Greetings from Church of Peace - May 24, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

Red, red, red with a little orange and some yellow -- this is what you can expect to see when you enter the sanctuary on Sunday.  It is Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit descended like tongues of fire on the early disciples.  Join us as we invite the Holy Spirit to renew our power and zeal.  You are invited to wear the colors of the day to add to the festive atmosphere.  The Hospitality Team will be serving ice cream following the service.

Tonight is the final meeting of the season for Mid Week Faith Boost.  We'll be meeting at 6:30 in the Upper Room.

We know of no one who is hospitalized or critically ill in our congregation.

There is still time to sign up for the day trip next Tuesday to the Railroad Museum and the Botanical Gardens in Green Bay.  Call the church office (921-8215) or sign up on Sunday.

Although Sunday School is finished for the season, we look forward to enjoying the presence of our little ones in worship. At Church of Peace, every week is child-friendly worship.

The June Messenger is now on-line at www.uccchurchofpeace.org.  There’s lots going on in June so be sure to download your copy and keep up to date.

The church office will be closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

That's the news from Church of Peace.

We'll see you in church!  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today:  Lovely Spirit of creation, on these beautiful summery days as you warm me with the rays of the sun, warm also the inner workings of my spirit with your love.  Make joy and compassion grow within me until it overflows into my words and deeds.  Show me how to live with gentleness and peace as I work to bring healing and wholeness to my relationships and to our world.  Amen.  

Greetings from Church of Peace - May 17, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

What a glorious morning Sunday will be!  The anthem will be provided by a chorus made up of the Chapel Choir, the Sonshine Singers, and our Sunday School kids.  Seven students will be confirmed.  Please join us for this festive hour.  There will be plenty of room for you!

This Saturday, May 19^th, we’ll gather about 8:00 a.m. and work in the church yard for a few hours, sprucing it up for the spring and summer season.  If you’d rather work inside, there is work to be done there as well.  We’ll have a good time together. Rumor has it that anyone still here when the work is done can go up on top of the steeple and have a look around. There will be donuts!

Mid-Week Faith Boost meets tonight at 6:30 to sing, pray, and discuss the Scripture reading for this coming Sunday.

Joann Krenn died Tuesday evening.  Please remember her family in your prayers. We know of no one who is hospitalized.

Looking ahead:

            Tuesday, May 29^th              Trip to Railroad Museum and Botanical Gardens

            June 10-16                           Mission Trip to Joplin

            Sunday, June 24^th              Diner’s Club at Sebastian’s Supper Club

            Thursday, August 9^th         Neighborhood Picnic at Church of Peace

            Friday, August 17^th            Day Camp at Pilgrim Center

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church!  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Ever-Creating God, I stand in wonder and joy before your creation.  The spring flowers, colorful birds, and newly-leaved trees testify to your beauty and power.  May my life also testify to your beauty and power as I treat everyone I meet today with kindness and respect.  I pray for your comforting touch in the lives of all who grieve today, especially the family of Joann Krenn. Speak to me of your will and your loving ways.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - May 10, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

TOMORROW – the all-church dance sponsored by the mission trippers.  Come have some fun and help us fund our trip.  There will be music for all ages, free popcorn and soda pop, and smiles galore.  The dance is from 6-10 p.m. on Friday night. Youth and children who are unaccompanied by an adult will need a permission slip (attached to this greeting).  The cost is $5.00 for youth and adults, $3.00 for those 12 and under.

Sunday is Mother’s Day or, as we call it in the church, the Festival of the Christian Home.  Our service will focus around the blessings and responsibilities of family life.  The Sonshine Singers will sing.  Kennedy and Liam Petersen will be baptized.

ATTENTION CHOIR MEMBERS: this Sunday there will be a rehearsal for the anthem on the 20^th, a mass anthem of singers aged 4-???. Choir members, please be in the sanctuary at 10:00. 

Dorothy Eggers is in the hospital and Joann Krenn is nearing the end of her life at the Hospice Home of Hope.  Please remember these women in your prayers.

On Saturday, May 19^th, there will be a “work morning” at the church.  If it is nice out, we will be working outside.  If it is raining, we will work inside.  Either way, our church property will be improved by these efforts.  Please help out from 8:00 – noon (or part of that time).  Interested adults can go up on top of the steeple at the end of the morning.

Please sign up a.s.a.p. if you plan to go on the Golden Fellowship–sponsored trip to the train museum and the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.  The trip is on Tuesday, May 29^th.  The sign-up sheet is in the narthex.  The price is $20.00.

That’s the news from Church of Peace!

We’ll see you in church!  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: What a beautiful day on which to sing your praises in my heart, O God! Thank you.  And thank you for many opportunities to bless others as you are blessing me.  Please make your comforting presence keenly aware to Dorothy Eggers and Joann Krenn during this difficult time.  I pray these things in your Spirit of Love, known in Jesus.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - May 3, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

This Sunday we will celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion and the chapel choir will sing.  Our confirmands will share with us in worship leadership.  Want your heart warmed?  Join us.

Tonight at Mid-Week Faith Boost we’ll be discussing the vine and the branches statements of Jesus in the gospel of John.  It will be a stimulating discussion with lots of smiles.  We’ll begin at 6:30 p.m.

Dorothy Eggers is in the hospital.  Please remember her in your prayers.  Please also pray for the family of Robert Zimpher; his funeral was yesterday.

A week from tomorrow is the All-Church Dance sponsored by the Mission Trip Youth.  From 6-10 p.m. we’ll be rockin’ to the music provided by J and E Entertainment. This is for the whole family. It is a fund raiser: the cost is $5.00 for those aged 13 and up, $3.00 for kids 12 and under.  This will be such fun – plan to attend.

We need to replace the front steps of the church which are unsafe and unsightly.  If you’d like to help, there are donation envelopes on the bulletin board in the narthex.  Thank you!

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church, Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Faithful God, guide me to follow the best path for my life today: the path that will bring healing and love.  Make me slow to anger and quick to forgive.  Shine your healing light upon Dorothy Eggers and upon the family of Robert Zimpher.  I pray these things in the name of the Compassionate One, Jesus.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - April 19, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

The littlest Sunday School kids are singing in worship this Sunday and, boy, do they sing this one with gusto! Joining us in worship leadership will be the Rev. Dave Moyer, the Wisconsin Conference President of the UCC, who asked to come and share with the re-enlivened Church of Peace community.  Alek Giese will be baptized.

Diner’s Club at Blanke’s Lake Aire Supper Club will begin at 5:30 on this Sunday evening.  Sign up on the narthex bulletin board so we make sure to save a chair for you.

We have one person in the hospital: Peggy Laehn is a patient.  Please pray for her returning strength and health.  Elaine Hamberger and Marie Michalowske are in hospice care and nearing the end of their lives.  Please remember them in prayer as well.

Mid-Week Faith Boost resumes tonight with Bible study as a conversational focus.  Join us for this time of spiritual and emotional renewal.

Have you thought of stopping in to a Shawl Ministry meeting, just to say “hi” and see if you’d be interested?  They meet this Saturday morning at 9:30 in the Upper Room and would love to greet you.

Be on the lookout: the flocks of flamingos are coming to your neighborhood soon.  If they land in your yard, please give a generous donation. Thanks! Our youth and their leaders will be busy working at the Fond du Lac dog show this weekend.  If you attend, be sure to greet them.  They’ll be wearing their yellow shirts. 

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church!  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Source and spring of all our joy and hope, by your Spirit my spirit is fed.  Touch my life with your healing love this day and renew within me all that is beautiful and good.  Give me the courage and faith to reach out in love to the people who need my help.  I pray for Peggy Laehn, Elaine Hamberger, and Marie Michalowske.  May each one feel your nearness and experience your grace.  I pray in the name of the One who brings new life to every day. Amen. 

Greetings from Church of Peace - April 5, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace on this Maundy Thursday morning!  We look forward to greeting you in person at tonight’s service which is at 7:00 p.m.  We will have worship in the candle-lit sanctuary and celebrate communion at tables.

Tomorrow night our Good Friday service will begin at 7:00.  This service commemorates the trial, suffering, and death of Jesus through word, picture, and song.  There will be a tenebrae (putting out of candles).  Pastor Jim will provide special music.

Saturday the church will be buzzing with activity as the youth prepare for their “Alleluia!” social hours the next morning (at 8:00 and 9:45) and the Worship Enhancement Team transforms our sanctuary into a resplendent garden.

Easter Sunday’s first service will begin at 7:00 a.m. and the second service at 8:45 a.m.  The music will be festive and triumphant.  Holy Communion will be served at the altar. 

PARENTS: The Sunday School children will NOT be wearing robes as originally planned. Please have your child sit with you in worship at the 8:45 Easter service, then send them up to the front when it is time for the anthem, “O Happy Day.”  There will be no Sunday School on Easter.

Esther Fiebig and Virginia Reimer have been hospitalized this week. Please remember them in your prayers. 

If you purchased flowers for the Easter service, you may take them home after the second worship service.  The plants are labeled by name. Thank you. 

We’ll see you in church!  Pastors Jim and Jenny

A prayer for today: On this Maundy Thursday, O God, I pray for an awareness of your presence with me.  Show me the people whom I can love and help in Jesus’ name.  Shine your comforting, peace-filled light upon Virginia Reimer and Esther Fiebig.  I pray in confident trust.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - March 28, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace on this last Wednesday in Lent.

Tonight marks the end of our sermon series on “The Bible and Calvin and Hobbes”.  Many folks have indicated that they have found these meditations interesting and inspirational.  Tonight’s service begins at 7:00.  Join us!

Sunday is Palm Sunday, a festival of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  Come experience for yourself the glory and the impending sadness of that day.  The Chapel Choir has prepared a special Palm Sunday anthem.  Everyone will receive a palm branch to take home.  We will not be serving Holy Communion; we will do that on Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday. 

We will be receiving our One Great Hour of Sharing Offering this Sunday.  Please give generously to this appeal which feeds the hungry, offers drink to the thirsty, provides jobs to the unemployed and health care to the sick, and, in a host of ways, ministers to the “least of these” in Christ’s name.

Sunday is the first day that the flocks of flamingoes will be visiting homes of Church of Peace members to raise money for the mission trip.  If a flock lands in your yard, call the church office to have it moved to the lawn of the person of your choice.  Envelopes for donations will be included with the flamingos.  Let’s have fun doing this and supporting our mission trippers.

A sign-up sheet for the Church of Peace softball team will be on the narthex bulletin board beginning today.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

A week from tomorrow is Maundy Thursday.  We will set up the sanctuary to transport you back from 2012 to the first century Upper Room.  Communion will be served around tables. The children’s feet will be washed.  Join us for this remembrance of the night that Jesus told us to love one another.  The service is at 7:00 p.m.

A week from Friday is Good Friday. This somber service helps us to enter the arrest, trial, suffering, and death of Jesus.  Pastor Jim will provide special music. Attending this service prepares your heart for a jubilant celebration of Easter.

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church.  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Loving God, how often you have waited patiently for me.  Yet when I’ve turned to you, you have led me safely and wisely into the future.  Whatever the circumstances, may I place my life in your keeping.  Make me thoughtful and considerate in all my dealings today.  May I go bravely though this day, aware of your strengthening presence with me.  Amen.