WMU Notes
Chicken and Dressing Casserole
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, boiled and deboned
1 package Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 stick butter
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of celery)
Instructions
Mix Pepperidge Farm package with 1 stick melted butter. Grease casserole pan. Layer stuffing mix with melted butter (save some for top). Layer chicken on stuffing mix. Combine mushroom soup, chicken broth, and chicken or celery soup and pour over chicken. Put remaining stuffing mix on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
–Provided by Othello Crawford
Chicken and Dressing Casserole
Click here to download a printable version.
--Provided by Othello Crawford
Hurray for Our Nursery Workers of the Week!
A big thank you to Ally Lima and Dana Ayers
who checked on the nursery the Sunday before Thanksgiving and to Beth and Lucie Moore
for being in charge of the nursery the Sunday after Christmas. We appreciate all of you!
Gaye Buchanan will take care of the nursery on December 3. Thank you, Gaye!
There is still room on the schedule to serve “the least of these”
on Sunday mornings. It is a blessing to see their smiles and enthusiasm as you spend
time with our infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Please contact Cheryl Beck (cabeck@ncsu.edu) if you would like to help.
Mission Moment 11.29.23
Jessica Hearne
CBF Field Personnel in Danville, VA
It’s a typical Sunday afternoon, and people are starting to arrive for Grace and Main’s evening prayer. The kitchen is buzzing with folks pouring coffee and chit-chatting, catching up with friends after a long week. Meanwhile, in the chapel (which is actually just folding chairs set up in the living room), a small sign reminds those who are entering to “please observe silence” to allow folks to “prepare their hearts and minds for worship.” Contemplative and silent prayer have been a part of our community since we started meeting together in 2009; but the desire to quiet ourselves and listen for the voice of God often outstrips our ability to do so. In spite of the sign, some community members still need to be reminded that conversations should be taken to other parts of the house.
During the course of the prayer service, we will sing together some of our favorite hymns or spiritual songs. We will read sayings from the Communion of Saints, or the Desert Fathers, or maybe both. Then, before and after our reading of the scripture passage for the evening, we will sing a Taize chorus to help us prepare to listen for God’s voice:
“The Kingdom of God is justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Come, Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom.”
Now silence.
Or, as we say in Grace and Main, “as close as we can get.” Because it turns out that silence is not a discipline for the faint-hearted. It is in silence that we can hear the voice of God; but the things God is saying are not always easy to hear. I find myself looking for distractions to keep God at bay: blowing my nose, rereading the scripture passage, fussing with my daughter. Often, I am not alone in this: Someone else in the room will start shuffling their feet, or fishing in their pockets, and paying attention to them provides another welcome distraction for me,
But even when we don’t achieve silence, the voice of God comes through as we move into our next form of contemplation: interpreting the scripture together. Anyone in the room is welcome to share what they have heard in the silence. Usually it is a word or phrase that caught someone’s attention and is speaking to their experience, and one person’s sharing can lead to others offering insight into that word or phrase or idea. Sometimes, the connection to the day’s reading is tangential at best, as a brother or sister feels moved to testimony or confession, and God speaks to us through that person’s sharing as well. And while what is said may not be relevant to the discussion, it is always important, and so we listen.
We may not be very good at being silent but, as Thomas Merton says, “I believe that my desire to please You does in fact please You.” While our desire to listen is sometimes greater than our ability, the desire to hear God does, in fact, help us to hear God as we practice silence “as close as we can get.”
PRAY . . . GIVE . . . GO . . .
Thanksgiving Worship
Instant Spice Tea
My mother always made a container of this tasty tea for me to enjoy during the cooler months.
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
14 ounce container of Tang
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2/3 cup instant tea
2 packages Wyler’s instant lemonade
Instructions
Stir all ingredients together well. Put in a jar or plastic container for storage. When ready to use, add 3 teaspoons of mixture to a cup of boiling water and enjoy!
–Provided by Cheryl Beck
Instant Spice Tea
Click here to download a printable version.
--Provided by Cheryl Beck
Flowers for Sanctuary
If you would like to provide flowers in the sanctuary for Sunday morning services, please contact Gwen Messer at 828-506-8370, or Janice in the church office to be placed on the calendar.
Deck the Halls!
Join us as we transform the sanctuary
and church grounds with beautiful Christmas
decorations on Tuesday, November 28 at 9:00 a.m.
Recipes Appreciated!
Each week we include a recipe in the Church Chimes and we hope that you are enjoying reading and trying them. You can add your favorite recipes to the Chimes by sending them to Cheryl Beck at cabeck@ncsu.edu. This is an ongoing WMU project.
Thanks for participating!