March 6-7,. 2010
WELCOME
Welcome to St. Peter’s United Church of Christ. If you have no church home, we hope you will consider St. Peter’s UCC as that place. Whether guest or member, please make your presence known by signing the Friendship Register in the pews and greet those near you.
Our prayer chapel is open following this service and daily from 9-4 for personal meditation and communion. It is located off the second floor elevator. Sunday school for children ages 4 to Grade 6 begins after the Children’s moment. A class for youth grades 7-12 begins at 10:00 underneath the sanctuary. Adult Sunday school is 9 AM on Sundays. Child care is offered during the 10 AM service.
This week at St. Peter’s:
Sunday 9:00 Adult Bible study (lectionary-based)
10:00 Worship & Sunday school
11:15 Confirmation
Food Pantry and Aluminum Drives
Monday 9:00 Ladies Group at Cowan’s
3-9 Pizza Hut Night
6:00 AA
6:30 Quilting
7:00 Bible Discovery
Tuesday 10:30 Staff Meeting
1:30 Stewardship Board
5:30 Mariners
6:00 Buildings and Grounds
6:30 Council Planning
Wednesday 9:00 Quilting
12:00 “Great Decisions” study on Afghanistan and Pakistan – AMR
5:15 Weds.@St. Pete’s – Soup Supper
6:00 Lenten Devotional in Chapel
6:15 Weds @ St. Pete’s Small Groups
Journeymen Have a Little Faith
Journey to the Center of the Faith
Parenting Roundtable
Children’s Group
6:00 AA
6:00 Chapel Bells
6:45 Vesper Bells
7:30 Chancel Choir
Thursday 9:00 Women’s Fellowship Brunch
6:00 AA
Saturday 10-1 Census Bureau – dining room
5:00 Worship
Sunday 9:00 Adult Bible study (lectionary-based)
10:00 Worship (Family Sunday*)
6:30 Youth Group (grades 7-12)
*A message for all members and friends: Next Sunday will be Family Sunday which means children will stay in church with their families and Sunday school will not be offered. Activity kits will be available for children at the back of the sanctuary. Please return the kits after the service.
Why do we have “Family Sundays” at St. Peter’s? The Board of Christian Education and the pastors believe it important to expose children to worship so that they can grow to better understand and accept this important activity of the church. In some churches, there are children who go through confirmation and join the church never having experienced worship because they were always in Sunday school when they came to church. As an adult, can you imagine making such an important decision as joining a church when you’d never experienced worship with the people to whom you were committing to join? As adults we’d never think to do such a thing.
We realize that it is a bigger commitment we are asking parents to make—to guide your children through a worship service, but years down the road (past all the possible times of outbursts, playing in the pew, and poking of siblings) we pray and believe that you will see your hard work and the work of the Spirit growing a heart for worship in your child.
Perhaps you are a worshipper without children wondering how you can help these youngest of our church members and their parents. We believe you can best help by making Family Worship Sunday a place where children and adults want to be. Greet and offer extravagant welcome to children. Ask them questions as you would other adults. Make them look forward to seeing adults outside their family at church. Beyond warm welcome to parents, try not to look when a child makes noise. Even if your gaze is just one of memory for years past of your own, it can and may be interpreted otherwise.
Let’s all do our best to realize the promises we make at our church family baptisms. By the power of the Holy Spirit we will be stronger for it!
Weds.@St.Pete’s -- Mark the season of Lent with opportunities for sharing, study, fellowship, and uplifting reflection. Three small group opportunities will continue to meet for the next three consecutive Wednesdays, March 10, 17 & 24. A soup dinner is offered from 5:15-6:00. The pastors will offer a Lenten devotional at 6 PM in the chapel.
The Social Concerns Committee is collecting bars of soap to help with mission work. Please place items in the box located near the church office.
Women’s Fellowship Thursday, March 11, 9 AM, breakfast brunch. Please bring a fruit bread, coffee cake, rolls, fruit, etc. to share. Hot casseroles, coffee and juice will be provided. Meeting at 10 AM followed by a Lenten devotional at 11 AM by Audrey Nourse. All women of the church are welcome.
Adult Class Joins Jesus to Jerusalem The Gospel of Luke shares with us that Jesus will not be deterred from going to Jerusalem. The road to Easter becomes rougher for the One who risks costly love. Our adult class will be taking this journey with Jesus every Sunday morning from 9-9:45 AM as we explore Luke’s story of the impending Passion. We invite you to join us as we seek to deepen our choices as disciples who risk love in our daily lives. We embrace open, supportive discussion; we take seriously God’s call through the Bible to grow our faith and service; we pray for others; we explore service opportunities; we relate our Bible focus each Sunday to our corresponding Sunday worship themes. We invite you to join us for one or as many times as you wish to come. Place is the atrium room below the sanctuary.
One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) is the special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that carries God’s message of love and hope to people in more than eighty countries. Already this year, 2009 gifts to OGHS have had a large impact in many lives.
The UCC works with international partners to provide sources of clean water and food, education and health care, small business micro-credit, emergency relief and advocacy and resettlement for refugees and displaced persons. OGHS also supports domestic and international ministries for disaster preparedness and response.
Our OGHS offering will take place March 13th & 14th.
The Census Bureau has openings for the following positions in Franklin County and will be testing here at the church on Saturdays in March at 10 AM.
· Census Takers
· Crew Leaders & Assistants
· Recruiting Assistants
You must be 18 years of age …. Veterans given preference.
PLEASE CALL: 866-861-2010 – OR – 573-818-3313
I Timothy 4:12: "Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." A big thank you to all of the grades 3-6 children, older youth helpers, Sunday School teachers, parents and church family members who organized and/or participated in the children's pancake breakfast last Sunday. A total of $1,552.00 was raised, about three times the hoped for amount! All of this money has been donated to Church World Service (in cooperation with the UCC's "One Great Hour of Sharing" program) for the purchase of baby kits to aid in Haiti's ongoing disaster relief. What an incredible example of Lenten discipleship our church family children have provided us! Their ideas, enthusiasm and passion to stand in the places Jesus would have stood, when empowered by the Holy Spirit and the support of the congregation, are a true blessing to all of us and the world!
Pancakes for Haiti ($1,552) & OGHS/Haiti ($2,382) Total sent for Haiti: $3,934.00
Fish Fry - Immanuels UCC Holstein, March 12, 4-8 PM
Dinner Auction – Immanuel Lutheran School, Washington, March 13, 5 PM
Fish Fry – Ebenezer UCC, Augusta, March 19, 5-7:30 PM
Passion Play – New Melle, March 20, 21, 27, 28
Spiritual Exercise Retreat – First United Methodist Church, Washington, March 20, 9:30 AM-1:30 PM
Sausage Dinner – Friedens Peace UCC, New Melle, March 21, noon-6 PM
Men’s Retreat April 16–18, Shannondale Community Center, $70 per person. Financial grants available. Contact Pastor Paul for registration.
Emmaus Homes Walk Run ‘n Roll for People of All Abilities. April 24
Women’s Retreat April 30-May 2, Camp Mo-Val (limited to 120 women)
For more information on these and other events, remember to check the Market Street bulletin board every week.
A Community Invitation to Artists: The Art Center Gallery of downtown Washington is inviting Christian artists to participate in the 2nd Annual Easter Show to open Palm Sunday (Mar 28), 2010. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just something we celebrate at Easter. What better time, as Christian artists, to portray the truth of the Gospel in Art. Our theme is “The True Meaning of Easter”. We are looking at how you the artist interpret anything to do with the people, location or events surrounding the crucifixion, the resurrection, sacrifice, or redemption. The cost to submit a piece of work is free. This is not a juried show but works are to reflect the above description. No prizes will be awarded. Artists must be at least 21 years of age and all works must be for sale, priced and marked. For additional info and requirements, pick up a brochure from the lobby near the back parking lot doors.
Camp Mo-Val Lenten Work Day Sat. March 27 This is a wonderful opportunity for families, adults, youth and the whole church to lend a helping hand with the maintenance of our camp facilities. Projects vary depending on the skills of those involved and the weather. The work isn’t glamorous, but it really does make a BIG difference! Lunch and supplies will be provided. If you are skilled in carpentry, electrical, painting or plumb-ing, please let the camp know. Whatever tools and professional equipment you can bring will be greatly appreciated. There are also plenty of jobs for the not-so-skilled among us! The folks at Mo-Val need to know if you plan on attending, so please call out to camp to let them know if you’re interested: 636-583-2730.
Anyone who wishes to honor a loved one or anniversary by donating altar flowers or worship bulletins for any given week, the schedule for 2010 is posted on the Market Street hall bulletin board beside the doors leading outside or you may contact the church office. Thank you for your generous contribution to our services.
HAVE WE HEARD FROM YOU? St. Peter’s Messenger is “Going Green” next month! We will “Think Green” beginning with the April issue being the first comprehensive effort. You can now receive notice and view the newsletter each month on the web. If you desire or need the newsletter mailed to you as it currently is, we will be happy to continue to do so, but you must let us know. Please return the form below directing us to continue mailing your copy. If we do not hear from you, then we will assume you are presently reading it online, or not reading The Messenger at all. Hard copies of the newsletter will be available for pickup during services. All shut-ins and nursing home residents will continue to have their newsletter mailed. Please complete the form below and return it to the office or drop it in the offering plate.
Name _________________________________________________________________
____ Please continue to mail the newsletter to me.
____ I will plan to pick up a hard copy when I am at church.
____ Please notify me by email when the newsletter is posted on the web.
____ My email address is _________________________________________________