T H E P A R I S H N E W S
St. Mary’s United Church of Christ
Silver Run, Maryland
Volume XXV APRIL, 2004 No 4 - modified for the Web.
Jesus is alive! This is the good news that we have to share with all the world. This is the message that fills our hearts with gladness and inspires us to greatness we never thought possible for ourselves. This is the proclamation that gives us courage to be faithful followers in the face of any hardship and danger. Worldly powers would rather shroud the message. But Jesus preached hope where he found despair. Jesus brought healing in the midst of illness and disease. Jesus brought joy for those who were filled with sorrow. An intolerant and violent world sought to destroy him. He was betrayed; he was tortured; he was crucified. The cross and the tomb could have remained symbols of the world’s cruelty and evil. But death was no match for the Christ of God. And Easter has become our day to celebrate the ultimate reality: Jesus is Alive! He died on a cross; he was buried in a tomb. But now he is alive. And because he lives, we too shall live.
During the month of April, we as the congregation of St. Mary’s United Church of Christ have the opportunity once again to join in the drama of salvation. We will walk with Jesus from the high hopes of Palm Sunday, into the upper room of Maundy Thursday, through the darkness of Good Friday. And on Easter Sunday, we will gather to experience all the hope and joy of the resurrection story. We will celebrate life that triumphs over sin and death. And we will be reminded of our participation in this new life, which is ours to share. As Christ’s disciples, we follow Jesus wherever he leads us. As our living Lord, he leads us on the road of life that shares the love of God with all the world. Like him, ours too is the cross, the grave, and the skies. We follow Jesus on the road of life, life that is full and abundant and everlasting.
Grace and peace,
Dick
Holy week provides us with an appropriate climax to this Lenten season. Our week will begin with our celebration of Palm Sunday on April 4th when our Bells of St. Mary’s Bell Choir will be featured at our 10:00 AM worship service. On Maundy Thursday, April 8th, we will remember the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples as we gather for a service of worship and communion at 7:30 PM. Our service at 7:30 PM on Good Friday, April 9th, is the traditional service of Tenebrae when we remember and reflect upon Jesus’ suffering and death upon the cross. And finally, on Easter Sunday, April 11th, we will start the morning with an outdoor Sunrise Service at 6:30 AM with breakfast served in the Fellowship Hall at 7:00AM. A traditional style service with Holy Communion will be offered at 8:00 AM and a Contemporary style service with Communion will take place at 10:00 AM. As you are able, we hope that you are able to come and share in the drama and the joy as we celebrate this central mystery of our Christian faith: "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again."
Daylight Saving Time begins April 4th. Don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour when retiring Saturday night so you will get to church on time.
A special envelope was sent with last month’s newsletter. Instead of the coin folders that have been used in the past, we are again receiving a special Lenten Offering using a single pocket envelope instead. This special offering at Easter time will help our church reach out to the world in a very tangible way through the support of our Benevolence Fund. Additional Lenten Offering envelopes are available in the sanctuary or donations sent to the church office can be identified as for the Lenten Offering. Thank you for your continuing support of our benevolence giving. Please give generously as you are able, as together in Christ’s name we make a difference.
Our Pot of Gold has filled to overflowing! On the last Sunday of our campaign to raise $1000 for the Hoffman Homes Capital Funds Drive, over $900 was donated by the people of our congregation in one day! When the final count is made, our total gift to Hoffman Homes for Youth should exceed $1500; One and a Half times the amount we hoped to raise! St. Mary’s has been a long-time advocate of Hoffman Homes, and we are extremely excited and proud of our commitment to this campaign, and the generosity shown by all the people of our church to this project. The members of the Concern for Others Committee thank you for thinking of the children and thank you for your generous support of this wonderful gift.
Dues for "Friends of Hoffman" will be received Sunday April 18th and 24th. See a representative in the Vestry following worship.
Carroll County Lay Fellowship Spring Banquet
Carroll County Lay Fellowship Spring Banquet will be hosted by Emmanuel (Baust) United Church of Christ, with Rev. Gerald D. Fuss, as host Pastor.
DATE: Thursday, April 15, 2004 TIME: 7:00 PM Sharp
PLACE: Taneytown Fire Department Activity Bldg.
MENU: Roast Chicken & Ham
COST: $12.00 checks must be made payable to CC Lay Fellowship
GUEST SPEAKER: Kenneth R. Brown, III, Minister for Youth & Young Adult Empowerment from Cleveland, Ohio
DEADLINE FOR TICKETS: April 4, 2004. No tickets sold at the door.
Please contact the church office for tickets.
Making and taking orders for homemade all eatable and filled rice krispie
Easter baskets and bunny bags filled and non-filled.
Large Rice Krispie baskets $2.25
Small Rice Krispie baskets $1.75
Filled Bunny Bags $2.95
Non-Filled Bunny Bags $1.00
Sign up sheets will be at the back of the church, in Vestry and at all entrances.
Items will be available for pickup at church on Palm Sunday or will be delivered to work the week of Easter. If needed before please call the church office, 410-346-7977 or 410-848-3862.
Our first Arts and Crafts show for 2004 will be at Carroll County Farmers Market at the Ag Center Saturday, April 3rd and we will also have crafts in the Vestry April 4th.
Thanks in advance for supporting us. All proceeds go to the Sanctuary Fund.
St. Mary’s UCC Website – stmarysucc.org
Okay so if you are reading this then you know we already have a site!!!
Yes we do have a Website! In January of this year we were finally able to work out the details and establish our new website. I am the first to say that I am not a webmaster, but my goal was to get something on line that was manageable, useful for our members, and able to give people that are out there searching a glimpse of who we are. To get to our website you simply need to type stmarysucc.org in address section of your browser and you will arrive at our site. The site currently includes a page on "Who We Are" – included on this page is a message from our minister, our mission and vision statements, and our core values statement. We also have posted a sanitized version of the Parish News. This version includes most articles that are in the Parish News but removes references to personal things like who is in the hospital, birthdays, and home phone numbers to protect personal information. There is a calendar page that lists the month’s upcoming events with links to Parish News items when appropriate. There are also pages with some general information about our programs and some links to other UCC sites. We see this as only a beginning and we have a long way to go. I’m figuring out as I go how to do things and am definitely lacking in artist creativity so if anyone out there has suggestions or knows anything about web design please feel free to let me know! Also let me know if you have any additions or see any corrections that need to be made, we all know what it is like when you try to find mistakes in your own work! I hope to include articles in each of the upcoming newsletter as to my favorite sites to check out – for this month be sure to check our www.ucc.org (or of course you can go to the link from our webpage) and check out the "God is Still Speaking" site. You can email me at webmaster@stmarysucc.org or grab me when you can! Thanks, Vicki
St. Mary’s UCC will be receiving new members on May 2nd. Anyone interested in joining the church should contact Pastor Scott as soon as possible. All prospective new members are encouraged to attend the New Member Orientation, April 18th, following the worship service. For further information call the church office (410-346-7977 or 410-848-3862).
The Mothers’ Class will sponsor the Mother’s Day Bulletin again this year. This will be our 50th year and we have set a goal of 500 names. We hope everyone will put in an extra name in honor or memory of someone which could be your mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt, niece or even a friend so we can reach our goal.
Names are $1.00 each and can be given to Betty Harman or sign the envelopes on the back windowsill of the sanctuary. All money collected will be used toward another contribution to the Sanctuary Fund.
We ask your cooperation in getting the names to us early so we can get the bulletins done on time. Deadline for names will be Sunday, May 2nd.
Along with our website effort we also have established several email addresses of interest to everyone that is out there doing email.
office@stmarysucc.org – this is the address that we are giving out for all church related contacts and Jeanne is learning how to work her way through checking and responding to email. As with anything new it will take a little to get use but I’m sure it is getting easier all the time!
pastor@stmarysucc.org – this address speaks for itself.
consistory@stmarysucc.org – this address is actually a mailing list and sends a copy to most of the members of the consistory, everyone does not have email so it should not be assumed that everyone would get a message sent to this list.
webmaster@stmarysucc.org – now I did not come up with the name but it comes with the account! I have this mail address posted on the bottom of all of the webpages and I download the mail from this box when I download my own mail at home, about a couple of times a week.
That brings me back to mail lists. If there is a committee, or group, that could benefit from having a mailing list created then please see me about that. Once again we hope that this positive step to moving into the 21st Century will be of benefit to many of you out there! Thanks, Vicki
HULA YOUR WAY TO A TROPICAL PARADISE
Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 1st at 6:00 PM. The Fellowship Committee is hosting a Hawaiian Luau as our 2004 Special Event. In addition to a great meal, there will be entertainment, games, and crafts. All ages are welcome. Wear your favorite tropical outfit and come join in the fun. See any Fellowship Committee member for tickets: $10 for adults (16 and older), $3 for children (6-15), and children 5 and under are free. *Note this date has changed from previous announcement of April 24.
Our Wolfgang Sales was very successful. Our profit was $1,020.00. Thanks to all who participated, you made it happen. A special thanks to Missy and Erich, also their mother, first time sellers who had almost $400.00 in sales. Thanks again! Tommie