Conway Village
Congregational Church
April 2021
The Good News!
Click here to view or download the full PDF version of the
April 2021 Newsletter
Pastor’s Message
Looking Forward to Worship
“true worshipers
will worship the Father
in spirit and truth …”
John 4:26-26
Looking forward to regather soon in the Brown Church, we find ourselves celebrating one more Holy Week in the safety of our homes. The coming week we will gather on the Zoom platform for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter worship.
Our schedule this year will be:
Palm Sunday, March 28th – 10:00 a.m. “Untie and Retrieve”
Maundy Thursday, April 1st – 6:30 p.m. “Remember Me?”
Good Friday, April 2nd – 6:30 p.m. “A Kiss Goodbye”
Easter Sunrise Service, April 4th – 6:30 a.m.
Easter Sunday, April 4th – 10:00 a.m. “What We Know of Easter”
Our Worship Services will be lived-streamed on Zoom. The Palm and Easter services will be 1 hour in length, the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday will be in devotional format, lasting 20 minutes each.
Easter Sunrise service will be held behind the church on Easter Sunday, April 4th, 6:30 am. Masks required.
There will be no benediction given for Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, as spiritual reflection during Holy Week is considered part of one continuous devotion, with the Hallelujah of Easter morning serving as the benediction for the entire spiritual process.
Please take notice of the Special Meeting being called for on Sunday, April 18, 2021. Our Church Bylaws require us to take an official vote to reopen our sanctuary for worship. We look forward to meeting following worship on that Sunday to set a date to again regather as God’s faithful.
Worshipping God in spirit (John 4) means that our worship must come authentically from the heart.
Throughout this year of remote worship, our leadership teams have attempted to offer worship music and
themes that are relevant and sincere. As much as possible we have tried to offer worship free from distractions. While this has been a challenge (to say the least!), we hope our meditations will continue to be heart-felt expressions of our community’s faith.
Yours through Christ,
Rev. John Hughes
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April Worship Schedule/Lectionary
Theme: “recreating community”
Sunday, April 4th – Easter Sunday
Scriptures: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, John 20:1-18
Communion Reflection: “I am What I am!”
Sunday, April 11th
Scriptures: Psalm 133, Acts 4:32-35 John 20:19-31
Sermon: “Holding One’s Breath”
Sunday, April 18th
Scriptures: Psalm 4, 1 John 3:1-7, Luke 24:36b-48
Sermon: “Who Keeps You Up at Night?”
Sunday, April 25th
Scriptures: Psalm 23, Acts 4:5-12, John 10:11-18
Sermon: “The Marks of Good Shepherding”
From the Trustees
Spring has sprung, the snow is melting with temperatures in the 60’s to close out March.
Thanks to all who volunteered for the St. Pat- rick’s Day take out dinner. We have done enough of these now and have the system down pat! We will be
taking the month of April off and the next dinner will be May 12th, menu to be determined.
The Capital Campaign Committee met with the architect and technical services to look over the prelim- inary Basic Schematic Design. The design showed us
the proposed upgrades to ADA access, the kitchen, the food pantry and the roof, to name a few. The engineer will be looking at necessary repairs to the structure that will need to be done first. We are in hopes to have a ballpark figure of what our “wish list” will cost later this spring. We will be having a Special Meeting, by Zoom, after the service on April 18th, to discuss reopening the church. Please plan to attend.
At the end of March, Nancy Divine came off the Board of Trustees. Her knowledge and experiences were a huge asset to us and she will be missed.
Trustees:
Chair: Anne Getchell
Duddie Andrews, John Edgerton, Nancy Irving, Kim Murdoch, Paul Weld
Ex-officio member Carl Vitters – Church Treasurer
Food Pantry Wish List
Ramen Noodles-Chicken and or Beef Rice-A-Roni-Chicken or Beef
Ketchup – 20 oz.
Mustard – 20 oz
Mayo – small jar
Stable Milk 32 oz.
Juice – orange or apple 64 oz.
Chicken Broth
Soup (small) – Chicken Noodle or Tomato
Canned Fruit -15 oz – any kind
Jelly – 16 oz. grape or strawberry
Canned Chicken and Tuna 5 oz.
Baked Beans – 15 oz. – any kind
Canned Pasta – 15 oz., any kind
Diced Tomatoes – 15 oz.
Tomato Sauce – 15 oz.
Pasta Sauce – (can) 15 oz.
Pasta Sauce – (jar) 32 oz.
Beef Stew – Can or Pouch
Boxed Spaghetti – 1lb.
Boxed macaroni – elbow 1lb.
Crackers – 1lb.
Canned-Peas, Carrots, Green Beans, and corn – 15 oz.
Cold Cereal – 10.8 oz any kind
Instant Oatmeal – 1lb.
Paper Towels
Toilet paper – individually wrapped
Shampoo – White Rain or Suave – 24 oz.
Dawn Dish Detergent- small size
Laundry Detergent – Tide-small size
Lg. Laundry Detergent – Dollar Tree brand in green container
Hand Soap – Dial 2 or 3 pk bars
Diaconate Message
One of my resolutions this year was to “simplify” some areas in my life so it (even in theory) would be more manageable. Ha. That worked for about a nanosecond. Coronavirus remains the big “disrupter” of all things normal in my world. At work with patients and at home with family. It seems like an unending black cloud some days doesn’t it? But wait a minute…..
Wonder if I resolve to:
Be still and know all is well.
Be ready for change and to be flexible. God does make our plans sometimes, doesn’t he?
Be patient and kind. I never ever know all that is going on in someone’s life. I will take notice and above all be kind.
Reach out to those I haven’t heard from or seen. I will ask how they are doing and be ready to LISTEN. Be grateful for every new day.
“Simplify” parts of the Bible to ease its enormity when I am feeling overwhelmed. My favorite short verses:
1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”
Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”
Even simple verses have deep and important messages for us. We are to put our faith in Christ and to pray. These Bible verses are powerful, and we can understand a great deal about the desires that God has for His people.
Even the shortest Bible verse from John 11:35 “He Wept” gives us insight into the compassion and love that Jesus Christ has for us. Have faith that when you are overwhelmed, sad, depressed, sick, or worried, that God is listening.
If I am stressing out about simplifying, it doesn’t serve me very well…perhaps I will use a verse or two above to keep me on track.
Wishing you all many warm and wonderful Easter Blessings to you and your families.
Louise Saxby
Diaconate: Louise Saxby, Mitzi Fitch, Holly Necochea, Judy Workman, Dawn Vitters, Suzanne Rancourt, Nancy Divine,
Aint Spring Wonderful?
Old man winter has lost his hold
For four long months he has chilled our bones
Welcome to spring and it’s soft, warm breeze
Bringing life anew and an inner peace.
The Robins are bobbing all over the lawns T
he songbirds serenade us with their songs.
It seems the world has awakened from sleep
And Spring makes good it’s promise to keep.
Soon trees are adorned with new leaves of green
And squirrels are busily making a scene.
The frogs in the pond are singing their song
And the mantle of ice on the brook is gone.
The sun already is high in the sky
And the clouds are smiling as they drift on by.
The daffodils and crocus are lifting their heads
While the pansies are happy and snug in their beds.
So aint spring a wonderous, glorious season?
It lifts one’s spirit and gives life a reason.
To set aside all our griefs and sadness
And greet each day with thanks and gladness.
So it’s spring again ~ new life, new hope
Be a kid again ~ go skip-a-rope!
-Mary Russo
Outreach Committee
WOW! A year has gone by and we still have not returned to our normal everyday lives. A HUGE, THANK YOU goes out to all the GREAT volunteers who have stuck with the Pantry on Monday and Tuesday’s. We are blessed to have such a great group.
Our Food Pantry still does not have the clients coming into the pantry, instead, their food is delivered to them at the bottom of the ramp, the volunteer goes back inside after the empty carts are returned, they are sprayed and wiped down with disinfectant. The client’s wave to us from their cars. We miss that contact with them to see how they are doing, as well as their families.
We continue to get deliveries twice a month, on the 1 st and 2nd Thursdays, from Food Bank and USDA. We are now able to order online from Dollar Tree which means we will be able to get (hopefully) more than just one case of an item.
For the last 3 months, January, February, and March, we have been participating in the Mobile Food Drive put on by the Food Bank, which has helped very much. The Food Bank has not compiled all tallies for February. So far the numbers we have to date are:
| Oct. 22 2020 | 252 families, 737 Individuals and 14,336 pounds of food |
| Jan. 28 2021 | 306 families, 1,018 individuals and 28,904 pounds of food |
| Feb. 25 2021 | # of families N/A, # of individuals N/A, 23,562 pounds of food |
| March 25 2021 | Last Mobile Food Pantry |
We want to give a big thank to Charlyne Gray, Marilyn Hughes, John Saxby, and Sylvia & Paul Weld for helping with these mobile food pantries. Also please welcome aboard to the committee Charles Monaghan.
I would like to end this report with a quote from last month’s newsletter.
“We are “CVCC” strong!!! We, CVCC, have the faith to move mountains and to keep that mountain away.”
Take Care, Stay Safe and God Bless
Anne, Dawn, Laura, Charlyne, Charles and Sylvia