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November Newsletter Beloved Friends, November is here along with the changing seasons and the upcoming holidays. Even though we set a side a special day for Thanksgiving, every day can be thanksgiving time if we declare it for ourselves! Life is lived from within out, from a deepening understanding of our oneness with God. We build our relationship with God through prayer and meditation. Thanksgiving is good for the soul. It opens the heart and expands life itself in a beautiful way. In her book, Listen Beloved, Martha Smock explains the importance of giving thanks, “You take an important step toward having the kind of life you long to have by establishing the habit of giving thanks. Do not wait to give thanks until every prayer is answered. Do not wait to give thanks until things are perfect. Give thanks where you are, in the present set of circumstances, in the conditions in which you find yourself. Give thanks for life; give thanks for this day at hand. Give thanks for the opportunities to grow and learn.” We can always find something to be grateful for. Remember the song, Count Your Blessings? Name them one by one! See what God has done! The kingdom of heaven is here and now. It is glorified and multiplied when we choose to focus on the abundance that is ever present. This kingdom becomes visible through our praise and thanksgiving. We live in the kingdom of heaven when we think, say and do the things that reflect the unlimited possibilities of God within each of us. We have much to be grateful for here in our church. We continue to grow and prosper and serve God through your generous gifts of time, talent and treasure. Praise and thanksgiving keep open the channels through which God's grace and abundant good flow to us. Jesus Christ demonstrated the power of thanksgiving by blessing and thanking God in advance of the great works that he did through the power of God within him. We give thanks for each of you! Know that God’s will for you is unlimited good! It is thanksgiving time right now, friends. Let your thanksgiving day be every day, and you will harvest the riches of life! In Christ Love, Reverend Stephen P. Horn
Greetings and God’s Blessings to you from your new Board President. I'm probably the initial President who rode his wife's coattails to the top! Seriously, I hope to do as well as Amy did; she's a tough act to follow! In the past year we have fortified our Love in Action Teams, solidified our finances, and begun a Building Fund which now has $66,000 in it! God is good! And that doesn't cover half of the changes we have produced! (Reverend Steve gets some kudos here) And who's to say what IS possible for us, if we imagine our good, pray, listen, meditate, and then take action! We have a truly dynamic congregation, one that is focused in love, faith, and commitment. For example, who would have thought the Astros, on August 16th, with a record of 62 wins and 63 losses, would have even made the playoffs, much less be 1 game from the World Series. They seem to have an indomitable spirit. I just finished watching the Boston Red Sox become the 1st team in history to force a 7th game after being 0-3. Neither team quit on themselves, and continued to struggle with their challenges. Although some of us may feel that raising enough money for the down payment of a new church is a stretch, I believe it can and will be done in the next three years, if we allow God to work through us to have it happen. All it takes is faith, hard work, and our belief! Each of us is part of God’s plan. You are truly important to the success of this Church. Your participation in its growth is essential. Choose to pursue your good and decide how you will grow at Unity of the Bay Area. Let's make it happen! Thank you for supporting all of us; it is truly in inspiring! Sincerely, Mark Groblewski Board Talk Newly-elected Board members Mary Pat Gunn and Mark Groblewski attended their first Board meeting on Tuesday, October 12, 2004. New officers for 2004-05 are: Mark Groblewski, President; Gayle McFadden, Vice-President; Rick Flynn, Treasurer; and Pauline Hitt, Secretary. The Board approved purchase of two twelve-month CDs from Countrywide Bank. A $20,000 CD is designated for the building fund and a $10,000 CD is presently earmarked for savings. These CD investments are intended to better utilize the money in our different accounts while still leaving a prudent reserve in our checking account. The September tithe will be sent to The Association of Unity Churches Hurricane Relief Fund for Unity Churches that have been damaged by the hurricanes. Gayle McFadden reported that all Teams are doing well. Check the newsletter and website for articles on upcoming events. Rev. Diane Plamondon will be teaching the class, The Gospel of John, at 7:00 on Wednesday, October 20. The course will continue until December 1. Rev. Diane will be guest speaker at the Sunday service on November 14 while Rev. Steve is on vacation. Christmas season begins with the first week of Advent, November 28, 2004. YOUTH ED Remembering Carly, by Linda Gellman, Youth Education Teacher November 16th marks one year since the passing of one of our beloved children, Carly Soares, due to complications from lymphoma. Throughout the past year I have been touched and deeply moved by watching and helping our children deal with their feelings surrounding Carly’ s death. The outpouring of love and support provided by the compassionate people at Unity has created a safe haven for our children to work through their grief, an extremely important process which is often not supported in our fast‑paced culture. Our children have continually remembered Carly and her family in our weekly prayer requests. They have drawn pictures, shed tears, and even raised money to help other children facing cancer. They have asked profound questions and grasped spiritual principles to gain understanding. Our children have shared special memories of Carly which have given them great joy. I have learned so much from them and feel honored to be in their presence each time I work with them. I have also witnessed powerful demonstrations by Spirit. One of the most moving was at a memorial service at Carly’s elementary school, which my daughters also attend. Carly’s friends decorated a beautiful mosaic table top which was part of the dedication of "Carly’s Corner" in the school’s butterfly garden. It was created with love and was an incredibly healing activity for the children. At the dedication ceremony, Carly’s family released live butterflies into the garden, which was a beautiful sight. Most of the butterflies fluttered about, dancing from person to person; however, one butterfly gently hovered over to Cathy, Carly’s mother, and landed softly on her chest right over her heart and remained there for quite a while. I felt such a powerful presence of hope, peace, and love. I know everyone there felt Carly’s presence and knew without a doubt that she is okay. The following poem was read at the dedication ceremony: "A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam, and for a brief moment, it’s glory and beauty belong to our world. But, then it flies on again. And although we wish it could have stayed, we feel blessed to have seen it. Remembering Carly Elise Soares Today and Tomorrow." Our thoughts, prayers, and love are with Cathy, Carlos and Michael now and always. We continue to celebrate the light and love that is Carly and feel truly blessed to have known her in this lifetime. Tools for Sister Maria Rosa TOOLS FOR SISTER MARIA ROSA Rev. Diane Plamondon and George Cushing are planning a trip to Honduras to present new woodworking tools to Sociedad Amigos de los Ninos, a unique humanitarian, non-profit organization founded in 1966 by Sister Maria Teresa Leggol. Sister, born in Honduras and herself an orphan, established Nuevo Paraiso in a beautiful country setting outside of Tegucigalpa. It is a complex that offers a variety of programs to help and train people to lift themselves out of poverty through education and gainful employment. The main focus is on mothers, often abandoned, and their children. Children of all ages are given education, medical care and training in Nuevo Paraiso. Mountain of Light is a hospital in the complex where children with AIDS are cared for on a lifetime basis. George has received a welcoming and loving response to a letter he wrote Sister Maria Rosa and her assistant, Mae Valenzuela. We asked to make a trip in April with people in our church to bless and present donated tools. We have a tentative date leaving Houston on Monday, April 18th for Tegucigalpa and Nuevo Paraiso. Our travel agent is now researching air fares. The cost for transportation from the airport and staying at Nuevo Paraiso is nominal. We will return to Tegucigalpa on Wednesday where we will spend the night in a hotel and then you can continue your journey to Copan and Roatan or return home. We have opened a special account titled “Tools for Sister Maria Rosa.” Our first donation for over $1000.00 is a tithe from our own church. Donations can be made to this special account by sending them to Rev. Diane at P.O. Box 203, La Porte, TX 77572. You may contact Rev. Diane at 281-470-2860, or by e-mail at dplamon@isp.com. All donated money will be used exclusively for the purchase of tools. The tools will be shipped in advance of our trip. All donations are welcome, but not a requirement to join us on this trip. We will need about $5,000 to $6,000 dollars to outfit the workshop. Our beloved Rev. Stephen has been invited to come with us and be with his congregation. This will be a joyous and Spirit filled experience. Plan to join us. To learn more about Sister Maria Rosa Leggol and Sociedad Amigos de los Ninos, visit their website at: http://www.saninos.org/index.htm. Our official travel agent is Donna Leverson at Supertravel, 281-333-3465, E-mail: donna@supertravel.com THANKSGIVING POTLUCK LUNCH AND DECORATING THE CHURCH FOR CHRISTMAS! We are going to celebrate the beginning of the holidays with a Potluck Lunch following the service on Sunday, November 21st. The church will provide the turkeys and beverages. We ask that you bring the fixin’s, salads, side dishes and desserts to make this a wonderful celebration! We’ll have a sign up sheet in the Gathering Room for you to let us know what you are bringing. After lunch, we will decorate the church for the Christmas holidays! Mark your calendars for an afternoon of good food, fellowship and fun as we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving and decorate our church for Christmas! SUNDAYS IN NOVEMBER November 7th - Energize Your Life! November 14th - The Power of Thanksgiving! November 21st - The Truth About Forgiveness! November 28th - Ask and You Shall Receive! Coming in December! The Heart’s Intention: Manifesting through Grace A Workshop presented by the Reverend Mark Pope Monday, December 6th from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Unity Church of the Bay Area Christmastide at Unity Church of the Bay Area 1st Sunday of Advent November 28th Hope - We write a letter to God 2nd Sunday of Advent December 5th Peace 3rd Sunday of Advent December 12th Love 4th Sunday of Advent December 19th Joy Friday, December 24th Christmas Eve Candlelighting Service 8:00 p.m. December 26th The Gifts of Christmas December 31st New Year’s Eve Party, 8-11 p.m. January 2, 2005 Burning Bowl Service THE ANGEL TREE Every year we have a Christmas tree in our sanctuary. This year it will be our Angel Tree. Our goal is to fill it with lace Angels during the Christmas season. We will add an Angel to the tree for every $100 that is donated to the Building Fund. Whatever the size of your financial gift, each will become a part of our goal to increase our Building Fund and fill our tree with Angels. Our goal is to place 150 Angels on our tree. We will publish a list of our Angel contributors in our January newsletter. We thank God in advance for the abundance that is flowing to our church now! OUTREACH TEAM NEWS Thank you to everyone who donated clothing, linens and other items in our October Clothing Drive. We collected several boxes of items that we are sorting and distributing to different charities. Christmas is coming and we are finalizing plans for our Christmas Outreach Project this year. Ion the past we have supported Interfaith Caring Ministries and Bay Area Turning Point Shelter. We have many great ideas that you have shared with us, and will create a way that we can support our local charities with contributions and possibly adopt a family for Christmas! Thank you again for your generous giving! As we freely give, so shall we receive! DEVELOPMENT TEAM NEWS At our annual meeting we discussed the idea of the church purchasing and rehabilitating a house with the proceeds to benefit our Building Fund. After much discussion, the project was tabled because of different concerns. A new possibility has been offered. Scott Sartorius has agreed to coordinate and finance a house renovation project with the profits to be contributed to the church. He has been in this business for several years. The church’s involvement will be you! We will need help in different aspects of the project. Do you have a special skill, like painting, electrical experience, gardening or masonry? Would you be willing to support in another way, like helping with lunches or coordinating other possible tasks? The more work that we can do the less Scott will have to subcontract. This is a plan that will unfold in the coming months. Do you know of a property that would be a good candidate for such a project? Would you like to add your name and possible service to the growing list of volunteers? Scott can be reached by e-mail at SSartorius@houston.rr.com or by phone at 281-250-3696. Thank you Scott! Circle of Hearts Circle of Hearts had a delightful evening in October with Dianna Marion exploring “The Artists Way.” I missed that evening; I was in Germany with Elton that night! From the buzz about the evening, I have heard that many would like to see a continuation of what was explored that night. Thank you, Dianna, for a great night for the ladies. November Circle of Hearts will be held at Clear Lake Intermediate School on November 11, 2004 .We will have a computer literacy session! The school has been kind enough to let us use the computers in the school’s library. Space is limited to 15, so please let me know if you plan on coming and learning all about MS Word. We will focus on using MS Word and making things ‘pretty.’ We will (1) investigate easy ways to find pictures on the internet, (2) learn how to insert those pictures into a document, (3) make invitations using Word including inserting borders, word art, autoshapes and more! All this will be just in time for you to create your own cards or invitations for Christmas. The address of the school is 15545 El Camino Real, Houston, TX 77062. If you need directions, please call me at 281-474-7187 and I will tell you how to get there. Or, you can start practicing for class by going to http://maps.yahoo.com/; type in the school’s address for complete driving directions. Hope to see you there! TREASURER’S REPORT September 1, 2004 to September 30, 2004 Weekly Goal - $3655.00 Building Fund Income - $18,450.00 General Fund Income - $ 16,544.56 Total Income - $34,994.56 Expenses and Tithe - $18,242.57 Net Income - $16,454.16 Unity Church of the Bay Area’s tithe for September was $3235.70. It was blessed, divided and sent to Unity of Phoenix for their Chaplain Program, Unity School of Christianity, Unity Churches of Hillcroft, North Houston, Clear Lake and The Woodlands. At our annual meeting we reported the good news of the financial state of our church. Over the year we have been able to create a Building Fund ($66,000) and a Savings Fund ($10,000). We received two large donations that complemented the consistent giving of our members! We look forward to increased abundance in this coming year. Thank you, God! And thank you to each of you who support our church!
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