WordPress.com



? FebruaryMarch 2019 HYPERLINK \l "April_2019" \o "Jump to April" April ?SunMonTueWedThuFriSat1 Food PantryHardwick Town Hall 9:30-11:30 am2 3 CommunionWorship 10 am NBChoir 9 am NBSunday School during worshipTPC Mtg after church, NB4 5 Bell Choir Rehearsal 7:30-9 pm HU6 Ash WednesdayBible Study 4:30 pm, NB 7 TPCC Choir Rehearsal 4:30pm NB8 9 10 Worship 10 am NBChoir 9 am NBSunday School during worshipNew Member Mtg11:10, NB11 12 Bell Choir Rehearsal 7:30-9 pm HU13 Bible Study 4:30 pm, NB14 TPCC Choir Rehearsal 4:30pm NB15 Food PantryHardwick Town Hall 9:30-11:30 am16 17 Lay-LedWorship 10 am NBChoir 9 am NBSunday School during worship18 Mustard Seed19 Bell Choir Rehearsal 7:30-9 pm HU20 Bible Study 4:30 pm, NB21 TPCC Choir Rehearsal 4:30pm NB22 23 24 Worship 10 am NBChoir 9 am NBSunday School during worship25 26 Bell Choir Rehearsal 7:30-9 pm HU27 Bible Study 4:30 pm, NB28 TPCC Choir Rehearsal 4:30pm NB29 30 31 Worship 10 am NBChoir 9 am NBSunday School during worshipPastor Deb off 3/17, available during week prior for Pastoral emergencies only.TRI-PARISH HERALD40671750Nonprofit OrganizationSTANDARD RATEU.S. POSTAGE PAIDBarre, MA 01005PERMIT NO. 107Nonprofit OrganizationSTANDARD RATEU.S. POSTAGE PAIDBarre, MA 01005PERMIT NO. 107Hardwick Community Church P.O. Box 202New Braintree, MA 01531 March 2019Sunday Worship 10 AM New Braintree Congregational Church From the Pastor:All TPCC Staff Positions were cut by 25% this year. As your Pastor there will be times when I will be only On-Call for Pastoral Emergencies. Those dates and the dates I will not be preaching will be posted on the calendar in The Herald, in The Shepherd’s Crook and on the church website: . The best way to reach me while On-Call will be by my cell-phone 413-478-0731. Do you want to be Baptized? Would you like to have your child or children Baptized? What does the Sacrament of Baptism mean? What age is best? What is required? Where can it happen? Interested, but not sure? Contact Pastor Deb to set up a time to have a conversation either at the Pastor’s Office or at your home. Are you interested in becoming a Church Member? What does it mean to become a member of the church? What are the questions that you will be asked to become a member of the church? Have you been baptized? Have you ever been a member of a church before? Come with questions and learn the answers on Sunday, March 10th 11:10 am - 11: 40 am in the Sanctuary. If you are unable to attend on March 10th, please contact Pastor Deb to set up an appointment. Is there a Wedding in your future? Do you or do you know a couple that want to renew their Wedding Vows? Would you like to have a Blessing for an Anniversary? Interested, but not sure how to do it? Where to do it? Every service, blessing, etc. is personalized to meet your wants and desires (staying within the law of course). Contact Pastor Deb to start the conversation and pick a date. Have you made any decisions regarding your End of Life Plans? Do you have a pre-paid arrangement with a funeral home? Have you thought about your Obituary and the life moments you want to have highlighted? What type of remembrance service would you like to have: A Memorial Service either at the church or at the funeral home? A Celebration of Life Service? A Graveside Service? A private service or none at all? Do you have favorite hymns or music that you would want to have included? Scriptures, poems, sayings that you would like to have woven into the service? Pre-planning these types of services really assist your loved ones at a time that is very difficult and overwhelming. If you are interested in pre-planning your memorial service or one for your loved one, please contact Pastor Deb to set up an appointment at your home or at the Pastor’s Office. A plan will be written up and copies made for you to keep with your documents. As Always, know that if there is a pastoral need in your life, contact me by phone. I will respond as soon as I am able. This hasn’t changed. Bless your hearts…….Pastor Deb Shepard, debasheps@, 413-478-0731 We Care Teams Sharing in Ministry March 3 March 10 March 17 March 24 March 31 Team 2 Team 3 Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 March Birthdays 3/2 Todd Wilson 34804352413000 3/3 Paula Moulton 3/11 Lorna Pollard 3/12 Francis O’Brien 3/16 Simon White 3/18 Nathan Sieger 3/20 Glenn Stillman 3/22 Marge Wissiup 3/26 Rebecca Bottomley 3/29 Doug Frost 3/30 Ellie Wright We would love to share your news!*E-mail Submissions triparishcc@ Please put “For Herald” in subject line. Or call the church Office 508-867-3306 To Contact our PastorPastor Deb Shepard Cell: 413-478-0731 Home:? 413-267-5224Email:? debasheps@Appointments: scheduled at either thePastor’s Office or?at your home.? Pleasecontact Pastor Deb to make arrangements. Volunteer OpportunitiesMight you feel called to serve as a Deacon? The TPCC is in need of new Deacons to fill openings. Deacons assure that all is in place for worship. They create a spiritual setting and provide outreach when needed, prepare coffee hour, and provide assistance during worship services. Talk to Pastor Deb or a Deacon for help in discerning if this is your calling.Would you be interested in leading a Lay-Led Worship service? A schedule has been developed for weeks when Pastor Deb will be off as part of plan to decrease staff salaries by 25% in 2019 as agreed at the 2/3/19 Annual Meeting. A committee was formed to plan for Lay-Led Worship on those dates. Upcoming dates for Lay-Led Worship are 3/17/19 and 4/7/19. Please speak to Beth Elliot, Marguerite Crevier, Judy Kohn or Genevieve Stillman if interested in participating.Would you be willing to serve as a reader, greeter or musician during worship some Sunday?TPCC is seeking a second Sunday School Teacher to help with the older children and when Ashley is unavailable. Please speak to Pastor Deb or Ashley Stolgitis to learn more.Annual Plant/Bake Sale seeking new Chair PersonThe TPC is seeking someone to head up the Annual Plant/Bake Sale scheduled for June 1st – 2nd on the Hardwick Common. This is a major fundraiser for the TPCC and an anticipated community event. Please consider volunteering for this important role and/or helping with set up, sales, take down, etc. to help make it a success. Ginny Rich can tell you more about what is involved. Marguerite Crevier will again oversee the Tag Sale portion of the event for which vendor space can be rented.Altar FlowersThere is now a sign-up sheet at the back of the sanctuary for anyone who would like to provide altar flowers in honor or memory of someone, or just because. The gesture will be noted on the back cover of the Sunday bulletin.Music Notes ~ Choir rehearsals?resumed usual schedule as of?February 28?at 4:30 in the New Braintree Church.Sunday Choir rehearsals will go back to 9 AM at where ever the church the service is. Anyone interested in singing with the choir at the Palm Sunday and/ or Easter Service please let me know. You must have attended at least?one rehearsal to sing.? Susan? ? ?text 209-499-6198,?? HYPERLINK "mailto:skallander@" \t "_blank" skallander@TPCC Worship in 2019 Many thanks go out to Pastor Deb Shepard who, in the setting of the TPCC budget cuts, has arranged her 2019 worship schedule, as well as her availability outside worship, with a dedicated focus on continuing to meet the pastoral needs and mission of our church. This year Pastor Deb is scheduled to lead thirty-nine of the fifty-five TPCC Sunday and special services. As always, during any period that she is off, Pastor Deb will still be prepared to respond to your urgent needs. We are grateful to all our paid staff: Ellis Pelham, Organist; Susan Kallander, Choir Director; and Heidi Jeldres, Administrative Assistant. With reduced hours, they remain in service to the church. Plans are underway to insure that worship music and leadership will be a part of all Sunday and special services. Volunteers in the office will be needed more than ever. The Lay Worship Committee has been formed to plan worship leadership on the days that Pastor Deb is away. There are eleven Sundays remaining in 2019 that have not yet been filled with a volunteer church member, friend or guest leader. The Lay Worship Committee invites you to share your ideas, suggestions and volunteer! At this time we have worship leaders scheduled through May. They are as follows: On March 17th, our guest worship leader is Pastor Kathleen Fitzgibbons, M.Div. Some of you may remember that Kathleen is also a former New Braintree School principal. Come and welcome her.On April 7th, church member Genevieve Stillman will be sharing recent archeological discoveries revealing of events told in our Bible scriptures. We are fortunate to have her passion for history in our midst.On May 26, Memorial Day, Pastor Ken Winters, Retired Navy Chaplin, will be our guest. He will lead worship and provide guitar accompaniment to our songs and hymns on this important day of gratitude and remembrance. Do you have a sermon, talk, or music you'd like to share? The next Lay Worship Committee meeting is on Sunday, March 3 following the service. You are welcome to come and contribute your ideas! Submitted by Moderator, Beth Elliot “Jottings” by Loren Gould Sadly, we will not have the pleasure of Loren’s presence with us any longer as he passed away recently at his Hardwick home. He told me not long ago that his much-loved cat of 18 years had died and that it had been his goal to outlive the cat, at which he succeeded. I have selected a “jotting” from the collection Loren has left us, that I think brings to mind his spirit, his love of nature, his perspective on life and how he’d like to be remembered. It also leaves us to ponder the tracks we will leave on our corner of the world as we make our way through this life. In loving memory of Loren. Heidi Jeldres, Herald Editor Have you ever been outdoors after a snowfall and studied the tracks in the snow? Such tracks tell a variety of stories. Some will show where an owl swooped down during the night and captured a vole our on a midnight excursion. You can see the impression of the outer wingtips of the bird on either side of a disturbed area where the vole was captured. In another place you might find traces of blood and perhaps fur where a rabbit met its end. In both cases look for the tracks that led to the place of slaughter. In the first case you’ll find the tracks of the vole as it made its way along to its destiny in the stomach of an owl. In the second case you may find the rabbit’s footprints followed by the doglike tracks of a coyote. I have lost a number of Scotch Pines to porcupines over the years. Porcupines love to eat the bark of the Scotch Pine. I just wish they would eat up and down the tree but they invariably encircle the tree when eating. If they climb up and do this to a branch that branch is killed, but when they encircle the main trunk the tree is killed. For nearly a quarter of a century I have enjoyed a Rose of Sharon bush. Last winter the porcupine found that it liked the taste of the bark of that bush. In the spring I found that ninety percent of the tree was dead. I had one branch that still had bark connecting the branch to the root of the bush. Thus I had one more burst of glory this past year on that one branch but I fear that may be the last gasp. Ah, well, the porcupine has to eat to live and if the porcupine dies it will only be replaced by another as is true of groundhogs that live in the juniper just below the house. Porcupines leave a very distinct track in the snow as their tails drag behind them and widen the path covering the footprints. You’ll find a multiple supply of mice and vole tracks and a good supply of rabbit tracks. The challenge is to figure out what made the remaining tracks. I put the leftover wet food from my cat out near the porch steps and various forms of wildlife eat it. For a couple of weeks I had a red fox that would come out of the juniper and eat the food. The fox got used to me and I could sit, motionless, on the bench near the bottom of the porch steps and the fox would come and eat in front of me perhaps eight feet away. I have also had various cats come and eat the leftovers, one from across Route 32A and the others from Old Petersham Road. Another track that I found in the winter snow is the track of a trespasser. Once or twice a year someone comes on the property and only in the winter can I find evidence of their passage. I added some new Private Property signs on the side of the property from which the footprints had come and was rewarded by having several of my benches thrown in the brook or up into the trees just to let me know that the person(s) doing so, felt free to come and go as he pleased. One time they left a nearly full bottle of plain water which I stored in case I felt in the future I wanted it tested for fingerprints. They won as I grew older and gave up the maintenance of the property south of the brook and brought all the benches nearer the house. However, as a result the property became less attractive and trespassers seem to have lost interest. Prior to that it approached being park like. This brings me to the thought, what kind of track are you making in the fabric of humankind? Are you leaving tracks that you are proud of or are you wishing they were tracks in the snow that would melt in spring? Everything we do leaves a track on those that we have interacted with. Some tracks are very positive and were pleasant interludes for all involved while other tracks led to unpleasantness and disappointments. Just remember as you travel life’s journey that all of us leave tracks and there may not be a warm sun to remove traces. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download