Pursuant to the By-Laws of Smith Memorial Congregational Church, UCC, an Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 14, 2021. The meeting will be held online via ZOOM. A small representative group will meet concurrently in the vestry of the church. Please watch your notifications regarding the link to be online. The meeting is called to act upon the following items of business:

1. To hear and act upon reports and recommendations from the Minister and the committees of the Congregation, except as hereinafter set forth.
2. To act upon the recommendations of the Nominating Committee to fill the offices for 2021.
3. To consider and adopt a budget for the year 2021.
4. To take up consideration for opening the doors to our church to resume our real-time church services. This discussion will involve timing and persons who will be involved in the decision making. This will involve input from all factions of the church. We will be continuing on-line church services, as they have been very well-received and well-attended.
5. To act upon a request from the Growth and Evangelism committee to enact a By-Law change of name to “Growth and Enrichment,” as the committee has made great strides to look inward as well as outward to where our call reaches.
6. To take up any other business that may lawfully come before this meeting.

Called by THE CHURCH COUNCIL, January 13, 2021

WHAT SMITH CHURCH IS READING
Anders Morley, the author of This Land of Snow: A Journey Across the North in Winter, that we have been reading for January has invited us to join in a webinar on Feb 9 at 8pm. This event is being hosted by the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee. In the meantime, the date for a discussion of Maxwell King’s Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers will be scheduled for March.

REVERSE ADVENT CALENDAR
This endeavor, in partnership with the Stonebridge Montessori Preschool and the community at large, was a HUGE SUCCESS! Thanks to all who contributed. Our contributions made a difference.

WALKING PROGRAM
The Smith Church walkers have hit their stride, and are perambulating vigorously around the country, stopping to “visit” with members and friends of Smith Church who are afar.

ANNUAL MEETING
At the upcoming Annual Meeting, this committee is seeking a name change to better reflect the work that it does. We hope the body will support the committee title of GROWTH AND ENRICHMENT.

PLEDGES

Pledges and gifts to support the ministries of Smith Memorial Church may be received by mail or online.

By mail: Financial Secretary
P O Box 672–Hillsboro, NH 03244

Online pledge: click here. This link goes to our PayPal account, where you can pledge using PayPal, Credit Card or Debit Card.

Thank you for your generous support of our ministries.

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DONATION

There’s no question that many are beyond struggling during the pandemic. Nevertheless, we also know that here in New Hampshire, many are able to live comfortably without having to worry about the daily cost of living expenses. So, some of you may be wondering about just what to do with the government’s latest stimulus check.
Here’s a way to “pay it forward”; make a new year’s donation to the Capital Campaign Fund. In just half a year, such generous donations poured into the fund that Smith Church is now so close to reaching the goal of the drive. Won’t you consider helping to close that gap a bit more? Thank you.

Nine of our SCENE members met outside the church on January 21, all dressed warmly to spend the hour outside. We had a short discussion about the hardest parts of the pandemic for each person, had an individually packed snack brought by Oliver and Addison (thanks, April!) And, then spent the rest of the time playing in the snow. We played snow tag with a pool noodle (thanks, Fran!), four square, and the highlight of the afternoon was painting pictures on the snow outside the church.

Many thanks to Don Descoteaux who manned the paint table and accommodated everyone’s requests for different colors, different brushes, more water, etc! You may be able to see our bright colors until the next snow covers them. We will plan on meeting again in February dependent on the pandemic and the weather.