Chapel Chimes

March 2019

A note from Pastor Mark

Lent is the season in the Christian liturgical calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends

approximately six weeks later, (40 days after if you don’t count Sunday) on Easter Sunday. It is to

prepare for Easter through prayer, doing penance, repentance of sins, almsgiving, and self-denial. The

Lenten observance is mainly practiced by the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran,

Methodist, and Catholic Churches. For most protestants, fasting for Lent is not practiced, in part,

because every Sunday we focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The practice of having ashes put on

your forehead on Ash Wednesday, the discipline of fasting during Lent, the washing of feet and

communion on Maundy Thursday, and the stations of the Cross for Good Friday have only recently

started to be practiced in the Presbyterian churches. Wendy and I have enjoyed practicing some of these

traditions and have found them helpful as a spiritual discipline. Our congregation this year will be

offering services for most of these spiritual disciplines. A new one for this year will be a pancake dinner

for Shrove Tuesday.

Shrove Tuesday is the last day of the liturgical season historically known as Shrovetide (the time

between Christmas and Lent). For at least 1500 years it was popular practice for people in both the

Eastern and Western church to indulge in food on the days right before Lent. The term Mardi Gras is

French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to the practice of clearing the cupboard of the richer, fatty foods

before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season. The expression "Shrove Tuesday" comes from the word

shrive, meaning "absolve". It is to make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs

to repent of, and what areas of spiritual growth to work on. Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake

Tuesday or Pancake Day. Pancakes are associated with the day because they are a way to use up rich

foods such as butter, eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting of Lent. Lenten fasting emphasizes eating

simpler foods and refraining from food that would give undue pleasure: in many cultures, this means no

meat, dairy products, or eggs.

So, on Tuesday March 5th at 4:30 we will indulge in Fat Tuesday in the fellowship hall. The fellowship

committee will make the pancakes and we are asking you to bring the toppings. Come and enjoy a time

of fellowship, pancakes, music and maybe a game or two. Then on Wednesday come to a special

worship service at 3:00 pm. The Ash Wednesday service will be a time of prayer, music, reflection,

repentance, and ashes made with the sign of the cross on your forehead.

Blessings to all you and may love of Jesus Christ hold you close as you live in the reality of God’s eternal

kingdom. Pastor Mark

Thank You…to all who participated in the recent Listening time after worship.

Your time, insights and commitment are appreciated! The Session will continue to “mine” the input in the months ahead, but for now, here are a few of the big picture results. Consistently, you said:

We are a healthy church, experiencing no destructive conflicts or grievances Relationships are our strong point We are concerned about declining attendance and an aging membership

In a bit more detail, responses fell into three “baskets”:

Celebrate rich blessings - A warm, welcoming atmosphere of love.A spiritual storehouse of God’s presence and the Spirit’s

movement. Deep and rich relationships that enhance our walk with Christ. Activities and programs that offer opportunities to grow and serve.

Continue work underway - Better communication – of information and opportunities.Expand mission in the community.Welcome new members and visitors.Address strengths and struggles with pastoral schedule.

Commence work on - Grow the congregation.Diversify (music, membership, activities). Facility (parking, increase the use by community).

Let’s keep the conversation going, as we reach for what God so graciously invites us to become.

Chapel by the Sea Book Club meets March 14 at 1:00The book for March is Still Life by Louise Penny, presented by Elizabeth Morrison.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter. Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces---and this series---with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny. (Amazon Review)

March BirthdaysLarry Hough – 3/2 William Koehn – 3/24Robert Herman – 3/5 Mithrin Sukumar – 3/29Gary Gault – 3/12 Louise McFadden – 3/29Roy Bogeart – 3/13 Anne Ladd – 3/31

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICEAsh Wednesday is March 6. Ash Wednesday service is scheduled for 3:00. The service will

include prayer, music, reflection, repentance, and ashes made with the sign of the cross on your

forehead.

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Shrove Tuesday Fellowship ActivityThe Fellowship committee is presenting a Shrove Tuesday (also known as Fat Tuesday) pancake/ waffle dinner on March 5 at 4:30 PM in the fellowship hall. The committee will be making the pancakes and waffles. Please bring your favorite topping to share. Wendy and Mark will lead a conversation about Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wed. and Lent.

White Elephant ExchangeAlso, in March the fellowship committee will host a White Elephant Exchange during fellowship time on Sunday March 31. Got items that are just begging you to send to a new home? Bring them to church and they will go to a good home.

Fellowship SurveyThe fellowship committee is conducting a “getting to know you” survey. The goal is to help the congregation get better acquainted. Each month the fellowship committee would like to highlight a few people in the Chapel Chimes newsletter. You can find a survey in the fellowship hall. The survey lists a number of getting to know you type questions. You can answer all or pick a few to respond to. If open to being highlighted in the newsletter contact Nancy Gault or Louise McFadden who would call on you for a short interview. Your participation would be greatly appreciated.

Celebrating Dr. Bob Herman’s birthdayBob Herman made a promise to the Lord as a teenager to always use his voice for sacred songs, and he has held to this goal throughout his life. In the belief that his 85th birthday on March 5th, 2019, may be his last opportunity for "a really big shew," (as Ed Sullivan might say), Bob has planned what he also believes to be his "last really big concert." This is not to say, of course, that he is giving up having concerts altogether. He's already planning a "smaller one"

Author is licensed under

Unknown Author

with Paul Beard, our pianist--and some others you might know.... Nevertheless, this concert is most important to him; and I thought perhaps you might enjoy this article, written by him.

A “HARVEST OF STARS” will come to the Lincoln City Cultural Center on March 5, 2019 at 7 P.M. for a gala concert of music from opera, operetta and Broadway musicals. The program is headed by veteran tenor Dr. Robert Herman of Lincoln City and includes vocal soloists from Portland and Tillamook County. It is a celebration of his 85th birthday. Accompanist for the concert is Dr. Cary Lewis of Portland, Herman's long-time friend and frequent performer on the Oregon Coast. As music students at University of North Texas in the 1960's they first performed together but not again until recent years after a chance encounter in Oregon. Both have enjoyed long performing careers both in the United States and abroad. Assisted by professional singers Emily Kinkley and Erik Hundtoft from Portland, Herman will recreate his signature role of Rigoletto in excerpts from Verdi's opera. Later, he will reprise the part of Koko in selections from Gilbert & Sullivan's comic operetta "The Mikado". Kinkley and Hundtoft will be joined here by Margaret Page and Adam Schwend from Tillamook County. Page frequently participates with TAPA, Tillamook's theater group. Schwend is conductor of the biennial Midway Messiah. Rounding out the cast are Valerie Kendall and Nancy McCall of Lincoln City. Kendall, who directs music at First Baptist Church, will perform an aria from Saint-Saens's opera "Samson & Delilah" and a duet from that work with Herman. McCall and Herman will blend voices in a selection from the Sigmund Romberg musical "Up in Central Park". Herman will close the program with an original song, "Take A Look In A Book", written in 2006 for the dedication of the new Tillamook Library. Sara Charlton, library director, will attend the performance as well as pianist Grace Thomas, former resident of Tillamook County, who will again accompany Herman on that song. John Kendall, pastor of First Baptist Church will serve as lighting and sound technician. Refreshments will be served during intermission. The program is free and open to the public.

Pictured:  Cary Lewis, Robert Herman, Erik Hundtoft, Nancy McCall

YOUNG LIFE FUNDRAISER March 15, Eden Hall, Gleneden Beach, 6:00pm. The fund raiser is a no cost for dinner, which includes great food prepared by Side Door Cafe. The evening also includes fundraising events (paddle raise, dessert dash, hire a kid), testimonies from YL kids, and an inspiring word on what God is doing in Lincoln City YL by Chris Herb, the regional director. If you wish to attend, please RSVP with Estle Harlan 541-994-5843.

or SOUP WITH FRIENDSSoup with Friends meets every Thursday evening at 5:30 PM at the home of Wendy and Mark Olson. A light meal is served along with conversation, singing, and prayer. Anyone and everyone are welcome to come on any Thursday evening. On March 14 Soup with Friends will offer something a bit different. March 14 is PI day and in honor of PI pie of all types will be on the menu

PONDERINGS, by Pat Phillips

Puppy Sami is teaching me powerful lessons about forgiveness.

I know what it is to be forgiven, but I’m still learning how to forgive.

When Sami does something that is just part of being a puppy, chewing a favorite pair of shoes (mine!) or barking at those pesky seagulls that dare fly over her back yard, well, even though those things irritate me no end, I can easily forgive her. She is being what she is, a puppy doing puppy things.

However, when she does something which she knows is bad, knowing she’ll get in trouble for it, yet does it anyway, that just torques me, and I have to really put forth some serious effort to fully forgive her.

Yesterday, near the end of a long, harrowing day, I realized I had nothing prepared for dessert. In desperation, I turned to my old standby, Chocolate Pecan Sheet Cake. Mixed and baked in same pan, topped with simple boiled icing, poured directly over warm cake, sprinkled with toasted, salted pecans…then served directly from the pan. Easy, delicious and enough dessert for 4 nights.

After dinner, I cleaned up, loaded the dishwasher, put dessert plates and the cake pan on the table. Then, I sat down by the fire to rest a bit. Almost dozing, a distinctive sound roused me…. metal dog tag clinking against metal cake pan! I jumped up and dashed to the dining table to see my darling, little, black, Toy Poodle, hind legs on the dining chair, elbows propped on the

Unknow

table, nose deep in chocolate cake! Happily licking the frosting off the cake and munching pecans.

The second she spied me she took off like a shot and ran to her “safe space” …the middle of our bed with white flannel sheets and white cotton blankets! By the time I got to her, she was licking her lips and rubbing her face on the bedding. She knew what she had done was definite “bad dog” behavior! However, I think she weighed the consequences, Mommy being really mad and yelling, vs chocolate cake, and decided the chocolate cake was worth the punishment.

In addition to having no dessert and tossing a whole cake in the trash, the entire bed had to be changed, all bedding had to be spotted and washed! I was royally ticked! And, Sami got a good tongue lashing and lots of “bad dog bad dog”.

Later, after the bed was remade and blankets in the dryer, I finally sat back down to cool my temper. The moment I sat, Sami, came tip-toeing around, and jumped up in my lap. She whined softly, nudged me under the neck and settled in to a full-blown snuggle under my arm. Her big, soft, puppy-eyes looked at me with doggy remorse, trusting that my great love for her would grant the forgiveness she sought.

She was right. I forgave her, because how could I not? I love her that much.

It was a powerful lesson.

MOMENT FOR MISSIONSMISSION PROJECTSDid you know that Chapel by the Sea is involved in mission projects overseas and in Lincoln City? A new “Mission Projects” bulletin board has been erected on the wall in our Fellowship Hall. Become acquainted with the various projects and how you might be able to support them … Head Start, Human Trafficking, Warm & Dry, Thailand and Bangladesh. Session approved a recommendation from the Mission Committee to support financially Friends of Basha in Bangladesh; this overseas outreach, under the direction of Robin Seyfert, is in the 2020 church budget, but is not included in the current budget. We are encouraging members and friends to make donations to support this vital program for women and children (see article on Friends of Basha below). Donations can be made out to “Friends of Basha” and placed in the offering plate (your donation will be routed to Friends of Basha) or you can mail it to Friends of Basha, 4742 Liberty Road South #193, Salem, OR. 97302. Our goal for this year is $1500.00.

FRIENDS OF BASHA

The stories are heart breaking yet their resolutions provide hope and safety for both women and children, caught in human trafficking, prostitution, and poverty. Robin Seyfert, whose parents are Robert and Nancy Seyfert, felt led to begin this incredible ministry and outreach in Bangladesh. She recently sent me a letter in which were these excerpts: “Shati was able to be on dialysis for nearly a year. Though she passed away suddenly, her daughter Sadia is now in a home for girls and doing remarkably well … we did two months pilot program with Rohingya women, training 120 women to embroider book covers

… Malati was involved in street- based prostitution and begging before she joined Friends of Basha’s training program. She struggled, was absent a lot but never gave up and is now has been sewing Basha products for four months.” Our new Mission Projects bulletin board has more on Friends of Basha, and we understand, she may be visiting Chapel by the Sea sometime later this year. If able, please provide Friends of Basha with your support.

HEAD STARTThis is a letter addressed to the pastors and all the congregation at CBTS from a very grateful Head Start.

Hello,We are so fortunate to have you as friends! In Head Start children learn from day one we are here, in a safe and loving place, we are friends. We refer to each other as friends and children learn that every student is a “friend.” In this way we also learn how we want to treat friends and be treated by friends.

You are our “best friends.” By your actions, your generosity and your good will and care, we all, staff, children and their families know you are truly our friends. By example you are showing us what it is to be a good partner, to be a good friend and to help others.

We are blessed to be your neighbor and friends. Our children and parents and staff loved the Art Show, the gift purchasing, and parents were telling us at Policy Council how wonderful it was to receive gifts and how proud their children were to give them.

We can not thank you enough. Just know our hearts are full.

Suzanne Miller, PhDDirector

DEACONS CORNEREach of us is given by Holy Spirit at different times in our lives an awareness of our "mission" for that particular time. Mine is now the "Prayer Chain," and my responsibilities as one of the Deacons in this congregation. I receive requests for prayer from you and I pass your request to a group of people who dedicate prayer in supplication to God on your behalf. I feel I can see in the hearts of each and every one of the members of our congregation--by their behavior--that they live and act out each day in this awareness, that each of us is called to use our different gifts as bestowed by God. And for this witness, I do PRAISE our Lord loudly!

If you have a need and wish to have a group of “prayer warriors” join in petitioning God with you and for you please feel free to contact me at 541-994-4317 or minna2330@yahoo.com Nancy McCall