Dear Centenary Church Family:

We will gather in our Sanctuary at 10:15 AM this Sunday, March 18, for Worship and Sunday School, as we observe the Fourth Sunday in Lent. Traditionally each year on this Sunday we receive a special One Great Hour of Sharing offering, which is dedicated to supporting the operations of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Your generous gift combined with those from millions of other United Methodists, makes it possible for 100% of the emergency UMCOR disaster & relief appeals to be designated for the specific projects. Please use the envelope you received with your March Lamplighter, or the one which will be in your bulletin this Sunday, to share your gift.

I will share a special message with the children before they and our youth are invited to participate in Sunday School classes. Assistant Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight will bring the morning Message, Homecoming, focused on Jesus’ remarkable Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 1:-3, 11b-32. We will also hear the Epistle reading from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. We will warmly welcome four new members to the Centenary Church Family as we receive William & Nancy Bodycombe and Christian & Natasha Calara into membership by Reaffirmation of Faith. Our Chancel Choir will sing I Wish You Peace by Carl Strommen as the Offertory Anthem. Our Celebration of Found Coins for March is designated for the “Nothing But Nets” Anti-Malaria Campaign of The People of The United Methodist Church.

Food Collection—This Sunday, March 18: Thank you for bringing 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

Adult Class Relives “The First Easter” Through Living Scripture: For its Lenten study this year, Centenary’s Adult Class is using “living Scripture” to bring to vivid life Luke’s account of The First Easter: Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. Our study focuses on the last six chapters of Luke’s Gospel (chapters 19 through 24), using the New Media Bible series of The Genesis Project. Join us as we relive the most important event in human history on Sundays from 9:00-10:00 AM in the Sunshine Room.

COMMUNION BREAKFAST for the women of Centenary, Wesley and New Dover Churches will be held this 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 at the church on Friday at 7:00 PM…and providing food for the group. If you can help in any way, please let Millie Pleuler, Giselle Esquivel-Cordero or Sylvia Woodfield know.

St. Patrick’s Day Roast Beef/Chicken Dinner

Saturday, March 17, 2007
6:00 to 8:00 PM
Tickets Are Now on Sale – and Available at the Door
$15.00 adults / $8.00 for children
See or Call Cathy Jean Savoia
(732-826-1921)
Sponsored by Centenary’s Children’s Ministries Program

Nothing But Nets
Anti-Malaria Campaign
March Celebration of Found Coins
Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies of malaria. Malaria kills more than a million kids every year. Now, if you knew that by contributing just $10 (ten dollars), you could save the life of one of those children…and perhaps that child’s whole family…would you consider sharing that much?
Well, that’s what our Mission Committee is asking all of us to do during our Celebration of Found Coins in the month of March, as we join with millions of other United Methodists who are working to stamp out malaria, one community at a time through the “Nothing But Nets” campaign. The money raised through this campaign will be used to purchase bed nets that will be distributed throughout the countries and communities in greatest need.

A $10 bed net can protect a family of four for up to four years, reducing the incidence of nocturnal mosquito bites—the primary means of transmitting the disease. Malaria infects more than 500 million people each year, and more than a million die from the disease, yet fewer than 5 percent of African children sleep under a mosquito net, according to the campaign.
Our Mission Committee will be sharing more information about the Nothing But Nets campaign with you during the month of March, and you can learn much more by going to www.umc.org on the Internet and clicking on the “NothingButNets.net” link on the left, or to http://www.nothingbutnets.net/.

You can save a family. Our church can possibly save a village. And we can also help spread the word to many others beyond Centenary about the Nothing But Nets campaign, and how easy it is to protect children from malaria with a $10 insecticide-treated bed net. Together, let’s join with millions of folk to cover Africa with life-saving bed nets!

The Art of Muriel Harris at Centenary During Lent: We are 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 today 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, 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. We are grateful to Muriel Harris for sharing the gift of her art with us once again this year.

Stephanie Kline’s MSWalk: Once again this year (on April 22), Stephanie Kline will be participating in the MS Walk in Hershey, PA, and she is inviting her sisters and brothers in Christ at Centenary to join her team and make a donation on her behalf. You may sponsor Stephanie with a secure donation by going to the following Web page: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=1835958&pg=personal&fr_id=2110&et=12xNxIvNmI1NLcmOUNPwug..&s_tafId=2932
You may also sponsor Stephanie with a check made payable to “National MS Society” (or “NMSS”), and given to her or mailed to her at 40 Hillcrest Avenue, Iselin, NJ 08830. Your contribution can, and will, make an immediate difference for everyone who must face the unpredictable nature of multiple sclerosis. Because of your help, each stride Stephanie and others make in the MS Walk becomes more powerful and brings us closer to ending the devastating effects of Multiple Sclerosis.

Lenten Wednesday Evening Bible Study: Pastor John Painter is leading a five-week Wednesday evening Lenten Bible Study from 7:30-8:30 PM on Wednesdays, continuing through Wednesday March 28. The focus of the study is 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.

For Your Holy Week and Easter Planning…
Fuller Details in the April Lamplighter and Pastor Painter’s Easter Letter
March 31, 2007 – Walking in His Footsteps from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
It’s time to catapult into an incredible encounter with Christ—in the final days of his time on earth. Experience the awesome sacrifice made for you by walking the Lenten Labyrinth in His footsteps.
April 1, 2007 – Passion/Palm Sunday / Sacrament of Holy Communion
10:15 AM Worship & Sunday School
11:45 AM Pot-Luck Brunch & Easter Egg Hunt
April 5, 2007 – Holy Thursday
6:30 PM Soup & Sandwich Supper
7:30 PM Service of Holy Communion
April 6, 2007 – Good Friday
12:00 – 3:00 PM – Ecumenical Good Friday Preaching Service
at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Metuchen
7:30 PM — A Service of Tenebrae featuring the Chancel Choir
April 16, 2006 – EASTER SUNDAY
6:30 AM — Sunrise Service & Sacrament of Holy Communion
7:30 AM — Easter Breakfast sponsored by Children’s Ministry
9:00 AM — Easter Worship Service—Easter Pageant
10:30 AM — Easter Worship Service & Sacrament of Holy Communion

Good Friday Tenebrae Service Singers Sought: Anyone who loves to sing but, because of scheduling, is unable to make a regular commitment to the Chancel Choir, is invited to join the choir for this special service on Good Friday, April 6. Extra rehearsals will be held following Sunday morning Worship services. See Shirley Mosteller if interested.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable. – James A. Garfield

The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer. – Henry David Thoreau

“At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you.” – Jim Rohn

“Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around us in awareness.” – Leland Val Vandewall

“Evaluation of the past is the first step toward vision for the future.” – Chris Widener

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be. – Rosalynn Carter, U.S. First Lady and activist

Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be. – Grandma Moses

Next Sunday at Centenary: March 25, 2007:
8:45 AM – Confirmation Class (Youth Room)
9:00 AM – Adult Class (The First Easter)
10:15 AM – Worship and Sunday School (Pre-K through 12th Grade)
The Fifth Sunday in Lent / Women’s Sunday
Guest Preacher: Janice L. Sutton, Pastor – Trinity UM Church, Highland Park, NJ
Lectionary Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:4b-14
Psalm 126 John 12:1-8
11:30 AM – Fellowship Time (Room 20)
5:30 PM – Junior Choir Rehearsal (Music Room)
6:30 PM – United Methodist Youth Fellowship (Youth Rm./Rm. 20)
Women’s Sunday to Be Observed on March 25: Our Worship Committee has designated next Sunday, March 25 as Women’s Sunday at Centenary. The service, currently under design, will be led by various women and girls from the congregation. The hymns and songs we sing will primarily be composed by women. Director of Music Ministry Shirley Mosteller has formed a women’s chorus for the service that morning. The Rev. Janice L. Sutton, Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Highland Park, NJ, will be our Guest Preacher for the Service, and she will shape her Message around the Gospel themes of Women’s Sunday. (Pastor John Painter will be preaching at Trinity UMC in Highland Park.) We hope many of you will want to be present for this special service next Sunday.
Child Care Assistance Needed on March 25 & April 1: If you are over 18 and able to provide child care coverage assistance during the morning next Sunday or on April 1, please speak with Children’s Ministries Director Cathy Jean Savoia (732-826-1921).
Prayer for the Week of March 18: Thanks be to you, O God, for the exciting life that you offer to us—one that is full of new possibilities to be found within ourselves and within others. Thanks be to you, O God, that you see far more deeply into all life than we do, looking past superficial barriers of disapproval and discovering the beauty and hope that lies below. Thanks be to you for all that you are, O God. Amen.

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

Shalom, John