Sunday October 4th Please join us in welcoming our. NEW MEMBERS Janet Simmons and Ellen Morales. On October 18th, we will have our annual

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1 Pastor Rev. Seth D. Jones Tel: (207) Rockland Congregational Church Sunday Morning Worship at 10am Communion 1st Sundays Communion Service at Bartlett Woods 1st Sunday of the month Open Sanctuary Wednesdays 3:30 ~ 8:30 Organist/Choir Director: Alan Wingard Janitor Rick Grimes rgrimes1@roadrunner. com Office Administrator Liz Glover rccoffice@ne.twcbc.com Tel: (207) P.O. Box 554 / 180 Limerock Street Rockland, ME Tel: (207) nachurch.org Member: NACCC & CCCME Up Coming Events Sunday October 4th Please join us in welcoming our NEW MEMBERS Janet Simmons and Ellen Morales On October 18th, we will have our annual pre-budget budgetplanning Budget meeting in preparation for our Annual Budget Meeting December 6th Please plan to attend this important meeting to support and direct our church for the coming year. Sunday October 11th Sanctuary Gallery Art Show Opening Marnie Sinclair of Damariscotta Rockland Congregational Church is pleased to present October 25th at 2pm 180 Limerock Street Rockland Alan Wingard for a special Sunday afternoon of Organ music Alan is in his third year as church organist and choir director He has given concerts in New England, Atlantic Canada, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Texas and Scotland Meet Alan and his wife Linda after the concert Refreshments will be served

2 Dear Congregation of God, Fall is here! The leaves are not changing the way I expected, but it is finally raining as I write this. As we enter the fall in the Mid Coast, I hope your summer was a time of family and friends and fellowship. Fall is often presented in the church calendar as a season of recommitment and renewal. New initiatives are started; if there is Sunday School, it starts up again; a renewed purpose is engaged. All this is very purposeful and intentional. When Kate and I were in Minneapolis at Colonial Church of Edina - a very large Congregational church - there were quite a few people who engaged the fall season with excitement. This is all very good, especially the purposeful engagement and intentionality. It is particularly great for a church that is made up of working people. Then, the fall season makes sense to begin anew. Since our congregation is mostly retired, our schedule works almost the opposite of other churches. In the fall, there is a short time span when people are still here before they go to South Carolina, Maryland, and mostly, Florida. By late October, many of our friends will be off to warmer climates. So the fall is a little different for us than it is for other churches. How we engage the seasons of the church makes a difference for how we relate to one another and how we worship. Our spiritual lives are a strange and ever-changing mixture of the changes in an individual s life and the shifting dynamics of those we have chosen to fellowship with along the Way. The Congregational tradition seeks to engage those dynamics between the individual and the community of faith by, as one of my teachers put it, being intentional about our mutual covenant with one another. As Rockland Congregational Church seeks to enter into the changing dynamics of the culture and at the same time continue our long and solid tradition in the Way of Jesus Christ, we would do well to remember that we are not just doing this by rote, and nor are we merely in it for ourselves. The Puritans, the founders of the Congregational Way, formed out of a desire to engage one of the strongest themes in Scripture - that of personal responsibility and living together in fellowship with neighbor and stranger alike. Both are rigorous acts that make space for the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit and make for a brighter lamp for our path ahead. As with the Puritans, however, the call to personal responsibility and faithful community is fraught with conflict and difficulty. How will we, how will you, let the Holy Spirit guide you and us through that engagement? Looking back through history, it is fair to say that the Puritans in America did not always choose well. The great danger of claiming the Holy Spirit for our actions is that it is really just a cover for our pride and personal agendas to act out with authority. I mean, who in their right mind would question the authority of the Holy Spirit, especially if we have given that authority to a particular person? 2

3 Instead, I actually consider it a part of the work of the Holy Spirit to question and wonder and throw back and forth ideas about faith and the work of the church and our personal spiritual lives. I also believe there is, finally, a fuller Truth to which we are being led and getting there requires a mutual understanding, a binding together, to walk together in the ways of the Lord. So whether you are here with us through the fall and the winter, or are worshiping down where it is warm and the weather is always 72 and sunny while we shovel snow and figure out how to get warm in our old New England houses, let us intentionally engage our mutual promises with one another to enter this greater new season of our faith lives together. Peace and grace to all, Pastor Seth Articles of Faith Thursday mornings at 9am there is a study group open to all that talks about a given article that is available in the back of the sanctuary on Sundays or can be found online at Come join in, the discussions are very exciting. AIO Announces 3 rd Annual Walk to End Hunger October 24 th On Saturday morning, October 24 th, Area Interfaith Outreach (AIO) food pantry and emergency assistance has scheduled a 3-mile Walk to End Hunger, from the Food Pantry across from Rockland District Middle School, along Rockland s Main Street, then looping back to the pantry. Families with strollers and dogs on leashes, office friends, school clubs and sports teams everyone is invited to carry the Neighbors Helping Neighbors message and have fun doing it. It will be the week before Halloween. Children (anyone!) may welcome an early chance to show off their costumes. Walkers can pick up Sponsorship Forms at area libraries, churches, and schools, at Rockland Main Street businesses, and at the Food Pantry on Thomaston Street in Rockland. People who don t feel up to a hike but want to help AIO feed hungry families and help them keep warm in winter can pledge some amount to support the ones who walk. For more information, see or inquire at info@aiofoodpantry.org for a quick response. Tai Chi Chuan Class Tuesday at 7:30am Rockland Congregational Church (class in Fessenden Hall-Lower parking lot of church) Summer has drawn to a close and we would like to say good-bye and safe travels to all of our friends going away for the winter. Please keep us warm in your thoughts as we wait for your return in the spring. 3

4 October Birthdays 2 Dawn Bradeen, Red Maxfield 3 Peter Anderson 4 Tim Pier, Nancy Smith 6 Albert Payson 7 Nathan Walton 12 William Doherty, Steve Crippen 13 RoseAnn Chaisson 15 Martha Bouchard, Marlene Groves, Marion Hall 18 Marcia Crippen 19 Dot Curtis 21 Jim Groves 23 Peter Smith 25 Debbie Crawford 27 Brian Pitts 29 Colin Emery, Floyd Montgomery, Christopher Walton October Anniversaries 4 Seth & Kate Jones 9 Peter & Laurie Smith 11 Ted & Irene Antoniou 23 Colin & Melissa Grierson 31 Colin & Sherry Emery Ladies Guild will meet Wednesday, October 22 at 1:00 pm in Kimball Hall to plan for the Harvest Fair. Hostesses for the meeting are Frances Benner, Mary Blenk, and Marilyn Trask. The Harvest Fair working Craft Days: Oct. 7th 1-3 Oct. 14th 1-3 Oct. 21st 1-3 Oct. 28th 1-3 All women of the church are invited to join in and help as the Ladies Guild work in fellowship to enrich their church life. The Ladies Guild is buying NEW large round tables for the church!! The OLD large round tables are for sale for $20each. Please contact Martha Bouchard at: or The church office at: Pam Start, Sue Heal 4

5 Reprint of 2016 Stewardship appeal Like many of you, I am an enthusiastic gardener. I forget the worries of the world in my gardens when I get involved with wilting leaves or pesky bugs. And what greater reward for my efforts than tasting that first perfect (well almost) carrot or an unbeatable cherry tomato plucked right off the vine! All of these treats come with diligent work: monitored watering, composting, pinching, pruning and loving attention nurturing efforts to bring forth positive results. That sounds like Stewardship to me! We are all gardeners in the church. Each member of this congregation is asked to nurture the church body in order to bring into fruition the greatest commandment of Jesus: Love one another. In Rockland Congregational Church, that Love is demonstrated by feeding the hungry (AIO), housing the homeless (Hospitality House), visiting the home-bound (our Visitation Team), clothing the needy (rummage sales & more rummage sales). Love turns into an active verb when a congregation pulls together to transform the teachings of Jesus into tangible actions of love. The backbone of Stewardship in our church is each individual's financial commitment made through Pledging. Budgets prepared by the Faith, Fellowship and Function Councils will be discussed at an all-church meeting following the service on October 18. Meetings are not the way I most like to spend my time; I like being in my garden. But I will be attending this very important meeting because it sets the actions the church will be taking this upcoming year. I hope you will be there too! In His service, Judy Waterman, chair, Stewardship Team Wayne Meserve, member Marlene Groves, member P.S. We will ask God's blessings on our pledges when we offer them at a special luncheon on November 8. If you cannot attend, you can bring your pledge into the church office at any time or mail it to Box 554, Rockland SCRAPBOOKING OCTOBER 10th 8:30-5:30 is the next meeting of the Scrappers We encourage anyone and everyone to come. We always have a GREAT time. Not a Scrapper? Remember you can do crafts of any sort and you don't have to stay all day. See you there! HARVEST FAIR Rockland Congregational Church 180 Limerock Street Rockland Saturday, November

6 ~ LETTING GO ~ ~ To let go doesn't mean to stop caring: it means I can't do it for someone else. ~ To let go is not to cut myself off; it is the realization that I can't control another. ~ To let go is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences. ~ To let go is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands. ~ To let go is not to try to change or blame another; I can only change myself. ~ To let go is not to care for, but to care about. ~ To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive. ~ To let go is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being. ~ To let go is not to be in the middle arranging outcomes, but to allow others to effect their own outcomes. ~ To let go is not to be protective; it is to permit another to face reality. ~ To let go is not to deny, but to accept. ~ To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue, but to search out my own shortcomings and to correct them ~ To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes and to cherish the moment. ~ To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone, but to try to become what I dream I can be. ~ To let go is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future. ~ To let go is to fear less and love more. Author Unknown A mechanic was removing a cylinder-head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known cardiologist in his shop. The cardiologist was there waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the Garage, 'Hey Doc, want to take a look at this?' The cardiologist, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I opened its heart, took the valves out, repaired any damage, and then put them back in, and when I finish, it works just like new... So how come I make $39,675 a year and you get the really big bucks ($1,695,759), when you and I are doing basically the same work?' The cardiologist paused, smiled and leaned over, then whispered to the mechanic... "Try doing it with the engine running." Submitted by: Marlene Groves 6