Holy Week and Easter @ God’s Acre

Holy Week and Easter @ God’s Acre

Palm Sunday, April 9
Worship Services at 8:00 and 10:00am
Blessing of the Palms

Wednesday, April 12
Lenten Meditation, 9:00am and 8:00pm, Chapel
Prayer, music, Scripture, and reflection; communion will be served.

Thursday, April 13, Maundy Thursday
Tenebrae, 8:00pm, Meeting House
Join us for a dramatic candlelight service with Scripture readings and music by the Chancel Choir. Communion will be served

Friday, April 14, Good Friday
Chapel open for prayer; Church Office Closed
Pivot Good Friday Prayer Breakfast at Woodway Country Club, 7:00am
In support of our Pivot Ministries brothers in Christ, The Congregational Church and Men’s Fellowship Group (MG) are reserving tables at Pivot’s annual Good Friday Prayer Breakfast. $50/person, payable at the breakfast. The breakfast is open to all so please bring the family! This event will feature special guest speaker: Distance Runner & 2016 Rio Olympian Abbey D’Agostino who is the most decorated Ivy League athlete. Abbey will share her story of faith and her experience in the Rio Olympics where her selfless actions and sportsmanship, during the 5,000 meter qualifier, gained worldwide attention!  Please RSVP for this event by clicking here.

Sunday, April 16, Easter Sunday
Contemporary Sunrise Worship Service, 6:00am, Church Steps
Run by our YG Fish and YG Worship Team. A light breakfast follows in the Parlor.
Traditional Worship Services, 9:00 and 11:00am, Meeting House Please note the worship time change!
Preludes will begin at 8:45 and 10:45am. Childcare will be provided.

Pivot Good Friday Prayer Breakfast

Pivot Good Friday Prayer Breakfast at Woodway Country Club, 7:00am

In support of our Pivot Ministries brothers in Christ, The Congregational Church and Men’s Fellowship Group (MG) are reserving tables at Pivot’s annual Good Friday Prayer Breakfast. $50/person, payable at the breakfast. The breakfast is open to all so please bring the family! This event will feature special guest speaker: Distance Runner & 2016 Rio Olympian Abbey D’Agostino who is the most decorated Ivy League athlete. Abbey will share her story of faith and her experience in the Rio Olympics where her selfless actions and sportsmanship, during the 5,000 meter qualifier, gained worldwide attention!  Please RSVP for this event by clicking here.

Interfaith Community Conversation

Looking at Privilege: A discussion with Debby Irving, author of Waking Up White

Time and Place: In order to accommodate as many members of the community as possible, New Canaan Interfaith Council and New Canaan Library are working together to deliver the same presentation by Debby Irving twice on April 5. The first lecture will take place from 3:45-5:30pm at United Methodist Church at 165 South Ave., New Canaan. The second lecture will take place from 6:00-7:30pm at New Canaan Library at 151 Main St. New Canaan, CT.

3:45-5:30pm talk at United Methodist Church, 165 South Ave., New Canaan – Registration not required

6:00-7:30pm talk at New Canaan Library, 151 Main St., New Canaan – Register at www.newcanaanlibrary.org/calendar

Description: Author Debby Irving discusses her personal journey confronting the issue of white privilege in this illuminating talk about one individual’s experience coming to terms with the topic of race. Attendees will be encouraged to share their own experiences with bias, stereotypes, and tolerance in a guided interactive session led by Debby. Presented in partnership with the New Canaan Interfaith Council.

After working as an organizer and teacher for 25 years, Debby became aware of how the world around us is shaped by race and it led her to tackle the issue of racial justice and tolerance. In “Waking Up White”, Debby shares her struggle to understand racism, unpacking her beliefs about colorblindness and being a good person. She now studies racism and works to undo its harmful effects by helping to educate other white people who may be confused and frustrated by racism, as she once was.

March Fellowship Events

There are three wonderful events for Adult Fellowship this month!

Men’s Fellowship (MG) 2017 March Madness!
Join the men of the church for dinner, fellowship and watch some exciting Sweet 16 NCAA March Madness basketball on Thursday, March 23 at 7:00pm at The Roger Sherman Inn. Cost is $25 and includes wings, burgers, and more! RSVP via the MG email invite or to donmoyle@gmail.com.

Women’s Fellowship Cooking Class
What’s for dinner? You will learn a new menu with this hands-on cooking class taught by the experts at Aux Delices. Please join us for food, fun and fellowship! Tuesday, March 21, 7:00-9:00pm. Rides available. Questions? Contact Stephanie Radman at (203)966-4439 or stephanieradman@aol.com.

Fellowship Adult Dinner Party
The second annual adult fellowship dinner will take place on Saturday, March 25, from 6:30-10:00pm. There is still time to be part of the dinner party, but you must RSVP by March 19 to Wendy Cassell at (203)984-5530 or threehuskies@outlook.com. Menus and hosting homes with directions will be sent to you directly after the RSVP deadline.

Divorce Support and Healing Group

The Church is hosting a Divorce Support and Healing program beginning on Monday, February 20.

The group will be facilitated by Stephen Minister Shawn Gardner and licensed counselor Nicole Zasowski, LSMFT, and will be held in the Music Center under strict confidentiality.

The program will meet from 7:30-9:00pm for 10 weeks, with a break during the New Canaan April school holiday. It is free of charge and is open to church members and non-church participants of any faith. Participation is for both men and women. Space is limited to 12 people and must be reserved. Child care is available with advance notice.

For more information or to register, call or email Shawn Gardner at shawn@shawngardner.com or (203)273- 1212 or Debbie Chapman at debbie@godsacredev.wpengine.com or (203)966-2651, x831.

Souper Bowl Sunday

Souper Bowl Sunday – Youth Groups and Church School: YG and MSYG will crash the Church School Chapel Service on Sunday, February 5. Please send your child with a can or two of soup to contribute to our SOUPER collection for New Canaan Food Pantry!

Pivot Work Day

Perfecting Pembroke 2/4/17, 9:00am: Join us Saturday to transform Pembroke House’s ground floor into a counseling center for Pivot Ministries. Wear warm, sloppy layers, sturdy shoes, work gloves, and goggles if you have them. Meet in the church circle at 9:00am to carpool over to Bridgeport. Willing hands and hearts are the only qualifications! Contact Marianna Kilbride at marianna@godsacredev.wpengine.com.

Chili Paddle Party

All are invited to the 7th Annual Fellowship Chili Paddle Party on Friday, January 27 at Waveny Lodge from 6:00-9:00pm. Everyone is asked to bring a salad or dessert and a favorite beverage. Play paddle with friends or just enjoy chatting in the Lodge! More info or RSVP to Wendy Cassell at wencassell@aol.com.

Become a Mission Sponsor!

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

God’s prophet Micah understood what a Mission Trip is really about. Sharing his prophesy with the faithful, he streamlined the all the laws into simple and clear directives: do justice, seek kindness, walk with God. For ten days each February this is the endeavor of our high school Youth Group.

Do justice: for our YG Mission Fish, that will look like living alongside their brothers and sisters in Christ despite difference in geographic region, socio-economic status, denomination, and race. This year, we will seek to create God’s Kingdom in Shaw, Mississippi, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, where our 103 Fish will work long days dedicated to building that Kingdom here on earth.

Seek kindness: it looks like lending a hand and affirming our partner organization, Delta Hands for Hope, whose sole staff member feeds 412 public school children throughout the summer and provides them with unconditional love all year round.

Walk with God: this year we ask for your love, support, and prayers as we embark on a mission where ALL God’s children receive God’s love through us equally. As we head to a part of the country defined by the struggles and victories of the Civil Rights Movement, we lift up the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words about service:

Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve….You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

Your soul, which is generated by love, can be a part of this mission. Your contribution will make it possible for students with special financial situations to serve and grow in their faith. Please become a 2017 Mission Sponsor today and help us to serve with hearts full of grace. You can send in your check or make a donation online by clicking here. And as a bonus, as a Mission Sponsor you will receive personal letters from Mission Fish in the field and be celebrated as our ministry partners at Youth Sunday and the Mission Sponsor Brunch on Sunday, March 12.

To hear more from our mission partners about the work and ministry before us, I invite you to join us on Commissioning Sunday, January 22, at the 10:00am worship service.  Thank you for your support and long live YG!

Love wins!

Caroline Ainsworth, Youth Minister                Kelly Leather, Youth Director

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Service

Interfaith of New Canaan is sponsoring a townwide service in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..  It will be held at United Methodist Church, 165 South Avenue, New Canaan on  Monday, January 16 beginning at 10:30am. The keynote speaker will be the Rev. Tommie Jackson from Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church in Stamford. Music will be provided by the Serendipity Chorale and KEYS, and refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the service. All are welcome!  (In case of bad weather, please call the church at 203 966-2666 for cancellation information.)

The collection offering from this year’s service will go to benefit the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County. A  food drive will also be held in conjunction with this service. The food collected that day will be given to the New Canaan Food Pantry. The items most needed at this time are: salad dressing, pancake mix, maple syrup, honey and hot chocolate mix.