THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD SEPTEMBER 2018 First Congregational Church of Eliot United Church of Christ MONTHLY NEWSLETTER THE ECHO SEPTEMBER 2018 Inviting Loving Serving
Pastor s Page When I was studying in seminary in 2001 I asked my pastor to help me choose my classes. I wanted them to be interesting and relevant. I wanted them to be entertaining and enriching. I wanted them to be all the things I thought they should be. He recommended a class that I would have never selected. He said that my first class must be Systematic Theology- Part II. Part II? I think I d rather take part I first I told him. I think I d like to take a less complicated, less intense, more fun course. He said. It s not all about you. And as much as I wanted him to be wrong, he was right. I stretched, grew, learned, wrestled and flourished with his push toward something I never would have comfortably chosen. You won t leave here like you came, he said. How right he was. It wasn t all about me and when I opened up to the wider lens, the bigger story I found a greater love for God and all the passions that come with that love. After taking the course, I spent several years being the Teaching Assistant for the Systematic Theology professors and loving it all because I stepped away from my comfort zone. It changed my ministry and my relationship with God and church. The first Sunday in August we worshiped outdoors, and I asked you to stretch in your style of praying. I asked you to gather in small groups and join your voices and hearts together in joy and concern and then share them together. I knew I was pushing us out of a comfort zone. And I was prepared for negative and crabby feedback. Instead, all the feedback I received was positive. Joyous even. One person said, It helped me not make the praying all about me! I was thrilled. But again, not about me! We worship so that we don t leave here like we came. We worship to glorify God, celebrate unconditional love, be challenged by The Word and to praise our Creator. We are not the audience- it is not all about us! And when we sing, or listen to music, read scripture or unpack the message, it is not to be entertained or to pad our comfort zone. It is to stretch and grow and flourish and wrestle. It is not all about us, but with God at work we are changed and challenged. is powerful. is transformative. You won t leave here like you came. There's a story about a man who, leaving church one Sunday, complained about the service. "I didn't like the worship today," he said. The pastor simply replied, "That's OK; we weren't worshipping you." Our worship is not for ourselves, but for God. And God is so generous that the worship still leaves us with so much. Sometimes we are out of our comfort zone on Sunday. All of us. That s ok. It gives us a chance to get in the God zone. We won t leave here like we came. -Pastor Beth
SUNDAY SERVANTS Fellowship Hour 2Jean Paulantonio 9 Blueberry Festival Redux 16 Jane Spinney 23? 30? Ushers 2 Linda and Walter Gove 9Linda Downey and Laurie Troy 16 The Quinn Family 23 Peggy Gray and Robin Wheeler 30 Richard and Joan Donhauser Liturgist 2 Pastor Beth 9 Hailey Lonergan 16 Liam Quinn 23 Justin Pelkey 30 George Salzer Sunday Adventure Leader Students are a part of our whole worship service this month as the sermon answers questions that young people have asked. Greeter of the Month Doris Grover Deacon of the Month George Salzer Sanctuary Steward Linda Gove BIRTHDAYS 09/01 - Morgan Wayburn 09/02 - Peggy Gray 09/02 - Linda Libby 09/05 - Brooke Downey 09/06 - Emily Bersin 09/18 - Mario Colella 09/20 - June Brackett ANNIVERSARIES 09/18 - Mr. & Mrs. Harry Lankford
A SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITY WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5th 6PM
LADIES CIRCLE On July 9 th and August 1st nine ladies went out to eat. At our September 5 meeting we will be bringing in items for the Mission School Kits. Items needed include rulers, blunt pointed scissors, and 70 count notebooks. We will put some of the kits together at 11:30 on the day of our meeting(sept 5). Those who would like to help are invited to come at that time. For the Blueberry Festival on Sept. 8 the ladies are asked to bake for the bake sale. Looking especially for pies other than blueberry. Doris Grover and Marion Eldredge will have refreshments and devotions at our September 5th meeting at 12:30. THRIFT SHOP Everything is now ½ price Thursday Sept 6 and 20 3 PM 6 PM the BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL DAY Saturday Sept 8 9 a. m. - 1 p. m. Saturday Sept. 22 9a.m. - Noon WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING ITEMS IN THE SHOP but WE WILL BE HAVING A WHITE ELEPHANT ROOM AT THE FAIR NOVEMBER 10. So donate items for that day but please, no clothing. PRAYERS FROM THE PROPERTY BOARD Psalm 90:17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands- yes establish the work of our hands to favor God.. Please join us in praying for our work as we try hard to discover what needs to be done by our community of faith for the people of the past present and future. As our buildings struggle and strain from wear and tear as well as delayed maintenance, we are praying hard that answers will come, funds will be revealed and hopes will be realized. Please pray for our board members and our congregation, for good relationships, for creativity for wisdom, for integrity, for unity that all might catch the vision.we ask for participation in prayer and provision, that the seeds we ve sown through the years will bear fruit that we will be a blessing to the future community. This summer we have been working with a realtor and a contractor as they give us appraisals for the parsonage, work, maintenance, rental or sale. We are collecting estimates and waiting for contractor response. A meeting of the congregational body in the month of October is being considered. Financial options are being explored. It is a big job. Voices in the Pulpit Pastor Beth will be two weeks away on September 16 and 23. She will not be taking her salary in those two weeks to help with our current financial goals, hopes and struggles. Preachers will be Sonya Quinn (16) and Jeffrey Pelkey(23). How blessed we are to have such a deep bench of laity leaders and spiritual voices. Thank you to Jeff and Laurie Troy this summer! Beth will be back for Welcome Home Sunday on September 30 and our Deacons and local clergy will be available for pastoral care needs and community support.
LEADERSHIP BREAKFAST COMING IN OCTOBER CHURCH FAMILY FEATURE JEAN PAULATONIO When I asked Beth if it would be appropriate for me, as a member of Eliot's Aging-in-Place Committee, to bring the committee's survey to church for more Eliot residents to learn about the committee and the survey, she not only enthusiastically encouraged me to do so but suggested I should prepare some information about the committee and myself. The committee members have been appointed by the Eliot Select Board to explore barriers that may exist to allowing us to comfortably ''age-inplace'' and what can help to keep Eliot an ''agefriendly'' community. The survey was devised help in that process. My ties to Eliot & to FCCE go way back. My mother, Marice Barzal, grew up in the house across from the parsonage and has continued to live there since her return to Maine 52 years ago. She and her mother, Clara Foss, were involved with the church, as were my Aunt Lib and Uncle Merton Spurr. I was baptized there when I was 5. When I returned to Maine about 6 1/2 years ago, arthritis and other health issues were beginning to make it difficult for my mother to attend many functions. I was glad to be ''volunteered'' to fill in for her as a waitress at the ham and bean suppers that were regular fund-raisers at the time. FCCE is an integral part of my feeling connected to Eliot, to being part of an accepting community.
First Congregational Church of Eliot, UCC www.eliotucc.org 207-439-1105 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 10am 1-7pm Banjo (Weekly) Bluegrass 4-7pm (Weekly) 1 2 Holy Communion 3 4 6-10pm 5 11:30am Ladies Circle Women/Well 6pm 7:30-10pm 6 Thrift Shop 3-6pm 7:30-10pm 7 8 Blueberry Festival 9-1pm Thrift Shop 9 to 1pm Hall reserved 6-10pm 9 C.E. Penny Collection 2-6pm 16 Finance 11:30 10 7pm Craft Group 7-10pm 17 7pm Craft Group 11 18 6-10pm 6pm Council 12 19 Sr. Cit. 10-2 5:30pm Prop. Bd. 6-10pm 13 Garden Club 11-3:30pm 7:30-10pm 20 Thrift Shop 3-6pm 14 ECHO ITEMS DUE 21 15 22 9-5pm Thrift Shop 9-noon Bluegrass Concert 5-8pm 23 12:30-6pm 24 7pm Craft Group 25 26 27 28 29 Eliot Lions Pancake Breakfast 30
FISHES AND LOVE A big thanks to Deacon, Jeffrey Pelkey who brought this to life from our blueprint idea. Take a look! When Heidi Roberge turned 6 years old she had a morning movie party in the church fellowship hall with all of her school friends, complete with a donut cake! However, she asked not for gifts for herself, but instead she asked for food for the hungry. And her request was answered in great abundance! Only 6 years old but she already knows that people in her world are hungry. And we know it too. All too well. We work hard to host and support End 68 Hours of Hunger programs and we collect food for the Footprints Food Pantry. We collect mission money and each year we bring in a whole lot of soup! Yet, sometimes God shows us even another way to be in relationship with one another and Heidi s many bags of food were the inspiration. Too often the very people we worship with every week are a little too hungry.not a lot, just a little and a little bit would help a whole lot. And so we have started with something we are calling the FISHES AND LOAVES PROJECT. We now have two cabinets in the church library and it will be stocked with some food basics to help stretch the grocery budget for WHOEVER NEEDS IT. No questions asked.
Coming inoctober! Our Stewardship Season Dem Bones Gonna Rise Again! Lydia Hoffman is back as our Director of Christian Education and is always in search of souls who want to experience church through this fun program! Leaders and Learners, come out and jump in!