Sunday School Dedication to Louise Doe
On Sept. 21, 200, the church dedicated the Sunday School wing to Louise Doe for her over 53 consecutive years of teaching the “little ones”. It was a wonderful service – a lot of credit going to the Sunday School staff and Neil Mulrain for organizing this event.
Anne Mulrain gave a wonderful children’s sermon, relating how certain things reminded her of Louise. Rev. Peter Wells, area Minister MCUCC, was the guest minister, personalizing his sermon around Louise’s “53 going on 54” years of teaching in our Sunday School. Our religious Director of Education, Christine Cathcart, read a poem and then the children each handed Louise a rose. Neil Mulrain presented Louise with the plaque, dedicating the Sunday School wing in her name. The plaque will be placed by the entrance to the Sunday School wing. The service was followed by a special coffee hour. Thank you to all who worked on this event but most of all, thank you Louise.
Click here to view more pictures
Harvest Fair Success -Sept 20, 2008
How do you make 39 pans of apple crisp in one night? You get Cindy LaPointe to organize the event. And what a success!
Check out the new First Congregational Banners hanging at our booth. They look wonderful. Another big thanks to Cindy
As we were assembling the apple crisp the night before the fair, the thought occurred to us that we were crazy. How are we going to keep them warm? How much ice cream do we need? What if we only sell four pans of apple crisp? Is this really going to work? But we were having a lot of fun and figured we could make the congregation eat a lot of apple crisp at coffee hour for the next month.
And these little piggies bought apple crisp
As it turned out, we had nothing to fear. In fact, there were a lot of disappointed fair goers who had decided to wait until the end of the day for their treat. Bad idea. We were sold out by 3:30.
And while we were busy serving up our dish, Nick Mandella just as busy trying to keep up with all the popcorn and soda sales. Ron LaPointe, Neil Mulrain and Bob Kelly split their time between running apple crisp trays to the booth and helping Nick. This is definitely an event we want to repeat. It was beautiful day, we had a lot of fun and we made over a $1,000. Thank you everyone for your help.
Click here to view more Harvest Fair pictures
Recipe Of The Month – October
Apple Crisp
- 8-10 apples 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Cloves
Peel, core, and slice apples. Combine the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the apples. Pour into a baking pan (ungreased).
Topping
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Flour
- 1 cup Oats
- 1 Stick of Butter or Margarine (melted)
Mix the Topping Ingredients together. Sprinkle over the apples. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes.
Submit your family favorite recipe to bri379@hotmail.com.
Maybe your recipe will be featured in next month’s newsletter and on this website.
Welcome To Leicester First Congregational Church
Welcome,
What are you doing the rest of your life?
It is our hope and prayer that you will want to spend some of that time becoming a part of our faith family.
We are the newly reorganized First Congregational Church of Leicester Massachusetts and we want you to know that we are very interested in both you and your spiritual journey including your specific needs and individual talents.
In these web pages we invite you to read about our life together as we serve our Lord Jesus Christ through Worship, Music, Christian Education, Outreach, and Stewardship.
In the future we will make every effort to serve you in whatever ways we are able as we heartily welcome you to the love and care of our parish.
If you have any questions please give me a call at 508-892-3274 and I will be very happy to speak with you.
In the meantime we all look forward to meeting you and making you a part of our exciting new ministry here at the first Church
In Christ’s Service
Rev. Nancy A. Milton
Do We Miss God’s Plan For Us?
As the floodwaters rise, a man named Sam calls for God’s help.
First a neighbor offers him a ladder.
“Nope, my God is coming,” Sam replies.
Then the police arrive with a rescue boat. “Hop on board!” they instruct him.
“Thanks but no thanks,” Sam says, “God will save me.”
And finally the national guard provide a helicopter, and he tells them to go away, too. Sam dies, goes to heaven, and asks God, “Why didn’t you rescue me?”
“I sent a ladder, a lifeboat, and a helicopter…what more could I do?” says God.
Strawberry Hill Fair – Nov 8, 2008
New feature this year! In addition to the beautiful knitted table, the Holiday crafts and the Basket raffles, there is limited space to rent a table. If you have a craft or know someone that has a craft they would like to sell, this is a great opportunity. All craft rentals will be subject to approval of the Fair committee. This is to avoid duplicate items. We want the fair to have a variety of quality items, expanding our reputation as one of the best fairs in town.
For more details, contact Ann Orsi at 508-890-9470
August 17th Sermon
Several members of the congregation requested a copy of Rev Nan’s sermon from Aug. 17th.
This has been included here, as it speaks to a lot of the challenges we face
I knew a young man in college who had never been sick a day in his life until one spring semester. That was a terrible time for him. He seemed to be suffering from fever, upset stomach, and frequent migraine headaches. He finally decided to go to see the doctor to find out what was wrong. The doctor examined him from stem to stern. He was x-rayed, given a heart test, blood was taken and even a lung capacity test was done. When all the results were in the doctor called him into his office and said, “I have checked out all of the results of your tests and I don’t see much evidence of anything that is wrong with you. The doctor sat the young man down for a few minutes and then he said,
“Let’s see. Are you married?”
“No” the young man answered
“You are twenty five. Do you have a girl friend?”
“Well, I had one about a year ago but we broke up.”
“Are you dating at all?”
“There isn’t anyone around that really interests me anymore.”
“Do you like school?”
“Not really.”
“Do you exercise?”
“I guess I have been too busy for that lately. I guess I should get back to that sometime soon.”
“What about your diet. What do you eat?”
“Well, my main diet is bologna sandwiches!”
“Are you attending church?”
“No! I haven’t REALLY found a church that speaks to my needs. And the ones I have tried are pretty boring.”
“You say you are a Christian. Does that mean that you take time to read the bible or to study the faith?”
“Well, no, I haven’t really been doing that either.”
Then, finally, the light bulb went on and John got the point.
“Wait a minute”, he said, “I see what my problem is. It is not that something is wrong with me. It is that I have not been doing the right things in my life to help me to feel engaged in life. Being well requires the addition of positive, up building kinds of activities and beliefs in one’s life, right?
“RIGHT!”
Another story: A Presbyterian minister named Gary has a friend who spends two hours a day running. He spends 30 minutes, three times a week in a health club and three hours more per week playing racquetball. In addition, he belongs to a local tennis club and plays there once or twice a week. He appears to be in excellent physical condition. One day Gary and his friend go to lunch in order to talk about a personal matter. Gary describes a lack of joy in his work and boredom with his family. Besides that, he has a lethargic sense of well being with life itself. Gary had discovered that his friend also spent a great deal of time with his physical development in life. However, that far outweighed what he was doing to become a spiritual being and without that part of his being, he was equally as lethargic as John was.
Gary finally came to say, “I am physically fit but I am spiritually flabby.” Unfortunately, this is an epitaph that might appear on many of our tombstones. We all know that there is more to life than what is physical. Becoming a Christian is a process of being seasoned in the spirit. And it is something that absolutely has to be an ongoing development in our lives.
The late William Temple said, “The process of becoming Christianized calls for three things.
- The feeding of our minds with the truths of God
- Giving of our hearts to the love of God and
- The devotion of our wills to the purposes that God has in mind for us an individual.
And what is most important concerning these three processes is that this work is undertaken with a willingness to be open and vulnerable to God’s spirit as it transforms us inwardly and personally.
In the 22nd chapter of Matthew, we find Jesus saying, “Love your God with all your heart” and then he goes on to tell us a parable – a parable about a king who prepares a great wedding feast for his son but unfortunately, none of the invited guests come. What a quandary. What to do. Well, the king knows exactly what to do. He sends is servants out into the streets to bring anyone they can find who would be willing to come. As the street people gather at the palace, clothes are presented to them that they may wear to the party. All the guests are similarly dressed. The acceptance of this attire by these street people is symbolic of a new mode of living for them.
We also are a people who are invited by God to accept an invitation from Christ to “love one another in a new mode of living.” When we put on our spiritual garments, we show our willingness and our readiness to act according to the clothes that we have put on.
Fourteen times we hear the phrase “Love one another.” Jesus says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you can love one another. “ (John 13: 34-35). Paul goes on to say “Put on, the, the garments that suit God’s chosen people, his own, his beloved. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Col: 3-12)
When an invitation has come from God through Jesus Christ – Love is the first rule of response by the Christian and the garment by which he or she works.
Herb Miller tells about a pastor who grew up in Miami and moved to Iowa. As he was getting acquainted with a young farmer in the congregation, he said “Tell me, why is there so much corn in Iowa and so little in other parts of the country?”
The farmer replied, “Well, it is really the difference in the climate and soil conditions. He went on. I am sure you see the same thing in your line of work. Some churches are healthy and active with a lot of new people joining their fellowship. But in other churches you see just the opposite, because the climate and the soil are different.
The climate that is most essential for the vitality of a church is that it is a congregation of love and acceptance. You see we are the crops. It is us that is called upon to put on the garments of Christ’s loving spirit and then to reach out in the care and love for others.
Jesus says, “Love God with all your heart, the heart then is that out of which doing flows. You can’t give the spirit away until you have the love of God within you. Our doing ultimately flows from our inner being that is strengthened by our spiritual food that is found in God’s world and this is where spiritual discipline starts. We need to be engaged in the kind of studies that bring about spirituality which in turn determines what kind of lifestyle we will live. It is only then that we live truth, loveliness, and graciousness.
An old story tells about President Thomas Jefferson making a journey on horseback with a group of friends. When they came to a swollen stream, they find a foot traveler waiting for someone to give him a ride over the stream. The President immediately pulls the man up on his horse and transports him to the other side of the stream. “Why did you ask the President to help you across, why didn’t you ask one of us?” a friend asked the man. “Well, first of all, I didn’t know he was the President. All I know is that on some faces you see a yes and on some faces you see a no. That man definitely had a yes face.”
Of the three Christian behaviors that are alive in a vital congregation, Faith, Hope and Love
Faith and Hope – feel and think. But Love is the one that reaches out to help and to give beyond oneself. We need all three if there is to be one circle. Praise be to God.
Amen
Harvest Fair 2008
Can you believe Sept is right around the corner already! Wow! Summer is flying by. But as the days shorten and the cool air settles in, we look forward to the most beautiful season in New England, the Fall. We are so lucky to have our church on the common, enabling us to share in all the fun filled festivities on Harvest Fair Day. We will host the Art Show upstairs in our church and Russell Hall will be used for children’s show and possible artisans.
This year, for the first time, we will also join the Food Booths. To be successful, we really need your help. Our booth will be selling Pastor Nan’s Heavenly Apple Crisp!
Friday night, Sept 19th, will find us busy in the kitchen baking apple crisp or setting up our booth on the common. Baking may also be done at home. Disposable pans will be provided. If you can spare one, two hours or even all day, we would be thrilled to have you join us. The Harvest Fair is very well attended. We need to make a ton of apple crisp! Come and help us represent our fine church and taste the best apple crisp ever. With the long cold winter ahead of us and the high price of oil, every bit of fund raising will help offset the cost of heating our church.
Any questions, please call Cindy LaPointe at home 508-885-9875.
Update: See pictures from this years festival, click here!
Search Committee Update August 2008
Your Search Committee would like to reassure everyone that we’ve been focused and hard at work! Since our formation in March, several meetings have been held and tasks have been completed on schedule.
Our first goal was to send out the survey entitled “Leadership Expectations: Called Pastor.” By the June 8th deadline, we had received 23 surveys and results were tabulated. The committee would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to this important survey.
Our next task was to meet a deadline set by Rev. Peter Wells, our UCC area minister: he asked us to complete our church profile by early July. When an applicant is interested in our church, the profile is the document he/she will receive. It contains information about our town our congregation, church finances, qualities we want in a minister, etc. Even though creating the profile is challenging and labor intensive, we were able to complete it by the deadline.
On July 31, the committee met with Rev. Wendy Vander Hart, Acting Associate Conference Minister at the UCC. She helped us “fine tune” our profile by making suggestions for improvement and asked for our “new and improved” version by August 8th.
Our finished profile is now in the hands of the UCC and an abbreviated job description in currently posted on their website. Our next steps are to wait for interested applicants to forward their own profiles and then begin the interview process. We’ll keep you informed along the way!
The Search Committee: Ron LaPointe chairperson, Jim Cathcart, Marie Feeney, Jackie Henderson, Len Ivel, Anne Mulrain, Rhiannon Orsi
Summer Dance Program
The summer dance program, run by Alyson Avoglia, was held here in Russell Hall at the First Congregational Church. Sixteen local kids, ages 3-9, signed up for the 4-week program and participated in classes on Tuesday afternoons. Classes were jazz-style dance and students learned basic dance moves and fun routines.
For more photos and info about the program, visit: www.summerdanceprogram.blogspot.com
