Summer 2011 Church Calendar From the Minister Continuing & Special Events with Katherine At Home Bible Study Christian Life Series Dates to Remember Deacons' Report Trustees Report FCCB By the Numbers Stewardship Committee Outreach Committee Religious Education Sr. SS Mission Trip PF Aim Hi Music Lay Shepherding Go Green Taskforce Flowers for the Month Passages Help Wanted Thank You's & Notes Get Lantern Online or by Email Lantern Deadline

From the Minister

Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Years ago, when empowerment was the buzz word of the workplace, I read a book that suggested that we listen carefully to what we say and learn to use positive statements. The premise was this, if we regularly say, "I'm sorry, I can't help you with that," or "No I can't, won't, don't…" then you will believe that you can't, you won't, and you don't. Although we might not believe everything that other people say, we do believe what we say. This is the same point that Norman Vincent Peale was making in the Power of Positive Thinking. When we say "yes," "yes I can," "yes I will," "yes I do," we are empowered to move forward in a positive direction.

This winter we spent time looking at how to cultivate joy in our lives, a deep joy based in the firm foundation of our faith, not the fleeting happiness dictated by our moods. The spiritual practice of gratitude-noticing, appreciating, and celebrating the blessings in life deepen our foundation of faith.

In our Easter joy we celebrated the good news of Jesus Christ-love conquers all, even death. As we live into this truth our faith and joy deepen, and our words should express this reality. When "Praise be to God" and "Thank you Lord" spring from our lips we acknowledge God working in our lives. When we recognize God's blessings we become more and more open to the possibilities in our lives. It is a cycle that brings us deeper, helps us, as The Little Monk says, "to listen deeply in a shallow world." To have this deep well of faith our words need to reflect our spiritual desire. Words of love, mercy, forgiveness, and thanksgiving must pour from our mouths. As Frank Thomas says, when people experience the assurance of God's grace "they like to never quit praisin' God."

Let that be us this summer-people who like to never quit praisin' God! If we praise God for the blessings of summer: the sunshine and the shade, the flowers and the vegetables, especially the strawberries and the watermelon, and the barefooted joy, our wells will run deep. And we know that deep wells never run dry when there is a drought. So let us be careful about what we say, and how we say it, because even the greatest skeptic believes the words of their own mouth. Let us speak words that build up. Words that build up our faith, words that build our loved ones, words that build up our neighbors, build up our community, build up our world. And before you know it people will be saying, "They're the folks that like to never quit praisin' God." And for that the world will be a better place.

Summertime and joy and blessings to all!

Katherine

At Home Bible Study

Thoughts for Reflection

The letter from James to the early churches gives moral and ethical advice. He is holding people accountable for how they live and how they relate to each other.

Consider the power of the tongue, and the incongruity of the positive and negative things we say. Listen to what you are saying. When is your tongue a fire and when is it fresh water? How can controlling our tongues be a spiritual discipline?

Continuing & Special Events with Katherine & Office Schedule:

Wednesday Morning Worship  with Communion

Come and be uplifted as we gather in the Chapel to worship God, hear Scripture, and celebrate Communion. The service will run from 7 to 7:30 am, followed by a light breakfast (or at least a cup of coffee to go!) More Info.

Summer Services

Not to be missed summer services. In the summertime we relax a bit and the spirit of creativity comes alive. During July and August we will add a Wednesday night service at 7:00 pm for folks who want their weekends free. The Wednesday evening services will run from July 13-August 31. The Worship Team is planning the summer evening services and you can expect them to range from Taize to Celtic, from Contemporary to Spiritual Revivals. If you would like to be a part of the planning please join us for a planning meeting on June 1 at 6:30 pm.

Our Sunday services will continue at 10:00 am in the summer. Look forward to special musical offerings and vibrant worship in a family friendly atmosphere. Please don't be a stranger this summer!

Vacation Bible School

Back by popular demand-VBS! This year we will be Growing in God as we explore how the gifts of God's earth feed the world. Generosity will come to life as we learn how to help those who are hungry. July 18-22. Registration forms will be available in June.

• June 6, 2011 has changed to June 12, 2011
• August 7, 2011 has changed to July 31, 2011 (tentative).
  
  The worship team meeting is June 1, 2011. Everyone is welcome to join us at the church at 6:30 p.m.

What does affirming mean? Why do we need to do this? Is this idea theologically correct? What does the Bible say? We need speakers or people who can help us. We should consider whether we can afford speakers. Is there indifference in our congregation? We should consider that it's not always theology; it's about being a person. Need a balanced committee - by gender, by opinion. Focus on an educated vote vs and emotional one. It might be helpful to have one on one conversation. We should investigate congregations where this was not successful or was a painful process. Can we discuss being affirming for all populations? Would this work well as cottage meetings? Concerns about turnout; will folks be engaged, there too much apathy? Investigate % of population in Billerica that is GLBT We need to know our congregation and how people feel about this issue. We should have the right structures in place to do this. How will our church change? What will be different?

Jessica Burgett, Laura Button, Kevin Carme, Kevin Corkery, Rachel Gaudet, Lexi Giardina, Kendra Malone, Cameron Maltais, Sean Piro, Molly Rogers, Gabrielle Scott, Ashley Silver, Courtney Tomlin and Michael Walsh upon their confirmation.

Cindy Giardina, Catie Button, Marilyn Shanahan, Kevin Corkery, Taylor Federchook, Edie Clooney, Nancy Campbell, Bruce Flood, Penne Shea, Dawn Salter, Holly Scott, Bob Slack, Helen Carroll and Gene Guild for dedicating their time serving as mentors.

• We are in the process of investigating modest improvements to the sound system that can be built upon later.
  
  
• We really appreciate all the assistance in running the current system during services that Jesse Dutton has done. Unfortunately for us, but good for him, he is moving, and we need volunteers to be trained and take over this important function.

• The grand piano will be " regulated" during the summer to improve the responsiveness of its keys and help reduce the wear and tear on Brendan's wrists.
  
  The tuner tells us that all the pianos really should be replaced. (Something to think about: If anyone has a piano or knows of one that might be donated, we would need to check it out to be sure it is better than the existing one before accepting the donation.)
  
  
• Because there has been money in a fund from the Christus players drama group, for the pipe organ we are looking at what, if any, repairs make sense. We are blessed that Brendan is so skilled an organist and has a deep love for the historical organs.
  
  
• We are also blessed that we have an excellent modern electronic organ and are actively pursuing the additional training promised to make sure Brendan can use all of its many features. We may also institute another training for "organ button pushers", who are able to make the organ play certain pieces when we don't have an organist.

• We wish Katherine Norman great success at college and are so thankful for her faithful accompaniment of the junior choir for the past several years. She is hard to replace. While we will continue to encourage student musicians to play occasionally, either on their own or with the choir, accompanist is an advanced skill. The junior choir is an important part of our music ministry. So, the music committee is proposing to hire an accompanist on a trial basis for the fall. Then this can be considered on a more permanent basis at the Church budget meeting next year. In addition to supporting the junior choir, this position would allow for expansion off the music ministry such as duets, back up for Brendan, inclusion of more music into the Sunday School program. For instance, it would let Brendan go downstairs to do an activity with the children while the assistant covered the doxology or a hymn. We would be connecting our "upstairs and downstairs churches" more and reaching more of the " multiple intelligences" , multisensory learning for the children.

• We are looking forward to expanding the musical offerings. If anyone feels moved to be part of that, speak to Rev. Katherine, Brendan or a music committee member.
  
  Phyllis Jennings