Dear Friends,

Last Sunday I was in the beautiful state of Kentucky to visit my youngest son, Robbie, who is a first year student at Transylvania University in Lexington. It is a fine school with long associations with a major Protestant church, The Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. I was actually raised in that denomination and was ordained by its ministry in 1967. That denomination was born on American soil, but like The United Church of Christ had roots in the European Reformation. Now the so-called Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ are "partner" churches and share many areas of ministry and mission together. Ministers in one church have standing now in the other.

A significant event in the formation of The Christian Church took place in 1801, an event called the "Cane Ridge Revival". There is a fabulous old log "meeting house" at Cane Ridge near Lexington and Kathy and I visited it while on our visit to Robbie. It is, in fact, the largest log building of that type in the world. At the Cane Ridge Meeting there were two major emphases at the foundation of the denomination. The first was that the Bible was the "only sure guide to heaven." The second was one which was to have a deep impact upon the ecumenical movement which continues today and was the basis of the U.C.C./Disciples partnership. The Cane Ridge Meeting expressed the desire, and founding principle, to "sink into union with the body of Christ at large." Our own denomination has long sought unity with other Christian groups and we continue to seek unity in Christ's Church now as partners with the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.

Transylvania, by the way, was an early American University established by the Virginia Assembly in 1780. One of its major missions was to educate ministers primarily for extending the church to the western regions of pioneering America. The University is America's eleventh oldest.

On Sunday last I also attended a service at the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. Pleasant Hill is a magnificent remnant of a small group of people who sought to live their vision of the Christian life in a communal setting. Shakers (so-called, in part, because they were "shaking Quakers") had their roots in the northeast. They began in Niskeyuna, New York, but first moved eastward to Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut. Some of you may have visited such communities as Hancock, Canterbury, New Hampshire or Sabbathday, Maine. Later the Shakers sought to establish communities on the western frontier, thus the Pheasant Hill Village in Kentucky. The service/lecture I attended was primarily a lesson in unique Shaker music.

Kathy didn't go with me to Pheasant Hill because she visited her ailing father in Ohio. We did have time with Robbie who, I figure, is adapting well to college life. He was neither overly glad to see us nor overly sad to see us leave. I take that as a good sign that he is doing just fine!

Love,

© The Church of the Pilgrimage in Plymouth, MA Inc., all rights reserved.

Morning Worship 10:00 A.M. Rev. Charles Harper will be preaching for Gary this morning. Gary and Kathy will be in Ohio where Gary will be conducting Kathy's father, Boyd Mayhew's, funeral. Kathy's father passed this life on October 14, 2003.

Greeters: Jane Cole, Marjorie Sears, Alice Dunham.

The Pulpit Flowers are in loving memory of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Knight, Jr. and Phillip S. Cronin given by The Cronin Family.

All are invited to join us for Coffee Hour downstairs in Allerton Hall following the worship service.

Greeters are needed for all of November. Please call the church office to volunteer to greet or look for the sign-up sheet on the coffee hour counter.

Confirmation Class in the Church House following the service today at 11:30 A.M.

Bible Study groups please read Part 1 of your resource book prior to Oct. 20 and 21. If you have not picked up your resource book please call the office or Dan to make arrangements to pick your copy up.

The Church of the Pilgrimage Services will be aired on P.A.C.T.V. on Sundays at noon and at 10:00 P.M. We are grateful to Bruce Allen for taping the services and for arranging for them to be aired on a delayed basis of one week.

Office Hours: M-F 8:45 A.M.-3:45 P.M. Thursday's 8:30 A.M.-3:00 P.M.

CHURCH RECORD

There is nothing to report this week.

THIS WEEK

Sunday, Oct. 19: Morning Worship 10:00 A.M., Rev. Charles Harper will be preaching. Confirmation Class will meet in the Church House following worship. There will be no Cherub Choir Rehearsal today. Youth Fellowship will help Helen and Ruth Belcher with fall clean-up! Meet at the church house at 2:00 P.M. Bring your work gloves!

Monday, Oct. 20: Rev. Dan's office hours, 10:00-Noon;
Aerobics, 9:00 A.M. in Allerton Hall; Girl Scout Tr. 1128, 6:00 P.M. in Church House.

Tuesday, Oct. 21: Rev. Marks' office hours 9:30 A.M.-11:30 A.M.; Rev. Dan's office hours 10:00 A.M. - Noon; Aerobics, 6:30 P.M. in Allerton Hall; Board of Trustees Meeting in the Church House at 7:00 P.M.

Wednesday, Oct. 22: Aerobics, 9:00 A.M. in Allerton Hall; Rev. Dan's office hours 9:30 A.M.-11:30 A.M.; Staff Meeting-10:00 A.M; Choir Rehearsal - 7:30 P.M; Tr. 47, 7:00 P.M. in the Church House; Pack 47, 7:00 P.M. in the Church House.

Thursday, Oct. 23: Rev. Dan's office hours Noon-2:00P.M.; G.S. Tr. 1227, 4:00 P.M-5:30 P.M. in the Church House; Aerobics, 6:30 P.M. in Allerton Hall.

Friday, Oct. 24: Rev. Marks' office hours, 9:30 A.M.-11:30 A.M. Halloween Dinner Dance, 6:00 P.M..

Saturday, Oct. 25: THE CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMAGE HARVEST FAIR - 10:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M. A group of people from The Church of the Pilgrimage will visit the Freedom Ship Amistad in Boston.

PLEASE NOTE

Please call the church office if you are aware of persons hospitalized or in need of pastoral care. It is especially important to let the ministers know about out-of-town hospitals. Hospital listings prepared for clergy at the Jordan Hospital, too, have been irregular in availability. It is, therefore, important that the ministers and church office be informed of any hospitalizations. Thank you for your help.

Membership Classes- Rev. Marks plans to offer another New Member Class in the near future. If you are interested in church membership, please call the church office or speak with Rev. Marks. The dates will beset for a series of three meetings when enough interest is indicated.

Gary and Kathy Marks enjoyed as visit last week with their youngest son, Robbie. He is a freshman at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.

Rev. Marks conducted a worship service at the Newfield House on October 14th.

Rev. Marks took part in the Groundbreaking ceremony for Habitat for Humanity's first house in Plymouth on October 4th.

Your four delegates to the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ - Marna and John Blomberg and Trace and Julie Sears will be giving a brief 30-minute presentation during coffee hour on Sunday, November 9th in Allerton Hall. They will be updating you on the 204th Annual Meeting. This will be an exciting opportunity to learn about what is going on in our conference and to hear about small groups that could be formed in our church using resources from the Annual Meeting workshops. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend! Childcare will be provided.

Stewardship Committee Update: Following May's Annual Meeting, the Stewardship Committee mailed out a 2nd pledge drive letter in an effort to raise funds to balance our 2003/2004 budget. Out of 165 pledging units, we received 69 responses of which 48 units increased their pledges. With their help we raised $11,000. We still have a deficit of close to $17,000. If you haven't done so already, please mail your pledge form to the Church Office, Attention: Collector, or place it in the collection plate as soon as possible. Extra copies of this summer's letter with pledge card can be found in Allerton hall next to the committee mailboxes.
Yours in Christian Faith and Fellowship, the Stewardship Committee.

Safe Church Committee will have a brief meeting on Sunday, October 26, 2003 immediately following church.

Our new hymnal: The content of our new hymnal is at the publisher. All pre-publishing issues have been settled. The new hymnals are expected to be in our hands before Easter. Many in the congregation have asked if it will be possible to buy and dedicate hymnals as gifts to the church, and the answer is Yes. We will be asking for a donation of $25 (or more). November 2, in Allerton Hall, the Music Committee will have a poster and other information describing the process. We invite all to participate.
Louise Brown and Bill Harting, hymnal committee

Halloween Family Dinner Dance. Come join the fun!
Friday, October 24 @ 6 pm. in Allerton Hall. Homemade Turkey dinner with. Chicken nuggets for the kids. Great family fun with prizes for best costumes. Costumes are optional. Cost is $6 per adult and $4 per child with $20 max per family. Sign up during coffee hour for this great fun event.

Harvest Fair Drawing. If you have not already done so, please plan to visit the Drawing Coordination Table downstairs in Allerton Hall during coffee hour. Committee members will be available every Sunday through October 19th to distribute tickets for you to sell, collect ticket stubs and money from those tickets sold, as well as to distribute more tickets as needed. We want to remind you that this year, the tickets come in books of six. Tickets are either $1 each or 6 for $5.00! Thank you for your continued support, Marna Blomberg and Tom Mudgett (Co-Chairs, Drawing).

Harvest Fair News:
Fair day offers another opportunity for getting involved. If you can spare a few hours to help out at a table, let me know. Above all, come and support this effort with your purchases. We guarantee good buys.

This year the children's corner will feature face painting, cookie decorating and an opportunity to have your picture taken in "dress up" clothes. Call Liisa Budge if you can volunteer your time to help with the children and be sure to visit the jewelry table at the foot of the stairs for some lovely handmade bead necklaces and earrings.

Are you crafty? If you are and enjoy making decorations for the holidays, Betty and Kristen Sander would welcome your additions to their Holiday Table. Xmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween items would be most appreciated.

This year a new table will provide you with a piece of cake and a recipe for it for a minimal charge. Judi Besegai is responsible for this table, so if you are interested in submitting your favorite cake and are willing to include the recipe, both would be welcome.

Again this year we will have a MYSTERY BOX of at least $100 value for a special drawing. For a donation of $2.00, you may be a winner. Take a chance and help the church as well.

For telephone numbers of individual table leaders please call me at (508) 746-4514. Diana Budge

Harvest Fair Luncheon: Deb Porter asked me to appeal to the members of the congregation that can spare the time for help setting up the afternoon of October 24 and help in serving, etc. on Fair Day. If you can spare a few hours but are unable to be there the whole day, it is no problem. We will schedule help in smaller time increments as we have volunteers. At this point, manpower is a real need in several areas. If you can help, please contact Deb Porter at (508) 746-4109.

COMING EVENTS

Oct. 26: New Members will be received during the worship service. Daylight Savings Time Ends. "Fall back one hour."
Safe Church Committee Meeting following the service.

Oct. 28: The Advisory Board will meet in the Church House at 7:00 P.M. The Missions Committee will meet in the Church House at 7:00 P.M.

Nov. 2: CROP Walk.

Nov. 9: Mass. Conference Presentation during the Coffee Hour (see notes).

Clerk - Lois Post; Moderator - Steven Triffletti; Treasurer - David Kegel; Collector - Thomas Mudgett;
Asst. Collector - Debbie Chaskes; Music Director - William B Richter;
Secretary - Pam McNicholas; Sexton - Tony Nightingale; World Mission Emphasis - Heifer Project International;
Church Building Telephone - (508) 747-1341.