 1)
- Pastor David
Date Week Indoor Worship
Live-stream
Worship Total
10/4/2020 1 20 30 50
10/11/2020 2 17 29 46
10/18/2020 3 20 30 50
10/25/2020 4 20 29 49
Average 19 30 49
Date Week Indoor Worship
Live-stream
Worship Total
11/1/2020 1 19 32 51
11/8/2020 2 17 29 46
11/15/2020 3 18 30 48
11/22/2020 4 17 28 45
11/29/2020 5 18 32 50
Average 18 30 48
Date Week Outdoor Worship
Live-stream
Combined
Worship
6/7/2020 1 28 27 55
6/14/2020 2 31 25 56
6/21/20 3 30 28 58
6/28/2020 4 32 28 60
Average 30 27 57
Date Week Outdoor Worship
Live-stream
Combined
Worship
7/5/2020 1 33 24 57
7/12/2020 2 32 25 57
7/19/2020 3 38 26 64
7/26/2020 4 34 25 59
Average 34 25 59
Date Week Outdoor Worship
Live-stream
Combined
Worship
9/6/2020 1 27 + 19LR 21 67
9/13/2020 2 38 27 65
9/20/2020 3 30 26 56
9/27/2020 4 27 29 56
Average 35 26 61
Date Week Outdoor Worship
Live-stream
Combined
Worship
8/2/2020 1 36 24 60
8/9/2020 2 36 27 63
8/16/2020 3 35 28 63
8/23/2020 4 38 26 64
8/30/2020 5 37 30 67
Average 36 27 63
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From Max Spaugh, Vice-Chairman Hope Moravian Church Board | Board Report for
2020
Dear Community of Hope,
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused grief and hardship for many people in the world and in our community. We hope you and your loved ones are well physically, mentally, and fi-nancially.
As Vice-Chairman of the church board I want to extend my thanks to everyone for your faithfulness to our church community in 2020. It is only through the sharing of your time, gifts and service that we can continue to share Christ in our community.
As we look back on 2020, I wanted to share with you some of our major events and high-lights that include the following...
Jarred Poupore resigned as Hope Church Treasurer on June 2, 2020. Jarred’s service as church treasurer began September 2018. We thank Jarred for his dedicated ser-vice to Hope as treasurer
We welcome Gerald Spaugh to the position of Hope Church Treasurer. The board had 3 candidates for the position and Gerald was chosen as our new treasurer at the June 18, 2020 board meeting. The board voted to make this a paid position as the last 2 treasurers were volunteers.
Scott Brandon requested and was given a leave of absence at the end of May 2020. At our August 2020 board meeting, Vicky Smith was appointed to serve the remainder of Scott's term which concludes at the end of December 2020. We thank Scott for his time and service as a church board member.
Keith Weatherman resigned from the role of choir director. Keith will continue as band director. Becky Hartzog, will add the role of choir director to her Church Musi-cian responsibilities. Becky was approved as the new choir director at the September 14, 2020 board meeting.
Gerald has prepared the budget for 2021 and has calculated that we would need at least $52,000.00 for a full time pastor. Other options are using a three-quarters time or half-time pastor which would be more reasonable for our congregational size and giving.
Call Process Status: The church board is currently working with David Guthrie (PEC) on a survey sent to board members to complete and return directly to David Guthrie. We currently are waiting to hear back from David Guthrie.
Current Board Members and End of Term Dates:
Mike Wallace: November 2020
Kevin Absher: June 2021
Austin Craver: June 2021
Max Spaugh: November 2020
Jane Polivka: November 2022
(Continued on page 4)
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Linda Worley: November 2022
Ron Reed: November 2022
Vicky Smith: December 2020 (completing term for Scott Brandon)
(Board members with a 2020 term date will continue in their role until a Church Council Meeting can be held.
Projects and Improvements: LED lights and ballasts were replaced in the choir room, the Estelle Johnson class, the hallway entering the fellowship hall, and in the sanctuary.
The Gemeinhaus walkway built by Terry Crater was completed in June 2020 with the cost of $5,351.00 coming in under the bid of $5,500.00. Monies from the Albert Atwood memorial fund partially funded the walkway. In the near future members will be able to purchase memory bricks. More details on this option will be shared at a later date.
The board voted to finish out the Gemeinhaus walkway removing the rocks and replacing with them with dirt and then seed. The estimate for this was $700.00. Gerald and I volunteered to take care of this bill with funds from the Ruth and Dean Spaugh memori-al fund.
Lennox repair and HVAC replacements: The Lennox MPB mini-split heat pump that heats/cools the church office and pastor’s office was able to be repaired instead of having to replace the entire system at a repair cost of $954.00. The HVAC replacements for both 5 ton units were replaced at a total cost of $18,595.00. The two units provide heating/cooling for the sanctuary, the lovefeast kitchen and the Christian Education Building.
The Fellowship hall kitchen was upgraded (Scott Brandon contracted for the upgrade) with stainless steel counters and new faucets this summer. The upgrade was paid for by the Hope Women’s Fellowship and was completed in November.
The Old graveyard fence replacement has been tabled for now as Bradd Craver is currently working with the Moravian Archives SP to get mapping information for the gravesite.
Emily and Odell Cheek have asked and been granted permission to add a graveyard bench dedicated in memory of Albert Atwood in the Hope God’s acre. Estimates are in being gathered for the bench and a plaque or sign. We will then give the estimates to Odell and Emily and the project should be completed by this spring, hopefully before Easter.
Services for Christmas Lovefeast and Candlelight Services: A Christmas Lovefeast and Candle Light Service will be held for members on Sunday December 20 at 10:00am and a Christmas Eve Lovefeast and Candlelight Service for the community will be held December 24 at 4:00pm. Both services will be held in the sanctuary. Reservations will be required for the Christmas Eve Service.
Columbarium Update: Pastor David is in contact with the contractor who managed the columbarium project at Unity Moravian Church. David will gather estimates for cost from start to finish and report back to the board at next board meeting December 8.
Austin Craver is currently researching and getting an estimate for technical upgrades to our sanctuary to enhance our service experience, including a large screen display, speakers, camera, and other accessories we’re looking at around $3,000.00 which will come from the Margie Allen Memorial Fund.
(Continued from page 3)
(Continued on page 5)
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The board looked into an electronic sign upgrade but found our church to be in a residen-tial zoning district that doesn’t allow electronic message boards. The cost to rezone, and possibility of moving our current sign location further back from the road, and upgrade costs were too great to pursue.
In Christ,
(Continued from page 4)
- Max Spaugh, Vice-chair of the Hope Church Board
- Linda Worley - Jane Polivka
Operation Christmas Child Update Operation Christmas Child was successful again this year under the current circum-stances. We had 11 boxes delivered. We are grateful to all those who were able to help us out in this difficult year. The box-es went to Pinedale Christian Church, who shared that their totals are down this year as well. Hopefully next year will be much better. Again, thanks to all who were able to contribute.
Forsyth County Family Services Women’s Shelter-Moravian Day of Service Project Update I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this great cause, and especially the Hope Women’s Fellowship for gift-ing night shirts of multiple sizes as well as panties, and socks....all of these items were gathered to make welcome kits for those coming to the shelter on their first night, scared, frightened, and mostly with nothing...“this could easily be a sister, daughter, aunt, friend” Thank you all again for your support!
Canned Tomato Products Pasta Noodles Canned Fruit Powdered Milk Peanut Butter Our standard non-food items are:
Toilet Paper Soap
Laundry Detergent
Shampoo Toothbrushes and Toothpaste
Supporting Sunnyside Ministry | Food Collection
We invite you to help support Sunnyside Ministry each Sunday morning by bringing non-perishable food items to worship. Please leave your donations inside the door of the vestibule. Thank you so much for your support!
The Moravian Church has experienced spiritual renewal and strength through a covenant of prayer. In 1727, the church in Herrnhut, Germany covenanted for an hourly intercession which continued for one hundred years with great blessing to the entire Moravian Church. The Prayer Watch in which Moravians around the world participate was reestablished in 1957, the 500th anniversary of the Unitas Fratrum.
The Unity Synod of 2009 reaffirmed this covenant and added new provinces to the list reducing the number of days of responsibility of the Southern Province from previous years. The prayer watch means
prayer is being offered somewhere in the Unity 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The church has gained a great deal of strength in good times and in times of difficulty through prayer.
We urge everyone in the Southern Province to participate fully in this effort by establishing continuous prayer throughout the day to which you have been assigned. Hope Moravian’s assigned prayer date is January 8, 2021 from 4:00PM until Midnight. Sign-up infor-
mation and prayer guides will be sent out by email in the coming weeks. You may also request a printed copy of the prayer guide to be mailed to you if you don’t have email by
calling the church office at 336-765-8017.
Prayer Time For Hope
Friday January 8, 2021
4:00pm until Midnight
Year End Contributions – As we all scramble to make year-end contributions to the Church or other charities, please remem-ber that in order for a contribu-tion to be deducted in 2020, it must be “delivered” in 2020. This
means that year end checks must be dated in 2020 and either phys-ically delivered to the Church by year end or mailed and post-marked by December 31, 2020. Thanks!
Start Your Christmas Shopping Today!
Start your Christmas shopping now with #MoravianSwag! These items are perfect stocking stuffers and are great for people of all ages! We have added several new items this year including a new Moravian Star PopSockets, Faith-Love-Hope Cutting Board, and face masks. The best part? Your purchase directly benefits the work of
the Board of Cooperative Ministries, particularly leadership and youth development as well as the creation of new Moravian resources.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. 2020 has been a time for change, a time for reflection, a time for growth, a time for
something completely unexpected. For many, it has been a year of adjustment, and for some, it has been a year of loss. For the Board of World Mission, it has been a year of planning, a year of organizing, and a year of evaluating. While we know what this year has been, we ponder what the new year will bring. Will it be a season of working from home? Will it be a season of hugging your loved ones? Will it be a season of hope? Even as the pandemic continues and our hurricane relief in Central America be-gins, we choose to believe that 2021 is a year of hope and we are ready to spread that hope all around the world, even if it means doing so from our own living rooms. Help us reach our last 2020 goal of gaining 20 new monthly donors who give at least $20 a month. To be a part of our mission visit moravianmission.org and click “Give.”
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a much better New Year!!
With Joy and Hope, The Moravian Board of World Mission
Moravian Archives December 2020
HOLIDAY PHOTO CONTEST. Now thru December 31, submit your photo of how you or your family or your congregation celebrated distinctly this pandemic holiday season. All who submit photos will be entered into a drawing for an original Herrnhuter Moravian star. Send photos (minimum 150dpi, 300dpi preferred) with your name, description and church affiliation to [email protected]. Photos submitted become property of Moravian Archives to document this experience in the Moravian community. WATCH ANYTIME NOW. Our Supporters Night Video “We Gather Together,” describing the work
of the Moravian Archives in 2019-2020, is now ac-cessible online. The sixteen-minute video features staff, friends and volunteers sharing their experi-ences of the year; and it offers ways for you to help now through 2021. JEE https://youtu.be/i5jKHGfN3JQ
Church Office: 336.765.8017 [email protected] www.hopemoraviannc.org Worship Service 10:00am Sunday School 11:05am
2759 Hope Church Road Winston-Salem, NC 27127-8773 Address Correction Requested
Hope Moravian Church
Acolytes: Linda Worley, Keith Weatherman
Church Board Members 2020 2021 2022
Mike Wallace Austin Craver Jane Polivka
Max Spaugh Kevin Absher Linda Worley
Vicky Smith Ron Reed
Church Directory
Rev. David H. Merritt .............................. Interim Pastor
Max Spaugh .......... Vice-Chairman, Hope Church Board Ron Reed .................................................... Head Usher Bobby Jones ................................ Assistant Head Usher Keith Weatherman ................................. Band Director Becky Hartzog ......... Church Musician & Choir Director Linda Worley ................................. Nursery Coordinator Linda Worley and Kathy Gerald ............. Sunday School .................... Superintendents—Curriculum and Social
Max Spaugh and Austin Craver .... RCC Representatives Linda Worley ............ Nursery Coordinator and Children’s ................................................ Church Ministry Leader
Kenny & Janice Butner ........ Older Adult Representatives Nicole Crabbe .................................................. Sacristan Debbie Jones ........................................... Asst. Sacristan Debbie Jones .................................... Flower Coordinator Vicky Smith ........................ Kitchen & Chicken Pie Chair Debbie Jones ............................................... Head Diener Heather Branch ........................... Assistant Head Diener Mark Edwards ............................................ Coffeemaker Terri Merritt ..................... Women’s Fellowship President Nicole Crabbe .................................................. Archivist Nicole Crabbe ........................ Church Council Secretary Bobby Jones & Ron Reed ............. Graveyard Committee Mike Smith & Bobby Jones .... Maintenance Coordinators Gerald Spaugh ................................................. Treasurer Susan Weatherman ................. Administrative Assistant
