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The Pilgrim Church Staff (including four new or "almost new" folks) will be holding its annual planning retreat on Tuesday Sept. 2^nd at our home in Harwich, where I have spent most of the summer. It will be a chance to bond together as a team, get to know one another a little better, and look at the challenges and opportunities that are unfolding at Pilgrim Church in the coming year (including the big Amistad event coming up in Boston on Oct. 25^th). Tracy Drew, our Secretary for the past two years, will not be with us, having recently started an exciting new full time position in the print media field. Thanks for all your good work, and best to you, Tracy! Our new secretary, Cathy Doughty has already begun – welcome Cathy! I look forward to seeing you all on Rally Sunday, and continuing with you in our mutual ministry. It will surely be another exciting year!

It is good to be among you as your new Pastoral Associate. Since Winifred Jones was well loved and known in this community, you have heard me introduce myself as "the new Winifred Jones." In actuality, there will always be only one Winifred Jones, and I can only hope to fill a need as well as she did as a member of your staff for ten years.

I will be visiting many of you in the seasons to come. Some visits will be of the staying-in-touch or getting-to-know you variety. Other visits will be more for providing the comfort only the church can bring in times of stress, disability, illness, or grief.

In all cases, prayer is always appropriate during any visit, if you would like it. Don’t hesitate to ask. If you would like copies of sermons and/or Communion, please let me know.

Finally, I typically call you to set up my visits, but if you’d like a visit and you haven’t heard from me lately, call the church office and Pat will pass the message along to me.

I look forward to seeing new friends and newer friends as our new church year gets underway. Peace and blessings to you all.

Items for the bulletin and newsletter can be submitted by e-mail to the church office @ secretaryofpilgrimchurch@hotmail.com. The deadline for the October newsletter is Monday September 15^th.

WE WANT TO LET YOU KNOW – On Sunday, September 21^st a Triathlon will be run to benefit the Duxbury Police DARE and Special Olympics! The cyclists will be on Washington St. between 8:15-8:45 AM. Police will be directing traffic in front of our driveway and St. John’s. Leave a little extra time coming to church!

As promised, my focus this summer has been on learning – reading, listening, and setting up some pilot programs so we can learn from Pilgrim’s own experience. One article I read was titled "The Four Needs: What People Are Looking for in a Church" (In the leaders’ and participants’ manuals for Discovering God’s Vision for Your Life: You and Your Spiritual Gifts.) The four needs identified are: spirituality, community, care and ministering. Ministering is the way individual members of the church share their gratitude and love for God and use their own gifts to help the church meet the spirituality, community and care needs of others.

The calls I’ve already received from you and the brainstorming sessions I’ve attended with the Outreach Committee suggesting new ways you would like to minister have been rich with ideas; ideas which are very consistent with the article. For example, church members are anxious to begin a new couple’s Bible study group, new fellowship groups and a new mother’s support group, and to find new ways to help existing service organizations in our community. The Outreach Committee seeks ways to provide opportunities to involve more church members, which will also enable them to expand their care programs (be sure to look at the Outreach article in this issue of Pilgrim’s Progress). I visited with a church this summer whose members have identified 110 opportunities for ministry!

Your calls and the old Strategic Planning and "Time and Talent" surveys I have reviewed are also consistent with my reading. You have said you love the spirituality, the community and the care Pilgrim Church provides for you. You are very willing to help Pilgrim Church do an even better job of providing these to others. In addition to helping to ensure new opportunities to serve are available, and documenting those opportunities, my role is to help you find personally rewarding ways to minister, ways that use your unique set of God-given gifts and talents. We are going to pilot a program this fall called Discovering God’s Vision for Your Life: You and Your Spiritual Gifts, which is designed to help individuals identify these God-given gifts. By the time you read this article, the Seekers Group should have begun the first pilot program. I also hope the program will be the core for the Women’s Retreat planned for the first weekend in October. If these pilots are as successful as I anticipate, we expect to offer future programs both to other groups and open to all individuals in the congregation.

I’ll keep you posted.

Faithfully,

Lynne Devnew Wolfe

Welcoming a new school year with a superior and talented staff and creative curriculum is always a treat. The new staff include Gail Durant of Kingston and Kathy Connelly of Norwell, each a certified teacher and dedicated to the care of young children. Field trips to apple farm, parent’s night and nature walks will be part of our fall events. We welcome waitlist applicants at any time. For a tour contact the Director @ 934-8145, ext. #1. Thank you, Michelle Manganaro

As the sports seasons beckon our children and their chauffeurs, take advantage of this opportunity to stay in shape spiritually. Conceptually, the mission of this group of parents will be twofold: 1) to participate in some type of religious study/fellowship/worship on an adult level, as well as 2) attend to the christian education of our children who are not attending church school regularly due to conflicts with sports or other activities on Sunday mornings. If you find yourself and your young athlete are constantly missing church on Sunday mornings, then this group is for YOU! Come to this organizational meeting and voice your needs, desires, and ideas. BRING YOUR CALENDAR! Football Moms, Hockey Moms, Cheerleading Moms, Swimming Moms, Music Moms, and ALL DADs are welcome, too. Please contact Joan Barrington (bears59@adelphia.net) or Eloise Parks in the church office, if you are interested in being part of Pilgrim Church's newest team.

My summer vacation was spent on a trip with family and then a visit with Keith and Maridel Johnson in their new home in Bellingham, Washington. As I write this, it seems unreal that our summer is nearly over and it is time to begin fall plans.

Fall is my favorite time of year. It has always seemed to me to be the beginning of the new year and that is always exciting! August 20^th will be spent in Newport, Rhode Island attending a day long seminar on choral conducting. This is sponsored by the Rhode Island chapter of the American Choral Directors Assoc., of which I am a member. The senior choir and, ultimately, you in the congregation will benefit from my attendance, I am sure.

The first rehearsal for the Senior Choir will be held on Thursday, September 4^th @ 7:30 in the choir room. We will first sing for this new year on Rally Sunday, September 7^th so this rehearsal is very important. Along with our musical preparation, we will exchange

stories of our summer events and generally get back in touch.

Please save the date, November 23^rd (time to be announced). Our choir, supplemented by

members of the community, will present a "Messiah Sing" accompanied by organ and a small orchestra. The congregation will be encouraged to join in the singing of the choruses if they wish. If you have never attended one of these popular concerts, you are in for an afternoon of fun and inspiration.

Due to overwhelming response to our Amistad Celebration Day, October 25^th, 2003, (already over 4000 tickets sold!) we have changed the venue to the FleetBoston Pavilion where we can accommodate 10,000 people. The Pavilion is located south of the Moakley Courthouse, for more directions, parking or information on the facility try www.fleetbostonpavilion.com. All who want to come can now hear the Amistad story, celebrate the freedom schooner’s presence, and re-covenant to addressing issues of race and justice.

The Pavilion has a main stage where we will put on a two-hour worship and celebration event that will be presented three times during the day: 9.30-11.30am; 12.30-2.30pm; and 3.30-5.30pm. Please use the registration form (www.macucc.org/amistad) to purchase new or additional tickets. If you previously purchased tickets, we have already contacted your church, or will shortly do so. Every effort is being made to accommodate time slots you originally requested. The entrance fee of ($5 adults/$3 children) will now be the entrance fee to the Pavilion itself. Advance tickets are still required. Get your order form at www.macucc.org/amistad. The deadline is October 1, 2003.

Plan to come for a three-hour time block. The stage event will cover a two-hour span of time. You can see the exhibit, visit the schooner, and buy refreshments before, during, or after the main stage event. This main stage event will include: renowned storyteller Valerie Tutson telling the Amistad story through the eyes of the little girl Margru, one of the captives; Captain Bill Pinkney (maritime folklorist), in one of his last events as master of the Amistad, on the mission of the freedom schooner and its challenge to us; solemn and celebratory worship with instrumentalists and choirs. Everyone will have a chance to see the Amistad exhibition panels, watch the introductory video in a separate tent with several viewing screens, and then walk the deck of the freedom schooner itself. (Please note that visits to the Amistad never include a visit below decks). Buses are able to park nearby, and there is a multi-level parking garage five minutes walk away. We will provide a free shuttle from the garage for those for whom this distance would be a difficulty.

Wow! Fall is here and we are going to hit the ground running. Before I look ahead, I want to look back a little bit. Vacation Bible School was a huge hit with 80 kids. The One Room Schoolhouse has been a big success and we’re grateful to all the people who taught. The kids helped put together school supplies, bought with their offering money, for kids in the area that need a hand. I cannot look back without noticing a big hole that is left by some major changes in the youth ministry. Peggy O’Neil Files will be changing her responsibilities at the church so she will no longer be working with the JYF. Peggy’s ministry will be missed in this area. We wish her God’s blessings as she begins a new leg of her educational journey. After 15 years, Bill Farquharson, has "retired" from SYF. We would be hard pressed to find an equal record of youth ministry volunteer time in any church in the country. Bill will definitely be missed and he leaves some hard shoes to fill. We are grateful for all Bill did in ministering to the youth of this church and community for so long. Luckily, Bill will be starting and facilitating a group for adults beginning in the fall. Stay tuned for more information about this.

Eloise Parks, Director of Christian Education and Youth Ministries