Dear Friends,

During the Advent/Christmas seasons a great deal of attention is focused on the language of peace. We all say we want peace and many of our Christmas and New Year's greetings contain wishes and hopes for peace to reign among the nations and within our hearts and souls. We pray for peace, we sing about peace, we seem to long for peace. Yet, peace in any way in which it is conceived seems a very elusive quality to achieve.

It is one thing to wish and long for peace, it is quite another to act in peaceful ways and to work to make it a reality. Wishes and hopes are fine, but it takes work to bring hopes and wishes into being. There is a story of which you may be aware about making peace work that I, nonetheless, retell here about making peace a working part of the way one lives.

In 1888, Alfred Nobel found his name in the obituary column of a newspaper. The obituary bore the heading, "The Dynamite King Is Dead." The obituary item was a careless error for it was Nobel's brother who had actually died.

That mistake made Nobel aware that the world looked upon him as a merchant of death who had become a wealthy man by making explosives. That mistaken obituary struck Nobel with the force of revelation. He, therefore, wrote a new last will and testament. He decided to leave his entire fortune to establish an award which would reflect his deepest convictions about the real purposes of life's ideals. That action was the inception of the famed Nobel Peace Prize.

Nobel had the sensitivity and will to establish an award for those who actually have made a difference in their lives and work toward making ideals into realities.

The ideal of peace does mean that we show in our lives a willingness to make peace real. That may mean that we repress retaliatory inclinations at times for the sake of peace. Such actions would not mean, of course, that we simply succumb to violence. It does mean that we seek out ways by which in our lives we show that peace is a preferable way to live over anger and violence.

Beyond our personal lives, we also should seek out ways to indicate that pursuing peace among communities and nations can accomplish more for the good of all than destruction can accomplish. It is, indeed, a complex world in which we live and, alas, it is a violent world, too. Seeking the ways of the Prince of Peace will not be, and never has been, easy. Yet, as Christian people who say that we desire peace, it is important that we act upon what we say we desire. Violence begets violence. I rather imagine that it is likewise true that peace begets peace.

Let us concentrate upon peace. The world needs someone to do that and there are no more appropriate people than the followers of the Prince of Peace to be the one's for whom peace is an objective, indeed, it is our call.

Love,

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

Morning Worship 10:00 A.M. Rev. Gary Marks will be preaching.

The Children will attend Church School following the Time for Teaching.

Greeters: Dorothy and Everett Lanman

The Pulpit Flowers are in loving memory of Kathy Manson, beloved wife, mother and friend, given by her family.

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

Volunteers are needed to sign up for Coffee Hour. Please look for the sign-up sheet on the coffee hour counter.

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

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

CHURCH RECORD

Hospitalized: Helen Belcher, Jordan Hospital

In Memoriam:
On January 6, 2004, Rev. Marks conducted a funeral service for Virginia Melanson in Wareham. Burial was at The National Cemetery in Bourne. Virginia was the mother of Paul Gokey.

THIS WEEK

Sunday, Jan. 11: Morning Worship 10:00 A.M., Rev. Gary L. Marks will be preaching. Rev. Dan will be running a half marathon in at Disney World.

Monday, Jan. 12: Rev. Dan's office hours 10:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M.; Aerobics, 9:00 A.M. in Allerton Hall; Girl Scout Tr. 1128, 4:00 P.M. in Church House.

Tuesday, Jan. 13: Rev. Marks will be in the church office, 9:30-11:30 A.M. Rev. Dan's office hours 10:00 A.M.-Noon; Aerobics, 6:30 P.M. in Allerton Hall; Knitting Group at Diana Budge's House at 7:00 P.M.

Wednesday, Jan. 14: Aerobics, 9:00 A.M. in AH; Rev. Dan's office hours Noon-2:00 P.M.; Staff Meeting, 10:00 A.M; Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 P.M. in the Sanctuary; Troop 47, 7:00 P.M. in the Church House.

Thursday, Jan. 15: Rev. Dan's office hours, 10:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M.; Girl Scout Troop 1227, 6:00 P.M. in the CH; Aerobics, 6:30 P.M. in AH.

Friday, Jan. 16: Aerobics, 9:00 A.M. in AH; Rev. Marks' office hours 9:30-11:30 A.M.

Saturday, Jan. 17

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.

New Members Classes- Beginning on January 18th Rev. Marks will hold the first of three new member classes. The classes will be held on Sundays following morning worship and will last one hour, 11:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M. Childcare will be provided. If you are interested in becoming a church member, please speak to Rev. Marks or call the church office at (508) 746-3026.

New hearing devices will be available to those who need them beginning on January 11th. The aids to hearing will be available for purchase for those who wish their own. Their price, however, will not be an issue for those who need the aids. Debbie Porter will be available during the Coffee Hour to answer your questions and to distribute the first hearing devices. We are grateful for funds from the Vera Blood Estate for allowing the Board of Trustees to make major improvements to our sound system already in use in the sanctuary. We hope those who have had difficult hearing during worship services are already being helped by the most welcome improvements to our sound system.

If there are those interested in continuing the Wednesday night Prayer/Reflection Service, please speak to Rev. Marks or call the church office. For those who have not attended, the services are made up of Scripture and other readings and prayer. They are a brief time for meditation and prayer which those who have attended in the past have found to be a helpful contrast to the hassled lives we otherwise live. The average attendance at the half-hour sessions has been ten people. If there are ten people interested in enriching their spiritual lives, that is enough to begin the classes anew. The meditation sessions could also lead to other short-term spirituality classes. Let us know what you think.

As you know, the first Sunday in each month is Communion Sunday. The ministers of the church realize just how important it is to recognize the quiet, behind-the-scenes work of the Communion Committee. These people are rarely remembered for the diligence and care the Committee shows as they prepare the sacred elements for our service. We also thank members of the Advisory Board, our deacons and deaconesses, for serving the Communion with dignity and respect, and for performing many duties before and after services that so many of us take for granted. Thank you, one and all!Please note that Rev. Marks will be out of the office from February 16 through February 23, 2004. In addition, he will be out of the office May 14 through May 17, 2004. Reminders will periodically appear in the Herald of these dates.
Lending Library: There is now a bookcase in Allerton Hall filled with books for anyone to take and read. We hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity to both borrow and lends books as they become available. There is no charge and no obligation to return books if you would like to give them a permanent home. We do have a small collection of books for religious study in this bookcase and there are also many more in the cabinets of the Mayflower Room for anyone interested in serious study to borrow. We hope that many of you will take the opportunity to make use of our lending library and to add to it with books that you have enjoyed. The Board of Trustees.

Monthly Knitting Evening: will take place on Tuesday evening, January 13, 2004 at Diana Budge's house, 15 Oak St., Plymouth at 7:00 P.M. All who are interested are welcome. It is a fun evening!

Monday Evening Bible Study and Tuesday Lunch Bunch will resume on January 26 and January 27th.

Town of Plymouth Council on Aging offers many services to help the elderly and disabled in our community. If you, or anyone you know, are having difficulty with your health, health insurances, prescriptions, housing or personal needs, please contact the Council. We may be able to find you the services you need. For more information call 508-830-4230, Monday through Friday.

Martin Luther King Breakfast: The annual Breakfast sponsored by the Plymouth Area Interfaith Clergy Association, is to celebrate the life, vision and timeless message of Rev. Martin Luther King will take place on January 19th from 7:30 A.M. to 9:30 P.M. at Plymouth South High School. Please see Ken Heckman or the Pastors for tickets. The price for the breakfast is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth and includes a full breakfast provided by the Plymouth Culinary Arts program. The guest speaker is Dr. Kirk Jones, Social Ethics Professor from Andover Newton Theological School. In addition to an address by our guest speaker the program will include: music, a display of the winning pictures, readings by the author's of the winning essay's and presentations to the scholarship winners. I hope you will join us for this moving and memorable event.

I would like to acknowledge and thank my folding ladies for their dedication in folding the Herald every Thursday morning. They are Ruth Belcher, Janet Holmes, Betsey Randall and Thelma Strassell. Thelma, has recently resigned from folding and I would like to thank her for her many, many years of dedication to the Church. Pam McNicholas.

COMING EVENTS

Jan. 18: New Member Class, 11:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M. in the Church Building.
Jan. 19: Martin Luther King Breakfast (see notes).
Jan. 20: The Board of Trustees will meet in Church House, 7:00 P.M.
Jan. 25: New Member Class, 11:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M. in the Church Building.

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.