2004 ANNUAL REPORT
MESSAGES FROM THE MINISTERS See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? It has certainly been a year of new things! What joy and what life we have seen in this place! Have you noticed?
In a time when most churches are looking back and regretting the changes in worship and a decline in numbers, this Pastoral Charge is open to new ideas and as a result we are celebrating higher participation, excitement and attendance from adults, youth and children! In a time when seven words can kill the church - “We’ve never done it that way before”, this congregation is uttering its own seven words of life giving power - “We’re not afraid to try new things!” That takes a bold faith based on faithful tradition and future vision. And that is what God is talking about in Isaiah 43, as quoted above. We are not to get bogged down in the past, but use it to inform and enrich our future ways as they grow and change. Let’s continue to celebrate our traditions and vision as we boldly search together for the new things that God is doing on the Gander Pastoral Charge! With excitement and anticipation, Rev. Steph.
“Lord, listen to your children praying, The year 2004 has been a good one. We have experienced light and life through a variety of worship services, groups and events, through persons of all ages and circumstances being encouraged and inspired in ways that have often surprised them. The pages of this annual report of our pastoral Charge speak of specific undertakings and accomplishments as well as challenges still ahead. I have no doubt that, with God’s help, we can meet our commitments financially, spiritually and in terms of people. One essential way that we can do this is to be faithful in prayer. When prayer is woven through the fabric of every moment of our lives, we can do great things. We, as Christ’s church, can be like the servant in Isaiah: “I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth”. (Isaiah 49:6) I find inspiration in the words of prayer which we often sing, “Lord Listen to Your Children Praying”. This, in part, because I know something of Ken Medema who wrote the song. Ken Medema, is a classically-trained pianist and singer, a music therapist and also a performer. Ken shares his vibrant and spirit-filled faith through music which is sometimes gentle, sometimes dramatic, but always faithful. Ken’s work and music, which would be inspirational by any standards, is made more so by the fact that Ken is blind. Out of darkness, Ken brings light to all who hear him. A person of prayer who is making a difference. Prayer is part of life and most people say that they pray at some time or another. Each of us is called to be a person of prayer. We need prayer as individuals as we give thanks and pray for our families, friends and ourselves. We need prayer as a church, to pray for each other in all circumstances, for our children, youth and their needs, for those who lead and teach them, for our young families, whose needs are many, for those in the middle whose needs are different, for our older generations who are caught between joy and struggle. We need to be remembering in prayer the work of many groups, committees, church council, who faithfully serve. Our prayers need to reach out beyond our own pastoral charge with concern for all that is beyond and yet very much part of us. As we anticipate the future in faith, may we pray, “Lord, listen to your children praying, send us love, send us power, send us grace!”. Yours in love and prayer, Rev. Marion Davis
MARRIAGES 2003
FIRST UNITED CHURCH – GLENWOOD
BAPTISMS
FIRST UNITED CHURCH
FRASER ROAD UNITED CHURCH YOUTH CONFIRMANDS Laura Elizabeth GUSHUE ADULT CONFIRMAND Genevieve Madge L. STRICKLAND Jean HARLEY, from St. John’s U.C., Georgetown, ON TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP OUT Ray LEBEAU to Pendleton/Riceville PC, Ottawa, Ontario MEMBERSHIP REMOVED BY DEATH GLENWOOD/APPLETON CONFIRMANDS Nil Members of the congregation of Fraser Road United gathered in the Church Hall following morning worship for a Pot-Luck luncheon. Following the luncheon the Rev. Marion Davis led us in a service of remembrance for the members who have passed away during 2003. Members of Session lit a candle in memory of each member – a very meaningful exercise. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR & SECRETARY APPROVAL OF MINUTES CORRESPONDENCE - Nil CONSIDERATION OF ANNUAL REPORTS It was noted that on page 4, under the list of Church Council members, Daphne Blandford’s name should have been listed as Member-at-Large. Claude highlighted a number of items from his report as Chair of Church Council and especially thanked Rev. Davis for her work with the Benton congregation. He commended the congregation on the number of volunteers filling so many positions in our Church. It was noted that Clyde & Betty Burt have begun to work on our archives and compiling an inventory. Reports of the various Committees, Groups, Choirs, Sunday School, Glenwood/Appleton congregation and the Financial Report were highlighted. It was noted that the District Assessment for congregations has been increased by $1 per household, effective January 1, 2004, and this will continue for five years. The District has been running a deficit for a number of years. The Conference hopes to hire a Youth Director in the near future. Cator reported that the Session Budget may have to be revised in order to purchase music for our choirs, since copyright does not allow photocopying. Tony Foote reported that Don Sweetapple has agreed to audit our books at no charge. Motion ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT FOR 2004 New Representative for West District New Members for Session VOTES OF THANKS Various members in attendance extended votes of thanks and appreciation to the following:
ADJOURNMENT Rev. Stephanie closed the meeting with a Benediction. __________________ ___________________ MINUTES OF CONGREGATIONAL MEETING The congregation of Fraser Road United Church met in the Church Hall following morning worship. Meeting was called to order at 12:50 p.m. by the Chairman, Claude Hender, and was opened with a Prayer by Rev. Stephanie McClellan. Purpose of the meeting was to vote on the following resolutions. Please circle either “Yes” or “No”. Resolution #2: The congregation of Fraser Road United Church approves the blessing of same-sex unions. Please circle either “Yes” or “No”. The Chairman called for Nominations for Secretary for this meeting. Lorraine Elliott was nominated and accepted. The Chairman then called for Nominations for two scrutineers to count the ballots following the voting. Betty Burt and Oliver Foote were nominated and accepted. As it had been previously announced that only persons in full membership in Fraser Road United Church would be eligible to vote, many questions and much discussion followed. Motion: Motion: Motion: _________________________ _____________________
CHURCH COUNCIL INTRODUCTION Since we were unable to recruit a chair for our Property Committee last year, I agreed to see that our major property issues were undertaken, but the real need for an active Property Committee at Fraser Road Church still exists, and what I did over the year was only a stop-gap measure. I shall highlight the major projects undertaken in regard to properties as part of my duties as Chair of the Council. The 2004 church year was a busy one for members of Council and its various committees. This past year has had its mountaintop experiences and its deep valleys of concern and uncertainty. I have always been impressed with the quality of leadership and commitment to duty exhibited by those many volunteers who serve on the governance structure of this Charge during both the good and the not-so-good experiences. It has been a very distinctive pleasure for me to be a member of this structure of our Charge. I have served as Chair of Council for 6 years, the maximum allowed under our by-laws. These past six years have been personally rewarding for me, and I hope that I have made a small contribution that has been of some help in the life and work of our congregations. The future, I hope, will offer other opportunities for new service. GLENWOOD-APPLETON 50TH ANNIVERSARY The year just past was indeed a milestone in the life of our congregation at Glenwood-Appleton. The occasion was celebrated in a very special way, with special church services, a dinner and an event for the youth. Representatives from all over our Pastoral Charge attended these special events. It marked one of the few events in the life of this Charge when people from all points on the Charge come together to celebrate and give God thanks for our many blessings over the years. The congregation of First United at Glenwood-Appleton is to be commended on the many rejuvenating events that show this church community being alive and vibrant. Our Council is well served by the faithful and diligent membership from First United. It is noteworthy that our Youth representative on Council comes from Glenwood-Appleton. These dedicated people contribute much in the governance of our Charge. FIRST UNITED, BENTON This small congregation made headlines in our Conference, and you can read their story and view their photographs on the Web page of the Newfoundland and Labrador Conference. It is surprising what a small number of dedicated people can accomplish, and we all share in their excitement and commitment. On November 7, 2004 this small re-developed church building was filled to capacity as a service of thanksgiving was held to signal the completion of the renovations and restoration of this small church building. People from other points on the Charge were present to offer their support and prayers for continued success. It is most encouraging that this congregation has organized itself, and Official Board is in place to oversee the life of the congregation. It is also important that two members of this congregation are now serving as members of Church Council. These members make regular reports to monthly Council meetings, and they contribute to the discussions on issues of spiritual and temporal concerns. FRASER ROAD UNITED CHURCH (PROPERTY UPDATE) Accessibility: The sanctuary of our church has undergone major interior changes and renovations. Our first efforts were designed at making our church building completely accessible. This involved some repairs to the automatic closures on the main entrance to the church and hall. The second phase required the erection of a wheelchair ramp to the chancel area and the re-positioning of the pulpits. Chancel Repairs: This project required us to modify the whole chancel area by expanding on the area and opening up the chancel to make it more functional in allowing greater involvement by members of our congregation in worship services. We were very fortunate that at this time special attention was paid to the re-development and beautification of our pulpits and choir seats. We are indebted to Cal Lane and Clarence Hodder for their invaluable contributions of skill and time to make all this possible. They set a very high standard for us to follow when time and resources became available for us to restore the remainder of our seating and flooring. The outcome of this arrangement is, as they say, now history. We were able to successfully restore our pews and flooring, and undertake other tasks that required our attention. I shall mention a few to illustrate: the interior of the hall and church (both upstairs and down) were painted and plastered as required, the grounds of our church and manse were beautified, a large living room window in our manse was replaced, the unfinished storage area in the section where our hall and church join was developed, etc. We are indeed very grateful to HRDC for their assistance, and we look forward to other partnership arrangements with them in the future. New Exterior Door (Fraser Road Entrance): Thanks to a very generous gift from one of our faithful members and the Social Club, we were able to purchase and install a new set of exterior metal doors. Our thanks are extended to Joe West, Clarence West and Cator Brown for installing the doors and to Hardy Hopkins for his willingness to plaster and paint the entrance area. These doors greatly enhance the exterior appearance of our church and also afford better protection from the elements. Caretaker/Manager: Because of the nature and use of properties owned
by Fraser Road Church, there is an urgent need for some person to
undertake constant daily supervision, cleaning, maintenance, security,
scheduling, etc. This issue was discussed at Council and it was agreed Volunteers: Members of the Property Committee have shared around
many of the daily tasks pertaining to the opening and closing of church
doors on Sundays and assisting our current cleaning contractor with snow clearing and heavy grass cutting. These volunteers have maintained security on our church/hall over the past year, and we are truly grateful to them for this invaluable service. There were certain minor repairs required in the interest of making the Other Items: We were able, thanks to the availability of workers through the HRDC grant, to undertake several other needed projects as follows: We are participating again this year with the Anglican and Roman Catholic We have renewed our contract with Mr Wayne Hynes of Benton to clear You will recall that a small task force was established in 2003 to examine strategies that could be employed to attract our young people to become involved in the life of our congregation. This task force made a comprehensive report with a series of recommendations. The main thrust of this report was a suggestion that time will be required to bring about a gradual change in the atmosphere of our church life, and we should always be looking for opportunities in all aspects of our church life to engage children and youth. Much work has been undertaken over the past year or so to re-engage our youth and young children. We are pleased with efforts to date, and we give God thanks for the positive way our youth and children are responding to programs designed to meet their interest. I sincerely hope that our efforts will grow in this aspect of our spiritual journey. CHURCH FINANCES I have always been amazed by the faithful and generous way our congregation responds to the ever-changing financial needs of our church. The Chair of the Finance Committee will comment in detail on the financial situation at Fraser Road United. I would like to offer one comment about our finances concerning our performance in giving to the Building Fund section of our weekly envelopes. I have heard some people say that they made a pledge to the new hall fund and kept that pledge, now they feel no need to contribute to the building fund. I would like to point out that we are constantly in need of funds for the on-going upkeep and maintenance of our buildings that include our hall, church and manse. The needs are great as I pointed out in the Property Update section of this report. Please give some consideration to this request when you continue to give to the church. UNITED CHURCH WOMEN We wish God’s blessings on their membership and pray that in these challenging times they will find the continuing courage to continue their invaluable service in the spiritual and material life of our Charge. I have often heard it said that the weakness of the United Church of Canada exists within its strength. Our strength lies in our Church’s policy of not being dogmatic and being accommodating to the views of members and congregations. This is nowhere more evident than in the issue of same-sex unions and marriages. Our National Church meeting at General Council supports same-sex marriage and unions, but it allows each congregation the freedom to determine its own policies as to whether such practices will be performed in their church. Hence our strength and weakness. Council adopted the position that a series of educational and informational meetings be held over the year, and a congregational meeting be called with members voting in a secret ballot on a clearly-worded resolution. In October a special congregational meeting was held to enable the congregation of Fraser Road United to vote on the issues of same-sex marriage and the blessing of same-sex unions. The meeting proved to be an excellent debating forum, but because of procedural wrangles around the issue of who was eligible to vote, no vote was taken. The congregation instructed Council to call a subsequent meeting and that the required time of notice be served. The current policy of Council is that no same-sex marriage or the blessing of same-sex unions will take place in our Charge until such a time as our congregations speak with a clear directive otherwise. WEST DISTRICT Our Charge continues to support the wider work of the Church through its members serving on committees and as delegates to spring and fall meetings of the District. Our Charge continues to lead the District in support for the Mission and Service Fund, and our Charge continues to be a leading contributor to the other work and service of the District. Our Charge supports especially the work of the District in its efforts to engage full-time ministry personnel for children and youth. We realize that our District and Conference face serious financial problems, but we also realize that the future of congregations like ours and the wider church rests with younger people. We pray that the dream of having strong youth ministries will become a reality in the near future. Respectfully submitted, Claude Hender
SESSION As in the past, meetings were held on a monthly basis, because of other activities and work commitments of our members the time of meetings were changed from the morning to all evening at 7:30. Discussions were held and decisions made that we felt were important to our congregation and to the Church as a whole. Because of a change in the school grade requirement from grade seven to grade eight, we only had two youth confirmed and one adult. Confirmation classes for 2005 will begin in the near future with Confirmation to take place on May 15, 2005. Communion services have been held on the first Sunday of each month at the Church and every second month at Golden Legion Manor, Nightingale Manor and Lakeside Homes. Lay visitation continues at the Hospital and the Seniors Home. We thank all the volunteers that participate in this project. Throughout the past year the number of young people attending services have increased and our Sunday School has grown tremendously, also other youth groups are functioning very well. During the past, three of our Session members have moved to other locations. One new member, “Bonnie Adams” has joined our group and will be presented for official election at the Annual Congregational meeting. We need more volunteers and would be happy to have some of our male members join us. If anyone is interested please call the Church Office (256-3000) or call Cator (651-2632) Many people have worked very hard behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly. A sincere thank you goes out to all those who volunteer their time:
To our musicians and all who have participated in our Ministry of Music, a sincere thank you. May everyone be greatly blessed in 2005 and may peace and joy be ours forever. Cator Brown
How quickly time passes! On January 13, 2005 I presided over my last meeting as Chair of M & P. December 3, 1998 was the beginning of my 6-year stint in this position. It seems like only a moment ago but when I look back and consider all the meetings that the committee members attended, I am acutely reminded that it is time another person, with new ideas and new energies, take the helm. As was stated in last years annual report recruitment of new members is an ongoing thing and we were very pleased when, in March 2004 Marlene Way decided to contribute her time and talents to the work of the church and joined the committee. Thank you Marlene. We welcome anyone who would like to become a member of this exciting committee. You never know what you’re missing until you join!! The ministerial review was a new adventure for the committee in year 2004. Even though this is a process that is supposed to be conducted annually, this is the first full-fledged review [as outlined in the “Guidelines for the Ministry and Personnel Committee’s Annual Review” booklet]. It had not been done previously because we had been going through a period of instability since 1998 with regard to ministerial personnel. With the arrival of Rev Marion Davis and Rev Stephanie McClellan, the situation has returned to one of stability and we look forward to a lengthy tenure. Incidentally, the conclusion made by the committee in its report to Church Council on June 21, 2004 was that “there is a genuine feeling that Rev Marion and Rev Stephanie made a great working team and were well accepted by the congregations on this pastoral charge”. Youth summer employment through HRDC was part of our mandate again this year and Heather Stuckless was a part of our non-ministerial staff for a period of 6 weeks. Thanks to Rev Stephanie under whose wing Heather was enfolded, there was minimum supervision required from the chair of M & P. Thank you Heather for your contribution. This report would not be complete without expressing my sincere thanks to (iii) the non-ministerial staff of Sylvia and Karen who never complain about extra work or sudden demands put upon them. Thank you all for your service and sense of dedication. Ross Williams
COMMUNICATIONS AND MEMBERSHIP Further to our aim of keeping the congregation informed of happenings at Fraser Road United Church, the Communications and Membership Committee began a quarterly newsletter this year and made deliveries of these newsletters in September and December. The publication of this newsletter will continue in 2005 and the Committee welcomes any news items you may wish to have included. Throughout the past year the Committee has also delivered financial statements and envelopes to the church membership and we send many thanks to our delivery personnel for doing this very important job. We are connected to the internet at www.unitedchurchgander.ca and members of the Committee can be reached by emailing fraseruc@nfld.net Oswald Anstey
CHRISTIAN DEVELOPMENT I assumed the interim Chairperson position of Christian Development in July. Prior to this Brian McLaren was the chairperson. I would like to extend a Thank You to Brian for his time spent with this committee. He has guided it well.
I would like to highlight a few of the activities undertaken by some of these groups: Jennifer and Sharon were superintendents of the Sunday School until June. The curriculum used was Bible Quest. In September, Rev. Stephanie assumed responsibility for Sunday School and we developed a home-grown Curriculum. The children continue to enjoy their time of sharing and are excited by the many activities they are doing. Vacation Bible School’s theme was Champions of God. Under the direction of Rev. Stephanie and her Youth/Adult Leadership Team, the children played games, studied bible verses and had a lot of fun. We were very Proud of our Teens for the leadership and responsibility that they showed that week. There were approximately 40 children and 10 Youth leaders. The Bible group had 4 main areas of study. Time was spent discussing passages in the Books of Job, Acts of the Apostles and Corinthians. They also had a session devoted to Death and Grief. Scouting continues to grow on the youth side and the leader side. There are approximately 45 youth and 15 adults participating in these weekly meetings and outings. Rev. Stephanie completed the religion in Life badge with 15 cubs in the spring. They discussed values and beliefs in general. They also requested, assisted in preparing, and put off their own "Cub’s Own" (Church Service). Unfortunately, with the increasing membership fees we may see a decline in our numbers again. At present there is some discussion about folding the Scouting group and starting up a Church sponsored Youth group with goals and programs similar to Scouting but without the membership fee. A few other activities include:
Over budget... Christian Development organized a trip to Guatemala in 2004. Travel costs are grouped under miscellaneous making it appear like we are well over budget. Each individual paid for his travel by giving his or her portion to the group fund (the Church). At present we are looking for Sunday School Superintendents and Christian Development committee members. These positions are very rewarding as you deal with the children and help them grow in their faith and involvement in our Church Community. We are seeing more youth and young adults attend Church services. This is a positive sign of the work that the various Christian Development groups are doing. Thank you Jennifer Langdon
SUNDAY SCHOOL This year our registration is between 85-90 children, with an average weekly attendance of about 40-50 children. With the late school closing the children were also able to participate in a Father’s Day service. This year they made bookmarks that were given out to all the men in the congregation. The next segment of the program was called Agent Advent. This involved the children ‘looking for Jesus’. They went into the community on various field trips to the Goodwill Centre, the airport, the hospital, and the food bank. These field trips were really enjoyed by the children and their favorite question was ‘Where are we going this week?’ The Sunday school Christmas program was on December 19th. It took place in the sanctuary and was a great success. Parents brought treats and there was a little snack afterwards. Sharon Sparkes
YOUTH REPORT As many of you know, my name is Sarah Eastman. I became a part of the Church Council in October, as the youth representative for Glenwood, Appleton and Gander. I am proud to present to you the report of the youth for the year. The year was certainly very active for many ages of church groups. The year started off with a bang, when the first senior team, from Gander, took the challenging trip to Guatemala in April. All reports from the trip were encouraging and sounded like a blast. There are now youth looking forward to this experience in 2006. There have been many youth experiences through the church activities as well. There have been pot lucks and family services held at the churches regularly, which bring out many youth of the congregation to the services. Also, during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary in Glenwood in June, there were many activities for the youth, including a dance which was held in the church basement. The youth groups in Gander and Glenwood went full steam ahead during the summer. Starting with V.B.S. in July where there were several junior helpers, who later became part of the Youth Groups. It all started with the ice breaker in September, where some of us got together with Rev. Steph, had some ice cream and went back to her office to talk business and look at pictures from Guatemala. We talked about things to do during the remainder of the year. The Youth Group meetings in Gander were held on Wednesday nights, where they did crafts, baking and had a bonfire at Little Harbour. The Glenwood Youth Group meetings were held on Saturday nights, where they played games, ate popcorn chicken and had a movie night at Patty’s house, which brings the perfect time to acknowledge the leaders and organizers for Glenwood, Patty Goodwin and Gander, Betty Hollett. There would have to be two major memories the youth will keep from the year 2004, they would definitely be the group trip to Loon Bay in August, where there were many memories and experiences that all the youth and leaders that attended will never forget. There were connections made by people who brought them closer together and connections with God. The second special outing the groups made together would be the weekend at YC. It was an experience for us all, as we met new friends and witnessed the giving hearts of the youth of Newfoundland. We stayed at the church for the total time we were there, although there wasn’t much time we spent there, only to sleep and eat breakfast in the morning. We are looking forward to YC 2005, in St. John’s. The year was full of excitement and wonderful moments we are looking forward to next year and all the activities that will follow. Thank you, Sarah Eastman
FIRST UNITED SCOUTING I find that our annual report is a great time to reflect on memories of the past year. Whether it be good times we’ve had, great friends we’ve made or a combination of the two. Well 2004 was no different. We started off going into our 40th year as a group. 1963-1964 was the year that our charter was first issued to us. Norm Bussey was the first Cubmaster and Frank Tibbo was the first Scoutmaster. A dinner was held in November of 2003 to commemorate the event and it was great to see Scouters and Scouts from past years gather together to reminisce of days gone by. We talked of various camps, numerous activities, fundraisers and the adventures of jamborees. This past year in June we sent a delegation of 18 Cubs and a whole bunch of Leaders and parents to the Cuboree held at the provincial site at Camp Nor’West. The camp was supposed to be 4 days and 3 nights but due to heavy torrential rains and flooding the decision was made to break camp early. What a memory for all attending. I’m happy to say that all 3 groups are up and running full tilt once again this year. Beavers have approximately 23 kids registered the Leaders consist of Roger Stoyles, Tom Healey, Greg King, Dave Cheeks, Rev. Steph, Doug Dillon and Craig Churchill. Cubs have 20 kids registered with Leaders Dave Moulton, Paul Langdon, Paul Clouter, Lloyd Burt, Rev. Steph, Troy Wilton, Blair Sparkes and myself. Scouts have 6 members registered and 3 Leaders consisting of Ira Crummey, Clyde Burt and myself. All groups have been busy doing their own thing and are having a great time doing it. My sincere thanks to all the volunteers giving their time, it’s much appreciated by us all especially the kids. Our focus now is to turn to the year 2007 when scouting worldwide celebrates 100 years of existence. Currently we are working on sending a full delegation to either the world jamboree in England, site of the first ever scout camp operated by Lord Baden Powell himself, or the Canadian Jamboree to be held in Quebec. So you’ll see lots of fundraising efforts from us between now and then. Back in September I made it known to the committee that I will be resigning as Chair of the Group Committee effective as of June, so this will be my last report. After 4 years of chairing the group I felt it was time to step down let someone with new ideas take over. I will not be abandoning the committee altogether but staying on as the scout group representative. My commitment to the group remains strong but change is good for everyone. So at this time I would like to thank my committee who have stood by me for the last 4 years and helped support my efforts. I couldn’t have done it without you. And as well to the Leaders and Parents a big thank you. You made it all enjoyable. Yours in Scouting Brian Tremblett
The Fraser Road United Church Guitar Group continues to meet in the choir room every Thursday at 7:30 to 8:30 pm. This time of fellowship together is very enjoyable to all who attend and we practice all forms of music from hymns to country to some old classics that are familiar to us all. Members sometimes bring along songs of interest to them and the group will attempt to play these various selections. It’s a great evening of music where we practice old selections and learn new ones and our meeting sometimes goes to 9:00 pm without us even realizing it. This year we have performed at the Nightingale Manor, the Golden Legion Manor as well as at the Saturday evening family service. We love performing and anytime anyone needs the guitar group to take part in any special church event, don’t hesitate to ask. Just give us some lead time to practice. We have maintained our membership of approximately fifteen members (10 men and 5 women). We lost Ed Blandford to St. John’s and we miss his contribution to our music. We are open to accepting new members so if you own a guitar and can play a little (not a lot) and want to brush up on your skills, come and join us. We presently have a piano accordion, a violin, and a bass player and we would love to have a drummer and a keyboard player join the group. As the group’s leader I want to thank all members for their contribution and loyalty. I look forward to our gatherings every week. Special thanks to Vicki Lear for taking on the tasks of secretary for the group. Also, thanks to Frank Tibbo who helps with all aspects of running the group. Last but by no means least I want to thank the ministers, the congregation, and Sylvia for all their support. God Bless You All, Ken Slaney
SENIOR AND MEN’S CHOIRS The adult vocal choirs of Fraser Road United Church have had another fun and dedicated year of singing. At our regular weekly rehearsals we work hard and laugh lots. Throughout the year we again prepared anthems for presentation at Sunday services, both as separate choirs and combined as the ‘Mixed’ choir, and as requested, we supported the singing and sang an anthem at funerals. Throughout 2004 both adult choirs participated in services and events outside of our normal routine. In March the Senior Choir sang in the local Kiwanis Music Festival with two songs; “Heavenly Sunlight” and “Return to Me”. Both the Men’s Choir and the Senior Choir went on a road trip to Charlottetown (NL!) on May 16th at the invitation of their church and their minister, Mr. Bruce Rideout. The annual Choir Memorial Hymn Sing Service took place on Sunday, May 30th during which all choirs in our church participated. After the conclusion of our regular season, the Men’s Choir travelled to Glenwood on Sunday, June 27th to sing with their choir during their 50th Anniversary celebrations. The Men’s Choir also travelled to Benton on November 7th to join in their celebration of the re-opening of the Benton United Church. On two occasions in 2004, all choirs in Fraser Road United Church came together (with trumpet as well!) to perform special anthems. The first was on Easter Sunday, and the other was on Sunday December 12th for the annual Choir Christmas Special. We took the arrangement of “Angels We Have Heard On High” to the Gander Ministerial Christmas Food Bank Service hosted by the Salvation Army Church on Monday the 13th, and left the audience in a great Christmas spirit when we finished! There are many ‘thank-you’ s to be said after such a wonderful year! First, a big thank-you to each choir member for your long term dedication to your choir(s); a choir’s success depends on that. Thank-you to our ministers, congregation, and many church volunteers for your support throughout 2004. Also, the choirs and myself are very thankful for the many donations towards the purchase of choir music in Memorial Gifts. . . . . and keep in mind . . . new members are always welcome! Karen Nevin
SOCIAL CLUB Our Social Club meets regularly the last Saturday of each month. At the present time we have 41 members, with lots of room for more. The main purpose of this club is to have fun and fellowship among the members of our Church Family. Throughout the years, our club has provided some needed items for the Church and hall. These items are paid for through the proceeds of our annual bean supper, which takes place in February. Last year we purchased dollies to stack the chairs on so they could be moved easily, also with the help of a donation from a member of our congregation the front doors to our church were replaced. Plans for others are in place (such as more chairs and dollies for it) or other things that are deemed more urgent. This past fall we organized a day-long outing to Fogo and visited with the United Church Women at their Church, we had a guided tour of the new Health Care Centre and a tour of the F.U. Trading Co. The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all that were able to attend. Some of the activities of our club:
We were sorry to see three of our club members leave, Daphne and Ed Blandford moved to St. John’s and Brian McLaren moved to Ontario. We wish them God’s Blessings in their new surroundings. We extend best wishes for a happy and successful 2005 to all members of our congregation. Jean and Cator Brown
FELLOWSHIP UNIT Our unit meets at U.C. Hall once a month from September to June. We would like for other women of the congregation to join us. We offer fun, fellowship and service. It is a very casual way to spend the third Tuesday of each month at 8 p.m., with worship, business and fun which includes games, special speakers, presentations, videos and of course a cup of tea. Please feel free to join us. We are also connected to other UCW groups by way of presbyterial districts and rallies. We presently have 48 members on our roll with 21 life members which includes our three recipients this year; Margaret Hender, Marion Stratton and Lorraine Elliott. One of our members moved to St. John’s we wish Winnie well in her new home and we are still in contact from time to time. Our year was very successful as you can see from our report. Programs at our unit meeting were as follows:
Community and Church
Fund raising Projects
Timeout is still ongoing on Mondays 1:30-4:30 p.m. Come and join us it is a great afternoon out. You don’t have to be a member of UCW – but anyone is welcome to drop by for any length of time. See you there, next Monday. Congratulations to Lorraine Elliott as President of West District UCW. A special thanks to so many of our congregation who supported us over this past year, it makes the load so much lighter because of faithful members of our congregation, we are grateful for your dedication. We hope 2005 will be another successful year with your prayers and help. Faithfully submitted, Betty Hodder
GLENWOOD – APPLETON BOARD OF MANAGEMENT Another year is coming to an end. 2004 has been an historic and busy year for First United. On June 27 we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the church. To prepare for this event took a lot of planning and work. It was a three day event with something for everyone, young and old, ending on a Sunday with the anniversary service with Rev. Calvin Evans as guest speaker. All events were well attended and enjoyed by all. Financially, according to reports, this year will be as good as or maybe better than last year. Spiritually, things are about the same. We are enjoying our ministers and their services. Attendance seems to be up and down. We have a pot luck supper and service once a month. This seems to work well and extra people do come out. Due to the heavy snow fall last winter, we did a lot of repairs to our cemetery fence this year, replacing the front fence. I want to thank everyone who helped in any way, monetarily or voluntarily, to make 2004 a success. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Scott Thompson
FIRST UNITED CHURCH - GLENWOOD/APPLETON With the help of Rev. Marion and Rev. Stephanie, committee members and congregational members, 2004 has been a very active and successful year. The committee over the past year has done its best to meet the spiritual needs of our communities. Everyone enjoys and looks forward to the 'potluck/family service' which is held once a month. This was initiated in place of Sunday School and appears to be working very well. Also, once per month, instead of a regular Sunday evening service we have a hymn song and bible study session. Again, we are receiving only positive feedback on this venture. A Youth Group was formed by Rev. Stephanie, Patti Goodwin and Jeanne Thompson. The group, although small in numbers, attended summer camp at Loon Bay in August, and the Youth Forum for the Newfoundland Conference in September, where they had a wonderful time and made some very good friends. First United 50th Anniversary was celebrated on the weekend of June 25 - 27, 2004. There were activities for all ages at various times during the weekend. Thanks to everyone who served on the 50th Anniversary Committee, and to Martin Rowe, Lou Jennings, Ricky Stuckless, Conn Barbour, and Ted Northcott who spent many hours painting and doing carpentry work. Thanks to Rev. Marion and Rev. Stephanie for their help in organizing the events, to Rev. Calvin Evans, guest speaker for the Celebration Service, to Karen Niven and the Fraser Road Men's Choir, and to Dianne Best and the Glenwood First United Choir, and to Marion Little for the wonderful Anniversary Cake (it was delicious) and to Sam Steele (oldest member of congregation) and Kyle Rowe (youngest member) who cut the cake. Thanks to Michele Stuckless and Cora Eastman who gave a tremendous amount of time and energy for the preparations. Special thanks to all who helped to make the celebrations a great success. Thanks to the First Glenwood Girl Guides who participated in our Remembrance Day Service, and to Marjorie Richards who compiled and read a list of veterans, past and present, who are/were residents' of Glenwood and Appleton. Also, thanks to Shirley Pelley who read the poem "In Flanders Fields". It was a very meaningful service. The First United Choir held a marvelous service on Dec 19. We thank them for their ministry of music. The Christmas Eve Service was well attended again this year. Rev. Marion held the service with a 'live' Nativity Scene. The congregation appreciated the tradition of lighting a memorial candle and taking communion. Thanks to all members of Session for all their help in 2004 - preparing and helping with the serving of communion, Maxine for arranging for readers, those who helped with the weekly readings, UCW in their help with the potluck dinners and their willingness to re-decorate the church for different occasions during the year. Thank you to all who have made our services a meaningful time of prayer and praise. May God's Blessing be with you all in 2005. Glenys Northcott
FIRST UNITED CHURCH
The past year has proved to be a very productive one for the Glenwood/Appleton ladies. We have been very, very busy with the catering of three weddings as well as helping with the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of our church. We have 10 registered members in our group, but we have so much help from the ladies and men from the congregation, this makes our activities so much easier to accomplish. This past year:
Maybe it’s not age that makes the time past fast, it may be the amount you do in a day! This year we have many activities planned as well, but we are going to try to make our monthly meetings a little more fun and creative. Instead of the regular business and lunch meetings, we are going to invite friends along, do a few crafts and enjoy each other’s talent. We are also creating a cookbook for the Come Home Year of Glenwood-Appleton. We would love to have your recipes. The time and resources we give to our church, will never be missed! Michelle Stuckless
FIRST UNITED CHURCH This has been a very busy year for the United Church in Benton. At the beginning of 2004 a bank account was opened and the books were set up. Then the fund raising started. With the use of the Anglican Church there was a service every second Sunday. Many thanks to them for the use of their church. In April we applied for an HRDC project and were successful in getting that. Six people were hired and work started on the Church in August. HRDC paid all of the wages and we received some money for the materials. The cost of renovating was higher than we had thought because there was no insulation in the walls or ceilings, the floor could not be sanded as it had been painted several different colors, the ground needed a lot of fill and weeping tiles had to be put into place. Many people donated items such as stain for the walls, light fixtures for the church, a table and chairs for the children and the Gambo Fire Department donated chairs. There were thirty new chairs purchased with hymnals. On November 7th the Church was reopened and approximately eighty people attended the service which was followed by a reception at the community hall. Six hymn books were purchased and we need at least a dozen more but they will come with time. There are 18 families in our congregation at the end of 2004. That is two more than we had at the beginning of the year. The attendance at Church is fairly good. Many many thanks go to Diane Best who plays the organ for us every second Sunday. Genny Osmond
FINANCE The Finance Committee, through the Church Council, is responsible to the Congregation for: 1. Informing the Congregation of the financial needs and obligations of the Church 2. Assisting in securing contributions for the life and work of the Church through; 3. Counting, recording and depositing funds received from all sources; 4. Preparing and monitoring of the Administration budget 5. Coordinating with the Treasurer and Committee Chairpersons in the development of the overall Church Budget. 6. Confer with the privacy co-ordinator to ensure that requirements of the Privacy Act are met and to provide for the security of relevant documents. The Church has been experiencing a slow decline in contributions throughout the year, the trend particularly evident during the summer months. This trend, together with an ambitious renovation and rejuvenation program, necessitated close monitoring of the budget to ensure bills were paid in a timely manner. Government assistance in the form of grants for labour and a small amount of material were significant factors in the completion of the above noted projects. As well, it was found necessary to activate our “line of credit” thus increasing our loan obligation from 45 to 59 thousand dollars while precluding any lump sum loan payments. We did, however, make several monthly payments, which reduced the amount owing at year-end to $50,500.00. Income from all sources totalled $268,617.00, short of the projected amount by only $1,187.00. However, it should be noted that a significant amount was unavailable for Church use it was designated for charitable efforts exclusive of M & S. Priorities for 2005 will be the completion of the parking lot extension, any necessary repairs to the Manse, and again, elimination or reduction of the Church debt. Highlights 1. All 2004 bills have been paid. THE 2005 BUDGET A deficit of approximately $6,000.00 is projected for this year, due primarily to a very significant increase in M&P expense ($16,725.00). Some compensating reductions were found in other areas, in particular, the property budget, as most of the necessary repairs have been completed. It should be noted that a proposal, in conjunction with HRDC, to hire a full time maintenance person versus an outside contractor significantly influenced the M&P budget, but is expected, in time, to benefit the Church. Also influencing the M&P budget are expenses for EI, CPP and WCB, which were not included in the 2004 budget, and the proposal to hire a student intern later in the year. A commendation is extended to all Committee Members, the Church Secretary, the Recorder, Counters, and all the Volunteers who assisted in fund raising or other activities throughout the year. The Treasurer’s report, which follows, details the amount and sources of income, and the actual expenses for 2004. As well, a projection of the revenues and expenditures for 2005 is provided. Don Curnew
2004 TREASURER’S REPORT Total revenues in 2004 were basically on target, with a total of $268,618 raised during 2004. Expenses were a total of $292,272, above budget by approximately $22,476. As a result the past year saw a deficit of $23,658 incurred, mainly as the result of unbudgeted renovations to our church chancel and pews. All expense budgets were basically on target, with the exception of Property Expenses, which totaled $81,534, above budget by approximately $36,000. In June/04 approximately $14,000 were borrowed from our Bank to assist with renovations to the Church chancel, which increased our capital loan to $59,138. The loan was taken out for 48 months, with monthly payments of $1,232 now being paid. Our capital loan had a year-end balance of $50,550, with $8,588 repaid during the past year. With most major repairs now completed for the church, we expect property expenses will fall to normal levels in 2005. While some repairs to the Church manse may be required in 2005, we are hopeful a balanced budget can be achieved in 2005. Bank balance beginning of period- $19,291.87 Tony Foote
IN MEMORIAM FRASER ROAD UNITED CHURCH
I am the resurrection and the life; |
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