Belonging

There are many ways to belong to our faith community. Here is a short summary of what each group has done in 2010:

Music & Worship Team

It was a relatively quiet year for us. We had two hymn sings: one in the spring and another one in the fall. The first one was well attended and had a combined choir from Presbyterian congregations. The second one had local choir members joining. The choir under Judy did wonderful works for both events.

We have continued our 9 am services on Sunday morning as well as Monday evening services. We are thankful to God that the choir has grown in numbers in 2010 and that members of choir are faithful in leading the congregation during worship services. As the team is being reorganized, we feel that 2011 will be an exciting year. 2011 was chosen to be the year of Stewardship and our monthly themes will be focusing on all matters of stewardship.

Education Team

2010 was a quiet year for the team. We were trying a new way by holding meetings quarterly to plan for each quarter rather than have monthly meetings. Some of the activities we continued are: Pancake Supper on Shrove Tuesday, Bible Study at Stamford Estate, Men’s Coffee on Wednesday, Monday Evening Study, and Monthly Dinner with Young Mi and Wally.

Monday Evening Study has been focusing on the history of Medieval Church. Monthly Dinners continued to improve as more new comers to Canada joined us for our dinner. We cooked food from Africa, Asia and North America. We thank Niagara Folk Arts Center who partnered with us on this project. We continued our Annual Reformed Theology Lectures. We hosted a workshop put on by the Presbytery of Niagara Education Committee on the subject of doing Youth Ministry. We encouraged many to attend the Synod workshop, which again focused on the subject of working with the young adults. We are looking forward to study many new things as we embark on teaching the congregation about Stewardship.

Men’s Coffee Hour

This is a fellowship hour for men on Wednesday mornings from 10 AM to about 11:15 AM. The coffee hour includes a reading of a verse or two of scripture and a devotional on the same subject, followed by a brief prayer, then lots of fellowship where we enjoy one another’s company and have just plain good conversation on a wide range of subjects.

A new feature is the Men’s Coffee Regular, a bi-monthly reprint of some of our devotional readings on the church website. These can be accessed at Drummond Hill 10:30 site.

Lectionary Bible Study

A Lectionary is a group of bible readings which change weekly. Each group usually comprises two Old and two New Testament readings with an underlying thread linking them together. The idea of the weekly bible study is to find this thread tying the readings together.

The Lectionary Bible Study is for Christians who feel mature with their faith. On reading the passages, each participant may get a different insight or revelation as to what the passages mean to them, or more than one insight, or none at all, as revealed by the Holy Spirit. Each insight may be doctrinally correct. They all seem to tie together at the end. We convene every Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM in the chapel at Stamford Estates. It should be emphasized that, while we meet at Stamford, this is not just for the residents there, but open to all who wish to join us for this weekly bible study.

Choir Report

The descriptive appellations of “joyful” and “active” used in the report for 2009 certainly applied again for 2010. Under the leadership of Judy Sibley, our Minister of Music, 2010 has indeed been a busy, active and joyful year.

What has characterized your choir at Drummond Hill this past year? I think you could say OUTREACH. Examples of this are: The two Hymn Sings we performed here at DH with other choirs. The first of these hymn sings was held on 21 March with visiting choirs from Chippawa and Stamford PCs. The second of these hymn sings was held on 24 October. Besides DH, five other choirs were invited to participate. A personal initiative on the part of Judy Sibley to conduct singing of well-loved hymns at Stamford Estates on the first Sunday of every month at 4 PM. A four-part harmony men’s group has been formed from our expanded choir. This group sang Ten Thousand Angels at the Good Friday service and Bound for Jubilee at the second multi-choir hymn sing. Both occasions were well received. What is the outlook for 2011? Well, if Judy has her way, it will be more challenges and more joy! And one thing we are slated to do is to have the choir sing at Albright Manor retirement home in Beamsville in the spring.

General Ladies Aid

During 2010 we catered six funeral receptions and assisted with after church refreshments. Our additional activities were as follows: January – Burns Supper with the assistance of Allison & Bruce MacTavish; February – First two of our seven Lenten Lunches, which began on February 17th, 2010; March – The last five of our Lenten Lunches. We decorated the Sanctuary for Easter; April – Salad luncheon and card party held on April 28th, 2010.

Thanks to all the ladies in the congregation who donated salads; May – Purchased a commercial can opener for the kitchen; June – Adjourned for the summer with lunch at Queen Charlotte’s Tea Room; September – Resumed monthly meetings in the church parlour; October – Fall luncheon and card party on October 25, 2010. Decorated the Sanctuary for Thanksgiving with all edible items to the Community Kitchen; December – Decorated the Sanctuary, hall and parlour for Christmas. Purchased a new Christmas tree.

Group 7

Group 7 has 18 active members. We meet in the church parlour on the second Thursday of each month, except for July and August. Our 2010 activities included the following: January - A general meeting was held. Members were asked to help out at the Robbie Burns Dinner and the upcoming Lenten Luncheons; February - We met at the Queen Charlotte restaurant and discussed plans for the April Flea Market; March - Our speaker was Jodie Goodwin from the Caribbean Workers Outreach Project; April -We set up tables for the flea market. Members were asked to bring bedding, towels and personal items for the migrant workers.

Our flea market was a great success. May - We made plans for the salad luncheon and the BBQ in June; June - We enjoyed a BBQ and birthday cake for Mrs. McKeown’s 101st birthday; September - Our speaker was Bert Murphy. He presented a slide show on the geology of the Niagara Peninsula; October – We enjoyed our progressive dinner. Non-perishable foods will be collected for the Salvation Army; November - Paul Augustino gave a slide show on photography; December - Our Christmas potluck and gift exchange was held.

Women’s Missionary Society

The W.M.S. consists of members from the three Presbyterian churches in Niagara Falls – Chippawa, Drummond Hill and Stamford. Most of our meetings are held at Stamford but we try to meet, at least once every year, at the other two churches. Our meetings are held at 10:00 am on the first Wednesday in the month and consist of worship, study and a time for fellowship as we enjoy our “brown-bag” lunch together. In 2010 our study related to the situation of the world-wide problem of 42 million displaced people, with emphasis on what we in Canada and in our church, locally and at large, are doing to help newcomers adjust and integrate into life in Canada. This study will continue in 2011.

As a W.M.S. we are part of the Niagara Presbyterial of W.M.S. and also of the W.M.S. across Canada. Marie. Our primary donation is dedicated monthly offerings for the mission work of the Presbyterian Church and those offerings exceeded our objective this year. The other projects we support always come from special efforts and offerings.. Our meetings have been led by our President, Gail Opie, who encourages and guides us to better things and always remains cheerful, faithful and optimistic. We look forward to another successful year in 2011 and, as always, can assure everyone a warm welcome to any of our meetings.

Session

Session now comprises 13 elders with the addition of 5 new elders, who were ordained during the worship service on Sunday, November 21st, 2010. The “Carrying of the Bible” to signal the start of the worship service will continue, as it adds much dignity to the service. In an effort to provide more outlets for educational programmes, the Education Team will be re-named the “Niagara Institute for Learning” and will offer programmes for children, young adults, families and adults commencing in February.

The procedure to elect more elders to session was initiated. It is a lengthy process, and hopefully an election will be held in early fall. At the February session meeting, a motion was passed to revert to monthly meetings of session. It was felt that the quarterly meetings were not enough to keep up with business. Rev. Wally and Gail Opie attended General Assembly in Cape Breton and both were loud in their praises of the organization and welcome that made it one of the best ever. A letter was sent from Session to the Presbytery of Cape Breton congratulating them.

It has been a year of changes, hopefully, for the better. Changes made to make our church more receptive, with the cosmetic changes made to the building; more educational, with the new programmes that are available; and more mission minded, with the many opportunities like the Mission Fund, Benevolent Fund, the “Love Your Church Envelopes”; the Monday dinners with Wally and Young-Mi that allows us to welcome and meet people from different backgrounds.

Board of Managers

The past year 2010, was a busy year for Drummond Hill. Starting in May we had our annual clean-up. The job went very swiftly due to the many hands that came out to help. In June, the Manse roof was repaired. In August, first we closed the sanctuary to begin repair work on the plaster before the painting. The first day of repairing the plaster crown moulding revealed more damage than first thought. It became a learning experience on the best way to effect repairs. walls from the floor. The repair work would take almost the whole month of August. We decided to repaint the Christian Education Building hallway, ceiling and walls. Painting of the sanctuary started in September and went quickly. Before the ceiling was painted, a trim was placed around the edge of the ceiling tile to give it a more finished look.

With the approval of session, we began altering the choir loft to be able to move the piano off the main floor of the sanctuary to give more room around the Communion Table. Before the scaffolding was taken away, a new picture screen and two projectors were installed from the ceiling. Also, the existing screen and projector were relocated. The piano was placed in its new location after the mass choir near the end of October. In November, we contracted to have all the exterior brick and stonework re-pointed. The work was put off for far too long and was urgently required. The work went quickly and was completed in two weeks. For the upcoming year, the board will be looking into replacing the tar and stone roof of the Christian Education Building.

Fundraising Report

The fundraising team had a quieter year. In February we did our usual Steak and Chicken BBQ and in December was the Turkey Dinner. At the beginning of December, we held our first pie and bake sale. The pies were pre-sold and baked ahead of time. The pickup was held during our bake sale and we will be planning to have a bigger and better function this year. This year we are once again planning to have the Steak and Chicken dinner, as well as a Giant Home Show in April. Thanks to all who help and work hard to make these functions successful.

Treasurer’s Report

Income: Envelope Giving – 91% of proposed budget; Total income – 79% of proposed budget.

Main areas showing a shortfall are fundraising, room rentals and plate. Expenses: Total expenses – 87% of proposed budget. Presbyterian Sharing – 72% of the guaranteed amount was collected leaving a shortfall of $4213.63. The previous amounts do not reflect the following: An additional $47,218.83 was spent to repair the outside of the church building, parking lot, manse roof and renovations/repairs to the sanctuary. An amount of $57,500.00 (+ $15,000 designated interest) was transferred from the Pat Meikle Fund during 2010 to assist with the general operating account and to pay for the items mentioned above.

Amounts collected from our envelopes: Missions - $1269.25; WMS - $996.75; PWSD - $1313.95. Special collections also distributed to Project Share and PWSD during the year. Bank balance as at December 31, 2010: $31,224.98. Thank you to all who participated in helping and/or organizing out fundraising events. Thank you to the counters who assist each week with counting and recording the offering. If you can help, even if it’s just once a month, please come and join us. It would be appreciated.