I may be in the minority here, but I enjoy reading Christmas letters. You know, the ones that brag about how wonderful the children are (excelling in sports, academics, nuclear power plant building, etc.), how successful the business is, how nice the new imported Italian sofa looks in the lavishly-renovated family room, the trip to Rome with the private papal audience – you know what I'm talking about. I'm just finishing up this year's batch and the word that keeps coming to me is "amplification." When the brain looks back at the past it tends to amplify the highs and lows, often remembering things through filters of distortion, wishful thinking and fabrication, leaving us with a false sense of who we are and how we got to where we are. It can be very dangerous because it leaves us on the unsteady ground of counterfeit reputation. Nobody can envision a future or set goals based on the foggy notions of appearance.

Looking back, spiritually speaking, can only remind us that we've come this far by faith, and faith alone. It's not how much we love God that matters, rather it is the growing realization and appreciation of the knowledge of how much God loves us that allows us to truly appreciate the past and look with anticipation into the future.

When I look back at the years I've spent on this planet I can't help but think about my mistakes, missed opportunities, and flaws. And I also am filled with gratitude for the gifts of family and friends. But my future cannot be built on that body of work. Nor can yours. It depends on the assurance that God truly does care!

I wish only the best for all of you in 2011. Live in the real presence of God.

Sincerely,
J. Douglas Patterson

Smithfield School is Sleeping Late!

It's a dilemma. On the one hand, you know that Smithfield UCC offers fascinating, engaging, and fun Christian education for all ages – Smithfield School – before worship on Sunday mornings. But on the other hand, Sunday mornings offer a rare opportunity to enjoy a quiet morning with your family: to make pancakes, linger over the newspaper, and stay in your pajamas. It's not that you don't want to take advantage of all that Smithfield School has to offer. It's just that you already rush around five other mornings of the week!

Well, we are listening. Beginning on January 9, Smithfield School is sleeping late! Our new start time is 10 a.m. We will offer the same fascinating blend of discussion, activities, Bible study, and spiritual growth, and classes will still conclude in time for you to come upstairs for worship. We use Faith Practices, a resource from the United Church of Christ, to learn more about activating our faith in our daily lives. In the new year, we will be focusing on the faith practice of stewardship in each of our three classes: Adults (age 18+ in the blue rooms on the first floor), Youth and Young Adults (grade 7-age 35 in the youth room on the second floor), and Children (age 3-grade 6 in the elementary room on the second floor).

Hit the snooze button, then come to Smithfield School! We look forward to seeing you this winter.

The Year 2010 in Education

In 2010, we grew in faith, in knowledge, and in friendship through our educational ministries here at Smithfield UCC:

• "Knew a man from Israel, prophet of God! And his story I will tell, prophet of God!" To begin the year, adults and children read stories of the Prophet Elijah in Pilgrim Adventures and our "Pilgrim Adventures for Grown-Ups" during the Smithfield School hour.
• Our children and youth joined friends from the other downtown churches for "Fire and Ice," the Camp Downtown Ice Fest winter event. After reading the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, we went ice skating at PPG Place.
• An intergenerational event, "Walking in the Wilderness," helped us prepare for Lent by creating calendars to chart our progress through the spiritual disciplines of silence, hospitality, charity, health, play, and expression.
• Our adult Smithfield School series "Facing Death Faithfully" engaged us in thinking through end-of-life issues. We welcomed a guest speaker from Family Hospice & Palliative Care, discussed advance directives and physician-assisted suicide, and made plans for our own memorial services with Rev. Susan Cherian.
• On Easter Sunday, we found symbols of the story of Holy Week hidden all over the church in our annual egg hunt, then watched the Alleluia flowers bloom during the time with the children.
• A team of wonderful leaders kept our programs going strong during Rev. Liddy Barlow's maternity leave, including a parables theme in Pilgrim Adventures, an adult series on Proverbs taught by Rev. Doug Patterson, a special skit for Pentecost, and worship activity bags for kids all summer long.
• At Camp Downtown vacation Bible school, we "let our lights shine" as we learned stories of children from the Bible, splashed in fountains, visited the Children's Museum, set sail on the RiverQuest boat, and made lots of new friends from all our sister churches downtown.
• We kicked off the 2010-2011 school year with a black and gold celebration, "Exercising Your Spirit." Though Smithfield School attendance this fall was lower than we hoped, both students and teachers enjoyed our new curriculum, Faith Practices.
• This fall, we met the animals of the Bible in our "God's Zoo" theme at Pilgrim Adventures, and then went to our own Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium to meet the animals in person.
• "Mary and Joseph who? Oh never mind, just come in." Our annual intergenerational Christmas pageant, "Counting on Christmas," brought together Smithfielders young and old to act out the story of Jesus' birth.

Mark the Calendar: Fellowship Events

• January 2, 9, 16, 23, 30: Soup and Sandwich after worship
  

See the sitemap for earlier issues of the newsletter

  – through you and me!

1/2/11
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