Bill Templeton

Sunday April 22, 2012 (Earth Day)

Some months ago Rebecca asked me to do this moment for witness – on how Central has transformed my life.   I struggled with it.

I was not ready to stand here before you all.   My faith journey was still just getting started, I thought.  And besides, a story needs an ending before it can be told.

I stalled a month, then pushed it off for weeks, and just last week tried to get out of it again.  I told Rebecca that I had too much to do on the “Earth Day Fair” that we are having after worship today.

Paused with a knowing look, Rebecca said simply “Can’t you move things around?” Knowing then that she saw right through me and my lame excuses, I confessed before it became more painfully obvious:  I had nothing to say next week.   I hadn’t done any work on the assignment, had not a clue on what to say.

“Well, You have a whole week.” she replied, with the matter of fact comfort of one who creates a whole sermon every week.  Then she said of it:

“Its never done, Bill.  If you wait for it to be “done”, it will never be ready.”

That freed me.

So like an unfinished book, this is still a draft. Please forgive this work in progress, that is my faith statement.

I struggled with it as I struggle with my faith itself.  But here we go

How I got here

I have grown from a boy that went regularly to church in NJ

I attended regularly for the same reasons that everyone else I knew did:

My parents Made me do it.

After attaining adulthood and its independence, I drifted a bit from the church.

When Donna and I came to Providence we searched for a church.

She Catholic and me Protestant, we sought a place that would feel familiar in this new home town of ours.

We found this place.

It was here that we would Make Our children, Katharine and Will,

go to church.

They have ever since.  And in a month, with luck, Katharine will be Confirmed.

So – that means I’ve been here about 15 years.   (I guess it’s about time I did this Moment for Witness after all.)

Why?  What is it about this place that draws me in on Sunday?

I struggle with my Faith.

I am a deeply flawed soul.

• I try to do right
• I try to love right
• And I try to forgive right.

Being a Christian is not easy, it’s not for wimps.

You need community and a place for your spiritual home.

This is mine.

For me and my family.

On Sundays I may just sit here and re-set myself.

Restore myself.

I sit in those pews, lost sometimes in my thoughts, gazing at those iridescent windows, listening to angelic music from the loft or wisdom and prayer from the pulpit.  I love the way they all reverberate off the muted heights of those soaring barrel vaults.

It is a wonderful space for that purpose.

And then, I look around, at all of you.

The Community that you create here, that we create, is just as restorative as the space itself.

IN this place there is a community of faith, a spiritual family that shows love and acceptance.

The secular world has lost touch with true “community”.

So much of the “communities” outside these thick stone walls is motivated by self-interest or status or measures of wealth or power.

Here it matters not what you do, it matters who you are, and who you want to be.

And You, like me, Choose to be here.

You too may be struggling with faith and are drawn here by the company.

We all share that in common.

We all want to be here on Sundays.

We could worship separately, but this is a Community of faith.

In this place is the strength of witnessing what others do, what all of you do, these wonderful acts of love and service — both large and small.

These thick stone walls create a Sanctuary from all the noise and confused motives – out there.

I believe in God and in the extraordinary power of love.

I have seen evil, and know it exists, and must be confronted.

But I also have seen the absence of both God and evil.

Apathy.

The secular world outside concerns me, worries me greatly.

Apathy is somehow more threatening because it won’t seek a confrontation.  It seeps into the gaps created in the absence of faith.

Yes, I struggle with my faith. What all That really means is a subject I could go on and on, but not here, perhaps some other time.

Still, I am better for it, better for the struggle. Because the questions here keep me engaged on the topic of what it means to be “Christ-like” in the life that I lead.

This is where I return each week to renew, reset and regroup on my attempts, feeble though they may be, to live up to expectations or aspirations that I imagine my parents had for me when they Made Me go to church.

And it is not a solitary journey.  Thank God for that.

This church has given me, and my little family, a home for that journey of faith.  I am so glad to have found it here, and so glad to be part of this community of faith on Angell Street.

Because when I work on my faith, I do it with you and have strength in numbers.

And for that, I thank, All of You.

VOLUME 20 NUMBER 5

296 Angell Street

Providence, RI 02906 401-331-1960

From your Senior Minister

The official booklet that describes the United States Senate is fascinating. In the section titled The Senate in Session is this sentence. “At the beginning of each daily meeting, the presiding officer accompanies the Senate chaplain to the rostrum for the opening prayer and leads the Senate in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Many of you are aware that RI Senator Sheldon Whitehouse had invited me to be the Guest Senate Chaplain on April 19. As I pondered this wonderful opportunity, and learned even more about our Senate and the inner workings of our government, and thought further about our recent mission experiences in Haiti, and reviewed the newspapers on our return home, it struck me how important understanding ourselves as part of this national and international community is. Each of us has a part to play.

As Tom and Ezra and I shared breakfast with Senators Reed and Whitehouse in the Senate Dining Room, we saw other senators talking with each other and with constituents. It really is history in the making. I thought you might like to read the prayer that I offered in the Senate.

Gracious and Loving God,

we thank You for Your presence with us.

You offer wisdom and perspective and grace –

we ask Your blessings to be upon these elected representatives.

May all that we do reflect Your purpose that we live together as Your children in harmony and in freedom.

May Your blessings and our work bring real hope to those who may be struggling or oppressed.

We ask for Your special blessings to be with those who serve our country in the military – at home, at sea, in the air, in foreign countries. Shield them from danger as they work for peace.

This is indeed a gift of a new day You have given to us.

May our endeavors honor You, and may we all serve the cause of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in this beloved land of ours.

May we truly do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with You, our God. Amen.

After touring Washington and having breakfast with our friend Darrell West – whose busy calendar does include offering the next West lecture here at Central in November! – we flew home. With the heady thoughts of our leaders in Washington doing their jobs, it was my privilege and honor to preside at the wedding of Deacon Sandi Seltzer and Bill Connors on Saturday morning. The community of love that surrounded them was so tangible – I thought again. . .here is God working through the relationships of people who care about one another.

Then, gracious Swami Yogatmananda, leader of our local Vedanta Society right here on Angell Street had invited me to participate in the opening ceremony for their new Chapel. There were Jewish leaders, Unitarians, a Muslim in absentia, a Native American, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Jains, a Christian Scientist, and a Sufi teacher. The gathering of different traditions, plus music from throughout the world, was inspiring.

We were all touched by the spirit of grace and truth so fully present. God who we all approach in our different ways seemed so present as we celebrated our different journeys toward walking in light and peace and harmony.

May we all continue our pathways in searching for how we might best live our lives in relationship with others and with all God’s creation.

Rebecca

Our prayers and sympathy are with…

the family and friends of Bertha Beth “B B” Davis who died on March 31, 2012. A Memorial Service was held at Central Congregational Church on April 5.

May God’s comfort surround all those who mourn.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Constance Howes, her mother died in March and Barbara Nozaki, her sister, Mary, died in April

New Member Sunday

May 6

Please join us for a potluck luncheon immediately following worship. Members of the Congregation are asked to bring a salad, vegetable, side dish or dessert to share. The Membership Committee will provide main dishes. New Member Luncheons are an enjoyable time of fellowship and a relaxing way to meet and welcome new members into our Congregation. We hope you will join us.

160th Annual Meeting . . .

of this congregation will be held at 11:45 am Sunday, June 3, 2012. The 2012-2013 budget will be presented for approval, the Nominating Committee will present the slate of candidates to be voted into office, and other items of congregational interest will be presented.

A luncheon will follow in Chapel Hall. Please make luncheon reservations by returning the form included with this newsletter to the church office by Wednesday, June 1. Childcare is available during the meeting, if requested.

From Claudia

This summer I will be embarking on my first sabbatical ever! I am so grateful to this wonderful faith community for this gift of caring, not only for my ministry amongst you, but also for me—a child of God serving in the midst of all of Central’s children of God! Sabbaticals have their roots in the ancient practice of Sabbath. A. Richard Bullock and Richard J. Bruesehoff remind us that “the Sabbath is more than an afterthought of God’s action in creation. It is a gift of rest given by God, a gift of renewal, refreshment, and a hope for a society—and its churches—preoccupied by a multitude of tasks and responsibilities…God comes again and again offering rest and refreshment for the soul.”

During this sabbatical time I plan to try to experience the “4 R’s” (renewal, reading, retreating and writing) in new ways. I would challenge each one of you to take some time this summer to reflect on ways that you might deepen your spiritual life. The notion of Sabbath comes from a concept of balance. It’s so easy to lose the balance in our lives because of the frenetic pace of our world. It is often seen as a ceasing, but I have always experienced Sabbath time as a movement forward.

I’ll be doing a little pre-sabbatical continuing education this month as I travel to Atlanta for the Festival of Homiletics—a festival of preaching and worship—something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. In the span of about 3 days I expect to hear almost 20 (!!) sermons from some of the most famous preachers and theologians of our time. I will also be spending a day with the New England branch of the Association of United Church Educators (NEAUCE) at their annual gathering on Cape Cod at the beginning of May.

At this point during my actual sabbatical time I plan to attend a retreat in June based on the poetry and writings of Julian of Norwich, a 15^th century Christian mystic. As vice-moderator I will be helping lead the annual Craigville Colloquy on Cape Cod whose theme is “Breaking News in a Broken World: The Gospel Unbound in the Mainline Churches.” I will be delivering the sermon and leading the closing worship at that national gathering of theologians, clergy and laity. In August I will be traveling to the Penobscot reservation in Indian Lake, Maine for a weeklong immersion experience, living on the reservation with a Penobscot family. In the midst of all this I hope to get to some writing projects I have in mind and to read the many books on my “to read” shelf!

As I close this article, I want to share a wonderful prayer by Maryland Stephens with you. It is my prayer for ALL of us, that we may find time in the busy-ness of our lives for renewal and refreshment (and even some reading and writing!):

O God, in the course of this busy life,
Give us times of refreshment and peace;
And grant that we may so use our sabbatical
Time to rebuild our bodies, renew our minds,
And refresh our souls,
That our spirits may be
Opened to the goodness of your creation;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Maryland Stephens)

Here’s to being open to the wonder of all of God’s creation! My prayer for all of us is that this summer we will all be renewed in our love for God and for each other. I am looking forward to hearing about how all of you spend time with God this summer as we move forward in the coming year together!! May we all be refreshed and renewed in our mission together here at Central!

Yours on the journey!

Claudia

From Kat

Spring is a time for new life! Yet I sometimes find it can be difficult to stay present and “smell the flowers” when the end of school and summer seem right around the corner. “Jesus is Risen!” I think. “Now it’s time to get back to work!”

My thoughts and attention regularly drift to the exciting summer worship programs we have planned, Vacation Bible School, after-church bike rides and the Youth Mission Trip to the National Youth Event. I also find myself, at times, dreaming about the Fall of 2012 and what Mission and Youth might look like then.

Advanced planning and visioning are important, and setting up programs and infrastructure for the Summer and Fall are key parts of our Spring work. At the same time, if our hearts and minds jump to “Ordinary Time,” we stand to miss the glorious celebration of Easter.

In our church, Easter does not end with the sunrise service at Swan Point Cemetery, the Easter Breakfast and egg hunt at Central or the trumpets and tympani that herald the resurrection at our 10:30 Easter Morning service. Easter is an entire season of celebration—50 days, in fact—culminating in Pentecost, the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit among us.

With so many activities and tasks on our to-do lists, it is easy to live in the future and miss the Incarnate Christ among us. When the Disciples missed Jesus on the road to Emmaus following the resurrection, perhaps their hearts and minds were still in the past, mourning and trying to figure out what had happened on the cross. Perhaps they were preoccupied with getting to their next destination on time.

When they shared a meal together—when they slowed down and were fully present to one another and the stranger they met on the road, it was then that they saw Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

May we all find moments to breathe, to pray, to really listen, and may we recognize the living God among us.

Pentecost Sunday with Communion

May 27

Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the heads of the Apostles instructing them to go forth into the world and preach the Gospel. Wearing red reminds us of the flames of fire that appeared over them. Remember to wear red to worship on Sunday, May 27.

Greetings, Church School Families

“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

We’ve just come from the miracle of the empty tomb and of Jesus’ resurrection, the miracle of Easter! Also the miracle of the transformation of the frightened, doubting, misunderstanding disciples of Jesus! We are those disciples–again and again! Our journey through the church year takes us through all aspects of our faith, from waiting for God’s presence, the Word made flesh, epiphanies of the soul, journeying, prayer, death, doubt, emptiness, to a resurrection of spirit and seeing God’s presence in everything. As people of faith–as parents, teachers, doctors, lawyers, writers, artists, scientists–we are invited to see everything as a miracle!

In Church School, we enter into our spring unit with new teaching teams, to which we give our GRATEFUL THANKS:

GABRIEL’S GANG (pre-school):

Justine Dunlop, Lorraine Lalli, Nancy Jacobs, Sam Leander, Alex LaMotte

SHEPERDS/PROPHETS (k – 1st):

Heather Lynch, Tanya Solberg, Ben Frazer

STARGAZER/DISCIPLES (2nd-3rd):

Amy Frazer, Anna Tanalski, Jia Wesson

PEACEMAKERS (4th-5th):

Emily Maranjian, Stephanie Mott, Kirstin DeShaw, Noah Kim

DREAM-MAKERS (6th-8th):

Cathy Clasper-Torch

MAY DATES TO REMEMBER:

Sunday, May 6th

10:00 – 10:20 a.m. Cherub Choir rehearsal.

Sunday, May 13^th

9:45 Cherub Choir robes up and rehearses in sanctuary for worship/Mother’s Day

Sunday, May 20th — No Cherub Choir

9th grade CONFIRMATION Sunday
Parent – Child Book Group after worship (see Cheryl Space for details)

Sunday, May 27th — PENTECOST Sunday

(wear RED!)

Blessings & Peace, Cathy Clasper-Torch

Central Church Men’s Group

The Central Church Men’s Group next meets in the Fireplace Room at 7:30 am on Thursday, May 17. This group is open to all male members of Central. Please call Ed Bishop if you have questions.

Baptism

The Sacrament of Baptism is an important part of our worship life together. In an effort to uplift our celebration of Baptisms in our community of faith, we will be offering Baptisms during the following Sundays of the church year.

Children’s Sabbath October 21, 2012

Meetings to prepare parents for Baptism will be held in our Fireplace Room at 9 am on the Saturday of the preceding week. Please speak with the Rev. Rebecca Spencer if you would like to be included in this very important part of life at Central–The Sacrament of Baptism

FIELD TRIP!!

FRUITLANDS MUSEUM

Harvard, Massachusetts

Sunday, May 20

Leaving Central at 12 noon

We will leave no later than noon and will enjoy lunch at the museum’s restaurant and tea room. If you’ve never experienced Fruitlands Museum (actually many museums in one!) in nearby Harvard, MA you are in for a treat.

Once there you will find a Shaker Office (moved there in the 1920’s when the Harvard Shaker Village disbanded), Fruitlands Farmhouse—the famous Alcott family’s home during their experiment in utopian living, a collection of Native American artifacts and history, and a collection of Hudson River School Landscapes as well as 19^th century American portrait paintings.

Admission is $12 for adults, seniors and students $10.00, children age 5-13 $5.00, under 5 are free. (We might be able to get reduced rates if we have a big enough group.) Please RSVP as soon as possible to Claudia at 331-1960.

In Home Communion

If you or a loved one would like to receive communion at home, we are now able to offer you this opportunity. A Called to Care member will be available to bring communion from our table at Central Church to you after church services when communion is offered. Please contact Maureen Whittemore to make arrangements.

From the Deacon’s Bench

What’s Faith Got To Do With It? (at work)

Have you ever had a moment when someone has said something that just stops you in your tracks? You know that phrase was meant for you to hear, to absorb, remember, and maybe even change something about the way you live your life? This happened to me almost two years ago and I still remember the person, what she said, where we were … and how it changed my perspective.

I was in a class with Leadership Rhode Island, spring 2010. Each month the program took us to a different place in the state: we focused a day on education, another on legislature, one on the arts. This time, we were spending a day inside the corrections facilities – prison. I was more anxious about this day than any in our 10-month course and my largest worry was encountering something that felt so big and unmanageable to me – human corrections.

What was the point, anyway? Could people be rehabilitated? Or was our corrections system just a game, played by many and won by none? I was expecting to leave the day feeling defeated and lost and helpless. I never expected to leave inspired.

We toured the men’s prison, we went into the big yard with the inmates at the ACI, we listened to a panel of some of the “worst” criminals there; we went to the youth detention center and saw teenagers in cells, behind bars. But the unexpected moment came for me when we heard a talk from the warden of the women’s prison. She was a tiny woman, calm and soft, and her words were picked with care. We learned about her career at the prison, where a calling unexpectedly found her. As she talked, it became clear that when she arrived at the prison, and then rose to the top, that she was very unsettled with the way things were done here – and she was willing to take the kind of risks that would probably put her in danger at times – while also making a difference not only to the women she served today, but to countless women who would follow. Someone asked her what had been most important to her success in the face of huge obstacles. Her answer: “It doesn’t matter what you do, or where you work, but you must bring with you each and every day to your work three things: hope, love, and faith.”

She shared more detail, and I thought about this for a long time. I don’t work in a field that helps people get well or make change in their lives. I sometimes regret that. But for the moment, my job is a means to an end, it supports my family. Why in the world would I bring faith to my work? Isn’t that for social workers and ministers? I heard her words again and again and began to see that I was, at times, living two lives: a working woman and a woman of faith. These lives didn’t seem to easily intersect. And something began to gnaw at me … what place did faith have in my work life, if any? This tiny woman managed a prison with hope, love and faith — and she told us – a group of people in business – that we needed all three in our working lives too, everyday, no matter what we did. As I thought about the role of faith at work, I began to see people around me through a different lens, one that was more forgiving, less competitive, maybe even more helpful.

I didn’t start reciting scripture at work, and I didn’t change my career (yet), but thanks to a warden at the women’s prison, my thinking, and hopefully my actions, have begun to take a different shape. And I have realized that even though my job doesn’t help countless people for generations to come, on a good day I can make a small difference in the life of someone else, no matter where I am.

-Sandi SeltzerConnors

Bylaw Amendment

Abide for a moment in the land of intricate bylaw language, endowment funds, and annual budgets! Not everyone’s cup of tea, but at the base of what keeps our church functioning smoothly. And surely we all care about that.

A committee has been working for slightly more than a year to update our bylaws regarding the use of endowment funds in relation to annual budget needs. We have wrestled with questions such as, “How much may we take from our endowment funds each year and still count upon fund growth that will keep pace with inflation?” And, “What machinery of governance do we need to put in place so that prudent budget discussions can evolve?”

The result of this wrestling, a bylaw amendment, has emerged, is being readied for action at the forthcoming June 3 Annual Meeting of the congregation, and will be available for your review at the counter in the Church office.

Briefly, the amendments: (1) assign various powers and duties to a renamed Endowment Funds Board, (2) conform Church bylaws to the new State law regarding endowment funds, and (3) clarify the functions and interplay of the Prudential and other Committees in creating the Church’s annual budget.

This has been an exhilarating committee experience! Despite illness and last-minute, out-of-town business trips, our attendance at meetings has been excellent. Each member has contributed vigorously to the discussion, and discussions have been intense.

If you would like to learn more, please pick up a copy of the proposed amendments at the Church office; and also talk with any of the of the Bylaw Revision Committee members: Jack Boyce, Donna Chace-Larson, Bill Claflin, Rob Edwards, Mary Hazeltine, John Peters, Curt Richardson, the Rev. Rebecca Spencer, Scott Stevenson, and John Trevor.

Also, come to the Informational Meeting to be held on Sunday, May 6, before the Worship Service, from 9:15 AM to 10:15 AM. in the Deacons Room. -Bill Claflin

JOIN US FOR RI PRIDE ON JUNE 16th

Central Church will have a booth at RI PRIDE this year and we invite your participation. Help is needed in the weeks ahead of the event as well as at our booth on June 16. Over the course of the day we will be talking with people about our church community and encouraging them to come worship with us and to participate in the life of our vibrant community here at Central. Some of us also plan to march in the evening parade. We would love to have you join us. Please be in touch with Bob Iovino or Barbara Bayon for more information or sign up to help. Thank you.

Easter Mangos

“In the Morning When I Rise, Give Me Jesus”

-African American Spiritual

Was it more than a coincidence? We were sitting in the yard outside Lambaré’s Disciples of Christ church, enjoying the congregation’s annual Good Friday campfire and taking in the words of a visiting pastor. He was exhorting us to choose Jesus and not the world, since the world has nothing to offer but the silver of betrayal, when a late mango fell from a tree, struck my neighbor’s thigh with a thud, and rolled right up to the preacher’s feet. If it was more than a coincidence, then what did it mean?

On the one hand, the falling mango might serve to accentuate the pastor’s message; “Mangos” is slang for money. What the world has to offer is ultimately perishable. Our hope for what money can buy us falls flat in the face of the deeper, abundant life that Jesus shares with us.

On the other hand, maybe this harvest mango was a counterpoint to the sermon. Does Jesus demand a discipleship that denies nature’s gifts? I don’t think so. Jesus’ stories are full of planting, seeds, and nature. For example, the disciples gather heads of grain to eat while journeying through the fields in Matthew 12. So, the world has good and healthy things to offer.

Putting the two interpretations together, I believe that in light of this Easter moment, our task is to discern what are the healthy things and what are the unhealthy things in the world. What leads to death and what leads to life? What builds our relationships with God and with each other, and what diminishes those relationships?

In the words of the song quoted above,

“You may have all the rest, give me Jesus.”

Easter Blessings!

-James DeBoer, Central’s Global Mission Partner

Plant & Bake Sale at the Mt. Hope Learning Center

140 Cypress St, Providence

14^th Annual Plant & Bake Sale - 

Saturday, May 12 9am to 3pm

Sunday, May 13 9am to 12 noon

• Perfect Gifts for Mother’s Day
• Free Gardening & Floral Workshops
• Fun Activities for Kids
• Great Selection of Hanging Pots, Perennials, Herbs & Annuals (All at reasonable prices)
• Cut Flowers & Arrangements
• Proceeds benefit the education programs of the Mt Hope Learning Center

MEET & GREET THE REVEREND GEOFFREY BLACK

Friday, May 4, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.

Chapel Hall

$15 per person

Come enjoy hors d’ouevres, wine, cheese, dessert and coffee with Rev. Black here at Central!

The Reverend Geoffrey Black, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, will be visiting Rhode Island! This special event is being held to welcome Geoffrey to RI on Friday night. Please mark your calendars and take advantage of this opportunity to meet and greet the head of our denomination!!

Please RSVP by phone to the office by May 3^rd or sooner. Questions? Call Claudia.

CCC MEDITATION GROUP

Thursday, May 3

6:00-7:00 p.m. in the Library

This will be our last meeting until the fall. Join us as we explore our faith through thoughtful reflection. Whether you call it meditation, contemplation, mindful deliberation, or any other descriptive name, the practice of spending regular time in such a practice is just plain good for the body and the soul. Call Claudia with any questions—331-1960.

UTOPIAN COMMUNITIES in 19^th CENTURY AMERICA

CCC Adult Sunday School

9:00 a.m. on 5/5, 5/13, & 5/20

Fireplace Room

The Second Great Awakening in the United States in the 19^th century was a time of evangelistic fervor. It was an exciting religious era. During this time many utopian communities were created with the goal of demonstrating the religious perfectibility of society. There was Old Economy Village in Pennsylvania, New Harmony community in Indiana, the Amana Colonies in Iowa, and the Oneida Community in New York. Nearer to home was Bronson Alcott’s (yes, Louisa May’s father!) failed experiment in communal living—Fruitlands in Harvard, MA. Come learn more about these fascinating groups —truly an American story! Questions? Call Claudia at 331-1960.

Book Group

Rebecca’s noon book group next meets on Thursday, May 24 to discuss Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick. All are invited to join this lively group.

Global Mission in Sri Lanka

In February Barrett and I travelled to Sri Lanka with a group of trustees of the Jaffna College Fund. I went as the representative of Wider Church Ministries. Congregational missionaries founded Jaffna College and Uduvil Girls School more than 200 years ago. A 30-year civil war, much of it in the northern region, between the Tamil Tigers (who are Hindus) in the north and the Singhalese (predominantly Buddhist) government of Sri Lanka ended in May 2009. The security situation has improved making it possible to visit. Reconstruction after the devastation of the war has started but full mental and physical recovery will take a long time.

Everywhere we went we were greeted warmly with singing, traditional dances and garlands! We met with staff and students at Jaffna College and Uduvil Girls School, the leading educational institutions in the Jaffna Peninsula – in spite of the devastating war. Julian Nitz, a Global Mission Intern, had arrived a week earlier. She is teaching music and English at Uduvil and will teach part-time at Jaffna and the Christian Theological Seminary. At the Christian Theological Seminary, pastors and lay leaders are learning more about trauma counseling. This is an urgent need as most of the people, especially those in the Vanni region, are severely affected by the war.

We visited several day care centers run by our partner church, the Church of the American Ceylon Mission (CACM). The centers serve a large number of children who otherwise would have no opportunity for young age education and care and also allow their parents to seek work while the children are being cared for and provided nutritious meals. Malnutrition and lack of good schools means that thousands of poor children fall behind in the early years of life and never have a real opportunity to succeed in education. The CACM supports children and youth in poor communities by running afterschool programs and youth clubs. The afterschool programs help compensate for the poorly run and inadequately staffed and equipped schools. Through the clubs the youth have an opportunity to learn leadership and ways to address local social and cultural problems.

Some children also face problems in attending school since they live long distances from their schools. CACM provides funds for bicycles for these children so that they can ride to school every day.

Our reception by the parents, children and teachers at each of the centers we visited was overwhelming. They had felt isolated and forgotten during those difficult years. This was particularly true in the Vanni region that seldom has visitors. The children shared with us the songs and dances that they had learned. I could see the joy in their faces as they took part in the ceremonies. I came away with great admiration for the pastors who lead the CACM churches and counsel their parishioners who have suffered so much because of the war. -Mary Hazeltine

Bursting Pomegranate Sale

After church on Sunday, May 6, do your gift shopping for Mother’s Day, graduations, showers, and more. We sell Fair Trade gifts & crafts from artisans in developing countries around the world, a mission outreach of our church. This is the final Bursting Pomegranate sale of this year — come browse & buy!

Stay Green!

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ANGELLIC KNITTERS

Sunday, May 6 – 11:45 a.m. Chapel Hall

Come join us as we enjoy lunch at the New Member Luncheon and knit! We’ll have a special table reserved right in the front of the hall. Whether or not you knit, stop by and see what we are doing as we spread the warmth of Christ’s love through the prayer shawl ministry of Central. And, if you’ve always wanted to learn to knit, there’s no time like the present! We are happy to teach you!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

May 10 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Deacon’s Room

This month we are reading The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad, an intimate first hand look at Afghani life after the Taliban. Seierstad is invited to live with Sultan Khan, a bookseller in Kabul who managed to save many of his precious books from the Taliban. She accepts and writes a compelling account of his two wives, his children and the other family members who share his four room house in a fascinating look at contemporary life in Afghanistan. Questions? Call Claudia.

PRAYER TREE LUNCH AND GATHERING

Sunday, May 27 12 noon. Fireplace Room

Whether you are a member of Central’s Prayer Tree or not you are welcome to bring a dish to share and to join this group of pray-ers for lunch and a devotional time on the practice of prayer and a time of sharing. Ending with a time of prayer—of course!

Spring Mission Day! Saturday, May 12^th.

It’s time to SPRING INTO ACTION For the RI Community Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity

Saturday, May 12^th is the annual “Stamp Out Hunger” Letter Carriers Food Drive to benefit the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. This is a great opportunity for members to participate in both mission work and fellowship! The Food Bank is looking for groups of 5 to 10 volunteers to help sort food at several post office sites throughout the state. We will be working a 3 to 4 hour shift during the afternoon of the 12^th. All volunteers must be 14 years of age. This is an excellent chance for older children to volunteer with one of our benevolences. For more information or to sign up your group please contact Heather Lynch.

Volunteers are also needed for a May 12^th Habitat for Humanity Project. Learn a new skill and get involved! Contact Sandi (Seltzer) Connors for more information.

Got Mission?

Have you Got Mission? Dive in with one of our many activities of the Mission & Action Committee.

Hands-on Opportunities:

• In addition to donations, the M&A committee provides numerous opportunities for involvement in our Mission projects throughout the year. Each Tuesday, members serve breakfast at Amos House from 6:30 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. Contract Tracy Baran for more information.
• On the first Saturday of each month, members serve with Habitat for Humanity for a half-day from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., no experience required. Contact Sandi Seltzer for more information.
• Members participate in the Camp Street Neighborhood Ministries food distribution on the last Saturday of each month from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. Contact Beth Taylor for more information.
• Mount Hope Learning Center needs volunteers for its after-school group to help do homework and tutor students and help plan events for children and for its women’s group to help plan and staff events. Please contact Janet Anderson for more information.

Ongoing Collections:

• Camp Street Clothing Collection. Donate new or gently used clothing for the clothing closet at Camp Street Ministries. Drop off your donations at the large wooden box in the hallway in Chapel Hall. Email Beth Taylor for more information.
• Food Collection for Camp Street. Don’t forget your weekly food donations, to be brought up to the front of the church during the first hymn. The amount of those living in hunger in Rhode Island is growing each day—Camp Street needs your donations more than ever!
• Sojourner House Appeal for Toiletries. Sojourner House has a critical need for toiletry items for its women. Please consider donating: toothbrushes, toothpaste (full size), Bars of soap (full size), shampoo and conditioner (full size), shaving cream, disposable razors (for women), and Feminine hygiene products. Please drop off your donated items at church in the bin marked Sojourner House.

160^TH ANNUAL MEETING

Members of Central Congregational Church are cordially invited to attend the 160th Annual Meeting at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, June 3, 2012

Luncheon to follow in Chapel Hall 12:30 p.m.

Hosts: Joan Harrison, Larry Kellam, Laurel McLaughlin

MENU

• Assorted Fruit Green Salad
• Chicken Salad Wrap
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Coffee & Tea

Please make luncheon reservations by returning the form below along with your check payable to

Central Congregational Church by Wednesday, May 30. Tickets are $10 per person

If you are unable to mail in your reservation and payment, please call the church office at 331-1960

…………………………………………………………………………

Annual Meeting Luncheon Reservation Form

Enclosed is $__________for_________adults

Name(s)______________________________________________

Childcare needed during the Meeting for_____________children

Please mail to:

ANNUAL MEETING Luncheon Reservations:
Central Congregational Church, UCC
296 Angell Street, Providence, RI 02906

By  Anna Tanalski

A butterfly’s flight draws near

And tickles my nose

With a taste of candlelit prose

Words flowing through my veins

Rhythms of a heartbeat

Stuck like the concrete on Main Street

Taught red ribbons twisted around my soul

Pulling me in one direction

A whiff of sweet confection

Galaxies beneath my feet

Ripped up pages thrown to the side

The tears rip deeper on the inside

Foggy breath on the window

I trace my name and it fades away

It’s just another ordinary day

Musings and Puzzles

All kept within my pocket

My imagination shoots off like a rocket

Paper doll strings hanging above my head

Questions unanswered

Answers unsaid

It’s just another ordinary day

Lips painted scarlet

And the sky turns to gray

Anna Tanalski

Anna Tanalski is 15 years old and in 10th grade. She has been writing ever since second grade. She loves to read, listen to music, and draw. She has been attending Central Church since eighth grade. Some of her favorite forms of poetry are sonnets, slam poetry, and free verse. Anna is very grateful to be included on the Poet’s Page and in the poetry opportunities at Central.

By Ilse Kramer

The angel who lives in
The stained-glass window
Depicting the Heavenly City
Winks at the sexton
Who is cleaning
The baptismal font

He takes a walk to India Point
I mean the sexton and not the angel
Don’t you know angels don’t walk they fly
He fishes yesterday’s donuts
Out of his pocket
And feeds the sea gulls

The sexton sits on the bench
At India Point
The angel has followed
But declines the donut
Angels carry rations
Of manna

The angel says to the whitest gull
Come see me at home
The gull says perhaps
Are there herrings
In the Heavenly City
No herrings? That is so sad

Ilse Kramer

Ilse Kramer is the Poet Laureate of Central Congregational Church.

By Jan Corbett

There is here.
Then is now.
Dreams are memories
decayed… somehow
Life circles back
End to beginning to end,
And time shapes a womb
Again.

Jan Corbett

Jan Corbett is a retired English professor who has published two nonfiction books and many articles in small magazines and academic journals but she is just beginning to write her own poetry. Her other interests include oil painting classes at RISD’s extension campus in Barrington and participation in a local peace organization.

By May Grant

Breeze still bitter,
Robin’s image jells like ice.

Sounds still muffled,
Robin’s music throbs a rhythm.
Homes still huddled,
Robin’s feather wafts from heaven.

Seeds still curling,
Robin tastes each worm anew.

Scents still buried,
Robin shouts

I’m Here,

I’m Love,

I’m You!

© 2011  May Cornelia Grant

May Cornelia Grant has been writing all her life, non-professionally. Her articles have appeared in numerous small magazines and newspapers.

by Christine Parker

I gave up fear and cheese for lent.

Giving up the cheese was surprisingly easy.

The fear, not so much.

Have you ever noticed that when you pray to God for help in something, say patience, that what you get are opportunities to practice patience? You know, you say please God help me to be more patient, and you find yourself facing traffic jams, frustrating people, a pot of spaghetti water that won’t boil, interminable lines at the DMV.

I think this is where the term ‘be careful what you pray for’ came from.

When I asked God what he wanted me to work on for Lent, what I heard Him say was, “Be Not Afraid.”

As my Jewish friends would say, “Oy!”

Of course this made sense to me.  I’ve been having a lot of practice at ‘Being Not Afraid’ in my recent spiritual journey. Several years ago God gave me an incredible opportunity in the form of personal disaster.  In the course of a six month period my life came apart. The world as I knew it, and MY expectations of what my life would be, evaporated in a firestorm of loss, shattering disillusionment and pain.

By the Grace of God, and the help of good and loving people, I am now in a place in my life where I can see the gift of this. At 52 years of age I am starting over, working consciously to find the life that God intends for me to lead, rebuilding who I am, seeking my true purpose in life. It is a fascinating journey, but it’s often a slow time. A waiting time that sometimes feels like wading through a bog, of doing nothing but quietly pressing on.  Then when there is movement, it’s usually a shift in some uncharted area, full of uncertainty that requires stepping out in faith.

I am sure that there are those of you hearing this who can relate to this feeling.

Disasters aside, I have been fortunate in my life, and am basically a pretty joyful, positive person. Let me give you a little background.

I am the product of a mixed marriage. My Presbyterian mother married a ‘Papist’.  Both of my parents are deeply spiritual and while they are not sticklers on the dogmas of the religions they grew up in, they  take Jesus commandment to “love one another” seriously and that was the beacon that guided my growing up.  I learned to believe that God loves us—all of us– that we are children of God living in a world filled with wonder, and that self-discipline and putting others first is the way to live a happy and worthwhile life.

Both of my parents have a scientific bent (Mom was a nurse, Dad a fighter pilot, commercial pilot and trained engineer) so they were open to experiment on the best way to provide a religious education for their four children.  Consequently, I was baptized Catholic, confirmed Episcopalian, and went to Lutheran Sunday school. I also grew up in a highly intuitive family with a history of what I would call ‘faith based extrasensory encounters’ For example, I grew up with this story.

My father was a fighter pilot.  One time he was getting into his plane when a voice he associates with God told him that the plane would fail and how.  He said a prayer and thanked God, got in, took off, managed to handle the problem and later safely land the plane. I asked him why he didn’t refuse to fly a plane he KNEW could kill him. Weren’t you afraid?  He said “How could I give that plane to some other pilot? At least I knew what was going to go wrong.”

I grew up confident in this kind of direct link to God, and a pretty broad acceptance of what was God’s will– like my psychic link with my mother, having a faith healer great-grandfather, and a sister that talks to dead people. We saw these as gifts from God and part of God’s world, to be treated with respect, and otherwise pretty much not a big deal. Of course God can make stuff like this possible. He’s GOD.

The net result was that while I did not have a lot of formal religious beliefs, I felt a deep personal link to God, a belief that life is good, an acceptance of people as they were, and an ability to see the best in others and the world around me.

As an adult, I learned about Buddhism, meditation, paganism and Judaism. I was fascinated and energized to see recurring themes in these very different religious approaches that were so similar, and reinforcing of what I had learned growing up.  God was big enough to be present in all of these beliefs.  All of these belief systems were means to access the truth, and God. I would also still attend church occasionally but if I’m honest, most of the time it felt more like some archaic self-soothing ritual than something relevant that linked me to my God, and His intentions for me.

And then, ‘The Disaster’ created an urgency in me to actively seek a way to grow my relationship with God on a daily basis. In the work I was doing, only so much of it could be done alone. The rest required practical application, and the strength that comes from numbers of like-minded people.

Isaiah 41:13 says, ‘For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.’

And as part of that help, I believe that God led me to Central Congregational Church.

The first time I walked in, I felt at home.  Yes the building is gorgeous and soothing; yes the choir is heartbreakingly good. But what reached into the deepest need in me was the acceptance, love, gratitude and caring I saw demonstrated by this group of people. When Rebecca or Kat or Claudia speak they not only inspire you, they create the link to practical action that will bring you closer to God. Congregation members reached out to me and I was included. I saw children ecstatically racing to Sunday school. (This was not MY memory of response to Sunday school!) I saw love cheerfully demonstrated in local and global mission work. I could not believe this anointed group of people actually existed, and they’d been here all the time, waiting for me to find them.

Their example gives me hope and energy and encouragement that I can do likewise. I believe being a member of this loving and inspiring Congregation is part of finding my life’s true purpose.

So let’s get back to my Lenten quest to ‘Be Not Afraid’.

Basically, I pray at God’s direction to ‘Be Not Afraid’, and he sends me scary stuff to practice on.

Have you ever noticed that when you try to NOT do something what you often end up doing is thinking about nothing but whatever IT is? So I began my search for what to do to combat fear by asking what is the opposite of fear? Thinking I could do THAT instead when fear crowded my thoughts and intentions.

As you now know from my spiritual journey, I have pretty broad parameters for where God lives, and where Godly direction can come from.  So you probably won’t be surprised to learn that one of the sources of my answer to this question is found in modern neuroscience.

I remembered some research that I had encountered years ago that gave me an anti-fear tool for my arsenal. In his book, What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life For The Better, psychologist and life coach Dan Baker wrote about recent discoveries in neuroscience, specifically how the brain works, that shed some light on the fear issue.  For those of you who are scientists, my apologies in advance, but I am going to give my Readers Digest version.

Basically the oldest part of our brains, the amygdala or ‘lizard brain’ governs fear, specifically by triggering our most primal fears of the fight or flight type.  This was really important ages ago for our survival as a species when danger lurked behind every bush, but its action can be debilitating in modern life when it kicks in as stress or anxiety over perceived or imagined threats.

Fortunately, the newest center of our brain, the neocortex offers a powerful override capability.  It is the center of intellect, creativity, intuition and spirituality. And here’s the key: brain scans show that when one of these parts of the brain is active, the other shows little or no activity, like it’s turned off.  Better yet, we can actually choose to toggle back and forth!

For instance, if there’s a fire, and your amygdala is screaming ‘Fire! Run!” your neocortex is silent, and all your focus is on running, as it should be if there’s a fire!  But when you are praying or creating or showing gratitude or love to someone, you are using your neocortex, and your lizard brain–along with its fear-mongering– is quiet.

So in the absence of real danger, we can CHOOSE to activate the neocortex, and silence the scary thoughts emanating from our lizard brain by choosing thoughts of love, and gratitude and creativity and rational problem solving.  Even in the presence of real danger we can ALSO choose to activate the neocortex and suppress our primal fear, which is why parents in a burning house can ignore their own danger to save a child.

I found what I was looking for. What I needed to do to ‘Be Not Afraid’.  I needed to Love more.  And it works! Try it yourself sometime, when you are feeling afraid of a person or circumstance. Choose to think lovingly or with gratitude about the person or event, looking for how you can love more, or help or learn.  Then note: you are no longer afraid.

Love silences Fear.

Isn’t God great? He built an antidote for fear right into our brains. It’s the choice to love.

And to my mind, God and science agree. Here is how His word puts it in First John 4:18 in my amplified Bible:

There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].

So to give up Fear for Lent, I am committing to Love, and working toward that ‘full maturity of love”. That’s where I am on my spiritual journey now.  With the help of my Church, and you good people, and the designs of God, I am ‘Being Not Afraid’ by doing what Jesus instructed us to do,” Love one another.”

VOLUME 20 NUMBER 4

296 Angell Street Providence RI 02906 401-331-1960

From your Senior Minister

Dear Friends,

Some time ago here at Central we put together some Lenten questions to consider. These included:

Why am I a Christian?
What is this Christian love?

Why pray?

What kind of help is this?

What difference does it make?

What has the church to offer?

Good questions all to ponder and to incorporate into our lives.

We ended with these phrases….

Palm Sunday – His entrance into our lives

Easter – His Resurrection – Our hope

The questions and the phrases stand today.

And soon dear friends, we will indeed celebrate together Easter – Jesus’ Resurrection and our Hope. And we realize once again the fact that eternity is happening all around us.

In the hearts of children in Haiti and in the hearts of our own children here in Providence.

All of God’s children everywhere know that we belong to forever. We all are given abundant portions of God’s love. Easter and its celebration make that real for us.

So let’s consider our questions and live into their reality. Let us follow the God of love Who calls us in our daily lives. And may we let Jesus fully into our lives even as He rode that small donkey into the city. Even as He was crucified, and put in the tomb. Even as the tomb was left empty.

Let us know that death is defeated, that Hope lives and that Love is eternal – each and every day of our lives.
He is Risen! Alleluia!

Yours in the celebration of Easter,

Faithfully,

Rebecca

Thoughts and Prayers

Our thoughts and prayers are with Roxana Sasse – Her mother, Mary Edwards, died in March

LENTEN SCHEDULE

Palm Sunday, April 1

Worship Service 10:30 am

Preceded by the outdoor procession with Jasper (the donkey), palms,

choir, & children at 10:10

Maundy Thursday, April 5 7:30 pm

Service of Tenebrae and Communion

Preceding worship, our Deacons invite you to a potluck supper at 6 p.m. in Chapel Hall.

Tenebrae, Latin for Shadows, is a service of lessons and is accompanied by the gradual extinguishing of light. The readings, preceded by Communion, commemorate the events of Holy Week: Jesus’ betrayal & arrest, His passion, trial & death on the cross. This is a moving & important service that allows us to walk with Jesus in those last days & hours of His life. It prepares us to celebrate the glory & the light of the Resurrection on Easter.

Good Friday, April 6 12 noon

Our adult choir presents a

“The Seven Last Words of Christ”

by Theodore Dubois

Easter Vigil, April 7

Worship Service 7:30 pm

The Easter Vigil dates to the beginnings of Christianity. This candlelight service keeps the intent of such vigils—hearing the readings, remembering our baptisms and sharing Holy Communion together—but it is about an hour long! Watch and wait with us as we anticipate the joy of the dawning Easter day!

Easter, April 8

Ecumenical Sunrise Service 6:00am at Swan Point Cemetery

Easter Breakfast 9:00 am

Children’s Egg Hunt 9:45 am

Festival Service of Worship 10:30am with, organ, brass and timpani. Preludes begin at 10:10 am

The United Congregational Church of Westerly, Pawcatuck, Connecticut requests that the Conference meet in a special session to ordain Ruth Shilling Hainsworth to the Christian Ministry and to install her as pastor of the United Congregational Church of Westerly, UCC.

The Conference will gather as an Ecclesiastical Council at United Church of Westerly, UCC on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 2 p.m. to proceed with the ordination and installation. All are invited to attend a reception following the council.

From Kat

Our van got a flat tire on our first day in Haiti. We awkwardly filed out of the van in to the dusty air and assembled by a roadside pile of tires. While we were waiting for the repair, one of our translators, Wilfred, asked me about my favorite Bible verse. He shared that his was the story of David, who chose not to kill Saul, despite Saul’s mistreatment of him. I nervously pondered whether this was a word of assurance (or admonition?) to me as a citizen of the United States. So much of our trip’s success and safety depended on the goodwill of others, many of whom had experienced pain, trauma even, at the hands of people who looked like us. I suspect that our translator did not intend the connection I made in my head, but I did find myself feeling incredibly vulnerable and simultaneously thankful in that moment.

I confess that my privilege typically protects me from feelings of helplessness such as these. In the United States, I do not have to trust that my food is cooked safely, nor do I need to rely on others for rides or depend on anyone to appropriately communicate my words in another language. My time in Haiti challenged me to question whether my privilege was also guarding me from the blessing of trusting others and God.

At some point during the tire change, I noticed the tire repairman and Jonas, a translator and seminary student, struggling to open the back door of the van where the spare was located. “Pastor,” he shouted to me. “Come pray with me!” He explained that the door was stuck and needed some of God’s power to open it. I felt rather silly praying over a van door, but together, he and I prayed, and sure enough, the latch broke loose. I’ll admit that would not have been my first response before. I may have examined the door and relied on my basic mechanical knowledge to figure out why it was stuck or relied on my strength to force it open. But to Jonas, prayer made just as much sense.

Throughout the week, we heard many stories of people in desperate situations turning to prayer and receiving grace. There was the story of Jasmine and the orphanage that found itself on its last dime and without food to feed the many hungry mouths it had pledged to care for. Together, they prayed, and were delivered a miracle—a truck of food showed up to their rural gates with the instructions to “deliver food to an orphanage.” Another man shared how when he was unable to save his friend after the quake, he prayed that God might use him to help someone. He found himself on a side street where a woman was in the final stages of labor, and he said God gave him the knowledge in that moment to help her deliver her child.

Miracles were everywhere in Haiti, and the incarnate Christ present in tangible ways. Bible stories came alive before our eyes and we bore witness to God’s power at work in the world.

Jesus says in Matthew 19 that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The word for camel in this passage is likely a mistranslation of the word for yarn or rope (the passage reads kamilos, yarn, in the Greek, and kamelos, camel, in the later Latin translation). A camel is never likely to gallop through a needle, but when I consider how one might pass yarn through, the metaphor makes sense. If you pull yarn apart and make it smaller or put pressure on it and roll it tightly between your fingers, it may be possible to push it through the eye.

In Haiti, humbled, under pressure and stripped of my illusions of control, I caught glimpses of the kingdom of God. My prayer is that I will find new ways to recognize God’s active presence in my more comfortable life in the U.S. Prayer will certainly be part of that journey—for me it is a consistent reminder that my power, while it may seem sufficient, is never capable of the miraculous transformation that comes from the love and grace of God.

Kat

From Claudia

It hardly seems possible, but it has been almost two years exactly since I traveled to the Middle East. As Holy Week and Easter approach I am reminded of some impressions that have remained with me of my time in the places Jesus walked.

The Palm Sunday walk down the Mount of Olives was surprising because it was so tremendously steep. I kept trying to imagine how a little donkey with a grown man astride it would ever make it safely down. The ancient road we walked is incredibly narrow and lined with huge stone walls now—perhaps eight to twelve feet high—and there are NO sidewalks. Occasionally we would have to pull aside and hug those very high walls as a car went up or down that narrow road much too fast! It was so steep in places that my wonderful walking shoes had almost no traction and I found myself sliding down the street. Were it not for a fellow pilgrim’s strong hand I would have fallen in places!

Along the way there in one of those tall walls there is a gate to a garden. We were met there by a monk who opened it with an enormous skeleton key. In the solitude of that garden amongst 3,000 plus year old olive trees, I and the other three clergy on the trip celebrated communion with our group looking down on the city of Jerusalem below. As I walked alone in the garden afterward I thought that Jesus, too, might have walked in this very garden, touching those very trees…

On the Via Dolorosa we followed the traditional Way of the Cross. It surprised me that it was so very narrow and so very crowded. At times we walked through various souks, or marketplaces. And it was anything but a holy, quiet pilgrimage even at the end in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the place tradition says was Golgotha.

This year I will hear the stories of Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter and these and many other pictures will be vivid in my mind’s memory. Memories of a bustling, noisy church contrast with the solitude of a garden. And, I am reminded of the continuity of life, not only in Jerusalem, but also in Providence and all the places in which we find ourselves during this holy journey that we call life.

On Easter morning we will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection as we emerge from the season of Lent. We will celebrate the knowledge that there is transformation—new life—from whatever confused and hectic places we find ourselves. My prayer is for each of you is to experience the clarity and hope of that ancient walled garden. All this is contained and celebrated in the newness of the light of Easter morning.

Deo Gratias! Alleluia!

Claudia

MUSIC AT CENTRAL

This year our Adult Choir presents “The Seven Last Words of Christ” by Theodore Dubois for our annual Good Friday special service of music.

A well-known cantata at Central and favorite of many, this late 19th century work musically depicts the hours spent by Christ on the cross with soprano, tenor, and bass vocal solos along with choir and organ. The romantic phrasing and harmonies and text painting bring to life again dramatically passion of Christ in engaging music that inspires the soul.

Come for this annual service on this most important day of Holy Week and spend an hour in music and prayer.

Heritage Sunday

Please join us on Sunday, April 29 as we observe Heritage Sunday. This marks the first time services were held in the Benefit Street Church. On this day, we honor the founders and faithful of Central Congregational Church through the years. Hymns and prayers with historical meaning are woven into this service of thanks and remembrance.

We at Central gratefully honor our members who have enriched this community of faith for over fifty years. Their witness to Christ has touched many lives.

New Members

New Member Orientation*

Wednesday, April 25

Faith Exploration*

Tuesday, May 1

New Member Sunday

May 6

*These meetings are held at the home of the Rev. Rebecca Spencer 15 Taber Ave at 7 pm.

From your Stewardship Committee. . .

Thank you to the over 100 members and friends who have thoughtfully made their stewardship commitments for the upcoming church year. To date, these gifts total over $250,000. If you have not yet made your commitment, we hope to hear from you.

PS. If you need more information, please call Marilyn in the church office, 331-1960.

Greetings, Church School Families

“Spring is Christ,

raising martyred plants from their shrouds.”
–Rumi, 12th cen. Sufi poet

We are now coming out of the Season of Lentand entering into the Season of Easter. We easily remember that Lent is 40 days. How about the Season of Easter?! Easter is 50 days! As we embraced the Lenten season of prayer and reflection, so let us enter into the Easter season with awe, wonder and thanksgiving at a God who does not let death, pain and suffering have the final word. Let us be raised, as “martyred plants” from our “shrouds”!

April dates to make note of:

Sunday, April 1st — PALM SUNDAY; Please arrive at 10:00 for the Palm Procession around the block, led by our donkey friend, Jasper. Please remember that this is also One Great Hour of Sharing Sunday, and to bring your offering/collection boxes back to church.

(If you forget, bring the following Sunday)

Thursday, April 5th — MAUNDY THURSDAY; Please bring a potluck dish to share at 6:00. ‘Lenten Symbol’ Scavenger Hunt for kids after supper. The evening tenebrae service begins at 7:30.

Sunday, April 8th — EASTER SUNDAY; Easter Egg Hunt starts at 9:45. Please gather in the Fireplace room at 9:30. The Easter Egg Hunt is for children up to 5th grade. There is no Church School on Easter morning, but there IS childcare for infants/toddlers in the nursery, as well as childcare in the Pre-School room for all children up to age 6.

Sunday, April 15th – Communion Sunday; Dream-Maker class (Junior High) stays in for worship.

May the joy of Easter be yours! Christ is Risen indeed!

With love, Cathy Clasper Torch

Easter Breakfast

Chapel Hall

April 8 9:00 am

$10 Adults

$5 Children

Children under 3 free

Proceeds benefit the 2012 youth mission trip to the National Youth Event, Indianapolis

Got Mission?

Have you Got Mission? Dive with one of our many activities of the Mission & Action Committee.

Upcoming Events:

April is Sandwich Brigade time. On April 15, 22, and 29^th, we will have our usual sandwich brigade in the Central kitchen, starting at 9 a.m. Please join us—all ages are welcome.

On April 1^st and 8^th, the at-home sandwich brigade! We will need 29 individuals and/or families to sign up for the following for each Sunday:

• 13 families provide 20 sandwiches each;
• 8 families provide 25 to 30 pieces of fruit-bananas or oranges; and
• 8 families provide snacks—25 to 30 individual packages boxes of raisins or fruit snacks or 6 packs of cheese or peanut butter crackers or individual snack bags of Fig Newtons.

Specific instructions will be emailed to you upon signing up. Deliveries should be made either first thing Sunday morning or the Saturday before. Please look for a member for a member of M&A at coffee hour to sign up, or contact Heather Lynch to sign up. This is a perfect opportunity to bring Mission to your family!

May is the Annual Diaper Drive.

Hands-on Opportunities: In addition to donations, the M&A committee provides numerous opportunities for involvement in our Mission projects throughout the year. Each Tuesday, members serve breakfast at Amos House from 6:30 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. Contract Tracy Baran for more information.

On the first Saturday of each month, members serve with Habitat for Humanity for a half-day from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., no experience required. Contact Sandi Seltzer for more information.

Members participate in the Camp Street Neighborhood Ministries food distribution on the last Saturday of each month from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. Contact Beth Taylor for more information.

Mount Hope Learning Center needs volunteers for its after-school group to help do homework and tutor students and help plan events for children and for its women’s group to help plan and staff events. Please contact Janet Anderson for more information.

Ongoing Collections:

Camp Street Clothing Collection. Donate new or gently used clothing for the clothing closet at Camp Street Ministries. Drop off your donations at the large wooden box in the hallway in Chapel Hall. Email Beth Taylor for more information.

Food Collection for Camp Street. Don’t forget your weekly food donations, to be brought up to the front of the church during the first hymn. The amount of those living in hunger in Rhode Island is growing each day—Camp Street needs your donations more than ever!

Sojourner House Appeal for Toiletries. Sojourner House has a critical need for toiletry items for its women. Please consider donating: toothbrushes, toothpaste (full size), Bars of soap (full size), shampoo and conditioner (full size), shaving cream, disposable razors (for women), and Feminine hygiene products. Please drop off your donated items at church in the bin marked Sojourner House.

In the Shade of the Green Tree

April brings us spring showers and hope for renewal as trees and bulbs show new life and the woods and waters awake from their winter slumbers. God’s earth is alive and it’s resiliency a marvelous thing to witness and serve.

Sunday April 22 is Earth Day. Consider how you might observe this reminder of our obligation to preserve God’s gift of the Earth. Our “Green Committee” plans an “Earth Day Fair” to showcase some Green aspects of living in a way that respects that creation and treads lightly on nature. Look for us in Chapel Hall during coffee hour on April 22nd. And think of how you might ease the burden you place on the earth: walk to church, car pool, make one less purchase or trip to the store. A long journey starts with small steps.

Bill Templeton

Chair of the Conservation Committee

Remember…

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Also, let us know if you will be away for an extended period of time. If you are away, newsletters are returned to us postage due.

Baptism

The Sacrament of Baptism is an important part of our worship life together. In an effort to uplift our celebration of Baptisms in our community of faith, we will be offering Baptisms during the following Sundays of the church year.

Sunday after Easter April 15, 2012

Children’s Sabbath October 21, 2012

Meetings to prepare parents for Baptism are generally held in our Fireplace Room at 9 am on the Saturday of the preceding week. The meeting for the April 15^th Baptism will be held on Saturday, April 14^th. Please speak with the Rev. Rebecca Spencer if you would like to be included in this very important part of life at Central–The Sacrament of Baptism.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

April 12 at the Schmidt’s home

33 Roslyn Street, Providence

This month we will be discussing Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks as we join in with the rest of the state in the Reading Across RI challenge! This fictional work contemplates what might have been the story of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk—a Wampanoag—who in 1665 was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. The story is told through the eyes of Bethia Mayfield, the minister’s daughter on Martha’s Vineyard. The juxtaposition of cultures and religions is wonderfully told in this fascinating book! Questions? Call Claudia.

THE SHAKERS: HANDS TO WORK, HEARTS TO GOD

CCC Adult Sunday School

9:00 a.m. on 4/15, 4/22, & 4/29

Fireplace Room

They called themselves the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, but everyone else called them Shakers because of their ecstatic dancing. Though they were celibate, they are the most enduring religious experiment in American history. They believed in pacifism, natural health and hygiene, and for more than 200 years insisted that their followers should strive for simplicity and perfection in everything they did. The Shakers put their “hands to work and their hearts to God,” creating an exquisite legacy of fine furniture, glorious architecture and beautiful music that will remain and inspire long after the last Shaker is gone. Come learn more about this fascinating group—truly an American story! Questions? Call Claudia at 331-1960.

ANGELLIC KNITTERS

Sunday, April 15

11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Deacon’s Room

Come join us as we knit and socialize! Whether or not you knit, stop by and see what we are doing as we spread the warmth of Christ’s love through the prayer shawl ministry of Central. And, if you’ve always wanted to learn to knit, there’s no time like the present! We are happy to teach you!

SERVICE OF LESSONS & CAROLS

On Sunday, April 15 we will celebrate a Service of Easter Lessons & Carols. During the regular Sunday worship our pastors, deacons, and choirs will offer praise to God in the form of readings and songs about the triumph of Easter.

Spring Communion Dates for 2012

April 5 Maundy Thursday
April 7 Easter Vigil
April 15 Eastertide Sunday
May 27 Pentecost Sunday

Home Communion

Our next Sunday Communion service will be on Sunday, April 15. If you would like a member of Called to Care to bring you or a loved one Communion from the table that day, please call Maureen Whittemore.

CCC MEDITATION GROUP

No meeting in April!

Next meeting is on Thursday, May 3

6:00-7:00 p.m. in the Library

Join us as we explore our faith through thoughtful reflection. Whether you call it meditation, contemplation, mindful deliberation, or any other descriptive name, the practice of spending regular time in such a practice is just plain good for the body and the soul. Call Claudia with any questions 331-1960.

DO YOU EBAY??

Would you be interested in being part of a group who sells donated items on Ebay to raise money for Central? We are looking into establishing our own, non-profit presence on Ebay. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Claudia.

LUNCH AND A MOVIE

Sunday, April 22 after worship

Mark your calendars for lunch and a movie after worship on April 22! The movie will be determined that weekend depending on what is showing. We will go out to lunch after church and see a movie! Interested? Call Claudia to get on the list at 331-1960.

A Note From Resistencia, Argentina

“Build houses and live in the them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” Jer. 29:5

“Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.” Luke 10:38

We are now over a month into our missionary service here in Resistencia, Argentina. So far we’ve met many of the Disciples of Christ leaders we’ll be working with, and we’ve attended worship at a wide range of churches, big and small, urban and rural, old and new. We expect to be able to report back soon on how exactly our work will unfold and what specific projects will be involved.

As we settle into the life of the church here, a good part of our energy has gone into making Resistencia our home. A couple of experienced missionaries told us to be intentional about this, and not let our house slide into the place where we just happen to reside. And so we have been diligently arranging, re-arranging, potting, planting, tinkering, tweaking, installing, and (lovingly) negotiating. It’s an on-going process, and now, after several weekend trips away, each time back feels more and more like a relief and just looking around the room brings a sense of comfort.

Making our house a home requires some guiding values and soul-searching deeper than the pure aesthetics. What does it mean that this is a home? What do I expect can happen here? Why is it special? My thinking returns again and again to the notions of sharing and of growth, both implicit in the Jeremiah quotation.

For quite a few years during college and after, I lived with friends, with common spaces, common cooking, and common tasks. My time in shared living environments has taught me to understand my home as belonging as much to friends as to ourselves. Therefore, we are seeking to make our house a place where there is sharing, invitation to come and be who we are and bring what we have and take it from there. To make our house a home of sharing, we have brought with us some of the spices and board games that we enjoyed back when we were living in the U.S., and are slowly introducing them to people here.

Growth encompasses a great many things. Back when I was younger, growth at home meant learning through example and correction. Now at a different stage, I glimpse growth for myself very much in partnership with Marian and also in community with friends – trusting more, worrying less, discovering the reverberations of what I believe and what it means for action in the world. Growth at home requires safety and trust, to facilitate a space where we can grow together with whomever might enter in. To help accomplish this, we have been gratefully receiving artwork, posters, and calendars from local artists and non-profit organizations that we’ve visited, which we’ll put on our walls, hopefully to teach us something more about Argentina and Paraguay and spark further dialogue.

First Jesus throughout the Gospels, and then the Apostles in Acts, spend much of their time visiting people in their homes, and there is much sharing and growth that transpires. I do wonder what went through the minds of the people who welcomed them in. How did these homemakers go about getting their places in order?

What were their values and hopes for what would happen? What spices and board games did they serve up?

Ps. There are some big differences between houses in New England and houses here. For one, we have a tile roof, with a mango tree in the backyard and a passion fruit and grapefruit in front. It rains here during the summer season (now) in occasional intense storms, depositing leaves and such into the ridges of the roof and requiring a quick climb up to sweep everything off. Meanwhile, because the buildings are constructed more for cool than for warm, we have tall ceilings to encourage circulation and feather brushes are the common way to keep the upper corners tidy. (Yes, the same sort as seen on Downton Abbey…) For a more day-to-day sense of our activities and observations, you can follow us on our blog: www.resistanceandacceptance.wordpress.com

-James DeBoer

GLOBAL MISSION NEWS

The partnership between the United Church of Christ in Mozambique (UCCM) and Global Ministries has its roots in the 1870s when the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission showed an interest in working in Mozambique. Today The Water Well project of Machaze is an example of how the UCCM attends to the physical needs of people in addition to attending to their spiritual needs.

The Water Well project is an excellent example of Critical Presence. The scarcity of water in the Machaze District in Mozambique makes the precious blessing of water even more precious. Gifts made to Global Ministries make a tremendous difference in the lives of those who are benefitting from the Water Well project. The scarcity of water is a very serious problem, especially for the women and girls who must walk long distances and stand in long lines to get one bucket of water. Girls are often unable to continue with school in order to provide water for their families.

The first well and cistern, which were completed at the end of 2010, have been a great relief to the families who live near the well. Some of the people have seen their 12-hour walk reduced to almost half. After research to find an appropriate area, the construction of another cistern has started.

Thanks from Hamilton House

Hamilton House thanks Central Church for the use of the Sanctuary. We held our 40^th Anniversary with a Gospel and Jazz concert which brought the members and community together. This was an important fundraiser and wonderful way for us to celebrate. We appreciated your kindness and support as well.

-Jessica Haley, Executive Director

THE DEACON’S BENCH

The subject of this From the Deacon’s Bench isn’t a bench at all – it’s a table. Not a fancy table; instead, I am recalling the table that served as the communion table at which Rebecca and Claudia blessed the elements of communion offered during the First Sunday in Lent service on the last Sunday in February.

Those who were present at the service that morning know that the table I am referring to was not the massive wooden communion table at Central on which the bread and the cup are normally placed. Instead, as it was Mission Sunday and the service was dedicated to a reflection on the powerful experience a number of Central members had while on the mission trip to New Orleans last Fall, the makeshift table was loosely constructed of a single sheet of plywood balanced atop two old, plain sawhorses – one at either end. As they would have been on a typical Communion Sunday at Central, the plates of bread and the chalices were organized neatly along the table in preparation for the service. But untypically, strewn about table amongst the bread and the cup were an assortment of tools: a drill, a saw, a screwdriver, a few hammers. Lying across the floor in front of the table leaning against the sawhorses was a paint-stained ladder.

To say that this table appeared out of place is a gross understatement: it looked disorganized and rather disheveled in our grand and awe-inspiring sanctuary; perhaps a table left behind by a painting crew. But the use of this particular table was entirely deliberate and quite symbolic. The table was a close approximation of the makeshift table that had been used to serve communion to the mission trip participants at Beecher Memorial Church in New Orleans, virtually destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the focus of hours, days, weeks and years of toil and sweat by Central members and countless others to restore Beecher’s sanctuary to its pre-hurricane condition. The table in New Orleans was, in fact, a table being used by a crew of workers. But as it did that Sunday at Central, and last Fall at Beecher Memorial, the plain table served as a powerful reminder to all present of the true meaning of communion and of the importance of the work to serve others as God directs us.

I was equally struck with another facet of the table that morning. As I and several fellow deacons stood at the front of the church just before the table as we listened to Rebecca and Claudia blessing the elements – I noticed that the sheet of plywood sagged considerably in the middle. The chalices were not in imminent danger of tipping over, but the dip in the middle of the table was noticeable enough to cause me to wonder if perhaps not as many tools should have been placed on it.

But in taking a closer inspection of the edge of the plywood – virtually at eye level from where I stood – I was reminded of what makes plywood so strong. Rather than being a single piece of wood, plywood is instead comprised five or more thin pieces of wood bonded together. The grain of each thin sheet of wood are laid perpendicular to the next. Constructed in this manner, plywood is many times stronger than a piece of wood of comparable thickness would be.

We know that the same is true for all of us as Christians on our faith journey. One may opt to walk alone on that journey, but as a congregation at Central we are ever aware that working together in layers we are stronger in our faith than we would otherwise be, and we are more capable together in doing God’s work.

As are, I suspect, many of you, I am frequently struck with the beauty and majesty of our sanctuary when arriving on a Sunday morning. I’m not sure I have ever been more inspired than I was by Central’s communion table on the First Sunday in Lent.

-Geoff O’Hara

April in Providence XXI

Providence is like Chicago

Is like Haiti like New Orleans

They are waiting for resurrection

Something tiny flies through the air

It may be an early bee

In search of blossoms and honey

Or it might be

A miniature angel

Offering manna from heaven

Today a spring

Freshly erupts

Out of the snow-soaked earth

O my God O my God

You have risen again

In Haiti and New Orleans

In Chicago and Providence

-Ilse Kramer

Saturday, March 31 is our Spring Church Clean-up Day

Please help clean the church building and grounds Saturday, March 31 from 9 am to 12 noon. We need expert or not so expert help cleaning, dusting, washing windows, raking, weeding…you will surely find an area of interest. A list of jobs is available. Coffee, doughnuts, and good company abound! Call Ed Bishop 274-4666.

Pancake Breakfast!

Please support Troop 28 and the

World’s Greatest Pancake Breakfast!

Saturday, April 28 in Chapel Hall

8AM to 11AM

$7 per person $20 per family

Tickets available at the door or in advance from your nearest Troop 28 Boy Scout!

Roger Nozaki

I have to admit to having a conflicted relationship with Lent. I grew up in the common tradition of “giving up” something for Lent. Each year, I would wonder what thing I enjoyed that I would give up for 40 days. In many ways, that seemed right for many years, in my family culture where discipline, frugality, self-denial, and deferred gratification were not stated values or expectations, but simply a way of life.

But over time, that tradition of giving up something I enjoyed seemed only to darken the bleakness of a season that was already tough for me – cold, dark, and barren. So I began to yearn for a different way to live a Lent. For a time, I sought to do the opposite, to take on something each Lent – like working on a Habitat project, or attending Lenten services, like this one. Not giving up something, but adding something. And I found that to be a much more positive and rewarding approach for me. Good things, perhaps helpful in and of themselves, but particularly as guideposts or opportunities to try to assume new habits of thought or being.

The goal was to cultivate a more faithful way of life that would extend well beyond the 40 days. And I found these commitments to be very renewing, and conducive to thoughtfulness and self-assessment. Nonetheless, they still felt somewhat external and temporary. So I kept thinking and listening.

Over the past few years, I’ve been trying yet another approach – not “giving up” but “giving in.” (This is certainly not an original thought, and I may well have picked it up from a sermon here — my apologies and thanks to Rebecca if that’s the case!).

By “giving in,” I don’t mean a sense of resignation, “being resigned to one’s fate,” for instance, which would just be another form of giving up. Rather, I mean diving in, giving oneself wholeheartedly to what we are meant to be, what God wants us to be.

It’s the challenge to give up what we think we’re supposed to be, by the values and standards of the world, the expectations of others. It’s the question of whether in every decision, every moment, every day, we’re really living as though God really exists. That doesn’t mean relinquishing all responsibility and coasting along, knowing that “God will take care of everything.” In fact, it means asking hard questions about what we’re supposed to do in any given situation, and being willing to take a risk, to do the unpopular thing, to take criticism, to make the hard decision if that’s what we’re really called to do, if we really trust in our faith.

I think this is one of the things we’re supposed to take from the passage in the Gospel of Mark: “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

I also think of our weekly prayer of confession: “O God, Source of life and grace, we are aware that we are, at times, prisoners of fear and habit…Forgive us we pray when our indecision or apathy hinders your Spirit’s work. Forgive us when we get so set in our ways that we close ourselves off to what you would reveal.” What are the times when we’re following what we want to do, or what is in fact the easy route, following our own will and closing our eyes and ears to the direction God is calling us?

And I think of a quote from the author Kathleen Norris, where she says, “The tragedy of sin is that it diverts divine gifts.” What are our gifts, and how are we using them? Have we diverted them to advance ourselves, our own will, our own comfort? What are we actually called to use our divine gifts for? Can we give in to how God wants us to use them? That’s really hard – and I fail every day.

I’ve come to see that security has been important to me, in many ways unconsciously – whether in my relationships, in my work, in my finances. I’ve worked to understand how to attain that kind of security and worked hard at it. So “giving in” is counter intuitive. But I’ve now realized how much more important it therefore is. I now treasure the exhortation to let go, to loosen my grasp – to try harder to be conscious of the times when I am holding onto things so tightly with both hands that I don’t have a hand free to reach out to new possibilities, or to reach out to someone else. I need to give in — to be conscious of how hard I’m grasping, and to let go. Not to try to have all the answers, to have it all figured out, but to step into the stream of faith.

And this notion of giving in has also helped me start to understand how I might reconcile two competing instincts in myself: the appeal of time apart, this kind of peaceful Lenten service, even the thought of a monastic retreat — against the insistence of the needs of the world, the call to do something about the serious injustices all around us, near and far.

In this frame, the lasting influences on my faith in my life begin to make sense: Fred Borsch and Sue Anne Steffey-Morrow, the dean and associate dean of the chapel at my college, who were such a central part of my life there, really my sanity through those years; and Rebecca, here. All three of them combine feet planted in this world with aspiration beyond the known, a unique gift to help us bridge the two, helping us intersect our daily existence with the great unknowable. Some faith leaders direct our gaze to the world beyond, sometimes as an escape or a relief from the here and now; others seem focused on providing comfort or guidance in this world. These three, whom I have been so privileged to know, help us discern and integrate a presence within the day to day, bringing the God into the day to day, yet not allowing the day to day to subsume the God.

Though I was born and raised in Chicago, I’ve been able to travel to Japan a number of times now. One of my favorite things has been the Japanese temples and shrines sprinkled all about the congested heart of Tokyo. In some places, you’ll come upon large temple grounds with centuries-old wooden buildings, majestic gates, and incredible gardens of rock, trees, and water; sometimes it’s just a three-foot wide monument carved from granite, sitting in a nook, tucked amidst skyscrapers and rushing hordes of commuters. They serve as a call to remember the sacred, the eternal – not just on Sunday morning, not just in a monastic retreat — but while walking a crowded urban street, while our minds are preoccupied with the demands of work and life — piercing the worldly, intersecting the worldly, present within the worldly, illuminating the worldly, calling us to walk in a different way, to think in a different way, to work in a different way, to be in a different way – while in the midst of this world.

Within, yet apart; apart, yet within. Giving in, not giving up.