THE CRIER. From a Pilgrim Pastor by Pastor Kaz Bem

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1 THE CRIER The First Church in Marlborough Newsletter Online at A Congregation of the United Church of Christ at 37 High Street, Marlborough, Massachusetts MAY 2014 Contents INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Page From a Pilgrim Pastor 1 Policy, Staff, and the Church Register 2 Mission Statement 2 From a Pilgrim Pastor,cont. 3 Sunday School Corner 3 May Worship Leaders 4 Summer Worship Schedule 4 First Church Rewards 5 Katy Mahoney Backpack Program 5 Outreach/Missions 6 Women s Fellowship 7 Men s Fellowship 7 Key Return 8 Televised Worship 8 Death and Funeral Info 8 Our Care Team 8 The Book of Life 9 May Calendar 10 June Calendar 11 Worship Information 12 From a Pilgrim Pastor by Pastor Kaz Bem Dear Friends and Members of First Church, This past weekend on Saturday I attended for the first time in my life the play Godspell by our friends at Ghost Light Players. The production was very well done, and at times hilarious. I am sure the person sitting next to me wanted to strangle me when I (under my breath, but still) proceeded to end the parables and quotations from Jesus and Matthew s Gospel. Well, in my defense all I can say is that I could not stop myself the Holy Spirit made me do it! But the most fascinating part for me, both as a spectator and a pastor, came in the second act. When the cast began to reenact the Last Supper and then the crucifixion and death of Christ, the mood of the audience changed. Suddenly there was a noticeable quiet and respect. You could hear a pin drop in the audience and the mood changed like the wind. The story of Jesus and his life and death still have meaning. They still compel and make a profound impression even on secular audiences! I caught myself being deeply moved by the narrative of the parables and what they were trying to convey. I guess in theological terms I would say that the story lives because the subject lives! Jesus Lives! Not just in our fond memories and hearts, but he lives LIVES! And that s why the story is still so compelling, so beautiful so life altering. We are still in Eastertide or Easter time 50 days and 50 nights till Pentecost. In some cultures (Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Russian) the daily greeting for this time, instead of Hello, is: Christ is Risen! (Greek: Christos Anesti!) to which you respond He is Risen Indeed! (Greek: (Continued on Page 3) 1

2 OUR CHURCH STAFF Russ Goliger, Music Director Jim Duncan, Organist Diane Burke, The Joyful Ringers Director Steve Kotsopoulos, covenant. Director Jenn Bastien, Youth Group Director & Children s Choir Director Jeremey Crocker, Treasurer Lynette Biggs, Sunday School Superintendent Susan Pellerin, Collector Amy Lapetina, Office Manager & Crier Newsletter Editor Deb Marino, Clerk Steve Ziegler, Moderator Cliff Fenton, Sexton Bob (Chip) Horne, Computer Systems Director SUMMER CRIER The deadline for the summer issue of the Crier will be June 30. No articles will be accepted after the deadline date. CRIER POLICY The CRIER welcomes all material submitted on a timely basis for publication. Every effort will be made to include all works submitted. However, the Editor needs to reserve the right to make corrections to ensure quality of presentation and correctness of information, and to use a consistent format throughout. All material should be submitted with the writer s name and daytime phone number. When major corrections are necessary, the editor will make every attempt to contact the writer. Personal notes, such as a thank you, etc., will be printed as submitted. Overly long items may be shortened for space consideration. All material should be submitted before the published deadline (15 th day of the previous month). Our mission is to welcome all to a positive environment for personal and spiritual growth through the Worship of God; to foster a caring, friendly, and inviting ministry of people who are committed to knowing God, God s will and the teachings of Jesus Christ; and to reach out to all with Faith and Love. We invite all to share in the journey to experience God s love. THE CHURCH REGISTER: Baptisms: Sophie Purnell May 4, 2014 Sage Olszewski June 29,

3 (continued from Page 1) Alithos Anesti!). I know that we are so tired of the winter and so hopeful to finally get some summer and warmth, that we want May and June to pass quickly. But I invite you all to ponder and to think about how the fact that Jesus is alive, and will come again, changes your life. How should it change it and if it doesn t, why not? What is stopping you from crying like Saint Thomas My Lord and My God! These are no small questions luckily you have 50 days and 50 nights to think about them. Or, in our 21 st century language, A lifetime! Yours, Pastor Kaz SUNDAY SCHOOL CORNER We had 44 children registered for Sunday School and more than 25 adults teach or help out. Many adults went above and beyond the one month expectation of teaching. Thanks to their dedication most classes ran for the whole year. Their hard work created a great learning environment and the children enjoyed the year very much. Children s Sunday and Teacher Appreciation will be on June 8 th. The children will work on projects in honor of the teachers. The Youth Group will also take part in the service. Kim Matheson ran our Bible for the third graders. They met on designated Sundays to study the Bible and have discussions. Our third graders will be presented with their bibles on June 8th. Sunday School will begin again in September. During registration in the fall, please be prepared to sign up to teach for 4 consecutive Sundays. (Submitted by Lynette Biggs, Superintendent) 3

4 MAY WORSHIP LEADERS Worship and Church School at 10:00 AM. Childcare is provided for all Sunday services. MAY 4 3rd Sunday of Easter Lead Deacon: Bill Davis Ushers: Bev Fiske, Deb Beauregard, Frank Marino, Pam Patten, Richard Rowell Lay Leader: Dorothy O Shea Greeters: The Knox Family MAY 11 Lead Deacon: Ushers: Lay Leader: Greeters: 4th Sunday of Easter Gary Hollis Marcia Fitzgerald, Bev Fiske, Todd Beauchemin Joan Campbell Katie and Charlotte Gill MAY 18 5th Sunday of Easter Music Appreciation Sunday Lead Deacon: Marcia Fitzgerald Ushers: Deb Beauregard, Frank Marino, Pam Patten Lay Leader: Greeters: Rev. Lee Atherton Betty Naava and Sarah Kabugo SUMMER WORSHIP SERVICES: All summer services (July 6th through August 31st) begin with a Hymn Sing at 8:45 followed by our Worship Service at 9:00 am. The balcony will be closed all summer. MAY 25 6th Sunday of Easter Lead Deacon: Bill Davis Ushers: Todd Beauchemin, Bob Murphy, Gary Hollis Lay Leader: Steve Ziegler Greeters: Diane and Paul Gilchrest 4

5 FIRST CHURCH REWARDS AND AMAZON.COM When is the last time you made a purchase from Amazon.com??? If you are like me, it was probably not so very long ago. Did you know that there is a program that can make money for First Church when you use Amazon.com??? This program has tremendous potential to raise money. I tend to use Amazon for many of my purchases and I get free shipping because I am an Amazon Prime member. I have purchased all kinds of items from Kindle books to wine racks. Just about anything you need can be purchased through Amazon. You.yes, YOU. have an opportunity to raise money for First Church every time you make a purchase from Amazon. First Church participates in an Amazon Associates program whereby the church receives a percentage based on the number of products ordered by way of our web site each month.up to 8.5% of purchases. In addition, if you use an Amazon gift certificate purchased from our Rewards program we can earn an additional 3%. How does this work you ask???? * Order and purchase your Amazon cards from the Rewards program. An order is essential as I do not keep them in my stock inventory. * Go to the First Church web site at * Choose the Fundraising tab and click on the Amazon Associates tab. * Click on the Amazon link to get to the Amazon home page. Place your order as usual and use your Amazon gift certificates to make the purchase. LET S GET STARTED USING THIS PROGRAM FOR ALL OF OUR (Submitted by Linda Warren) AMAZON PURCHASES!!!!! KATY MAHONEY BACKPACK PROGRAM Just want to get word out before summer vacations start. We are changing the program slightly in order to hopefully make it easier for you to participate. We are going to be asking that you choose to either purchase a good quality backpack (approximately $30) OR buy the list of supplies to go in the backpack (approx $15). [Of course you are welcome to do both!] We will have a table set-up at Coffee Hour beginning at the end of May for you to pick-up information. We are looking at having the backpacks returned around August 10 th or 17 th. More details will be announced SOON!! (Submitted by Liz Mahoney) 5

6 OUTREACH/MISSIONS DIAPER SUNDAY AND EASTER BUNNY BASKETS Thank you to all of you for your support of our Easter Bunny Baskets. On April 9 th we assembled 101 bags for the Marlboro Food Pantry. Your support of this important ministry is always near and dear to them as we are the only organization to provide these items. The need is always much greater than we can fulfill. As always, jumpstarting next year is a great way to enable the success for the next year. Small toys and other similar items are always on sale right after the holiday. If you are able to pick up things that we could use for next year and will store those items until next year, our ministry will be grateful. Special thanks go out to Sue Pellerin for coordinating Sunday collection, this wouldn t have happened without her stepping up to the plate while I was unable to be available on Sunday mornings. And to Nancy Battaglino and Chip Horne for their help with the assembly. And a big thanks to Bill Davis for delivering the goods to the Pantry. (Submitted by Cheryl Eaton) (Photos by Chip Horne) 6

7 Gary Hylander, college history professor, will be featured when the Women s Fellowship meets Tuesday, May 13, 2014, at 7 p.m., in the Parish Hall. Hylander will discuss the Boston Molasses Flood which occurred on Jan. 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston. At that time, a large molasses storage tank burst, with molasses cascading through the streets at an estimated 35 miles per hour, killing some 21 persons and injuring 150. Beverly Fiske, president, will run the business meeting. Devotions will be delivered by Marian Hopkins. The hostesses will be Thelma Nilson and Shirley Ney with a committee of Doris Asbury and Debbie Beauregard. Members are asked to bring Cleaning Supplies for Marlborough s Community Cupboard. Members of the Men s Fellowship and everyone else is welcome to attend. The Women s Fellowship will hold their Annual Banquet on Tuesday, June 10. All are welcome. Fun, Fellowship, & Outreach Men s Fellowship will join Women s Fellowship on May 13 for the program listed above. The June meeting will take place on June 19 at 7:00 pm. On Saturday, June 28, Men s Fellowship will be attending the 6:05 pm Pawtucket Red Sox game. We will be leaving the church parking lot about 5:30. There are still 25 tickets available. If you are interested, please contact Gary Hollis or Cliff Fenton. Spaghetti Suppers are May 28 and June 25. All are invited and welcome to attend any event. 7

8 FIRST CHURCH TELEVISED WORSHIP SERVICES: WMCT TV Marlboro Sunday noon Tuesday 5:00pm Friday 10:00am Saturday noon Hudson Cable TV Sunday noon Thursday 9:00pm Friday 2:00pm Saturday 11:00am OUR CARE TEAM PLEASE RETURN YOUR KEYS!!! If you will no longer be a member of a ministerial committee, don t forget to turn in your key(s) to Kim Beauchemin so we have enough keys for any new committee members. All new keys issued out will cost $25.00 which will be returned to you when the key is returned. Thank you! DEATH AND FUNERAL INFORMATION Information about a death and funeral of a First Church member will be posted on the First Church website: and on the First Church Facebook page. If you know of someone who is in need of care, please contact the church office or any of the Care Team members. Members of the Care Team include: Arnie Goodrich Joan Beauchemin Carol MacEwen Beverly Fiske Marcia Fitzgerald Bob Knox WE CARE ABOUT YOU! WANT TO CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS, OR ONE...OR NOTIFY US ABOUT YOUR BIRTHDAY OR ANNIVERSARY? Please send all new information to Amy Lapetina at office@firstchurchnet.com in order to keep our information accurate. Thank you! 8

9 HAPPY MAY BIRTHDAYS! 2nd Laurel Hill 5th Hedy Berry 7th Sarah Hanahan, Dana Donovan 9th Laura Lane 10th Ed Beauchemin, Jr. 11th Bruce Cooper 12th Ed Eaton 15th Nancy Gould 17th Noa-Lee Bastien 18th Sue Buckingham, Eva Kotsopoulos 19th Thelma Nilson 20th Ed Beauchemin, Carleton Lane, Lorrie Tennyson 25th Shirley Fenton 26th Jonathan Seaver 29th Katherine Shaw 31st Rebecca Levy, Bob Knox HAPPY MAY ANNIVERSARIES: 6th Heather and Stephen Gould 27th Fred and Elizabeth Cooke THE BOOK OF LIFE HAPPY JUNE BIRTHDAYS! 3rd Sarah Hollis 4th Susan Cordeiro, Kelson Knox 8th Marlynn Stott 10th Brian Ducey 14th Gary Hollis 15th Barbara Miller 18th Deb Beauregard, Deb Marino, David Tennyson 19th Hayley Kurbs 21st Joe Gilchrest 23rd Doris Asbury, Russ Frechette 24th Andrew Marino 26th Stephanie Hasbrouck 29th Andrea Merritt, Casey-lee Bastien HAPPY JUNE ANNIVERSARIES: 13th Joe and Lorrie Tennyson 14th Paul and Stephanie Hasbrouck 17th Ed and Tammy Ducey 25th Frank and Deb Marino 27th Bob and Cindy Vail 29th Hedy and Ashman Berry 9

10 MAY 2014 First Church in Marlborough (Congregational) United Church of Christ Worship Service: 10:00 am with Sunday School and Nursery Chancel Choir Rehearsal: Tuesdays at 7:00 pm covenant. Rehearsals: Sundays at 11:30 am Children s Choir: Sundays at 9:30 am Our Father s Table: Call Carol MacEwen (508) if you can help. Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :30 GLP Production (Play at 8:00) :30 GLP Production (Play at 8) 4 11:00 Annual Meeting Sanctuary 12-5 GLP Production Presbyterian Church -Temple Room 5 7:00 Bells 6 7 7:00 Evening Worship No functions Parish Hall Floor and Hallway floor cleaned. 8 8:30-1:00 UCC Day of Covenant- & Sanctuary :00 Saturday Concert Series 11 Presbyterian Church -Temple Room MOTHER S DAY 12 7:00 Joyful Ringers-Final 13 7:00 Women s and Men s Fellowship- 14 7:00 Trustees Meeting-Rm :30 Tambre Knox Recital- (Concert at 4:00) 18 Music Appreciation Sunday Presbyterian Church -Temple Room 19 7:00 Diaconate 20 5:00 Our Father s Table Presbyterian Church -Temple Room Council :00 Spaghetti Supper Indian Dance Recital 5:30-7:30 Parish Hall 10

11 JUNE 2014 First Church in Marlborough (Congregational) United Church of Christ Worship Service: 10:00 am with Sunday School and Nursery Chancel Choir Rehearsal: Tuesdays at 7:00 pm covenant. Rehearsals: Sundays at 11:30 am Children s Choir: Sundays at 9:30 am Our Father s Table: Call Carol MacEwen (508) if you can help. Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Presbyterian Ch- Temple Room 2 7:00 Council Pentecost Children, Youth, Baccalaureate & Teacher Apprec. Sunday Presbyterian Ch- Temple Room 9 10 Women s Fellowship Banquet 11 7:00 Trustees :00 Saturday Concert Series 15 Presbyterian Ch- Temple Room FATHER S DAY 16 7:00 Diaconate 17 5:00 Our Father s Table :00 Men s Fellowship Presbyterian Ch- Temple Room :00 Spaghetti Supper :00 Men s Fellowship at Pawtucket Red Sox 29 Presbyterian Ch- Temple Room 30 SUMMER CRIER DEADLINE 11

12 PASTOR KAZ BEM First Church in Marlborough (Congregational) United Church of Christ 37 High Street Marlborough, MA WORSHIP HOURS SUNDAY: 10:00 am Worship (until 7/6) and Sunday School Coffee Hour and Fellowship after Worship. July 6 August 31st: 8:45 Hymn Sing 9:00 Worship All are Welcome! CHURCH OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday Thursday 8:30 am 1:30 pm Fridays: 8:30 12:00 CHURCH ONE: has answering service rings through CHURCH & CRIER: office@firstchurchnet.com CHURCH WEBSITE: NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Amy Lapetina NEWSLETTER VOLUNTEER: Laurel Hill SUMMER CRIER DEADLINE: June 30,