November 8, 2023

Dear Allisonville Friends,

Last week, I was out with an illness that required isolation—yes, that familiar one we've all heard so much about. Even though I was alone, the support from our community didn't miss a beat.

Many of us have experienced Covid isolation, and even more of us have felt the loneliness and frustration that can set in at the end of the year. My bout with Covid and isolation reminded me poignantly of our community's strength. As the holidays approach, our church's support to one another shines even brighter.

We are gearing up for a season of giving and connection. Food drives, a madrigal dinner, a cookie walk, and so much more. Each event is a chance to share and care within and beyond our church walls.

If you are new to Allisonville like me, it can be difficult to keep it all straight. I'll keep my insights brief and encourage you to read the many ways you can be involved. Please join us in these efforts—every bit matters. Your participation is what makes our community thrive.

Warm wishes,

Isaac

Buddy Bags

Thank you for helping to provide Buddy Bags for students at Clearwater Elementary, Eastwood Middle School and Northview Middle School. Please have your food donations to the church Narthex by this Sunday, November 12. Come join us in packing and delivering the bags on Tuesday, November 14, at 9:30 am! Are you willing to help with some last minute shopping? Please let Loveta or Sandy know!

Contact Loveta Cain (tlc6383@comcast.net), Sandy Nagy (snag1221@yahoo.com), or Janet Spaulding (janetmspaulding@gmail.com) with questions.

Youth Group Meal Signup

We are looking for people to provide lunches for the youth group each week! You can click the button below and sign up for a date (or two). This is a great way to help support our important faith formation ministries. If you have any questions, please reach out to Josh. The next empty spot is November 26!

Thanksgiving Baskets for Clearwater Elementary

With the holiday approaching, we will be dropping off "Thanksgiving in a basket" for 30 families at Clearwater Elementary School composed of nonperishable items and a gift card for buying a turkey (or other main dish of choice). The goal is to make life a little easier by providing a meal that's ready to go.

If you'd like to contribute to this effort, please bring corn, sweet potatoes, and mixed fruit OR boxes of stuffing mix and instant potatoes to church this Sunday (11/12). We'll also need around 30 gravy packets to include in the baskets.

Thanksgiving with International Students

The Bates-Scott family has been blessed through their participation with USA Homestays that pairs an international students with a family to celebrate Thanksgiving. They encourage you to consider participating this year. If you're interested, you can follow this link and watch the video below.

https://www.usahomestays.org/thanksgiving-host

https://vimeo.com/872543499

Family Promise Shopping

This year we will be shopping for 3 families that are in the Family Promise Apartment Shelter Program. I will be receiving the family shopping lists from Family Promise the week of Thanksgiving. We will need several people to volunteer to shop for these families. We will be spending $75 per person for gifts. They will also receive some of the grocery gift cards donated on Celebration Sunday. Any money that you spend will be reimbursed to you when you turn in your receipts after you purchase the family’s gifts. You will be responsible for taking the gifts to the family. If you have any questions or want to volunteer to be a shopper please give Sherilee McLain a call at 317-403-2010 or by e-mail at sherilee.mclain@yahoo.com. If you are not able to shop but would like to support the program you can make a donation by check and put Christmas Families in the memo line or by cash.

I always look forward to shopping for a family. It helps put me in the spirit of the Advent Season.

Thank you for your support,

Sherilee McLain

Christmas Assistance

ACC will again be supporting families inside and outside the church who could use a little extra help through the Christmas season. In addition to proceeds of the Cookie Walk, generous financial donations from church members have made this possible in the past. If you'd like to contribute to this effort, contact Pastor Beau or simply designate a gift to the church as "Christmas Assistance" and we'll ensure it ends up making someone's holiday brighter.

Special Offering for Higher Education

Have you or a loved one graduated from a Disciples affiliated college, seminary or divinity school? Support the next generation of Disciples student in higher education with the Thanksgiving Special Offering collected November 19. The Thanksgiving Offering benefits the Colleges, Universities, Seminaries, and Divinity Houses affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Get your promotional materials now. 

Faith Formation Ministry

If you are interested in any Sunday School class or other faith formation opportunity, please reach out to Josh. Here's a brief rundown of our offerings:

• Worship and Wonder (9:30 and 11:00 in Room 12): Open to kids 3 years old through 1st grade

• Children's Sunday School (11:00 in Room 1): Open to kids in 2nd through 5th grade

• Youth Sunday School (11:00 in the Retreat House): Open to youth in 6th through 12th grade

• Adult Sunday School (11:00 Faith Class in the Fireplace Room, LIFE Class in Room 15, and Pathfinders Class in the Chalice Room) See below for details

Adult Sunday Schools

The Faith Class

The Faith Class gathers in the Casa space and is currently led by Rev. Joyce Coalson. This class follows a lectionary-based curriculum, Feasting on the Word. The Revised Common Lectionary is a resource supported by Vanderbilt Divinity School (go 'Dores!) that has a three-year calendar of scripture texts for each Sunday and special occasion. This curriculum follows that calendar and covers a variety of topics relevant to faith and life. This class is a great way to explore lots of meaningful scriptures!

The LIFE Class

The LIFE Class gathers in Room 15 and is currently taught by Sue Shadburne Call, Russ Smith and Joel Duffield. The LIFE class covers a wide range of topics and they rotate series and discussions throughout the year. The LIFE Class offers a wide number of ways to explore big questions about faith and life. 

The Pathfinders Class

The Pathfinders Class meets in the Chalice Room, the small room to the left of Door 2 entrance. This class is taught by Jim Powell, Peggy Powell, and Pam Rahn. The Pathfinders' discussions are based on the scripture text and sermon in worship that day. This is different than the Faith Class because the Pathfinders don't necessarily follow the lectionary. This class is a great way to dive deeper into whatever was preached about in worship. 

November 8 — Sarah Circle

Sarah Circle will meet Wednesday, November 8 at 7 p.m. via a Zoom meeting. We will be reading and discussing the book Dessert First by J. Dana Trent. If you are interested in joining Sarah Circle, please contact Sue York (nsyork@att.net) and she will send you the link to the meeting. Hope you will join us! 

November 12 — Anti-Racism Book Study

In June we started The Allisonville Forum with The Rev. Dr. Leah Gunning Francis as our speaker. She has two books - Ferguson and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community and Faith After Ferguson: Resilient Leadership in Pursuit of Racial Justice. We will be having an in-person discussion about these books on Sunday, November 12 from 12 noon - 1:30 pm. We’ll have a light lunch in the Fellowship Hall before our study begins. 

Please contact Cindy Coble at clcoble@icloud.com if you plan on attending so she has a count for the light lunch!

November 12 — Young Adult Friendsgiving

Our social event for November will be a pitch-in style "friendsgiving". We will meet on November 12 at 3pm in the Retreat House to socialize and share a meal. Please bring your favorite side dish or dessert to share. 

November 15 — Allisonville Forum

November 18 — Euchre (and other games) Night at Church!

Our first-ever Euchre Tournament is coming up! This will be a fun afternoon of Euchre (and other games if you prefer), baked goods, and some surprises along the way! All proceeds from this gathering will benefit our 2024 youth mission trip to North Carolina.

The buy-in is $10 per person, $20 per pair. You can DEFINITELY invite your friends and family members who don't regularly attend ACC- the more the merrier!!! Spread the word, and get ready to win! Click this button to register. There will also be a sign-up in the Narthex.

Childcare will be provided, and we hope to see you there! Reach out to Rev. Josh Jackson (jjackson@allisonville.org) if you have any questions. Game on!

November 19 — Celebration Dinner

Join us for a post-church gathering on November 19 as we celebrate our numerous blessings with a meal. In addition to savoring the delicious spread, the stewardship committee will offer insights into the pledges received during this year's stewardship campaign.

November 21 — Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service

This year's service will be at First Friends Church, 3030 Kessler Blvd E Dr, Indianapolis, IN 46220 on November 21 at 7:00 pm. Light refreshments will be served in Fellowship Hall afterward. The offering taken that night will support Brightlane Learning. Detailed parking instructions are below.

While there are parking spots on the front and East side of the building, there is plenty of parking in the back (North) side. Entrances will be open at the front (Kessler side) of the building, as well as the back of the building (North side). Find the handicapped accessible entrance on the East side of the building, by the handicapped parking near the courtyard. 

November 30 — Faith in Indiana Listening Campaign Share Out

December 2 — Hanging of the Greens

Our annual Hanging of the Greens will take place on Saturday morning December 2nd from 9:00 am - noon. All are invited to participate. Donuts will be served as usual. Thanks in advance from your Worship and Spiritual Life team!

December 2 — Men's Breakfast

We meet at Metro Diner (3945 E 82nd St.) at 8:30 am. Please call or text Don B (317-697-6011) by Friday if you plan to join. We must request seats in advance.

December 3 — Diaper Shower for the Snyders

The Snyder Family (Rachel, Rachel, Luca, and Matteo) are preparing to welcome their third child into this world at the end of the year. To celebrate this news and offer our support as a community, ACC is throwing them a "diaper shower" on Sunday, December 3rd. 

Participating is SUPER EASY. Just purchase a package of diapers (Huggies are preferred by the family) of any amount/size. Bring them with you to church that Sunday for our 10:30 Coffee Cafe. We'll share a moment of blessing in between services and send them home with enough diapers to make life easier in the baby's first years. 

Have specific questions? Contact Toni Medlen or Beau (bunderwood@allisonville.org). 

December 8 & 9 — Madrigals Dinner

More information should be hitting your inboxes soon!

December 12 — Book Club

The October discussion was postponed to this new date.

When: Tuesday, December 12 at 7:00 pm

Location: Over Zoom, contact Audrey Pelsor

The current book is The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

"A rollicking ride on the Hollywood roller coaster, The Next Best Thing is a heartfelt story about a young woman searching for her own happily-ever-after in the land where dreams come true."

If you'd like a library copy please contact Audrey Pelsor (ajpelsor@gmail.com)

December 16 — Cookie Walk

The Allisonville Christian Church Cookie Walk is a wonderful holiday fundraiser for our outreach ministries.

Here’s the scoop: Volunteers sign up to bake and donate at least six dozen cookies or more. All of the cookies are set out in the Family Room the night before. Then folks come December 16 at 9:00 am and grab a box or two and walk around the room and fill their boxes with the cookies of their choice.

We need lots of cookie bakers and volunteers to make this a successful event! Sign-up sheets will be in the Narthex beginning Sunday November 26. You can email Sue York at nsyork@att.net or Linda Hunt at prodieter1@aol.com if you have any questions.

Hope you will join in this holiday fun for our outreach ministries!

Arts at Allisonville

CALLING ALL MUSIC AND DRAMA LOVERS! It’s time to get Arts at Allisonville rolling again. We are in the planning process for the next 12 months or so. Won’t you join us? If you love the arts, we want you. Contact Steve Caress (stcaress@yahoo.com), Shari Jacobs (slj1114@gmail.com), or Chris Higgins (chiggins@allisonville.org) and let us know. We want to start meeting soon to discuss/plan some exciting events.

Seeking Exploring Worship and Worship & Wonder Volunteers for 2023

Would you like to be involved in our children's ministry next year? We are seeking volunteers for both Exploring Worship and Worship & Wonder. Here are brief descriptions of the roles we are needing to fill:

W&W Greeter - The Greeter helps to welcome the kids to Worship & Wonder and assists the Storyteller in crowd control and keeping the ministry flowing. 

W&W Storyteller - The Storyteller leads the lesson directly from the Worship & Wonder curriculum. We have access to the official W&W training. 

EW Teacher - The Teacher leads the activity for the day, such as the sharing of joys and concerns, reading the scripture for the day, etc.

EW Shepherd - The Shepherd assists the Teacher in getting the kids to the EW space and keeping the activity going smoothly. 

If you are interested in any of these roles or if you would like more information about them, please reach out to Josh!

Seeking Virtual Scripture Readers

Virtual scripture readers are needed. This is a meaningful way to contribute to our worship experience, and we invite more members to consider participating. Please contact John Quick (317-294-2709, qman21611@gmail.com) to sign up.