Koinonia will meet at the home of Elaine Guilfoyle on Monday, April 10, at 7:00 PM. Elaine’s phone number is 781-934-9648.

The Senior Choir has joyfully welcomed the return of Cindy Toffoloni, who has been away for a while - so happy to have you with us, Cindy.

We have been preparing music for Lent and Easter so the mood changes frequently. All choirs will participate in the joyful music on Easter Sunday. The Pilgrim Ringers and Junior Choir will be at the 9:00 service and the Senior Choir at the 11:00 service. This is the happiest day in the church calendar and the music will reflect this.

Cathy Morrison, Music Director

Remember – If you have an item to submit for the newsletter, you can send it via email or as an attachment to:

pilgrimchurchsecretary@pilgrimchurchofduxbury.org. The deadline for May’s Pilgrim’s Progress is Saturday, April 15^th. Please call the Church Office –934-6591-if you have any questions.

The In-Between Time

You may recall that in last month’s newsletter, I quoted from a book called Temporary Shepherds A Congregational Handbook for Interim Ministry, edited by Roger S. Nicholson. This is a book about the in-between time - the time between settled pastors - when we ask the important questions: Who can we become? and Where can we go?

The book is divided into four parts including (1) The Interim Congregation, (2) The Interim Journey, (3) Framing the Journey, and (4) Tools for the Journey, and each chapter is authored by .people who are serving as interim ministers. I have found this book to be a valuable tool, full of expert guidance for facing that anxious time after the pastor has resigned, but before he has actually departed.

In the Foreword, Peter Steinke notes that if you view the local church as a system, you see that when a pastor leaves, the departure changes the system. It puts the church in transition, and "transitions disrupt patterns". Since "change in one part affects all the other parts," special attention is needed, and that kind of attention is precisely what an intentional interim minister offers. Though interim ministers may be "temporary shepherds," they can have meaningful, long-term effects on the lives of congregations.

What can we do to make the interim journey exciting and fulfilling despite the risks and challenges associated with it? How can we assure our readiness as a congregation to move forward in new ways with a new leader? One of the authors offers this advice.

1. Pray. Pray for the church and for the pastor.

2, Advise the denominational executive. (DONE)

3. Pray. Pray for the interim time and for the lay leadership of the church.

4. Invite the denominational representative to a board meeting to talk. (DONE)

5. Pray. Pray for other churches in transition and for clergy in searches.

6. Celebrate the pastor’s ministry. (JUNE 3 and 4)

7. Pray. And trust that God is listening.

Our interim committee has been established, and it will be their job to find our temporary shepherd. The group, chaired by Lynn DeHart, includes John MacLaren, Heidi Hadley, and Skip Schippers. Include them in your prayers, and remember that "change is orchestrated by God. It is inevitable." As it occurs and moves us into transition periods, we must listen for the Holy Spirit to guide us through it, and pray.

SPRING FOOD BASKETS

Please join us for our 2 services this month. Come explore the "Foolishness of the Gospel" at our April 1^st service. On April 15^th, we will have a special Holy Saturday vigil. On April 29^th, we hope everyone will join us for the Missions Dinner at Camp Wing.

By now you should have received your Church Council invitation to attend a "Gathering" to help us begin the transition process to new pastoral leadership. There are three distinct events to give you flexibility of choice from April 2nd to May 7th. Join your fellow members at a Pot Luck Supper, Dessert Coffee or Wine & Cheese event. You can sign up for the event of choice by:

• Signing up on the church vestry
• Calling the church office - 781-934-6591
• Email Lynne Wolfe - lynne.devnew@verizon.net
• Mail your choice to Lynne Wolfe’s attention at the church office

The gatherings start on April 2^nd with a Pot Luck Supper in the vestry, so check your calendars and match up a clear date with a Pilgrim Church Gathering soon!

As I write this, Holy Conversations I, a workshop here at Pilgrim piloting for the Massachusetts Conference of the UCC Rev. Richard Peace’s curriculum, to be published this summer on "Holy Conversations", is well underway. If you were a fly on the wall in one of our sessions you’d likely observe – why would anyone call these Christians the "Frozen Chosen"? We’re busy developing our personal repertoires of faith stories – in the first two lessons we’ve been looking at our own lives for stories and finding, often to our amazement, we really DO have stories to tell! And we’re honing these stories by practicing telling them to each other! And we’re enjoying getting to know each other better in the process.

In response to many requests to offer the workshop again, this time in a weekday timeslot, Holy Conversations II has been scheduled. We will be meeting on Tuesdays (May 16^th and 30^th and June 6^th, 13^th, and 20^th) from 10 – 11:30 AM.

We’d love to have you join us. If you know you will be coming or have questions, please email or phone Lynne Devnew Wolfe. More information on the workshop is also available in the March Pilgrims Progress.

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Save the weekend of June 3^rd and 4^th to celebrate Ken’s ministry and wish Claudia and Ken well as they begin the next phase in their lives together. Events are still evolving, but we plan to have an informal celebration for the entire church family on Saturday evening, June 3^rd and a special retirement service and reception on Sunday morning, June 4^th. More information to come! (Let Marlene Biffar, Martha Ball, or Lynne Devnew Wolfe know if you’d like to participate in organizing the activities.)

As we face the challenges and excitement of pastoral leadership transition, the ongoing work of all the groups and committees at Pilgrim Church becomes even more important than usual. Our committees initiate, plan, coordinate and lead most of the activities enabling Pilgrim Church to do God’s work, especially helping us implement our 20/10 Vision with its focus on Spiritual Enrichment, Inreach and Outreach.

At the Pilgrim Church Annual Meeting on May 16^th we will elect new officers and committee members. Almost all Pilgrim Church committees have 3 year terms and a third of the committee members are new each year, so there are MANY opportunities to serve. The nominating committee intends to complete the slate of new committee members well before that annual meeting, ideally early in April!

We love to match church members with the boards and committees of interest to them; those they have a passion for or which best use their gifts. And YOU know those interests, passions and gifts better than any of us do! If you think you might like to serve on the Board of Deacons, the Board of Trustees, the Board of Christian Outreach, the Board of Christian Education, the Board of Music, the Flower Committee, the Stewardship Committee, the Pilgrim Childcare & Preschool Board of Directors, the Saturday Evening Service Team, the Memorial Committee, the Parish Nursing Committee, the Endowment Committee, the Adult Fellowship Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee or the Pilgrim Women’s Fellowship Board please:

• Call the current committee chairperson to discuss what the committee does – for most committees this information is available in the back of our current "lavender" booklet – the Pilgrim Fellowship Booklet for 2005-2006 published by the Pilgrim Women’s Fellowship Committee.
• Call or email Lynne Devnew Wolfe, our volunteer coordinator. This is a particularly good option if you either can’t find the information you need or want to ask questions about multiple committees.
• Call or email Marlene Biffar, our church moderator, who has overall responsibility for this year’s nominating process.
• Call staff members with staff responsibility for the function. These include: Rev. Ken Landall for Deacons, Trustees and Strategic Planning, Linda Shropshire for Trustees, Rev. Eloise Parks for CE and the Saturday evening service team, Rev. Bev Duncan for Outreach and Parish Nursing, Cathy Morrison for Music, Cathy Doughty for Stewardship and Trustees, and Lynne Devnew Wolfe for Stewardship and Adult Fellowship.

Please prayerfully consider how you might best contribute your time, talent and passion to Pilgrim Church during this important transition period. Perhaps serving on a Pilgrim Church committee is one of those ways!