Dear Friends,

I've read or seen many things on T.V. recently which suggests the positive results of having an active religious life. Some reports suggest that people who have an active worship life live longer than those who don't. (This is true even when eternal life is not taken into account)! Some studies suggest that actively religious people recover from some illnesses better than others. Religion is said to be able to reduce stress among adherents. (This may not include members of the United Church of Christ, though I am not sure about that)! Being a worrier by nature I am encouraged by any evidence which suggests that I needn't worry. I like the old proverb which says that "Worry is the interest you pay on trouble before it arrives."

We would all like to have less stressful and less worrisome lives than we do, I'm sure. Stress and worry can and does have lasting affects upon us and our overall well being. We all seem to be alert to "coping mechanisms," or "stress reduction techniques" as we try to live out the lives we live in a world of constant motion, demand and changing relationships. We all have a great deal on our minds these days, things which range from the afflictions of aging, the cost of living, child-rearing, the cost of education, making ends meet, managing relationships, etc. No wonder we are alert to methods which suggest that these may be ways of managing stress and worry!

People seem to enjoy ideas for many things which use the Ten Commandments as a model for presenting those ideas. I'm no always attracted to such presentation, but I actually did find one entitled, "The Ten Commandments for Stress Reduction." They aren't bad!

I. Thou shalt not be perfect, or even try to be.
II. Thou shalt not try to be all things to all people.
III. Thou shalt sometimes leave things undone.
IV. Thou shalt not spread thyself too thin.
V. Thou shalt learn to say "no."
VI. Thou shalt schedule time for thyself and for thy support network.
VII. Thou shalt switch thyself off, and do nothing regularly.
VIII. Thou shalt not even feel guilty for doing nothing, or saying no.
IX. Thou shalt be boring, inelegant and unattractive at times.
X. Especially, thou shalt not be thine own worst enemy, but be thine own best friend.

There is something in these so-called "Commandments" which speaks to any super-active person. (There is also much in them to allow the idler to find justification for his/her inaction)!

There is one glaring omission in these "knock-off" Commandments, however. It is the first Commandment in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." As we plod along with Jesus through Lent we should also learn, among many other things, that everything which happened to Jesus during his last forty days on earth was to have had the sole purpose of leading us to honor, praise and serve God and to have done with lesser gods. Sometimes following the way of Jesus causes more, not less, stress and worry than we might otherwise have. The goal of Lenten penitence is not so much "stress reduction as it is purpose production." Purpose in life through honoring God is what saves us, not just saves us from stress.

Love,

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

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

The Cherub Choir will be singing.

The Children will attend church school following the Time for Teaching.

Ushers: Susan and Tony Cotta and Dawn and Brad Willis.

Greeters: Joseph, Kim, Joshua, Joe and Abigail DeSantis.

The Pulpit Flowers in loving memory of Gary David, given by Billie Courtney.

All are invited to join us for Coffee Hour downstairs in Allerton Hall following the worship service. Volunteers are needed for coffee hour. Please look for the sign-up sheet on the coffee hour counter.

Greeters are still needed for Easter Sunday, April 11 the 9:00 and 11:00 A.M. services. Please call the church office to volunteer to greet or look for the sign-up sheet, which will now be located on the Membership and Evangelism Bulletin Board. We encourage all new members to sign up to greet. This is a great way to be recognized and meet other members of your church family!

Youth Fellowship: March 21st, 1:00-3:30 P.M. Spring clean-up at the Church not the Parsonage. Bring your work clothes, rakes, brooms and your appetites. (We'll have pizza afterwards). Meet at the Church House at 12:45 p.m.

There will be no Childrens' Service in April due to Palm Sunday.

Pew Pads: Did you know you can learn the names of visitors so that you can introduce yourself by reading the pew pads? Visitors follow our lead. Please make sure the pew pads are filled out and passed along. If you include your address, visitors may do the same! As always, try to welcome newcomers at coffee hour. Thank you, the Membership and Evangelism Committee.

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: Jacob Brenner, in a Boston Hospital

Recuperating at home after hospitalization: Janella Coutts, Bob Olsson.

Baptism:
On March 14, 2004, Raymond Joseph Labbe, Jr., son of Barbara (MacLean) and Raymond Joseph Labbe, was baptized during the worship service.

THIS WEEK

Sunday, March 21: Morning Worship 10:00 A.M., Rev. Gary L. Marks will be preaching; The Cherub Choir will be singing; Pilgrim Festival Chorus will present "Elijah" in the sanctuary at 4:00 P.M.

Monday, March 22: 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, 6:00 P.M. in Church House, Nominating Committee Meeting, 7:00 P.M. in the Church House.

Tuesday, March 23: Rev. Marks will be in the church office following a service at the Newfield House; Rev. Dan's office hours 10:00 A.M.-Noon; Aerobics, 6:30 P.M. in Allerton Hall; Lenten Spirituality Group, 7:00 P.M. in the Pastor's Study, in the church.

Wednesday, March 24: Aerobics, 9:00 A.M. in AH; Staff Meeting, 10:00 A.M.; Rev. Dan's office hours 10:00 A.M.-Noon; Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 P.M. in the Sanctuary; Troop 47, 7:00 P.M. in the Church House.

Thursday, March 25: Rev. Dan's office hours 10:00 A.M.-Noon; Girl Scout Troop 1227, 4:00 P.M. in the CH; Aerobics, 6:30 P.M. in AH.

Friday, March 26: Rev. Marks office hours, 9:30 A.M.-11:30 A.M.; Aerobics, 9:00 A.M. in AH; Wedding Rehearsal, 6:30 P.M. in the Sanctuary.

Saturday, March 27: Wedding, 3:30 P.M. in the Sanctuary; Scrapbooking Event with Stephanie Gray, 1:00-6:00 P.M. in the Church House.

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.

Palm Sunday Breakfast: There will be someone from the Advisory Board in Allerton Hall on March 21st and March 28th taking reservations for the Palm Sunday Breakfast. The cost is $6.50 per person or $12.00 per family. The breakfast is April 4, at 8:00 A.M.

Memorial Lilies: The joyous Easter season is fast approaching. By your loving donation of Easter lilies we can enhance the beauty of our church on Easter morning. Sign up on the lower vestibule following the service on the next three Sundays or call the church office. There will be an insert listing the donors and those memorialized in the Easter week Herald. The suggested price for a multi-flowered replantable lily is $15.00. The flowers may be donated to shut-ins or picked up after the 11:00 Easter Sunday service on Sunday, April 11. Volunteers will be welcome to take flowers to shut-ins following the service.

On March 21st our annual One Great Hour of Sharing Offering will be received. O.G.H.S. does an enormously important mission work through this annual offering. The Mission Committee will have information about the ecumenical work of O.G.H.S.

All committee and board chairs should have their Annual Report to the office by hard copy, disk, or you can e-mail it in Microsoft Word (this is the preferred method if you have it) by March 31, 2004. If you have any questions about e-mailing please give Pam a call.

The Board of Trustees has begun to look into renewing the Capital Campaign to renovate our Church House. In the near future there will be plans and drawings for us to examine during coffee hours. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the space needs committee, please contact Neil Bottomley, Larry Foster, Al Hoyt, Fred Northrop or Bob Colburn. Thank you.

Stewardship Committee: Stewardship is planning a second mailing asking, if possible, for pledges to be in by the end of March. This will allow your pledge to be reflected in our report for The Annual Meeting. Also we will have a table set up at coffee hour during the month of March for you to pick up and drop off a pledge card. If you have any questions see us during coffee hour or please call me at home (508) 747-7168. Thank you, Tom Healy.

Our New Hymnal: The Hymnal Committee and the Music Committee thank the many who have made gifts of hymnal bookplates. Your generosity has gone a considerable way to paying for the printing and preparations costs. We are planning to finish preparing the bookplates and begin placing them in the hymnals this coming week. The following week, the hymnals will take their place in our pew racks, and we will sing from them Sunday, March 28. Hymnal dedications will continue to be gratefully accepted in the future as long as there are hymnals in which to place the bookplates. For those who would like to purchase one of the new books for personal use, please see the undersigned. An in answer to many requests, copies of the Pilgrim Hymnal will be available also for a $5 gift, starting Sunday, March 28. Thank you, Bill Harting & Louise Brown.

March 28th will be a focus on music at The Church of the Pilgrimage. The choir/organist will present a Bach Cantata on that Fifth Sunday in Lent.

If you would like to receive Communion privately during the Lenten season, please call the church office.

If you know that you will have an announcement on any given Sunday, it would be helpful to let the church office know (or the ministers) on the prior Friday.

One Great Hour of Sharing offering will be taken on March 21, 2004. Please see the insert for more information.

Thank you to Sue Dagasse and her daughter Lindsay and Kim Latosek and her daughter Ashley for ushering in February. Their names were inadvertently omitted from last week's Herald.

ATTENTION: Time and Talent Auction. Due to the fact I have not had children in the school system for some time, I have become oblivious to the dates of school vacations and have scheduled the Time and Talent Night for the Saturday of school vacation. Consequently, many of the congregation will be away that week and that will never do. Therefore we are changing the date to Saturday, May 8 in hopes of making it convenient for the greatest number to attend. Save the date please and plan to come and have fun. Sign up sheets for the auction will be available very soon and should be returned by April 25th. This is a major fund-raiser and we are expecting 100 percent involvement of the congregation. Please begin thinking of what you might offer as an item for sale. We all have talents that would be appreciated by others. Services are very welcome. Suggestions: yard work, handyman help, baby-sitting, sponsor a birthday party in Allerton Hall for a child under the age of 7 or so, etc. We hope to offer a dinner on that evening and the details will be forthcoming. Let's make it a success again this year. Thank you, Diana.

Thank you so much to our church family! Your prayers, cards, kind words and amazing outpouring of support has been a blessing. We look forward to renovating the crib room in Kellyanne's memory and we thank all who are helping to make that happen. We pray her gentle spirit will watch over all who enter our church. All our love and thanks, Trace, Julie and Gabi Sears.

The fundraising committee for Habitat for Humanity in Plymouth would like to express appreciation to all its people who contributed items to sell, delicious baked goods and hours of work to make the yard sale last Saturday successful. The team effort resulted in a profit of $2,397.64 to put toward the first Habitat house in Plymouth. Thank you all!

COMING EVENTS

March 28: the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Bach Cantata during the worship service.
Daffodil Sunday
Or new hymnals will be dedicated during the Sunday service.

Services and Events During the Remainder of Lent/Easter Sunday

March 30: Spirituality Group, 7:00 P.M., Pastor's Study, Church Bldg.

April 4: -Palm Sunday Communion Breakfast in Allerton Hall, 8:00 A.M.

-Palm Sunday Worship with Procession of Palms, 10:00 A.M. in the Sanctuary. (There will be no Communion Service at the 10:00 A.M. Service).

April 6: Spirituality Group, 7:00 P.M., Pastor's Study, Church Bldg.

April 8: Maundy Thursday Service in the Sanctuary, 7:00 P.M.

April 9: Celtic-Inspired Good Friday Service in the Sanctuary, 7:00 P.M..

April 11: Easter Sunday:

-Sunrise Service on Cole's Hill, 6:00 A.M.
-Two Services at the Church of the Pilgrimage: 9:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.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.