MEETING HOUSE CHIMES First Congregational Church, PO Box 350, Wiscasset, ME 04578 (207) 882-7544 www.uccwiscasset.org fccw@myfairpoint.net Minister: Rev. Josh Fitterling Music Director: Leela Koilpillai Sexton: Mary McKinney Office Administrator/Editor: Pam Frenier for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 The Journey Continues As Eastertide draws to a close with the celebration of Pentecost on June 4 th, we are reminded that our journey of faith continues always with God s Spirit present with us. But where will this journey lead? All throughout life, we will find ourselves discerning our next steps. Whether we are considering big life changes, such as a new career or a needed move, or we are wondering how to best live out our love for Christ this very day, we look for that next step. It may be clear instantly or clarity on how to proceed may take some time. On occasion, the next step may only become clear once we have already stepped out on faith into the unknown. Nevertheless, we celebrate the God who walks beside us and encourages, supports, and guides us through all that life s journey shall bring. Let us continue to walk in faith! Journeying Beside, Josh Summerfest 2017 July 22nd Summerfest is less than 2 months away! Thee is a sign-up poster in Fellowship Hall, please look it over and volunteer...we especially need people to help with Children s Games and the Silent Auction (you don t have to solicit items...just help at the table). You can volunteer for a morning, afternoon, or a few hours or all day. Please remember to bring items for the Yard Sale, Treasures, Toys, Books, Jewelry & Accessories, and handmade wooden things. We also need Roustabouts for morning and afternoon. Please remember we need people that can stay to help clean up. It usually goes really fast. Many hands make light work! Thanks so much! Remember we are doing this to help local outreach organizations in our communities.
Beginnings and Endings Transitions at First Congregational Church Retirement Announcement After 20 years of faithful service among us as Office Administrator, Pam Frenier has announced her retirement. While we are saddened to see her leave, we celebrate all that she has been for our church over the past two decades. We are especially grateful for the ways in which she provided consistent leadership and support to our congregation through our most recent pastoral search and transition. Pam s last day as Office Administrator will be August 31 st. We will celebrate her time among us and bless her on her way on Sunday, August 27 th. Until then, we will cherish our remaining months with Pam behind the desk! Church School Teacher & Coordinator Search Our search for a Church School Teacher & Coordinator has been revamped and relaunched! With the hope of having someone in place by the fall, the job description has been posted through the Maine Conference as well as on our website. Stay tuned as the search progresses. Office Administrator Search With the announcement of Pam s retirement, our search for our next Office Administrator will soon commence. The job posting will be placed in the local newspapers in June as we seek to find someone to start on August 21 st, allowing a week and a half of overlapping time for training. More to come as the search begins.
The Vitality Committee invites you to join us for a prayer walk on Wednesday, June 7 at 9 am. A prayer walk has several advantages. One is a way to make our church more visible to the community. It s also a great opportunity to socialize and get to know each other a bit better all why getting some exercise! It takes place in a specific neighborhood. As the people walk through it, they think about the people living there and offer thoughts and prayers for them. Hopefully, we will even get to meet some of the people living there. We will meet at the church and decide as a group where to walk. The walk will last approximately 45 minutes. We hope to continue these walks through the summer (and maybe longer!) visiting different parts of the town each time. Hope you can join us! If you have any questions, please see any member of the Vitality Committee. Church World Service News Thank you all for the great response for the CWS Kit Program. On May 5th, 26 School Kits, 11 Hygiene Kits, and 8 Emergency Clean Up Buckets were delivered to the Maine depot at Woodfords Congregational Church in Portland. It is then taken to the CWS warehouse in Maryland. They are then ready to be sent worldwide for disaster relief. A special thanks to Margot Stiassni-Sieracki for 12 School Kits and the Doughty family for 5 Cleanup Buckets! June Birthdays & Anniversaries Vivian Joy McKinney Tammy & Don Doughty Carol Blake Flora Hewitt Becky & David Lenz Sandi Ballard Nancy Roby Nancy & Wally Roby Deane Attwood Jan Shaw John & Susan Ross Jan & Steve Whitfield \
Thanks for the Church Clean Up The Trustees would like to thank all who came out to work on a very soggy Saturday for our church clean up day on the morning of May 6. Some of the outside work had to be postponed until later in the month but some intrepid souls worked outside anyway. Thanks to Dan Bigley, the back steps were repaired before the workday was even supposed to start in order to get it done before it rained! Dan also looked into the repair of some broken windows. In spite of the rain, Brad Adler cleaned the handicapped ramp. Dan, Brad and Dewey Harris went out in the rain to investigate the electrical connection to the pump (that board with an outlet sticking up out of the ground outside the back door of the kitchen), precipitating a call to an electrician. The group, lead by Steve Hatt and roving supervisor, Ted Tracy, also checked out the paint job on the front of the church. Inside, where it was warm and dry, closets were cleaned out (Beth Maxwell, Roger Whitney & Pastor Josh found all sorts of interesting things in the "elevator" closet), fire extinguishers were inspected (Roger), the cabinets in the hallway were neatened up and things that didn't belong there found other homes (Beth Maxwell & Beth Whitney), the kitchen was cleaned (Ginny Withee & Kim Hatt took no prisoners on that project) and some reorganization was done, the sanctuary was prepped by Gail Burke, Ann Harris, Sally Howe and Linda Winterberg for painting and staining projects that continued for the next several weeks. Dan Bigley vacuumed up after them. Thanks in advance (of the deadline for this article) to Brian Adams and David Lenz for being willing to come back later in May to do a pressure washing of the outside of the building to get the green stuff off the siding. Thanks also to David and Becky for taking care of all sorts of scuff marks around the church. The products of the closet cleaning were laid out in Fellowship Hall with the request that they be claimed by their owners, where appropriate. Some of these items were adopted for use by other church groups (Pastor Josh got one of the karaoke machines for the Youth Group but there's still anoth- er one if you're interested!). Items that weren't claimed have mostly been moved downstairs to be sold at Summerfest. If your item got moved before you had a chance to claim it, that's where you'll find it. We really appreciate everyone's willingness to pitch in to keep our church looking great and working smoothly.
Lyme Disease Alert From Organ Society Organ Society welcomed Midcoast Lyme Disease Support & Education (MLDSE) Co-Founders Paula Jackson Jones and Angele Rice on a wet April evening. We learned the five steps to prevention of Lyme or tick borne illnesses: 1. Skin. Natural repellants such as combination of eucalyptus oil, lemongrass oil and rosemary oil have been proven as effective as DEET. Picaridin by Sawyer is another safe alternative. 2. Clothing. Using a treated clothing, or treating your own clothing using Permethrin by Sawyer will kill any tick that bites on the material. Insect Shield is another product that treats materials with tick insecticide and is safe for people and pets. 3. House. Use a natural repellant while cleaning your house, such as eucalyptus, lemongrass and rosemary oils. 4. Pets. Insect Shield makes products for your pet to wear. A spray of eucalyptus oil, lemongrass oil and rosemary oil will repel ticks and is safe for cats and dogs. 5. Yard. Using an insecticide on your lawn, such as triazoxide, will keep the ticks out of your yard. The State of Maine website lists licensed Pest Control Companies that can treat your yard. Pyrethrin spray is also effective for yards. Products made by Sawyer or yard insecticides are available at our local hardware stores, Ames Supply or Damariscotta Hardware, or big store like Lowe s. A Maine partner of the national Lyme Disease Association, MLDSE efforts are focused on raising awareness, fostering education, advocating for state and local change while providing resources and support to those affected by Lyme and tickborne diseases. Their website, www.mldse.org, holds a vast amount of information that is kept current and up-to-date with regards to symptoms, referrals for diagnosis, current treatment guidelines, prevention, state of Maine Lyme laws and physical education.
Habitat Spring Walk and Walk We Did On Sunday, May 1, our church family, as a covenant church, with our local Habitat for Humanity /7 Rivers Maine, participated with GREAT SUCCESS in the Annual Spring Walk. We pledged to support their mission, and fundraising goal of $60,000. Our portion of that goal was $3,000, and we exceeded that for sure. I am still waiting for the final count amount somewhere around $3,300. The success of this event was only made possible because of all the people that helped. We had 9 dedicated walkers leading the charge and numerous church friends, family members, and coworkers pledging them along the way. Our church should be very proud to be associated with this wonderful organization and their annual event. The local Habitat for Humanity affiliate is a very worthy organization, doing Christian like work in our local Mid Coast area. Steve Hatt Church Representative for Habitat for Humanity / 7 Rivers Maine CONGRATULATIONS! GREAT JOB!