A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR JOEL APRIL 5, 2018 Dear Friends in Christ, Each year, after Easter comes and goes, the pace at Sudbury UMC begins to slow down a bit. We are most intentional about being the church during the purple seasons, Advent and Lent. We gather not only to worship on Sundays but also to eat soup on Wednesdays and to learn in small classes. During the white weeks, we celebrate. Christmas rolls on for twelve days, just like the old partridge in a pair tree song. And Easter stretches all the way to Pentecost over fifty festive days. But the two green seasons of the year the liturgical experts call them Ordinary Time to me it feels as though we struggle to stay in rhythm with each other, and maybe with God, when we re not celebrating or getting ready to celebrate. Technically, the fifty days after Easter we call them Eastertide strictly speaking, those early spring days are part of the one-seventh of each year that represents the church s Easter Sabbath (do the math: 365 days divided by 50 equals 7 plus a few tenths). But, even though the Sundays in Eastertide are white, the participation of our congregation sometimes feels green. Days get longer. Temperatures grow warmer. Spring fever segues to summer travels and a congregation that is large and lively half the year incrementally slows to a crawl. All living organisms including churches need times of rest, I suppose. But if one-third of each 24-hour day is meant to be spent in rest and sleep, perhaps Sudbury UMC could strive to limit our sleepy time to one-third of each year or something more like 17 weeks. A proposal that you ve been hearing about since Laity Sunday last January has the potential, I believe, to reactivate our church during the sometimes drowsy days after Easter. Instead of lengthening summer and, for some of us, our time away from active participation in worship, study, and outreach let s make Eastertide an active season for fellowship that knits newcomers and long-timers together. To introduce that idea, our Lay Leader, Nancy Hammerton, extended an invitation to every member and friend of Sudbury UMC who participated in one of Easter Sunday s three worship services. During the Stewardship Moment, Nancy asked us all to sign up for a Dine with Nine get-together and to do our part to make that meal happen during Eastertide in other words, no later than May 20. What is Dine with Nine? It s an informal plan to create fellowship groups that will meet at least once for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in April or May. Why nine? That s easy. We don t want single people to be left out. For example, if one Dine with Nine group includes three couples, adding three singles will bring the number of participants up to nine. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner choose a date, choose a place (a home, a restaurant, or the church), and choose a menu. Each diner will be asked to provide part of the meal and part of the conversation, too. You can talk about anything the weather, the Red Sox, the blessings of being part of our church. The goal is really simple: fellowship. In 1 st century Greek, the original language of the New Testament, the word is which is usually translated fellowship or communion. Think blest be the tie that binds! One more request from me, your pastor: When you meet with your Dine with Nine group, squeeze everyone together and use someone s cell phone to take a selfie. Then send it to me or to Shetal in the church office. We would like to make a display of all the Dine with Nine groups that gather from now till Pentecost. Let s aim for ten groups ten selfies and then exceed our goal! See you in church, Pastor Joel Page 1
CONCERNS AND CELEBRATIONS DATES TO KEEP IN MIND Apr. 8: Outreach Commission s Assembly of Kid s Bags Apr. 8: Organ Crawl Apr. 13: Social Justice Commission s Conversation with Senator Jaime Eldridge on Gun Violence Apr. 15, 22 & 29 and May 6, 13, & 20 Adult Bible Study How to Read the Bible Apr. 16: Patriot s Day, Office Closed Apr. 16, 23 & 30 and May 7, 14, & 21 Adult Bible Study How to Read the Bible Apr. 18: Health Ministries Cancer Support Group Apr. 19: NO CHRONICLE THIS WEEK Apr. 22: Guest Preacher, Dr. John Hart Apr. 28: SUMC Game Night Page 2
Want to get to know more people at Sudbury UMC? Enjoy great food and conversation? Dine with 9 is for you! You've asked for small-group opportunities for fellowship. From now through May 20, small groups of SUMC members & friends will gather for food and fellowship. Dine with 9 includes couples, singles, older and younger, who get together to meet folks new to our church and deepen existing friendships. Groups may decide whether to enjoy dinner together, meet for lunch, or have brunch after church. It could be in someone's home or at church - whatever works for the group. But Dine with 9 will only happen between Easter (April 1) and Pentecost (May 20) To participate, use the form below and give it to Pastor Joel or Nancy Hammerton. Don't wait! Sign up today! I will participate: Name(s) Phone Email Number of adults participating I prefer (check one/more): dinner, lunch, brunch Best location: home SUMC I'd be happy to host be a guest I'd. be interested in having family get-togethers: Name Phone Email For more info, please see or contact Nancy Hammerton: 508 358-4613 or nancyhammerton1@gmail.com (note new email). We ve already received 52 responses we re half way there! Don t delay please get your form in soon! Page 3
A Note from Jeanne O Reilly I would like to thank everyone in this wonderful congregation for the emails, cards and telephone calls filled with concern, good wishes, and love which I have received following the death of my parents. I have never seen such an outpouring of support and grief. I appreciate your kind thoughts and your wonderful words. I am honored to be their daughter and part of this terrific community. Jeanne LEARN The Magnuson Moment Our first United States president to be a member of the Methodist church was James K. Polk (# 11), followed by Ulysses S. Grant (#18) and William McKinley (#25). Andrew Johnson (#17) and Rutherford B. Hayes (#19) were never members, but the Methodist church was their church of preference. Were you ever required to memorize the list of United States presidents in elementary school? Were you ever encouraged to memorize the 66 books of the Bible in Sunday School? Are you ready for a challenge? There are exactly 66 days from the printing of this issue of The Chronicle until Children s Day on June 10. Will you join with the children in the challenge of memorizing the list of the books of the Bible? Also, I am looking for 7 people for 7 minutes for 7 different Sundays (April 8, 15, 22, 29, May 6, 13, and 20) to share with the children in Sunday school why you read the Bible, and then tell your favorite Bible story or verse(s). Please email Eric at eric@sudbury-umc.org of your availability. Thank you! Adult Education. As the children will be learning about the Bible during the months of April and May, there will be a class for adults on exploring the Bible. We will be using the video series, How to Read the Bible, by The Bible Project. The six-week class will run on Sundays (April 15, 22, 29, May 6, 13, and 20) at 10:45 with a repeat on Mondays (April 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14, and 21) at 7:00 PM. Your choice. Please see John McKinney or Eric Magnuson for more details. Prayer Pals. The key word for Week 30, April 1-7, is: Safety, The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:8 Kid s Bags for Open Table: Please join us right after the church service on Sunday, April 15 th, in Hawes Hall as we decorate and fill 100 "Kids Bags" destined for Open Table's Food Pantry in Maynard. The filled bags will then be given out to children of Open Table patrons during school vacation week. Magic Years. Join us on Thursday, April 12th, from noon-2pm in Davison Chapel for our next Magic Years event! Our special guest this month will be Tom Rogan from Goodnow Farms in Sudbury. Please join us for a sweet treat. All seniors are encouraged to attend. Contact Eric Magnuson at 978-443-4351 (ext. 207), or eric@sudbury-umc.org to sign-up for the event. Page 4
The Upper Room The Upper Room booklets are available in the narthex. Help yourself to a free copy for your daily devotional readings. Or access it online by clicking here: https://www.upperroom.org/ CONNECT Meeting with Senator Jamie Eldridge to Address Gun Violence Date: Friday April 13, 2018 Place: SUMC Hawes Hall (Please enter through door under shorter steeple) Time: 9:00 10:00 am What to bring: Your questions and comments concerning gun violence As an outcome of SUMC s 3-part study series on Gun Violence last November, Senator Jamie Eldridge was invited to meet with SUMC members to provide legislative understanding and insights into community action against gun violence. In addition to mass shootings, did you know that; 91 deaths occur each day in the US due to guns; of the 91 deaths over 50 are suicides; and in an average month, 51 women in the U.S. are killed with a gun by an intimate partner? In 2016 the General Council of the UMC passed Resolution #3428 Our Call to End Gun Violence. As United Methodists we are called to resist violence in all forms. A large turnout will demonstrate SUMC s commitment to this call. SUMC Celebrates Earth Day with Dr. John Hart, Sunday April 22 Dr. John Hart, noted professor of Christian Ethics at the Boston University School of Theology, will be our guest speaker on April 22. Dr. Hart has a long career in teaching social and environmental ethics, and exploring ecology as a bridge between science and Christianity. He will share his perspectives on renewing the Earth in his sermon A New Heaven and a New Earth. As an advocate of national and international ecological and social justice, Dr. Hart has given over 200 presentations within our country and around the world from Brazil to Italy and Switzerland to Nepal. Please join us for worship to hear Dr. Hart s powerful message on protecting and celebrating the planet we share. And join us in Davison Chapel after the worship service at 11:00 a.m. for an enlightening discussion session with Dr. Hart. Light refreshments will be served. You Bring the Tools! We re Bringing the Donuts Saturday, May 5 th Help keep our church grounds beautiful! It s time for spring cleaning, and we have scheduled a church clean-up day for Saturday, May 5th, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Page 5
We will do a variety of jobs including some raking, cleaning up of garden areas, some trimming, and some mulching. Useful equipment to bring from the home are rakes (rakes with steel tines are good for spreading mulch), shovels and wheel barrows to move the mulch and clippings around. Coffee and donuts will be provided. We guarantee you will have fun and hope to see you there! Organ Crawl Come join Sudbury UMC s music director Kevin Murphy for an organ "crawl" right after the postlude Sunday, April 8, at 11:00 a.m. We will start at the organ console and talk about how the organ works and how it is laid out. We will finish by visiting the tracker action in the cellar crawl space. Come and learn about this special instrument! You will be glad you did. Music fans young and old are welcome. Special bonus: if you play piano and have a brief piece you would like to try on the organ, bring it along. Book Donations for MetroWest Free Medical Program Did you ever read a book in the waiting room at the doctor s office as a child? I am collecting books for patients at the MetroWest Free Medical Program so that every child may also have this experience. Children will be able to read books while they are waiting and will have the opportunity to bring a book home to enjoy. I am looking for donations of all types of gently used children s books, including: Board books & picture books Early readers Older elementary & middle-school age books. I also hope to buy a storage unit for books and some books in Spanish and Portuguese to be sure that families can read together, so financial contributions to the clinic for that purpose are welcome. Thank you for your donations and support! Cecelia Murphy Join the Thursday Bible Study Sudbury UMC s Thursday Bible study group always welcomes new participants. Meetings take place at 10:30 a.m. on Thursdays at the Panera Bread located at 21 Andrew Avenue in Wayland s Town Center, just two miles from Sudbury UMC! Each week s focus text is the next Sunday s preaching passage. Remember to bring your Bible and a few bucks for something warm or cool to sip. We will look ahead to the passages being preached during worship on: Apr. 8: Acts 4:32-35 Apr. 15: Acts 3:12-19 Page 6 Apr. 22: Revelations 21:1-3, 5 Do You Have Friends and Neighbors Who May Need Stephen Ministry? Seasonal shifts can sometimes trigger loneliness, sadness, or anxiety. This is especially true if a loved one has suffered a springtime loss, a sudden change, or a difficult life transition. Perhaps you have a family member, friend or neighbor who could benefit from a caring relationship.
Sudbury UMC has thirteen active Stephen Ministers (caregivers). Ten of our caregivers are currently available to offer their support. They can walk with those who need kindness, a listening ear, and distinctively Christian care-giving. If you know a friend including yourself who might benefit from a caring relationship, you can speak to Pastor Joel, Lori Granger or Richard Smith. And every Sunday morning, one Stephen Minister is available after worship in the O Reilly room. They are there to listen to your concerns and pray with you. Apr. 8 - Melody Karian Apr. 15 - Linda Lombardo SERVE Habitat for Humanity Opportunities Page 7 Apr. 22 - Richard Smith Apr. 29 - Linda Cooper Sudbury UMC has had a long history with Habitat for Humanity. For over 18 years our church has worked on homes for nine families in the surrounding communities and contributed funds for many more. Now that tradition continues! Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts has two projects beginning in nearby communities that need help; one a new build in Stow and the other a renovation project in Acton (photograph). Sudbury UMC will be sending work teams to these projects over the next 3-9 months to provide the labor to fulfil their mission to put God s love into action to build homes, communities and hope. If you have a few Saturdays to spare, and are interested in helping on these work teams, send your contact information to Chris Straub at christopher.straub@novartis.com to begin receiving information about the possible build dates. Please note: you must be 16 years or older to work on a construction site. Musical Minstrels for Sunday School Do you ever wonder where Diane, Ann, Kristin and Kevin go at the beginning of Joel s sermons every Sunday? Though it may appear we are trying to escape the senior pastor's admonitions, what we >really< are doing is heading down to the Sunday School and teaching the kids a few songs for about ten minutes. (This is how the kids can appear in service from time to time to sing for God and serenade the church.) Well, just like Sunday School teachers, we are always looking for help. I would be delighted to have a few extra voices and hands join us to undertake this part of the school s curriculum, especially since there are Sundays when I really should be on the organ bench when the sermon concludes. Right now, we have Rob s competent hands ready if we are delayed; but we definitely need to add a few people to our group. So, if you have an interest in helping us teach music to these students, let Kevin or Ann know and we ll show you the ropes. Of all the commitments one can accept at SUMC, this might be the shortest duration (ten minutes max!) and one of the most fun. Come check it out! Kevin F. Murphy, AAGO Music director/organist Prayer Shawl Ministry On Sunday, February 11, yarn, needles and instructions were available in Hawes Hall to knit prayer shawls. Finished shawls will be presented for consecration on Health Ministry Sunday, April 29, 2018. For those of you who are new to the congregation, Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo designed the pattern adopted to knit
the shawls while they were students at Hartford Seminary. Now we are adding a pocket prayer shawl. It is small enough that it can be put into your pocket and carried with you. The pocket prayer shawl is an excellent alternative for those of you who would like to participate in the prayer shawl ministry but would find it difficult to set aside time to knit larger shawls. The shawls are called prayer shawls because knitters offer prayers and blessings for potential unnamed recipients while they are knitting. This ministry reaches out to those in need of comforting. Many recipients of the larger shawls report feeling embraced by the love and caring that were lifted up by the knitters. We are just beginning to knit pocket prayer shawls and anticipate a similar response from recipients. Knitting prayer shawls can be a great way to spend a cold winter evening. Help is available for beginners or rusty knitters. If you have questions, contact Sophia Harrell at sbaileyharrell@msn.com or 978-443-3821. For more detailed information on the larger prayer shawl go to http://www.shawlministry.com. For those of you in the process of completing shawls, thanks for your diligence and dedication. GIVE Pastor s Emergency Fund Your gift to the Pastor s Emergency Fund helps members of our church and other neighbors to weather financial storms they cannot navigate without a helping hand. When you give to this ministry, please write your check to: Sudbury UMC Pastor s Emergency Fund. Thanks. COMMUNITY Free Medical Program Seeking Volunteers On Tuesdays, about 20 volunteers gather to provide healthcare services to people without insurance. The program serves an average of 35 patients, using the sanctuary at Congregation Beth El as the clinic site. Volunteers are needed to help put the medical supplies and equipment away in the shed behind Beth El. Specifically, people are needed to help move the screens, exam tables, buckets of medical supplies, as well as tables and chairs. With enough volunteers, this can be done in 30 minutes. This is a great job for high school students looking to finish up their community service hours or anyone who wants to get an extra 30 minutes of exercise! When? Tuesdays, 9:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Questions? Contact Kim Prendergast at kim.prendergast@gmail.com. News for 2018 from Household Goods At the end of every year, we update our donation guidelines based on the items our clients need most. We also review how to minimize incurring disposal expenses for items clients do not take. Many well-meaning donors bring us things that "someone could use," and are surprised when we turn them away. Please understand that due to space and resource constraints, we must limit what we take to items clients will also take -- items they need to furnish very small apartments. Outdated technology (VCR's etc.), office furniture, and oversized items are a few things we must refuse. All items should be clean and in good enough condition that you'd be proud to offer them to a friend. Page 8
HG s Wish List for Most Needed Items: Drinking Glasses Lamps Pots and Pans Kitchen Tables Small Kitchen Appliances New Feature: If you've already cleaned your house but would still like to donate - please check out our new Amazon Wish List. Before bringing in your donations, please always remember to check the 2018 Donation Guidelines. To learn more about Household Goods please follow this link Household Goods. Thank you! Drivers Needed for FISH and Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels Our drivers deliver 3,000 healthy meals, every weekday, to elders and adults living with disabilities. They may deliver the only meal of the day to our homebound clients in addition to providing critical social contact a safety check. Today additional drivers are needed to meet the increasing demand for home delivered meals in our service are that includes 11 cities and towns. If you are interested in giving back to your community through this part-time job, apply today! Please call Sara at 781-324-7705 ext. 689 or visit our website www.mves.org/join-us/. FISH - Deb Galloway, director of the Sudbury Senior Center, reports that FISH (a network of volunteers that provide transportation to medical appointments to anyone in need, regardless of age or ability level) needs volunteer drivers. Volunteers use their own vehicles to transport Sudbury residents to and from medical appointments. Interested in volunteering or learning more? Please dial 978-443-2145. Page 9
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Sudbury United Methodist Church 251 Old Sudbury Road, Sudbury, MA 01776 Phones: (978) 443-4351 or (978) 443-6785 Fax: (978) 443-3052 Church Office: sumc@sudbury-umc.org Website: http://www.sudbury-umc.org Church Staff Lead Pastor: The Rev. Joel Guillemette Christian Education Director: Eric Magnuson Youth Ministries Director: Zachary Moser Music Director/Organist: Kevin Murphy, AAGO Sanctuary Choir Director: Rob Hammerton Business Manager: Michael Greb Office Administrator: Shetal Kaye Sexton: Joe Picorelli pastorjoel@sudbury-umc.org eric@sudbury-umc.org zack@sudbury-umc.org kevin@sudbury-umc.org rob@sudbury-umc.org michael@sudbury-umc.org sumc@sudbury-umc.org joe@sudbury-umc.org We are a Stephen Ministry Congregation We are a Reconciling and Welcoming Congregation Page 12