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A Word From Your Interim Minister

Church Staff & Officers

Interim Pastor Jeff Erb

Administrative Assistant

Robert MacGregor

Moderator Dick MacGregor

Chair of Trustees Ann

Sands & Bob Macgregor

Chair of Deacons Rae Teed

Chair of Council Dick Mac-

Gregor

Treasurer Pam Rose

Financial Secretary Jo

Condon

Organist Josie Holdsworth

Custodial Engineers:

Mike Wright, Clark Woodard

& Josie Holdsworth

Union Church of Christ

51 Center St.

Po Box 445

Ludlow, Ma. 01056

413-583-5717

On April 24th Christians throughout the world will celebrate the resur-

rection of Jesus with a message that runs counter to almost everything

we think we know about the world, that things live and die and that‟s

that, end of story. Easter tells us that sin, evil, and death do not have

the final word; God does. It tells us that there is something more.

There is, as C.S. Lewis wrote in The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, a

deeper magic afoot in the world. Easter is God‟s yes to the world‟s no.

Good Friday tells us that in the world we will suffer many hardships,

but Easter says, “Rejoice, I (Jesus) have overcome the world.” (John

16:33b) Easter proclaims that God has won, God has triumphed, and so

shall we.

A person running for public office faced a difficult election. After win-

ning the contest, a constituent shook the elected official‟s hand and

said, “If I had known you were going to win, I would have voted for

you.” Unfortunately, that‟s the kind of lukewarm support some people

offer God, saying in essence, “Lord, if only I had known you were going

to win, I‟d have done this or that for you.”

During the Children‟s Message, a minister talked about the resurrec-

tion. He asked, “What did Jesus say after rising from the tomb?” A lit-

tle girl raised her hand and said, “Ta-Da!” She knew in the manner of

children what Easter is all about. Ta-Da! God wins. And because God

wins, we also win! Humanity wins! The whole world wins! The whole

universe wins! Everything wins!

The next question is, “Now what?” Knowing about Easter isn‟t enough.

We must ask, “How do I live it in my daily life?” To the words, “Lord, if

only I had known you were going to win,” Easter replies, “You know!

Now go and put it into action. Make it so!”

Share the joy of Easter each and every day.

Ta Da!

Rev. Jeff

The Candle

April - May

2011

Deadline for June-July

Candle is May 22

Please email

jojocondon@charter.net

with any news.

Band of Liberty

New England Winds Concert

This Friday Night See Pg. 3

2

Easter News and Upcoming Events:

Page 2

May 1st directly after church is the

next Holly Fair, We Care get together. Please feel

free to join us. We will share a light lunch

and then start working on projects for the

fair. Sign up sheets are in the vestry. All

are welcome including the men! The Holly

Fair is Nov. 5, 2011. It‟s never to early to

start thinking about our biggest fund-

raiser. Please call Diane Wright with

questions.

The Easter Breakfast is on Easter morning,

April 24. It will be our traditional continuous

serve buffet from 8:00-9:30 am.

Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Pastries and

Fresh Fruit will be served. Donations will be

accepted at the door. After the 10:00 church

service at 11:00 we will have our annual

Easter raffle drawing in the vestry.

Jo Condon 589-1765 is currently seeking

monetary donations to offset the cost of food

and new items for the raffle. Sign-up sheets

are in the vestry if you can help out with the

breakfast.

Maundy Thursday Service: April 21, 2011 at

7:30 pm in the sanctuary. Communion, Scriptures,

Special Music.

Please Note: There will NOT be an early morning 8:00 Easter Service this year.

The annual golf

tournament is

on June 25th.

Save the date.

More details

will be at

church in the

vestry as it gets

closer to tee-off

time.

Memorial Easter Lilies to decorate the altar are

$15.00 each. A sign up sheet is in the vestry if you would like to

contribute one in memory or honor of someone special. The dead-

line for ordering is April 17th. Please call the church office if you

would like to order by phone. 413-583-5717

Bob MacGregor, our church administrative assistant, our go-to guy

for every little this and that, the duct tape that keeps the Union Church

family stuck together like a Fluffer Nutter sandwich has unfortunately

suffered a heart attack and will be taking time off. Please be assured

that Bob is doing very, very well and as of this evening, April 1st, he

is due to go home tomorrow from rehab. Bob was at Baystate Medi-

cal Center last week, where he underwent surgery. After a recovery

there, he went on to Wingate in South Hadley for rehab. He sought

medical help quickly and little damage was done to his heart. That

was a relief for us all.

After I got over the initial shock of hearing that he had, had a heart

attack and was doing well, my head started spinning. Oh no…. It‟s

almost Easter. It gets really, really crazy around here this time of

year. Will the announcements get into the church bulletin? Will there

be a church bulletin? If I get the Candle ready for this week, will we

figure out how to work the copier, to compile, to collate, to staple, to

get the mailing list labels off of the computer and printed? Are there

enough stamps buried in his desk? Are we going to order Easter Lil-

ies? He takes care of that too. Did the Palms get ordered? Did the

Air Force Band email him for a final confirmation for Friday‟s con-

cert? Are they waiting for a reply? Yikes! So, maybe I should calm

down before I have a stroke! Good idea... Better yet, I‟ll call Dick

MacGregor, (Bob‟s brother) and pepper him with all my questions.

“We Will Muddle Through Somehow”

Dick‟s reply, “We Will Muddle Through Somehow”.

Yes... I thought to myself... we will “muddle”. Not to sound

to Andy Rooneyish, but Muddle is a good word. I like that

word, Muddle. We do a lot of muddling at Union Church.

And, we always manage. So, while you are out Bob, take

your time, relax, and get better. We will miss you, but, we

will be here muddling, and when you return; we‟ll appreciate

you all the more. „Cause like I said to Dick, “you don't

really realize, all of the things the individuals that keep the

church going, do around here, until they are not around to do

it”.

So, if dear Candle reader, you receive this in a timely man-

ner and the information is not outdated, you will know that

Dick and Jo were successful with the copier while muddling

though it. If however, the concert has gone by, the deadline

for the Easter cards from the Sunshine Committee has past,

if the Easter Breakfast has come and gone and Mother‟s

Day is in a few short days, or... if you never read this at all,

you will know that we can‟t survive without our duct tape

and Fluffer Nutter. We Miss You Bob!

Get Well Soon and Hurry Back ...after you take time to re-

cover.

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The DEADLINE for the

June-July candle is May 22.

You may call or email Jo Con-

don 589-1765,

jojocondon@charter.net,

if you have any news you

would like to contribute. The

schedule for the tri- church

shared summer services will

be in this edition.

Page 3

Band of Liberty New England Winds

Friday, April 8th at 7:30 pm in

our sanctuary. Please join us.

Join the Air Force Band of Liberty‟s New

England Winds for an evening of delight-

ful musical entertainment. This out-

standing musical group is currently on

tour in our area from Hanscom Air Force

Base, Massachusetts. They present a pro-

gram featuring something for all musical

tastes: popular, Broadway, patriotic, jazz

and folk music, as well as pieces from the

traditional woodwind quintet repertoire.

The program is free and open to the pub-

lic. Please bring your friends and support

our troops. For more information, contact

Jo 589-1765

This Friday Night! Reception to follow

in the vestry. Please join us and show

your support!

Mother’s Day Roast Beef Luncheon: May 8th at 11:15 in the church vestry.

Please join us for our annual Mother‟s Day celebra-

tion after the church service. The menu is Roast

beef (of course), Mashed potatoes, Gravy, Vegeta-

bles, Rolls, and Ice Cream Sundae cups for dessert.

Donations will be accepted at the door. We will also

have a raffle directly after the meal. Jo is accepting

donations to help cover the food costs as well as new

raffle items. Please sign up in the vestry if you are

able to help with the luncheon. Call Jo at 589-1765

if you have any questions. Reservations are not nec-

essary however, please let us know if you will be

attending.

The Sunshine Committee of the Board

of Deacons will be sending Easter cards

to members and friends of Union

Church who are unable to attend ser-

vices.

If you know someone who would like to

receive a card, please give their name

and address to Sylvia Ouellette or Bill

Nowak by Sunday, April 10. We are on Facebook! If you “like” us we will

„friend‟ you. Search Union Church of

Christ Ludlow Ma. to find us.