Ivanhoe News. From the Pastor - Easter Schedule for Holy Week. Palm / Passion Sunday, April 9, 10 a.m. Palm Braches and Dramatic Readings

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1 Ivanhoe News Volume 179, Issue 7 April 2017 From the Pastor - Easter 2017 John O Donohue ends his book To Bless the Space Between Us with an essay at the end titled: To Retrieve the Lost Art of Blessing. Here he writes: "There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect. The world can be harsh and negative, but if we remain generous and patient, kindness inevitably reveals itself. Something deep in the human soul seems to depend on the presence of kindness; something instinctive in us expects it, and once we sense it we are able to trust and open ourselves. The word kindness has a gentle sound that seems to echo the presence of compassionate goodness. When someone is kind to you, you feel understood and seen. There is no judgment or harsh perception directed toward you. Kindness has gracious eyes Despite all the darkness, human hope is based on the instinct that at the deepest level of reality some intimate kindness holds sway. This is the heart of blessing. Schedule for Holy Week Palm / Passion Sunday, April 9, 10 a.m. Palm Braches and Dramatic Readings Maundy Thursday, April 13, 7:30 p.m. at Community Protestant Church (corner of Prairie & Hawley in Mundelein). Sign up for Potluck 6 p.m. Good Friday, April 14, 7:30 p.m. I am the Lord of the Dance a musical for Holy Week offered by the joint Senior Easter Day, Sunday April 16, Sunrise service outside at 6:30 a.m. led by our youth. Simples breakfast served from 7-8 a.m. at 10 a.m. with the Children s, the Senior, and trumpet. Throughout the season of Lent, I have invited us to reflect on Blessings. We have tried to be more aware of the ordinary blessings that come everyday, and we have sought to find ways to be a blessing to others. We have also considered ways to offer blessings and practiced speaking them in worship. We believe that these blessings will over time transform us to be God's blessing in and to the world. The power of blessing originates in God and from God, but, we all are equipped to mediate the power and the blessing of God. We, as the church, are carriers of God s power, and come Easter morning the power of new life and resurrection is unleashed again. So, friends, come celebrate and give thanks through worship. May we all receive blessing upon blessing. And may we realize our power to bless, heal, and renew one another. -John O'Donohue Ivanhoe News 1

2 Board of Deacons Ken Flaks/Ken Kelting, Co-Chairs The Board of Deacons encourages all church members to attend the upcoming Holy Week services: Maundy Thursday 7:30 pm service at Community Protestant Church (preceded by a pot luck dinner from 6-7pm), the Good Friday 7:30 pm service at Ivanhoe, and the Easter services the 6:30 am sunrise service and the 10:30 worship. We are also looking for volunteers to help serve the church s mission in several ways. Anyone interested in helping with the pickup of Costco food donations on Sundays and delivery to the Wauconda Food Pantry should contact Ken Flaks for additional information. Ivanhoe members are set to again help with the Summer Lunch Program in Mundelein Ken Kelting and Ken Flaks were involved in the program last year and are good sources of information about the program. Have you considered hosting the Coffee Hour in the fellowship hall after church? If you feel you can t handle it alone, consider hosting with a friend or two. Signup is in the fellowship hall just outside the kitchen. For additional information on these activities, speak to any member of the Board of Deacons. If you have upcoming activities you would like to get the word out for, please contact the church office by phone or at uccivanhoe@gmail.com to coordinate with Kathy Riehle. The Ivanhoe Book Club The Underground Railroad will be discussed at the Tuesday, April 4, book club meeting. The group meets at 10:00 am at the church. Lois Chinnock will be the discussion leader. Future reads include: May 2 The Canterbury Sisters; June 6 Widow of the South. All are welcome to attend on the first Tuesday of each month at 10:00 am. Please bring your list of books that you would like to have the group read. Club members will select the book to be discussed. If you have questions, contact Sherri Kelting. Board of Trustees Lee Dickinson, Chair Restoration Fund Progress Report For 160 years those who worship at Ivanhoe Congregational Church have been heirs of a gift we inherited from our spiritual ancestors: our beautiful sanctuary. As those entrusted with this gift, there are steps that need to be taken to preserve our legacy for the next generation. Last fall, you were invited to cast your vote for the top priorities. The votes cast overwhelmingly agreed that the sanctuary windows need to be restored and the pews need to be refinished. Then, we held a special drive to secure the funds for the cost of the project, including a tithe. We are proud to say that the necessary funds were raised! We are grateful for the generosity of our members. We will also use a portion of the legacy gift from the Kirk of the Lakes Church. The Board of Trustees have signed contracts and work will begin after Easter. Thank you for your patience as details are coordinated and the projects work toward completion. If you did not make a contribution to the fund, but wanted to, please consider making a gift. There will be additional expenses to complete the projects Mission Trip Sign Up Now Our mission trip this year is to Detroit. The revised date is the week of May 1. We would drive to Detroit on Sunday April 30. We would work Monday May 1 through Friday May 5. We would return on May 6. All the information I have from Mennonite Recover Organization is on our web page, just look for the Mission trip article. We need the list of those going soon. Please contact Pete Fruehan if you are interested. Women s Guild Recap: The March meeting featured a free-flowing discussion of women s groups at Ivanhoe Church. It was decided to change our name to Women s Connection to signal new options for Ivanhoe women. Next: All women are invited to the next meeting, on April 8 in the church hall we start with coffee and at 9:30 am. Find out about Ivanhoe s annual Women s Service, when women participate in every aspect of worship always something different Then join in the ongoing discussion about what s coming for Ivanhoe women. Please come and help shape this aspect of our church. Ivanhoe News 2

3 Youth Ministry Linda Doyle, Director Hello Ivanhoe Families of Youth. This was a very busy month. We started the month off with a movie night. We went to see A Dog s Purpose. It was a poignant tale of dogs and their relationships with their humans. We had great discussions about how our pets are communicating without words but we still know what they are saying. Next, we had a game night. We played Disney trivia and ate pizza. That night we also made a self-watering Seed starter. Last Sunday we had the privilege or being invited to Millburn UCC Church. We had an awesome experience eating lunch and making food preparations for the PADS. The Millburn church has a monthly commitment to help with the Food prep. Upcoming dates to be aware of are: April 2 nd youth group meeting at Ivanhoe from 6-8 pm. We will be discussing the Sunrise Service and preparing for Easter. We will also plan for our upcoming Mission Trip. April 14, 15, 16 are the days leading up to Easter and will be opportunities for the youth to be involved. We closed out our unit on dinosaurs with a parent night. Each child came accompanied by a parent, aunt, uncle, or grandparent for the evening. Adult and child spent their time together making volcanoes explode, building dinosaur skeletons, writing dinosaur books, and excavating dinosaurs encased in a sand plaster mix. We heard stories and sang dinosaur songs. As I write this today we are doing all kinds of rainbow activities. We talked about St. Patrick and are busy looking for gold. (We ll let you know if we find any on church grounds.) We will continue on with a study of spring and watch for changes as the earth warms and the snow melts revealing buds and flowers. Happy April Birthdays We are having a lot of fun and really getting to know each other. If you know of a young person from 6-12 grade that might enjoy Youth Group please invite him or her. They do not need to go to Ivanhoe. All are welcome! Mission Trip to Heifer Ranch is July Please contact me if you have any questions paint4@comcast.net Blessings, Linda D. Church Camp Brochures and Registration Forms are now available, go to: where you can download a registration form from the website. Scholarships are available for children and youth. Elizabeth Dickinson April 3 Mary Lou Beals April 7 Dennis Beals April 8 Duane Gruebele April 9 Keith Rubenacker April 9 Lois Chinnock April 12 Robin Doyle April 13 Carrie Hewitt April 13 Philip Weitzel April 21 Kaitlin Leopold April 21 Freddie Flaks April 25 Edward Kakenmaster April 25 Jack Kakenmaster April 25 Lauren Leopold April 26 Ivanhoe News 3

4 Historian's Corner Steve Schmidt A story involving the 4 th Illinois Volunteers (mostly from McLean County) in 1847: Wellness Ministry Traci Smith March 19 Dinner & Shakespeare event (show was Love's Labors Lost) Two years after the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, the Mexican general and politician Santa Anna led a makeshift army against French forces who had invaded Veracruz, Mexico, in what has been called the Pastry War. After the general was severely wounded by grapeshot fired from a French cannon, doctors were forced to amputate his leg, which Santa Anna buried at his Veracruz hacienda. His leg was replaced by an artificial wood and cork leg. After he once again assumed the presidency in 1842, Santa Anna exhumed his shriveled leg, paraded it to Mexico City in an ornate coach and buried it beneath a cemetery monument in an elaborate state funeral that included cannon salvos, poetry and lofty orations. Santa Anna s severed leg did not remain in the ground for long, however. In 1844, public opinion turned on the president, and rioters tore down his statues and dug up his leg. A mob tied the severed appendage to a rope and dragged it through the streets of Mexico City while shouting, Death to the cripple! During the Mexican-American War ( ), Santa Anna was chased through Mexico by the U.S. Army to the province of Veracruz, where, at the 1847 Battle of Cerro Gordo, the 4th Illinois Infantry surprised Santa Anna, who fled without something quite important his prosthetic cork and wooden leg. Our soldiers seized the leg as a trophy piece that they brought back to Illinois, where it toured at county fairs before falling to the possession of the Illinois State Military Museum. The Mexican government s repeated requests to repatriate Santa Anna s fake limb have been denied. To this day, the prosthesis resides in the museum in Springfield, IL. Ivanhoe News 4

5 April Ivanhoe News SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Palm Sunday 3 Lent Study 1:00pm 10 4 Book Club Meeting 10:00am Board of Deacons 11 Board of Trustees Lent Study 6:30pm 13 Maundy Thursday Potluck 6:00pm 7:30pm 7 8 Men s Service Club 8:30am Women s Guild 9:30am 14 Good Friday 7:30 15 Service at The Crib 16 Easter 6:30 & 10:00am Earth Day