MAY Southwick Congregational Church UCC. United Church of Christ 488 College Highway; P.O. Box 260 Southwick, MA 01077

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1 Buildings & Grounds: Christian Education: Craig Perras Dan Warriner Ashley Greco Deacons: Flo Pitoniak Finance: Elaina Lempke Flowers: Roxanne Cook Fundraising: / Nominating: Patti Wood pattiperusse@yahoo.com Library: Joyce Arnold Memorial Gifts: Missions: Karen Brzezinski Roxanne Cook Donna Sullivan rbcook1014@aol.com djsullivan135@hotmail.com Music: Melanie Nitsch emnitsch@gmail.com Pastoral Relations: COMMITTEE CHAIRS Roxanne Cook rbcook1014@aol.com MAY 2017 Southwick Congregational Church 488 College Highway P.O. Box 260 Southwick, MA Return Service Requested Church Office Hours: Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Pastor s Office Hours: Tuesday through Friday 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Church Office Phone & Fax: ; Pastor s Study: Website: Office Facebook: www. southwickucc.org southwickucc@gmail.com Southwick Congregational Church UCC Staff: Minister Reverend Bart Cochran Choir Director/Organist Roberta Kowal Bell Choir Director Patti P. Wood Office Administrator Lyn Casey Custodians Matthew Kowal & Maria Lempke Southwick Congregational Church United Church of Christ 488 College Highway; P.O. Box 260 Southwick, MA VOLUME MMXVII No. 5 Minister: The Rev. Bart Cochran Please join us Sundays for Worship Service 10:00 AM Mid-Week Service Thursdays 6:30 PM Website: www. SouthwickUCC.org The Good Newsletter of the Southwick Congregational Church United Church of Christ Southwick, MA DATED MATERIAL PAID Permit No. 309 Southwick, MA US Postage

2 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! ~Isaiah 2:4-5 I am forever thankful for the men and women who have died defending our country. I am thankful for anyone who has served in our military and has done his or her part to insure the freedom we all enjoy. Many members of my family served in the armed forces in both times of peace and times of war. Memorial Day is focused upon those who have fallen in the service of our country, but at the same time it is an opportunity to focus on Christ. War stands in direct opposition to the teachings of the Prince of Peace, our Savior Christ - war is a thing to be avoided at almost any cost. In our country today, it often seems as if we have forgotten the lessons of the past and too quickly rush to make war on other nations. I will not try and make a case one way or another as to which wars engaged in by our country are just and which wars are unjust. The same goes for undeclared military actions around the world. But I will say that if we as a country truly cherish and respect those who fight for us as soldiers and sailors, then we should resist the use of military might until there is absolutely no other option open to us. HE IS RISEN Memorial Day rightfully is America s holiday. But it is not one of the Church s holy days and it should not be treated as though it is. It is no part of the church s purpose to celebrate the wars or the war dead of any nation. Christians come together in worship as a transnational community of faith bound together by Christ, not nationality. The church has set aside a time for remembering the dead. That time is All Saints Day in the early days of November. This celebration of remembrance is not for those who died for the nation in wars, but for those who died in Christ from all nations. On this day we honor those who went before us on the journey of faith and who are examples for us as we endeavor to walk in the way of the Prince of Peace. The church in America needs to keep its memories straight by keeping the story of Jesus at the forefront all the time, even on Memorial Day. Yours in Christ, Pastor Bart Calling for Pastoral Care: If anyone in our church has a family member who is ill, hospitalized, grieving or moving to a senior living facility, please be sure to advise the church office. We want to respond with caring support. Call the church office at or at southwickucc@gmail.com Don t forget, you can read Pastor Bart s weekly sermon on our website: on the page: From the Pastor

3 Happy May Birthday Elaina Lempke May 2 Ashley Greco May 12 Rob Lempke May 12 Barbara Machietto May 12 Flo Pitoniak May 12 Sarah Cotto May 15 Marie Boyd May 22 Sally Merlo May 25 Connie Johnson May 31 Prayer Shawl Ministry Group continues May 15th and 29th at 7 PM at Lee Zinnack s Christian Education Youth Group Lock-in - All of our Youth Group members attended the lock-in on April 7. First, we had a scavenger hunt at Ocean State Job Lot. Once the kids found everything on the list we purchased supplies to donate to the Southwick Animal Shelter. The youth group used the proceeds from their Valentines Day bake sale to purchase the supplies. We are trying to work out a day with the animal shelter to have the youth group bring their donations and possibly take a tour. After Ocean State, we headed back to the church where we had pizza and made ice cream sundaes and the kids played "man hunt" throughout the building. Once the kids tired us out, we called it a night! The Youth Group is looking for addresses of any of those serving in the military. We would like to send care packages to them a few times throughout the year. We will also take any letters or cards from anyone in the congregation who wants to send well-wishes. You can give these to Ashley Greco or leave them with the Office. Annual Mothers Day Flower Sale May 14 during the Coffee Hour Children s Sunday is May 21st. Spring Cleanup Strawberry Supper The Strawberry Supper will take place Saturday, June 17th at 6 PM. The menu will include ham, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, and beverages. Cost for adults is $14, children 6-12 is $7. Please contact the Church office for reservations (413) We are still in need of volunteers. The sign-up sheet is in Old Fellowship Hall - many hands make light work. From the Church Library: For anyone wishing to donate books to our church library in the future, please note that you will need to call the church office or Joyce Arnold before making any donation(s). Often, when a family member has passed, the family of the deceased will leave religious-based books in the library without our knowledge. Our shelves are filled to capacity at this time. However, I would be happy to meet with anyone wishing to donate to the church library during office hours and select a few books that I feel are suitable, according to the church library s established selection policy. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, ~Joyce Arnold Mark your calendars! June 3rd will be our Spring cleanup day. The format is the same as always. Two hours is all we need. The day starts at 8:00 AM and ends at noon. You choose what two hours work best for your schedule. If you can t make the day, some home baked goodies are always appreciated. It is an all around feel-good day! Please sign up so we can plan the projects. Contact anyone from the Building & Grounds Committee.

4 All Church Committee Meeting April 20, 2017 The meeting was called to order by Moderator David Breton at 8:05 pm. The meeting was opened with a prayer by Pastor Bart. The Moderator made a motion to accept the Minutes of the March meeting which was seconded and passed with no discussion. Minister s Report Pastor Bart and Valerie will be out of town on 4/23/17 and The Rev. Dr. Suzanne Hayes has agreed to fill in for the Sunday service. Pastor Bart reminded us about the program at the Granville Federated Church on the Muslim religion and Valerie was planning to go and carpool with anyone who wanted to also attend. Our Easter Sunrise Service was held in the Memorial Garden and Pastor Bart wished to thank Diane Orson for providing the continental breakfast. Pastor Bart recently presided at a graveside service for the Bird family the day before Easter. Deacons Dawn Turgeon reported 5 members present. They discussed the Maundy Thursday Service, the Easter Sunrise Service and the Easter Flowering Cross Service. They are asking everyone to bring a picture of their mother for the Mother s Day Sunday Service and the same for Father s Day. The group also discussed getting a 2 nd communion set to be used in place of our antique communion set to help preserve and safeguard this valuable communion set. Pastoral Relations Committee Roxanne Cook reported they have had no recent meeting but all is well. Christian Education Ashley Greco reported 4 members present. They will be holding the annual Mother s Day Plant Sale on May 14 th and Children s Sunday will be May 21 st. Mission-Outreach Roxanne Cook reported they are still deciding on the date for the Community Open House at our church Sept. 9 th or 16 th. There will be no Vacation Bible School this summer but Missions is considering providing bagged lunches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the summer in conjunction with the Food Pantry and getting our youth involved. Treasurer s Report/Finance Committee Elaina Lempke reported 4 members present. They are still asking members to pay their UCC dues to the church office ($20 per member). The church received a large anonymous donation of $2, They estimate that at the current rate of pledges and offerings received, we are losing approx. $43 per day. Fundraising Committee Patti Wood mentioned the group met on March 23 rd at Ted and Diane Orson s home for brainstorming and fellowship. Some ideas discussed were: The Strawberry Supper in June. A take-out only lobster dinner in July a coordinator/lead person for this is needed. A clothing drive again this year in August it will include clothing, books, housewares, and furniture that will all need to be delivered to Savers in West Springfield. A committee basket raffle at the Community Days in September. A vendor fair on September 30 th. Nominating Committee Patti Wood had no new names for committees. Buildings and Grounds Dan Warriner had 2 members present. They are reviewing what needs to be done regarding Exit lighting and signs. They are organizing the annual spring cleanup on June 3 rd. They are looking into replacing the tile floor in New Fellowship Hall. They completed their annual reviews with the custodians and all is well. Memorial Gifts Karen Brzezinski has 12 new stones for the Memorial Garden and two have been spoken for. She rolled a CD over at Westfield Bank Music Committee Melanie Nitsch reported 3 members present. They are working on the Summer Music Schedule. The organ is being worked on to get it back in working order by replacing batteries. Music Sunday is the 2 nd Sunday in June. Flower Committee Roxanne Cook mentioned the sign-up calendar for anyone wishing to supply an altar arrangement on any given Sunday. The Easter flowers were gorgeous this year! Library Committee No report. New Business Rob Lempke mentioned that when changing over the authorization on our bank account it was discovered that the church s Articles of Incorporation on the state website need to be updated, specifically regarding our listed officers. Many currently listed have passed away or no longer involved with our church. The church s office administrator will be asked to look into this. Motion made, seconded, and passed unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~Melanie Nitsch, Clerk

5 Executive Board Meeting Minutes April 20, 2017 The meeting was called to order by the Moderator at 8:42 p.m. Pastor Bart requested the regular pulpit supply fee be paid to substitute pastors when he is away or on sabbatical. Dawn Turgeon discussed the need to have a deacon representative on the Pastoral Relations Committee and she volunteered. Patty Banasik and Rob Lempke are now listed on the church s bank account as authorized signers. Patti Wood read an from a former church member about being at another church and being on a committee even though they were not a current member of that church. This led to a discussion about our by-laws and the need to change them if they require committee members to also be church members. This will be looked into but it was agreed that only church members could have voting rights. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~Melanie Nitsch, Clerk Stewardship News UCC Southwick is one of twenty-six self-governing churches in the Hampden Association of the Massachusetts Conference UCC. Per capita 2017 Association dues of $20 have been received from 34 Southwick UCC members. Remember when remitting to note UCC Dues on your check or envelope and Thank You. Seventy-eight Stewardship pledges totaling $79,134 have been received for The average annual pledge is $1015 or $19.51 per week. Receipts through the first quarter 2017 are shown below. Southwick Historical Corner Hi everyone, Happy April and spring! I hope you are enjoying the blooming flowers and signs of the fresh start. I am going a little off topic here from my typical focus of the church history to look at the Liturgical Colors and the seasons of the church year. I started thinking about the colors of the spring with the flowers, etc. which made me think about the colors of church and how we use them, so I did some research! This information comes from the UCC website (which generally has some really great information on a multitude of topics!) The liturgical season were first differentiated by colors in the fourth century. The colors first used were Violet, White, Black, Red, and Green. The colors are designed to show the emotions and ideas represented by the different seasons. Violet represents the sovereignty of Christ. White and Gold represent the brightness of day. Black is the traditional color of mourning. Red represents the color of blood and symbolizes the martyrs and of Christ s death on the cross. Also, there is symbolism of red representing the holy spirit. Green represents growth. Blue represents the sky and in some rites, represents Mary. We are currently in Holy week (or we are when I am writing this) follow ing the path of Jesus through his arrival in Jerusalem through the Last Supper and finally his death on his cross. The typical color representation during Holy Week transitions from Palm Sunday (and the next three days) of red to Maundy Thursday represented by White/Gold. Minimal decorations are used on Good Friday for the somberness of the crucifixion. There are several other seasons of the church that I do not have room for in this article but I ve included the link below if you would like to read more. I hope you find it interesting to learn the meanings behind the colors that w e use as part of our church- all of these are optional there is no set requirement that certain colors or alter decorations must be used at any certain time. The article I was using for research makes an interesting point that these colors and their symbolism do connect us to the wider body of Christ. Enjoy this special time of year! Blessings! ~Martha Johnson

6 May 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 Boy Scouts 6:30 PM Communion Service Coffee Hour Boy Scouts 6:30 PM All-Church Mtg 8 PM (Missions) 12 AA Meeting 7: Mothers Day Worship Service Youth Grp 10:15 Coffee Hour & Plant Sale Prayer Lee s 7 PM 16 Boy Scouts 6:30 PM American Inn AA Meeting 7: Children s Sunday Coffee Hour Boy Scouts 6:30 PM AA Meeting 7: Worship Service Youth Grp 10:15 Coffee Hour Memorial Day Office Closed Prayer Lee s 7 PM 30 Boy Scouts 6:30 PM 31