April 2015 Newsletter of West Nottingham Presbyterian Church

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Solomon Martin
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Fax Number: 410-658-6544 Email Address: wnpc1195@yahoo.com Follow us on. Website: www.westnottinghampc.

1 How to reach us. Pastor: The Rev Donna Jackson Address: 1195 Firetower Road, Colora, Maryland Phone Number: Fax Number: Address: Follow us on. Website: Facebook: West Nottingham Presbyterian Church To sign up for the weekly E-Blast, copy and paste the following link to your browser April 2015 Newsletter of West Nottingham Presbyterian Church

2 Pastor s Ponderings Living as Easter People Holy Week is upon us and soon we will be gathered together on Easter morning, April 5, singing joyously that Christ our Lord is indeed risen today! As a pastor I look forward to worshipping on Easter morning more than I do Christmas Eve because of this very simple truth. Easter is what we are all about. The mission that Jesus was born into this crazy world for was accomplished on the cross. He died for us. He showed us that with God all things are possible. Because of Easter morning we can face our tomorrows with great hope. We are Easter people called to live with a new hope and renewed faith all because our Savior was not a has been or a once was. Our Savior is now and forever. Risen. Alive. The question is, though, Are we living as Easter people? Often after the calendar celebration of Easter is over, the world and the church seems to go back to a Good Friday kind of living where the dark clouds of problems and fear overshadow all the God possibilities. We so quickly forget the power of God in our lives and the bright future that God has for us. The celebration of Easter is not one-day marked on the calendar that comes and goes. Easter is a season in the church that continues for 40 days till the Ascension of Jesus. It is during those 40 days that we are invited to start practicing our faith in a bold way and to begin living as Easter people who are always filled with the hope and promise of the resurrection. The Easter season then leads us to the celebration of Pentecost in which the followers of Jesus were given the gift of the Holy Spirit who then enabled them to go out into the world and preach the good news. This was the amazing start of the body of Christ now being the witnesses to the Risen Lord out in a Good Friday kind of world, where the dark clouds of problems, doubt, negativity and fear overshadow the most amazing God possibilities. Easter is not a one-day celebration for us. Easter is the start of something amazing. It is the start of God doing a new thing as promised and doing that new thing through each one of us. Easter is what we are all about. But are we living as Easter people that are full of hope and believe deep in our hearts in God who does indeed want to make all things new? Do we believe that God has a bright future planned for West Nottingham? Do we believe that we actually have all we need to be the body of Christ witnessing to the great news of a Risen Lord out into our communities? I hope you believe. For my friends, we serve a Risen Lord. Easter is what we are all about. And so I challenge you to not see Easter as a one-day holiday that comes and goes, but to actually see it as invitation to live boldly as Easter people with confidence and hope that God who raised his Son to new life, raises us all to new life. Blessings, Pastor Donna

April Birthdays 1: Thomas Schlecker 8: Bob Prior 9: Richard Christie 16: Andrianna Deplitch 18: Mike Winslow 21: John Lanigan 24: Tyler Henderson 26: Judy Lanigan 30: Megan Brown April Anniversaries

Pleasant, 6:00-7:30pm 3: Good Friday Service at Cokesbury Methodist Church, 7:00pm 4: Easter Egg Hunt, 10:00-11:30am 5: Easter Sunrise Service at Port Deposit Marina, 6:45am 5: Easter Worship

3 April Birthdays 1: Thomas Schlecker 8: Bob Prior 9: Richard Christie 16: Andrianna Deplitch 18: Mike Winslow 21: John Lanigan 24: Tyler Henderson 26: Judy Lanigan 30: Megan Brown April Anniversaries 14: Tommy and Debbie Carr April Calendar 1: Bible Study, 9:00-10:30am (last Wed. class) 2: Potluck Dinner/Tenebrae at Mt. Pleasant, 6:00-7:30pm 3: Good Friday Service at Cokesbury Methodist Church, 7:00pm 4: Easter Egg Hunt, 10:00-11:30am 5: Easter Sunrise Service at Port Deposit Marina, 6:45am 5: Easter Worship Service, 10:00am 8: 2 nd Wednesday Dinner, 5:30 to 7:00pm 9: Deacons Meeting, 5:30pm 12: Worship and Sunday School, 10:00am-Communion 14: Free Lunch, 11:30am to 1:00pm 19: Worship and Sunday School, 10:00am 26: Worship and Sunday School, 10:00am 26: Session Meeting, after Worship 28: Free Lunch, 11:30am to 1:00pm Remember in your prayers. Tracy Banik Pete Bowen Laurie Brown Ryan Casteel Rick Christie Casey Dillen Ellen Dowell John Ellis Gary Flinchbaugh Lena Gulick and Family Daughter of Valerie Hamilton Ann Harvey Kelly Hill The Kane Family Barbara Kephart Jim Lockard Gil Lore Clara Love Jamie McCracken Terry Morse John Osani Mary Osborne Nathaniel Padilla John Parker Carol Parsons Mary Roake Janet Robinson Melissa Robinson Howard Simon Matthew Spence Ron Thompson Claire Tyson Victor Webb Becky Winslow

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER WORSHIP Path to the Cross Lenten Bible Study Monday night group concludes March 23, 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday morning group meets March 25 and concluded April 1, 9-10:30 a.m. Next Bible study will begin April 20 Palm Sunday March 29, 10 a.

4 HOLY WEEK AND EASTER WORSHIP Path to the Cross Lenten Bible Study Monday night group concludes March 23, 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday morning group meets March 25 and concluded April 1, 9-10:30 a.m. Next Bible study will begin April 20 Palm Sunday March 29, 10 a.m. Come for this important start to Holy Week. Children are invited to meet with Pastor Donna and the choir in the narthex prior to the start of worship to process in with their palms. Children will stay in worship with their families on Palm Sunday. Maundy Thursday Potluck Dinner and Tenebrae April 2, 6-7:30 pm. Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church, 1713 Liberty Grove Road, Colora We will be gathering with our brothers and sisters from Hopewell Methodist at Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church for a special dinner program and tenebrae service. Please bring a covered dish to share. Good Friday April 3, 7 p.m. Cokesbury United Methodist Church, 898 Bainbridge Road, Port Deposit West Nottingham Presbyterian will be joining in the community worship service Seven Last Words from the Cross at Cokesbury United Methodist Church. April 4, Saturday, 10-11:30 a.m. West Nottingham Presbyterian Easter Egg Hunt Ages up to 5 th grade are invited for an Easter egg hunt at the church. Easter Vigil April 4, 3-8 p.m. West Nottingham s sanctuary will be opened for a time of guided prayer at the prayer stations that will be set up in the church. Easter Sunrise Service And the women made their way to the tomb early in the morning April 5 at 6:45AM at the Port Deposit Marina, where Bainbridge becomes South Main Street. There is parking on both sides of the railroad track. If there is bad weather, the Sunrise Service will be held in the sanctuary of Port Deposit Presbyterian Church at 6:45AM Easter Worship, 10 a.m. Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!!

Egg-stra facts Although Easter eggs were once part of pagan spring festivals, they ve become Christian symbols of new life.

Red eggs remain part of Greek Orthodox celebrations today.

They solved the egg surplus by hard-boiling them in various broths, which led to colored eggs. In medieval times, churches held egg-throwing festivals.

5 Egg-stra facts Although Easter eggs were once part of pagan spring festivals, they ve become Christian symbols of new life. A cracked-open shell also represents Jesus empty tomb on Easter morning. The early Christians of Mesopotamia began staining eggs red in honor of Jesus blood shed on the cross. Red eggs remain part of Greek Orthodox celebrations today. For Lent, some families used to give up eggs and dairy, so they prepared a pancake feast on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. They solved the egg surplus by hard-boiling them in various broths, which led to colored eggs. In medieval times, churches held egg-throwing festivals. The priest threw a hard-boiled egg toward the choir boys, who tossed it back and forth. When the clock struck 12, whoever was holding the egg got to keep it. In some European countries, children go from house to house to collect Easter eggs. Each year, the PAAS Dye Co. sells more than 10 million egg-coloring kits, which consumers use to decorate 180 million eggs. The tallest chocolate Easter egg ever produced weighed 16,000 pounds more than an elephant!

7 April 4, :00-11:30 a.m. West Nottingham Presbyterian Church Firetower Road, Colora Easter Egg Hunt Game Crafts Snacks For kids up to 5 th grade BRING YOUR OWN BASKET

2 nd Wednesday Dinner April 8, 2015 West

8 2 nd Wednesday Dinner April 8, 2015 West Nottingham Presbyterian Church Firetower Road, Colora, MD , x21 Hot Dog Bar, Fries Salad, Beverage, Dessert 5:30 7:00pm $ $5 a person/$10 a family Join us for dinner!

with West Nottingham Presbyterian Church at our Spring

space Spaces only provided. Bring your own tarp or table.

1195 Firetower Road, Colora (410-658-6366, x21 www.

9 with West Nottingham Presbyterian Church at our Spring Yard Sale May 9, :30am to 1:00pm $10 for a 10 x 10 space Spaces only provided. Bring your own tarp or table. Payment must accompany reservation RAIN OR SHINE! 1195 Firetower Road, Colora ( , x21 All proceeds will go towards the missions of the church

Somerset Church of the Brethren. Crossroads. Inside This Issue. 10K/5K Walk/Run. April Outreach. Calendar. Easter Offering.

Crossroads PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IN WORD AND DEED Somerset Church of the Brethren FROM THE PASTORS PEN Matthew 26:36-46 IN THE GARDEN For me the passage of scripture from story of Easter