This Week March 13, 2019

Dear Folks,

We are a week into Lent.  This evening's Lenten dinner and service is at Trinity Lutheran Church, 183 Howe Avenue.  Dinner is at 6 P.M., service at 7 P.M.  The Rev. Ken Smith will be preaching.

This Sunday, March 17, is the Second Sunday of Lent.  The scripture is Luke 13:10-17.  The sermon is "Free".

March 17 and 24 are still open for Lenten Testimonies: Church and Faith. Each Sunday in Lent will feature someone’s testimony of how HCCUCC and their personal faith has sustained their lives. If you would like to be one of these “someones”, please sign up in the Alcove.  For more info, contact Rev. Lucille.

Lenten Quiet Hour continues Wednesdays in Lent at 10 a.m. in the church library. 

This is the last call for this year to help out with Church World Service Kits.  Women’s Fellowship will be putting kits together March 19. Any donation will greatly be appreciated. You may place your donation in the red box in Fellowship Hall on the display table or the large white box located in the corner of Fellowship Hall: School Kits ~ blunt scissors~ Box 24 crayons (only 24)~ Pencil sharpeners-hand held ~ 70 count bound notebooks~ 12 inch rulers~ Unsharpened Pencils~ Large erasers. Hygiene Kits ~ Combs (wide tooth only)~ Bath size soap in wrapper~ Nail clippers~ Band-aids~ Washcloths~ Hand towels (no fingertip, bath, dish or micro fiber towels)~ Toothbrushes in original package.

The Huntington Center Nursery School will be holding its annual Butter Braid fundraiser beginning in March. Items will be Braided Pastry & Otis Spunkmeyer Cookies. Order forms will be available after Sunday worship in Fellowship Hall in March.

Women’s Fellowship will prepare and sell Manhattan and New England Clam Chowder and a variety of homemade breads. To place your order, see the sign up on the sheet in the alcove or call the church office (203 929-1223). Pick-up will be on Sunday, April 14^th. Chowder is $10 per quart. The prices on the homemade breads vary. 

Easter Flower order forms can be found in the alcove or you can watch future bulletins and the April Belfry.

The One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) will be taken on March 31. OGHS is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ involves us in disaster, refugee/ immigration, and development ministries throughout the world. When a disaster strikes, or people are displaced or made refugees by violence or extreme poverty, we are part of the immediate response and of the long-term recovery. Through OGHS we engage in holistic development programs including health care, education, agriculture, food sustainability, micro-financing and women’s empowerment. 

Let us pray. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a prayer of St. Patrick: 

May the Strength of God pilot us. 
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Host of God guard us.
Against the snares of the evil ones.
Against temptations of the world. 

May Christ be with us! May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us, Christ be over all!
May Thy Salvation, Lord, always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and evermore. Amen.

In Christ's love,

Rev. Lucille