SOCIAL CONCERNS

D-YECH ANNUAL FALL DINNER

The Dennis Yarmouth Ecumenical Council to Prevent Homelessness Annual Fall Dinner is coming up!  Save the Date!  The fall dinner of chicken pot pie and homemade apple pie is on Saturday, November 14, at 5:00 p.m. in the St. Pius X Parish Life Center, Barbara Street off of Station Avenue 

Again, this year, all churches affiliated with D-YECH are asked to donate homemade apple pies for the dessert.  DUC has always responded generously to this request.  I’ll be calling our faithful pie bakers for their help again, and we always need new people to join us.  If you would be willing to bake one of your apple pies for this special dinner, please call me at 508-385-2614 for details.  Thank you in advance for helping to make this annual event a success!

DRESS A LIVE DOLL

Women’s Fellowship is once again sponsoring three children in the Salvation Army’s program to provide warm clothing to the Cape’s needy children. The women of the church plan to dress two boys, both two years old, and one four-year-old girl as a Christmas outreach program. Your donations will provide clothing (and one toy) for each of these three children. Please write your checks to: DUC Women’s Fellowship, and note at the bottom “Dress a Doll”. Thank you!

WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP

Creating baskets for shut-ins is an annual event for Women’s Fellowship!  We will meet on Thursday, November 12^th to create these lovely baskets.  Social hour begins at 1:00 p.m. followed by a brief business meeting.  All are welcome!  Please come, join the fun, and bring a friend!

SOCIAL CONCERNS

Thank you for all the backpacks and totes that were donated in September!  The Overnight guests were thrilled to bits!!  This month, I'd like to concentrate on A Baby Center!  It has been a while since I put out a plea for diapers (all sizes), 'Onesies', and baby wipes.  There is a basket under the church mailboxes…let’s try to fill it up!!  Thanks! 

SHARING THE GIFT OF BREAD

(A Stewardship Moment)

At the end of September, your Stewardship Committee began our annual program of “Sharing One Bread, One Body Together” and will be using the symbol of bread in our lives throughout the next few weeks.

As written in the book of John (Chapter 6, verse 35) Jesus refers to himself as “The Bread of Life” and uses the symbol even more graphically as his own body that was to be “broken” for us.  Indeed, the symbolic bread of the last supper together with his disciples would give them hope through the black days which followed.  They recognized that bread, created from grain that dies in the fields and returns in a new form, as goodness.  At every meal where they gathered as friends, Jesus would be present in the “breaking of their bread.”

Just to underscore the importance of bread in our own lives, think back to your morning breakfast.  Did you not prepare bread in some manner?  Toast?  English muffin?  Bagel?  Move along to your noon repast…was it a sandwich created from two slices of delicious bread?  Maybe crackers to accompany your soup?  And perhaps your dinner provided more bread in the form of a roll or a croissant?  (Or even a pizza?)  Oh yes, bread is vital to us in so many forms. 

By the time you are reading this, you will have received a  note from your Stewardship Committee regarding the importance of “bread” of one kind or another in your personal life.  Our hope is that all of us, members and friends of Dennis Union Church, will meditate on the vital part that bread has played and continues to play in our daily lives.  Your response, by sharing generously in a spiritual “bread” of financial support, will sustain us as a healthy force striving to do God’s work in this world of ours.  Shalom!    -Ginnie Haskell

PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY

For several years now, some women in our church have been knitting prayer shawls. When you knit 3 and pearl 3, using a soft yarn, you know that what you are knitting will comfort someone in times of stress. When a shawl is given to a person, a lovely prayer is shared, and both the giver and the recipient receive strength.

If you know of someone with whom you would like to share this experience, please call Betty Boothe (508-385-5735). She will provide you with a finished shawl and the prayer, and she will record the recipient’s name in the Prayer Shawl Book.

A prayer shawl is a wonderful gift of love. If you would like to be a knitter, Betty can provide you with the directions.

If you are interested in finding out more about this wonderful program...please follow this link:

SUPERMARKET GIFT CARDS

You can look for us now at the old location in Fellowship Hall during the hour between Sunday services.  Many thanks for keeping our program alive and well throughout the long, unsettled period.  This flagship program of D-YECH continues to mean much to sustain the vital efforts of the Housing Assistance Corporation in homelessness prevention.  Five percent of what we spend at the supermarket, through the use of these cards, goes to help our neighbors who, for a variety of unfavorable circumstances, are in danger of foreclosure.  Over the years, HAC has assisted hundreds of local families who might have lost their homes had it not been for the help that they received through the program.  As a congregation, we play an important role in homelessness prevention when we take the simple step of buying and using these cards to do our supermarket shopping.  We have cards for Stop & Shop, Star Mkt., Shaw’s, Ring Bros., and Peterson’s.  For added convenience, they’re available throughout the week in the church office.   -Stratton Haskell

Help Support DUC Sunday School Youth

November 14, 12:00 p.m.

"Fancy Nancy" Tea Party!
a fund raiser for Dress-A-Live-Doll

hosted by the children in grades PreK-2nd grade

November 20, 5:00 p.m.
"Charlotte's Web" Sleepover
 for PreK - 3rd grade children
in lower Hall

ON VACATION

Dale Rosenberger will be on vacation during the week of November 16 through 22. All pastoral concerns should be directed to John Brink.

IMPORTANT!

This year we will combine the December ’09 and January ’10 Steeple Bells.

It has worked well in other churches, but importantly, it will save us time and money during the Christmas season! 

What this means for you is: When you hand in articles for the December Steeple Bell, be sure to look ahead and include information you want in the January Steeple Bell!  

The deadline for December/January articles is Friday, November 13^th. 

MEN’S FELLOWSHIP

A “Habitat Program,” sponsored by Men’s Fellowship, will take place on November 16^th at 2:00 p.m. at our church.  It will be led by Earl Springer and Kent Whitcomb. Pictures will be shown of a recent project in which DUC members volunteered.  Our Missions Committee is part of the program.  Be sure to put this on your calendar.  All are welcome!

THANKSGIVING SUPPERS

The date for this year’s Thanksgiving Supper is Saturday, November 14.  As in years past, there will be two sittings…4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.  Tony Coccio, in conjunction with the Activities Committee, will prepare a wonderful, traditional Thanksgiving feast for all who are interested!  A sign-up sheet will be posted during Fellowship Hours on the Sundays leading up to the 14^th.

Our Church's Wider Mission video

ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE NEWS

Have you put it off? Do you need some new ideas or updating? Dennis Union Church can help. Long term care and estate planning often are things many tend to delay or not keep up to date.  The Endowment Committee has arranged to have Attorney Laura McDowell-May give us a presentation on Long Term Care and Estate Planning on November 10th at 2:00 p.m. 

There will be ample time for questions, and helpful forms will be distributed.  Please call Nancy at the church office to reserve your seat. Light refreshments will be served after the meeting.

TO ALL OUR DUC WOMEN

Yes, it is early, but we want to get out the news of next March's Celebration for all New England Women of United Church of Christ!  Every four years we gather for two and a half days in the beautiful community of Burlington, Vermont to work, play, sing, listen, connect, and share .... It is always a veritable feast for women!

This year, we are planning to invite our young women to be a special part of this terrific gathering.  So, from age 13 up to senior citizens, there is a place for you!!!  The theme of the entire program this time is "Together Building Bridges: A Time to Break Down and a Time to Build Up".  The speakers are dynamic and the music awesome.  It is a place for all of us UCC women to meet, greet and eat!  Mark your calendars: March 12-14, 2010...and stay tuned for more information next time. -Ginnie Haskell

AL-ANON AND ALATEEN

As many of you know, we host an Al-Anon group right here in our church on a weekly basis.  Al-Anon Family Groups, which includes Alateen for the younger members, is an established community resource for people who have been affected by another’s use of alcohol.  Al-Anon is a spiritual program of recovery which is compatible with all religious beliefs and practices.  The Al-Anon/Alateen program can aid the recovery process for the entire family through hope, comfort and loving interchange among members having a common problem.  If someone turns to you for help and an alcohol related problem is identified, we urge you to suggest that they attend Al-Anon and/or Alateen meetings.  For more information, please call 508-394-4555, or 888-425-2666, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

THE LESSONS AND CAROLS OF CHRISTMAS

THE BOAR’S HEAD FESTIVAL

A “DICKENSIAN FEAST”

Ten years ago this coming Christmas, members and friends of Dennis Union Church presented a joyous holiday program called “The Boar’s Head Festival.”  Over the past decade, fond memories of this wonderful program have been kept alive by many people, and they have asked when we might once again celebrate the “Feast”…

This year on the 19^th of December, we shall once again present a very special gift to our congregation and the wider community with a glorious re-telling of the Lessons and Carols of Christmas and Board’s Head Festival, followed by a very special “Dickensian” dinner, replete with “The Lord and Lady of the Feast”, and a magnificent  dining experience overseen by our resident chef, Sir Tony Coccio and his staff! (Only 100 seats for the Great Feast will be available, so reservations are necessary.)  Tickets for this dinner are priced at $25.00 per person, and we hope you will consider this as a gift to yourself at this busy holiday season!

So please set aside the afternoon and evening of Saturday,  December  19, and  be  present  here  in  all areas of our beautiful Dennis Union Church.  (Plans are afoot to make transportation available to residents of Thirwood Place, Heatherwood, and Mayflower Place, so you can arrive in style with friends and neighbors to enjoy a very special holiday experience!)  More information will be available in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!