Announcements and Calendar for the Week of April 22, 2012

CHURCH NOTES: FROM THE SEARCH COMMITTEE: SECOND HOUR TODAY! Please join the Search Committee after worship for our first in a series of three second-hour discussions. We will review some of your responses to the Congregational Survey as a starting point to discuss options for the position of our next minister. We received over sixty surveys – a wonderful response. Thank you sincerely both for your time and for your prayerful and honest replies. Already you have given us valuable guidance in our task, and we look forward to even more involvement from everyone as we continue in this search process. Mark your calendars now for a Special Congregational Meeting to be held after worship on Sunday, May 20th. A formal call to that meeting will be forthcoming. Thank you again, and Blessings to all. LECTURE ON THE SOUL: You are invited to a lecture by Dr. Quincy Howe, Jr. on Wednesday, May 2nd at 12:30 p.m. in the QVCC auditorium. Dr. Howe is a retired professor of classical literature and languages, writer, and translator. He wrote the book Reincarnation for the Christian back in 1974 while he was teaching at Scripps College in Claremont, CA. His most recent book Tertullian of Africa is a translation with supporting commentary on two works by Tertullian, a Roman citizen living in Carthage in 190 A.D., who “wrote with startling ease and insight about early Christian beliefs.” Dr. Howe will be lecturing on the soul, in particular, perspectives on the soul of different religious traditions, and the implications of these perspectives. He will lecture for about a half hour and then take questions. Dr. Howe is the guest of Bob Kirk’s Learning-in-Retirement seminar “Reincarnation and Christianity: Contradiction or Affirmation.” The event is free and open to the public. SAVE THE DATE! On Sunday, May 20th, we will celebrate our music ministry during worship. In the afternoon at 4 o’clock, Ted Bradley and a substantial ecumenical choir will perform the Gospel Mass by Robert Ray. The rollicking, jazz-based work will take you to a place of foot-stomping joy and revelation! Don’t miss your chance to hear The Right Reverend John L. Selders, Jr., at the piano. Bishop Selders, organizer and pastor of the Amistad UCC in Hartford, has collaborated with composer Robert Ray in many performances of the mass. You need to be there! Please mark your calendar now for May 20th, 4 p.m. THANK YOU to all who participated in our Giv2 event last Sunday. Our energetic crew of 32 workers from 6 area churches sanded and painted the new TEEG building in Thompson. We look forward to continued partnership with this important social service agency that provides for struggling families in our towns. YOUTH REVIVAL will be held on Friday, May 11 at the Liberty Christian Center in Hartford. Gather with other CT Youth for an evening of lively music and an inspiring message from Rev. Da Vita McCallister. We will organize a carpool so speak to Debby Kirk at 860-377-2675 to reserve your spot. COMPASSION CAMP is filling up! Register today to reserve your space. Camp week will be July 23-27 and forms are posted online and on the kiosk in Fellowship Hall. All youth currently in grade 6 and up are invited to attend our week-long program of fun and service work in the local community. SHARE deadline for the May issue is April 25th! Furry Friends Mission Project Day Kimball Hospital Week #2 Did you know that there were over 28,000 visits made to the emergency room at Day Kimball Hospital last year? A visit to the emergency room can be frightening and painful. This is why the Children on the Hill are on a new mission. We are collecting “Furry Friends” for children who visit the emergency room at Day Kimball Hospital. Note: Because we are distributing them to patients at the hospital, the “Furry Friends” need to be brand new and can be as small as a beanie baby up to 15 inches. "Dorcas] was devoted to good works and acts of charity.” (Acts 9:36) On this second Sunday of our four week unit, Three Women of Faith, the children will continue hearing about Dorcas (a.k.a Tabitha), Lydia, and Priscilla. They’ll learn how they, too, can feel God’s love and pass it on to others through kindness and hospitality. Preschool/Kindergarten/Grade 1 will enjoy music and movement with Jen Beck as Maria Sangiolo is away today. Grades 2-6 will have storytelling with Jennifer and Emily John and Karen Cloutier. Grades 7/8 will create art with Kelly Bottieri. Our Children on the Hill Facebook page is fun to peruse. “Like” us today! Have a tent? We’d love to borrow a small pop up tent for our study of Priscilla the tentmaker, and we’d protect it lovingly. If you have one to lend, contact Jen Beck at 860-963-1250. The nursery is open today. Thanks to volunteer Eva Hulme for watching the little ones. What do you like about Sunday School? Elsabet Ferruci says, “I like cooking in the kitchen and going in the house Lydia lives in—the one Emily made. It’s fun.” CALENDAR OF THE WEEK Today 11:15 a.m. Junior Choir (downstairs) 11:15 a.m. Second Hour: Search Comm. Monday 7:30 p.m. AA (library) 7:30 p.m. Sr. Bells (balcony) Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Outreach Wednesday 3:30 p.m. Knitting Circle 7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts Thursday 10:30 a.m. Bible Study 7:00 p.m. Sr. Choir/Gospel mass rehearsal