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Greetings from Rev. Rita,
It has been my joy to come on board at Centenary UMC as Minister of Visitation. In visiting with our members who are confined, in varying degrees to their home space, I have learned a great deal about your heritage as a church. Many of those I visit are long-time members of the church. Some met their life-time partners at the church. Some helped establish ministries that continue to make a great impact on the lives of others. All in all, I have been blessed to get to know these folks.
It occurred to me that this would be a blessing that I want others to come to experience. In meeting with our Ministry with Seniors Team, and in conversation with younger adults, a new focus for Missions may be emerging. What would a ministry to unite senior members and younger members look like? Perhaps we could call it "Adopt a Church Friend." The mission would be: "Sharing God's love by getting to know each other as brothers and sisters in Christ."
Here is a possible job description: After accompanying me on your first visit to meet a senior member (who may or may not be confined to home in varying degrees) a younger member would continue in making contact with their new "Church Friend." I would offer a "training class" in regards to ways to develop an ongoing and mutually blessed relationship. We could decide together the best ways to keep in touch, including determining how often to visit, the helpfulness of sending notes between visits, and other ways to be in relationship with our new "Church Friend." The amount of time that would be required to maintain a good relationship would be determined on an individual basis. As a part of the "training class," we would discuss appropriate limits and guidelines for "Church Friends."
As this new mission continues to unfold, please open your heart to explore this new opportunity to share God's love. I look forward to hearing from you. Please contact me at (804) 356-6860. I look forward to our ministry together.
Sincerely,
Rev. Rita Callis
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This Weekend at Centenary
Sunday, March 11, Fourth Sunday in Lent
8:40 a.m. Informal Worship
10:00 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship
This week, Dr. Bates will preach
"God Loves You- and the World- Like it or Not."
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Church meals live in legendary lore-Sunday dinners, church picnics, circle suppers, etc. The "Wednesday Night Supper" is a time honored Methodist tradition. These meals strengthen and forge friendships, entertain strangers, and celebrate God's goodness.
Join Centenary's Wednesday Night Lenten Fellowship for food, learning and discussion. We begin with a brief time of worship in the Chapel at 6:00 p.m. followed by dinner and conversation at 6:30 p.m. in the Social Hall.
Here are the themes for our last two gatherings, as well as the menu for each week:
March 14--By Water and the Spirit: Living out our Baptism (A Winter Picnic)
March 21--The Rhythm of the Table: Eucharistic Living (Pizza)
Our study will be based on a book by Daniel T. Benedict, Jr. entitled "Patterned by Grace: How Liturgy Shapes Us."
It's not mandatory for you to have the book, but if you'd like to purchase it and read it during this Lenten season, we certainly invite you to do that.
We hope you'll join us for this journey-and share it with someone else who is searching for God's presence and a loving Christian family.
***Promising homemade goodness or a good phone app for pizza. A donation basket will on the table.
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Upcoming Special Services
Holy Thursday Service- Thursday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m.
Good Friday Service- Friday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m.
Easter Sunday Services- Sunday, April 1:
- Sunrise Service at Chimborazo Park at 7:00 a.m.
- Informal Worship Service at 8:40 a.m.
- Easter Egg Hunt for Children/Youth at 10:00 a.m.
- Traditional Worship Service at 11:00 a.m.
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We are so grateful for the generosity through donations of both monetary gifts and service hours shown throughout the year by our Centenary family and friends. Our Easter Offering this year will continue with last year's fund for the replacement of the tile flooring in the Fellowship Hall; with the strikingly impressive recent improvements of our church facilities, this much-used area will benefit greatly with a needed renewal. You may use your Easter Offering envelope or write "Easter Offering" on the memo line of your check. Thank you in advance for your continued support of the church and its mission.
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A Challenge from Bishop Lewis to Read the Bible with Her in 2018
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Searching for Palm Sunday Breakfast Volunteers: If you would be willing to be part of a team to prepare breakfast for Palm Sunday, please contact the church office at
[email protected] or
804-648-8319.
Gathering of Northern Virginia Reconciling United Methodist: Any reconciling and United Methodists in or near the Northern Virginia area are invited to join us for a gathering on
Saturday, March 10, 2018,
from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. This event will take place at Trinity UMC (2911 Cameron Mills Road, Alexandria, VA). The first 30 minutes will be gathering time with light breakfast foods. Key items on the agenda include: 1. Commission on The Way Forward: Work being done in the Virginia Conference, including Bishop Chat and Chews, to plan for Commission report, 2. Ways RMN wants to work with churches to ensure LGBTQ voices are heard as churches consider the Commission report due out this summer, 3. How can reconciling UMs and allies in NOVA help in this work, 4. Communications and resources for churches in the area. The gathering will end with communion.
Bishop's Convocation on Race and Reconciliation: Bishop Lewis has called a Convocation on Race and Reconciliation on Saturday, April 14, 2018, at Annandale UMC. The convocation will empower participants to become lifelong, learning disciples who will be able to conduct the difficult conversations we all need to have related to issues of racial division, justice, and God's call to ministries of reconciliation and peace. Visit this link to sign up for this event.
The Next Big Thing:
What's the next big thing in mission and outreach for us here at Centenary? What is God calling us to do? Where is God calling us to serve? What kinds of resources is God calling us to deploy to help us fulfill our mission of changing the world through love?
The Serving Team (formerly Outreach) invites you to help us begin to discern answers to those questions on
Sunday, March 18,
after our 11:00 a.m. worship service. Bring a covered dish and learn about missions "here, there and everywhere." (Beverages will be provided). We will hear of some mission opportunities from our Serving Team and then brainstorm together about new possibilities.
CARISTAS at Centenary:
We will be hosting CARITAS the week of Saturday, April 21- Saturday, April 28, here at Centenary. Please put that week on your calendar. We need a variety of volunteers to help support this mission. We have listed the types of volunteers that will be needed and feel free to sign up for any or all of these on the bulletin board across from the kitchen.
- Dinner: We need volunteers to provide, prepare, and serve a hot dinner for our guests. Dinner needs to be ready to be served at 7:00 p.m., so your arrival time is dictated by your preparation time. The Centenary kitchen will be available. If you need help with the appliances, we will try to pair you with someone who is familiar with the kitchen. This is a great event for groups such as Sunday school classes, families and friends, civic groups, Walk-In Ministry cooking groups, or other churches.
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Lunch Bag Prep: We need volunteers to prepare bag lunches for our guests. The lunches consist of sandwiches, chips, fruit, a drink (boxed juice or water), and a dessert. All supplies will be at the church as we will be soliciting donations of these items from our congregation. The duties include preparing the sandwiches and packing a bagged lunch for our guests. The time of day is flexible as long as the bagged lunches are prepared and ready the night before they are distributed the next morning.
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Overnight: Volunteers are needed to stay overnight in the church from 9:30 p.m. until the guests leave the next day at 7:00 a.m. CARITAS staff will be present at all times. You may sleep in a separate area of the church behind closed doors, but you are there as an additional safety factor. Duties are setting up the cold breakfast for guests in the morning, distributing the bagged lunches, and securing the church facility after the guests have left for the day.
Connecting with our Older Adults:
Rev. Rita Callis, our Coordinator of Older Adult Ministry, recently hosted a meeting with some of our older adults (and not so old adults) to think about ways we can connect more effectively with our older adults.
We have many ideas, but two we'd like to explore immediately. Here are ways you can serve.
- We'd like to connect younger adults with older adults in relationships of friendship and care. If you are a younger adult and would like to be paired as a friend with an older adult, please consider this opportunity.
- We'd like to involve more lay volunteers in a ministry of visitation with our adults. If you have an interest in learning more about this, please consider joining us.
- If you'd like to know more, please speak to Rev. Rita Callis or contact the church office at 804-648-8319.
Day Light Savings Time Begins!
Remember to spring your clocks forward an hour. THIS
Sunday, March 11,
is the first day of Daylight Savings Time.
Praise Chorus:
The Praise Chorus will be singing this
Sunday, March 11, 2018,
at
the early service. The song they will be singing is "Just a Closer Walk with Thee," (New Orleans style) pg. 2158 in the Faith We Sing book.
Palm Sunday: Sunday, March 25:
You won't want to miss this special day with a Pancake Breakfast starting at 9 a.m. and a special Palm Sunday Celebration at 10:15 a.m. at Second Presbyterian (
5 North 5th St, Richmond, VA 23219
) with other Downtown Community Ministries churches.
Easter Egg Hunt:
All children and youth are invited to join us for an Easter Egg Hunt on
EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 1, at 10 a.m.
in the upstairs Children's Sunday School rooms.
Caregivers of preschool children are encouraged to stay and help with their children on the hunt.
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Please Remember in Prayer
Jennifer (friend of Nancy Grand with lung problems)
Lou Rosypal (Westport rehab following broken hip)
Ron Davis (friend of Vic & Nancy Grand)
Jo Judd (a long-time childhood friend of Sharon Steele's, recovering from a massive brain injury from fall off a ladder in Boulder, CO)
Richard & Sharon Steele (Please keep the Steele family in your prayers-Bill Steele, the youngest brother of Richard Steele, passed away this week due to complications from gallstone surgery)
Sonia Smith
John Lampe (recovering from surgery)
R.B. & Connie Bennington
Merle Brown (recovering from broken hip)
Mitzi Golod & Libby Rhame (in the recent loss of Libby's son & Mitzi's brother)
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Celebrating Birthdays in March
Ann Davis
Polly Chamberlain
Stanley Childress
Jane Chasse
Christopher Weaver
John Vetrovec
Carrie McNeil
Madison Lee
Amy Bates
Lucille Hunt
Jim Wickham
Virginia Davis
Conna Davis
Phil Crick
Julie Lee
George Little
Barbara Pierson
Judah Murphy
Jean J. Wright
Sarah Wright
Audrey Kane
Charles Craig
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Photo of the Week!
We are excited to welcome Molly Monaghan as a new member in our Centenary church family. Molly is a recent graduate of Longwood and is now a middle school math teacher. She will also be our speaker at this week's upcoming Wednesday night worship gathering at 6 p.m. in the chapel. Molly will be sharing with us about the meaning of baptism.
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Visit Us: 411 E. Grace St., Richmond, VA 23219
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