April 2, 2020
Greetings!

On Sunday, April 5, Palm Sunday we share together Holy Communion in our online interactive worship.

Before the time of the service you will want to prepare some bread, a slice or a small loaf of any kind of bread. In some parts of the world tortilla, rice cake, cassava are used as this element which is defined not as a wheat product but as the most common food of the people. Let it be something you alone or you with others in your house may break and share. Prepare a cup or cups of juice — perhaps grape or cranberry — or wine, with or without alcohol.

Set these elements in the living room or kitchen where you experience worship electronically with our faith community. Perhaps you want to put them on a lovely cloth or fabric that reminds you of a special time or a person deeply connected with you in the communion of saints. Perhaps you will light a candle or place a flower or plant or the photograph of someone you wish to bring into the circle of faith beside the bread and the cup.

Thank you for your preparation.

Blessings,
Carly
Week at a Glance: April 3 to April 12
Sunday (April 5)
10 am: Worship ( www.fcclg.org/videos or call 708-381-1297)
Monday (April 6)
7:30 pm: Alcoholics Anonymous
Thursday (April 9)
7 pm: Maudy Thursday ( www.fcclg.org/videos or call 708-381-1297)
Friday (April 10)
7 pm: Good Friday Community Service ( www.fcclg.org/videos or call 708-381-1297)
Sunday (April 12)
10 am: Worship ( www.fcclg.org/videos or call 708-381-1297)
Join Us in Virtual Worship
Click here at 10 a.m. on Sunday to watch the service or follow these instructions to watch through your Roku Device. You can also call 708-381-1297 to listen over the phone.

Made possible by the estate of Ginny Palansky and maintained by your gifts, offerings, and pledges.
Holy Week Services and Activities
Holy Week Scavenger Hunt:  Get your cameras ready...we are going on a hunt for clues starting Palm Sunday. Visit https://www.fcclg.org/holy-week-scavenger-hunt/ and/or sign up for text message clues by texting @hwsh to the number 81010. Thank you to Nick Redmond and Kimberlee Frost for organizing!

Maundy Thursday:  Thursday, April 9 at 7pm tune in to www.fcclg.org/videos to continue our Holy Week journey. Maundy Thursday traditionally recalls the Last Supper. We will remember that meal on Palm/Passion Sunday. This Maundy Thursday service will focus on the tenebrae section, alternating readings with music. Music will be led by Ryan Cox, AnnLaura Tapia and violinist/violist Chuck Bontrager.

Good Friday: Friday, April 10 at 7pm tune in to www.fcclg.org/videos to worship with the wider La Grange Community. Area pastors will be sharing readings and meditations with beautiful music recorded in our sanctuary. 

Easter: Sunday, April 12 at 10am tune in to www.fcclg.org/videos to celebrate the resurrection. The FCCLG virtual choir, making its debut on April 5, will lead hymns. Please contact Ryan Cox ryan@fcclg.org by 4/5 if you would like to participate in the Easter choir. There will be a couple of other musical surprises along with beautiful images of our sanctuary and other visuals. 
Exploring Membership
Official welcoming of new members is postponed for the time being, but everyone is always welcome to join us, in whatever way available!
Gardening, Anyone?
Carly has available 4'x4' raised beds for organic gardening in the yard of the parsonage. If you like to garden but don't have the space, see Carly for more information.
Book club
Join us to discuss Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History . A New York Times bestseller, this non-fiction book follows the events immediately preceding, during and after the 1900 hurricane that inundated Galveston, Texas, killing over 6,000 people. Author Erik Larson “expertly captures the power of the storm itself and the ironic, often catastrophic consequences of the unpredictable intersection of natural force and human choice.” Our meeting is Thursday, April 30 at 7:30 pm in the Chapel Family Room. Everyone is welcome. Hope you can join us!
Youth Group Meetings
Youth group meetings will be postponed until a later date. Thank you for your understanding.
Thrive with Pride Cafe
Thrive with Pride Cafe meetings will be postponed until a later date. Thank you for your understanding.
Green Team News
Vegetarian Cooking Class
The vegetarian cooking class will be postponed until a later date. Thank you for your understanding.

Green Tip
 As of 3/3/20, the EPA has a list of disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease such as Clorox, Lysol and Purell products; click here for more info.

For an eco-minded Lent, try one or more of the suggestions offered here.
Music News
Friends of Music
Our church is fortunate to have a vibrant music program with volunteers as the cornerstone. Augmenting our volunteers with guest players and singers for special services is made possible through the Friends of Music fund. Choral Sermons, Easter and Christmas Eve musicians, as well as regular Sunday morning guests would not be possible without these gifts. The 2020 giving drive has begun and brochures are being mailed. If you do not receive one, or would like to learn more, please ask Ryan Cox.
FCCLG: 140 Years and Counting!
March 2021 marks our 140th anniversary and we'll start planning the celebration in October . If you'd like to help commemorate this momentous occasion, raise your hand! Better yet: Sign up in the church office.
  Prayer is at the heart of our relationship with God. Please lift these friends, family, and members in your prayers.
Prayers for the family of Ardell Arthur Baker, Charlene Tobin's sister and JIll Tobin's aunt, who died on March 7th.
Emil Balz at Meadowbrook La Grange.
Jim and Vi Clayton.
Nancy Heil’s friend Vanessa, a UCC member and restorative justice practitioner,
who recently had a kidney transplant.
Ron Kloss at Plymouth Place.
Stephanie McCollough.
The family and friends of Dorothy Mackie, Dawn Mackie’s mother, who died March 10th.
Margaret Melkonian, at home.
Sister Marlene Schemmel, Congregation of St. Joseph, as she battles kidney cancer.
Bob Taylor, who is fighting stage IV liver cancer that has spread.
The Tobin family, particularly Charlene and Jill, in the death of Richard K. Tobin.
Sarah Carr’s cousins, the Wilson family, with Liam, who was born 13 weeks early and should be going home soon.
Those killed, the injured, and their families in acts of violence.
Those at the border.
Those living in fear and without hope, and those who use fear to control others.
Those in the path of COVID-19.

To send your thoughts / prayers to someone listed above, place a completed Touch Card (they're in your pew) in the offering plate and the office will address and mail it. Let us know if you or someone you know is hospitalized or receiving medical treatment because HIPAA privacy laws prohibit doctors and hospitals from contacting us. If you know someone who'd like a visit from the Called to Care Ministry team, contact Called to Care Ministry Leader Jennifer Burney by calling the church office at 708-352-0800.