Gordon Moore Jr

As many have heard, our dear friend Gordon Moore passed away recently after a brief illness. You can learn more about him on his on line obituary. 

( http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/unionleader/obituary.aspx?n=gordon-moore&pid=161937256&fhid=2530#fbLoggedOut)


SERVICES: A memorial wake will be held at the Perkins & Pollard Memorial Home, 60 Main St. Pittsfield on Thursday Dec. 27, from 4 to 8 p.m. A memorial Mass will be celebrated Friday,at St. Joseph's Church, Route 4, Northwood at 10 a.m. The Rev. John Loughnane, pastor, will officiate. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the CRVNA Hospice House, 30 Pillsbury St. Concord, 03301 or to National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center(NPDPSC), Case Western Reserve University, 2085 Adelbert Rd. Room 419 Cleveland, OH 44106. To sign an online guest book, log on to perkinsandpollard.com.

Weather update, Thursday 1:55pm: Though we are in the midst of a snow storm, the visiting hours are still from 4 until 8 pm in Pittsfield. 

We will miss him dearly.

 

Christmas Services

Christmas Eve Services

7:00 pm       Family oriented service with sacred dance,

     Christmas music and candlelight

11:00pm        An intimate service with communion, 

music and candlelight.

December 30, 2012

This will be our last service in the Sanctuary until Holy Week in March.

Advent Quiet Time

The sanctuary will be open Friday, December 21 from 5:00 to 6:30pm and Saturday, December 22 from 9:30 - 10:30 am.  You are invited to come to pray, meditate and find peace in the midst of the busy-ness of this season. 

Advent Prayer for Week 1

Fine Christmas music after the potluck

Gotta love a potluck!

Christmas Pot Luck

Come join us for a potluck and Christmas Carol sing on Friday at 6:00.

We can guarantee that you will be surrounded by great people because this church is full of them. Food is always excellent at a potluck.   

And Jo Chase has assembled an all-star band of guitars and piano to lead us in our singing of every Christmas carol or song you might like to sing.

Live from Christmas By Design

Christmas by Design - Tomorrow

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow Saturday, December 1 for the Christmas by Design Fair!  Starting at 9am there will be greens for decorating, crafts, baked good, jelly, maple syrup, soups, free coffee and more.  There are also activities for the children and lots of good cheer.

Sunday November 18

This Sunday join us as we give thanks.  The children will worship with us as we dedicate the food donated to the Thanksgiving Baskets and give thanks for all God has done for us. 

Please remember to bring in your donations for the food baskets as the deacons will be delivering them on Sunday after the service.

Daylight Savings Time

Don't forget to turn back your clocks and get an extra hour of sleep before church Sunday morning.  We'd hate to have people showing up at 8am to find an empty church. 

Reverend Gayle Murphy brings in the lead runner

2012 Wicked Fit Run benefit for Families In Transition

Concord NH

Good People of the Northwood Congregational Church, UCC

 

I want you all to know that Sandy MacCallum died on Monday evening with her sons with her at the Hospice House.   Sandy contracted an infection that she could not fight, but did not suffer long with her illness.   By the time she died, I believe she was ready and looking forward to her pain being over and being reunited with her beloved husband, Donald.

 

Sandy's service will be here at the church on Friday morning at 10:00, with a collation/reception here at the church afterwards.

 

Please keep Sandy's sons, family, and friends in your prayers.

 

With love,

Gayle Murphy

Join us for worship at 9am!

Celebrating our 24th Birthday

Good People of the Northwood Congregational Church, UCC;

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!  Sunday, we will be celebrating the church's 24th birthday since it re-opened in 1988.  That is something worth celebrating!

 

So on Sunday we will acknowledge the community of saints which make up this faith community, we will baptize one of our beloved children, and we will have a birthday party, complete with cake and ice cream.

 

We also will have an opportunity for you to bring gifts to the church, all wrapped up for the kids to open.   These gifts are practical and help us to keep the church supplied with what it needs.

 

Things you could give as a birthday gift include:   lined legal pads, copy paper, post-it-notes, coffee, coffee filters, dish and hand soap, paper towels, Fabreeze, bottled juice, an office chair for Victoria, candle oil for the church candles, gift cards to Staples, Hannafords, or Irving Gas, painter's masking tape, napkins, and anything you can think of that the church might use.

 

It is a time of thankfulness and celebration, and we hope you will join us.

 

With love,

Gayle

Good People of the Northwood Congregational Church, UCC

 

The Church Council invites you to join us for food, fellowship, and dreaming.  The Council will be looking at how the church does things, and in particular, how it accomplishes things through Boards and Committees.   Before we look at other models of organizing the church, we want to hear from you about how we do things and what people are willing to do for the church.

 

Bring some kind of yummy food to share.  We will eat at 6:00 and begin our discussion when our mouths are not full.

 

If you cannot be there will us, forward to us your ideas of how we do things here and what you think could improve that.

 

Thanks for being a part of this great community.

 

Gayle Murphy

What does it mean to be a Christian?

Can you describe what it means to you to be a Christian in 7 words or less? Email Gayle at ncc@,myfairpoint.net

Good People of the Northwood Congregational Church,

Sunday is Rally Day and we have a great day planned.  You being there would
make it perfect.

In worship we will welcome each other back from time away this summer, there
is a beautiful boy we will baptize, we will dedicate Baby kits collected
over the summer, and we will tell stories about the Northwood Congregational
Church.   So come to church with your stories to strengthen our sense of
shared community.

After worship, we will gather at Michael and Kat Magoon's home for a church
picnic.  They live at 43 Main Street in Northwood.   We will provide hotdog,
hamburgers and drinks, so please bring salads, desserts, and munchies to
share.   There is a pool, games, and the great company of each other.  

You are important to this community and so we hope you will join us Sunday.

Gayle Murphy 

We would love to see you this week!  Worship starts at 9 am. 

Good People of the Northwood Congregational Church, UCC

 

This Sunday we have the wonderful opportunity of worshiping on the point on Harvey Lake.   The weather report looks good that it will be a nice day, so come and join us for an outdoor worship.

 

Please bring a chair or two and comfortable shoes for walking the 2 minutes out to the point.   We are also looking for one or two glass chimneys to keep the candles safe from the wind.

 

In the midst of God's creation is one of the best places to worship and we are so fortunate to have the lake at our back door.

 

We hope to see you Sunday,

Gayle Murphy

 

We welcome you to join us for worship this week!

Sunday - worship in the Taize style   

This is a style of worship which includes silence, singing simple songs repeatedly, Scripture, and communion.   I find that this style of worship helps me to get out of my own way and encounter God.  It may not be a style of worship for everyone, but it is definitely worth opening up yourself to the opportunity to worship God in this way.

 

I ask that God may bless you during these summer days.

 

Blessing of the animals 3

Blessing of the animals 2

Blessing of the animals 1

Good People of the Northwood Congregational Church, UCC

 

This Sunday, July 8, we will be Blessing our animals in our worship time.   This has proven to be a very meaningful time to many and we hope you and your pets will join us.

 

I am always amazed at how well the animals get along, so don't hesitate to Fido, Fifi, or Sam the Salamander (in a salamander holder).   If you don't think your animals will enjoy church, or are too big to come into our Sanctuary, bring a picture and God can bless your pet from afar.

 

This service does put a little more work on those good people who keep our Sanctuary clean.   So if you would be willing to spend 1/2 hour or so in the next week vacuuming extra animal hair, we would greatly appreciate it.   Let me know when that would be convennient and we will make sure you can get into the Sanctuary.

 

Often, Blessing of the Animals is done around the celebration of St. Francis, who believed all of creation was his Sister or Brother.  As we celebrate all that God has made, the special relationship we have with our animal friends, and that anything brings us into worship with God, we would love to have you join us.

 

Blessing on this glorious weekend.  

 

Gayle Murphy

Strawberry Festival 2012

Join us for the Strawberry Festival, Saturday, June 23.

Our annual Strawberry Festival will be held at the church on June 23, from 8 - 2pm.

We will have a pancake breakfast, yard sale, pies, shortcakes, and lunch.

Hello!  We’d like to invite you to worship and recreate with us next Sunday, when we’ll have our annual Children’s Sunday service so that we can show appreciation for the parents of our church’s children, our graduating seniors, our Sunday School teachers and rovers, and of course, God’s presence in our family and church lives.  We hope that you will be a part of this celebration!  Afterward, our community of recently graduated seniors and their families will enjoy a lunch in the church (provided by the congregation) while the families of the younger kids will picnic out on the beautiful, wooded peninsula, by bringing sandwiches and a snack to share with everyone (lemonade and ice cream cones will be supplied).  We encourage you to bring a kayak or canoe (there’ll be at least two or three already there for everyone to use), so that we will be able to enjoy the lake.

If weather does not permit, we will move the picnic indoors and enjoy a game or two instead of the lake.

We hope to see you there!

Gayle, Shelley, Marie and Kathy (your Christian Education Committee)

Official Announcement: Our Church's Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday, June 3rd immediately after worship. There will be important decisions about our budget and the church’s programming;. electing Committee and Board members, and adopting a strategic plan which will guide the work of the church for the next several years. Please join us, we need your input and support.

Nominating Process:

We need your help in doing the significant work of the church by serving on the various Boards and Committees. We are still looking for help on Deacons, Christian Education, Trustees, Mission, Church Moderator, Finance Committee, and various fund-raising and task coordinators. What would excite you as you give your time and energy to the church?

Important Congregational Meeting after worship

We need you to come to an important Congregational meeting on SUNDAY, APRIL 29 after worship.  The meeting will be about our Financial situation and our need for strong participation in our Stewardship Campaign.

The Finance committee and the Stewardship committee will lay out to you our sources of income, our expenses, how we are matching up with our budget to date, what we need from our loyal congregation, and how the church will benefit from your good Stewardship.  

We really are hoping for a good turnout so that you can take all this into account as you consider making your estimate of giving to the church.

Thanks so much for all that you already do for this congregation.  Our financial situation is okay, but in order not to have to adopt a deficit budget, we need good participation in the Stewardship Campaign.  Please give what you are able and support this great church.

Easter Service 2012

Our Sacred Dancers

The Children

Easter Breakfast 2012

Sunrise service

This is it! The biggest celebration that we as Christians have. Easter comes this Sunday. We have a lot to celebrate in God's goodness and power.

But, we also have opportunities to sit in the shadows of Jesus' betrayal and death so that we can fully grasp the cost and significance of Easter happening.

So join us this week. We have opportunities that will fit all schedules and interests. And we hope they all have something worth while to offer your spiritual journey.

Thursday, April 5 - Maundy Thursday 7:00 Service of Communion and Tenebrae (the telling of the story of the betrayal and death of Jesus). A powerful and meaningful service. We meet in the room under the Sanctuary set up as a garden.

Friday, April 6 - Good Friday 3 - 7:00 The Sanctuary will be open for us to experience prayer, forgiveness, communion, meditation, and Scripture. Stop by for as long as you are able.

Sunday, April, 8 Easter Sunday

7:00 Sunrise Service on the Point in Harvey Lake. Our young people have prepared the service and it is enhanced by watching the sun rise over Harvey Lake.

8:00 Easter Breakfast. DELICIOUS!!! Thanks to the generosity of the congregation, this is a gift to everyone on Easter morning. Eggs, sausage, home fried potatoes, baked good, coffe and juice.

9:00 Easter worship in the Sanctuary. There will be great music, sacred dance, sections aimed at our kids, and the opportunity to worship our great God who have overcome death and made the forgiveness of sins possible. The best of the best and we'd like you to join us.

If you can't be with us this Easter season, we pray that you will know the joy of Easter and the love of the God who made it possible.

With love,

Gayle

Up-Coming Lenten Activities

HOLY WEEK

Sunday April 1 Palm Sunday

Worship begins in the Sanctuary

Wednesday April 4 Meditation Time 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Thursday April 5 Maundy Thursday Service 7:00 pm

Service of Communion and Tennebrae

Friday April 6 Good Friday 3:00 – 7:00 pm

Come in for silence,

interaction with various spiritual activities

and prayer

Sunday April 8 Easter Sunday

7am Easter Sunrise Service

8am Breakfast

9am Worship in Sanctuary

Lenten Wednesdays – 5:00 to 6:30 pm EVERY Wednesday

Time of silent meditation, what you are thinking about God and Prayer. Come to the Fellowship Hall for a time of praying and meditation. There will also be an opportunity to talk about what you are thinking about God. Drop in anytime.

Lenten Study on Sunday morning after worship. We will be discussing matters of life and death.

Sunday, March 25 – Heaven

It will not be depressing because we are people of faith, but talking about it will help us to live better and be better prepared when our time comes to age and face death.

Worship each Sunday. We will build in time for silent meditation, prayer, music and God's word. Join us each day.

A reminder for everyone to please enter our winter worship in Fellowship Hall though the driveway entrance, you will find a coat rack available in front of Gayle’s office. This helps keep the heat in Fellowship Hall. Thanks, we look forward to seeing you at Sunday Worship!

Join us to worship together...in our fellowship hall...Sunday, 9am!

I was reading a weekly newsletter from Sojourner's Magazine, where they were talking about the influence of Evangelicals on our political scene. They quoted a number of well known Evangelicals as they described what they thought Evangelicals are. I have copied one of them for you to think about. If you would like to go to the Sojourner's newsletter, it is at sojomail@sojo.net, called the weekly email-zine.

David Vanderveen, Entrepreneur, surfer, and author:

Being an evangelical Christian means accepting grace and being honest about your faith with others. First, I think you have be honest with yourself and God; and, then, when you’re as true as you can be about both what you actually know and what you actually don’t -- that’s what’s worth sharing.

Let me know what you think about this.

Pastor Gayle

Join us for worship Sunday in our Fellowship Hall!