News & Notes 4/3/08
Dear Friends,
I can’t believe I made it through April Fools Day without begin “caught” - at least that I know of! I suppose I may have been so much of a fool that I didn’t realize it! Did you make it?
Many thanks to the group of folks who helped Barbara Murray move last Sunday afternoon. I was unable to take part in the move, but understand that things went along wonderfully, and efficiently!! Thanks folks!
Under that same heading, we’ve been asked for help with a move once again. John & Beth Thompson (Jim & Ruth Miller’s daughter) and her family ran into complications with their move into their new home. You know the line about “best laid plans.” Not that we’re trying to develop this ministry into a weekly event, but if you could help out, we’re planning to help them on Saturday, April 5th, at 1 PM (hopefully the rain will have stopped). Meet at the church, and Beth will lead the group to the storage container and then to their new home - a mile and a half away. Pick-up trucks would, once again, be a most helpful tool.
This Sunday is “Native American Ministries Sunday” in the United Methodist Church. There’s an article about this in your copy of “The Bell-Wether,” but I just wanted to remind you here that there will be a special offering received on during worship - special envelopes will be included in the bulletin.
Remember too, that this Sunday afternoon is the Choir Festival for the Seacoast Cluster of United Methodist Churches! There’ll be nine vocal choirs participating, as well as two sacred dance choirs. And the program will conclude with eight of the nine choirs combining for two Massed Choir anthems. It looks like it’ll be a great presentation. I hope you’ll come. There’s no admission charge, but a freewill offering will be received to defray the expenses of the music for the Massed Choir. It all happens at St. John’s Church, beginning at 4:30 PM!
Relative to the Choir Festival, and our hosting of this event, Mike W. (who is heading up the kitchen for goodies) has asked that we might come together and exercise our “hospitality” muscle. We’re looking for cookies, brownies, squares, fruit, crackers and cheese, raw veggies, soda etc. for the choirs through the afternoon (around the times of individual choir rehearsals and massed choir), and for the fellowship time following the concert/service/program. If you can contribute anything toward this venture, please bring your goodies to the church anytime Sunday - before 3 PM. Thanks very much.
Looking ahead, there are some terrific things to look forward to. The first is our Youth Groups’ presentation of “Death by Chocolate Karaoke Night,” on Saturday, April 12th, from 6:30 PM till ? Tickets will be for sale during coffee fellowship this Sunday. Then the next day, Sunday, April 13th, we have our next “Second Sunday Concert” with Rabbi Larry Karol, of Temple Israel in Dover. Larry is an accomplished singer/songwriter, who has created a couple of CD’s, and has published his sacred music. It should be a great concert. Finally, the next Red Cross Blood drive at St. John’s will take place on Friday, April 18th. Put it on your calendar now, if you haven’t done so already!!
Let me call your attention to the new church sign - near the entrance of the church parking lot, off Cataract Avenue. It was installed last Saturday, during the
Guy’s Garage Sale. Many have already made positive comments about how nice it looks. It was paid for by an anonymous gift from one of our church families - thank you very much! Drew Williams and Lenny Colongione “liberated” the old sign and the deteriorating brick planter from their perches, to make room for the new sign (Thanks guys!). May the new sign proclaim a gospel of welcome and hospitality for years to come!
Speaking of the Guys Garage Sale, I don’t know yet what all the expenses will amount to, but from the informal discussions that I’ve heard ’round these parts, it looks like we might clear in the neighborhood of $1,500! Wow! Go guys - with a special thanks to our “chief guy,” John Ewalt!!
We’ve recently had a number of folks ask us to change their email address in the system that facilitates automatic receipt of this publication. There is an easy way to do this oneself, and I’ve been asked to share that with you here. Here ’tis:
If you still have your old email, you can change your stjohnsdover.org subscription, by following the instructions at the bottom of each email sent from the site….
“You can update your subscription at:
http://www.stjohnsdover.org/sjd/wp-admin/profile.php?page=subscribe2/subscribe2.php”
To make the change, you need to know your username & password on stjohnsdover.org. If you don’t know your username & password, and still have access to your old email, just fill in the old email address at http://www.stjohnsdover.org/sjd/wp-login.php?action=lostpassword . When a password is lost, we send in two separate emails:
1) a reset confirmation containing your username, and a link to click if you really want to reset the password
2) a new password (assuming you activate the link in 1)
If you have a new email, but have lost access to your old email, and you don’t know your site username & password, you can just register a new email at http://www.stjohnsdover.org/register . Kindly email webservants@stjohnsdover.org to indicate that the old email registration can be deleted.
I thought this was a wonderful thing to share with you today: “[Easter worship attendance] numbers represent people — each is someone’s brother or sister, parent or child, neighbor or co-worker. Each brings a whole host of joys and sorrows, hopes and doubts, aspirations and temptations to worship. Each wants to join in the songs of the ages for Easter joy, and each harbors moments of despair, anguish, grief and anxiety. While it’s fun, interesting, and extraordinarily helpful in our planning to measure attendance, we also realize that the message we proclaim at Easter and every Sunday is one that goes beyond measure. In the meditations of our hearts, the words of our prayers, the rhythm of our music, the joy of our fellowship, the insights of our sermons, and the sustaining grace of our communities, there is a truth that is immeasurable, eternal, infinite, and unfathomable. We dare to speak of hope in times of despair, love in the face of violence, grace in the grip of guilt, and life in the midst of death. We dare to preach Christ risen, alive, present, and as the scripture says, “going ahead of us to Galilee,” to all the places where people need the Lord. The Lord is risen. The Lord is risen indeed!” — U.M. Bishop Robert Schnase, from his Five Practices Blog
Here’s a story that could possibly describe any of we technologically challenged folks: A woman was in her front yard mowing the lawn when her neighbor came out of his house and went straight to the mailbox. He opened it, then slammed it shut and stormed back into the house. A little later he came out of his house again, went to the mail box, and again opened it and slammed it shut again. Angrily, back into the house he went. As the woman was getting ready to edge the lawn, the neighbor came out again, marched to the mail box, opened it and then slammed it closed harder than ever. Puzzled by his actions the woman asked him, “Is something wrong?” To which he replied, “There certainly is! My stupid computer keeps saying, YOU’VE GOT MAIL.”
I’m leaving in just a couple minutes for a Walk to Emmaus weekend, in western New Hampshire. I won’t be back in town till late Sunday evening, and hope you have a blessed weekend. I won’t see you in church this Sunday, but hope you’re here to see one another, and to worship with Betty Small, who is leading the service.
Grace & peace, Mark