North Falmouth Congregational Church, UCC
155 Old Main Road/PO Box 403
North Falmouth, MA 02556-0403
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Dated Material
The Sandpiper is a monthly publication of the North Falmouth Congregational Church, UCC.
The Reverend Christina Williams, Pastor (508) 563-2177, www.northfalmouthucc.com
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The Sandpiper North Falmouth Congregational Church,
United Church of Christ
March 2020
Pastoral Page
“But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your
ears, for they hear” Matthew 13:16
Dear Friends,
As soon as I sat down in the ferry and looked out on
the water, I could feel the calm coming over me and
my breathing settling into a nice, slow rhythm. As
the ferry rolled along, I watched the swells and a
seagull in flight keeping pace with the boat hoping
some scrap might come its way. In the background I
heard the quiet conversations of the people around
me. The sights and sounds soothed my spirit and I
felt present to God’s delightful creation. Then a
smile of contentment and comfort bubbled up from
the depths of my soul—I was at peace.
In her book, Right Here Right Now: The Practice of
Christian Mindfulness, Amy Oden talks about the
difference between surface awareness and the
awareness that comes from eyes to see and ears to
hear the reign of God. As she says, “we rely on our
eyes and ears to take in our immediate
surroundings”. Most of us are likely to stop there.
But Jesus says when we really have eyes to see and
ears to hear, our attention dives below the surface of
life and we experience the deeper reality of God’s
presence. Our senses are a gateway for us to be
attentive and mindful to God’s reign right here,
right now.
In the Morning Mindfulness Walking group we are
exploring ways in which we can be more
prayerfully attentive in the present moment to
God’s abundant life. Using our God-given senses is
a natural way for us to enter into body-awareness
and God-awareness. So I offer these questions for
you to ponder. In what ways do you have eyes to
see and ears to hear? When you have “blessed” eyes
and ears, what happens?
Also, I invite you to try this exercise Oden suggests
in her book. Pause and pay attention to your own
awareness right now. It’s likely that you will rely on
your eyes and ears to become aware of your
immediate surroundings. Then move on to your
internal bodily sensations and perceptions. Now, I
invite you to stop reading and pay attention to your
own awareness in this moment. When you look up
from this newsletter, what do you see? What do you
hear? “Become aware of the feelings and sensations
that arise in you.” How would you describe the
difference between surface awareness and the
awareness that comes from eyes to see and ears to
hear the reign of God?
As we move through Lent, I invite to you discover
other ways to become aware of God’s divine
presence in your daily routine. When we find
ourselves in God’s presence—God’s abundance of
joy and peace and comfort surround us clearing the
clutter of our lives to see what truly matters.
In mindful faith,
Pastor Christina
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UPCOMING WORSHIP – THE SESON OF
LENT – BUSY: RECONNECTING WITH AN
UNHURRIED GOD
March 22 – The Just Peace Players –
Intergenerational Service – 10 a.m.
For this worship service we will welcome the Just
Peace Players as they present their play on
creation, “Hey! Save the Earth!” They will share
stories of people who are working to care for
creation, and of birds and animals that want us to
work with them to save the earth for our children
and our children’s children.
March 29 – Living Light – 8:30 a.m.
Contemporary Worship and Communion –
10 a.m. Intergenerational Service
Focus scripture: Luke 12:29-34. Some of us live
with the tyranny of measuring-up that keeps us
weighed down. Lightening the load of
expectations and the “shoulds” are ways to
lighten up as well as to literally ease the clutter
that crowds out our serenity. How do you create
space to flourish in ways that God intends? How
can we minimalize our possessions so that they
do not possess us?
April 5 – Palm Sunday – 10 a.m.
Focus scriptures: Matthew 21:1-11 & Mark 2:21-
28. As we give witness to the story of Jesus’
entry into Jerusalem, proclaiming justice for the
oppressed, we are invited to proclaim justice,
peace, and rest for the weary of this world. What
old wineskins do we need “to give a rest” that are
harming the least among us? What Sabbath
practices have we experienced that make a
difference in the quality of our life, the quality of
our planet, and in the quality of our time with,
and love for, one another? Might we claim them
as new wines skins not just for Lent?
March 1 – The Right Tempo – Communion –
10 a.m.
Jesus never promised that the yoke would literally
be “easy”. This is a mistranslation. In the context
of yoking oxen, the translation means, “well
fitting”. As we begin our “Busy” series during
Lent, we discover that each of us has a tempo that
fits us well and energizes us. What tempo gives
you life and energy? Focus scripture: Psalm 62:
1-8 and Matthew 11:28-30.
March 8 – Preparing a Table – 10 a.m.
Focus scripture: Psalm 23. This psalm is a great
comfort to us as we imagine green pastures and
still waters. It also recalls dark valleys and calls
us into the not-so-easy practice of sitting down at
the tables of those who don’t like us. An
unhurried God is present with us in the good
times and the difficult times. We are invited to be
present for each other in the same way. Are we
too busy to really be present to one another?
March 15 – Tuning In – 10 a.m.
Focus scripture: Luke 10:38-42. Martha was busy
and Mary chose to be still and tuned into Jesus.
It’s not bad to work, but we also need time to
connect with God. Tuning into the holy may
mean just taking time to notice things that are
beckoning to dwell with us a while. What
contemplative practices can feed and nourish our
active lives and help us be in tune with the
present moment?
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03/01 Mrytis Chatfield
03/02 Priscilla Fuller
03/05 Melessa Fox
03/05 Pam Fernsebner
03/10 Laura Murphy
03/12 Ellen Gawarkiewicz
03/12 Hope Oliveira
03/15 Nicole Ashworth
03/15 Virginia Nielsen
03/16 Brenda Clements
03/18 Myrna O’Hara
03/20 Rosanne Amaru
03/20 Alden Thomas
03/20 Maurice Tivey
03/20 Ed Winslow
03/21 William Sanders
03/24 Meg Tivey
03/25 Sally Rountree
03/29 Christopher Polloni
03/30 Winthrop Frame
03/30 Carolee Packard
Christian Education News by Lisa Allen
Youth Retreat – Saint John the Divine
Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip to
NYC possible. A great time was had by all. We
were amazed at the size of the cathedral – the
largest in the world! It is two football fields long
and it is tall enough for the Statue of Liberty to
stand inside. It was a beautiful environment for
listening to music, a quiet meditation in the dark
and a candlelight worship service. There were
approximately 100 participants from several states.
Fun on the 1 Train
The Massive Bronze Doors at the Entrance
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All inside the awe-inspiring Cathedral
& later an Orchestral Concert
A Night Scavenger Hunt & Labyrinth walk
& the youth in front of the Peace Fountain
After the retreat we visited the 9/11 memorial
museum which was a very moving experience. In
the near future our participants will be sharing their
reflections on the weekend with you.
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Pen Pal Program
Our pen pal program continues. We hope everyone
is enjoying getting to know their partner. On
Sunday, May 3 we will have our reveal party and
will exchange a small gift - $10.00 or less,
homemade and free is even better! Discover your
new friend’s interests so you can chose a
meaningful gift.
Each week a suggested question will be posted in
the Covenant Room but remember that this is just a
jumping off point. You are encouraged to talk about
whatever you like.
While there may be a week or two that you will be
unable to write, please remember that your pen pal
will be excitedly looking for a letter each week. If
you are not going to be in church on a particular
Sunday, email your letter to Lisa and it will be
placed in the mailbox for you.
Kids Cook!
Family cooking ministry upcoming dates:
March 29
April 26
May 24
We meet at 4:30 unless otherwise announced and
make desserts for the Village at Cataumet meal.
Cooking Treats for the Village at Cataumet
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Keira & Graham Murphy enjoying a game of
checkers in the newly re-done library
Save the Date
Sunday, May 3, will be our annual Children’s
Sunday. Please plan to be there and support our
children as they lead us in worship.
March 1st Building project with Mike Ryan
Making a manger for a church family to end our
month learning about Building a Foundation.
Thanks Mike!
SPRING AHEAD FOR THE PLANT
SALE, CRAFT FAIR AND LOBSTER
ROLL LUNCH MAY 9, 2020
As many of you know, a church fair is a lot of
planning, begging, prepping, picking up, and
working like crazy the day of the fair, then lots of
cleaning up and putting back. We appreciate every
minute that all of you put in to help make the
February Indoor Yard Sale a huge success.
Now we get to think about spring, plants, warmth
and crafters. Hopefully, you will all be able to help
in some way to make our upcoming Saturday, May
9th Plant Sale and Crafters Fair a great success too.
We begin many months in advance writing letters to
businesses for Silent Auction and Raffle donations.
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Then we go around town to pick up items and stop
in at many other businesses around town with
donation letters. We order lobster and chowder.
Some of us go off Cape several times to load up our
cars with plants for the sale. These flowers,
veggies and herbs go into Carolee Packard's green
houses or garage where she gives them light or
shade, lots of water and love, so that they grow into
what we sell for the plant sale. We also ask you to
thin out your own garden plants and put them in
pots to sell that Saturday. Look for the sign-up
sheets in the Covenant Room in April. We ask for
volunteers to sign up to help set up before the fair,
work during the fair and take down and clean up
after the fair. We also ask people to donate food for
the luncheon and remind people to bake for the
bake sale.
Articles are written and put in newspapers and
posted online several weeks before and then yard
sale and display ads get called in the week before
the fair. Articles get written for the church bulletins
and the Sandpiper along with designing posters and
signs, which get posted around town by people like
you.
Also, crafters are emailed, newspaper articles are
written and an ad is placed on Craigslist a couple
months in advance to try to fill up the indoor and
outdoor craft spaces. Many back and forth emails
to the crafters are taken care of right up to the last
minute. A trip to Hyannis for paper goods, lobster
and chowder happens the Wednesday before the
fair. A grocery run is made Friday for the rest of the
luncheon food that people don't donate. More
posters are put up around town and we hold our
breath...hoping we'll have good weather, a good
crowd and a good time had by all.
The tables are set up in the classrooms for crafters
and in the Covenant Room Thursday on the
Thursday before the fair. The flowers are brought
over and the bake table and more are set up the
Friday before the fair. People bake for the bake sale
during the week. The flowers are marked and
priced, raffle and silent auction items are displayed
with information marked on them and then we
thank our lucky stars for how things have been
made easier by computers and email
announcements. We contact the North Falmouth
Elementary School for permission to have our
crafters and workers at the fair park offsite at the
school for the day. This ensures there is plenty of
onsite parking for people coming to the Fair and the
Thrift Shop on Saturday.
Small directional signs are put in place at 6 a.m. on
Saturday morning around the village to show
crafters and out-of-town people the way. At 7 a.m.
on Saturday, May 9th, the crafters start showing up
and by 8 a.m. the coffee is going and most of the
crafters are settled in. John Checklick begins his job
as shuttle driver getting everybody's cars parked
offsite and bringing people back to the church.
Church Fair volunteers start showing up and the
kitchen help gets to work with their assigned jobs
prepping the luncheon food. More baked goods get
brought in and priced, plants get priced and indoor
signs are put up. A flyer gets printed so fairgoers
know what is available, who the crafters are and
what they have to sell. Outdoor yard-sale workers
start putting items outside the shed that the
Thrift Shop wants sold. A volunteer collects the
raffle items from the crafters before we open. We
all gather to say a prayer before everything starts
and we unlock the doors at 9 a.m. for the crowds
waiting outside. The hours pass quickly and before
you know it we are in clean up mode taking things
down after another successful day and putting the
rooms back in order. Thank-you notes get written
and leftovers are sold after church on the 10th. A
lot of us take a nap Sunday afternoon!!
We hope you will support us in some way for our
May 9th Church Fair fundraiser. Every little bit
helps. If you read this article you can tell a lot of
work is done behind the scenes way before the fair
starts. We would be happy to have some volunteers
do some of those things besides working the
Saturday of the fair itself. Contact Carolee or
Myrna if you are interested. Look for more
information in the April Sandpiper and in the April
church bulletins. Please be sure you open up the
church fair notices when they are emailed to you.
Please mark the date and get ready for some fun.
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Even More Upcoming Events!
*******************************
HAM AND BEAN SUPPER
Annual
Community Ham
& Bean Supper
Saturday, April 4th
5:30PM
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An Update on Reverend Saramaria Allenby Rev. Saramaria Allenby serves as the Spiritual Care
Advisor (Chaplain) at Gosnold Inc. and was
ordained to her call in 2018 in a four-way covenant
with North Falmouth Congregational Church.
Currently she serves at Gosnold at Cataumet the 42-
bed in-patient co-ed treatment center in Cataumet.
Update…I am also serving at Miller House (men’s
residential) and at Emerson House (women’s
residential) treatment facilities in Falmouth as well
as the Partial Hospitalization Program in
Centerville. My call has been amazing and
wonderful and I am always growing and learning
and leaning into my heart of compassion, held in
God’s larger heart of compassion. I had the blessed
opportunity to take 20 men from Miller House on
retreat to Penikese Island last fall and NFCC
Outreach co-sponsored the trip so a huge thank-you
for that! I am also preaching about my work with
blessed people in recovery locally at First
Congregational Church Falmouth February 16th
,
First Congregational Church of West Tisbury
March 1, St. Barnabas Church Falmouth March 29
and at Cotuit Federated April 26th
.
Easter Plants Order forms (see enclosed) should
be filled out and returned with
payment to the church office by
Sunday, March 8, 2020.
Altar Flowers are needed for
Palm Sunday, April 5th
Please see the Flower Calendar posted outside the
office and consider dedicating flowers in memory
of, in honor of or in celebration of someone special.
The Thrift Shop We are always looking for new volunteers. If interested,
please contact Joyce Bock ([email protected])
or any other committee member, Rin Morway,
Marcia McLaughlin, Joyce Kenneally, and Linda
Thomas.
EASTER FLOWER ORDER FORM
Due in Church Secretary’s Office by Sunday, March 8, 2020
Payment must accompany order. Please mail to the attention Church Secretary,
or place your order in the Secretary’s mail box or on her desk. Flowers will be
delivered in time for our Easter service on April 12, 2020.
I wish to give _____ (total quantity) indicated below
in loving memory / in honor / in celebration (Circle One) of:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Given by____________________________________________________
(Phone #)
SELECTION: (Please indicate number of each type)
_____ Lilies @ $ 12.00 each
_____ Tulips- Pink @ $12.00
_____ Tulips – Purple @ $12.00
_____ Daffodils @ $12.00
***************************************
_____ I will pick up my flowers after the service.
_____ Please deliver my flowers to a shut-in.
Payment must be in with your order by Sunday, March 8, 2020
Please make check payable to Flower Committee, NFCC
(PO Box 403, North Falmouth, MA 02556)
Questions: 508-563-2177
THANK YOU!
