• Communion will be served on January 6, Epiphany of the Lord Sunday, and again on February 3, Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday. On January 13, Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we will renew our baptismal vows.

• In sure and certain hope. . .
In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ. The church family extends sympathy to the family and friends of Dorothy Ethel Dykema, January 26, 1923 – December 17, 2007.
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:25-26

• Did you know. . . that our pastor puts copies of The Presbyterian Outlook and The Christian Century in the literature rack when she has finished with them. They are there to “Read-Enjoy-Learn-Bring Back — OR — Pass Along.” Discover what is happening, both in our denomination and in the world of faith. For more information, speak with Pastor Janice.

• January 6
The New Evangelical Leaders, Part I – Speaking of Faith Series
The first in a two-part series on influential leaders who are reshaping Evangelical Christianity from within progressive and conservative circles. Jim Wallis a progressive Evangelical activist founded Sojourners and now advises presidential candidates and world leaders in what he calls the "post-Religious Right" era. He is determined to put poverty at the top of America's "moral values" agenda. We will use portions of the one hour program (which can be downloaded at the following site: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/jimwallis/index.shtml ) or can be made available through the church office) to guide our conversations. Pat Manfredi will lead this class.

• January 13, 20
One God? Three Gods?
PCUSA Report: “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing”
According to Daniel Migliore of Princeton Seminary, The primary aim of this report is “to help our church renew its faith in the triune God.” For many Christians, including many Presbyterians, the doctrine of the Trinity is not only dark and confusing; it is also without practical significance for everyday Christian faith and life. This Report has as its aim to help members of our churches find once again in this central doctrine of Christian faith “good and joyful news.” Pat Manfredi & Pastor Janice West will lead this discussion class. For more information, follow the link: http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/issues/reflection.htm

• Restaurant Group
January Restaurant Group will meet Thursday, Jan. 17, 5:30 at Spinoni’s Pizza and Pasta House 501 E Walnut Carbondale

• January 27,2008
Annual Meeting of the Congregation
Dedication of Vision Statement Quilt
Congregational Meal
Join us for this festive day. . .there will be no Christian Enrichment this morning.

• The call for the Annual Meeting of the congregation of First Presbyterian Church will be on Sunday, January 27, 2008, immediately following morning worship. This meeting is for the purpose of hearing and acting on the reports of the life and ministry of the congregation, acting on the terms of call for the Pastor, and any other business properly brought before the meeting.
Flossie Langin, Clerk of Session & Janice C. West, Moderator

• February 3 The New Evangelical Leaders, Part II – Speaking of Faith Series
This program's guests are conservative Evangelicals leaders Rick and Kay Warren. Rick Warren is best known as pastor of one of the largest churches in the U.S. and author of one of the world's best-selling books, The Purpose Driven Life. They want to move beyond the partisan and cultural divides of recent years to fight poverty, AIDS, and homelessness. We will use portions of the one hour program (which can be downloaded at the following site: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/warren/index.shtml) or can be made available through the church office) to guide our conversations. Pat Manfredi will lead this class.

• Lighting the Sanctuary
The Stewardship Ministry has been working in 2007 to improve the Sanctuary lighting and if all goes well, the Congregation will see the results in 2008. We have investigated trying to refit the existing lighting with fluorescent lights, but the existing fixtures are simply too small to get everything inside them to accomplish this goal. We have had Craft Metal Products of Indianapolis, IN, a company that has specialized in church lighting for over 50 years, analyze our system and they have come up with a new fluorescent system which will allow us to have three times the light for the same power consumption, be dimmable, allow for the separation of up and down lighting, and allow somelights to be on while others are off. In other words it will be very flexible and on full power you should be able to read your hymnal and Bible much better even on cloudy dark days and at night. The new fixtures will be very similar to the existing ones fitting in with our Gothic decor. The nicest thing of all is that Dr. Neckers, in his will, left a sum of money to the Church for Sanctuary improvements, which will be sufficient to cover the cost of the new system.

• Hats for the Tibetan Orphans (Dorothy Baker - jhbaker@siu.edu)
We have exceeded our goal of eighty-seven hats for the the children at the Dickey Orphanage in Llasa, Tibet! This is wonderful considering more children have been admitted since we started the project in early November. I knew we would have support, but I am overwhelmed by the number of women who so willingly became involved and by the number of hats many of them each made. The hats will be mailed the end of the first week in January.
Thank you, everyone! Please pass on our thanks to the friends you enlisted to help make this such a success.

• IRA Results and Benefits for you and our church / or God vs. Caesar (Allan Bennett - abennett@neondsl.com)
Several people took advantage of tax free IRA withdrawals for 2007. As a result, $8600 in prepaid 2008 pledges and $15,007 in capital funds was received. You saved the taxes and our church got a leg up on building completion !!

• Reminder!
Small Groups being offered:
A.M. Bible Study -- Win Mitchell 457-2489
P.M. Bible Study -- Pastor Janice 549-2148
Men’s Spiritual Development -- John Holt 924-7021
Current Events in a Christian Context -- Harry Davis 549-6199
Movie Night -- Joe and Diane Cash 985-4075
Yarning to Make a Difference -- Jane Swanson 457-6654
Seniors’ Restaurant Group -- Lin Koonce 457-5357
Fair Ladies of Faith (reorganizes each Fall) -- Tracy Prosser 893-2965

• Daycare
December was busy for us here at the Daycare. We had our annual Christmas party for the children on Thursday, December 13, and Santa came and the children where very happy to see him. Everyone had a good time. The children made tee-shirts for the Christmas party and they sang songs to their parents.
The staff had a good time eating and just visiting with each other at our Christmas party; it was Friday night December 7.
We will be closed from December 24 through January 1. The Daycare wants to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2008.

• Preschool
The Frogs celebrated the holidays of different lands this month. They celebrated Mexican style. They also put one of their shoes outside the classroom, as is done in Sweden, so gifts could be put in them. They made gingerbread men on construction paper and decorated them with yarn, sparkles, etc. They then made actual gingerbread men and baked them—they tasted so good!
The Tadpoles and Polliwogs also had Christmas activities—making stockings,Christmas trees and other Christmas things. The Tadpoles and Frogs were a part of the annual Christmas Sing December 19. They had homemade cookies and punch afterwards while their parents and friends visited.
The Preschool hoped everyone had a wonderful Christmas and will have a good New Year! We will return January 7, 2008.