ATTENTION! Do you have a recurring online donation to Plymouth set up with your bank account or credit card? Because Plymouth is moving to a new giving platform, these automatic payments will end by December 31. If you wish to continue with automatic payments, you will need to enter your bank/credit card info on the new platform by following this link. If you wish the payment to be posted to your 2023 pledge, please choose the Operations 23 fund and a start date of 1/1/2023 or later.

Thank you for your patience with this transition. This new giving platform provides you as a donor greater access and control over your giving and streamlines the recordkeeping for the church staff, so it's a win-win! If you have questions or need assistance, please call the office at (260) 423-9424 and ask for Tina Puitz, Office Manager or Stephen Cook, Financial Administrator.

For all those who have pledged for 2023, thank you! For those who have yet to pledge or fill out the time and talent form, there is still time. Just visit this link to set up your pledge. Every bit helps as we prepare the 2023 budget and look forward to a new year of community-building, service, and sharing the good news!

It’s time to order your Christmas poinsettias! Ordering poinsettias is an easy way to remember, honor, and celebrate loved ones and friends, while helping to decorate our church home for Christmas. To order, please fill out the order form and return it with your check to the church office by Sunday, December 4. Poinsettias are $11.00 each. Please take your plant home with you following the 10:00 pm worship service on Christmas Eve.

To place an order, please either click the button below to print off a copy of the order form to fill out and return to the church office, or pick up an order form in the church office on Sunday morning. If writing a check, please write "Poinsettia Order" on the memo line.

While Rev. Ofner-Seals is away this Sunday, December 4, the current Chapel Class series will take a one-week interlude with a special presentation from Rev. Murphy. He will be sharing the paper he presented at a conference earlier in November, focused on the structural limits to the United States’ constitutional system and offering some ideas on how the US could become a more representative democracy. There will be a time for questions and comments. Join us at 9:00 am in person or on Zoom. The passcode to attend via Zoom is 063060.

On Sunday, December 11, Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals will conclude her series on the prophetic message of the mystics. Mysticism is a thread that weaves throughout every major religion and is often a small, alternative movement of those unwilling to acquiesce to the powers that be. Many of the mystics throughout history resisted control by the hierarchy of the church and offered prophetic ideas that were ahead of their time. Over the course of this series, we’ll hear about how the mystics of many times and places have resisted empire, patriarchy, ecological abuse, economic injustice, materialism, and violence.

Plymouth children and families are invited to our second Las Posadas celebration on Sunday, December 4. This is a Mexican Christian tradition, focusing on the Holy Family seeking shelter, being denied initially, and finally being welcomed. Participants will process throughout the building and sing the Las Posadas song in English, which will conclude with a celebration in the Folsom Room with refreshments. All ages are invited to experience this event, which runs from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. Note: while participants will be inside for the vast majority of the time, there will be one section that will involve being briefly outside, so warm coats are encouraged.

Join us at 7: 00 pm on Wednesday, December 7 for our annual Luminous Night Service. This is a service for those who may be grieving or feeling lonely or sad during the holiday season. It is a quiet, contemplative service with readings of scripture and poetry, along with reflective music and a chance to light candles in honor of loved ones lost. It is also a time to reflect on our hopes for the year ahead and center ourselves in God’s abiding presence during all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. All are welcome to attend this service of lament and promise.

Indiana Center for Middle East Peace's 9th annual Commemoration of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be held at Plymouth Church on Thursday, December 8 at 6:30 pm. This even will feature Fort Wayne leaders (Kyle Miller, newly elected IN state representative for 82nd district, Jan Evrard of The Human Library & Oxford Neighborhood Association, Ewelina Connolly of Amani Family Services, Jeff Markley of Positive Resource Connection) sharing “Why I Do What I Do," plus readings, and excerpts from the UN’s Universal Declaration. Please join us. Free, open to the public, masks strongly encouraged.

Please join fellow Plymouth members and friends for our next family game night on Saturday, December 10 at 6:30 pm. Bring snacks and your favorite game to introduce. Hope to see you there!

By popular demand, there will be a Film and Faith for those 40 and over on Sunday, December 11. We will be watching the 2006 film Children of Men. It is a rated R dystopian sci-fi drama about the rebirth of hope in a world that has lost it. Rev. Murphy thinks this is thematically a Christmas movie. Is he right? Has he lost his senses? Find out! We will gather at 2:30 pm and have a discussion afterwards. Please enter through the Folsom Room side entrance. Folks are encouraged to RSVP to Rev. Murphy at [email protected].

Tickets for the 2022 Boars Head and Yule Log Festival will be distributed on Sunday, December 4, 11, and 18. Please stop by the Folsom Room and get your tickets. Just a reminder all church members are entitled to 6 tickets for this years Festival. You may also get 6 tickets as a Festival Patron, so if you’d like to become a Patron, we can get you set up at that time. We look forward to seeing you! 

Family Mailings

Advent Family Packets were sent out in the mail last month. These packets are full of advent stories, a simple craft, a calendar to color, and encouragement for families celebrating advent at home. If you or a family you know would like this mailing, please contact Katie Watson.

Advent Devotionals

Advent devotionals are available for free in the Folsom Room. These booklets, titled "Now In Flesh Appearing..." include something for all ages -- scripture, readings, coloring pages, and journaling or discussion questions. Please take one for yourself and anyone who would enjoy it.

The Knit & Kibitz and Standish ladies are asking for the entire congregation to be included in the collection for Crossroad. Here is a list of “wishes”:

• Art supplies (coloring and sketch books, colored pencils, markers, paints). No spiral notebooks.
• Toys and Games (cards, board games, Legos, DVDs (G or PG rated movies), DVD players).
• Clothes (boys and girls ages 9-18 varied sizes clothes, shoes, underwear, socks, hats, coats.) No drawstings on any clothing item.
• Gift cards or cash (envelope in office).

There is a bin in the Folsom Room for donations. Items will be delivered on December 12. If you have a question ask Anne Hughes or Becky Hollingsworth.

Thank you in advance for being the church!

Now – December 4 (FW Pride Christmas)

If you’d like to participate in FW Pride’s Christmas this year, but aren’t sure about sponsoring a family solo, E&M is organizing an “Angel Tree” for a larger family. Beginning November 8, you can choose one gift item to purchase (usually $25-$30), and help a family have a happy Christmas.

The tree is located in the Folsom Room, and each ornament features one gift requested. Instructions are on the back of the ornament. Please be sure to keep the ornament with your gift so we know the intended recipient.

If you want to drop off unwrapped presents early, you may do so in the bin under the tree in the Folsom Room. Again, please keep the gift and the ornament together in the bag or box you use to drop off your present.

If you’d like to join us for a wrapping party on Sunday, December 4, after service, we will have plenty of wrapping paper and ribbons and pizza! It should be a fun time.

Now – January 1

During this season, we will be collecting unopened canned/boxed food items. From what is collected, we will work to help keep the community pantry in the parking lot stocked during the winter. Please ensure cans have “pop tops” so they can be opened without a can opener if necessary. Canned meats and beans, hearty soups and pastas, and potatoes are treasures! Peanut butter, shelf-stable microwave meals, and instant oatmeal are easy for kids to prepare! Canned fruit, canned veggies, and condiments really complete a meal! Shelf-stable milk is a miracle!

The pantry gets used quite a bit. Any time you are here and notice that it could use some restocking, feel free to grab a few things from the collection bin and put them out for people to use.

The Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival is December 29 and 30, 2022. Between the 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm services, the kitchen crew serves food to the cast, orchestra, and crew. The kitchen crew is always looking for additional volunteers to spend a few hours or the entire afternoon/evening in the kitchen preparing food. A big thanks to those kitchen crew members who return year after year. We also gladly welcome new crew members. Between making sandwiches and cutting fruits and vegetables, there is a lot of lively banter and conversation. We usually get started early in the afternoon each day. If you would like to be part of the kitchen crew on one or both days, please send an email to Diana Bauer at [email protected]. Boar's Head is a huge part of Plymouth and the kitchen crew makes an important contribution to the overall production!

The Indiana Kentucky conference of the UCC is hosting General Synod in June 2023, and it has been a tradition for the hosting conference to provide prayer shawls for delegates and others in attendance. Would you be willing to help by knitting or crocheting one or two shawls? Let Rev. Sara ([email protected]) know if you would like to commit to making one (or three!).

The following links can be found on our Linktree:

• Donate
• Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Sign Up
• Chancel Flower Dedication Sign Up Form
• Study Connection Volunteer Sign Up
• Plymouth Google Calendar
• Plymouth's Social Medias