Middlebury Congregational Church United Church of Christ The Green 1242 Whittemore Rd. Middlebury CT

Transcription

1 Middlebury Congregational Church United Church of Christ The Green 1242 Whittemore Rd. Middlebury CT

2 OVER THE HILL Ten ways to love Listen without interrupting. (Proverbs 18) Speak without accusing. (James 1:19) Give without sparing. (Proverbs 21:26) Pray without ceasing. (Colossians 1:9) Answer without arguing. (Proverbs 17:1) Share without pretending. (Ephesians 4:15) Enjoy without complaining. (Philippians 2:14) Trust without wavering. (1 Corrinthians 13:7) Forgive without punishing. (Colossians 3:13) Promise without forgetting. (Proverbs 13:12) Over the hill. I think the phrase originally comes from Sir Walter Scott, who likened middle age to reaching the other side of a hill. Today, it s often used as a kind of humorous put-down. Even when I was 30, my kids thought I was over the hill. There have been those, however, who have felt that over the hill was a very appropriate image to describe the second half of life. Lord Tweedsmuir said that the second half of life undoubtedly had its drawbacks. The legs are not as strong as when you started out climbing the hill. And in descent you had to watch where you placed your feet. But there were compensations. When you re climbing a hill you can t see what s on the other side. Your vision is blocked by the slopes. But when you are over the hill, you have a panoramic view of the wide open country ahead though the horizon may be in mist and shadow. And the course is adapted now to older legs. You can rest and reflect. The metaphor set me thinking. What is the countryside we can see when we are over the hill? What is the view in the second half of life? Let me suggest some things. First, I think we can have a sense of proportion about life. We have some idea of what s important in life and what s not. Restless worry and aimless rushing about has never helped anyone. Second, our own experience of the years can show us how to reach out to others with care and understanding. Have you ever been lonely? Out of that experience, you can reach outs to those who are lonely now. Have you ever had the experience of being a stranger in a group, or being sick, or being healed? We can reach out with empathy to those who are in the same condition in their lives now. Third, the years have shown us the adequacy of God. We know we would not be standing on our own two feet today had not God seen us through the hard times. And it is this confidence in God which gives us hope for the future

3 OVER THE HILL Continued... Remember that famous stanza from Robert Browning? Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The lasts of life, for which the first was made: Our times are in His hand Who saith A whole I planned, Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid! In Christ, Dave Buchan Interim Minister WHAT IS LENT? Lent is a period of 40 days (not counting Sundays) set aside by the church as a time of spiritual preparation for the joyful celebration of Easter. It begins this year on Wednesday, February 10. The practice of Lent began around 1800 years ago. At that time Christians set aside 40 hours before Easter as a time to fast and prepare for Easter. Later the time was extended to 7 days, known today as Holy Week. By CE 325 the church officially set aside a 40 day period of religious emphasis. Lent is the most serious and solemn time in the church year. Our focus is the cross of Christ and its meanings for our lives. We relive again those events in Christ s life which led up to his crucifixion. Through prayer and study, Christians re-examine their lives to see where their priorities and ultimate values really lie in God or elsewhere. Lent is a time of repentance, a turning again to God. Reflecting its serious mood, the color of the season is purple or violet The Sunday School Scoop During January, we had a number of teachers help out in our Sunday School classrooms. Thank you Kris Zold, Lori Giannini, Kelly & Greg Ecsedy, Katie O Connor, and Pam Albon for all of your hard work! During February, we will also have two classes of students rather than three. As we look ahead to March, we will have our annual Easter Egg Hunt following the worship service on March 20 th, which is Palm Sunday. We will also have an Easter craft for the children during Sunday School that morning. Mark your calendars for our 5 th Vacation Bible School! I have already received many inquiries about this year s program. Surf Shack: Catch the Wave of God s Amazing Love will be from June 27 th -July 1 st at MCC. Look for more information in the coming months! Valerie Beard We had a wonderful surprise when we returned from our Christmas break. Our bathrooms had been updated! Bob W. and John D. did a wonderful job getting everything in place within a small window of time. We received a wonderful gift of new floors from Bill Wildman Floor Covering out of Oakville as one of their 26 random acts of kindness honoring the Sandy Hook victims! Isn't that awesome? The staff and preschool children are brainstorming a way to repay their generosity by doing something to pay it forward. We have lots on our calendar this month. We will be doing our annual Valentine exchange, having a visit from Dr. Mimi to talk about healthy teeth, and we will be having our photos taken. We have been lucky with the weather and can still enjoy many days out on our playground

4 Youth News! The Youth, with the wonderful help of Ellen Aronheim and several youth group parents, put on a wonderful Pasta Supper this year. Thank you all for your support! We were able to profit $855, which we will use towards our mission trip in July. For this mission trip to South Dakota with Simply Smiles we have two adults going, Mary and Oxford selectman Jeff Haney who is also a builder. Our college students, Emma, Zach, and Lexi will also be going, plus from youth group, Grayson and possibly Emily and Alex. We will be joining a group of 10 from Monroe, to make a wonderful work force to make a difference in the lives of the Lakota people, plus our own. The youth group will be hosting a Youth Church Service on Sunday February 21 st. Don t miss it! The youth do a great job with this service. We will be going to Locket s Meadow Rescue Farm in Bethany, CT Feb. 5 th to help with the daunting work during the cold months that these blessed animals need for care and survival. Following this we will return to the church for a Lock-In. We look forward to more ideas for fundraisers and work projects as we move into the spring! Mary and Kris Exploring Church Membership Are you thinking of becoming a member of MCC? Are you curious about us? Are you interested in exploring your faith? The Deacons' Bench And put no difference between us and them, purifying our hearts by faith. Acts 15:9 During this season of Lent, how can we be in our faith? The diaconate recognizes the importance of the liturgical seasons of our church and we partner with our minister to create meaningful worship that allows us to be in our faith. In Acts 15:9 Peter spoke to the gathered disciples and elders to say that by means of faith, God purifies our hearts. For the forty days of Lent we examine our relationship with God through reflection, prayer, fasting, sacrifice, and works of love. We reorient ourselves toward God and our readiness to be followers of Christ. That is what we are called to do as Christians, as members of this community. On February 9 th, we will gather in our Social Hall for our annual Fat Tuesday jambalaya dinner! It s a time for celebration and community before we embark on the season of Lent. So, come, join us, and be together in our faith as we share in the richness of who we are together before the austerity of Lent. Malcolm and Wayne will provide the zydeco, we ll provide the jambalaya. Our collective spirit will be the conduit for God s spicy and amazing grace! We ll see you in church! On behalf of the diaconate, Ellen Aronheim Join us for a new member s meeting February 14 th following the service In the Conference Room New Member s Sunday February 28 th

5 From the Mission Board Happy New Year from the Mission Board! Hopefully by the time you read this, the congregation will have voted in new board members Deb Barlow and Cathy Albert. Welcome and thank you in advance, ladies, for the service. From January through March, Ion Bank will be hosting its Community Service Awards. If you are a patron of Ion Bank please vote for Middlebury Congregational Church. On February 27, we will be hosting a Red Cross blood drive from 8 AM to 1 PM in the social hall. If you don't want to donate blood then please volunteer to check in or serve juice and cookies to the donators. At this time our tag sale and auction donations are severely down. If you have salable items please donate them for the tag sale and auction. If you have friends or relatives who have items to donate please ask them to call the church office. We are also asking if you have contacts who could donate a service such as tings like a round of golf with a cart, vacation time for a timeshare resort, hot air balloon rides, a catered meal, a used car, a cake, season passes to an amusement park, concert or sports tickets, or even gift certificates please let us know. Missions is a big part of our church and the financial support for Missions does not lie only with the mission board but with the entire congregation. Our tag sale and auction is the primary way we fund our Church s effort to follow our mission statement and Christ s teachings. Think to your self What Would Jesus Do? If everyone does a little no one has to shoulder a lot. You may have noticed that the Christmas tree is still standing in the Social Hall. That's because we have decided that the mitten tree is a winter project and not a Christmas project. In early January a supply of winter wear has already been delivered to GWIM. Now that the weather has finally turned cold, warm coats, mittens, scarves and hats are desperately needed. If you have gently used or new items that you wish to donate, please place them on the tree which will be there until the beginning of March Help ION Bank Foundation Give Away $60,000 The Ion Bank Foundation continues to make a difference in the communities they serve through their support of a variety of causes by contributing millions of dollars to various non-profit organizations that need their help. The 7th Annual Community Awards Program can help Middlebury Congregational Church earn up to $5,000. They will donate a proportional share of $50,000 to each local non-profit that receives at least 1% of the total votes. There will also be a special award of $500 to 20 randomly selected organizations that receive less than 1% of the votes. Voting will take place from January 4 through March 31, One vote per ION Bank customer, however, for accounts with multiple owners, each owner may vote. Customers with multiple accounts may only vote once. Each customer can vote for only one organization. It s simple! - vote on line at ionbank.com or by phone at If you are an ION Bank Customer - Please cast your vote for us! - 7 -

6 Days Gone By Did you know that in the 1950 Annual Report the Religious Education Committee reported that "the suggestion was made that in the near future, a pageant or a special service be planned for Palm Sunday, for this day is often over-looked in the preparation of Easter"? Reading that made me wonder what kind of pageant the kids could put on that would be appropriate for Palm Sunday. I can't think of anything that could be done as a children's pageant and, apparently nobody could back then either. There has been no mention of a pageant on Palm Sunday in any of the annual reports since then (although there have been services on Palm Sunday featuring readings of the Passion Narrative with accompanying music - not something done by the Sunday School). As a matter of fact, besides the almost yearly Christmas pageants, since 1949 there hasn't been a single pageant with a New Testament theme. Since 1950 there have been three different pageants or musical plays presented in our church and all had Old Testament themes. The first was during morning worship in November of It was called "100% Chance of Rain" and based on the story of Noah's Ark. It involved the Church School, the choirs (especially the Youth Choir), and the Pilgrim Fellowship. Everyone spent months preparing for it. The PF participation included speaking parts, solos and instrumental accompaniment and all the children were in raincoats. Doesn't that sound cute? In 1993, "Adam's Apple", a musical play was presented on Children's Sunday in June. That year, the Church Historian wrote: The Junior Choir of the South Britain Congregational Church joined our junior choir and church school choir for the performance. The Sunday School teachers worked hard with their classes to learn the parts and David Lauber worked with the older children with props and staging. Bonnie Havery, our Music director, and Maria Coffin, Director at South Britain, directed the play and music. We all were surprised with the beautiful Garden of Eden, the fabulous choirs and what good actors our children are." Days Gone By continued... That brings us to Lisa Crick's wonderful Creation Pageant, which was presented during the worship service in 2008, 2009 and In 2009 I wrote: "It was a multigenerational event telling the story of creation through words and music, with an emphasis on the importance of taking care of the world that God gave us (tying it in to Earth Day and the Youth Group s desire that the church go green ). It was especially amusing to see the giant Earth hanging above Wayne Gunther at the organ and to watch the little children wearing their animal blanket costumes." It was an enjoyable experience for all. There were probably pageants in our church before 1949, but the only one mentioned in either of the Church Histories (besides the Christmas Pageant) occurred in September of 1936, when the Church School returned to the new building after the fire. There was a special service at the regular church hour and the school presented a pageant depicting several episodes in the history of the church. Alberta Weller, Church Historian Cancellations... Don t forget that if the weather is extreme, for cancellation of services or activities, please tune in to CBS, ABC or NBC (or check their websites). Also check your because a church wide will be sent out to notify you. Stay safe! - 9 -

7 CHURCH RECORDS Color me: The Deadline for March Church Life: 9:00 a.m. Join the MCC Book Group February at 7:00 pm In the Parlor February s Book:

8 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 8:30 Adult Choir 9:00-11:00 Lock-In pick-up 10:00 Worship 11:00 Cherub Choir 11:15 Diaconate :30 Adult Choir 10:00 Worship 11:00 Cherub Choir 11:15 New Members Class Valentine s Day 8:30 Adult Choir 10:00 Worship Youth Sunday 11:00 Cherub Choir :30 Adult Choir 10:00 Worship New Member Sunday 11:00 Cherub Choir 15 7:00 Preschool Comm President s Day :00 AA 7:00 Mission Brd :00 AA 5:30-6:30 Jumpin Jambalaya!! 7:00 Trustees 12:00 AA :00 AA 7:00 Yoga 7:00 AA 7:00 Yoga 7:00 AA 7:00 Yoga 7:00 AA 7:00 Yoga 7:00 AA Where there is love there is life. Mahatma Gandhi :00 Boy Scouts & Comm. Mtg. 7:00 Boy Scouts 7:00 Church Council 7:00 Boy Scouts 7:00 Book Group 7:00 Boy Scouts :00 Youth Group 5:00 Staff Meeting 7:00 Youth Group 7:00 Youth Group 7:00 Youth Group :00 Youth Lockets Meadow Youth Lock-In 6:00 Private Party :00-1:00 Blood Drive