News & Notes 7/26/07
Hello my Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Ah, Tent Revival weekend approaches!! This is exciting. I hope you’re planning on being present for both the Public Chicken BBQ supper as well as the worship service! Great food and great worship!! A great combination!
We celebrate with Patrick and Rita Murphy, as their youngest son, Colin, and his fiance are married this weekend! May God bless all who travel to this special event with safety, and may the weekend be a joy. But mostly, may the love between the wedding couple grow deeper every day!
Back to the BBQ. While folks did WONDERFULLY at signing up last Sunday, there are still a few “vacanies” on the “volunteer to work” sheets. Particularly servers, drink pourers and dish washer(s). Those who were in church this past Sunday will remember me saying that a number of the “regular” supper workers will be away this weekend, so we need some other folks to fill in. Won’t you help?
Whether you’re working on the supper or not, we’re looking for a great turn-out for this terrific meal. It’s being served from 4:30 till 6:30 PM. What if it storms? I’ve just emailed the Hospitality Committee with that question. My guess is that the supper will take place in Hartford Hall - but that’s not my call to make!!
On Sunday morning we’re looking for ALLOT of help with set-up under the tent: moving chairs, choir risers, baptismal font, etc. If there’s any way that you could help out - even if you’re not able to come to the service later in the morning - we would love to have you come to the church at 7:30 AM!! Help will be needed after the service as well - to take things down.
Remember that we have a terrific preacher scheduled to come and lead us in worship on Sunday morning. He’s Rev. Martin McLee, the pastor of Union United Methodist Church in Boston ( http://www.gbgm-umc.org/unionboston/ ). Martin has received the Ziegler Preaching Award from the Conference (the same award that Anne Robertson received), and is recognized as one of the leading African American pastors - heck, he’s one of the leading pastors of our Conference! I’m sure you’ll be blessed by his ministry among us. Please welcome him!
With Martin’s heritage, you can be pretty sure that he’ll be looking for “response” from the congregation. I know from experience with him, that when he doesn’t get any, he calls out for it: “Come-on Church! Let God hear your praise!” If you’re inclined to respond with “Amen”, etc., you might come prepared!
Let me remind you that we have just one service on Sunday morning - at 9:30 AM. The praise music will begin at 9:15 AM. Our wonderful choir will be singing three anthems in the service - wonderful music that you just won’t want to miss! And sure as shootin’, God’s Spirit will be present. I know that there have been some who have felt that the Tent Revival services have gone too late - even when you take into account a “special” service. The Worship Committee has spoken about this, and planned a service that won’t be exceedingly long. Although I need to be careful in saying that, since I don’t know how long Martin’s sermon will be!!
And once again, what if it storms on Sunday morning? I don’t know exactly, but I know that we’ll have worship - whether it’s under the tent, in the sanctuary, or maybe in Hartford Hall. So don’t let any storms keep you away!!
Though a Sunday afternoon concert is listed on the calendar of the July “Bell-Wether,” the arrangements were not able to come together. So that event will not take place this Sunday.
Our Office Manager, Sandy, will be on a well-deserved vacation next week. Coverage in the office will be on a “hit or miss” basis. If no one is here when you call, please leave a message.
On a personal note, many of you have known that my wife, Wendy, and I have been preparing our house in Cumberland, Maine — to put on the real estate market. We did that this past week, and are VERY fortunate to have a contract on it already. We hope that closing takes place in the next four to six weeks. Obviously once that occurs, Wendy will be in Dover on a permanent basis. I thought that you’d like to know that.
I guess that’s all the news for this week. I hope to see some of you at “Dover Night Out” this evening. It sounds like fun. And I look forward to seeing EVERYONE - along with the neighbors and friends that you invite - in worship on Sunday morning!!
Peace, Mark