March 2013 Newsletter
Congregational Connections
Bunny Day Eggstravaganza
Saturday – March 23rd
Plans are moving right along in preparation for Bunny Day. Please save the day and join us for a lot of fun activities. If you can help out on that day, or prior to that day, please sign the board available in Russell Hall… also, posters are available to be taken to area businesses and we would be very grateful if you could help with that process as soon as possible, and indicate on the sheet where you would be taking it so we won’t duplicate effort going to the same location. Perhaps you could share the flyer in this mailing with your grandchildren or your neighbor or a family you know who would love to come.
Baskets, stuffed animals, toys and games for boys and girls (ages 10 and under) are needed as well as MANY eggs filled with soft candy or small toys. There are some bags of eggs available that have been bagged in quantity of 50 each (for easy counting). Please return all donations by Sunday, March 10th.
Please remember that all proceeds and food collected are taken directly to the Leicester Food Bank and all donations are most gratefully received. This is a project of your Missions Committee and one that we fully enjoy and look forward to each year…..this is year #10 !!!!
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Maundy Thursday Service
March 28 at 7pm
Readers are needed. Please let Pastor Doreen know by March 24th if you are interested.
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Good Friday Stations for Reflection: March 29
The Sanctuary will be open between noon and 8 p.m. on Friday, March 29, with seven stations that offer opportunities for reflection, prayer, interaction and quiet. Come any time, and stay as long as you like.Easter Sunday Worship
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Easter Flowers
Each year we offer you the opportunity to order flowers at reasonable prices for Easter that will be used to decorate the Sanctuary on Easter morning and then can be taken home to give away or enjoy. There is a wide selection, including lilies, mums, tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in several colors and sizes (except the lilies are white and the daffodils are what they are). You may dedicate the flowers in memory of someone or in honor of someone, and this will be noted on an insert in the order of worship on Easter morning. Order forms will be available during March, either in the order of service or in Russell Hall. Or you can contact Marie Frascolla at 508-892-0038.
Easter Service – March 31 at 10am
Please come and rejoice, celebrate the resurrection – that gift from God who so loved the world, so loved all of us, that he came to us as one of us to break the bonds of death and destruction. But please join us also for the Maundy Thursday service or come experience the Good Friday Stations for Reflection. Walk with us through the shadow of death in order to more fully experience the miracle of Christ’s eternal life, offered now to us.
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Lenten Offering: Envelopes Enclosed
Enclosed with this newsletter you will find an envelope addressed to the church. This is for those who are interested in making an offering to the church in honor of Lent and Easter. The act of “giving up” something for Lent can be as simple as bringing lunch instead of buying it once a week to make a contribution to the church or other service organization, or it might be spending time helping someone in need. However you honor this sacred season, may its blessings surround you.
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Hot Topic for March
How do you feel about being asked to support the church financially through pledging?
Share your thoughts and opinions throughout the month by dropping something in the Church
discussion box (church-shaped box in Russell Hall), or by sending an e-mail to the pastor.
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A Note from the Pastor
Grace and peace to you, dear friends. Here we are, in the season of Lent, a time when we figuratively walk into the wilderness with Jesus. The Gospel passages during this season are angst-ridden, with Jesus despairing over people’s rush to judge one another. Then comes Palm Sunday, followed by the events of the Passion – arrest, torture, crucifixion and death. But on the other side of all that, Resurrection. What might have been different if the adulation of Jesus that came on Palm Sunday was the high point of the story? What happens to a couple when the infatuation phase of a relationship is past, and they see each other more fully? What happens to our bodies when we refuse to work or move them past the point of comfort? There’s a crossroad, isn’t there – deepen or weaken.
Have you heard about the Bio-Dome experiment of the 1980’s? There was an attempt to create the “perfect living environment for human, plant, and animal life.” A huge glass dome was constructed and an artificial “controlled” environment was created with purified air, water, filtered light, etc, offering the perfect growing conditions for trees, fruits and vegetables. Everything was great except for one thing. When trees grew to a certain height, they would just topple over. What was missing was the wind. Trees need wind to blow against them, which in turn causes their root systems to grow deeper into the soil, which in turn supports the trees as they grow taller! Of course this is a great metaphor for human relationships. Without some resistance or difficulty, they don’t get strong enough to grow and deepen as much as they could.
I bring this up because it seems like our church is ready to deal with some wind, ready to enter into the wilderness, at least a little bit. Last month the Pastoral Relations Committee introduced the “Hot Topics” box, a chance for people to share their opinions, anonymously or otherwise, about various church practices. It is not meant to be a complaint box, just a way to get a sense of how people experience different aspects of church. I confess it has been somewhat uncomfortable for me, especially as I read some entries that critiqued my practice of occasionally using a female pronoun to refer to God. You see I have been dwelling in this “perfect living environment” for a pastor. I adore you, this congregation. I respect you and admire you. You inspire me, make me laugh, move me to tears. And I have felt very much appreciated, respected, and valued. And yes, part of me wants all of you to love everything I do. Would it be safe to say that you all have that desire – for people to love everything you do? Wouldn’t we all breathe a sigh of relief if we all felt the same about the “Hot Topics” that come up? Wouldn’t this church be just perfect if we all were in agreement about what a church “ought” to do? Well, no, it wouldn’t. It would be stunted. It wouldn’t grow into what it is meant to be. what it is meant to be. It could weaken, even die
When I introduced the Hot Topics program in worship, I quoted a slogan of the United Church of Christ: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty (or diversity); in all things, charity. Now we still may disagree about what the essentials might be, and we may not have charitable thoughts every moment for those who see things differently, but my prayer and eager hope is that we all can go together, with Jesus, into the storms and allow our faith and community to be strengthened and deepened. I’m so grateful for this opportunity, and hope you will all participate in sharing your thoughts on the Hot Topic each month. E-mail and snail mail contributions are most welcome from our newsletter readers who don’t get to worship. On the first Sunday each month I will give a summary of the responses to the previous month’s hot topic, and address the topic from my perspective. If you are interest in the summary and my response, but can’t get to worship that day, please do write or call and I’ll be glad to share with you.
Blessings, Pastor Doreen
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Evaluating our Ministries
an Ongoing Process
March 10
Some of you may remember an evaluation meeting that took place in October, 2011. Those of you who volunteered that day sat around the oval table, openly discussing the various ministries comprising our worship, sharing complaints, praises, ideas and suggestions.
The Pastoral Relations Committee is now in the process of organizing the next phase of evaluations which will take place after worship on Sunday, March 10. This time, the topic of discussion will be the Missions ministry of FCC. To help prepare, all participants will receive a list of discussion questions one week in advance on March 3.
Want to take part in this process? If interested, give your name to any member of Pastoral Relations: Marie Frascolla, Len Ivel, or Jackie Henderson. Come join the discussion and let your voice be heard!
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Easter Concert: March 24 at 4pm
The Christian Community Choir under the direction of Mrs. Linda Cross present a free Easter Concert at 4p.m. Palm Sunday, March 24th, in our sanctuary on followed by a collation. Greater Love has no one than this….. “The Sacrifice”. This Easter Musical was created by Steve Moore and David T. Clydesdale – Arranged and Orchestrated by David T. Clydesdale.
The Choir is composed of singers from 11 area churches and number 50 plus voices. Churches represented are: East Brookfield Baptist, First Congregational of Brookfield, Leicester & North Brookfield, Lowell Assembly of God, Mary Queen of the Rosary R.C., Our Lady of the Sacred Heart R.C., St. John the Baptist R.C., United Methodist of Spencer, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart R.C., Quaboag Valley Baptist, St. Ann’s R.C.
Anyone interested in helping that afternoon with the collation or baking for it should see Judy Ivel or Cindy LaPointe.
Other Performances of “The Sacrifice”: March 22, Friday – St John the Baptist – 7p.m.;
March 31, Sunday – East Brookfield Baptist – 11a.m. service; April 7, Sunday – Overlook Chapel – 2p.m.
God in the Music, An Evening of Sharing: March 13 at 7pm
You are invited to come to the parsonage on Wednesday evening, March 13, at 7 p.m. (or when you can get there), and bring songs to share that bring you closer to God, be they sacred, secular or profane. Music should be on CD or MP3. Refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP to Pastor Doreen by Monday, March 11.
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You’re Invited!
Come to the Worcester Fellowship “Sock Hop” at Wesley United Methodist Church, 114 Main St., Worcester, for food and dancing to raise money for the outdoor church on Saturday, April 27 at 6:00pm. We’ll be wearing new white socks for dancing! You will meet some of the WF parishioners and hear about the programs. Sliding Scale Tickets are $1 to $50 per person; watch for more details or at www.worcesterfellowship.org or our Facebook Page. Please RSVP if you can before April 20 to Ellie@worcesterfellowship.org
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Women’s Association: March 6
Wednesday, March 6 at noon. Meet at the church and we will head over to tour Becker College.
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In Our Prayers
Never underestimate the power of prayer. You are invited, as you read this, to add your prayers for those listed. Take a moment to breathe in God’s Spirit, and channel your good will and hopes to each person or situation named. You might imagine them surrounded by a healing light, or held in God’s hand. May this simple practice fill you with peace and hope.
– For Alice Kelly’s friend Carol Sparks, who has cancer of the brain stem. Alice’s prayer is for freedom from pain for Carol and peace for the family.
– For Cindy, Steve Sr. and Steve Jr. as they embark on a new business venture
– For Chris Cathcart and her sons as they move into their own apartment and a new adventure
– For Chris’s grandparents Howard and Charlotte Stevens and Phyllis Gallant
– For Zach, age 10, a former student of Anne Mulrain’s and brother of a current student who is being treated for leukemia. He will be at Children’s Hospital in Boston for the next four months. Prayers for full recovery for Zach, and for support and comfort for the whole family
– For Ken who is doing much better from his depression.
– For Pastor Liz Magill of Worcester Fellowship who is doing better and on her way to complete recovery.
– For Tom Sheehan, Ellie Latham’s brother-in-law, who is also doing better, found out the mass in his lung is not cancer but his infection that spread to his lungs and is recovery wonderfully.
– For Kathy Wade, Ellie Latham’s friend, who’s undiagnosed muscular disease is rapidly getting worse.
-For Donna Spaulding’s friend Cindy’s mom who has pneumonia now, after just having surgery for the removal of a tumor and 2-year battle with lung cancer
– For Donna’s coworker’s husband who has lung cancer, and another coworker who’s mom just passed away from lung cancer.
– For the Homeless and anyone out in the streets, to find warmth, shelter, and food.
– For all those suffering with depression, loneliness, or diseases and conditions that include those first two.
