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The Good News

First Congregational United Church of Christ

314 West Maumee Angola, Indiana April 2015

Holy Week services

On Sunday we will have our Palm/Passion

Worship at 10 a.m. with the distribution of

palms and the scriptures that tell the story of

Jesus’ final week.

Then on Thursday at 7 p.m. we will have our

traditional Maundy Thursday Worship with

Holy Communion as we mark Jesus’ last Passo-

ver meal with his closest friends.

On Friday, April 3, we will host the Commu-

nity Good Friday Service in our sanctuary at

noon. This service will be led by ministers and

laypeople from several churches.

Plan to attend these Holy Week services to

help prepare you for the joy of Easter morning.

Easter morning opportunities

Sunrise Service: On Sunday, April

5, join us at 7:30 a.m. for an outdoor

Easter Sunrise Service on Ball Lake!

Gary and Sally VandenElst will host

the service; take a lawn chair and wear warm

clothes. Maps are on the Information Table.

Pancake Breakfast: Join us in Fellowship Hall

for a pancake breakfast from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. on

Easter morning.

Easter Worship: We will

worship at 10 a.m. and this

service will include the cele-

bration of Holy Commun-

ion.

There will be no Coffee

Hour following worship.

From the Pastor’s Screen

Soup & Study to begin

Beginning at noon on Tuesday, April 21, I will begin a weekly Soup & Study at Cahoots.

Each week, we will be looking at the lectionary text for the next Sunday. This not only helps me

with sermon preparation but will hopefully also help folks who participate to listen to the ser-

mon in a different way.

We will have some soup (or whatever you want to order!) followed by a discussion and be

done by 1 p.m. If you are able to take a lunch hour and join us, please do! On April 21 the lec-

tionary texts for the following Sunday are John 10:11-18, Acts 4:5-12, and I John 3:16-24.

On another note ... As we approach the end of Lent and move into Holy Week ... I hope

your journey has been meaningful and that you perhaps tried one of the six Christian Practices

from the book, Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster, to deepen your Lenten experience.

The six streams Foster works with in the book are Social Justice, Evangelical, Charismatic, Holi-

ness, Contemplative and Incarnational. Each of these has been explained on the back of our

worship bulletins over the past six weeks. All of them are important and Foster says the best life

keeps all of these in balance so that we are able to follow the way of Jesus in our daily lives.

In her book, An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor suggests an even simpler practice:

paying attention. Paying attention so that you have reverence for your own life and the life

around you. She offers this practice so that we can deepen our spiritual lives ... simply by notic-

ing the beautiful night sky, the marvelous sunset, the deer in the fields, the blossoms on spring

flowers ... and then give thanks to the Creator of all that is. At base, this is simple gratitude, per-

haps the most important spiritual practice of all.

Blessings,

Links from the Prayer Chain

O God, we pray this day:

for all who have a song they cannot sing,

for all who have a burden they cannot bear,

for all who wander homeless and cannot return,

for those who are sick and for those who tend them,

for those who wait for loved ones

and wait in vain,

for those who live in hunger

and for those who will not share their bread,

for those who are misunderstood

and for those who misunderstand,

for those who are captives and for those who are captors,

for those whose words of love are locked within their hearts

and for those who yearn to hear those words.

Have mercy upon these, O God.

Have mercy upon us all. - Ann Weems

Cahoots’ campaign underway

Cahoots has until June to raise $20,000

that will be matched, dollar-for-dollar by the

Dekko Foundation!

This match requires first time donors so

please, if you have never donated to Cahoots,

think about donating now!

Cahoots continues to offer FAME in our

building, an after-school enrichment pro-

gram for middle school students, in conjunc-

tion with the Steuben County Literacy Coali-

tion as well as Tell It Like It Is, facilitated by

Crystal Havins, MSW.

Cahoots is now offering 3 MRT classes,

facilitated by Barb Bryan, John French,

Pam Feller, Crystal Havins, Phil Myers and

Dick Wolford, all of whom are trained in

Moral Reconation Training.

Cahoots remains a safe place for youth

where caring adults are always available for

tutoring or just talking.

Please con-

sider supporting

our wonderful

youth ministry!

2 - Maundy Thursday Worship 7 p.m.

3 - Community Good Friday service noon

5 - Sunrise service 7:30 a.m. VandenElst’s

- Easter Breakfast 8:30-9:30 a.m. Fellowship

- Easter Worship 10 a.m.

7 - Men’s breakfast 8 a.m. Timbers

8 - ‘Out-of-the-Bible’ Study 9 a.m.

- Bell Choir/Chancel Choir 5:45 7 p.m.

9 - Women’s Book Study 4 p.m. Pastor’s office

10 - Prayer group 9 a.m. Cahoots

11 - Women In Black 10 a.m. Courthouse

- Write Tribe 11 a.m. Cahoots

12 - Worship 10 a.m.

- Council meets 11:30 a.m.

15 - ‘Out-of-the-Bible’ Study 9 a.m



18 - Road Rally TBA


21 - Men’s breakfast 8 a.m. Timbers



23 - Women’s Book Study 4 p.m. Pastor’s office

- Families of Inmates group 6 p.m.





Upcoming

9 - Plant sale

12 - Council meets

17 - Bi-annual Meeting

Calendar Markers

About the Community

Our sympathies are extended to Cecil Fugate, whose mother Nora Black passed away on February 2, and

also to Lynn Syler, whose mother Bonnie Foster died March 20.

In the Hospital … Adam Garza.

Happy April Birthdays & Anniversaries

3 - Cathy Covell

4 - Walt Lilley

6 - Katie Brian

10 - Jana Olson

11 - Deb Miller

13 - Larry Watkins

14 - Aaron Lloyd

21 - Tom Sagendorf

22 - Cheryl Myers

24 - Christina Krueckeberg

25 - Dick Powers

28 - Kim Couch

28 - Art Eberhardt

Volunteer Schedule for April

Date Liturgist Greeters Children's Sermon

Apr 05 Marty Diller Greg & Kathleen Burns Michelle Olson

Apr 12 Jim McEntarfer Joe & Linda Driver Celia Motz

Apr 19 Lois McEntarfer Steve & Betsy Eyrich Vicki Harris

Apr 26 Lynn Simons Michelle Olson, Kevin Burnell Rita Lechleidner

Date Usher Refreshments Counter

Apr 05 Ralph McDowell Easter Breakfast Gary VandenElst

Apr 12 Ralph McDowell Marj & Walt Lilley Cheryl Myers

Apr 19 Ralph McDowell OPEN Marge Mueller

Apr 26 Ralph McDowell Krueckebergs Gayle Newton

UCC Goes Across Angola …

Treasure hunt coming soon!

Watch for updates!

Women’s Book Study will meet on Thursday

April 9 & 23 at 4 p.m. in Pastor

Deb’s office. Join us as we con-

tinue our discussion of Barbara

Brown Taylor’s book, An Altar

in the World.

News in Brief

Women’s Book Study

Men’s Breakfast group

The Men’s Breakfast

group will meet on April

7 & 21. All men are invit-

ed to these informal

gatherings on the first

and third Tuesdays of

each month at 8 a.m. at

Timbers. Questions? Contact Ron Hays.

Join us for our “Out-of-the-

Bible” Study, which meets on

Wednesdays at 9 a.m., in Fellow-

ship Hall! We are currently read-

ing Barbara Brown Taylor’s An

Altar in the World.

Women in Black

Women in Black will stand on

Saturday, April 11, in front of the

courthouse.

Folk are invited to gather from

10-11 a.m. and stand in protest of

war and domestic violence. WIB is

an international movement to end all forms of

violence.

The Friday Morning Prayer

Group meets each Friday at 9 a.m.

at Cahoots.

Friday Prayer Group

On Sunday, March 15, we wel-

comed Barbara Lotter and

Bradford Wade into our church

family.

Barb is a “cradle” member of the UCC, most

recently at Salem UCC, Fort Wayne. She is a

pharmacist and now lives in Angola.

Brad lives in Reading, MI and spent the past

six years caring for his father prior to his death.

New members welcomed!

‘Out-of-the-Bible’ Study

Church Council met on Sunday, March 8, and the following items

were among those discussed/approved/reported:

A security plan will be developed for our building; Judy will be asked

to contact other churches and the national setting to see what’s

already available;

Pastor Deb reported that two people will join the church on

March 15;

Dave Syler reported that he had sent out final letters for the Capital Campaign, which is now

officially ended;

Council approved an additional week of vacation for Pastor Deb. She now has five weeks;

Kim Couch announced that she is planning a lock-in for the youth.

Our next meeting will be Sunday, April 12 following worship.

Complete minutes and financial reports are available in the church office.

Church Council highlights

Pinwheels for Prevention

On Sunday, April 12, colorful pinwheels will begin ap-

pearing all over downtown Angola as a part of Pinwheels for

Prevention - a way to mark Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Later in the week - on Friday, April 17 - the Department

of Children’s Services will partner with Cahoots for a can-

dlelight vigil walk - from Cahoots to the Courthouse - begin-

ning at 7:30 p.m.

There will be a reception at Cahoots following the vigil

sponsored by Steuben County Mental Health; the Trine Uni-

versity jazz band will be playing.

Mark your calendars now!

First Congregational United Church of Christ

314 West Maumee

Angola, Indiana 46703

The Reverend Deborah Davis, Pastor and Teacher

Rita Lechleidner, Licensed inister

Lynn Syler, Director of Music

Judy Goodrow, Office Manager & Ministerial Intern

Michael Eyster, Moderator

E-mail Judy at [email protected]

E-mail Pastor Deb at [email protected]

Our web site is www.angolaucc.org

Telephone us as 260-665-9362

Fax us at 260-668-1082

God is still speaking,

First Congregational United Church of Christ, as an inclusive and caring Christian

community, welcomes into its full life and ministry persons of every race, ethnic back-

ground, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, marital status, criminal

history and faith background. As we serve those within our church family, the

community and the world in the name of Jesus Christ, we celebrate each person’s

uniqueness and look forward to the gifts they bring to us.

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