CHRISTMAS EVE BREAKFAST, 2014

Remember the Christmas Eve Breakfast? It was just a little over a month ago that we gathered in the cozy church for good food and fellowship. Here are some photos to help you relive that good time. And a big thank you again to the Hyltons and their helpers for making it all possible!

Christmas Caroling, 2014

The Star Carol

THE STAR CAROL

Long years ago on a deep winter night,

High in the heavens a star shone bright,

While in a manger a wee baby lay,

Sweetly asleep on a bed of hay.

Jesus, the Lord, was that baby so small,

Laid down to sleep in a humble stall;

Then came the star and it stood overhead,

Shedding its light 'round his little bed.

Dear Baby Jesus, how tiny thou art,

I'll make a place for thee in my heart,

And when the stars in the heavens I see,

Ever and always I think of thee.

Words by Wihla Hutson

A Christmas Tradition

It's a Christmas tradition at Whitestone. As the holiday season approaches people gather after church to fill shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

We finish up our coffee and cocoa and snacks...

And then begin to lay the goodies out on the tables.

It doesn't take long before we're organized and ready to fill each box as it is passed around the tables.

Each finished box is carried over and stacked.

And just like that we're finished. This year we filled 28 boxes for shipment.

Next stop: happy children in some place of need somewhere in the world, including this year Northern Iraq, where children and their families have been displaced by ISIS militants.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

That makes us very happy, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

--1 Thessalonians 5:18

Come, ye thankful people, come.

Raise the song of harvest home.

All is safely gathered in... 

Ere the winter storms begin.

God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied.

Come to God's own temple, come.

 Raise the song of harvest home.

Go With God, Shirley and Arlene!

Arlene Johnson and Shirley Devereaux, in foreground.

On Sunday, November 2, we had a Commissioning Service for Shirley and Arlene. They are leaving this week for a Mission Trip to Haiti. They are seasoned travelers, and have participated in many forms of service, but this trip will present new challenges for them. Even so, when they heard the call, they responded, "Here am I; send me." (Isaiah 6:8)

As the commissioning service pointed out, though they will be away from us for the time of their service, "in reality this is not a separation, but an extension of our congregation."

Have a wonderful experience, Shirley and Arlene. Our thoughts and prayers go with you.