Pilgrimage Herald

MISSIONS AND OUTREACH
Monday Meals of Hospitality: Thank you to the following people who cooked, served and helped out at the fifth of seven Monday Meals of Hospitality: Diane Harting, Jenny Healy, Megan Verdugo and Meg Bross.
Food Pantries: The volunteers at the Food Warehouse appreciate the on-going support form The Church of the Pilgrimage to help eradicate hunger in the Plymouth area. The following items are needed at present: peanut butter & jelly, canned fruit, macaroni & cheese, cereal, canned tuna, mayonnaise and cereal.

Project for March and April: The Church School and the Missions and Outreach Committee invite everyone to join them in assembling "Gifts of the Heart" kits to be shipped by Church World Service to orphaned and displaced children around the world. Each health kit, sealed in a one-gallon plastic bag with a zipper closure, will contain:

One hand towel
One wash cloth
One comb
One metal nail file
One bar of bath-sized soap
One toothbrush
One tube of toothpaste, 4-7 oz
Six Band-Aids

We welcome donations of these items which may be placed in the baskets next to the red bins for the Food Warehouse. We will be collecting for the kits through the months of March and April.

Prayer opportunities at 7:00pm on Wednesdays will continue during the Lenten season. The Evening Prayer services are seemingly satisfying a spiritual need for those who have attended on a regular basis. Please feel free to join us on a Wednesday evening.

The Monday Evening Bible Study and the Lunch Bunch are back! The Monday group begins March 21 at 7pm and the Lunch Bunch begins March 22 @noon. Both groups meet weekly in Allerton Hall. The subject will be the upcoming Sunday's lectionary texts. Please bring your bible, your questions and yourself! Contact Rev. Dan with any questions.

The Church of the Pilgrimage on PAC/TV: Sunday Services will appear on cable PAC/TV on Sundays at 8am and 6pm. We thank Tom Healy for taping the Sunday Services which appear on PAC on a one or two week delay.

Scavenger Hunt / Jr. & Sr. High Youth Group: Sunday, March 20th from 3-5pm (weather permitting). Please meet at the church house at 2:45 and dress appropriately as this is an outdoor event.

Time and Talent Auction: Please fill out talent forms and return to Pat Mudgett at church. Hope all will participate. Only you can make this a success. It's a great, fun evening and there will be a dinner also.

UCC National Televison Advertisements: Please note that the UCC will again be running national televison advertisements for Lent and continuing through Easter Sunday, March 27th. At present, it appears that the ads will run exclusively on cable networks.

Bach Birthday Concert: Celebrate Bach's 320th at Christ the King Church, Mashpee Commons, on Monday, March 21st at 8pm. Renowned English organist and composer Peter LeaCox will be joined by violinists Joshus Weilerstein and Cape Cod's own Paula Muldoon, members of NEC Philharmonic Orchestra. Program will include Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, his Double Violin Concerto and other works. A free-will offering will be gladly accepted. More information and directions at www.scholafalmouth.com or 508-495-1621.

Friends of the National Monument to the Forefathers: The Friends of the National Monument to the Forefathers is a non-profit group working to raise funds to restore the monument, which is in need of repairs. You can help by attending the Spaghetti Supper & Silent Auction, Donation $25.00 per person (ask for a senior discount). Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 6:30pm. Loring Library, Route 3A, North Plymouth. Surprise V.I.P. Servers. Contact Mary Cushing at 508-746-7583.

If you are interested in becoming a hospice volunteer, a 9-week training program is scheduled to begin Monday, March 21st. If you would like to join Cranberry Hospice please call Karen Foster at 508-746-0215 to register, fill out an application and make an appointment for an interview. Hospice volunteers are the heart of Hospice, and help provide care and comfort to our patients and their families.


garymarks@8townsquare.org danspacek@8townsquare.org	March 20, 2005	office@8townsquare.org
Volume LXXVII	Palm Sunday	No. 12
Dear Friends, Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday, initiates Holy Week. The events recorded in the New Testament which recount the events in the life of Jesus from one Sunday to another are , in essence, why there is a Christian faith which has endured with power ever since. Holy Week is the conclusion of the long Lenten season and it is because of Holy Week that the life and ministry of Jesus have been remembered and have become formative for Christians over the last 2,000 years. Holy Week is full of pathos. That word, "pathos," means "the quality in something experienced or observed which arouses feelings of pity, sorrow, sympathy, or compassion." It is a word related to a more commonly used word "pathetic." This is one of the reasons that many church traditions name this Sunday, Passion Sunday. It is a time in which we are called into a close identity with Jesus, the figures and events of this week in order to be prepared properly for the mystery and power of God's love in the cemetery on the first day of the week following Good Friday. On one important level of its meaning, Holy Week is a drama. Through worship, prayer, meditation and an empathetic heart, we are invited to participate in the unfolding of the story of God's redeeming love in and through the Christ of Holy Week. We should not try to short-circuit the dramatic process by leaping over the somber and ominous events beginning with Palm Sunday to the mystery of the Resurrection with its trumpets, lilies and triumphant hymns. It is necessary, spiritually speaking, to experience anew in our own souls the scheming, betrayals, denials, the interplay among characters and groups, all of which are a part of the drama of redemption. It is not by accident that the cross has become the dominant symbol of our faith. It is that symbol because it is quite literally at the center of our faith. There is no redemptive way to Easter except through Good Friday. Good Friday and Easter are the two sides of the same event. Ours is ultimately a majestically triumphant faith precisely because it knows the depths of despair caused when God's grace and love are rejected. I invite you to participate in the events of Holy Week as an active player. In the week beginning with Palm Sunday The Church of the Pilgrimage offers services which help toward preparing the spirit to receive the mystery and wonder of God's grace and love. I hope that may of you will attend Evening Prayer, and especially the solemn Maundy Thursday Services in which our deaconesses and deacons re-enact the Last Supper in the Upper Room. It is, in my opinion, one of the most moving and spiritually preparatory service of all services of the year. There is also a Good Friday Service which, in recent years, has focused upon the Crucifixion in participatory ways. (Dan and I are still planning the details of that service for this Good Friday). All this is to say that it is at the spiritual foundation of our faith that we understand that "He is risen" cannot be fully spoken until we also understand what is involved in the phrase, "Crucify him!" Love, © The Church of the Pilgrimage in Plymouth, MA Inc., all rights reserved.
Sunday, March 20, 2005 Palm Sunday Morning Worship, 10:00 am , Rev. Gary L. Marks, preaching. Deacon in-charge: Mahlon Walker. Membership: If you are interested in becoming a member of The Church of the Pilgrimage, please speak with Rev. Marks or phone the church office. A New Member Class is being planned for the spring. The Board of Trustees TIMELINE: April 8 Committee reports due in the church office. April 19 Board of Trustees final approval of budget. April 25 Send to printer May 1 Report available to congregation May 15 Annual Meeting A note from the church office: All committee and board chairs should have their annual report to the office by hard copy disk or emailed in Microsoft Word by April 8, 2005. If you have any questions, please call Shellie 746-3026. 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 in the lower vestibule following the service this Sunday, or call the church office. There will be an insert listing the donors and those memorialized in the Herald. The suggested price for a multi-flowered, replantable lily is $15. The flowers may be donated to shut-ins or picked up after the 11:00 Easter Sunday service. Volunteers will be welcomed to take flowers to shut-ins following the service.
CHURCH RECORD Hospitalized: Bobbie Preston (she may be in the Sandwich Rehab Center before you receive this notice. Recuperating at home: Gail Mason. Jane Burns and Elizabeth Porter are both at The Beverly Manor Nursing Home. Baptisms: (all during the Service of Worship on March 13, 2005). Magnolia Rose Kunselman, daughter of Eric and Brandi Kunselman; Andrew Scott Berlo, son of David and Gina Berlo; John David Lopresti, son of Michael and Jill Lopresti. Congratulations to Kelley Depasqua and Jennifer Martin on the birth of their daughter, McKenna Kathleen.
THIS WEEK Sunday,Mar. 20: Palm Sunday Breakfast, 8:00am,Allerton Hall; Morning Worship 10:00 a.m., Rev. Gary L.Marks, preaching; The Cherub Choir Rehearsal, 11:00 am, Sanctuary. Monday, Mar. 21: Aerobics, 9am, Allerton Hall; Girl Scouts, 3:30-5, Church House; Tiger Pack, 4-5:30, Church House; Bible Study, 7pm, Allerton Hall; Pilgrim Festival Chorus, 7-10pm, Sanctuary. Tuesday,Mar. 22: Rev. Marks will be in the church office, 9:30-11:30am. Lunch Bunch, noon, Allerton Hall; Aerobics, 6:30 pm; Allerton Hall.; Advisory Board will meet in the sanctuary to rehearse the Maundy Thursday Service, 7:00pm. Wednesday, Mar. 23: Aerobics, 9:15 a.m., Allerton Hall; Staff Meeting, 10:00 am; Choir Rehearsal 7:30 pm, sanctuary; Pack 47 & Troop 47, Church House; Brownie Troop #122 4-5:30, Allerton Hall. Evening Prayer, 7 pm, Sanctuary. Thursday, Mar. 24-Maundy Thursday: Maundy Thursday Service, Sanctuary, 7pm; Aerobics, 6:30pm, Allerton Hall. Friday, Mar. 25-Good Friday: Aerobics, 9:15 am, Allerton Hall; Rev. Marks will be in the church office, 9:30-11:30am; Good Friday Children's Service, noon, Zion Lutheran Church; Good Friday Service, 7pm, Sanctuary.
NOTES: MISSIONS AND OUTREACH Monday Meals of Hospitality: Thank you to the following people who cooked, served and helped out at the fifth of seven Monday Meals of Hospitality: Diane Harting, Jenny Healy, Megan Verdugo and Meg Bross. Food Pantries: The volunteers at the Food Warehouse appreciate the on-going support form The Church of the Pilgrimage to help eradicate hunger in the Plymouth area. The following items are needed at present: peanut butter & jelly, canned fruit, macaroni & cheese, cereal, canned tuna, mayonnaise and cereal. Project for March and April: The Church School and the Missions and Outreach Committee invite everyone to join them in assembling "Gifts of the Heart" kits to be shipped by Church World Service to orphaned and displaced children around the world. Each health kit, sealed in a one-gallon plastic bag with a zipper closure, will contain: One hand towel One wash cloth One comb One metal nail file One bar of bath-sized soap One toothbrush One tube of toothpaste, 4-7 oz Six Band-Aids We welcome donations of these items which may be placed in the baskets next to the red bins for the Food Warehouse. We will be collecting for the kits through the months of March and April. Prayer opportunities at 7:00pm on Wednesdays will continue during the Lenten season. The Evening Prayer services are seemingly satisfying a spiritual need for those who have attended on a regular basis. Please feel free to join us on a Wednesday evening. The Monday Evening Bible Study and the Lunch Bunch are back! The Monday group begins March 21 at 7pm and the Lunch Bunch begins March 22 @noon. Both groups meet weekly in Allerton Hall. The subject will be the upcoming Sunday's lectionary texts. Please bring your bible, your questions and yourself! Contact Rev. Dan with any questions. The Church of the Pilgrimage on PAC/TV: Sunday Services will appear on cable PAC/TV on Sundays at 8am and 6pm. We thank Tom Healy for taping the Sunday Services which appear on PAC on a one or two week delay. Scavenger Hunt / Jr. & Sr. High Youth Group: Sunday, March 20th from 3-5pm (weather permitting). Please meet at the church house at 2:45 and dress appropriately as this is an outdoor event. Time and Talent Auction: Please fill out talent forms and return to Pat Mudgett at church. Hope all will participate. Only you can make this a success. It's a great, fun evening and there will be a dinner also. UCC National Televison Advertisements: Please note that the UCC will again be running national televison advertisements for Lent and continuing through Easter Sunday, March 27th. At present, it appears that the ads will run exclusively on cable networks. Bach Birthday Concert: Celebrate Bach's 320th at Christ the King Church, Mashpee Commons, on Monday, March 21st at 8pm. Renowned English organist and composer Peter LeaCox will be joined by violinists Joshus Weilerstein and Cape Cod's own Paula Muldoon, members of NEC Philharmonic Orchestra. Program will include Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, his Double Violin Concerto and other works. A free-will offering will be gladly accepted. More information and directions at www.scholafalmouth.com or 508-495-1621. Friends of the National Monument to the Forefathers: The Friends of the National Monument to the Forefathers is a non-profit group working to raise funds to restore the monument, which is in need of repairs. You can help by attending the Spaghetti Supper & Silent Auction, Donation $25.00 per person (ask for a senior discount). Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 6:30pm. Loring Library, Route 3A, North Plymouth. Surprise V.I.P. Servers. Contact Mary Cushing at 508-746-7583. If you are interested in becoming a hospice volunteer, a 9-week training program is scheduled to begin Monday, March 21st. If you would like to join Cranberry Hospice please call Karen Foster at 508-746-0215 to register, fill out an application and make an appointment for an interview. Hospice volunteers are the heart of Hospice, and help provide care and comfort to our patients and their families.
Coming Events: Mar. 27 Easter Sunday Services: -Sunrise Service onCole's Hill (across form Plymouth Rock), 6am -Service in the Sancutary 9am -Service in the Sanctuary 11am Apr. 9-10 Messiah, Sanctuary, Pilgrim Festival Chorus Apr. 13 Rev. Marks will speak to Pilgrim Hall volunteers, 10am
Clerk - Lois Post; Moderator - Steven Triffletti; Treasurer - David Kegel; Collector - Thomas Mudgett; Music Director - William B Richter; Organist - Chandler Gregg Secretary - Shellie McCormack; Sexton - Tony Nightingale; World Mission Emphasis - Heifer Project International; Church Building Telephone - (508) 747-1341.