News & Notes 6/19/08
Greetings to my Friends in Christ,
Another week has flown by! Where does the time go? I feel quite old saying that, but I suppose that comes along with the graying hair and memory loss, etc. I can hardly wait!
Annual Conference was a wonderful event once again. Our Conference is blessed with wonderful leadership - not the least of which is our Bishop, Pete Weaver. The days were long and there was plenty of the mundane kinds of business, but there was also more than enough inspiration and blessing! Patrick Murphy gave time for three of us who attended to report to the Church Council on Monday. We’ll write something for the August “Bell-Wether,” too, I’m sure - so everyone can hear the stories.
I know many of you will be interested in the results of the Penny Challenge, so I’ll not leave that till the August “Bell-Wether.” Try as we might, we were not able to de-throne John Blackadar and the New Hampshire District. But we were able to pull the Tri-State District out of the basement . . . by one position! Here are the results: Central Mass - 19,098 (points); Tri-State - 20,749; Mid-Maine - 29,336; Northern Maine - 33,398; Metro Boston - 66,916; Conn/W. Mass - 88,112; RI/SoEast MA - 90,123; and finally New Hampshire . . . are you ready for this . . . 250,414. The great news about the whole challenge was that the Youth of the Conference raised $7,330.38 for their work!! Praise God!!
I had told John about how excited you folks got when I suggested we try to beat him - and how many silver coins and bills we raised to put in his bucket. He feigned sadness, and said to tell you that he was disappointed because he thought you loved him! Then he affirmed as well the blessing this whole venture is providing for the youth ministry of our Conference. Amen!
I can also share that the “Nothing But Nets” campaign received offerings at Annual Conference totaling $66,893.91 - and that the Tri-State District lead the Conference in giving to this ministry - although this wasn’t a competition. May this work save thousands of lives of people in Africa, who might otherwise contract malaria.
Natalie Hanson has asked me to remind folks concerning Children’s Sunday, that we are having two dress rehearsals. They are Thursday June 19th (today) @ 5 pm and Saturday June 21st @ 8 am. All kids must attend at least one of the two. If they can come to both that would be wonderful. On Children’s Sunday all kids need to be at church by 9:00 am because they are all involved in the praise songs. Also, here’s a reminder that VBS will be the week of August 18th, and that volunteers are needed. You can call Nat at 740-3621 or email her at natchip1 [at] comcast [dot] net.
This evening there will be no Adult Choir rehearsal - but the Lay Leadership Committee (aka Nominating Committee) will meet in my office at 7 PM.
Part of a wedding celebration this Saturday - we hope - will be the playing of the Carillion (the bell tower). You may have noticed the staging that has been beside the tower the last couple of weeks. Our own Kenny Gallant has been rewiring the system so all the bells will work. I say “we hope” because there are a couple of replacement parts that had to be ordered, and haven’t yet arrived. It would be wonderful if they were here and installed - but we’ll see!
This Sunday we’ll conclude this year’s Sunday School programming as we celebrate Children’s Sunday. I hope we’ll turn out in droves - first to worship our great God - but also to support the children and youth and their leaders! Remember that this Sunday we begin our Summer-long schedule with just one worship service each week - beginning at 9:30 AM!! Don’t forget!
Sunday afternoon we have a Church-Wide Pot-Luck Supper and program - sponsored by our two Mission Teams to Louisiana. While some of the pictures are similar to last years, and some of the stories would be similar - there are many new things to share with our congregation. I hope you’ll come to share the fellowship around the table, and to learn of the wonderful teams and their trips. The formal program is something like seventeen minutes long - but there’ll be opportunity for questions, too, I’m sure. I look forward to seeing you there.
Looking ahead one week, Sandy has mentioned that no on has signed up to provide flowers or to organize Coffee Fellowship for June 29th. Maybe you have flowers in your garden that you would be willing to arrange attractively and share - or maybe you have someone in your life you’d like to honor with an arrangement from a florist. Just call Sandy at the church office to let her know you can do that - so we won’t end up with half a dozen arrangements . . . although, would that be bad? And the same would apply to Coffee Fellowship.
In the newspaper one day last week there was an article about the City of Dover seeking sponsors for the “Adopt-a-Spot” program - enabling community organizations to maintain various city squares, monuments/historical markers, small and large parks, guardrails and landscaped traffic islands. I’m sure you’ve noticed them in places all over town. The organization that adopts a spot plants the area and volunteers come regularly to maintain it. I raised the issue with our Church Council, who liked the idea and suggested I write about it here to see if there might be two or three or more folks who would be interested in taking this task on - to keep our city attractive and to put St. John’s Church’s name in a visible location. If you are be interested, please don’t wait for someone to ask you personally. Just speak to Patrick Murphy or me . . . and I think the sooner the better.
Our “Holy Folders” will come together tomorrow to prepare the July “Bell-Wether” for its journey to our homes. What a great group of folks we have doing that task. And what great news we have to share with one another. I know how many of you look forward to receiving this monthly mailing.
I will be on vacation next week, so if you need a pastor, please call Rev. Jim Cann, Senior Pastor of First Church, Rochester. You can reach him through our church office or by calling our one of our Lay Leaders, Bill McWilliams or Betty Small.
Since I’ll be away, there won’t be an issue of “News & Notes” next week, so let me mention a couple things happening. There’s “An Evening of Effervescent Efflorescence,” a senior recital by our own Miranda Freeman - on Friday, June 27th, at 6:30 PM, in our sanctuary. And then there’s the Public Turkey Supper on Saturday, June 28th - sign-up sheets are on the rolling bulletin boards in Hartford Hall!!
Let me leave you with a couple of thoughts - things drawn from church bulletins. There’s the bulletin that announced that “The Fasting and Prayer Conference includes meals.” . . . think about that for a minute. And then there was the church sign which announced: “The sermon this morning: ‘Jesus Walks on the Water.’ The sermon tonight: ‘Searching for Jesus.’”
Enjoy your day, and remember to watch for the hand of God working through all that you do! Peace, Mark