THE SPIRE. The Christ Candles: Symbols of a Living Faith. The Congregational Church of South Dartmouth United Church of Christ.

Transcription

1 From Pastor Doug THE SPIRE The Congregational Church of South Dartmouth United Church of Christ March 2016 The Christ Candles: Symbols of a Living Faith Our Confirmation class has been looking at the symbols we use in the church. Symbols remind us of something else something bigger. The symbols we use in church are steeped with meaning. One of the characteristics of all symbols is that they don t require words to convey their meaning. In fact, their larger meaning transcends the limitations of language. Symbols are not restricted to church, of course. In fact, one of the most common and most powerful of all symbols is our nation s flag. On one hand it is just a piece of fabric. But we all know that it represents so much more. We use candles as symbols every time we gather for worship Sundays, holidays, weddings, funerals all worship. In fact, for many of us, it would be hard to imagine a church that had no candles at all. On one hand, candles are simply a source of light. But like the flag, they represent so much more. Throughout most of human existence, there were no electric lights. All the great cathedrals of Europe, for example, were built before electric light. All illumination was from sunlight streaming through the windows or from a burning flame candle, lantern, or oil lamp. All humankind has a deep, primal, response to flame. From the cavemen to us gathered around our living room fireplace, people are drawn to flickering flames. Physicists explain flames simply as burning gases obeying the immutable laws of thermodynamics. But we all know that there is something very magical about flames. From our birthday cake candles, Halloween jack-o-lanterns, Advent wreathes, and of course, our sanctuary candles. Like so much of what we do in the Congregational worship tradition, our use of candles is deeply rooted in the thinking of the Reformation. The early Reformers wanted to shift our faith lives from being directed by a church structure and an ordained priesthood to being a personal encounter with God. According to the Reformers, to foster this personal encounter with God, all we needed was Scripture alone, faith alone, and grace alone. And to tap into these things we did not need an ordained priesthood nor did we need elaborate cathedrals. In fact, they felt we needed simplicity. We needed to strip away the decorations in churches that might possibly distract us from the Word of God. They felt they needed to strip away all decorations candles, statues, crucifixes, banners, and carvings. So they tossed out the candles that burned before the statues and icons of traditional churches. They tossed out the candles that burned for people praying for special intentions. They tossed out the candle that burned day and night behind the altar. And what they were left with were not only stark churches, but very dark ones as well. When the earliest Reformers met to read the Word of God to each other, they did so in a dark and bleak surroundings. They had gotten rid of the things they thought were man-made distractions. But something was missing. Gathering for worship was no different than gathering for secular activities. Somehow they had tossed out the baby with the bathwater and they knew it. (Continued on Page 3)

2 Page 2 Sole Hope On Sunday, January 31st, 22 adults and 8 kids gathered for a "shoe cutting party" to support the efforts of Sole Hope. The mission of Sole Hope is to prevent disease by pro- providing shoes for the children, as well as to vide sustainable income for the workers who complete the shoes in Uganda. We completed 20 shoe kits (with parts left over to jump-start the next party!) We also raised $250, which covered the $10 per pair donation, plus $50 extra for Sole Hope, and collected about 3 shopping bags full of medical supplies. The party was a wonderful joint effort of Outreach, RE, and Fellowship Ministries. We learned a lot, so the next one will be even better! Holy Week Services Palm Sunday, March 20th and the start of Holy Week with our service at 10 am. Tenebrae service with Communion will be Maundy Thursday, March 24th. This will be our traditional service with readings and the extinguishing of candles. Good Friday, March 25th - 12 noon. Easter Sunday, March 27th - We will have a Sunrise Service at 6:15 at Round Hill Beach and a Festival Service at 10am. One Great Hour of Sharing: March 6, 2016 On Sunday, March 6, we will join with millions of other Christians throughout North America in supporting the ecumenical One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering. This special mission offering carries God s message of love and hope to people in 138 countries. Eight Christian denominations American Baptist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of the Brethren, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and Church World Service work together to develop common promotional materials thereby sharing ideas, costs, and a commitment to faithful service. Each denomination receives and manages its respective OGHS offerings, and together they raise about $12 million each year. Our denomination works with international partners to provide sources of clean water and food, education and health care, small business micro-credit, emergency relief, and advocacy and resettlement for refugees and displaced persons. OGHS also supports domestic and international ministries for disaster preparedness and response. On average, of every dollar given to One Great Hour of Sharing, 92 cents is used directly for mission programming; 6.5 cents for interpretation materials and 1 cent for administrative costs and.5 cents for program monitoring and evaluation (accountability). Through One Great Hour of Sharing, lives are literally changed daily. Your support provides clean water, food, medicines, shelter, healthcare, education and so much more. In 2014, the total UCC offering for OGHS was $2.2 million. An additional $1.4 million was given to the United Church of Christ Disaster Ministries in support of specific disaster relief efforts. Giving itself is a gift; a privilege; an opportunity to respond to God's outpouring of love for you. Giving through One Great Hour of Sharing not only changes the lives of more individuals and communities in need, it changes the world. Please give generously on March 6.

3 Page 3 (Continued from Page One) Pastor Doug The Christ Candles: Symbols of a Living Faith In response to this situation, the Reformers introduced the concept of bringing two candles into their worship space. The two flames were not just light, but represented inviting Jesus into their worship with them. A basic principle of their theology was that Jesus had two characteristics that made him unique in all of human history. They believed that Jesus was truly divine the Son of God. At the same time, they felt that Jesus was also truly human (John 1:14) when he took on human form and came to dwell among us. No person before or since could claim being both human and divine. So our ancestors in faith brought the two (and only two) candles into their worship. This reminded them of Jesus unique role in salvation history totally different from all the Old Testament figures. The Reformers felt that a building even a church was just a building and not an inherently sacred space. For them, what transformed four walls into a sacred space was the presence of God in that space at one specific point in time. The early Protestants would not light the two candles until the congregation was already gathered. Then and only then would they light the candles. They based this sequence on the passage from Matthew s Gospel (18:20), where two or more are gathered in my name I shall be among them. At the end of worship, the Reformers picked up the candles and carried them out of the church in front of the departing congregation. This represented, symbolically, taking the light of God out into the world. Today, we adhere to this historic concept of lighting two candles to remind us of the dual natures of Jesus. You might have noticed that we also have a third candle. It does not match the size or shape of the Christ Candles and it is never placed on the same table as the two Christ Candles. This third candle is called a Memorial Candle. It has no symbolic roots in the Reformation, but many churches use a Memorial Candle to remember all the people of faith who have died over the years. The Memorial Candle is the symbol of our belief that we are united in our faith with all of the generations of Christians who have worshipped before us. This is affirmed in the words of the Apostle s Creed: I believe in the communion of saints. Pastor Doug s Sermon Summaries February 2016 Feb 7 Transfiguration Sunday Mark 9:29: It is good for us to be here. To change and improve our actions requires a change in attitude. To live more fully tomorrow we need to rise above today s limitations and boundaries and gain a fresher and broader perspective. Feb 10 Ash Wednesday. Matthew 6:1-8, Your Father Knows What You Need. Lent, like the Sabbath, is a gift from God for our own well-being. It is a deliberate time to help us set priorities, examine our lives and relationships, and deliberately try to live more faithfully and prayerfully. Feb 14 First Sunday of Lent. Luke 4:1-13 Are There Any Good Answers to Trick Questions? In Jesus humanity, he faced the same temptations that we do. Jesus turned to the Holy Spirit for help in dealing with temptation and we, too, can do as Jesus did, by allowing ourselves to be led by the Spirit when we are faced with difficult choices. Feb 21 Second Sunday of Lent. Luke 13:31-35 Unity, Liberty, Charity Faith and belief in God are two gifts from God. With the gift of belief also comes the challenge of exercising our free will in determining what we belief, what we reject, and what we doubt. To honor our own free will, we must respect other people s faith choices and their free will to believe differently than we do. Feb 28 Third Sunday of Lent and Scout Sunday. Luke 13:6-9 Wait Til Next Year Our loving God offers us the opportunity to make tomorrow better than yesterday. We respond to this opportunity to grow by learning from our past actions both good and bad. Then, starting with true repentance acknowledgement of past missteps we can resolve to take responsibility for our future actions and consciously change our behavior to live more in harmony with God and our neighbors.

4 Page 4 Religious Education Confirmation The first Confirmation class met on February 7th with 9 confirmands and 9 sponsors. We are blessed with an engaged group, a substantive syllabus, and a service day involving the Mobile Loaves and Fishes project on Feb. 27th organized by Sally Lemelin. Sally also hosted a dinner on February 21st. Confirmands met on February 21st to discuss aspects of church life and what it means to be a church. They met again on February 28th to consider belief, faith, doubts, truth, and individual conscience. Faith Formation Classes Pre K & Kindergarten Sunday School Class This past month we learned about Jesus when he was a boy and stories about his time growing up. We learned about the twelve men who would become his disciples and how Jesus taught them to become fishers of people. The children really enjoyed making the project for this lesson, using egg cartons to display the disciples and learning a song about Jesus and his disciples. In the next few weeks we will learn about some of the miracles that Jesus performed and more stories about Jesus and his disciples. We will also be learning about Palm Sunday and Easter. There are many great stories to share and the children have a good time with the hands on activities and projects that help the stories become real to them. Grades 1-3: Jesus heals the lepers was on 2/28. The blind man sees was on 2/21 Grades 4-6: The 4th - 6th grade classes are learning about Jesus's ministry as we study the Gospels. This includes the narrative of Jesus's life from Baptism to the Ascension. We become familiar with the New Testament or Greek Scriptures as we find Bible verses and use our Bible Detective book. Grades 7-12: Confirmands and high school students will continue to study the historical Jesus vs. the Jesus of scripture, to understand both the appeal and danger of his ministry. We will conclude our Lenten meditation with excerpts from The Last Week by Marcus Borg, an analysis of Mark's Gospel of the passion of Jesus. Dates to know March 6: Confirmation class, Sunday School, Communion Sunday March 13: Confirmation class, Sunday School March 20: Palm Sunday, Confirmation class, Family Worship March 24: Maundy Thursday, Confirmands to participate March 27 Easter, Family Worship

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6 Page 6 Easter Memorial Flowers for March 27, Order Form St. Patrick s Day Celebration March 19 Potluck and Bagpipes! Come celebrate St. Patrick s Day with a community potluck on Saturday, March 19, beginning at 6:00pm. Bruce Hutchings, a local bagpiper, will provide some Irish tunes. Bruce was inspired to take up the bagpipe in elementary school, after family trip to Scotland. He now plays with the Colum Cille Pipe & Drums out of Sandwich. Sign up for the potluck after Sunday worship service. Here s the updated schedule of Fellowship activities: March 19 St. Patrick s Day Potluck April 16 Dine Around (evening) May 15, Sunday (note date change) -- Matinee performance of Agatha Christie s And Then There Were None at Your Theatre in New Bedford, followed by a social gathering. We have a block of tickets at the discounted price of $12 June 4 Dine Around (evening) June 25 (note date change) Outing to Buzzard s Bay Brewery Please return your order form and your check or cash (please make checks out to The Congregational Church ). Lilies are $10.00 each and Tulips are $8.00 each. Orders must be in by Sunday, March 20, The check and order form can be placed in the collection plate, turned in to the church office, or sent to: Nancy DeWolf, 24 Middle Street, South Dartmouth, MA OUR EASTER MEMORIAL ~ March 27, 2016 NAME IN MEMORY Flower Order: $10.00 per lily $8.00 per tulip Flower Distribution: I will pick up for Discretion of Flower Chairman The Flowers for February were given by: February 7th - In memory of Thomas Tripp Cary by his daughters, Martha Shuster and Sally Lemelin. February 14th - Kathy Pappas in memory of Robert Pappas. February 21st - Sarah and Peter Blatchford in honor of Tobin Blatchford in the U.S. Air Force - Special Forces. February 28th - Jeff and Lara Stone in memory of Deborah L. Hancock and E. Warren Stone.

7 Page 7 March 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 Choir 7-8:30 pm Pastor Doug Service at Wesley United Methodist Church for Lenten Series am Worship Communion One Great Hour of Sharing Collection Confirmation Class Choir 9:15 7 Boy Scouts 8 9 Choir 7-8:30 pm am Worship Confirmation Class 14 Boy Scouts 15 7pm Council Meeting 16 Choir 7-8:30 pm 17 St. Patrick s Day St. Patty s Pot Luck Choir 9: am Worship Palm Sunday Confirmation Class 21 Boy Scouts Choir 7-8:30 pm 24 Maundy Thursday Tenebrae with Communion 7 pm 25 Good Friday Service 12 noon 26 Choir 9: :15 Sunrise 10 am Worship 28 Boy Scouts Choir 7-8:30 pm 31 Easter Sunday Choir 9:15

8 Page 8 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF SOUTH DARTMOUTH 2016 CONFIRMATION SCHEDULE Sunday Confirmation meetings are before worship, from 8:45 to 9:45. Confirmands are expected to attend Sunday worship and Sunday School when held. Each session includes 10 minutes looking at one or two Scripture verses provided by the pastor Sunday, Feb 7, 2016 session 1 - Meeting: overview, getting acquainted, expectations for the process. Scripture overview. The basic question how do we know about God in the first place? ASH WEDNESDAY, Feb 10, Chowder supper and worship. Sunday, Feb 14, 2016 NO MEETING due to holiday weekend Sunday, Feb 21, 2016 session 2 - Meeting: What is a church? What is it to be a church? Aspects of church life (service, worship, fellowship, education). Looking at rituals, rites, and traditions. GET ACQUAINTED PIZZA DINNER. 6-8 pm. Home of Sally Lemelin, 1 Winter St., South Dartmouth Saturday, Feb 27, Service project: Mobile Loaves Fishes. Sunday, Feb 28, 2016 session 3 - Meeting: God and Jesus what is the relationship? Belief, faith, doubts, truth, individual conscience. GOOD FRIDAY, Friday, March 25, Good Friday Service (noon) - Attend service if possible. EASTER SUNDAY, Mar 27, 2016 NO MEETING - Sunrise Service on the beach at 6:15 at Round Hill Beach Family Worship service at 10 a.m. no Sunday School Active participation expected at either or both services ushering, greeting, reading. Friday, April 1, pm (time and location to be confirmed) - Movie night. We will gather to watch a movie together, enjoy snacks, and then discuss the movie and the class-related issues that it raises. Movie night serves as session 7 - Possible movies for this include Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone, Chariots of Fire, Matilda Sunday, April 3, 2016 NO MEETING - COMMUNION SUNDAY Sunday, April 10, 2016 session 8 - Meeting Faith statements. Entire session dedicated to exploring how we put into words what we believe. Includes examples of traditional and modern faith statements. Expectation the confirmands and sponsors work together on this both in the session and (ideally) some time during the coming two weeks. Sunday, April 17, 2016 NO MEETING and no Sunday School due to school vacation week Sunday, March 6, 2016 session 4 - COMMUNION SUNDAY - Meeting Adding the Holy Spirit into the mix in a continuation from previous session. : Communion, sacraments, grace. Sunday, Mar 13, 2016 session 5 - Meeting: Looking forward to the next two weeks. Meaning of the specific rituals associated with Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter. This is the week to sign up for Palm Sunday and Easter roles reading, ushering, greeting, palm distribution. Give readers copies of the readings for Palm Sunday and Easter. PALM SUNDAY, March 20, 2016 session 6 - This is a Family Worship Sunday there is no Sunday School but there is Confirmation. Confirmation meeting focus: Easter, resurrection. It is not just a holiday: we are an Easter people. Sign up this morning for the maximum participation of confirmands and sponsors on Maundy Thursday including distribution of readings. Sign up this morning for reading, greeting, ushering on Easter (10 am and/or sunrise service) MAUNDY THURSDAY: Thursday, March 24, VIGIL OF TENEBRAE: 7 pm - Active participation by as many confirmands and sponsors as possible. Sunday, April 24, 2016 session 9 - Meeting First time to share faith statements as a group. Exploration of denominations. What do other folks believe in other branches of Christianity? Other people of the book Jews and Muslims. Other religions. At home work with sponsor select favorite Bible verse to be used during Confirmation rite. Sunday, May 1, 2016 session 10 - COMMUNION SUNDAY - Meeting Share our refined faith statements. Exchange and discuss Bible verses. Introduction to the actual Confirmation rite that we use including comparing it to Baptism. Sunday, May 8, 2016 session 11 - (Don t forget that this is Mother s Day) - Meeting Finalize faith statements, Bible verses, and the introductions that the sponsors will use on Confirmation Sunday - Review and practice all the elements in the actual Confirmation Rite PENTECOST SUNDAY, May 15, CONFIRMATION DAY (No Sunday School) - Rite of Confirmation within Sunday worship. Celebration in lower social hall following worship rite that we use including comparing it to Baptism.

9 Page 9 Rummage Wish List Clothing Shoes Toys Household Items Furniture Linens, Bicycles Books Glassware Finer Items for Heritage Room The Spring Rummage Sale will be held: April 22nd and 23rd Please begin to gather items to donate. Listed are items we would love for you to donate and also a list of items we cannot accept. Please contact Linda Paradise or Cecelia Roberts if you can help with the rummage sale, before to help sort and set up, during either as a worker or cashier or after to help clean up. Drop off will begin April 4th Items we cannot accept: Skis, Boots, Bindings Cribs Car Seats TV s Computers Monitors Printers Fish Tanks Please do not drop these at church as they add additional expense for us to dispose of. Children s Circle Nursery School Enrolling For Phone: (508) ccnsdirector@comcast.net March Anniversary Peter & Sarah Blatchford (62 years) March 27, 1954 Chris & Maureen Fletcher (20 years) March 30, 1996 Wedding Anniversaries are listed in the Spire every five years for the first fifty, and then each year thereafter!

10 Page 10 Church Council News The Council met on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 for the monthly meeting. Important items from that meeting are as follows: The moderator, Margo Moore, reported that Pastoral Relations Committee (PRC) will be meeting on a regular basis, and working with Pastor Doug on the improvement plan. Lisa Tufano is stepping down from the committee and Cyndi Mikkelson will replace her. Margo hopes that people will also provide input to the committee regarding what is going well in our church family as well as concerns. Leslie De Groot, chair of Membership Ministry, commented on the success of New Member Sunday. He reported that The Welcome Brochure is back from the printer. Membership will put some in the entryway and in the pews, post some in local bulletin boards, and the library, if it accepts them. Also, it was suggested brochures be placed in local hotels, PCA, Gifts to Give, the Park Service reception center in New Bedford, the Seamen s Bethel, and Children's Circle Nursery School. Kathy Pappas reported that the Religious Education Ministry is pleased with the start of Confirmation classes. These began on February 7 and will continue until Confirmation on May 15. There are nine confirmands and each has a sponsor. Kathy also noted that church school classes have been reconfigured to handle an increased attendance. Cecilia Roberts informed council that the Rummage Sale will take place on April 22 and 23 and that drop off begins on April 4. The Guild welcomes any and all help with set up, selling, and clean up! All are welcome to participate! Cecilia noted that the work involved in rummage sales and Christmas fairs has been well worthwhile because between May, 2105 and February, 2016 the Guild has raised and spent $24,699 on the church. This includes $15,000 in lower social hall improvements. The Guild hopes to add more community support into the next year s giving. The Guild has a meeting scheduled in April, and a luncheon in May. Council voted to on Brian Fernandes as the new chair of the Worship Ministry. He is replacing Linda Paradise. Brian gave an update on the events scheduled for the Lenten season; keep an eye on the Spire and the weekly bulletin for all the upcoming services and events. Next council meeting: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. Pastoral Concerns Please don t forget to call or the church office with information on any hospital admissions or pastoral concerns. We do not receive notification from the hospital so the only way we can be informed of anyone that may need a visit is if you let us know. Thank you for helping us stay in tune to the needs of our church family. On February 24 th our church hosted one of the Lenten services studying the seven mortal sins. The Rev. Don Bliss of East Freetown Congregational Church taught us about Greed. Soup and bread was served with a study that followed. Jim and Margaret Forbush took the lead to help us host this Lenten service at our church. Rev. Bliss was terrific and we would like to thank him for his wonderful teaching.

11 Reverend Douglas Stivison Church Telephone: Robin E. Lake, Office Administrator The Congregational Church of South Dartmouth United Church of Christ 17 Middle St., PO Box South Dartmouth, MA RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Holy Week Services March 20th - Palm Sunday - 10 am March 24th - Maundy Thursday, 7 pm Communion and Tenebrae Service March 25th -12 noon- Good Friday Service Easter Sunday - March 27th Sunrise service at Round Hill Beach at 6:15 am Family Service - 10 am (no Sunday school)