PILGRIM’S
PROGRESS
February
2008
Dear Friends,
Since my “Pastor’s Message” for January’s Pilgrim’s Progress was written before our Annual Budget Meeting, I’d like to offer belated observations. It was inspiring to see so many people show up and speak up. It is my understanding that only a handful of people (30-40) have attended Annual Budget Meetings in past years. Over 200 people came to the December 9 meeting!
What I find inspiring about this as a Pastor is the mobilization of lay folk taking responsibility for their role in the church as what the apostle Peter calls the priesthood of all believers. This is a key ingredient of early Christianity as Jewish believers became informed about their faith and took responsibility to grow in their relationship with God. The net result was a faith that transformed lives and changed the church forever. That’s why December 9 was so very exciting to me.
In the Annual Budget Meeting many of you raised important questions about Congregational process and what it means to have a Covenantal partnership with the United Church of Christ. These are key questions for Pilgrim Church of Duxbury in this critical time of transition.
First, the Congregational polity or process is about who has authority in the church and how decisions are made. The Scriptures and the Constitution of the United Church of Christ make it clear that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, and the Church are members of Christ’s Body. Our role is to discern God’s will and to do God’s work in the church, community and the world. We do this by looking to God in prayer and listening respectfully to one another in dialogue. Though the Congregational way is messy and far from perfect, when we faithfully practice this process we move more and more toward discerning God’s mind for the greater good of the congregation.
In the same way that the democratic process is a government of the people, by the people and for the people, authority in Congregational polity is ‘bottom up as opposed to top down.’ Congregationalism is different than democracy in one very important point: The people aren’t the ultimate source of the authority, God is. Obviously, it’s too cumbersome for a congregation to meet in this kind of process every time a decision is made; which is why we have representative government invested in the Council, whose members represent the various Boards and Committees of Pilgrim Church. To this point, it’s critical to realize that no Chairperson can speak on behalf of his/her Board or Committee without a conversation and consensus around any issue presented at Council. It is therefore important when serving on any Committee/Board to put our own special interests aside and never make unilateral decisions for the whole which do not reflect their voice and vote. This is the intent of Congregational government; it is never hierarchical and always democratic albeit messy to a fault!
Usually
there is little contention when proper process is respected and all involved
parties are informed. Proper process
builds trust and trust fosters unity.
This brings harmony to Christ’s Body the Church and honor to Jesus
Christ as the Head. I hope this
clarifies some of your questions regarding Congregational polity and in our
next issue of Pilgrim’s Progress I will speak to Pilgrim’s Covenantal
partnership with the United Church of Christ.
A blessed Lent as we journey together in faith,
Reverend Beverly Weinhold
Intentional Interim Senior Pastor
…From the Charter of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of the
Pilgrim
Women’s Fellowship
Pilgrim Women's Fellowship will be hosting a Valentine's Luncheon on Thursday, February 14 at 10:30 am. Our program is "A Woman's Heart: God's Great Romance" (a floral interpretation). Cost to be determined. Registration will be in the vestry after church on 1/27, 2/3 and 2/10 or you can call Heidi Hadley (934-4692) or the church office (934-6591 ext. 100).
The
next meeting of Bookworms is Tuesday, February 26 in the church
library. We’ll be discussing “The Boleyn
Inheritance” by Philippa Gregory. Join us at 1:30 PM on the 26th!
This month’s meeting of Koinonia will be at 7:00 PM on Monday, February 11 at
the home of Winnie D’Amelio. If you have any questions regarding the
group, call Elaine Guilfoyle at 781/934-9648.
Outreach Mission
Focus: Serve
This Outreach Mission is referred
to by the name of the food cooperative that is the source of the wholesome,
low-cost food packages we deliver to four local families. Anyone willing to put
in at least two hours of volunteer community service in a given month can be a
member and purchase one or more of Serve's food packages, which are distributed
once a month at several chapter Distribution Centers (sites which are borrowed,
not owned).
What is in the boxes? About 5 pounds of meat, plus rice or potatoes, vegetables and fruit, about enough to make ½ to 1 week's worth of dinners for a family of four, supplemented with lots of bread. We deliver two or three boxes to each family; additional packages of meat are available individually and we purchase these for two of our families. Naturally, since the food is perishable, our volunteers deliver immediately after pick-up, with the whole process taking 1 to 1 ½ hours.
How
do we find our families? To date, to my knowledge we have looked to the
Interfaith Council for all of our referrals. There has been a little bit of
turnover when families move, but generally we have served the same folks since
the mission was started about five years ago. Most, but not all, of our
recipients have children; all have trouble making ends meet and depend on this
support. As the Outreach Board begins an
examination of all its priorities, we are open to expanding this mission if
anyone knows a needy family to refer to us.
Supporting the Serve New England mission makes our outreach dollars go farther, in a more satisfying way, than perhaps any other charity we support. It combines the efficient buying power of a volunteer-run food co-op with our own direct hands-on involvement, with virtually nothing wasted on administrative overhead.
To learn more about the food co-op, see www.servenewengland.org. For information about volunteering as a driver, call Renee Kahl at 934-7576, and see our information table at coffee hour on Feb. 10.
What Happens When
you Don't Specify “Missions” (OCWM) or “Operating” on
Your Offering Envelope/Check
While taking another opportunity to thank everyone for your 2008 pledges, we also need to drive home once again a reminder you have heard many times: designate each contribution according to what portion is for operating and what is for missions! Preferably, do it each time you make a contribution. Write it on every weekly envelope, monthly or annual check, or automatic debit, as the case may be. Here is why that is so important:
Throughout the year, donations that are not specified as being for either operations or missions are assigned to operations, even if the donor pledged to both. Then, at the end of the year, to be faithful to people's pledges, an adjustment is made for each pledge/donor, transferring any donations that person gave in excess of his operations pledge over to missions. The office does not do this “automatically” on an ongoing basis; it's tedious enough to do it once a year.
While you may conclude no harm is done if it all comes out right in the end, this process creates distortions in the budget process that in turn distorts decisions. During the year, monies available to operations appear larger than they are, and the Outreach Board curtails its spending unnecessarily because it appears to have a deficit. So please designate!
Thank you!
The Board of Christian Outreach
Renee Kahl, Chairperson
All four choirs are actively preparing diverse selections of sacred music to offer
on Sunday Mornings. Our congregation enjoys many different styles of the directors endeavor to reflect that
diversity. We do sing and play music of composers of baroque,
classical, modern and contemporary styles.
To present
inspiring, well-prepared, appropriate and
quality music at our church is the
goal.
It is
hoped that with prayerful
consideration we
accomplish this.
The Junior and Teen Choirs have
gained new members and that
is a
blessing. These young people
have a unique and
lovely sound and all enjoy their beautiful
music.
Ash Wednesday
occurs this month signaling the beginning of the Holy season of Lent. Our
music will be
appropriate to this solemn
time culminating in the
joyous music of Easter!
Please join us if you enjoy
making music. You will also
enjoy the benefit of gaining new
friendships and
renewing the old. Hope to see you!
Cathleen Morrison,
Music Director
Junior
Choir News:
The Junior Choir is growing! Please join us on Sundays
after Church for rehearsal. There is no limit to how many can join. All
children ages 6 - 13 are welcome. Thank you to all members for your wonderful
singing!
Mrs.
Cybulska
The Prayer Shawl Ministry group will be meeting in the parlor on Tuesday, Feb. 19, from 1:15-3:15 PM. This group is an ongoing gathering which welcomes new members at any time. Or stop by to see what we're working on and get inspired! So far we have created about a dozen prayer shawls which have been given to very appreciative recipients! Last month a special blessing on several of the finished shawls took place in the sanctuary during a Sunday service. Winter is a great time to get out the yarn and knitting needles, so come and join us. For more information, call Maddie Merrifield at 781-837-8545.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus spent much of his time
feeding people. There are countless
parables and stories centered on sharing a meal or feeding the poor. Maybe that is why we like to participate in
fellowship that includes food such as the progressive dinner, cooking night and
baked sales at coffee hour. Maybe that
is why many of our Outreach Ministries are centered on feeding others, such as
Pine Street Inn, Serve New England, Project Headstart
and Plymouth Coalition for the Homeless.
It could also be claimed that Jesus spent time assuring people were
spiritually fed, which could explain the increased interest and attendance at
Bread for the World is a
54,000-member Christian citizens' movement against hunger. In October 1972, a
small group of Catholics and Protestants met to reflect on how persons of faith
could be mobilized to influence
Blessings~Rev. Peggy
Saturday Night 5
Join us for our annual “Souper Bowl” Service on Feb. 2nd. Remember to bring in canned
goods to be donated to Plymouth Coalition for the Homeless. Following the service, we will
have our annual Chili Potluck Supper. See you there!
Adult
Christian
Education
Adult
Education Lenten Series
NOOMA
presented
and led by our own Stephen Ministers
2/27, 3/5, 3/12
7-9pm - film,
discussion, refreshments
We can get anything we want, from
anywhere in the world, whenever we want it. That's how it is and that's how we
want it to be. Still, our lives aren't any different than other generations
before us. Our time is. We want
spiritual direction, but it has to be real for us. That is NOOMA.
The name NOOMA is an English phonetic
spelling of the Greek word pneuma, meaning “spirit” or “breath”. Pneumatology refers to
the study of spiritual beings, particularly the interactions between humans and
God.
Each session will
include a brief NOOMA film that touches on issues relating to real-life
situations with communicators that really speak to us. It will cover a specific
topic that we care about, that we want to talk about with a spiritual
perspective. More information is
available on the
PCCP:
Did you know?
Each year the Pilgrim Child Care &
Preschool (PCCP) contracts the services of specialists who teach Music/Drama,
Gym/Fitness, and Spanish in order to enhance and diversify the children’s
exposure to learning. Since 1997,
enrichment activities have been a great success and very beneficial for the
children. The Spanish program was
piloted in the summer of 2004 and is a welcomed addition to the schedule.
Music/Drama takes place on Monday mornings
(or Wednesday mornings when there is a Monday holiday); Gym/Fitness is
scheduled on Tuesday mornings; Spanish is held Wednesday afternoons; and Pizza
lunch is enjoyed on Thursdays. Activity fees are paid as a single payment for
the academic year or monthly with a student’s tuition payment.
Music/Drama, Gym/Fitness, and Pizza Day begin
when a child moves to the Toddler 2 room.
Spanish is added in Preschool.
Here is a little about each program:
Mrs. Kathie Lee teaches Music/Drama. Through puppetry, costume, natural
dramatization, and musical instruments, Kathie teaches the basics of imitation,
rehearsal, rhythm, and song at age-appropriate levels. The main goal is for the children to enjoy
this time with Mrs. Lee while learning new sounds and impersonations. In the Gym/Fitness classes, instructors introduce group
exercises, obstacle courses, and gym equipment while helping children gain
gross motor control and skills through fun and lively activities. Alejandra
Peary, who taught two and three year olds Spanish through the Before & After Dark program, presently has a full-time position at
the
SAVE THE DATE!
A fun-raiser* for our youths’ Missions Trip
to
SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 8
6 – 8 PM: COCKTAIL PARTY FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS
8:00 PM: DINNERS IN VARIOUS PRIVATE HOMES
Be a host and plan
whatever kind of dinner party you like—dinner jackets or dungarees, fifty
guests or five, chateaubriand or chili—it’s up to you. If you’d like, ask a friend to share the joys
of hosting and be co-hosts together.
Once you know how many guests you want to have, you can either create
your own guest list or invite members of
OR
Be a guest and leave
the cooking to someone else. For a
much-appreciated donation of $35 per person (100% of which goes to the Missions
Trip), all guests will first attend a cocktail party together and then will
travel to their hosts’ home for dinner.
In that way, you’ll have a chance to visit with all participants before
gathering in smaller groups for dinner.
If you’re interested in Mississippi Suppers, watch for sign-ups after church or contact
Beth Gregg, at 934-9276 or b_gregg@comcast.net
*Fun-raiser: a not-to-be-missed opportunity to share laughs and
fellowship while raising money for our kids’ work in
Christian
Education Corner
Kid’s Klub*Kid’s Klub – For 4th, 5th and 6th graders – we will meet in the vestry from 2:30 -4:00 PM on Sunday, February 24th. Join us for food, fun and fellowship.
JYF*JYF*JYF – Keep an eye out for those postcards.
Confirmation – You are in charge of the service on February 10th. We will have a run-through on the 3rd after Church so you can get used to using the mikes. The Souper Bowl is on Saturday, February 3rd and Sunday the 4th. REMEMBER! If you collect 25 cans from friends and neighbors for the food drive, you will earn 2 hours of outreach credit.
SYF*SYF*SYF- You will not meet this month due to Confirmation Sunday and February break.
Peace and Grace,
Rev. Eloise
|
Please note that Reverend Weinhold has a new email address. It is: bev@churchmail.com |
New Members
Class!!
A New Members
Class will take place on two consecutive Sundays in the New Year: February 24 and March 2. Our deacons will be sending a letter to those
of you who have expressed an interest and will be following this with a phone
call. We realize too, that some have not
indicated interest on our Fellowship Pads (located in our pews and signed on
Sundays). Please call Dan Hall
(781/934-7321) or Pastor Weinhold (781/934-6591 ext.
102) with any questions or to have a conversation. We look forward to getting to know you better
and we are eager to share more about our special community with all of you.
Please plan to join us on 2/24 and 3/2 even if you are unsure about joining. We
will journey together and you can decide if and when you want to take a step
closer.
The
Reverend Beverly Weinhold
Adult Fellowship is hosting a Potluck Supper on Sunday, February 10 at 5:30 PM. The dinner will be held in a private home (or two, depending on the number of people who attend). Please sign up in the vestry. If you have any questions, feel free to call Colleen Brayer at 781/934-6474 or Shirley Dunphy at 781/837-5655.
PARISH
POST
Prayers
of Healing - Grace Poellmitz
- Priscilla Sangster – Marge Trout
Prayers of Comfort and Solace
For the family and
friends of Harlan
Woerpel, Traci Shortt’s
father.
For
the family and friends of Olive MacQuarrie, Janice Brodil’s mother.
For the family and
friends of Norva Jeanne Henrichs,
Ronald Wolfe’s cousin.
Prayers of Joy
For the birth of Michaela Ann Fiske, daughter of Michael Fiske and Caitlyn Bristow and first grandchild of David and Lee Fiske.
Prayers of Comfort
and Solace
For the family and friends of Judith (Brodie) Swanson Harrison, former member of
For the family and friends of Milan Heath, Kiki Houghton’s nephew and Carolyn Walsh’s cousin.
PLEASE NOTE:
In inclement weather conditions, please know that you can call the church -781-934-6591- to receive up-to-date cancellation information. You can also check WATD and WBZ Storm Center, for emergency Sunday worship cancellations.