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- April 10, 2025
April 10, 2025
"Our hosannas sung, our palms waved, let us go with passion into this week." - Ann Weems, "Holy Week"
In This Edition:
Holy Week Begins with Palm Sunday
Join us for worship this Sunday as we wave Palms to celebrate Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem, and the beginning of Holy Week!
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Open Sanctuary and Stations of the Cross
The deacons are hosting “Open Sanctuary” hours at Union on Monday-Wednesday next week. Anyone is invited to come by to spend some time in a contemplative space. There will also be a “Stations of the Cross” guided meditation available to those who wish to use their prayer time to contemplate the events of Jesus’s passion.
Agape Lunch and Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Our Maundy Thursday celebration this year will be a midday lunch. RSVP’s (on the church website) are encouraged to help our deacons plan ahead for the meal. Please share this invitation widely!
Good Friday Tenebrae Worship Service
Experience the powerful moments of Jesus’s suffering and death in this special service of worship on Good Friday at 7 pm. Featuring soloist Natalia St. Jean and led by Pastor Shepherd, this service will be sure to inspire and prepare you for the joy of Easter Sunday. You can attend in person in the Sanctuary or online via livestream.
Apple Harvest Fair Organizing Meeting
Come and debrief thoughts on the Apple Harvest Fair’s format, vendors, staging, and anything else that comes to mind this Sunday, April 13th in the Parlor following coffee hour. We’ll share ideas and think together about how to make the 2025 Apple Harvest Fair the best one yet. All are invited!
With brand-new 18 foot tall banners, we’re making a statement: we want people in our community to know about our Easter services, and to be invited to them. With the success of Significant Other Sunday a couple weeks ago, we’ve proven the power of a personal invitation. That wasn’t just a one-off: you can invite someone to service every Sunday…but especially for Easter Sunday!
Sunday Sermon Snippet
Palm Sunday is sometimes treated as a “little Easter,” a kind of practice run for the joy we experience on Easter. When the triumphant and celebratory atmosphere of Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem is emphasized, however, it leads to a profound question: how did things go so wrong so fast? How, in the space of less than a week, do the crowds go from shouting Hosanna! to Crucify! ??
In this Sunday’s sermon, we’ll see how things seem to fall apart around Jesus; and yet, if we focus in on him, and how he navigates this catastrophe, we may come to know the true power of faith in him for times like these. This isn’t a message about “self-improvement”; it is about our need to lean on the strength of God in difficult times.
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King of Kings
There are 13 folks signed up to attend the movie King of Kings.
Let's meet up at the theater at Patriot's Place between 10:30 and 10:45 this coming Saturday.
I have all of the tickets which turn out to be $15 each.
i HAVE ONE TICKET LEFT IF SOMEONE WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US.
JUST LET ME KNOW.
Nancy 508.668.6612
Townwide Cleanup
Members of UCC, friends, family are welcome to join a town wide litter clean - up. Our outreach committee is meeting in church parking lot at 10 am on Saturday 4/26/25 to do our part. We will provide trash bags. If you would like a pincher for litter clean - up see Chris Weylman.
Popup Thrift Shop
We are planning our thrift shop for May 3rd. Please bring your donations starting April 21st. If you would like to help, please get in touch with Christine Bemko ([email protected]).
Holding in Prayer
This week, as a community of faith we pray:
for Richard Trudeau, who died at Union last week, and for his family and friends who mourn his death.
for the Grant and Lassen families, as well as Ingrit Meyer, and all who mourn the passing of Dick Grant.
for Lauren, who is going through health challenges
for Jenna, who is recovering from a concussion, and for her worried parents
for Laurie’s aunt Mary and her husband Jerry Recker, as Mary enters hospice care, and Jerry struggles with dementia.
for Margie’s aunt and uncle, who are struggling with health challenges and dementia.
for Natalia’s roommate, who is recovering from surgery.
for the Farris Family, and all who mourn the death of Bob Hood
for Dave Walsh, who is in need of healing from arm pain.
for Pastor Shepherd’s cousin Rachel and her husband Adam and their newborn daughter Lorelei, who faces another surgery this week.
for healing for Lew’s brother Richard, and his wife Paula.