Pilgrimage Herald

MISSIONS AND OUTREACH
Thank You and Congratulations to The Church of the Pilgrimage for their contribution of $8,511 for "Our Church's Wider Mission.

Monday Meals of Hospitality: Thank you to the following people who cooked, served and helped out at the sixth of seven Monday Meals of Hospitality: Janet Holmes, Hildegard Schimpf 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.

Plymouth Task Force for the Homeless: Needs a volunteer CPA with experience working with a non-profit organization. Please contact Connie Melahoures at 508-746-3805. Also, donations can be made payable to "Plymouth Task Force for the Homeless" and mailed to Christ Church Episcopal.

Do you need a ride to church? In the rack opposite the Church Family bulletin board (in Allerton Hall) there are updated lists of volunteer drivers. Please take a list and contact one of the volunteers whenever you need a ride.

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 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.

UCC National Television Advertisements: During Lent the United Church of Christ has run TV ads on cable outlets around the country in connection with the God Is Still Speaking Campaign. The Church of the Pilgrimage has been a part of the campaign from its beginning. The campaign is funded in independence of the U.C.C.'s operating budget. Reports from the national office in Cleveland indicate that a great interest in the U.C.C. has been generated through the TV ads and through the other various activities which proclaim the Good News of God's continuing love for us and our world. Here is what one family had to say after seeing one of these commercials, thousands echoed similar sentiments: "My wife and I were looking for a church for many years that has a realistic approach to God and the world in which we now live. After viewing your all-inclusive message in the 30 second spot, we found a local United Church of Christ....Our family could not be happier; we had our prayers answered in our new home in the UCC. Thank you for your courage to speak out."

Hospital Visits: Rev. Marks has found recently that a Clergy List of people hospitalized has not been available when he makes rounds at Jordan Hospital. It would be helpful, therefore, for you to call the church office when you know of someone in the hospital.
Please let the ministers and the office know of other pastoral needs, as well.

We thank the Advisory Board for a fabulous Palm Sunday Communion Breakfast on March 20th! The annual Communion Breakfast is one to which many people look forward to each year. About 100 people were present. A special thank you goes to Trace Sears for organizing and, with other deacon/deaconesses, preparing and serving the meal. A thank you to Jenny Healy for baking the best hot cross buns ever!

We also thank the Flower Committee for organizing and purchasing the Memorial Lilies for our Easter services. The Flower Committee quietly does a splendid job in providing flowers throughout the year. On almost every Sunday flowers are given to the church in memory of loved ones and the Flower Committee sees to it that those memorialized and donors are recognized in the bulletin for Sunday services. Take time to thank this dedicated group of people.

If you loaned a lily to the church for Easter services, you may take a plant following the second service. Plants given to the church will be distributed to shut-ins or others to whom an Easter greeting is welcome.

Pulpit Flowers: Correction for March 13, flowers were given by Laura and Cliff Sampson in memory of their parents. On March 20th flowers were given in loving memory of Gary David. Given by Billy Courtney.

Pilgrimage Women's Fellowship - Spring is here and we are excited that our next meeting is going to entail a "Mystery Ride". We will meet in front of the Church at 6:45 p.m. to go on a local field trip. For those who would like to carpool, there will be several of us driving who would love to have company. For those who need a ride to the church, please contact Marna (781-826-2543) or Jenny (508-747-7168) and we will make sure that you are able to join us. Please note the different meeting time and as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to call Marna or Jenny. We welcome all the women of the church and hope that we will see you there! It is sure to be an enjoyable evening.

Thank you to the Boy Scouts for their $1,000 donation toward the Capital Campaign.!

Pawtucket Red Sox: If you are interested in going on a bus trip to see the Pawtucket Red Sox on Saturday, June 18th, please contact Al Hoyt at 508-224-9507.

Youth Fellowship: Hip-Hop Dance Class Part II (back by popular demand!). April 3rd from 3-5pm in Allerton Hall.


garymarks@8townsquare.org danspacek@8townsquare.org	March 27, 2005	office@8townsquare.org
Volume LXXVII	Easter Sunday	No. 13
Dear Friends, In the novel, The Last Temptation of Christ, the author said this about Jesus on the cross. "Jesus uttered a triumphant cry: "It is accomplished!" And it was as though he had said: "Everything has begun!" It is true that what appeared to be the defeat of the way of Jesus on Good Friday was the beginning of a vision for life the full implications of which we are yet to realize. Too often we are by nature, culture, history and circumstances lured into the complacent notion that Easter, the Resurrection, is a "once upon a time" event. Skeptics have ever since that first Resurrection Day tried to minimize what happened on that day when Christians believe God acted in a decisive way to overcome the powers of evil which had their way on Good Friday. People, then and now, have little trouble believing in the powers of the world pronouncing judgment upon a Teacher of love and compassion. Behavior which features love and goodness has always met with resistance in a world in which power and greed, whether admitted or not, are the true "bottom line." The world, then and now, really seems to believe that Jesus' way is "too good to be true." Faith, on the other hand, accepts the gift of God's risen life in Christ as a triumph of a love that will not give in to the ways of a world which, no matter what it says, acts as though there is no God who expects better of us than seeing everything through eyes of crucifixion. What intrigues me about the quotation from The Last Temptation of Christ is the insight that the death and resurrection of Jesus was not the end of the story but only the beginning of a story. The story of Easter, of Mary's encounter with the One with whom the world had its way on Good Friday, is a story given to people of faith to complete. Not everything was accomplished once and for all on the first Easter. Easter is the on-going work of God's grace, love and compassion asserting itself in faith and mission among people who accept a reality of which the world all by itself is incapable of recognizing. The eyes of the world see and accept crucifixion: the eyes of the faithful in the world see and accept resurrection. When Jesus said, "It is finished," he in anguish may have been saying that the way of sin and death is finished as the only way of life in this world. No matter what Jesus meant in his dying woes, he clearly gave us Easter work to do so long as the world acts in defiance of resurrection and genuine hope. Faith sees Easter as more real than Good Friday. The crucifixion was an actual event in history, God's future for the world still unfolding, still persisting, in a world so often characterizing itself as being in revolt against resurrection. "Everything has just begun!" Easter is the power of God still speaking wherever crucifixion pronounces that love's work is finished. He is risen! He is still being risen! Alleluia! Love, © The Church of the Pilgrimage in Plymouth, MA Inc., all rights reserved.
Sunday, March 27, 2005 Easter Sunday Morning Worship, 9am and 11am Easter Service: 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. The Monday Evening Bible Study and the Tuesday Lunch Bunch are back! Both groups meet weekly in Allerton Hall. The subject will be the upcoming Sunday's lectionary texts. The next Evening Bible Study will be held March 28th at 7pm and Lunch Bunch on March 29th at noon. Readings for these classes are: 1 Peter 1:3-9 and John 20:19-31. All are encouraged to attend. Time and Talent Auction: Have you filled out your talent form yet? We all have talents that would be appreciated by others. Suggestions include yard work, boat rides, dinner, garden weeding, babysitting, tickets to an event, pet sitting/walking etc. The Auction will include a dinner that evening and you are guaranteed to have a good time. Please mark you calendar for April 30th and plan to attend! Please return completed forms to Pat Mudgett at church. Help make this a successful fundraiser! Thank you.
CHURCH RECORD Hospitalized: Elizabeth Porter, Jordan Hospital. Recuperating at her daughter's home, Bobbie Preston; at her home, Ruth Lowry.
THIS WEEK Sunday,Mar. 27: Easter Sunday Worship Services: * Sunrise Service on Cole's Hill (across from Plymouth Rock), 6:00 am * Services at The Church of the Pilgrimage, 9:00 am and 11:00 am Monday, Mar. 28-Easter Monday: 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. 29: Rev. Marks will be in the church office, 9:30-11:30am. Lunch Bunch, noon, Allerton Hall; Aerobics, 6:30 pm; Allerton Hall. Wednesday, Mar. 30: 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. 31: Aerobics, 6:30pm, Allerton Hall. Friday, Apr. 1: Aerobics, 9:15 am, Allerton Hall; Rev. Marks will be in the church office, 9:30-10:00am; Rev. Marks will conduct a Committal Service for church member Cameron McLennan at the Blue Hills Cemetery at 11:00am.
NOTES: MISSIONS AND OUTREACH Thank You and Congratulations to The Church of the Pilgrimage for their contribution of $8,511 for "Our Church's Wider Mission. Monday Meals of Hospitality: Thank you to the following people who cooked, served and helped out at the sixth of seven Monday Meals of Hospitality: Janet Holmes, Hildegard Schimpf 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. Plymouth Task Force for the Homeless: Needs a volunteer CPA with experience working with a non-profit organization. Please contact Connie Melahoures at 508-746-3805. Also, donations can be made payable to "Plymouth Task Force for the Homeless" and mailed to Christ Church Episcopal. Do you need a ride to church? In the rack opposite the Church Family bulletin board (in Allerton Hall) there are updated lists of volunteer drivers. Please take a list and contact one of the volunteers whenever you need a ride. 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 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. UCC National Television Advertisements: During Lent the United Church of Christ has run TV ads on cable outlets around the country in connection with the God Is Still Speaking Campaign. The Church of the Pilgrimage has been a part of the campaign from its beginning. The campaign is funded in independence of the U.C.C.'s operating budget. Reports from the national office in Cleveland indicate that a great interest in the U.C.C. has been generated through the TV ads and through the other various activities which proclaim the Good News of God's continuing love for us and our world. Here is what one family had to say after seeing one of these commercials, thousands echoed similar sentiments: "My wife and I were looking for a church for many years that has a realistic approach to God and the world in which we now live. After viewing your all-inclusive message in the 30 second spot, we found a local United Church of Christ....Our family could not be happier; we had our prayers answered in our new home in the UCC. Thank you for your courage to speak out." Hospital Visits: Rev. Marks has found recently that a Clergy List of people hospitalized has not been available when he makes rounds at Jordan Hospital. It would be helpful, therefore, for you to call the church office when you know of someone in the hospital. Please let the ministers and the office know of other pastoral needs, as well. We thank the Advisory Board for a fabulous Palm Sunday Communion Breakfast on March 20th! The annual Communion Breakfast is one to which many people look forward to each year. About 100 people were present. A special thank you goes to Trace Sears for organizing and, with other deacon/deaconesses, preparing and serving the meal. A thank you to Jenny Healy for baking the best hot cross buns ever! We also thank the Flower Committee for organizing and purchasing the Memorial Lilies for our Easter services. The Flower Committee quietly does a splendid job in providing flowers throughout the year. On almost every Sunday flowers are given to the church in memory of loved ones and the Flower Committee sees to it that those memorialized and donors are recognized in the bulletin for Sunday services. Take time to thank this dedicated group of people. If you loaned a lily to the church for Easter services, you may take a plant following the second service. Plants given to the church will be distributed to shut-ins or others to whom an Easter greeting is welcome. Pulpit Flowers: Correction for March 13, flowers were given by Laura and Cliff Sampson in memory of their parents. On March 20th flowers were given in loving memory of Gary David. Given by Billy Courtney. Pilgrimage Women's Fellowship - Spring is here and we are excited that our next meeting is going to entail a "Mystery Ride". We will meet in front of the Church at 6:45 p.m. to go on a local field trip. For those who would like to carpool, there will be several of us driving who would love to have company. For those who need a ride to the church, please contact Marna (781-826-2543) or Jenny (508-747-7168) and we will make sure that you are able to join us. Please note the different meeting time and as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to call Marna or Jenny. We welcome all the women of the church and hope that we will see you there! It is sure to be an enjoyable evening. Thank you to the Boy Scouts for their $1,000 donation toward the Capital Campaign.! Pawtucket Red Sox: If you are interested in going on a bus trip to see the Pawtucket Red Sox on Saturday, June 18th, please contact Al Hoyt at 508-224-9507. Youth Fellowship: Hip-Hop Dance Class Part II (back by popular demand!). April 3rd from 3-5pm in Allerton Hall.
Coming Events: Apr. 3 DAYLIGHTS SAVINGS TIME begins Apr. 4 Rev. Marks will attend an American Congregational Library Meeting in Boston. Apr. 9-10 G. F. Handel's Messiah, Parts II & III in the sanctuary of The Church of the Pilgrimage. The Pilgrim Festival Chorus and Orchestra directed by William B. Richter. 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.