Commack United Methodist Church 486 Townline Road Commack, NY 11725-7310 (631) 499-7310

Web Site: http://www.commack-umc.org Email: [email protected] Pastor’s E-Mail: [email protected] Rev. Richard C. Mills, Pastor (631) 499-4770 January 2006

Open Hearts

Open Minds

Open Doors

I don’t know about you, but there are times that I seem to have lost myself trying to figure what the purpose in life is or maybe just my purpose. Maybe it is the time of year, a brand new year and everything isn’t just great. The problems of the old year are still with me and I am now facing Lord knows what in the New Year. I know that I’m not going to find it on a mountain in Tibet because like Maynard I didn’t loose it there. In fact I didn’t really loose anything. All I really need to do is to reconnect to the power that God gives me. God didn’t move, I did. On January 1, 2006 we will be having a covenant service. This is a great time to reconnect with God. Please join us as we rediscover the greatness of our God as we recommit ourselves to Him.

Dear Brother or Sister in Christ, Back in the ‘60s there was a television show called Dobie Gillis. One of the characters in the show was Maynard, a “beatnik” with sandals, beads, and a goatee. Maynard avoided work at any cost and was more comical than intelligent. In one episode Maynard informed Dobie that he was going on a pilgrimage to the Far East to consult with a guru about the meaning of life. Maynard tried to explain to Dobie why he felt that it was important to speak with the ancient wise man to try to find out who he really was. Dobie finally said to him, “Maynard, you will never find yourself on a mountain in Tibet.” “Why not?” asked Maynard. Dobie replied, “Because you didn’t loose yourself on a mountain in Tibet.”

See you in church, Rev. Dick

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to help expand facilities for new and emerging programs as well as repairs and renovations.

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 11 at 7:30 PM in the parlor. The program “Prayer & SelfDenial…Women Seeking Justice in the Workplace” will be led by Doris Hoffmann. Kathy Muller is hostess for the evening. All the women are invited to attend. If transportation is needed, please phone Ann Aupperle at 499-0192.

CHRISTMAS BAKE SALE We wish to thank all who baked and purchased our delicious cakes, pies and cookies. We realized approximately $230.00, which will go to support our mission projects. Kathy Muller UMW Publicity

But, what, you ask, is this Prayer and Self-Denial UMW programs each year? The week of Prayer was inaugurated in 1887 by the Women’s Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. It was noted that half a million women in our church were not contributing enough to keep 20 devoted women in the foreign fields with means sufficient to do the work that should be done. So the women called upon one another to pray for an entire week…together in church or with prayer at home.

INTERNATIONAL DINNER Saturday, February 11, 2006 is the night set for our annual International Dinner. There is no fee, but we ask every family to bring an entree, with enough to feed their family plus four! In addition…please include a dessert or salad, and sign up for the other items needed to complete the meal (EG: condiments, coffee, sugar, etc). There will be sign up sheets on the hall bulletin board.

Since 1991, United Methodist Women and the Women’s Division have embraced the emphasis of our missionminded foremothers by funding projects in a four-year cycle.

We are on the look-out for the special home grown talent for which our congregation is noted! So please, see either one of us if you wish to participate! The wearing of your heritage/native dress will add to the festivities and it would be especially nice if your entrée was one of your family’s heritage recipes.

The theme for 2006 is “Preserving Property; Serving People” and the offering fund will provide for capital expenditures at mission institutions related to the General Board of Global Ministries. In the U.S. these include community centers, women’s residences, schools, colleges and residential treatment centers. Outside the U.S., they include hostels/residences, hospitals/clinics, schools and community centers/day care centers.

ONE BIG REQUEST…please sign up the number of people in your family that plan to come. This dinner has become extremely popular and as seating is limited, we need to know just HOW MANY will attend! If you have any questions or wish to volunteer your assistance, in setting up or to entertain, please don’t hesitate to

The offering will be divided equally between U.S. and international projects

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call us. Thank You! John & Kathy Muller 499-6672

Hallich Nei Yaahr…Pennsylvania Dutch San nin faailok……………...….Chinese Shinnen omedeto goziamasu….Japanese Chikondwelelo kavhaka chatsopano ………………........................Zimbabwe Maroyon na Pasko woy kaopia-an ng Bag-ong Tuig kaniyo’t langon mga sulod………………….Philippines (Ata)

Interfaith Peace Prayer and Meditation Lord, we each and everyone See You shining as a sun. Radiant bright You are our light Keep us sheltered in Thy sight. In every culture, language, clime We feel Your presence in our time. We look to You and in our way Call out our need and daily pray. With peace our present beck and call Lord, keep us centered, one and all. And as we try with all our might Keep us striving toward the light. May Your Peace spread through all lands So together we stand, hand in hand.

OLDER THAN DIRT! “Hey Dad,” one of my kids asked the other day. “What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?” “We didn’t have fast food when I was growing up,” I informed him. “All the food was slow.” “C’mon, seriously. Where did you eat?” “It was a place called ‘at home’”, I explained. “Grandma cooked every day and when Grandpa got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn’t like what she put on my plate, I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.” By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn’t tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table. But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood If I figured his system could have handled it: Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore Levi’s, set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country or had a credit card. In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card. The card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears AND Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died. May parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow).

Prayer by Susan Kramer Here are a few New Years Greetings, by heritage, to all in our Church family…May you have a Happy & Blessed New Year…..Kathy Muller !Feliz Ano Nuevo!.......................Spanish Felice Anno Nuovo……………....Italian Gluckliches Neues Jahr…...……German Bonne Annee a Vous……………French L’Shanah Tovah……………..…..Jewish Eid-eh Shoma Movarak…………Persian Gelukkig Ni’jaor…......…….Netherlands Stastny Novy Rok………………..Czech Godt Nytar…………...………….Danish Blian nua faoi mhaise duit…….…Gaelic Bliadhna Mhath Ur……..Scottish Gaelic Godt Nytt Ar………..………Norwegian Szczesliwego Nowego Roku…….Polish Gott Nytt Ar……………………Swedish Blwyddyn Newydd Dda……….....Welsh Namae Saaldiyan Mubaraken……..India Ojenyunyat osrasay….....Iroquois (USA)

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yours was called French kissing and they didn’t do that in movies…I don’t know what they did in French movies. French movies were dirty and we weren’t allowed to see them.

We didn’t have a television in our house until I was 11, but my grandparents had one before that. It was, of course, black and white, but they bought a piece of colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue, like the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third was red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding across someone’s lawn on a sunny day. Some people had a lens taped to the front of the TV to make the picture look larger. I was 13 before I tasted my first pizza, it was called “pizza pie.” When I bit into it, I burned the rood of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It’s still the best pizza I ever had. We didn’t have a car until I was 15. Before that, the only car in our family was my grandfather’s Ford. He called it a “machine.” I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn’t know weren’t already using the line. Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was. All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers. I delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I got to keep 2 cents. I had to get up at 4 AM every morning. On Saturday, I had to collect the 42 cents from my customers. My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to keep the change. My least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day. Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. Touching someone else’s tongue with

FROM THE CHURCH OFFICE…. We will be updating the call chain and the phone directory. If you have e-mail, be sure we have the correct address so that we can use that to contact you in place of a phone call. If you do not want to be included in the phone chain, please contact the church office prior to the update. Thanks for your help!! Also, I would like to wish everyone warm wishes for a very Happy New Year!

KIDS IN CHURCH… One particular fouryear-old prayed, “And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.” A little boy was overheard praying: “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.” 3-year-old Reese: “Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen. After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, “That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.”

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