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THE MAIN SPRING December 2015

Message from the Pastor Dear Christ Memorial Family, It is that ADVENT time of year again when we are all in different ways engaged in preparing for Christmas. Whether it is in housecleaning or soul-cleaning, preparing for family reunions or filling food baskets for the needy, shopping or thinking of friends far and near, most of us are spending time in several of these activities. We go around wishing each other the PEACE of Christmas, and thinking we aren’t getting much of it. We know what that feeling is at the same time that too many of us don’t feel much of it because we are so busy getting ready for it. What is wrong with this picture?? Actually, we can do something about it—it calls for a “spiritual tune-up” and it doesn’t take any more time than you are already spending. It simply involves thinking about why you are doing the things you are doing and who you are doing them for, all during the time you are doing them. It sounds simple, but it is something we so easily forget. It takes a little focus and practice, but it is guaranteed to bring good results---it is guaranteed to give you some of that Christmas PEACE that we wish each other. Concentrate your thinking, when you are waiting in line and getting impatient, or when you are sitting in traffic or when you think you are just too tired to stop on one more errand, concentrate your thinking on the blessings that the people who are the reason for your errands bring to your life. Concentrate your thinking on how blessed you are to have them in your life. Then expand that thinking to how blessed we are to have the REASON FOR THE SEASON. It may sound over simple, but if you try it, I guarantee you will catch some moments of PEACE which will refresh you and give you strength. What you will be feeling is the very presence of the Christ whose coming we are preparing for. The Christ who came once in history and who has been present with us in spirit ever since. Those beautiful words of John (1:14). And the word became flesh and dwelled among us… Those words say it all! For nearly 2000 years, Christians around the world celebrate the amazing good news that the God who created us all is not just a remote divinity somewhere out there in the universe. No, he came to us through his Son, the very real flesh and blood who actually lived with us on earth and whose spirit stays with us. Why? Because God loved us that much! Yes, the REASON FOR THE SEASON is LOVE. All the physical and spiritual preparations we engage in really arise from love and should be reflections of it, not burdens. That’s what I mean by adjusting our thinking—reminding ourselves why we are doing what we are doing. And, if you need any help or encouragement in doing that, COME AND WORSHIP WITH US AT CHRIST MEMORIAL. Come and join us if you want to feel the presence of Christ near you, if you want to feel the PEACE of this season. If you want to feel that presence and see His work in the world, you will find it here at His Holy Table. You will hear it in the music we make together. You will see it in the joy and enthusiasm of the Sunday School children, and you will hear it in the exuberant noise of our coffee hours. Come and be part of the spirit of Christmas! My prayer for you all is that you may experience the peace and joy of this season—that you may feel the presence of the Word Made Flesh in all that you do in the days of this season. Have a Blessed Christmas as you Spread God’s Love Around You and Receive It In Return and have a Wonderful and Spirit-Filled New Year as well. In Christ, Pastor Paula+

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Altar Guild We are fast approaching the Christmas season and the poinsettias have been ordered. Anyone wishing to give in memory of a loved one, may give a donation to either Mabel or me, or leave in the collection plate. Please be sure to include the name of your loved one so we can update our list. Pat Z. has been creating beautiful window arrangements throughout the year and we look forward to seeing what she has in store for us for the Winter scenes. Thank you Pat! As we reported last year, we had many of our brass items polished and we have now had these items “powder coated”, which will preserve them for many, many years to come. One of the items, the Advent wreath, was powder coated, but this put on just enough of a coating to make it impossible to slide into the stand. Our Junior Warden worked with these items and was able to make them fit just perfectly. Thank you Charlie!!!. I feel blessed that I am a part of such a loving and giving Church family and I am truly thankful to everyone for their help and support. This includes the ladies of the Altar Guild who are always there when a need arises. God bless you all. Sandi Nurek Directress in progress

Christmas Baskets The ECW will be making Christmas Baskets for needy families in our community. We are asking for donations; potato, squash, stuffing, cranberry sauce, canned vegetables, gravy and fruit for a wonderful Christmas dinner. The ECW will provide the turkeys, pies and rolls. You can also make a monetary donation. Also, while these children receive free breakfast and lunch while in school, you may also donate other food items to help the families while the children are out of school on Christmas Vacation. Suggested items include cereal, canned soups, and granola bars. Every little bit helps. We will be collecting these items now through Thursday, December 17th. You may put your donations in the designated boxes in the undercroft. Thank you for your generous giving. If you have any questions, please contact: Tina Buzzell 508-867-6367 or Mary Hawes 508-885-6815. ECW Christmas Basket schedule:

Thursday, December 17th at (time will be announced) in the undercroft we will be unloading food items from the Elementary School donations and sorting.

Friday, December 18th at 1:00 pm in the undercroft we will be preparing the Christmas baskets.

Saturday, December 19th at 9:00 am we will meet in the undercroft and we will deliver the Christmas baskets. Anyone wishing to help please come. Many hands make light work!

Anyone who would like to submit announcements or photos to the website can send them to saintpaulas@gmail.com. Please send photos in the JPEG format only.

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Vestry News Bishop Fisher came for his visit October 25. He met with the vestry after service. It was a nice visit we always enjoy having him with us. Our monthly outreach monies for Sept and Oct went to person in need from the North Brookfield Senior Center and an accident victim in Connecticut, friend of a vestry member. The day long retreat for the vestry members was cancelled will be scheduled at a later date. We purchased a new guest book. Mabel Buzzell was unanimously approved as the Pastoral Care Coordinator. New Prayer books have been ordered to replace those that are very worn. Mary Martin, Clerk

The Red Door Fair - Kitchen Report The Kitchen wasn’t as busy as last year, but

fortunately, we increased our prices and still made close to $230.00. We had new and experienced ”staff” this year and they were all awesome. We seemed to have spurts of groups coming to eat a sandwich, soup, chowder, apple crisp or just to take something home to eat. We served close to 40 sandwiches this year, as compared to over 50 last year. It was still a great day and I’d like to thank all of the many people who donating their time and food, setting up, helping in the kitchen, waitressing, cashier, cleaning up etc. God Bless you, Sandi

Items needed in the Food Pantry Canned pasta – Chef Boyardee type – ravioli, beefaroni, etc. Spaghetti sauce Tuna Soups – Progresso types Canned chicken Mayo Snacks for kids (for the school

vacation) Shelf stable milk or dry milk

Bible Trivia Night Christ Memorial hosted its first Bible Trivia Night Nov. 20th and it was a wonderful success! All who attended arrived nervous but left having had an awesome time! Join us for the next one in the spring where Methuselah's Crew will defend their first place title!

We are now on facebook. Check it out.

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Diocesan Development Grants

Once again the diocese has made funds available to parishes for development and outreach projects. Two years ago we received a generous grant which enabled us to convert to gas heat--a big saving for us and for our environment. Vestry is looking for ideas to apply for another grant this year, for a development project for the church or to start up an outreach project to benefit the needy in our community. If you have any suggestions, please sent them to Pastor Paula, the Wardens or Vestry Members.

Prayer Shawl Gatherings The Prayer Shawl Gatherings will begin again in March. We will look into not only making prayer shawls, but hats for chemo patients, hats and mittens for the homeless, and prayer cloths which are small replicas of shawls/blankets for praying or meditation. We look forward to suggestions and fellowship in 2016! Ginny Grenier

Bible Study Monday afternoon group We are in the process of studying John's 2nd letter. We will be soon studying Revelations. It is very interesting. There is so much we can learn. All are welcome to join us. We start at 1:15 and are done by 2:45. Hope to see you soon, Lois

Please add these change of addresses to your church directory

William & Marie Salsman 691 Dennison Dr. Southbridge, MA 01550 508-909-6290 wsalsman@gmail.com

Stacey Smith staceysmith1971@msn.com Gail Audette galedette@msn.com Scott Bylund 24 Grove Street, Apt 6 North Brookfield, MA 01535 508-344-6797

CHURCH CLOSING INFORMATION In case of bad weather, you can find out if Christ Memorial will be closed by watching the closings on Channel 4, 5 or 7. In addition, you can choose to log on to www.whdh.com and click on "school closings" in the navigation bar. You will need to input your cell phone number, the name of your carrier and can then choose all the schools, organizations you wish to be alerted about. (You can get school closings this way also).

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New Members On October 25, at our 9:00 a.m. service at Christ Memorial, we were delighted to host our Diocesan Bishop, Doug Fisher. Bp. Fisher celebrated Holy Eucharist and preached lively sermons--one for children and one for adults, joined us for coffee and met with the Officers and Vestry. At the service, he Confirmed Bill Salsman and Received Marie Salsman into full membership. There was an elegant reception, a congratulatory cake, and a good time was had by all. We welcome the Salsmans warmly as new "official" members of CMC. We also warmly welcome as "official" Melissa Seidler and Amanda, who have transferred into CMC from St. Thomas in Auburn.

New Communicants We recently added 3 New Communicants to CMC. Three members of our Sunday School completed instruction and made their First Communion in October. Congratulations to them and welcome to God's Holy Table! They are: Ayden Salsman, Wyatt Neill, and Rebecca Batchelor.

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Christ Memorial Church P.O. Box 43 133 North Main Street North Brookfield, MA 0153 508-867-2789 christmemorialnb1@verizon.net christmemorialnbm.com Check us out on

HOLIDAY WORSHIP SCHEDULE DECEMBER 2015-JANUARY 2016 Sunday, December 13, 2015 4:00 P.M. Ecumenical Carol Service at St. Joseph’s Church Pot luck supper to follow (CMC brings dessert) Sunday, December 20, 2015 9:00 A.M. Christmas Pageant & Holy Eucharist Thursday, December 24, 2015 5:00 P.M. Christmas Eve – Holy Eucharist Friday, December 25, 2015 9:00 A.M. Christmas Day – Holy Eucharist Sunday, December 27, 2015 9:00 A.M. Morning Prayer

The Main Spring 7