Dear Centenary Church Family:

With the ringing of the hand bells by our Harris Ringers in a Palm Sunday Fanfare by Henry Purcell (as arranged by Martha Lynn Thompson), the reading of the Palm Sunday Proclamation from Matthew 21:1-11, our acclamations of “Hosanna in the Highest!”, and the singing of “All Glory, Laud and Honor,” we will begin our 10:15 AM Passion/Palm Sunday Worship Service at Centenary this Sunday, March 16. The Junior and Chancel Choirs will combine to sing Hosanna by Christian Gregor, arranged by Roberta Bitgood. Assistant Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight will bring a special Palm Sunday message to the children, after which those from Pre-K through 12th Grade Youth will be invited to participate in Sunday School classes. My morning Message, A Donkey or a Rolls?, will be based on both the Palm Sunday Gospel reading from Matthew 21:1-11 and the Passion Sunday Epistle reading from Philippians 2:5-11. During the offering, our Chancel Choir will sing the traditional Palm Sunday anthem, The Palms, by J. Faure. At the conclusion of the service we will distribute the palm branches to all in attendance. Our Celebration of Found Coins for the month of March is designated for the “Nothing But Nets” Anti-Malaria Campaign of The United Methodist Church.

Immediately following our Worship Service, our Children’s Ministries program will hold the annual Palm Sunday Pot-Luck Lunch for everyone and the Easter Egg Hunt for the children. Please plan to stay and enjoy this special time of fun and fellowship. Bring a dish (salad, main dish, dessert) to share with others for our lunch together.

Children’s Ministries Director Cathy Jean Savoia reminds everyone that Sunday School children are asked to be at Centenary at 9:00 AM this Sunday, March 16, to have some rehearsal time for the early (9:00 AM) Easter Sunday Service which they will be leading.

TGIF Intergenerational Dinner and Lectionary Discussion (and a lot of fun together) will meet on Friday, March 14, from 6:30-8:30 PM. A barrel offering is taken to defray the costs for the meal and materials. Persons of all ages are invited and encouraged to attend.

Centenary Book Club will meet at 7:30 PM on Friday, March 14, in the Sunshine Room (following the TGIF Meal). We will discuss The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards The Centenary Book Club is open to men and women ages 18 and older. See you there for some great discussion and review.

Food Collection—This Sunday, March 16: 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

The Art of Muriel Harris at Centenary During Lent: We are blessed during the 2008 Lenten Season to have a number of Muriel Harris’ collages adorning the walls of our Sanctuary. You will want to take time to pause 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, and 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. Some of the paintings in our Sanctuary represent her recent work in the more “tactile” media. We are grateful to Muriel Harris for sharing the gift of her art with us once again this year.

Lenten Coin Folders: You are encouraged to return your filled 2007 Lenten Coin Folders between now and Easter Sunday, April 8th. You may place them in an offering plate during Worship or mail/bring them to the Church Office. Our Lenten Coin Folder offering is designated for support of The Fellowship Fund of The United Methodist Homes of New Jersey. These funds are used to assist elderly residents whose financial resources have been depleted to remain in residence in our UM Homes. (Note: If you choose to return your coin folder with either a check or paper bills [instead of quarters], our counting team will not be averse to your doing so…we appreciate your gifts in whatever form they may be shared.) We are deeply grateful for your generous and sacrificial offering during these forty days of Lent.

Persons are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshments following our Sunday Worship service. Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the many available weeks on the 2008 Refreshment Chart in the Narthex. Information on what you need to provide is available on the information sheet attached to the Refreshment Chart. Thank you for providing hospitality on a Sunday morning.

Sunday Morning Adult Class—Serious Answers to Hard Questions: On Sunday, March 30, the Adult Class will begin a new five-week study called Serious Answers to Hard Questions. In this video study, hosted by Methodist Bishop Kenneth Carder, well-known theologians discuss important issues that sometimes prove to be obstacles to faith. The five issues we will be focusing on are: Religion and Science, Evangelism and Tolerance, The God of the Old Testament, The Gnostic Gospels, and The Sins of the Church. Join us in the Sunshine Room on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 AM for these provocative series.

“Nothing But Nets” Anti-Malaria Campaign
March Celebration of Found Coins

The people of The United Methodist Church are being invited to participate with the “Nothing But Nets” partners to help stop Malaria, a deadly disease. In sub-Saharan Africa, a child dies every 30 seconds from this preventable disease. Bishop Joao Somane Machado, leader of The United Methodist Church in Mozambique, says that this is a statistic that the world must pay attention to. He said, “This is not an African issue. It’s not only for poor countries. It’s a global issue.”

Just $10.00 buys a mosquito-resistant bed net, distributes it to a family, and provides education on how to use it.

By answering Jesus’ call to “minister to the least of these who are members of our family,” we can beat this awful disease and save future generations. So give a child the opportunity to live a life of health and happiness. Pray, communicate the need, buy a bed net, and save a life.

In our efforts to transform the world as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ serving in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, we want to run the “second mile,” collecting $100,000 to provide 10,000 bed nets to save at least 10,000 children who are at risk of contracting Malaria.

As of December 2007, local churches of our Annual Conference have collected a total of $25,000 for this purpose. We are very thankful for this offering. We still need to raise $75,000. So we are inviting as many of you at Centenary as possible to share a gift of $10.00 to provide one mosquito-resistant bed net.

Are you willing to run the “second mile” with our United Methodist sisters and brothers from the Greater NJ Annual Conference? Then you can share your gifts through our Celebration of Found Coins/Barrel Offering for March. Or you can send your gifts directly to the Church (“Nothing But Nets”/Centenary United Methodist Church/200 Hillside Avenue/Metuchen, NJ 08840-1900). Make your checks payable to Centenary UM Church and write “Nothing But Nets” in the Memo line of your check. Pastor John Painter and Annual Conference Lay Member Giselle Esquivel Cordero will take our “Nothing But Nets” offering to the 2008 Greater NJ Annual Conference session in late May in Valley Forge, PA, where they will be presented along with those gifts from the other churches of our Conference as we celebrate our “second mile” giving.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

I think joy and sweetness and affection are a spiritual path. We’re here to know God, to love and serve God, and to be blown away by the beauty and miracle of nature. You just have to get rid of so much baggage to be light enough to dance, to sing, to play. You don’t have time to carry grudges; you don’t have time to cling to the need to be right. – author Anne Lamott, in a recent interview. (Source: The Washington Times)

We never know what we can do until we try.

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee. – Marian Wright Edelman, President: Children’s Defense Fund

Some people grumble because roses have thorns, rather than being thankful that thorns have roses.

Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words? – Marcel Marceau, Mime

He who forgives ends the quarrel. – African proverb

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances. – Robert Flatt

God has cast our confessed sins into the depths of the sea, and has even put a “No Fishing” sign over the spot. – Dwight L. Moody [adapted]

Temper is what gets most of us into trouble; Pride is what keeps us there.

I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do. – Helen Keller

If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself. – Mickey Mantle

I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this. – Emo Phillips

Holy Week 2008

Thursday, March 20 — Holy Thursday

6:30 PM — Soup & Sandwich Supper

(Bring a Sandwich, if you wish; Soup & Beverages will be provided)

7:30 PM — Holy Thursday Service & Sacrament of Holy Communion at Tables

Soup Preparers Needed for Holy Thursday: If you will be attending the Holy Thursday Soup and Sandwich Supper and Service, and are willing to prepare a pot of your favorite soup to share with others, please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex or let Pastor Painter or the Church Office know. Thank you. Don’t forget to bring a sandwich with you to enjoy with the soups that will be available that evening.
Friday, March 21 — Good Friday

12:00 – 3:00 PM –Ecumenical Good Friday Preaching Service

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Middlesex Ave. & Oak Ave., Metuchen

7:30 PM — A Service of Tenebrae – The Passion Narrative interspersed with
Traditional Spirituals sung by the Chancel Choir and Congregation

Sunday, March 23 — EASTER Sunday

6:30 AM — Sunrise Service & Sacrament of Holy Communion

7:15 AM — Easter Breakfast sponsored by our Sunday School &
Children’s Ministries ($3.00 per person donation requested)

9:00 AM — Easter Worship Service — “God’s Greatest Gift”
Presented by our Sunday School children & youth

10:30 AM — Easter Worship Service & Sacrament of Holy Communion

Preacher (10:30 AM): John D. Painter Theme: Becoming Jesus

Festival Brass at both Easter Services / Chancel Choir at 10:30 AM

Lectionary Readings: Acts 10:34-43 Colossians 3:1-4

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 John 20:1-18; Matthew 28:1-10

—Please invite your friends, neighbors and family to share in our
Holy Week and Easter Services and activities—

Prayer for the Week of March 16: We give you our thanks, O God, for the story of palms and passion, for the whole story of Jesus including his suffering. Lest we ever conclude that the life of following Jesus is all glory, a life of ease and simplicity, you have allowed us to know the stories we will hear this week. We thank you for Jesus’ early followers, forgiven sinners like ourselves, whose personal failures were apparent, pointing us to the grace of God that is so much larger than our weakness. We thank you for this season of Lent that we have experienced together and for the opportunity to prepare for the celebration of Easter. Lead us now through the stories including death to the message of life. Amen.

I look forward to sharing with you in study, Worship and Christian fellowship around the lunch tables this Passion/Palm Sunday at Centenary.

Shalom, John