MenuMen’s Breakfast is temporarily FAMILY Breakfast (not just men) for the next few months.
This month we will meet on Saturday, November 14th at 9am in the HCCC. We will view and discuss a video series from Coach Tony Dungy on “The Power of Positive Influence”. Everyone is welcome. Please join us! Please see sign-up sheet in the narthex so we can plan for food. Thanks.
Holy Cross Sunday School Christmas Program Band News
The Holy Cross Church Band will again be participating in the Sunday School Christmas Program.
Youth 6th grade and up and adults who play band or orchestra instruments are invited to play!
Please contact Sue Tichy at tichyfamily4@yahoo.com (or 685-3894) to let us know you can play.
Rehearsals are:
- Sunday Dec. 6 during Sunday School time
- Sunday Dec. 13 during Sunday School time
- Sat. Dec. 19 in the morning
Please bring a music stand.
The Christmas program is Sunday, December 20th at the 11:00 service.
Thanks,
~Sue Tichy
Operation Christmas Child in now Successfully underway!
Operation Christmas Child has officially kicked off. Please stop by the Narthex to sign up and be part of this very worthwhile project. Please remember that each shoebox is an opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with a little child in need. Inside each shoebox is the needed information for each box as well as suggestions for filling them. Please remember to return your boxes by November 22nd.
A check for $7.00 needs to be placed inside the box, or you can donate online @samaritanspurse.org.
Any questions, please see Connie Donnelly, 632-6511 or e-mail her at cldonnelly12@hotmail.com.
Thank you Holy Cross for making this a wonderful and memorable Christmas for children all over the world!
Update From Council
It’s that time of year again, when the leaves drop from the trees and we plan for the next fiscal year. Just so everyone knows, 2015 is tracking right on budget. Like every year, we have had some financial surprises, both good and bad, but they seem to be cancelling each other out and we are able to stay on our plan. The official review for 2015 will be presented in the December voters meeting. Look for us to set a date for that in the near future.
So speaking of the December Voters meeting, we are in the process of preparing our 2016 budget and would like to know if there are any member concerns that we should be budgeting for. Please feel free to see any council member about any items we should be considering at this time. Speaking of council members, we will also hold our election for the 2016 Council at the December Voters meeting.
Per our by-laws, all Council positions except Treasurer and Financial Secretary are for 1 year, with Treasurer and Financial Secretary serving for two years, and elected in alternating years. In 2016, the Treasurer’s position is up for election; and while John Zachau is offering to serve for another two year term, if re-elected, this will likely be his last term in that position. He is actively looking for an assistant Treasurer to work with him for the next two years, with an eye to taking over the position after he steps down. And if everyone remembers, Nancy Cote is serving as our Volunteer Coordinator, so please feel free to speak with her about any interest you might have for serving on the Council or in other capacities.
Thanks for reading and considering these matters!
Dash’s Receipts
Please remember to save those Dash’s receipts and get them turned in! The money we receive goes to Habitat for Humanity Buffalo. We recently received another check for $200 from the collection of these receipts! Thank you to everyone who has been turning them in! Thanks to Lorraine Woodman for tallying them for us!
Keep them coming!!
Thank you,
Jill Carl
Habitat Buffalo
Thank you to Holy Cross from Habitat Buffalo for your latest gifts of $207 and $366. Your gift has the potential of transforming lives and communities here locally, then nationally, and internationally.
For Habitat information see Ron Talboys.
Heritage Home
On Sunday, November 22, at 10 a.m. we will have our Thanksgiving visit with our friends at the Heritage Home. The Bible story will be “A Leprous Man Thanks Jesus,” Luke 17:11-19. We will talk about what we are thankful for, sing songs of thanks, and pray thanks. The project will be a placement of thanks. (Alfrieda Schurkus, Ron & Margaret Talboys) (for more information contact Margaret and Ron Talboys)
Visitation Care
If you are or will be hospitalized or homebound and desire Christian care from the Holy Cross staff please phone the church office at 634-2332 and/or email holycrossclarence@gmail.com
to let us know. Please do not assume that we know your situation because for many reasons we often don’t. We will do our best to visit you, and if homebound, see that you receive communion.
Krampitz Hall Collapsible Partition
You may have noticed that we have acquired a brand new portable partition for Krampitz Hall. Thanks to the creative thinking and generosity of several families in our congregation, this partition was donated to facilitate the use of Krampitz Hall for multiple purposes at the same time. So now we can hold the Sunday confirmation class and still have coffee fellowship at the same time with minimal distractions. (However, we do ask that those participating in coffee fellowship remain sensitive to the learning environment of the confirmation class. Thanks.)
In addition, we anticipate that this will be a handy addition to the hall for future needs.
A great big Thank You to the group who made this happen!
~Paul Donnelly (Building and Grounds Supervisor)
Women’s Bible Study
The Women’s Bible Study Group is concluding its 8 week study on BUSYNESS-Finding God in the Whirlwind by Juanita Ryan. As she writes: “Much of our busy-ness is necessary to our survival or to our own and others wellbeing. In the whirlwind of our lives, however, it may seem impossible to focus beyond the noise of daily demands. We long for a greater awareness of God with us. This guide explores ways of conversing with God in the midst of things, so we can see our day’s work as the joyful service of kneeling before Jesus.”
Our November 3rd. lesson is titled: “Labor in Love” with scripture from Colossians 2 and 3.
Our final lesson on November 17th is called: “Serve with Joy” with text from John 13 and 15.
We will then “wrap up” this series with lunch out at a local restaurant.
We will begin a new study series in December.
Our usual meeting place is HCCC in the conference room on Tuesday mornings from 9:30 am – 11:00 am. The coffee pot is on and we always have wonderful sweets made by the women! So join us when you can. We would love to have you! It is a great way to begin the day in the study of God’s Word.
National Youth Gathering Fundraiser
The Christmas season is upon us. We are running our Great Lakes Scrip gift card program. As a reminder, this program offers gift cards to hundreds of local and national retailers – places you shop every day! You simply purchase your gift cards through this program and a rebate percentage is retained by Holy Cross. Remember these gift cards are good for your day to day purchases or to give as gifts for ANY occasion.
This has been a very successful fundraiser as we continue to raise money for our youth to attend the 2016 National Youth Gathering in New Orleans but we’d love to have more families take advantage of it. We will have two order deadlines between now and Christmas as follows:
First order due by Sunday, November 8 – cards will be fulfilled on Sunday, November 15
Second order due Sunday, December 6 – cards will be fulfilled on Sunday, December 13
Order forms are on the table in the Narthex. Simply fill out the form, return it with a check made payable to Holy Cross Lutheran Church by Nov. 8 or Dec. 6 to me (or put it in my HC mailbox).
If you have any questions about the program, please contact Andrea Wiepert at thewieperts@gmail.com or by phone 688-0864.
Thank you in advance for your support.