"The Good News" Church Events
Lent & Easter 2010
First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
at 10 Station Rd in Hartland, Vermont 05048
website: hartlandbrickchurch.org
Lucia Anne Jackson, Pastor Church Telephone: (802)436-2224
Or via email at RevLucia13@gmail.com
Dear Members and Friends -
With our Ash Wednesday service, we enter the sacred season of Lent -- the 40 days of spiritual preparation for Easter. Our worship services, music, prayer and conversation focus on the Lenten journey.
Additionally, we have some exciting and unusual opportunities for reflection and spiritual growth in Lent. During this time, using the "Our Whole Lives" curriculum, our youth will be engaged in a study of human sexuality as a part of our spiritual beings. Our Confirmands are visiting other places of worship as part of their coming of age journey. Meanwhile, our adults can study end of life issues in the context of our faith through "Faithfully Facing Dying". The materials for the adult course were prepared by a UCC task force. The church school continues with engaging bible based classes. And the ona working group is writing a statement for the church's consideration.
Yes, we are a vibrant, vital congregation! Strong and grounded enough in our faith to discuss difficult and challenging issues.
You have an opportunity to make this season of Lent a time of personal growth and deep reflection. Make the commitment to weekly worship . Join the adult study. Begin your day in prayer. Open your bible. Reach out to your neighbor. Tell me about your Journey.
I'd love to hear your story!
See you in Worship - Peace - Lucia
Worship & Church School Schedule:
*Wed, Feb 17th - 6:00pm Ash Wednesday Worship & Soup Supper
* Sun, Feb 21st- 1st Sun in Lent - Worship, Church School
OWL parent orientation 12:00 - 2:00 here
* Sun, Feb 28th - 2nd Sun in Lent - Worship, Church School
** BRUNCH to benefit the Youth Mission Trip 2010 at the UUs
11:15-12:45 Faithfully Facing Dying Study
*Sun, March 7th - 3rd Sun in Lent - Worship with Communion
Regular Church School
11:15-12:45 Faithfully Facing Dying Study
* Sun, March 14th - 4th Sun in Lent - Worship, Church School
11:15-12:45 Faithfully Facing Dying Study
*Sun, March 21st - 5th Sun in Lent -Worship, Church School
** BRUNCH to benefit the Youth Mission Trip 2010 here**
11:15-12:45 Faithfully Facing Dying Study
HOLY WEEK
*Sun, March 28th - Palm Sunday Processional 6th Sun in Lent,
Worship, Church School
11:15-12:45 Faithfully Facing Dying Study
*Thursday, April 1st - 7:00 Maundy Thursday, Service of Tenebrae
*Friday, April 2nd - Good Friday Vigil 12:00 - 3:00, 7:00 - 8:00
Sanctuary open for quiet prayer, reflection & scripture
*Sunday, April 4th -EASTER - He is Risen! John 20:1-18
***6:00 Sunrise Service on Laurene Hammond's hill behind Mike's service station
Followed by breakfast at the church.
***10:00 Easter Service Celebrate the resurrection!
*Sun, April 11th - Worship & Church School
11:15-12:45 Faithfully Facing Dying Study
*Sun, April 18th - Worship & Church School
What is Lent?
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent-a season of self-examination, prayer, fasting and works of love. In many churches, ashes are placed on the forehead as a reminder of mortality.
The word "Lent" is from the Middle English verb meaning "to lengthen." In the Northern Hemisphere, the season corresponds with the lengthening of days during late winter and early spring.
During Lent, Christians prepare themselves spiritually for the celebration of Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday. The season spans 40 days: the number 40 symbolizes spiritual journeys home, corresponding to the 40 days Jesus fasted in the desert in preparation for his ministry and the 40 years Israel journeyed through the wilderness towards the promised land. The traditional color of Lent is purple.
During Holy Week, red is sometimes worn to symbolize the blood shed by Jesus for the salvation of humanity. In some traditions, following Maundy Thursday's service, the sanctuary is stripped of color and ornament as a gesture which may suggest keeping vigil with Christ on the cross and in the tomb.
From the Board of Deacons:
News from the ONA Mission Statement Committee:
The ONA Mission Statement Committee - John Abrahamsen, Nancy Foote, Micah Heaney, Joe Reilly, and Emily Silver- met for our initial meeting on Monday, February 8. We reviewed the UCC Guidelines for Open and Affirming Statements and shared some statements from some local churches. We had a great discussion. We agreed to look at other statements available on the UCC website and see what parts of those statements we might want to include in a statement for our church. We plan to meet every two weeks and hope to have a rough draft put together within the next month.
Welcome to New Members: Jill Marquard, Bryan Marquard, Paula Staples & Sean Hendrix who joined the church on February 7th.
Jill was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio; Bryan was born in Manchester, Ct. and was raised in Rutland, Vt. Jill & Bryan met at Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, in 1985. Jill likes to swim, read, and walk. Bryan likes to read, write, and walk. They both like to travel and have a beautiful rescue greyhound named Marcus.
Paula went to Sunday school here and has attended this church off and on her whole life. As a native Hartlander and school teacher for about 30 years in the Hartland School Paula feels "it's time to make a committment to this church and become 'legal'!"
Sean moved to Hartland recently. He has rescued many dogs and volunteers as a dog walker at the shelter. Sean makes cole slaw and works in the kitchen for the roast beef suppers!
*****
The Famous Roast Beef Suppers run every Saturday until March 13th ! We have run these suppers for over 50 years now. These suppers are a vital part of our church and community. Many people consider them to be community suppers, not church suppers because so many people from the community have worked on them over the years either in the kitchen/dining room or by making pies. On an average year these suppers generate over $10,000 for the church so you can see how much they mean to our budget and extras for the church. If you would be willing to work or know of someone who would be willing to work on the suppers please let me know.
Larry J. Frazer, President Men's Fellowship 436-2792
Board of Christian Education News & Notes:
Thanks for Patty O'Neill and Susan D'Anna and Roy Moffitt for teaching the last 6 week session. And to Donna Lemeuix, Cindy Hale and Mary Jo Ramsey for continuing to teach! We are now starting the 4th six week session February 21-March 28 and still have open teacher slots we need filled. Session 5 we need you too, see the education page on our web site for more details.
CHURCH SCHOOL SCHEDULE
Session 4
Wednesday, February 17th - Ash Wednesday, Evening Worship
Sunday, February 21st - 1st Sun in Lent, Regular Church school
Tuesday, February 23rd - 7:00 CE BOARD MEETING
Sunday, February 28th - 2nd Sunday in Lent, Regular Church School
Sunday, March 7th - 3rd Sunday in Lent , Regular Church School
Sunday, March 14th -4th Sunday in Lent, Regular Church School
Sunday, March 21st - 5th Sunday in Lent, Regular Church School
Tuesday, March 23rd - 7:00 CE BOARD MEETING
Sunday, March 28th - Palm Sunday, Processional 6th Sunday in Lent,
Regular Church School
HOLY WEEK
Thursday, April 1st - Maundy Thursday
Friday, April 2nd - Good Friday
Sunday, April 4th - Easter! Sunrise Service! Family Worship!
Session 5
Sunday, April 11th - Regular Church School
Sunday, April 18th - Regular Church School
Sunday, April 25th - Regular Church School
Tuesday, April 27th - CE BOARD MEETING 7:00
LAST CHANCE!!! UCC New England Women's Celebration VIII - Join Lucia, Cindy Hale, Dorothea Kingsbury, Carmen Summarsell, Mary Jo Ramsey & Cynthia Schonberg (plus Cynthia's friend from NJ) on March 12 - 14 at the New England Woman's Celebration in Burlington. Check the website: ww.uccwomenscelebration.org
Join us for a weekend of celebration, fellowship, reflection and worship. Be a part of it!
VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION
Volunteers in Action is looking for voluteers! You have two opportunities to serve:
(1) Congregate Meal Helper in Hartland: Help serve a hot meal to seniors at the Hartland Recreation Center on the Second Tuesday of every month. Volunteers are treated to a free meal.
(2) Drivers: Drive a neighbor to a medical appointment or shopping trip or be a substitute Meals on Wheels driver - people are needed to help when the regular drivers are unable to drive.
Please call Volunteers in Action if you are interested in applying for these amazing opportunities or for more information: 674-5971
Ladies Benevolent Society News: Everyone is invited!
The Ladies Benevolent Society is starting the new year with a few changes. We will announce them later! For now, the following programs have been planned:
March 4 at 1:30 Jack Schonberg will speak about a new regional program called the Upper Valley DisasterAnimal Response Team (UVDART). This is an offspring of the state team already underway. This group rescues animals left homeless after a flood, fire or other disaster.
April 8 at 1:30 Cynthia, Lucia & Carmen and other participants will give a report on the UCC New England Women's Celebration conference which is being held March 12, 13 and 14 in Burlington.
Everyone please come to as many meetings as you can. We believe our programs are either educational or entertaining and sometimes both. They are always very worthwhile.
Faithfully Facing Dying:
A Lenten Study Guide on Critical Issues and Decisions
Sundays 11:15 - 12:45
For most of us, there will come a time when we will need to confront our own fears around our dying and death. Some of these fears are grounded in concerns that our dying may be prolonged or our remaining life cut short or come from our sense of not having control over what happens to our bodies as we move through the dying process. Some of these fears come from the amazing technology that is available to us today that can prolong life but at what cost both to our bodies and to our limited resources? And, as technology becomes more sophisticated and can prolong life for what may seem like an indefinite period, we need to be educated about these issues so that we, and those who love and care about us, will know what our wishes are, in case something happens to us that prevents us from voicing those wishes ourselves.
What better time to talk about these issues than during Lent, a time when we go within to soul search, reflect, take stock of our lives as Christians, and consider what our relationship with Jesus is all about and why Jesus died for us. These forty days are a reminder of Jesus' time in the wilderness. Looking at dying and death can be a wilderness experience because wilderness can be the unknown, reflecting the
uncertainty of life and where life is leading us. Further, not knowing when we will die requires of us to be prepared, knowing that God will be with us, both in our living and in our dying.
As Paul writes in Romans 14:8 "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die,
we belong to the Lord."
Study Session on Sundays 11:15-12:45
*Feb 28th Session # 1 Advance Directives/Advance Care Planning
*March 7th Session #2 Palliative Care, Suffering and Pain Control
*March 14th Session #3 Hospice Care
*March 21st Session #4 Physician Aid in Dying/Assisted Suicide
*March 28th Session #5 Physician Aid in Dying: Cont & Euthanasia, Brain Death, Persistent Vegetative State, Minimally Conscious State
*April 4th EASTER
*April 11th Session #6 Looking Back and Moving Forward
Please consider joining us for this interesting and important conversation - for all ages as we each have to make faithful decisions about the end of life for ourselves and with our loved ones.
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Altar Committee Alert If you want memorial flowers in worship please call Martha McGlinn 436 - 2159 or Linda Genovese 436-2137 for scheduling. If you would like to do an altar arrangement or have a big blooming houseplant to share, call Martha.
"Don't Ask Me Why"
Reflection by Shawnthea Monroe
(from the IUCC website daily devotional)
I want some answers. I want to know why a magnitude 7.0 earthquake would strike a country like Haiti, already ravaged by poverty, corruption, and a tragic history of colonial rule. Overwhelmed with images of human suffering and loss, I find myself searching for answers. Judging from the discussions going on in the media, I know I'm not alone. Many people want to know, "Why Haiti?"
The human mind is designed to seek explanations. We are gifted with an amazing capacity to make connections, test hypotheses, and draw conclusions. Modern science has expanded our understanding of the natural world exponentially, and yet for all this knowledge, some of our most pressing questions can't be answered.
That's why I cling to the promise Paul offers in 1 Corinthians 13:12, ". . . then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known."
Paul knows we're not going to get all our questions answered in this life, but he also knows we live in the presence of a good and loving God. In other words, we may not know why, but we do know Who.
This is good news, especially in times of heartbreaking tragedy. Paul's words invite me to stop asking "Why did this happen?" and start asking, "How can I help?"
Prayer
Guiding God, help us to trust in your unfailing presence in an uncertain world, and may your love be expressed to others through our words and our deeds. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.
*****
Please remember Sylvia Blodgett, & Hial Lobdell at Stoughton House and Eloise Rumrill at Evarts House and Alice Jersery at Cedar Hill Health Care - in Windsor.
Sylvia, Hial, Eloise & Alice all welcome visitors!
YOUTH HAPPENINGS!
CONFIRMATION
Thank you to our mentors: Patty O'Neill, Martha Mcglinn, John Abrahamsen, David Eastman & Joe Reilly.
The Confirmation class will be visiting other places of worship during Lent as well as having regular classes.
JUNIOR HIGH YOUTH: all 7th & 8th grade youth!
Junior High Youth Group Time: 2:45 - -4:15
Be ready for fun, fellowship, games, Bible study and
exploring our faith in new ways.
We will meet on: Feb 23rd & March 9th & 23rd & April 6th & 27th
MISSION TRIP for
grades 8th - 12th and all interested adults:
*Sun, Feb 28th 9:30 - 12:00 Fundraiser Breakfast at the UUs
*Sun, March 21st & *Sun, April 25th
9:30 - 12:00 Fundraiser Breakfast HERE
All Mission Trip Participants expected to help out! We will start setting up at 9:30, shut down the grills for worship and then start serving at 11:00 for brunch. Invite your family to eat and YOU BE THERE! Adult organizers & shoppers needed!
*April 11th MISSION TRIP SIGN UP DEADLINE: ($75 sign up) for Youth Mission Trip July 25th - 31st , 2010!!
HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH GRADES 9TH - 12TH
High School Youth Group for Feb - April will be the OWL classes. That schedule is available from Lucia.
*Sat, March 13th - Volunteer at the Special Olympics!
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