Holy Week Worship Schedule

Sunday, March 24 - Palm Sunday

Services at 8 and 10am

Thursday, March 28 - Maundy Thursday

Service of Tenebrae at 8pm

Sunday, March 31 - Easter Sunday

Sunrise Worship at 6:15am at Old Burial Hill

Services at 9 and 11am in the Sanctuary

Sunday School and Nursery Care

Our nursery is open for children three months to 4ish years, starting at 9:50am. Sunday school for kids aged four through 12 begins partway through the church service, following the "Moments with Children" during worship.

This week in Sunday school we'll be considering how we can each share God's light, to help others out during hard times. We'll read Just One Little Light, make a craft to share with some of the church members who are struggling, and learn a new way of praying. Carrie Bishop and Rev. Lindsay will be leading Sunday school this week.

This Week's Search Team's Update for March and an Opportunity to meet the Team this Sunday

At our Annual Budget Meeting we talked about an addition to our Search Process. The Search process has been developed and fined tuned by our denomination from the experiences, challenges, triumphs and pitfalls of thousands of churches and clergy over decades. They offer it to us as a gift of guidance. 

One component of that involves an addition to the process should there be an internal candidate for a church position. In the wisdom of our sibling churches and clergy, our UCC recommends that an internal candidate be interviewed and discernment be completed before the profile is released nationally. If the internal candidate has the experience, skills, qualities and approach needed to partner with the congregation into its next chapter, they will become the Search Team's recommended candidate and no further search will be engaged. According to the our church's bylaws and our UCC's Search Process guidance, they will be presented to the congregation for a Candidating Sunday where the congregation will vote to extend a Call to them following a service of worship which they lead. 

Integral to the guidance we received from our UCC is that the Local Church Profile be completed seeking the wisdom of God for the future story of the church without bias towards any particular candidate. In our church we have spent a year in conversations exploring the fundamental values and identity of our church, and discerning God's future for the church built upon its most faithful past. We explored the kind of pastor our church will need to partner with it into that future. Our Profile Writing Team wove all of that into our Local Church Profile. Through several sessions our leadership and the members of our church have reviewed, refined and affirmed that profile. Our recent budget meeting has confirmed the fiscal foundation for that future. Our Local Church Profile has been affirmed and validated by our Conference. 

It is also integral that the Profile Writing Team and Search Team be chosen from folks who have the ability to engage the process without bias and with a heart for the heart of the congregation and a soul for the will of God. With help from the congregation, boards and Leadership our church has chosen such a team. Our Search Team has made commitments to the time needed to faithfully discern, to stay open to the wisdom of the process, to listen to God, to work together with mutual caring and respect and to maintain the confidentiality of candidates. To honor those commitments we ask that you not query staff or search team about any particular or potential candidates. They will continue to keep the congregation informed about the process as it unfolds. 

You will have an opportunity after Worship this Sunday, March 17 during coffee hour to meet the Search Team. They will listen to questions our church may have on the process going forward. 



And our Search Team will depend on the prayers of the congregation to support and surround them. Our partners in the Pholela Church offered us their prayers writing: "We will support you with prayers in your journey to look for your new pastor. The great Lord will be with you in ensuring that the best leadership be appointed." Please try to lift our Search Team in your prayers each day as well. 

You can find more the additions of the internal candidate process here.



You can learn more about the overall search process here https://www.ucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/S-C-Guide-for-Congregations.pdf

Easter Lilies

We have placed envelopes in the pews for those who wish to order lilies for the March 31 Easter services. Please return your envelopes by this Sunday, March 17 for orders to be placed. Easter Lilies are $25 this year and if paying by check, please make it out to Old North Church and write "Easter plants" on the memo line. Plants may be dedicated in honor or memory of someone and may be picked up following the 11:00 am service on Easter morning. You may place your flower envelope in the offertory or orders can be mailed or dropped off at the church office at 8 Stacey St. Thank you!

Lent Devotions on Social Media

Sometimes it is nice to have a short reflection during the Lenten Season to guide our journey. We are offering a variety of these during this holy season. One of those opportunities will be on our Social Media Pages:

Facebook: Friends of Old North Church Marblehead

Instagram: oncinmhd

While on hikes in a town forest near my home I have done a series of short video reflections. We'll be posting these to our Facebook page a couple times each week. Look for them on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  

-- Rev. Don Remick

Joining the Church

Are you interested in joining Old North as a member? We're a congregational church, which means that any big decisions are made democratically, with each member having a vote. Being a member of the church also means that you're committing to us, and we're committing to you; we're claiming each other, and also making a statement that--in a world that is increasingly individualistic and fractured--we need each other. 

This spring, we'll be officially receiving new members into the church during our worship service on Sunday, April 14. Please contact Rev. Don or Rev. Lindsay if you're interested in joining but that date doesn’t work for you.

Scrabble Group

The Scrabble group continues to meet weekly in the Great Room in the Stacey Street office on Wednesdays from 2-4pm. It’s great fun and can be quite competitive. Join us!

Gifts of Cheer



If you know of anyone, either here at Old North or in the wider Marblehead community who is going through a difficult time, the Community Life Board would like to reach out with a little plant and a friendly note. Please contact Lynda Hare at hares8carrots@hotmail.com or 781-639-0107 if you know someone who would appreciate a little extra cheer.

Sanctuary Painting

The next Capital Projects work - painting the Sanctuary ceiling - will begin right after Easter on April 1st. (This is NOT an April Fools joke!) This work is estimated to take three weeks and will require Old North to hold worship services in the Parish Hall for one or two Sundays. The Congregation will be notified of the specific Sundays closer to the time. As always, your flexibility and support is appreciated as we move forward with this grand adventure of improving our buildings for the future.

Are You Following Us on Social Media?

We have been working on improving our presence on social media. Please follow us! Invite your friends and neighbors to follow us to learn about our church.

Facebook: Friends of Old North Church Marblehead

Instagram: oncinmhd

Lectio Divina

A monastic practice of scripture, reflection and prayer dating back to the 4^th century, at Old North lectio divina has been adapted and practiced for more than ten years on every Tuesday morning from 9 to about 10:30 am. When Dennis was here, he led the practice. Since his leaving, we all take turns being the leader to select the readings. We have welcomed newcomers, some not from Old North, who seem to find soul food in the practice and the shared reflections that are part of it. We meet at 9 am both in person in the “Great Room” on Stacey St. and on Zoom.

We begin each meeting with a context-setting call to worship. Then we pair a scripture reading with a poem, chosen by the leader for the day and read aloud. We then move into 21 minutes of silent meditation, marked by chimes, and finally we share in “safe space” our responses – personal and intellectual. We end each session with prayers for healing and the Lord’s Prayer.



It is a rich time of being together in community and quite like no other. We invite you to give it a try.