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THE SPIRE
| March 2010 |
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God is still speaking,
On Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of the church season of
Lent, an ancient ritual takes place in many churches (including many
Congregational Churches). That is the imposition of ashes. During
the service, if you so choose, ashes are placed on your forehead, in
the sign of the cross, with the words, "Remember that you are
dust and to dust you shall return." This is a reminder that we
came from the dust of the earth and the ashes clinging to our
foreheads remind us that - in the same way that Christ clung on the
cross - we are all mortal. We will all return to the dust of the
earth.
Dying is not something that we, as humans, decide to talk about
"for fun." It's a serious conversation and usually reminds
us of something that we don't really want to think about - and that
is that we are all mortal. "The subject of dying is not an easy
one to engage in a death-denying culture; however as people of faith
we grapple with the issues that surround death and dying to insure
that transition to another stage of eternal life is as peaceful as
possible for those who are dying and for those who love them. We
know that God is present in both our living and our dying; therefore
we are comforted in difficult times." (Introduction to the
curriculum)
However, as medicine advances and there are many options to
prolonging life, these discussions about death - specifically our
own death - are important to have with family members and those who
will be in charge of our decisions when we are no longer able to
make those decisions.
I think the church can take a role in this conversation.
On Sunday, a group of us met to begin the study Faithfully Facing
Dying: A Lent Study Guide on Critical Issues and Decisions for the
Members of the United Church of Christ. With the help of Dr. Hal
Kamm, we began by talking about Advance Directives/Advance Care
Planning.
In coming weeks, we will discuss "Palliative Care, Suffering
and Pain Control and Hospice Care" (March 14), Physician Aid in
Dying and Euthanasia, Brain Death, Persistent Vegetative State,
Minimally Conscious State (March 21) and a wrap up session on March
28.
The church and I can also be of help to you by working with you
individually or by being present with you in end of life discussions
with family, in keeping confidential files of your end of life
wishes, and in talking with you about funeral and service
arrangements.
End of life issues and death are very difficult subjects to
discuss. However, they are easy to discuss and decisions are made
easier and clearer, when they are made in non-emergency times.
Lent is a good time to begin these discussions. Please let me
know how I can help.
Melinda
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FAMILY
NEWS
WINTER
PARKING
There is “reserved
parking” for those for whom it is difficult to navigate
the parking lot. Reserved
parking is located on the north driveway and behind the church next
to the ramp. Those doing
coffee hour are also welcome to park behind the church.
When Church Services are cancelled
If the weather is threatening, please check the cancellations on
Channel 6 (NBC), Channel 8 and Channel 3.
The First Congregational Church is included in the closing list if
there will not be a service that day.
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CHURCH
SCHOOL NEWS
Please
Remember Your Offering!
Please, please, please continue to have your children bring in
their offering for our jar! We
continue to support and hear from Karim, our sponsor child in
Jerusalem
. We will also be making a
spring trip to the IGA to buy supplies for the Kent Food Bank.
Please encourage and help your children to support our outreach!
J
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OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE CONGREGATION
Coffee and Chocolate orders for Easter will be taken until Monday,
March 8. Almost all of the coffee we sell from Equal Exchange is
Organic. All of the chocolate is organic and is not shipped between
April and October (because of heat) so stock up now for the summer :
Both are Fair Trade!!! Call the office or sign up at coffee hour to
order. Orders will arrive in time for Easter.
MARCH 14 - One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) is the relief,
refugee and development fund of the United Church of Christ. It is one
of the Special Mission Offerings received by the United Church of Christ
and is a part of Our Churches Wider Mission (OCWM). One Great Hour of
Sharing is a Lenten Offering. The 2010 Dedication Day is March 14. If
you would like to read actual stories about where OGHS monies go, log
onto: http://www.ucc.org/oghs/stories
They will warm your heart!
We will again this year be donating EASTER BASKETS through our
Covenant to Care program. Social Workers from Children and Families will
deliver these baskets to the children in their caseloads. Completed
baskets, or items for baskets which we will put together, should be
delivered to the Church by Sunday March 28. Please keep candy to a
minimum. Small toys, games, jumping ropes, puzzles, hair accessories,
magic markers, crayons, etc, are all welcome. (The Dollar Store in New
Milford next to Stop and Shop is a good source.) Our Social Worker
liaison says the children love to get these baskets, and the Social
Workers love to deliver them as the kids are so excited to see them!
BULBS FOR SALE!
Spreading Beauty While Feeding Children
These two wonderful ideas merge as your Outreach committee offers Dutch
bulbs this spring. Those who buy from the colorful catalog will enjoy
growing beautiful flowers that return every year in their gardens. The
children in Teupasenti, Honduras will benefit because the Children's
Rescue Mission receives 100% of the profits! So let's spread color in
our gardens and yards, and feed the hungry children who are depending on
us for their support. Buy now and 50% of the cost will go to our
Tortillas for Teupasenti campaign for 2010-2011. Beauty and Mission,
It's a great pairing! Sell to family and friends or just buy your own.
It will all help. Order forms are available in the church office or at
church. Deadline for ordering is March 28.
ANGEL FOOD
MINISTRIES
The Angel Food program is similar to a food co-op.
There are no income requirements and the food is reasonably
priced and good quality. Angel
Food menus and order forms are available in the back of the sanctuary
and in the Lecture Room.
WE ARE STILL
COLLECTING
- pull
tabs from soda cans, etc. A
container is available in the sanctuary and the Lecture Room.
- old
ink cartridges and old cell phones which will be recycled to
raise money for a group to travel to Honduras.
Please
bring them to church and put them in the box in the Lecture Room.
(If you are in an office, please collect ink cartridges from
the entire office! It
helps a lot!)
- UPC’s
(not front labels) from various
Campbell
’s food items to help Elon Homes.
Bring them to church - we have a collection basket in the
Lecture Room. Benefits:
Elon Homes for Children in
Charlotte
,
NC
, an outreach ministry of the Connecticut Conference.
For more information visit the
Campbell
’s website: www.labelsforeducation.com
Prayer
shawls …
In the fall, we began a “prayer
shawl ministry.” Many
people donated their time and talents by knitting prayer shawls that
were given to members and friends of our congregation who were going
through illness or difficulties. We
are now in need of more prayer shawls.
If you can knit and would like to contribute to this important
ministry, please bring prayer shawls to the church.
Check it out!! http://www.crmission.org
now has a link to QSP Readers Digest site. We can now reorder all our
subscriptions to magazines, buy music CDs, and buy books on the CRM
internet site and the mission will receive 40% of the sale. So please take a minute to see for yourself. We have an opportunity here
to help CRM. (If you order the New York Times or Wall Street Journal
please do it through CRM.)
PLANNED GIVING
Please keep in mind how important it is to remember The First
Congregational Church in your will. Many in the past have remembered our
church in their wills, and the endowments that this generosity has
created help to secure the financial stability of our lives together and
for years to come. For further information, please contact Melinda.
ROMEOS (Retired Old Men Eating Out) meet every Tuesday morning at
8:00 at The Villager Restaurant, for breakfast and conversation. All men are invited.
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE
WIDER COMMUNITY
A couple of opportunities from New Milford Visiting Nurse Hospice
- Volunteer
Training Program – beginning on March 18.
Pre-register with Mary Peitler at 860-354-2216.
- Hospice
Foundation of America Annual Living with Grief teleconference:
“Cancer and End of Life Care,” on Wednesday, March 24 from 1:30
– 4 PM. Pre-registration
required @ 860-354-2216.
KENT
FOOD BANK
is still in need of food and especially paper goods
(toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissues).
When you are shopping for your family, buy something extra for
your extended town family.
F R E E F O O D & GREAT
GIFTS!!
Give Free Food to those who are hungry!! It doesn't cost you
anything.
Each person who has a computer connected to the Internet can give
free food to the hungry by clicking on the free food button. This can be
done once each day.
The food is paid for by the site sponsors (no, you don't have to buy
anything) and distributed to the hungry by Mercy Corps (which alleviates
suffering, poverty and oppression in more than 25 countries including
Eastern Europe and the Middle East) and America's Second Harvest (which
is the largest food distribution organization in the United States and
serves more than 26 million people).
Anyone who clicks The
Hunger site daily will have contributed about 400 cups of
staple food (rice, wheat, corn) in one year. Think what that means to
hungry people.
Just think: if only 50 people in our congregation give food daily
(say for 320 days out of the year), we will together give 17,500 cups of
staple food to hungry people in the next year. Imagine: if each of the
50 people asked one other person to give, that would be a total of
35,000 cups of staple food to feed the hungry.
Working in an office? You can give food at home and again on your
computer at work. Questions? The Hunger Site has a FAQ page. Also, talk to any of us
listed below.
It's easy to remember to click. Just add www.thehungersite.com
to your home page, your desktop, or the links at the top of your
Internet connection. Or, you can ask the hunger site to send a brief
email reminder to you each day for an easy click. AND be sure to check out all their wonderful stores with items from
around the world at very reasonable prices.
H
NGER
The
problem can’t be solved without you.
Would
you like to buy great coffee and bring a little bit of justice to the
world? You can!
Order "Equal Exchange"
Fairly Traded Coffee
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