Conway Village
Congregational Church
February 2025
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Setting a New Direction
“… the skin of his face shone
because he had talked with God.”
Exodus 34:29
When Moses comes down from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the law, his face was aglow (or ablaze) because he had been conversing with God. It was evident to everyone … except Moses! This scriptural passage, which symbolized what “inspiration” does to us, shows us when we become so enamored with the understanding and direction of our lives … we beam!
For over 7 years the Men’s Bible Study, has been meeting at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning, to study the scriptures in the weekly Lectionary as we prepared for Sunday worship. There have been different leaders who have guided the study. Now the group is setting a new direction, (a break from their normal routine), by asking to delve into theology. Starting Friday, February 28th, (the week of Transfor- mation Sunday, the Sunday before Lent begins), the Men’s Bible Study will begin to examine a work by the English theologian, C.S. Lewis, called “The Four Loves”, published in 1960.
While C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Mere Christianity are more well known, The Four Loves is a scholarly study of the Greek understanding of love which is the basis for much of the New Testament. This will be a study of Theology, “Theo” is Greek for God and “ology” is Greek for “the science of”. Throughout the ages, scholars of Theology, who delved deeply into conversation with God, were able “to speak for God”!
After an introduction on Friday, February 28th, the study will commence on Friday, March 14th and run through Friday, April 11th, a true Lenten Study, ending as Holy Week begins. Do you know any- one who would benefit from such a study? The Men’s Bible Study is always looking for people to add to our conversations and reflections.
Will this Lenten Series create people who can speak for God?
Time will tell!
Rev. John Hughes February 2025
2025 Board of Deacons
We welcome Charles (Boz) Boswell to the Board of Deacons.
We look forward to his input and new ideas.
We send our most sincere good wishes of many blessings to our dear Louise Saxby as she steps back from her many duties as a Deacon in March. She has been a ray of sun- shine with gracious words of wisdom and kindness in her many years of service on the Diaconate. She has so kindly agreed to help us by continuing to send cards and being a reader for our services.
2025 Music Committee
Welcome back to Deb Arnold and Nancy Irving and joining the committee
this year– Marilyn Hughes.
Welcoming 2025 as
We Look Ahead to a New Year!
BRRR it’s cold outside!! But after all, it IS winter! And the depth of winter, at that.
I’m already counting the daily minutes of extra daylight as we make our way to the longer days of Spring & Summer. LOL How do you spend your winter days and long winter evenings? Delighting in the beauty of the new fallen snow? Enjoying sports & play in the white stuff or hours of sports or movies on TV or cozying up with a book by a fire? What about dreaming dreams, making plans or reminiscing about ad- ventures of the past?
That’s part of what our church leadership does at this time of each new year.
The Diaconate will begin planning at our next meeting for the special Lenten worship services, such as: Ash Wednesday, to be followed with Holy Week services and Easter. This year, as with last, we need to remain flexible to adjust to changing worship conditions: size and shape of the worship area for placement of Altar Table & Podium, serving Communion, etc. We discussed how to best serve Communion now that we are holding worship in Fellowship Hall at our last meeting.
- Going forward, Communion will be passed down the If you are a former Deacon and would like to assist with serving, please let one of us know and we will add you to our monthly rotation.
- Another topic of discussion, which we have had considerable feedback on, is how we can improve the quality and flow of our technical production for on/off site worship and streaming for homebound attendees. How do we find an app that is user friendly so that we can train backup volunteers for our web team? We would like to allow Steve and Nancy to have some well-deserved time away.
- Music and then there’s music…the heart and soul of worship for many! And everyone has an opin- ion!! The music committee is a sub-committee of the Board of Deacons which selects worship music for the Sunday services. We appreciate everyone’s understanding that for nearly a decade now the Brown Church has selected a blended range of music styles because we have a very wide range of music prefer- ences in our congregation. We welcome any comments that you have…if you have questions or sugges- tions, please do not be shy in letting us know.
We also would like you to turn in suggestions of hymns that you would like to sing. We will do our best to add them to the rotation. Please use the suggestion form on the next page to submit your ideas.
- We continue to discuss your desire to have live music in the worship Then, there is the difficult issue of scarcity of church pianists in the area.
Blessings,
Your Deacons, Judy, Beth, Jill, Louise, Charles M. and Charles B
Annual Meeting
We had a successful Annual Meeting on January 26th. There were thirty-two members in attendance. For the first time in a long time, we had a potluck lunch before the meeting. Thanks to everyone who brought food; there were lots of choices.
If you were not able to attend or would like to get a copy of the Annual Report, please contact the office.
Before the meeting began, Paul and Sylvia Weld were recognized for approximately 20 years of managing the Food Pantry. They are stepping down as Pantry Coordinators. The church and community thank you for your heartfelt dedication.
Every year the Trustees present a deficit budget. There are some uncertainties in utility costs since we have a new propane heating system, we are hoping it will be less than the old oil system. We want to thank everyone who has pledged for 2025. It helps us with the budget planning.
The members were given an update on the Flood Recovery work. The next step is to get the Sanctuary back open. This will start with heat, then flooring and possibly wall and structure work.
If anyone has questions or suggestions for the Trustees, be sure to let us know.
Our next meeting is February 4th at 4:30.
Anne Getchell
Trustee Board ~ Anne Getchell, John Edgerton, Duddie Andrews, Nancy Irving, Nancy Divine, Tom Workman, ex officio member, Treasurer
The Dinner Bell and Food Pantry are open!
Thanks to all the volunteers who helped with the opening days.
The Dinner Bell has been open for 3 weeks and served 99 meals on January 6th; and 109 meals on the 13th and 83 meals on the 20th! Join us on Mondays, 4-5pm for a free community dinner. Call the church for each week’s menu.
The Food Pantry has been open for 2 weeks and served 23 clients the first week and 19 clients on the 28th. We already have many more clients scheduled for the coming weeks! The pantry is open on Tuesdays by ap- pointment only. Call the church to schedule an appointment.
We have had one USDA delivery, providing to both the Food Pantry and the Dinner Bell. We both recently met with the NH Food Bank. In order to receive food from them, we must pass an inspection. We are still working with them to meet all their requirements. In the meantime, some pantry items are having to be purchased. Donations are always accepted. See our wish list below.
Paul and Sylvia Weld were recognized for 20 years of service to the Food Pantry. They retired as Food Pantry Coordinators at the end of December. A very special thank you to them both for all their years of dedication to our pantry clients!!
The Outreach Committee
The Stranger
Why is this stranger staring at me
With eyes so tired and old?
All for no reason-still I see
My attention she wishes to hold.
Why are the lines on her face so deep,
Her face so pale and thin?
I feel she has memories she wishes to keep
Of things she holds dear and places she’s been.
Oh now, her smile has turned to a frown
As if life has not been easy.
Gravity seems to be pulling it down
Gee-she’s making me queasy!
Why am I drawn to a stranger this way?
Really, I’d rather not know.
It appears she has something she wishes to say
And my interest seems to grow.
As I stand here trying to take this all in
Some life-lessons start to take hold.
My instinct tells me she’s really my friend
And a long-time kindred soul.
Now I’ll just turn away from her steady gaze,
Yet her eyes won’t set me free.
And when I turn away-she turns away
OMG, OMG it’s me!!
Regardless of this silly poem and what a mirror has to say,
Just remember we’ve all been blessed-We still can “seize the day!”
Mary Russo
February 2025 Worship Schedule
Sunday, February 2nd 4th Sunday after Epiphany ~ Communion
Scriptures: Psalm 71:1-6, Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 4:21-30
Sermon: “So, It Begins”
Sunday, February 9th – 5th Sunday after Epiphany
Scriptures: Psalm 138, Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13), Luke 5:1-11
Sermon: “What’s the Use?”
Sunday, February 16th – 6th Sunday after Epiphany
Scriptures: Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17:5-10, Luke 6:17-26
Sermon: “Faith Underneath It All”
Sunday, February 23rd – 7th Sunday after Epiphany
Scriptures: Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40, Genesis 45:3-11, 15, Luke 6:27-38
Sermon: “Unable to Answer”