Litchfield Presbyterian

We Pray for Haiti

Millions of people have been affected by a major earthquake that struck the country of Haiti on Tuesday, January 12. As the extent of the devastation in Haiti gradually becomes clear, people of faith and good will search for meaningful responses. Our first response is to join our hearts in prayer:

Let us pray,

God of compassion

Please watch over the people of Haiti,

Surround those who have been affected by this tragedy

with a sense of your ever-present love,

and hold them in faith.

Though they are overwhelmed by grief,

May they find in you some comfort;

Guide us as a church

to find ways of providing assistance

that may heal wounds and give hope.

Help us to remember that when one of your children is injured

we all suffer – Amen.

Beyond our prayers, there are other important ways we can help. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has issued an emergency appeal for Haiti. As I write, the exact number of casualties is still not known, nor is the full extent of the damage; however, reports indicate that tens of thousands – possibly hundreds of thousands – of people are feared dead and countless others have been left homeless.

The following is taken from the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) website. “The Haitian infrastructure was already in a fragile state. The earthquake has caused widespread damage of homes and other buildings as well as damage to water, electrical and road systems. Symbols of security such as schools, hospitals and churches have been damaged or destroyed.”

PDA Response

PDA is rushing an initial $100,000 from One Great Hour of Sharing and designated funds to help provide immediate emergency relief to the affected people. Funds are being sent through our ecumenical and local partners working in Haiti.

PC(USA) mission co-worker Carlos Cardenas is joining an ecumenical team through the Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance going to Haiti to help with the response and needs assessments.

What you can do

You can stand in the gap for disaster survivors and help the church in this response.

GIVE. The generous sharing of your financial blessings through the One Great Hour of Sharing offering and special designated giving provide resources needed to assist with immediate and long-term recovery needs.

Individuals may give through your local Presbyterian congregation, on the secure PC(USA) Web site:

https://www.pcusa.org/give/online/projectSelectAction.do?numberString=DR000064

or by sending a check to:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Please include the special designated giving account DR000064 – Haiti.

ACT. Stay informed and share information on the need with others. Sign up to receive PDA-RIN email notices to alert you of additional needs. Consider making Gift of the Heart hygiene kits. A shipment of hygiene kits is being prepared by Church World Service to send to Haiti. When widespread disasters occur, there is usually a need to replenish the supply to ensure a sufficient quantity for future disaster situations.

Commander Jim Spotts in Haiti

Jim and Bekki Spotts have been members of our church for about two years now.  Both Jim and Bekki are graduates of the United States Coast Guard Academy, and Jim is currently serving as commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutter Tahoma.  As this newsletter is printed, Jim and the crew of the Tahoma are engaged in life-saving relief efforts in Haiti.  On Friday, January 15 a feature article appeared in the Washington Post detailing the work that Jim is heading up in Haiti.

According to the article, “At first 10 children came, then 20, then 50. Finally, more than 100 young earthquake victims crowded into the clinic, where crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma were delivering desperately needed medical supplies and assistance late into the night.

“It was one of those days where we didn’t keep count. We treated a bunch of kids. We saved a lot of lives,” said Cmdr. Jim Spotts, commanding officer of the Tahoma, weary but still working with his crew at 9:15 p.m. But, he added, “a lot of older people had to wait.”

According to the article, Jim “brings his own expertise on Haiti. A former Coast Guard intelligence manager who has worked both the northeast and southeast marine borders near Canada and the Caribbean, Spotts from July 2008 until last May served as military liaison to Haiti at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince — contributing to largest previous relief operations in the region, after four hurricanes smashed Haiti in 2008.

Tuesday’s earthquake, Spotts said, left his former colleagues reeling. At Haiti’s century-old former Admiral Killick naval base, now a Coast Guard station that houses a Sri Lankan battalion and a Uruguayan maritime police unit that are part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, “only two or three structures” are left standing. It’s been hard,” Spotts said. “Obviously we need medical supplies . . . then food and water, and essentially the rebuilding of the entire city of Port-au-Prince,”  Spotts said.”

Please pray for Jim and Bekki, their children Meredith and Ben, and for the crew of the Tahoma and the people of Haiti in these very difficult days.

New Church Lending Library Opens

We are pleased to announce the opening of the Litchfield Presbyterian Church lending library. The church library contains over 1500 volumes and is organized into categories such as, Bible, Biblical History and Interpretation, Doctrinal Theology, Practical Theology, Philosophy, World Religions, and so on. There is also a large collection of children’s books. For more information, including a listing of all the books, visit www.litchfieldchurch.org/library.

The library is located next to the choir room and is open whenever the church is open. To sign out a book, visit the library and make your selection. Right the name of the book and the date you borrowed it on the sign-out sheet located on the reading desk. Books may be signed out by any member or friend of the church and may be borrowed for two weeks at a time. When you return the book, please note the return date on the sign-up sheet and leave the book on the desk for reshelving. The library will operate on the honor system, and we know that everyone will be respectful and will sign out and return books appropriately.

Many thanks to Elder Peter Dobratz for organizing and cataloging the library, and to pastor Steve Quinlan for the donation of many of the books. Please stop in and browse our new church library – Sunday morning after worship would be a good time!

Audio Recordings of Sermons Now Available

Pastor Quinlan is now recording his sermons and making them available on the website for you to listen to at your leisure.  For the most recent messages preached at Litchfield Presbyterian, A Community Church, visit www.litchfieldchurch.org/sermons

Second Saturday Community Breakfast

We at Litchfield Presbyterian believe in the importance of community. Community means people being together with their neighbors and friends, strengthening the bonds of friendship and mutual support. Because community is so important to us all, the members and friends of the Litchfield Presbyterian Church are pleased to offer a free Community Breakfast on the second Saturday of each month. Any and all residents of Litchfield are invited to join us from 7 to 10 a.m. on every second Saturday for a delicious breakfast and good fellowship. Breakfast consists of scrambled or fried eggs, bacon, sausage, home fried potatoes, home-baked muffins, coffee, and juice. There is no charge for breakfast, however donations are gladly accepted. The dates for the next community breakfasts are February 13 (a special Valentine’s Day theme!), and March 13.

Annual St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner

Let’s get together and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! Invite your neighbors and friends and come to share a delicious traditional Irish dinner of corned beef and cabbage. Dinner will be served on St. Patrick’s Day, Wednesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. The dinner is free of charge and open to the entire Litchfield community. See you there!

Are You and Your Spouse Speaking the Same Language

That is one of the questions the author Gary Chapman poses in his book The Five Love Languages. According to noted marriage and family counselor, Dr. Chapman, “People express love in different ways. If you express love in a way your spouse doesn’t understand, he or she won’t realize you’ve expressed your love at all! The problem is you’re speaking two different languages.”

If you would like to know more about the “Love Languages” and how you can more effectively communicate your love to your spouse, you are invited to be a part of our newest Couples Group. The group will meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 at Riverside cottage and will discuss The Five Love Languages. We will meet for 8 weeks starting on Tuesday, February 9 and continuing through the end of March. The group is open to all couples – married or otherwise. The book The Five Love Languages is available at Amazon.com or in Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores.  There is also a copy in the church library.

New Food Pantry Hours

In addition to its regular hour or operation: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00 to noon, starting in February the Community Food Pantry will be open Monday evening from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Pass the word.

Did You Know… ?

• that Pastor Steve will be making digital audio recordings of our weekly sermons and they will be available online on our website?
• that our church is sponsoring a free breakfast every 2nd Saturday of the month from 7 a.m. – 10 a.m?
• that Kim and Joe Tinkham are expecting their first child in July?
• that James and Jen Dabrowski are having a girl in May?
• that on Dec 20th the church and the Lions club went caroling and visited 15 families here in town?
• that Candace Hale has moved to Hanover Hill on Hanover St in Manchester, NH?
• that Jean Allen is now residing at Fairview Nursing home in Hudson, NH?
• that Joan Hall is residing at Room 201, Bentley Commons, 66 Hawthorne Dr, Bedford, NH 03110?
• that our annual meeting will be held on Sunday, January 24th after worship?

If you have any info to add to our did you know column please contact Terry Jefferson.

Faith and Worship Committee News

Happy New Year to all! A big thank you to those who helped decorate the sanctuary for Christmas and to those who brought poinsettias.

As always this committee is working to make our worship services are meaningful and to address the prayer needs of the congregation. We work to coordinate the music with the theme of the sermons and provide guidance to the choir in choosing music. Anyone wishing to participate in providing special music for a service is encouraged to talk to any committee member so arrangements will be made.

Now that the holiday season is over and the decorations are put away, we are looking to beautify the sanctuary for services. Especially with all the snow and ice outside, it would be nice to have flowers inside to help remind us that spring is coming. We will be asking for volunteers to bring in a flower arrangement on Sundays. The arrangement can be in honor or in memory of a loved one. If interested, please let us know.

Terry Jefferson continues to keep track of our prayer concerns for the bulletin. Starting with this issue of the Lamplighter, she will be including those concerns in a new article along with other news from our members. We hope that this will encourage all of us to pray faithfully for each other. Thank you, Terry, for volunteering to do this for us.

May you all be blessed in 2010.

Betty Scofield

Prayer Shawl Ministry – Coming Soon

Have you ever wondered what you could do to help a friend who is ill, grieving, or in pain? Do you listen to prayer concerns in church and wish that you could do more? A prayer shawl combines a love of knitting (or crochet) with prayers and blessings to reach out to those in need of comfort. A prayer shawl ministry is a group of people (yes, including men!) who work together to create, bless, and present the shawls.

We are going to start this ministry here at Litchfield Presbyterian. If you can knit or crochet or would like to learn, or if you can help with fundraising for yarn or making prayer cards, this could be a rewarding experience for you.

Meetings will be held monthly and our first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 20 at 7 p.m. Details will be announced in church or you can contact Betty Scofield for more information.

Birthdays

January 9: Alyssa Hilson
January 15: Jennifer Couture
January 20: James Dabrowski
January 25: Elaine Durand
January 27: Jan Hilson
January 31: Kyle Hilson
February 2: Matt McQuesten
February 2: Joe Tinkham
February 16: Christie McQuesten
February 18: Janine Danzi
February 20: Cindy Couture
February 28: Barb Edwards
March 13: Chris Pelonzi
March 13: Don Edwards
March 13: Jacob McQuesten
March 22: Michael Couture