Litchfield Presbyterian

New Events Planning and Fund-Raising Committee Announced

Before the town of Litchfield was chartered in the first half of the 18th-century, a church was established in this place. At first it was simply the church at Litchfield, but later became the Litchfield Presbyterian Church. Today we who worship as Litchfield Presbyterian, A Community Church, carry on the tradition of providing a spiritual center for the residents of Litchfield.

Ours is a community church. Besides providing a place of worship and maintaining the weekly preaching of the Gospel, part of our mission is to serve the community. We not only maintain a place for weddings, funerals, and community gatherings, but through our Deacons Ministry and other programs, reach out to those who are in need in our community.

We have been here for over 275 years, but in order to insure that we are here long into the future it is necessary to put our church on sound financial footing. We are a smaller membership congregation and always have been. Today we have just under a hundred members on the church rolls, although a number of non-members and friends of the church worship with us regularly. The costs of maintaining our facilities and providing for the regular preaching of the Gospel outstrip the capacity of the regular giving of our congregation. It is necessary for us to find additional financial resources.

One way to raise funds for our church and to insure its continued service to the community is by holding regular, well-planned, community oriented fund-raising events. To this and we are establishing a permanent Events Planning and Fund-Raising Committee. The task of this committee will be to explore, plan, promote and coordinate a variety of special events throughout the year. Those events we already sponsor will be enhanced and developed. New events will be researched and scheduled.

This is a big job and will require a dedicated group of church members and friends. Shortly, some of you may be invited to serve on our New Events Planning and Fund-Raising Committee. We hope that you will seriously consider this opportunity to serve your church and your community and to help us continue the long tradition of the church at the center of Litchfield – Litchfield Presbyterian, A Community Church.

Sincerely,
Steve Quinlan, pastor

Our Farewell to Sue Harman

Several people have asked me, “what happened to Sue?”  In January of 2010 she went into a local hospital for minor surgery.  Eight months later, all times spent in ICU’s and 7 more operations at different hospitals she passed away.

Jody and I visited her at each place she was sent during or between operations- Nashua, Lahey clinic, Haverhill, Waltham, Peobody and finally to hospice in Merimack, where we saw her the night before she died.

She was a big part of our lives, especially close to Jody, Kelly and me.  We shared lots of laughs, fun and opinions.  She was one of a kind-  faithful, generous and caring.  We miss her a lot.

She was a member and organist of our church for about 30 years.  She served as a Deacon and an Elder.  If anything needed to be done she was there to do it.  Sue sang with Dove Singers for over 20 years she had a beautiful soprano voice.

So everyone give an extra hug to all your loved ones- you just never know.

Per Capita

In addition to your regular giving from your own resources to support the work of our church in Litchfield, we also ask that you consider making a contribution to support the work of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  Your regular contributions keep the lights on and a pastor in the pulpit, and contributions to the larger Presbyterian Church also serve an important purpose.

Maintaining the larger Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denomination helps to ensure that all the churches in the denomination are acting in God’s will and that we will continue to be around for future generations.  Every 2 years, there is a General Assembly meeting where Presbyterians gather to worship and discern the mind of Christ for the church.  Updates also periodically need to be made to important Presbyterian resources such as the Book of Order and the Book of Confessions (hardcopy is available in the church library, or they may be consulted on the pcusa.org website).

So what does the larger church have to do with us?  The next higher level of church government is the Presbytery of Northern New England.  One important committee of the Presbytery is the Committee on Ministry.  The Committee on Ministry is instrumental in helping churches find pastors to help them grow and serve their communities.  When we were searching for a pastor a few years ago, representatives from the Committee on Ministry attended our meetings every Tuesday night and guided us through every step of the process.

This year, the per capita rate is $42.50 per active member.  That number was determined as follows: $32.05 for the Presbytery of Northern New England, $3.95 for the Synod of the Northeast, and $6.50 for the General Assembly.  If you are able, we ask that you make a contribution designated for the per capita apportionment by either using the blue envelope, or just writing “per capita” on the memo line of a check to Litchfield Presbyterian.  Thank you for your continued support of our church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) denomination.

News from the Faith and Worship Committee

Litchfield may be buried in snow but The Faith and Worship Committee has already begun planning for spring and Easter worship. The choir will be starting rehearsals for Lent and Easter in February. This would be a good opportunity for new members to join in. Rehearsals are Tuesday evenings at 7:00 in the sanctuary. Please let Don know if you are interested in joining.

Second Saturday Breakfast

We are continuing our Second Saturday breakfasts on February 12 and March 12.  Join us for a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, home fries, and toast any time between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. in the fellowship hall of the church.

Flower Bouquets

Thanks to all those who have sponsored the fresh flowers for Sunday worship services. Anyone wishing to sponsor flowers in the coming months should contact Cindy Couture at 603-889-2148. The cost for the flowers is $25 per arrangement. The flowers will be picked up by someone on the committee and placed at the church. After the service the donor can take the flowers home or arrange for them to be given to someone else who could benefit from their beauty. Flowers can be given in honor or memory of a loved one. Please let Cindy know if you wish to make a dedication when you order the flowers and she will see that it is printed in the Sunday bulletin.

The End of an Era

After much thought, the powers to be have decided we probably should discontinue the quilt/afghan raffle which we’ve done with great success for at least 25 years.  It’s been my baby for 33 years. the first 10 as head boss, then working with sue and finally back to Terry where it started. We made many friends through out the years, with our volunteers and even some customers.  Now with my advancing age, I’ve finally decided to retire.

A special thanks to our 2010 crew:  Terry, Liz, Chris and Marge (hope I didn’t forget anyone) and a big standing ovation for Toby who managed our station for a mind numbing 12 hours on election day and jody who also sat with us and especially drove me around so I could haggle with our customers.  She still drives “miss daisy” around with great patience). A big thanks to Staccia who donated the beautiful christmas afghan throughout the years.

And let’s not forget wilson farms who let us sit there week after week at no charge. We so appreciate it.  We even picked Don Wilson for our last drawing: the gas card!  How appropriate.

I will miss it.

Julia Illg

Editor’s Note: If you would like to help with future church fair raffles, the Strawberry Festival, or any other church event, please consider joining the fundraising and event committee.

Spirituality and Your Health – Understanding the Connection

By Dale Fletcher

A growing body of scientific research indicates there’s a connection between spirituality/religion and health.  To say that practicing a particular faith or involvement in certain religious practices will have an impact on one’s well being and health is oversimplifying things. In fact, it’s missing the main point altogether. The connection exists when people develop the type of qualities that come from knowing God and experiencing His love and in living in a way that God, the Great Physician, prescribes. Let’s explore this.

From a health perspective, our biggest challenge is to cope with the circumstances of life and its associated stressors along with relationship stressors in a healthy way. For the most part, our behaviors in response to these life events and stressors are attempts to meet our most basic needs of love, acceptance, self worth, security and identity. We have two options. We can choose to include God in our efforts to manage our life and stressors, or we can choose to go it alone.

If we rely on our own abilities and resources, apart from God, our strategies of living can be errant and unhealthy. When we depend on our own strength to cope with the pressures of life and past rejections, the result is very often conflict and frustration. Accompanied with a self-sufficient attitude and unhealthy thinking patterns and behaviors, this can lead to habits that have a detrimental impact on our spiritual, emotional and mental health. In turn, our physical health is often affected. When we experience poor health, we can not live a full life or be used fully by God. This is the strategy of the devil.

The other choice we have is to include God in managing our stressors and relationships. A brief summary of the Christian faith may be helpful here. When God created the earth, He also designed man perfectly and to be in a perfect relationship with Him. However, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve made some choices that went against God and sin entered into the world. Ever since then, all people have inherited this sinful nature in their soul. But because God loves us so much, He has a remedy. He sent Jesus to live on the earth to teach others about God and of His love for us. Jesus then died and was resurrected. His death was payment for all our sins – past, present and future. Jesus lived and died so we could have a personal relationship with God forever. This relationship offers an abundant life while we are on this earth. It also affords an eternal life in heaven.

Once we accept Jesus into our life, God’s Holy Spirit begins to reside inside us. His Spirit will then guide and empower us to think and behave differently. The challenge is that after we become a Christian, we still have an Adam (and Eve)-like nature in our soul. This remnant sinful nature influences our choices and behaviors. To live the peaceful and joyful type of life that God has in store for us, we must exchange that nature for Christ’s nature. We must consciously ask God’s Spirit to help us “die” to our old nature so that His nature in us can be more dominant. This will transform us into a new person. The secret to this type of living lies in a daily yielding or surrendering of our old nature and way of thinking and doing things to Christ’s new nature that is in us after we become “born again.” This is an ongoing process and, between spirituality/religion and health. To say that practicing a if practiced over a period of time, we can change and experience a more abundant life.

The great news is that God inspired the authors of the Bible to give us His guidelines on how to live life and to manage the stressors of life. It’s through reading the Bible that we can know God’s nature and deepen our relationship with Him. This, in turn, will enable us to become the type of person He created us to be. Another benefit of reading the Bible and meditating on what we read is that our thinking can be changed. I imagine that we all have believed things about other people, our self and God that are not true. But to be whole and fully alive as God created us to be requires that our mind understand God’s truths and who we become after we accept Jesus as our personal Savior. As we begin to replace the lies that the enemy has caused us to believe with these truths, our entire nature can be transformed. This will help set us free from our past hurts, false beliefs, negative thinking, sinful behavior and unhealthy habits that we have developed to meet our needs apart from God.

As we embrace the truth found in the Bible and begin to live according to its principles, we can experience God’s presence and love. This gives us the wisdom, hope and power we need for everyday living. We will begin to receive what are called the fruits of the Spirit addressed in the book of Galatians such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. As we develop this nature, our ability to love and care for others will increase. We will love our self more and our desire to take better care for our body as God asks us to will grow. This is because we realize it is primarily through our physical body that we are able to do the things that He’s gifted us to do.

Yes, there’s a spirituality/religion and health connection. It occurs when individuals, regardless of their faith, incorporate powerful biblical truths into their lives. Forgiving, loving others, believing, worshipping in community, prayer and meditation are just a few tenants of the Christian faith that, if practiced by anyone, seem to have a positive impact on quality of life and health.

It’s an intimate relationship with God accompanied by the resulting fruits of His Spirit operating in our lives that will likely promote well being and physical health. It all flows from knowing God and experiencing His mighty love. John Piper writes in Don’t Waste Your Life that the goal of the Christian life is gladly making others glad in God. I believe that being “glad in God” also promotes good health. And ultimately, this is what honors God and makes Him happy – that people attribute their gladness to Him and His love.

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Did you know…?

• that Bill Berg and Donna Dominick got married on 1/1/11?
• that our Deacons served more than 25 families at Thanksgiving and Christmas?
• that our monthly second Saturday breakfasts are very successful?  See you there on February 12 and March 12.
• that choir is meeting Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary?
• that Dove singers have started rehearsing again and are having performances the last 2 weekends in March?
• that 93 people attended our Christmas Eve service?
• that our children performed a Christmas pageant?
• that the boy scouts and the local schools donated food and gifts for our families?  Thank you for a wealth of donations.
• that Sunday school continues in full swing?  We currently have classes for preschool through fifth grade.

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: Don Edwards
March 13: Paige Marie Colby
March 13: Jacob McQuesten
March 22: Michael Couture