“A light by the lakeshore” - Grosse Pointe Memorial Church
Transcription
“A light by the lakeshore” - Grosse Pointe Memorial Church
GROSSE POINTE MEMORIAL CHURCH “A light by the lakeshore” THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.) March 22, 2015 | Worship 9 and 11 a.m. Fifth Sunday in Lent Welcome to Grosse Pointe Memorial Church We are a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and one of its growing congregations. As a multi-generational community of faith, we are pleased to offer a host of ministries that respond to the varied interests of our members and friends. We give thanks to God that you joined us today and we pray you will receive a sense of God’s loving Spirit from your time with us. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. Visitor packets are available at the Lakeshore Drive and Reception Area entrances. To learn more about our active and growing congregation, visit gpmchurch.org or take one of the booklets, “Growing in Faith: Getting Involved at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church.” Please join us for conversation and fairly-traded organically shade grown coffee down in Fellowship Hall. We are told in Genesis 1 that God made humankind in God’s image. Some interpret this image to include creative faculties, i.e. the arts. GPMC is lifting up the arts as expressions of worship and spirituality during Lent this year. As we do so, we will be celebrating the artists among us and inviting members to try their hand at artistic creation. Each Sunday will focus on a creative art, including the art in worship. Middle Hours will feature the work of our GPMC artists and Tuesday nights (7-8 p.m.) will be a chance for members to try the art. Today we turn to Exodus 31 to help us focus on the arts that involve the creation of visual and more tactile art. In Exodus 31, God commissions two of the Israelites to create the necessary elements for a place to worship God while in the wilderness. They work with canvas, metal, fabric and wood. This morning, during Middle Hour, some of our resident artists will present their work in similar areas. Scott Brown, Janet Ferguson, Jane McFeeley, Kathie Morinelli, Jim Moore, Sylvia Sanders and John Wood will be present in Barbour Chapel at 10:10 a.m. with some of their works of art. Please join them for their presentation today and for our Tuesday “Try It” night in Room 209 from 7-8 p.m. Don’t listen to that voice in your head that says, “You aren’t an artist.” We all are, and some people can help us develop our gifts. Join us today and on Tuesday. Next Sunday our arts focus will be on drama. Our Middle Hour on that day has a specific purpose: a casting call. Our drama leaders - Sue Acton, Jane Burkey and Jim Higginbottom – want to put on a small, 10 minute musical for our Creative Arts Celebration on April 26. To do this, they need actors, including some willing to sing. Come to Barbour Chapel at 10:10 a.m. to learn more about the musical and to try out. You don’t have to be a professional - this is your chance to give drama a try! Rehearsals for the April 26 production will be limited, with the dates determined by cast schedules. 2 Order of Service for the Worship of God *Please rise in body or spirit. Prelude – Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, BWV 665 (Jesus Christ, our Redeemer) J.S. Bach Welcome and Announcements *Call to Worship Leader: Come to the studio of the Holy Spirit. All: We come ready for a master’s touch. Leader: Come to the loom upon which the Spirit weaves us together. All: We await her hand upon the shuttle. Leader: Come, there is a vision for you, for us, made in God’s image. All: We rejoice in what we will become. Let us worship God. *Opening Hymn – God, Reveal Your Presence 3 Tune: Arnsberg Prayer of Confession and Silent Confession All: You are the potter and we are the clay, O God. You have shaped us for your purposes, but we seek our own glory. Your beauty is in our service, yet we seek praise for our outward appearance and monetary value. Forgive us, O God, for thinking we are self-made people. Have mercy on us for being pretty, empty vessels on a shelf, when you would have us pour forth grace. Kyrie (from “Requiem”) Maurice Duruflé Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. The Grosse Pointe Memorial Church Choir Assurance of Pardon Leader: Hear the good news. If we are not who God would have us be, the potter who made us can remold us. The artist is not yet finished. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. All: Thanks be to God. Passing of the Peace Leader: We have this treasure- God’s forgiveness and Christ’s peace – in clay jars so that it may be made known that this extraordinary power comes not from us but from God. As those into whom the gift has been poured, we are blessed to share it with others. The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. All: And also with you. While the Passing of the Peace often involves a handshake, this is not a requirement. However you or your nearby worshipers exchange the peace, please do not be offended if someone prefers something other than a handshake. Kindergarten Offering Let the Children Come (children ages 3 – 2nd grade) Children will depart for the “Young Children and Worship” worship centers (room 200/215) after the children’s sermon. At 10 a.m., our Sunday school teachers come to the worship centers and take the children up to the third floor to their Sunday school classrooms. Hymn 304, St. 1 – Jesus Loves Me Jesus Loves Me Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so; Little ones to Him belong; They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so. 4 Proclaiming the Word Prayer for Illumination All: O Almighty Artist, by whose hand we have been fashioned, continue the good work started in us. Send your Spirit, that we might continue to be refined, more precious even than gold. May our lives reflect your Word, both in the beauty you have wrought and the service we would render. Amen. Gospel Reading – John 12:20-33 (N.T. p. 100) After each reading: Leader: The Word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God. Psalm – Psalm 51 James M. Burns All join in singing the Refrain after the choir, and again after each stanza: Old Testament Reading – Exodus 31:1-11 Sermon (O. T. p. 75) Sarah Godbehere Responding to the Word *Hymn 126 – Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove Tune: St. Agnes Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer Our prayers of the people during Lent includes a sung refrain. The prayer will include various petitions. Following each petition, the Leader will say “Gracious God, creator of all beauty ...” and the congregation is invited to join the choir in singing the following refrain. All: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 5 Offering and Anthem – My Eyes for Beauty Pine Herbert Howells My eyes for beauty pine, my soul for God’s grace; No other care nor hope is mine, To heaven I turn my face. One splendor thence is shed from all the stars above: ‘Tis named when God’s name is said, ‘Tis Love, ‘tis heavenly Love. And every gentle heart that burns with true desire, Is lit from eyes that mirror part of that celestial fire. (Robert Bridges) The Grosse Pointe Memorial Church Choir Taking the Word into the World *Closing Hymn – God the Sculptor of the Mountains Tune: Jennings-Houston *Presentation of the Offering – For the Life That You Have Given Tune: Pleading Savior *Benediction *Choral Amen Postlude – Komm, Gott, Schopfer, heiliger Geist, BWV 667 (Come, God, Creator, Holy Spirit) J.S. Bach During the season of Lent, the music that concludes the service is quiet and meditative. Please be respectful of those who wish to listen to this offering of music. 6 7 Copyright Acknowledgments: The following are used with permission, OneLicense. net License No. 718520. All rights reserved. “God, Reveal Your Presence” text © 1997 The Presbyterian Church of Canada “For the Life that You have Given” text by Carl P. Daw, Jr., © 1990 Hope Publishing Co. “God the Sculptor of the Mountains” text by John Thornburg, © 1993 by the author; music by Amanda Husberg, © 1996 Abingdon Press In Memoriam Carolyn Elizabeth Quinn April 24, 1952 - March 13, 2015 What’s Happening Today, March 22 Worship 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 5 p.m. BeTween 10:10 a.m. Room 326, 301A Lenten Adult Education 10:10 a.m. Barbour Chapel Sunday School for All Ages 10:10 a.m. Third Floor Child Protection Workshop 11 a.m. - Noon Room 209 About Worship at GPMC Children are always welcome in worship at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church. An infant and toddler room (room 101) is available during the services should you prefer to leave your child with our wonderful caregivers. Feel free to use the glider rocker located underneath the side balcony at any time during the worship service with your child. Worship kits for children to use during worship are in blue bags located at each of the entrances and Listening Assisted Devices are available in the sanctuary. Please list your email address on the fellowship pad at the end of the pew if you would like to receive our weekly email. For time–sensitive updates, subscribe to our Twitter feed: GPMCNews. Cassette tapes and CDs of our worship services are available the week following the service. Please request copies at the reception desk. You may also watch or listen to sermons at gpmchurch.org. Looking to go green? Like your personal device? GPMC now has a mobile site to bookmark on your iPad, Kindle, or any other handheld device. Power it up when you get into the sanctuary, touch your icon, and then call up a PDF of the bulletin. It’s that simple. The wireless network in the Sanctuary is “gpmchurch” and the password is “bibles@gpmchurch.” The address for the mobile page is gpmchurch.org/main/mobile/ Leading and Assisting in Worship: Sarah Godbehere, Kindergarten Sunday School Students, The Grosse Pointe Memorial Church Choir, 8 James Biery, director and organist. The Chancel Flowers are a reflection of gifts to the Flower Fund and are given in memory of Trudy Meyer Carey and Anthony Palmisano, by Cheryl Meyer and Marilyn DiLoreto. Flowers for the sanctuary on Sunday mornings are provided by our members in memory or in honor of a loved one. If you are interested in providing flowers for a loved one, please contact Jan Arndt: 313.882.8587 or email: jan_arndt@yahoo.com. This Morning’s Music: The Kyrie this Sunday is part of the transcendently beautiful Requiem composed by Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986). The Requiem was completed in 1947, and is based upon the traditional Gregorian chants of the funeral service. “My eyes for beauty pine” was composed in 1925 by English organist and composer Herbert Howells. This is music of timeless beauty and elegance. The choir sings in four parts only at the point in the text when God’s heavenly Love is invoked, as if the clouds part and the sun comes shining down upon us. The words of the closing hymn were written by a former president of the Hymn Society of America, John Thornburg, in 1993. Despite the great sweep of the stanzas, each one ends by describing how our human condition needs God’s help: formless, aimless, hungry, searching. Each adjective is followed by a related three-syllable petition: shape us now, lead us now, feed us now, meet us now. Presbyterians in the News Many of you know that last year, the General Assembly, the highest council of the Presbyterian Church (USA), took some notable actions on a variety of issues. One of the matters that was left to be decided by the presbyteries (171 regional councils made up of member churches and whose votes are taken by equal numbers of ruling elders and clergy) was a change to our denomination’s constitutional definition of marriage. The proposed change would allow all Presbyterian pastors and churches to hold samesex weddings in states where it is legal and define marriage as a covenant “between two people.” This proposed change to, and expansion of, the definition of marriage required affirmative votes by a simple majority of presbyteries- 86. This week, the last affirmative vote needed was taken and recorded, This means that as of June 21, 2015, Presbyterian clergy and churches in states where it is legal can perform and host same-sex weddings. They are not required to do so, but allowed to do so. For the specific language of the constitutional amendment and other information 9 related to this historic vote, click here. To read a letter and/or view a recorded message from the Stated Clerk and Moderator of the PC (USA) visit www.pcusa.org. For a list of simple questions and answers about the changes, visit www.pcusa.org. As with many Presbyterian churches, Grosse Pointe Memorial Church has members with diverse opinions and beliefs about same-sex marriage. We look forward to further conversation with members and friends of GPMC, giving thanks for the unity and vitality that we have in Christ as we seek to serve God’s world with Christ’s Spirit. men, women and children daily. Please contribute generously, using the blue Hunger Offering envelopes in the pews. The Outreach Council will match your donations up to $2,000. Everyone Eats at the Spirit of Hope Church, Wednesday, March 25. Please join other members from GPMC by meeting at the church at 10:30 a.m. to carpool, or meet us at SOH at 11 a.m. to prepare the meal we will serve from 12 - 1 p.m. SOH is at 1519 Martin Luther King Blvd., Detroit, MI 48202. Email Debbie Bellovich for more information at DBellovich@ comcast.net. Christian Education Music Our resident chefs, Bert Ross, Nate Dodson and Matt Hurley, had to reschedule their “Try It” night to Tuesday, March 31, 7-8 p.m., in Room 209. Mark your calendars with the new date for the opportunity to understand how our cooking is an opportunity to deepen our connections to God and to one another. You don’t have to be a professional chef or accomplished cook to enjoy this night. Disciples of all ages are welcome! The next Novel as Theology group meeting is on Wednesday, March 25 from 7:30 - 9 p.m. The March novel is Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Instead of meeting on April 8 (when the Henrys will be out of town), our short story group is convening at the Grosse Pointe Public Library on April 15 in support of the community-wide short story contest readings. More information to come. The next Reel Theology screening will be on Monday, March 30 at 7 p.m. featuring “To Kill a Mockingbird.” All GPMC members and friends are invited to the 7:00 p.m. event in the Jordan Cinema. Easter Egg Hunt and Breakfast: On Saturday, March 28, the Christian Education Council is hosting a pancake breakfast and egg hunt for families with preschool and elementary age children. The morning will begin at 9 a.m. with breakfast, followed by an egg hunt on Trinity Terrace (weather permitting) or in the third floor classrooms. Cost for this event is $7.00 per person. Please make reservations with the Christian Education office by March 23th. Outreach Our Hunger Offering for March will go to COTS. On any given night, there are more than 16,000 homeless in Detroit; one-third of these are children. For more than 30 years, COTS has served the most vulnerable in our community. Their Emergency Shelter operates at capacity throughout the year, offering programs and providing services for more than 800 10 Music at Memorial is pleased to announce a bonus concert, the Wayne State University Orchestra, performing in our sanctuary on Sunday, March 29, at 3:00 in the afternoon. General seating admission for the concert is $10 at the door. Season ticket holders and students receive free admission. The 45 members of the University Orchestra, conducted by Kypros Markou, will perform music by Corelli, Haydn, Carl Nielsen, Tchaikovsky, and Mozart’s famous “Haffner” Symphony. The next concert in the series is a program of music for cello and piano with Mario DiFiore, cellist. This concert will be presented on Sunday, April 12, at 3:00 pm. Stewardship After the Dalai Lama delivered a lecture, a member of the audience asked him what the answer to world hunger is. He responded, “Sharing.” Thank you to everyone who made a pledge to support the ministries of GPMC in 2015. The campaign, “Countless Gifts of Love,” has good news all around. In a year when we really needed to show our common support for the ministries of God through our community of faith, we came through. We received 407 pledges (more than last year) for just over $1,000,000 ($115,000 more than last year), including 68 new pledges and 216 increases. Thank you! Our life together is a true “light by the lakeshore” and your commitments are integral to fanning the flames and sharing the warmth of God’s love. Thank you for your countless gifts of love. Thank you to everyone who as made a financial gift to GPMC in 2015. Through the month of February we are almost on target for our adult pledge revenue: so much better than last February. Year to date, your stewardship of God’s gifts have: (1) enabled our Outreach Council to help put on the Kids Against Hunger events; (2) allowed our Christian Education Council to put down deposits and advance payments for our high school mission trip; (3) provided the Trustees with $11,000 to pay heating and electric bills; (4) enabled GPMC to purchase four new computers for our 11 administrative staff; and (5) paid for our Sunday morning section leaders and Sunday evening lead singers to support our congregational singing. Thank you- especially when you have made sure your gifts come to church even when you can’t! And More ... GPMC is now accepting contributions for this year’s beautiful Easter lilies and/or music in memory or honor of loved ones and special people in your life. If you would like to make a contribution, please fill out the form (available in the information racks and online) and leave in the church office no later than Monday, March 30 so that names may be properly acknowledge in the Easter bulletins. A suggested amount for a lily is $50, and for music $25-100. All checks need to be filled out to “Grosse Pointe Memorial Church” (please include lily/music contribution in the memo line). All flowers are delivered right after Easter by our deacons to members of GPMC who are not able to join us for worship. O.W.L.S. (Older, Wiser, Learning Still) will meet on Thursday, April 9 at noon in Room 209. Hear ye, hear ye, all are invited to hear our own Beverly Burns, attorney at Miller-Canfield Law Firm, talk about her experience of A Lady and the Law. If your last name begins with: A-I, please bring a casserole, sandwiches or soup. J-R, please bring a salad or vegetable, (hot or cold). S-Z, please bring a dessert, fruit or cheese-ncrackers. All are welcome! Please call the church to RSVP 882.5330. Invest in your marriage! Dr. Gary Chapman, best-selling author of The Five Love Languages, is coming to GPMC on Saturday, April 18 from 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Tickets for the marriage seminar are available at www. cultivatinghealthyfamilies.org or at the reception desk. Tickets are $50/ couple, $25/individual. Calling all art and artists! On Sunday, April 26, we are hosting our first GPMC Creative Arts Celebration. We are looking for photos, sculptures, paintings, stained glass, writing, dramas, culinary artwork, animation, Lego creations, graphic arts and design, textiles, floral arrangements, original music, cinematography- anything made by GPMC members and friends. More information to follow, but start thinking about what you might offer for the celebration. No prizes, no judging- just appreciation. Our Nominating Committee is about to start its work again, looking for leaders to begin their ministries at GPMC starting in February 2016. If you feel called to service on a council, committee or board; or if you would like to nominate someone, there are yellow nomination forms in the Narthex and Reception Area along with boxes into which to put the 12 forms. You can also fill out an online form via our website. Thank you for your help as we are led to the next class of servant leaders at GPMC. During Lent, we have lifted up the arts, including writing and photography. We also have two very specific works of art for sale at our Reception Desk. There is Lynne Kogel’s book on the stained glass windows of GPMC for $65. We also have Carol Marks’ collection of prayers and photographs from her trip to the national parks three years ago. It is $15. Either one of these make an excellent gift or a personal devotional resource. Made in the Image: Lent 2015 Our 5 p.m. Sunday services will provide members with unique opportunities to put faith into worshipful action. These 45-minute informal services of worship will remain in Barbour Chapel. Special music will accompany our Lenten journey, along with opportunities to incorporate our artistic emphases into our worship practices. Join us for a time set apart during Lent! Cross in the Lobby. The cross in the Reception Area is the same cross we set up in the Sanctuary during Holy Week. It is in the Reception Area as a reminder of the season of Lent, a time when we are called to reflect on our lives and to offer to a God a desire to live more faithfully. On the table by the cross is a basket. You are invited to take one of the slips of paper from the table, write a word or phrase that describes something you want to do or change during Lent, and place it in the basket as a sign of offering these concerns to God. While some people may want to do this, others may simply want to touch the cross as they pass and offer a silent, short prayer of thanks or need. Throughout Lent, our labyrinth will be in Room 209 and available for walking from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. every day, except when there are occasional evening meetings. Walking a labyrinth is an ancient practice that many contemporary Christians find helps them tune out the noise of our world and listen for God. Music and written resources will be available in Fellowship Hall. You do not need to come to the 5 p.m. worship services in order to walk the labyrinth. One Great Hour of Sharing is a long-established offering that many Christian churches collect during Lent. Children are given “fish banks” (little cardboard coin boxes that look like fish) to collect money during Lent. They bring in those boxes on Palm Sunday. Adults make their offering on Palm Sunday or the week before. Fish banks are distributed during Sunday school and available in the Christian Education office. Physical disciplines: While many people use Lent as a chance to engage 13 their spirit, others also take the opportunity to engage their body as a means of worship (Romans 12). At GPMC, we provide three opportunities for physical discipline. First, we have our weekly senior yoga from 10 - 11 a.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays. Also, a walking and running guide is in the information racks around church. It sets some biblically based goals for walking and/or running and should help you get ready for our 4th annual Empty Tomb Easter 5K Sunrise Walk/Run. Lent (the church season before Easter) is a time of year when many people take on a new activity or discipline. Common examples are giving up food items or writing letters to people to say “thank you” for making a difference in your life. Lent is also a good opportunity to be mindful of our impact on God’s creation. The Presbyterian Environmental Ministries team has put together a Lenten calendar that keeps creation in mind and suggests Lenten activities to make a positive impact on the environment. Come “tread lightly” this Lent. Presbyterian Theology 101. Preachers and teachers often refer to “Reformed theology” and “Presbyterian theology.” What does that mean? From where do we get our distinctive Presbyterian beliefs? Join Susan Mozena on Thursday nights during Lent, from 7:30 - 9 p.m. as, with other members of GPMC, she explores our core Presbyterian theology. Beginning in 2013 our Men’s Bible Study group has kept an annual prayer vigil in the little chapel from noon Maundy Thursday until noon Good Friday. The stimulus for the vigil comes from Scripture, Matthew 26:36-46, when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane after their last meal together and no one stayed awake with him. If you feel called to stay awake and pray, you are invited to join the men in keeping this vigil. Material for reflection and prayer will be available in the chapel. You may come with a prayer partner, if you wish. A signup schedule of available time slots (one hour increments) is now at the front desk. Holy Week and Easter Palm Sunday through Easter is referred to as “Holy Week” by many Christian traditions. It includes more than the two Sundays and people who participate in all of the Holy Week services find their Easter worship deepened and more meaningful. If you have never ventured into one of our other worship offerings that week, this is the year to do it. Palm Sunday, March 29, is the day when Christian churches remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem the week prior to his death. This year, our Logos choirs will be leading worship with their annual spring musical. It is a dramatic and musical retelling of the creation of the hymn, “All Glory Laud and Honor.” Our worship will include sustainably grown and har14 vested palm fronds through the Eco-Palm project. The annual One Great Hour of Sharing offering is taken on Palm Sunday. For over 65 years, Presbyterians and other Christians have collected a special offering to support neighbors in need around the globe. Many of us remember the fish banks from our childhoods, but all of us are called to share of our resources. Your gifts to this offering, one of only 3 taken up by our denomination, will empower the ministries of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (national and international), the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and the Self-Development of People. You can give online at http:// specialofferings.pcusa.org/oghs.html or with the special envelopes in the pew racks today and Palm Sunday. On your checks, just note “One Great Hour” in the memo line. The name “Maundy Thursday” comes from the Latin word for commandment, mandatum. According to the Gospel of John, on the Thursday of Holy Week Jesus gave his disciples a new command, that they love one another as he has loved them. Our Maundy Thursday service is from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. in Barbour Chapel. It is primarily the retelling of the Last Supper in word and song, with a short sermon and communion. Worshipers of all ages are welcome at this service. Good Friday People disagree where the word “good” comes from, but the focus of the day is clear: it is the day on which we remember the death of Jesus Christ. GPMC has two services and a special children’s offering. Our two services are at 12:15 p.m. in Barbour Chapel, with congregational song, a sermon, and a soloist. The 7:30 p.m. service includes our full choir singing some of Handel’s Messiah. Both 12:15 and 7:30 have as a central focus the retelling of the death of Jesus from the Gospel of John. Both services end in darkness and include the tolling of a bell to signify Jesus’ death. There is childcare at the 12:15 p.m. service and this one is more suitable for younger worshipers. The evening service, with its darkness and more somber tones, might be more difficult for some young worshipers. Easter Sunday, April 5, begins early at GPMC. Many members and friends meet at the columbarium outside of Barbour Chapel for our annual Empty Tomb Sunrise 5K Walk/Run. Remembering Peter’s run to the tomb and the fact that this is a celebration of the Resurrection of the body, our walk/run caps off a season of Lenten discipline for some and for others it marks the beginning of a physical regimen. We walk/run at our own paces to Moross and back with the goal of returning by 6:45 for the sunrise service. This is great for worshipers of all ages. Our Sunrise Service begins at 6:45 on Trinity Terrace, facing the rising sun in the east. During this 30 minute service, with simple liturgy, Easter 15 song, a homily and communion, we celebrate at first light, as the disciples did, that “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.” This service includes a trumpeter to accompany the singing of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.” People who like to continue the fellowship of our Sunrise Service or who like to come early for the next worship service convene in Fellowship Hall for an annual Easter breakfast. With simple egg casseroles and cinnamon rolls from the Henry family, we enjoy the body of Christ, the Church, as we fellowship together. Our 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. services of worship offer a fuller liturgy, the sights and smells of Easter lilies, our adult choir (who will be singing the Hallelujah Chorus) and the full Easter brass we have come to expect. Worshipers are asked to bring cut flowers to put in our “flowering cross,” which is set outside of our sanctuary to proclaim the new life of Easter. Our 5:00 p.m. Easter Vespers service is a great way to enjoy the fullness of what God has done in a more intimate, less harried way. We gather in Barbour Chapel as the disciples did on that first Easter night, with some of the same songs of the morning, but with more of a focus on the Christ who did not just appear to but then tarried with the disciples that first Easter. Our service concludes with a small journey to the outdoor columbarium where we lift up friends and family who have died in the last year. Last All Saints’ day we planted over 100 bulbs in their memory and we hope the flowers will be in bloom, a reminder of the triumph of life. The Men’s and Women’s Bible Studies at GPMC are once again organizing a 24 hour prayer vigil in the prayer chapel from 12 p.m. on Maundy Thursday through noon on Food Friday. If you are willing serve to help keep this vigil, which is in response to Jesus’ question to his disciples “Could you not remain awake for one hour?”, please contact Jim Hooper (jfhooper4@gmail.com). Sesquicentennial News reasons. Give us as few or many as you would like. We are also looking for Lego versions of GPMC. Disciples of all ages are asked to make a Lego GPMC for the Creative Arts Celebration on April 26. What should go in the time capsule we bury on September 13? We are looking for ideas. Email suggestions to lcameron@gpmchurch.org Praying for Others Emily Speer Bedford, Martha Speer’s daughter died last week. The Service of the Resurrection was held in Chicago last Thursday. Please hold Martha and Emily’s family and friends in your hearts and prayers. Carolyn Quinn died March 13, 2015. The service of the resurrection will be held in our sanctuary Monday, March 23 at 11 a.m. Please pray for her children Catie, Colleen, Tim and all who love Carolyn. RECENT PRAYER REQUESTS: Tom Bejin (Matt Bejin’s father), Lynnette Copas, Emma Edwards, Elton Jaco (Megan Carpenter’s grandfather), Dick Miller, Maxine Niemeyer, Aubree Presnell (Vickey Koerner’s nephew), Karen Queen, Bert Ross, Kirk Sanders (Sylvia Sanders’ son), David Schaefer (Stephen Schaefer’s brother). SERVICE PERSONS DEPLOYED: Major David Feltner, Afghanistan (Brother-in-law and brother of Amanda Litchfield Spacil and Michael Spacil); Marine L.Cpl. Derek Roy and Marine L.Cpl. Alex Roy (Roger VanDerKar’s grandsons); Marine Captain Chuck Smith, aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima; Commander Florencio Yuzon (son-in-law of Val and Pat Moran), US Navy JAG Corps, Manama, Bahrain. ON–GOING PRAYER REQUESTS: Joan Coyle, Leslie Greenfield, Casey and Paul Hess (son and daughter-in-law of Tom and Roma Hess), the family of Alex Peabody, Linda Robinson, Ann Scott. Save the Date: Sept. 13 for a celebratory 150th anniversary service of worship at 10:30 a.m., including past ecumenical ministers Father Elias Chacour, Mary Mikhael and Samer Azar, as well as many former pastors such as Bill Yeager. The night before we will have an all church barbecue and square dance on Trinity Terrace. This is a “can’t miss” weekend of events. Your Sesquicentennial Committee is looking for 150 reasons to love GPMC. In order to discover and highlight those reasons, we are asking you to tell us what they are. You can either email 150reasons@gpmchurch. org or fill out a card in a pew rack and put it in the offering plate or one of the boxes in the Narthex or reception area. You don’t have to have 150 16 17 This Week at Memorial HERE’S WHERE YOU COME IN Monday, March 23: Lenten Studio 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Mornings Memorial a.m. - Noon By supporting One Great Houratof Sharing,9you’re sustaining Preacher’s Workshop 10 - 11 a.m. programs that provideScouts disaster relief, food, clean water, 7 - 9 p.m. training, and resources to people all over the world. Tuesday, March 24: Women’s Bible Study 7 - 8 a.m. Lenten Studio 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. When you give, you’re changing lives.10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Knitting and Sewing Senior Yoga 10 - 11:30 a.m. LOGOs 4 - 6:30 p.m. LIFE/TUXIS 6 - 8 p.m. GIFTS IN ACTION - SOME OF LAST YEAR’STry OUTCOMES Lenten It Night 7 - 8 p.m. Alanon 7:30 - 9 p.m.and 24 states received Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: 40 countries AA 8 - 9 p.m. help for natural and human-caused disasters. Wed., March 25: Program: Men’s154,731 Bible Study - 7:45 a.m. Presbyterian Hunger people7who were living in extreme Lenten Studio 9 a.m. 7 p.m. poverty now have increased food security and livelihoods through international Everyone Eats 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. development work. Scripture and Conversation for Women 10:30 a.m. Self-Development of People: children/parents received improved The4,619 Novel as Theology 7:30 - 9 p.m. educational opportunities. Thursday, March 26: Lenten Studio 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Senior Yoga 10 - 11 a.m. Adult Choir 7:15 - 9:15 p.m. Presbyterian Theology 101 7:30 - 9 p.m. THREE WAYS TO GIVE Friday, March 27: Men’s Breakfast 7:15 - 8:15 a.m. Lenten Studio 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Through your congregation AA 8 - 9 p.m. Saturday, March 28: Lenten Studio 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Text OGHS to 20222 give $10 Pancaketo Breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt 9 a.m. LOGOS Musical Rehearsal 4 - 5 p.m. LOGOS End of Year Celebration 5 p.m. presbyterianmission.org/give-oghs Sunday, March 29: Worship 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 5 p.m. BetTween 10:10 a.m. Resources: Yonetani, Michelle. Global Estimates 2014: People Displaced by Disasters. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 22 Aug. 2014. Lenten Adult Education 10:10 a.m. http://www.uis.unesco.org/FactSheets/Documents/fs-28-out-of-school-children-en.PDF The State of Food Insecurity. FAO, IFAD, WFP, Sunday 2014. School for All Ages 10:10 a.m. Cree, Anthony. Kay, Andrew. Steward, June. The Economic & Social Cost of Illiteracy: A Snapshot Of Illiteracy In A Global Context. WSU Orchestra Concert 3 p.m. World Literacy Foundation, April 2012. Bartram, Jamie. Bos, Robert. Gore, Fiona. Prüss-Üstün, Annette. Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, Benefits and Sustainability of Labyrinth Walk Interventions to Protect and Promote Health. World Health Organization, 2008. 4 - 7 p.m. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: 2012 Update. WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, 2012. 18 12138-15-103 19 Pastoral and Program Staff The Reverend Dr. Peter J.M. Henry, Pastor Susan Acton, Coordinator of Outreach Ministries James Biery, Minister of Music and Organist The Reverend Sarah Godbehere, Associate Pastor Carol Beltz Marks, Director of Pastoral Ministries The Reverend Susan Mozena, Coordinator of Adult Ed. Lisa Turner, Director of Children’s Ministries Administrative Staff Dan Aggas, Head Sexton Phyllis May, Finance Secretary Jim Schultz, Director of Finance and Operations Office Hours Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Social Media and Online Communications www.gpmchurch.org Twitter - GPMCNews Facebook - Grosse Pointe Memorial Church GROSSE POINTE MEMORIAL CHURCH “A light by the lakeshore” 16 Lakeshore Dr. | Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236 313.882.5330 | gpmchurch.org 20