March The Pilgrim Spire. Pastor s Parable. Thank you!

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1 The Pilgrim Spire March 2018 P i l g ri m U n ited Ch u r ch o f C h ris t B r o ad Bo u l e v a rd C u y a h oga Fa l l s, O H Pastor s Parable CONTACT INFORMATION Office: Phone: Fax: Staff & Pastor: Secretary: Reverend Kirk Bruce pilgrimpastor@ameritech.net Kelly Gerstenberger pilgrimoffice@ameritech.net Faith Formation Director: Marilyn Freeman pilgrimce@ameritech.net Music Director: Website: Kyle Kelvington kelvingtonk@gmail.com You ll find electronic versions of The Pilgrim Spires; Calendar; Facility Use & Facility Use Policies; Wedding & Funeral Information; Act-It UP! Community Theatre; History and more! The Pilgrim Spire is published once a month. If you have something to share with your fellow Pilgrims, please contact the church office to have it included in the next edition of... The Pilgrim Spire. A test was run last month of an electronic version of the February Spire. If you would like to save postage and receive your Spire s by , just contact the church office. Address changes? Contact the office. Thank you! Anne went away to college and promptly became an avid animal rights activist. When she came home for the holidays she noticed her mother was wearing a beautiful genuine fur coat. Oh Mom, Anne exclaimed in a disapproving tone, some animal must have suffered terribly just so you can get a fur coat. Anne! Screamed her mom aghast, I send you away to college and you come back talking like this. How dare you talk that way about your father! Obviously the humor is found in the misunderstanding as to whom Anne is talking about. That is why being part of a faith community is so vital to honest living. The more we share, the more we know, and learn, and grow. Faith is not just a spectator s sport. It is something we only grow in by being part of it. Jesus was trying to teach the people of his time, and us as well, that our faith is not something we can just sit out on and still get all of the benefits from. We have to participate in our faith, and make it part of who we are. I played soccer in high school. Then in college I just played around for the first three years. My senior year I decided to try out for the soccer team again. I made it but, I was not very good. The years of lack of practice, had taken their toll on me. To make up for it, after running all through daytime practice, I would go out running at night just to try and catch up to where I used to be three years earlier. Our faith lives are much the same. We have to engage in them all the time to keep them alive. Faith is not just what we say we believe, it is also, how we live out our lives. It is how we relate to one another. It is how we forgive others mistakes and how we encourage them as well. Faith is a way of life that brings hope when we feel lost, joy when we are sad, and a sense of direction out of confusion. Faith is not a spectators sport, it requires our participation. See you Sunday. Shalom, Pastor Kirk 1

2 Happy 48th Anniversary Date Name 03/21 Vic & Evelyn Ing Meetings are open to all! Stewardship: Sunday, March 11:45 a.m. Diaconate: Monday, March 6:30 p.m. Trustees: Monday, March 6:30 p.m. Faith Formation: Tuesday, March 7:00 p.m. Music Committee: Sunday, March 11:30 a.m. Community Connections Committee (CCC): Monday, March 6:30 p.m. Council (Official Board): Monday, February 7:00 p.m. A Note from the Treasurer... As of January 31, 2018: Income: $15,500 Expense: $16,500 The monthly Pilgrim Spire is now available by . John Richards If you would like to have your Spire ed, please contact the office at: The Spire, current and previous, can be found on Pilgrim s website at: Happy Birthday Date Name 03/03 - Jo Kindel 03/05 - Luck Bruce 03/06 - Quinn Mawalls (1 yr) 03/06 - Dan Stimmel 03/08 - Dave Kump 03/08 - Lois Rake 03/12 - Victor Ing 03/16 - Lois Bruce 03/20 - Kaitlyn Pickering (4 yr) 03/20 - Savannah Sandlin 03/23 - Audrey Crain 03/23 - Henry Nagel 03/23 - Austin Pickering (6 yr) 03/25 - Wendy Ing 03/25 - Donna Patterson SAVE THE DATE: February 25, 10:30 am Chicago, United & Eden Seminary Offering collected March 29, Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday 6:30 pm Tennebrae 7:30 pm March 30, Good Friday Set-Up for Faith Formation Event 9 am - 12 noon March 31, Holy Saturday Breakfast with Easter Bunny 8:30-10:30 am Crafts, Games, Story, Cake Walk Age-Divided Easter Egg Hunt 11:00 am April 1, Easter Sunday Worship 10:30 am 2

3 THANK YOU S Dear Pastor Kirk Bruce Thank you for your kind donation to Chapel Hill s Life Enrichment Fund. Generous donations like this helps us provide Abundant Life for our residents! Please thank the congregation for me! Debbie Durbin, RN, LNHA, MBA Executive Director PRAYERS FOR PILGRIMS Please Pray For... The family and friends of Linda who are grieving. A couple with financial issues. Nancy, Linda, Thelma, Don & Carl for healing & health. A sister who needs help and guidance with addiction problems. The families and victims of the shootings in Parkland, Florida. Mark Poling, step-son of Dr. Don, recovering from a stroke. Jane (92), a friend, in the hospital dealing with several medical issues. The homeless. People dealing with depression. Our public servants, first responders, and medical personnel. The family and friends of the child who completed suicide in a Canton school. Amy, a co-worker, who has hearing loss due to an ear infection, that medicine will restore it. A special friend who has been freed from her earthly troubles and is now in God s loving hands. Everyone to have the ability to forgive and learn to trust again. A friend with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), & the friend s family, who are struggling. FREE COMMUNITY LUNCH (FCL) needs... The number of outside volunteers are down. We are having trouble meeting the needs of the 120 folks we feed every month. Thank You! If you have time between 10 am and 2 pm on Saturday, March 10, 2018! Come Join Us! Thank you to Dawn Criss, Jim Howell, Nancy Zeller, Ed & Miriam Schadle for stepping up to say YES to helping with Free Community Lunch. One Great Hour of Sharing offering on March 18, 2018!! Thank You, Stewardship Board Marilyn Freeman, Pilgrim s Faith Formation Director, is working on a family trip to the Cleveland Children s Museum. Possible dates are March 24th or April 7th. More information will be in the Weekly Spire and Sunday Bulletin when it is available. 3

4 KNIT OR CROCHET TUESDAY s from 6:30 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. beginning January 9th in the Rev. Greene Room of Pilgrim United Church of Christ, 130 Broad Blvd., OH Bring either crochet or knitting needles and yarn if you want to learn or any project to work on. Blessings Jar... And God made tow great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. Genesis 1:16 The bulletin boards have several postings that may be of interest to you or someone you know! Take a moment to take a look. You may find something of interest! See the bulletin boards for the next Marriage Encounter Weekend (Lutheran) April 27-29, 2018 Marriage Encounter helps married husbands and wives celebrate their special relationship - and provides them with unique insights and tools to improve their communication for the long haul. The experience is a whole weekend away from chores, jobs, and kids to celebrate their love, learn a delightful new method of communication, and reap joyful long-term rewards for them, their family, and their faith journey. If you have questions, call the contact number on the flier OR contact Dan & Kelly Gerstenberger! Interested in comedy? Chondra Pierce & Karyn Williams Getting Back to Funny Tour Friday, March 7 pm; Doors open at 6:15 pm at Trinity Gospel Temple 1612 Tuscarawas St., W., Canton, OH Ticket Prices: Groups of 10+ early entry 5:15 pm $46.50 Groups of 10+ general admission $24.00 Interested in another opportunity to Worship? Chris Tomlin Worship Night in America with Kim Walker-Smith, Matt Maher, Christine D Clario, Tauren Wells, & Pat Barrett Friday, April 7 pm at Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University 2000 Prospect Ave., E., Cleveland, OH Ticket Prices: Depending on the seating area $41.00 to $

5 Touch a life... Become a Hospice Volunteer. Hospice is a philosophy of care, not a place. WE care for our patients wherever they call home. As a vital part of our team, volunteers come from all walks of life, and have a variety of skills, talents and abilities. Opportunities to serve are diverse: visit patients and families to provide companionship, socialization, and comfort, help with legacy work, sit vigil with dying patients (By Your Side), provide transportation to patients being served at home, provide help with light housework, meal preparation, run errands, make phone calls, help with clerical work, assist with the reception desks, share your musical talents, represent the agency at health fairs and more. Volunteers with specialized professional qualifications and training are also needed: attorneys, licensed hair dressers, Massotherapists, pet therapy dogs and their handlers. Volunteer education is held frequently throughout northern Ohio. Teen and most volunteers not having contact with patients take 4 hours of training while patient care volunteers take 16 hours. Visit us at for more information OR to fill out an application OR call us at Trustee s The Trustee Board would like to make the congregation aware that this is the year to paint the exterior of Pilgrim. Currently, the cost quoted is $20,000. If any member or friend of Pilgrim would like to donate specifically to this endeavor, please write PAINT on the line following Other on the monthly or weekly envelopes. Thank You! Faith Formation Ministry Opportunity Don t you just love all those cute little ones that come up for the Children s Sermons? Wouldn t you just LOVE to get to know them better? Well - Faith Focus can provide that wonderful experience! From time to time we just need an extra hand or two to fill in on any given Sunday. Lessons are all planned out & all the necessary pieces/parts are ready to go. The plans can be sent to you ahead of time. If you would like to sit in on a session or two to get familiar with the kids and the process, please feel free to join us. See Marilyn Freeman if you are interested. Once again Faith Formation is preparing for the Breakfast with the Easter Bunny & all the activities and crafts that happen with this event. To help now, please bring wrapped candy in and place in the donation box in the Social Hall. To help on March 30, 2018 to fill the plastic eggs with the donated candy and set-up for the event, OR To help the day of the event, March 31, 2018, contact Mitzi, Evelyn, Marilyn or the church office at Please share the flier that follows! Thank You!

6 The Bath Church, United Church of Christ invites you to a concert on: Thursday, March 1st at 7:30 p.m. As a part of its Bicentennial year of celebrations The Bath Church is proud to present: The BGSU Men s Chorus America s Finest Singing Machine. America s Finest Singing Machine will stop at the Bath Church while on their Spring Tour! Thursday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. the Bowling Green State University Men s Chorus will bring their wall of sound to the sanctuary of Bath Church. Their unparalleled musical excellence has been thrilling audiences for over forty years. The ensemble encompasses students from all majors; over half are non-music majors, representing all seven colleges at the University. The ensemble, which has produced numerous CDs, has performed with distinction at a number of regional and national ACDA conferences, as well as the North Coast Conference of OMEA and at OMEA state conferences. The group recently commissioned a work by famed jazz artist Dave Brubeck titled Love Flows from God, which they performed at OMEA with the composer present. Come and enjoy an evening of male choral music with some antics thrown in for fun! Image from: Thank You... to everyone for their help for calling hours, the memorial service and reception for Linda. Especially Pastor Kirk, Kyle Kelvington, Kathie and John Richards, Rich and Kris Gill, Polly McCallum, Bev Hannahs, Rich Shisler and Sandi Ignizio. I know there were many others behind the scenes who contributed just as much to make the evening special for all of us. Thank you all from our entire family. Steve Stimmel Easter Lilies You can help fill the Pilgrim Sanctuary with beautiful Easter Lilies. The cost is $12 payable to Pilgrim UCC and you may dedicate the Easter Lily to the celebration or memory of someone special. After Worship Service on April 1, you may take home your lily or deliver it to someone of your choice. What a blessing you can be! Sign-up in the Social Hall. Call the church office at for more information. 6

7 March 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday AL=Adult Library AT=Attic C=Classroom CL=Children s Lib. HR=Heritage Room K=Kitchen MR=Music Room N=Nursery RGR=Rev. Greene Room SA=Sanctuary SH=Social Hall 4 9 am Choir Rehearsal, HR 10:30 am Worship Rev. Kirk Bruce 11:30am Fellowship Team?, SH 11:45 pm Stewardship Mtg,HR 3-5 pm AAAG, SH 119am Choir Rehearsal, HR 10:30 am Worship Rev. Kirk Bruce 11:30am Fellowship FCL, SH 2:45-5:15 pm GS Troop #501, AL 3-5 pm AAAG, SH 6-8 pm GS Troop #169, AL 18 9am Choir Rehearsal, HR 10:30 am Worship Rev. Kirk Bruce 11:30am Fellowship Team#3, SH 11:45 am Faith Formation, AL 3-5 pm AAAG, SH 25 Palm Sunday 9am Choir Rehearsal, HR 10:30am Worship - Rev. Kirk Bruce 11:30am Fellowship Team #4,SH 3-5 pm AAAG, SH 6-8 pm GS Troop #169, AL 7 AMMS=Absorbent Minds Montessori School AAAG=Akron Area Actor s Guild AA=Alcoholics Anonymous CS=Cub Scouts EA=Emotions Anonymous FF=Faith Formation 5 3:30-7 pm AMMS - Conferences, CR 5:30-8 pm SCTI,SH 6:30 pm Diaconate Board Mtg., AL :30 pm AMMS- TKD, SH 6-8pm GS Troop #840, AT 6:30 pm Trustees Board Mtg., AL :30 pm AMMS- TKD, SH 5:30-8 pm SCTI,SH 6:30 pm Community Connections Committee Mtg. AL 7 pm Council Mtg., HR 26 Woodridge-Spring Break 6-8pm GS Troop #840, AT FCL=Free Community Lunch FOTS=Fellowship of the Spirit GS=Girl Scouts SCTI=Summit County Teen Institute WRSS=Western Reserve Suzuki School 6 10:30am Bible Study, AL 3:30-7 pm AMMS - Conferences, CR 6-8 pm AAAG, SH 8pm FOTS AA, HR 13 10:30am Bible Study, AL 6-8 pm AAAG, SH 8 pm FOTS AA, HR 20 10:30am Bible Study, AL 6-8 pm AAAG, SH 6-8pm GS Troop #244, AL 8 pm FOTS AA, HR 27 Woodridge-Spring Break 10:30am Bible Study, AL 6-8 pm AAAG, SH 8pm FOTS AA, HR 7 11:00 am Staff Mtg. 1-2:30pm AMMS- Dance, SH 2:15-9:00 pm WRSS Cello/Violin Lessons, 3:30-7 pm AMMS - Conferences, CR 3:45 pm Hand Bell Rehearsal, MR 7 pm Bible Study,HR :30pm AMMS-Dance, SH 2:15-9:00 pm WRSS Cello/Violin Lessons, 3:45 pm Hand Bell Rehearsal, MR 7 pm Bible Study,HR :30pm AMMS- Dance, SH 2:15-9:00 pm WRSS Cello/Violin Lessons, 3:45 pm Hand Bell Rehearsal, MR 7 pm Bible Study,HR 28 Woodridge-Spring Break 2:15-9:00 pm WRSS Cello/Violin Lessons, 3:45 pm Hand Bell Rehearsal, MR 7 pm Bible Study,HR 1 6-8pm CS Den Mtg., 7 9 pm EA, HR 8 3:30-7 pm AMMS - Conferences, CR 6-8pm CS Den Mtg., 7 9 pm EA, HR pm CS Den Mtg., 7-9pm EA, HR pm Donatos Nite, State & Chestnut 6-8pm CS Pack Mtg., K & SH 7 9 pm EA, AL 29 Maundy Thursday Woodridge-Spring Break 6:30 pm Dinner, SH 7:30 pm Tenebrae Service, SA 7 9 pm EA, AL 2 3 8am-1:30pm FF- Resource Team, SH & K 10 am - 3 pm CS Committee Mtg, AL 11:30 am - 3:45 pm 8 pm AA, SH 9 3:30-7 pm AMMS - Conferences, CR 8am - 7:30pm Project Panda, SH, AT, CL, AL, N,HR, RGR 16 DEADLINE for April SPIRE! Good Friday Woodridge- Spring Break 9 am - 12 noon Set-Up for Event Easter Bunny & Breakfast 10 9 am - 2 pm FCL, SH,K 2-5pm CS Pack #3186-Pinewood Derby, SH & K 11:30am-3:45pm 8:00 pm AA, SH 17 11:30am-3:45pm 8:00 pm AA, SH 11:30am-3:45pm 8:00 pm AA, SH 31 Holy Saturday 8:30am-10:30am Breakfast, Crafts, Pictures, Calk Walk, Easter Egg Hunt, CR & SH 11:30am-3:45pm 8:00 pm AA, SH

8 Pilgrim United Church of Christ 130 Broad Blvd. Ohio Address Correction Requested March 2018 The Pilgrim Spire Sunday Schedule: 10:30 am Worship Nursery Care available 11:30 am Fellowship Contact us at: Pilgrim United Church of Christ Staff: Pastor Rev. Kirk Bruce, Faith Formation Director Marilyn Freeman, Music Director Kyle Kelvington, Secretary Kelly Gerstenberger, 8