Announcements for the last week of June

Sunday was Judy Frase’s last day as we welcome Ruthie Bencal as our summer organist. This church is overflowing with abundant musical talent and we are deeply grateful to Judy for sharing her gifts and her faith with us. We will look forward to her returning in the fall.

Our children will be planting a garden in summer Sunday School. We still need adults and youth to help our children. There will be a sign-up outside of Fellowship Hall for you to sign up for one Sunday during the summer to help. We also need someone who will put up a fence around the garden to keep our neighborly critters from eating all the fruits of the children’s work.

Join friends, family, and church members for the 4th Annual NH Fishercats ballgame. This year we have an opportunity to be part of the pre-game, non-denominational faith discussion with a group of Fishercats in the baseball chapel. A group will leave from the NCC parking lot at 4:30pm, or you can meet us at the Box Office. Tickets are limited, so please sign up below to reserve your tickets. Tickets are $10 each. For more information, contact Michael Magoon at 603-608-5444.

The number of people finding it necessary to use the Northwood Food Pantry continues to increase- a sure sign of the poor economic situation we are now experiencing. The Missions Committee is asking the congregation to please contribute non-perishable food, personal hygiene items and/or monetary donations to the Northwood Food Pantry during the month of June. A box is located in Fellowship Hall for your donations. Thank you to all for your support! (Please note: when making checks to support Mission giving, make them payable to NCC, with Mission in the Memo section, so that the funds can be properly tracked and then allocated to that Mission.)

Centering prayer is silent and peaceful…where we offer our time as a love offering to God. It allows us to invite God’s presence and open ourselves to grow in relationship with God. The Centering prayer group meets Wednesday mornings at 8:00am at 11 Blaisdell Dr. Time and day may change to meet members’ needs. The prayer time lasts 30 minutes. Anyone is welcome. If you have questions or need directions, speak with Mary Ann Lippincott 942.6070.

A book study meets on Wednesday nights at 6:00pm. The group is reading The Shack which discusses evil in the world, bad things happening to good people and how to understand God and ourselves in relations to this. It is a good and easy read, and you are welcome to join them.

Last Week: Income $ 744.14 Budgeted: $ 1,097.00

Attendance: 59 Adults, 5 Children

LOST and HOPEFULLY FOUND:

· There was a small silver key left in Kat’s office. It looks like a key that may go to a lock box or file cabinet. It is taped to the base of the monitor waiting for its owner.

· A bag of matchbox cars was left in Fellowship Hall and are seeking out the special child that is missing them and they would like to be driven home. (On counter behind Kat’s desk.)

· A navy blue Par Four jacket was found in Fellowship Hall and would like to be reclaimed and protect its owner from all the rain. (On counter behind Kat’s desk.)

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Wednesday 8:00am Centering Prayer

(Lippincott/McCann home)

6:00pm Book Study: The Shack

Friday Office closed for 4th of July

Holy Week 2009

For those unable to see the image above:

April 5 Palm Sunday
April 9 Maundy Thursday Service 7pm
April 10 Good Friday Service 5:30pm
April 11 Easter Flowers Arranged 10:00am, Sunrise Service rehearsal 11:00am

April 12 Easter Sunday - Sunrise Service 7am, Breakfast 8am, Sanctuary Service 9am, Easter Egg Hunt 10:30am

The season of Lent begins at the end of this month
with the observance of Ash Wednesday. This is a brief evening service on February 25th beginning at 7:00 which ushers us into the
penitent nature of Lent. It is a deeply moving service when the
ashes of humanity are placed upon our foreheads, we confess our
need for God’s presence and forgiveness in our lives, and wait for
the fulfillment of Lent in the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter.
The Lenten theme for the sermons during the course of the season will focus on
different ways that relationship with God is broken. We hope this theme will help each of
us identify with the different ways we have broken our relationship with God and will point
us to look into Biblical precedence for the estrangement from God and its answers of rec-
onciliation for us.

We will offer a class on Peace during this time; looking at the different forms of
peace; freedom from war, freedom from interpersonal conflict, spiritual peace, how to par-
ent your children in the ways of peace, and ways for us to be involved in bringing about
peace in our world. The classes will be held on Wednesday evenings beginning March 11, and
will begin with a pot-luck supper at 6:00, and the class beginning at 7:00-8:30.
We have some exciting events coming at the end of Lent with Palm Sunday, Maundy
Thursday, and Easter Sunday. This year we will be adding a Good Friday service which you
can attend for 30 minute segments during the late afternoon and early evening.

Announcements for the week of 2/22

ANNOUNCEMENTS
*This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Season of Lent. We will have a service at 7:00pm which will remind us of our need for God and we will receive the blessing of the ashes.

*37th Annual Camping & RV Show Fundraiser for NCC:
Please consider volunteering to help at the ticket booth to raise money for our church! We are looking for volunteers for Friday (02/27), Saturday (02/28) or Sunday (03/01). There is a sign-up sheet in Fellowship Hall so you can sign-up for the shift that best fits your schedule. Thank you to Gregg Pitman for offering this opportunity to our congregation. For more information, or if you have questions, please contact Michael Magoon at 603-608-5444.

*December 2008 brought another natural disaster to the state. The devastating ice storm will not be easily forgotten! The Red Cross was again at work assisting where needed. Our February missions offerings will be sent to our local Red Cross Chapter in Concord. As always, the Missions Committee thanks you and appreciates your support.

*Do you want to have some fun with the people sitting beside you in the pews? Plan to join us for a progressive dinner on Saturday, March 14th. Right now we are looking for 4 homes that would welcome us for a part of the meal. Please contact Jane Martin (942.8014), Sheri DeTrude (942.7616) or Lynn Warner (664.2189) to volunteer. Further details will follow as the date approaches.

*This is the last Sunday you can sit in the beauty of our Epiphany Arts Festival. We have this Festival to show off what the Holy Spirit can do through our artwork. The Sanctuary will be made bare and simple to experience the inward focus of Lent.

*Do you have a key to the church? Dan Ferguson is updating a list of all keyholders and is requesting that if you have a key,to please let him know at djferg_ski@hotmail.com or 942.8831.
*In an effort to make NCC's e-mail more "user-friendly" and less cumbersome, we are changing Gayle's email to ncc@myfairpoint.net and Kat's e-mail to adminncc@myfairpoint.net. Kindly update your files and address books.

*Last Week: Income $ 1,097.00 Budgeted: $1,097.00 Attendance: 72 Adults,19 Children. Further information is available in the monthly newsletter.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK
Today** 10:30pm*Lay Preachers Group
***3:00pm*Installation of Rev.
*****Richard Slater
Wednesday* 7:00pm**Ash Wednesday Service
Friday** 5:30pm* Envisioning Committee

2/8 Announcements

ANNOUNCEMENTS
*
Look around you and take in the beauty of God*s gifts made real in our Epiphany Arts Festival. Epiphany celebrates the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and we recognize this by sharing with one another the great gifts that are expressed in your poetry, art-work, and hand-crafts. We are deeply grateful to Neil English for his organization of this event and his artist*s sensibility in displaying all the items offered for the Festival.

*December 2008 brought another natural disaster to the state. The devastating ice storm will not be easily forgotten! The Red Cross was again at work assisting where needed. Our February missions offerings will be sent to our local Red Cross Chapter in Concord. As always, the Missions Committee thanks you and appreciates your support.

*Prepared to Serve will be held on Saturday, February 14th at Pembroke Academy. As the name implies, this is a day of workshops designed to help us lead the church and serve God's people. There are more than 53 offerings from Conflict Resolution to Yoga to Fair Trade Ambassadors. The registration fee is $32 and although they will take walk-ins, it is suggested that you register as soon as possible.

*37th Annual Camping & RV Show Fundraiser for NCC:
Please consider volunteering to help at the ticket booth to raise money for our church! We are looking for volunteers for Friday (02/27), Saturday (02/28) or Sunday (03/01). There is a sign-up sheet in Fellowship Hall so you can sign-up for the shift that best fits your schedule. Thank you to Gregg Pitman for offering this opportunity to our congregation. For more information, or if you have questions, please contact Michael Magoon at 603-608-5444.

*NEW MEMBERS CLASS: If you have been visiting the Northwood Congregational Church, UCC lately and find that it is a place that welcomes you and draws you into community, we would like you to consider membership at the church. We will be holding a New Members Class today at 3:00pm. This is the place where you can learn about the church and our expectations for church membership. New members will join during worship on February 15. It's not too late to join us, but please let Gayle Murphy know.

*Do you want to have some fun with the people sitting beside you in the pews? Plan to join us for a progressive dinner on Saturday, March 14th. Right now we are looking for 4 homes that would welcome us for a part of the meal. Please contact Jane Martin (942.8014), Sheri DeTrude (942.7616) or Lynn Warner (664.2189) to volunteer. Further details will follow as the date approaches.

*Last Week: Income $ 615.00 - Budgeted: $1,097.00 Attendance: 40 Adults. Further information is available in the monthly newsletter.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK
Today** 10:30pm*Confirmation Class
** 12:00pm*Envisioning Committee
***3:00pm*New Members Class
Monday**7:00pm*Trustees
Tuesday**6:30pm*Finance Committee
***7:00pm*Deacons
Thursday**7:00pm*Choir practice

Kat Abdelwahid
Administrative Assistant
Northwood Congregational Church
881 First NH Turnpike
Northwood, NH 03261
603.942.7116
www.northwoodcongregational.org

Christmas 2008 Services and Events

His birth breaks all the rules...

Please take a minute to read the quote from Frederick Buechner which is on the back cover of this newsletter.
I greatly admire Buechner for his phrasing of words which bring an idea to life and his deeply grounded faith
in Jesus Christ which teaches me about what is important.

When the beep sounds, please read Buechner’s words. Beep!

It is so easy to lose track of what Christmas is all about. What a miracle it was when Jesus was born a help-
less child, and a miracle for us today. Sometimes, we miss the significance of Christmas because we are out
shopping for gifts, or making cookies for a cookie swap. We get distracted by the worries of the financial
situation and the fear of disappointment in family interactions. All of these things are important, in and of
themselves, but when piled on top of each other, pressure and non-stop activity demand all of our time and
energy.

What Buechner is telling us is that part of the significance of the birth of Jesus is that it broke all the rules. Up
until then God could be expected to be in the holiest of holies in the Temple, in the ritual sacrifices and prac-
tices, and in the law. But when God became human and entered the world as a helpless infant, the precedent
was set for God to show up anywhere in our lives. That serves as a warning to those of us trying to run from
God because we would rather be self-sufficient and independent. It also serves as a promise to those of us who
seem to loose track of what is important that God won’t let us stay there.

Maybe it will be at the end of a long day as we are fulfilling our obligation to write just one more Christmas
card when we will realize how God worked through that friend to comfort and care for us. Or maybe it will be
in the loneliness of the changing family dynamics around us that we sense God has never left our side.
The theme of our Advent season here at the Northwood Congregational Church is expectation. Expecting that
there will be holiness in this season. Expecting that God will again enter our lives as we celebrate how he en-
tered our world. Expecting that there can be hope, peace, love, and joy even when it is scarce in world around
us. We can expect rather than wish because God’s promise to us is that God will be with us always. We may
loose track, but God never does. We may disappoint each other and therefore disappoint God, but God will
never reject us. The world may be falling apart, but we have the promise that this is not the way it will remain
because God will have the ultimate victory.

You are treading on holy ground as you enter this time of Advent. Holy ground because we will never know
when it is that we will catch that glimpse of grace. Holy ground because it becomes fertile in the waiting for
the blessing of God. Holy ground because when we walk it we will be awed by the God we will meet.

Advent blessings to you all.
Gayle