Dear Friends,

As I write this letter I am keenly aware of that clear and beautiful September morning in 2001 when America endured a terrorist attack. The date, 9/11, has become indelible in our national consciousness. We have all, I'm sure, seen hundreds of hours of film, heard as many hours of commentary and some of us have read reams of pages regarding the horrid events which changed us permanently.

Despite all that I personally have seen, heard and read there is still an aurora of unreality about all that happened on 9/11 and in the two year interval since that day. I, like the rest of us, was going along in life in a kind of blithe innocence about the general well being of safety of the U.S. in an otherwise turbulent and conflicted world. I maintained that innocence until 9/11 not because I was ignorant of world events, but because I was unaware of potential reactions by those who experience poverty and injustice in several parts of the world, but I was absolutely unprepared for the degree of resentment toward American policies which prompted the unthinkable (until then) events now etched in the national consciousness by a September dating - 9/11.

Innocence is not lost in any area of life without tumultuous and conflicting reactions. In such losses there is astonishment, grief, anger and erratic reactions. While we are all forced to sacrifice innocence in life, losing it is never easy and reactions to it are never predictable.
In a loss of innocence like that forced upon us on 9/11 we are prone to identify an enemy, an object, a philosophy toward which we focus our grief and anger. Fear always seeks an object with which it can deal. In our frenzy to identify enemies, however, we must take special care, be reasonable, lest we make enemies of those who are themselves innocent of the actions and guilt of extremists.

In the aftermath of 9/11 I find it to be of crucial importance to keep our wits, to weigh all reactions reasonably and avoid creating false enemies out of need to have an object for our fears. I am increasingly convinced that beyond reason and sensitive diplomacy we need to seek the wisdom of God. We as a race generally make a mess of things when we don't listen attentively to God's desire for peace and reconciliation. Of course, we have manipulated God to fit our purposes, as others have also done, but a prayerful listening to the Word of God and to the wisdom of the ages will aid us immeasurably as we deal with the true enemies of the human enterprise.

I hope that you will join me in worship, prayer, divine meditation and action as we seek to find the ways of peace and grace where a loss of innocence is as common as our often unrecognized need for God's grace and wisdom.

Love,

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

Morning Worship 10:00 A.M. Rev. Gary Marks preaching.
Greeters: Laura & Cliff Sampson

The Pulpit Flowers are in loving memory of Mr. & Mrs. Harry W. Burns and Harry, Jr., given by Jane Burns.

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

Greeters are needed for September 28 and October 12, 19 and 26. Please call the church office to volunteer to greet or look for the sign-up sheet on the coffee hour counter.Coffee Hour: Please sign up for coffee hour for the month of September and upcoming months. In order to maintain this tradition, volunteers are needed!

Rev. Dan has a new cell phone # (781) 413-6794.

Continuing Church School Registration Sunday, September 14, 2003 at 9:30 A.M. in Allerton Hall. Includes pre-school - confirmation. Children will attend adult worship and will be dismissed following Time for Teaching.

Office Hours: M-F 8:45 A.M.-3:45 P.M.

CHURCH RECORD

Hospitalized:

Recuperating: Ed Pawlowski is doing fine after a brief stay at The Jordan Hospital.

Wedding:
On September 6, 2003, Rev. Marks conducted a wedding service for Stephen James Delamere and Tara Meredith Badgio in the church sanctuary.

THIS WEEK

Sunday, Sept. 14: Morning Worship 10:00 A.M., Rev. Marks preaching. Church School Registration continues at 9:30 a.m. in Allerton Hall.

Monday, Sept. 15: Rev. Marks will meet for a board meeting of the American Congregational Association in Boston; Aerobics, 9:00 A.M. in Allerton Hall; Rev. Dan's office hours 10:00 A.M. - Noon; Girl Scout Tr. 1128, 6:00 P.M. in Church House; Bd. of Trustee Meeting with Bear Stearns 7:00 P.M. in the Mayflower Room.

Tuesday, Sept. 16: Rev. Marks' office hours 9:30-11:30 A.M.; Rev. Dan's office hours 10:00 A.M. - Noon; Aerobics, 6:30 P.M. in Allerton Hall; The Board of Trustees will meet at 7:00 P.M. in the Mayflower Room.

Wednesday, Sept. 17: 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; Music Committee Meeting 6:30 P.M. in the Mayflower Room; Choir Rehearsal - 7:30 P.M; Tr. 47, 7:00 P.M. in the Church House.

Thursday, Sept. 18: 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; Wedding Rehearsals 6:30 P.M. and 7:30 P.M. in the Sanctuary.

Friday, Sept. 19: Rev. Marks' office hours, 9:30 A.M.-11:30 A.M.; Rev. Marks will conduct a wedding 6:00 P.M. at Indian Pond Country Club in Kingston.

Saturday, Sept. 20: Weddings 1:30 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. in the sanctuary.

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-On September 21st the first of a series of three membership classes will be held following morning worship. The classes will be led by Rev. Marks and will be one hour in length, 11:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M. A number of people had indicated an interest in church membership last spring when scheduling complications caused a delay in offering the classes until now. If you have spoken to Rev. Marks previously about membership, please do so again or call the church office to indicate your interest. We very much want to welcome you into the Pilgrimage family!

Rev. Marks is greatly honored to have been chosen to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of The American Congregational Association. Among many other duties of the Association is the oversight of a large and historically significant library housed at The Congregational House at 14 Beacon Street in Boston. You'll be hearing much more about the Association and Library as time goes by. Rev. Marks' first meeting will be on September 15, 2003 at 14 Beacon Street.

Looking for Adults to assist as advisors and program developers for Youth Fellowship. If interested please call Rev. Dan in the church office.

Come Visit the Amistad Freedom Schooner on October 25, 2003. If you are interested in learning more about this ship or signing up to go as a group please sign-up at Coffee Hour during the month of September! Due to the demand for tickets, the MACUCC Amistad Celebration Day has changed pavillions and tour times. The celebration will be held at Fleet Boston Pavillion. We will be requesting group tickets for the last tour of the day, which departs at 3:30 p.m. We will leave our Church that day around 1:45 P.m. Tickets are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children ages 12 and under. Don't miss this great opportunity to celebrate our history with this ship!

Church Directories have arrived! Please check Allerton Hall for a table to pick up your free directory if you had your photo taken by Olan Mills. Additional directories are available for a suggested donation of $3.00.

Correction to the Church Directory: Cliff and Laura Sampson's phone number was incorrectly listed. Please change the number in your directory to (508) 746-2700. The Committee apologies for this error. Please notify the office of any other corrections in the Directory. Also please make a note in your Directory that Rev. Spacek has a new phone number (781) 413-6794.

Harvest Fair Drawing is about to begin! Although the drawing itself does not take place until Fair day, most of the money is made in advance when all of you who are willing, take tickets to sell and/or buy for yourselves. Please plan on visiting our Drawing Coordination Table downstairs in Allerton Hall during coffee hour starting Sunday, September 14th. The Committee will be distributing tickets along with brochures. If you cannot attend on the 14th, we will be available during coffee hour each Sunday leading up to the Fair. Thank you for your support, Marna Blomberg and Tom Mudgett (Co-Chairs, Drawing).

Thank you to everyone who ushered during the summer months. Linn Peterson and Trace Sears.

Our New Hymnal: Our 32-page supplement to Hymns of Truth and Light is just about finished. The printer has returned proofs of our final corrections to us, and has forwarded the supplement to the publisher for their final review. The publisher will shortly be sending the church a printing contract. We'll have an announcement later in September about how to purchase bookplates and dedicate hymnals.

Harvest Fair Reminder: The date for the Harvest Fair is fast approaching and we are well on our way to making it a success. However, we need the help of everyone in the congregation. Please consider lending your talents in whatever way that you can.
Some of the areas that need help are:

Attic Treasures: This year we are refining our collection of items for resale to include smaller treasures such as glassware, pottery and decorative items of all kinds. The constraints of space make it necessary to suggest that you save your larger contributions for the summer sale. We have several new tables this year that we must make room for, but we do not want to shortchange one of our most popular areas. So please be selective and provide us with some great choices in these categories.

Photo Corner: This year, the children will have the opportunity to dress up and have their pictures taken as a memento of the occasion for a moderate price. We have volunteers who will help to costume them and our computer experts will process the pictures. Take advantage of this opportunity and if you have any "once used" dancing school costumes or old Halloween costumers that we may borrow, let us know.

Knitting Nook: I would like to encourage all of our knitters to use these last weeks to finish projects that you have begun and if possible, we can use some baby sweaters for this table. There is enough time for knitting small items left before the fair and there was a call for baby items last year. Call me if you need patterns.

Calico Corner: Calling all of our needle workers. If you can find the time, please consider making items for this table. Aprons, pillows, potholders, table linens and decorative items are all in short supply. It is important to have a variety of items for sale and this is a good table to display your talents.
Thank you, Diana Budge, Chairman

Coming Events

Sept. 21: Rev. Marks will offer the first of a series of three membership classes following worship, 11:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M. (Please see notes).
- Installation in Plympton: Ecclesiastical Council, 3:00 P.M., Service of Installation, 4:00 P.M.

Sept. 23: The Advisory Board will meet in the Mayflower Room, 7:00 P.M.

Sept. 28: Habitat for Humanity Special Offering during the morning worship service.
-The second in a series of three membership classes will be held, 11:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M.

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.