A Season of Thanks, Giving, and Looking Ahead | Reece's Peaces

November is naturally a time of thanks and giving. It is also the season when we begin prayerfully planning for the upcoming year, considering how our financial stewardship will support our shared ministry and community work.

This past year has been a wonderful season for Hurstbourne Christian Church. We have grown in membership, expanded our outreach, and, most importantly, made a meaningful impact in our community. None of this happens by accident; it is the direct result of your dedication to God’s work here. From planning outreach events and setting up fellowship meals to organizing clothes closets and clearing fallen trees, your gift of time and labor is deeply appreciated.

Of course, fulfilling our mission also requires financial resources. Just as we value your time, we strive to manage every dollar efficiently. As you prayerfully consider your giving for the year ahead, we want to remind you that there are several thoughtful ways to support the church beyond traditional weekly cash or check offerings that may also benefit your personal financial planning:

Stock & Appreciated Assets: Donating appreciated stock directly to the church allows you to bypass capital gains taxes on those shares while making a substantial gift to ministry. For example, one of our members gifted shares originally purchased for around $1 that had grown to over $100 per share, significantly boosting their support for our missions while minimizing tax liability.

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Members with retirement accounts who are required to take annual distributions often find that transferring their RMD directly to the church as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is a highly tax-efficient way to give compared to writing a personal check.

While I am a minister rather than a tax advisor, I always encourage our congregation to explore ways to give intentionally. Several members who use these methods share that it allows them to extend their stewardship even further by directing tax savings right back into the missions of our church.

If you have questions about setting up a stock transfer or IRA distribution, our treasurer, Joey Bailey, is happy to assist you with the process. As always, we recommend consulting with your personal financial or tax professional to determine the best approach for your individual situation.

Thank you for your continued generosity, prayers, and dedication to Hurstbourne Christian Church!

Embracing Variety and Community in Our Music Ministry | Marc's Music Notables

As we journey through the autumn season and look toward the joyful celebrations of the upcoming months, our music ministry at Hurstbourne Christian Church continues to evolve, thrive, and praise God in wonderful new ways. For those who are new to the church, you may wonder why we don’t have a choir every Sunday to lead our worship, so we wanted to take a moment to share the heart behind this model.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, our Sunday morning worship services featured a traditional, regular weekly choir. However, the post-pandemic world brought significant shifts in our daily lives and rhythms. We noticed that many people became much more protective of their time, and fewer volunteers were able to commit to the demanding schedule of a weekly Wednesday night choir rehearsal. Rather than pushing our community past capacity, we chose to listen, adapt, and prioritize the valuable time commitments of our congregation and our human resources. This led to an intentional and vibrant pivot in our approach to worship music.

By moving away from a rigid weekly rehearsal model, we have opened the door to a richer, more diverse expression of worship. Today, our Sunday services are blessed by a rotating mosaic of musical offerings, featuring:

• Soloists and instrumentalists sharing their personal gifts.

• Small groups, duets, trios, and quartets creating intimate harmonies.

• The exciting monthly addition of a string quartet, bringing a stunning depth of instrumental beauty to our services.

This flexible approach allows us to celebrate the incredible depth of musical talent we are blessed with right here at Hurstbourne Christian Church. It also invites a wide variety of musical styles into our sanctuary, ensuring that every service offers a fresh, engaging, and spiritually uplifting experience.

While our weekly choir format changed, our love for large-scale choral music remains as strong as ever! By stepping back from weekly rehearsals, we are able to focus our choir’s energy and rehearsal time where it shines brightest: leading us through our magnificent Christmas and Easter cantatas. Concentrating our choir rehearsals toward these peak church seasons allows participants to commit to a manageable, seasonal schedule while still experiencing the profound joy of lifting their voices together in grand, celebratory worship. It transforms our cantata seasons into true community events of preparation and praise.

Thank you for your continued support, your flexibility, and your passionate hearts for worship. Whether you are listening to a string quartet, enjoying a vocal duet, or joining your voice with the full seasonal choir, every note is offered to the glory of God. We look forward to sharing many beautiful musical moments with you this season! Mark your calendars for December 20 as we present “A Noel Celebration: The Sounds and Stories of Christmas!”

Festive Harvest Salad | Jenna's Favorite Recipes

What holiday table doesn't look even better with a colorful, tasty salad served on it? This colorful harvest salad is the perfect seasonl addition to any Thanksgiving celebration to keep things light and delicious at the same time!

Dressing Ingredients:

• ⅓ cup apple juice or fresh pressed cider

• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar

• ⅓ cup olive oil

• 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Salad Ingredients:

• 6-8 cups chopped romaine lettuce or spring mix

• 1 red apple, diced

• 1 anjou or bartlett pear, diced

• 3-4 strips bacon, cooked til mostly crisp, crumbled

• ½ red onion, chopped

• ⅓ cup dried cranberries (no sugar added)

• ⅓ cup crumbled feta or blue cheese

• ⅓ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar. Use an electric whisk or cover and shake well to blend. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine lettuce, apples, pears, bacon, onion, cranberries, nuts, and feta cheese. Toss gently

3. Pour dressing over salad (make sure it hasn't separated first) and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Recipe notes:

*If you want to get extra fancy, you can candy the nuts by toasting them in a skillet with brown sugar and cinnamon for a couple minutes. Just make sure they have time to cool before adding them to the salad!

This recipe took inspiration from lecremedelacrumb.com

Christmas In October | Reece's Peaces

As we approach the end of October, our congregation reaches a major milestone in our "Through the Bible in One Year" journey. In October, we will officially step out of the Old Testament and cross the threshold into the New Testament. On October 25th, we will be having a "Christmas in October" service to study the birth of Jesus Christ. While we will certainly celebrate the nativity again when December arrives, starting the New Testament naturally brings us face to face with the arrival of our Savior.

It has been a long and rewarding journey through the pages of the Old Testament. Some might wonder why we spent so much time studying those ancient texts, but the Old Testament is far from an outdated prelude. It forms the essential foundation of our entire faith. The Bible is, at its heart, the living history of God’s relationship with humanity. That sacred story begins in Genesis and finds its ultimate fulfillment in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When we look back over the past several months, we can clearly trace how this divine relationship grew. We saw its earliest beginnings in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. From there, God formed a personal covenant with Abraham and his descendants. We watched that promise expand into an entire nation as God delivered the Hebrew people from bondage in Egypt, gave them His law, and led them into the Promised Land.

Later, we explored the era of the kings, witnessing the rise of Israel under David and Solomon as it grew into a powerful kingdom. Yet we also walked through the sorrow of spiritual drift, watching the nation divide and eventually fall, leading to the painful darkness of the Babylonian exile. Through every trial, God remained faithful to His promise. He preserved a holy remnant, brought His people back to their homeland, and guided them as they rebuilt their lives and their temple.

All of these historical events laid the groundwork for the world into which Jesus was born. Even during those ancient times, God was preparing to reveal that He was not merely a localized deity, but the one true God over all creation. As we enter the New Testament, we will watch that relationship blossom and expand far beyond the borders of the ancient Near East. What began with a single family in the desert has grown into a global movement that covers every corner of the earth today.

The Old Testament is not something to be set aside or forgotten. It is the rock upon which our understanding of Christ is built. As we celebrate our Christmas in October on the 25th, let us carry the deep rich history of God’s faithfulness with us into the Gospels.

A Symphony Of Faith | Marc's Music Notables

Once a month at Hurstbourne Christian Church, a distinct acoustic warmth fills our sanctuary. The rich, resonating depths of the cello, the balanced mid-tones of the viola, and the bright, expressive soar of two violins weave together around our choir and congregational voices.

While instrumental music is common in modern worship, featuring a live string quartet each month is a rare and distinct blessing. It bridges timeless art, deep spiritual reflection, and our unique heritage as Disciples of Christ.

Music in worship is never mere background filler; it is an active ministry. Where spoken words convey doctrine and petition, music engages the heart, enabling us to express awe, gratitude, and devotion that lie beyond speech.

Strings, in particular, mirror the human voice more closely than almost any other instrumental family. A bow moving across a string carries a breathing quality, a swell and sustain, that creates an immediate atmosphere of reverent stillness during preludes, enhances meditation during Communion, and adds grandeur to congregational singing.

To fully appreciate why having a string quartet in our worship space is special, it helps to look back at our denominational roots. Within the Restoration Movement (out of which the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) grew), the use of instruments in worship was once a subject of intense debate during the 19th century:

A Cappella Foundations - 1800s - Early 1850s

Early Stone-Campbell worship relied strictly on a cappella singing. Leaders emphasized simple, accessible congregational voices without mechanical accompaniment, mirroring early New Testament practices.

The First Instruments - 1851 - 1860s

In 1851, the Christian Church in Midway, Kentucky installed a small melodeon (reed organ) to assist key pitch and congregational harmony, sparking widespread debate across the movement.

Embracing Instrumental Variety - Late 19th - 20th Century

As congregations grew, the Disciples of Christ embraced musical instruments as vital tools for worship. Organs, pianos, and brass ensembles became common fixtures to guide congregational praise.

Today, as Disciples of Christ, we celebrate freedom in worship and the wide variety of gifts God gives us. What began as a debate over basic pipe-organ accompaniment has expanded into a tradition that embraces fine orchestral composition to enhance our worship.

In many modern churches, instrumental accompaniment leans either strictly toward an electronic band or entirely toward a traditional pipe organ. Offering a professional, chamber-style string quartet once a month sets our worship apart from other congregations.

As we look forward to our upcoming worship services, let us give thanks for all the musicians who share their gifts with us, and for a church that values a worshiping tradition that continues to find fresh, beautiful ways to make a joyful noise to the Lord.