The Children will be in the kitchen on Sunday morning! We hope you will follow your nose to the Children's Bake Sale table at Coffee Hour and enjoy a warm muffin, as our "Mission Muffins" will be this week's bake sale item. The donations on Sunday, along with the money you have so generously given this month at the Lemonade Stands, will be used to defray the cost for activities when the children host their friends from The REAL Program on Saturday April 8th. For more information about The REAL Program and how you might be able to help, please see them at http://www.therealprogram.org. It is a remarkable program! I hope that all of the children and their families have enjoyed their vacation time this week. I look forward to being back together and hearing your stories. Our Lenten journey begins next week with Ash Wednesday. I look forward to sharing stories under the Chapel Tent and working on projects over the next few months that will help us in our waiting time, as we prepare for Easter.

Blessings to all, Karen

The Career Transitions Group will resume weekly meetings this Sunday, February 26th at 11:30am in the Beals Room in the Stacey St office building.

Ash Wednesday is Wednesday, March 1st.  We will offer brief services of imposition of ashes at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, which is the 40 day period of devotion, fasting, and preparation for Easter. Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday, and placing them on the heads of participants to the accompaniment of the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".

Registration and the first rehearsal for the annual Palm Sunday Lenten Concert will take place Wednesday, March 1 at 7:30pm in the Parish Hall. This year's centerpiece is the stunning, Requiem in c by Michael Haydn, (Franz Joseph's brother.) There will be a limited number of scores available to borrow from the Old North Church library, with priority given to the Old North Church Choir. Most singers will be asked to purchase a copy for $13.00, in addition to a nominal registration fee for the six week project. Subsequent rehearsals will take place on Wednesday evenings from 7:30 - 9:30pm with additional sessions on Saturday, April 1, from 10am to 12pm, and a mandatory Dress Rehearsal on Saturday, April 8, from 10am to 1pm, followed by the performance on Sunday, April 9, at 7:30pm. Please contact Maria vanKalken with any questions at vankalken@gmail.com. All singers are welcome!  

New Member information sessions will be held on Sunday, March 5th and Sunday March 12th following the 10:00 services in the Stacey Street building.  New Member Sunday will take place at the 10:00 service on Sunday, March 19th.   Any one who is interested in learning more about membership in Old North Church is welcome to attend the sessions during which our Ministers and the Membership Committee members will be present to answer questions and give presentations about the organization and history of our church.  For more information please contact Linda Davis at pldavis.pd@gmail.com or 781-639-0405.  

This week, we have launched a new periodic newsletter 'The Old North Church Connection', which is targeted to those who do not receive our weekly e-newsletter and may not get to church frequently. Thank you to Becky Burckmyer for spearheading this effort.

Please click here to read the newsletter.

Now that the dust has settled from the Fair and the holidays are past, we would like to have a follow-up meeting to share your comments, suggestions and wishes for the future. The Fair was a wonderful success , including the Around the World Raffle, so we want to assess what interest there is in going forward for another Fair, another Raffle, or take a break.  Any other ideas for fundraising at ONC would be appreciated, as well. We will be meeting on Tuesday, March 7 at 7:00 pm in the Parish Hall.  If you cannot attend, please do send your comments to share with the group. A notice in the newsletter will be posted and encourages any others interested in getting involved to attend. Thanks to you all! Ginny and Judy

The Welcome the Stranger Project Invites You to Attend A Progressive Dinner Party on Saturday, March 25th. Please join our Old North, Temple Emanu-el and St Andrews community for dinner at congregants' homes followed by sumptuous desserts and conviviality at St Andrews.  Please RSVP to host or attend: Deahn Leblang (deahnlee@gmail.com) or Marcy Bernstein (auntmarcy@aol.com). Suggested donation: $30 per couple or $15 per individual.