Dear Centenary Church Family:

As we gather for Worship at 10:15 AM this Sunday, February 18, we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday and mark the final Sunday of the Season of Epiphany. (We will begin the penitential Season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, February 21.) Michael Savoia will share a special word with the children before they and youth through 12th grade are invited to attend Sunday School classes. My morning Message, A Glimpse of Glory, will be based on the Transfiguration reading from Luke 9:28-34a, as well as the reading from Exodus 34:29-35. Our Chancel Choir will sing The Silent Stars Shine Down on Us by Thomas Keesecker during the Offertory. Our Celebration of Found Coins is designated for the Greater NJ Media Center, which provides the video resources we use for a number of our classes and studies…including the Nooma series at present in the Adult Class on Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM.

Food Collection—this Sunday, February 18: Please bring cereals, staple food items in plastic jars or cans, and paper products to share with persons in need in our area. We are deeply grateful for your generous sharing.

Special Appeal for Diapers and Infant/Toddler Food for Amandla Crossing: Your assistance is needed to provide diapers (sizes #4, #5 & #6…not pull-ups) and infant & toddler food for children at Amandla Crossing. Please bring the items to Centenary and leave them in the boxes provided in the Narthex. Thank you. —Your Mission Committee

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner / Gospel & Jazz Evening—Tuesday, February 20th at 6:30 PM: Bring your friends to enjoy a dinner of international pancakes with scrumptious fillings. Be entertained by the sounds of a jazz ensemble featuring Jackie Jones, vocalist, and Jonathan Benjamin, pianist, in a combination of jazz and gospel tunes. Sponsored by the Music Committee as a fund-raiser for the church. Let your friends and neighbors know!

The Annual Ash Wednesday Service of the Centenary, New Dover and Wesley United Methodist Church congregations will be held on February 21 at 7:30 PM. This year’s service will be held at Wesley United Methodist Church in Edison. Pastors Darryl Duer (New Dover UMC), John Jung Kwon (Wesley UMC), Terrilisa Durham Bauknight and John Painter will share in leading this annual service marking the beginning of Lent. The choirs of the three congregations are preparing special music for this service. During the service there will be an Imposition of Ashes. There will be a time of fellowship and refreshment in following the service. Child Care will be available. Everyone is encouraged to come and share in this special service, as we begin our 40-day Lenten journey to Calvary’s Cross and the Garden of Resurrection.

Lenten Wednesday Evening Bible Study: Pastor John Painter will lead a five-week Wednesday evening Lenten Bible Study from 7:30-8:30 PM beginning on Wednesday, February 28, and continuing through Wednesday March 28. The focus of the study will be The Passion Narratives of the four Gospels. As part of your Lenten discipline, you are invited to bring your favorite translation of the Bible and participate in the reading and discussion.

The Art of Muriel Harris at Centenary During Lent: We will be blessed during the 2007 Lenten Season to have a number of Muriel Harris’ collages adorning the walls of our Sanctuary. These smaller collages have served as the inspiration for a number of her larger paintings. You will want to take time to pause this coming Sunday, and on the Sundays during Lent—or at other times you are in the building—to view these special works based on the indicated biblical passages, reminding us of the themes of creation, liberation and justice. Muriel Harris, a long-time member of Centenary UMC, has received many awards and high recognition over the years for her artistry. Although in recent years she has endured the loss of much of her eyesight to age-related macular degeneration, Muriel Harris continues to create new art using a number of different media. We are grateful to Muriel Harris for sharing the gift of her art with us once again this year.

Scholarship Opportunities: Information about scholarships and loans available to United Methodist students in higher education is now available. A flyer listing many of these scholarships has been posted on the bulletin board in Room 20. In addition, an extensive booklet—The United Methodist Loans and Scholarship Program—is available on the literature rack in The Library. Please contact Pastors Bauknight or Painter for any additional information about these scholarship and loan programs.

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER is Friday, March 2, 2007. Church Women United of Metuchen-Edison will be celebrating this day with a program beginning at 1:00 P.M. in Centenary United Methodist Church. The women of First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen will present the program and the women from Centenary will provide the refreshments. Come and join with women of other faiths in our neighborhood and around the world. Come and join us!

COMMUNION BREAKFAST for the women of Centenary, Wesley and New Dover Churches will be held on Saturday, March 17, 2007 at 9:30 A.M. at Centenary. The leader will be the Rev. Linda Humphries of Hamilton, NJ who will help us ‘stretch our faith’. We will need help with setting up tables and providing food for the group. If you can help in any way, please let Millie Pleuler, Giselle Esquivel-Cordero or Sylvia Woodfield know.

CAMPBELL SOUP LABELS: We are still collecting these labels for the Red Bird Mission. There have been BIG changes to the Campbell’s Labels program. Campbell’s no longer accepts the front panel of soup can labels. The part of the label that we need is the UPC section along with the Labels for Education symbol. Please check out the UMW bulletin board (in the area near the Men’s Room) for more information on how these labels need to be collected. There is a basket in the Church Library to receive your labels. The Red Bird Mission is a Mission Project of the United Methodist Church in Beverly, Kentucky. This mission has been able to acquire several vans for transporting students along with computer equipment and other educational supplies through this Labels for Education program. Thanks in advance for your participation.

Looking Ahead: Kids’ Night Out, Friday, February 23, 2007, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM–
Ice Skating at Roosevelt Park

Some Thoughts for This Week:

Pray is a four-letter word you can use anywhere.
Love is not blind – it sees more, not less.
But because it sees more, it is willing to see less. – Rabbi Julius Gordon

Real love is not gazing into each other’s eyes.
It is looking together in the same direction.

The church is a hospital for sinners, not a club for Christians.

Always put off until tomorrow the things you shouldn’t do at all.

Charity begins at home, but shouldn’t end there. – Scottish Proverb

When you get to the end of all the light you know and it’s time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly. – Edward Teller

Prayer for the Week of February 18: We give you our thanks, O God, for those moments in life that lift our sights and expand our experience of Christ’s life. We thank you for the magic and mystery in the unexpected and the transforming of our own lives in tiny glimpses of surprising newness that echo your divine life. Thanks be to you, O God, for all that takes us over our limited horizons and into your Holy presence. Amen.
Next Sunday, February 25, 2007:
8:45 AM – Confirmation Class (Youth Room)
9:00 AM – Adult Class (Nooma Series)
10:15 AM – Worship and Sunday School (Pre-K through 12th Grade)
The First Sunday in Lent / Sacrament of Christian Baptism
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Begin in the Wilderness
Lectionary Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Romans 10:8b-13
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Luke 4:1-13
11:30 AM – Fellowship Time (Room 20)
11:45 AM – Acolyte Training (Sanctuary)
5:30 PM – Junior Choir Rehearsal (Music Room)
6:30 PM – United Methodist Youth Fellowship (Youth Rm./Rm. 20)
Acolyte Training—Next Sunday, February 25 at 11:45 AM: Young persons in the Fourth Grade and above who are interested in serving as Acolytes in Worship are invited to remain after our Worship service next Sunday, February 25, for a brief time of training. Pastor Painter and others from our Worship Committee will be available to assist our Acolytes to undertake their important responsibilities. Those who have served as Acolytes previously are also encouraged to attend.

I look forward to sharing with many of you in Study, Worship and Christian Fellowship this Sunday at Centenary.

Shalom, John

John D. Painter