Dear Centenary Church Family:

At 1:48 AM this morning the Sun passed directly over Earth’s Equator on its journey north, marking the beginning of Spring. The first full Moon of Spring will occur tomorrow and, according to the formula adopted by our forebears in the faith at the First Council of Nicaea in A. D. 325, that means this Sunday, March 23, is Easter…the earliest Easter Day since 1913! We will have several opportunities to celebrate this great Day of Resurrection at Centenary.

Our Easter Sunrise Service will be held at 6:30 AM in Orr Chapel, and will feature festal singing (accompanied on the guitar by Ed Stern), some Easter Reflections from Assistant Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight, and the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

The annual Easter Breakfast served by our Children’s Ministries program will begin at 7:15 AM in Room 20, and the delicious food will remain available throughout the morning. We are asked to provide a donation of $3.00 per person to assist with covering the costs for this special meal.

Our 9:00 AM Easter Worship Service will be led by the children and youth of our Sunday School program. They have prepared a lively Easter celebration featuring special music and dancing; a special Time of Centering, If Jesus Lived Inside My Heart; a PowerPoint Children’s presentation on God’s Greatest Gift; and, a video Message: God Speakingby Mandisa. The Festival Brass will offer some special music and accompany us on many of our hymns.

Our 10:30 AM Easter Worship Service will offer the Sacrament of Holy Communion. The Festival Brass will offer some special opening music and accompany us on many of our hymns. I will invite the Children to assist me with a special presentation featuring an ancient Easter ritual dance…after which we will all sing The Lord of the Dance. My morning Message, Becoming Jesus, will be based on two Gospel accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Matthew 28:1-10 and John 20:1-18. Our Chancel Choir will sing Blessing and Honor by Eugene Butler as we receive our morning offering, and then we will be invited to share in the Sacrament of Holy Communion on this joyous Easter Day. Our Celebration of Found Coins at both services will be designated for the “Nothing But Nets” Ant-Malaria Campaign (see the article later in the E-pistle).

Just a final reminder of our Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Services:
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
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 African-American Spirituals sung by the Chancel Choir and Congregation

[Please Note that the Church Office will be closed on Friday, March 21, in observance of Good Friday, and on Monday, March 24. If you need to reach Pastor Painter with a Pastoral Care concern, please call him at home or on his cell phone.]

Lenten Coin Folders: You are encouraged to return your filled 2008 Lenten Coin Folders this Easter Sunday. 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.

The Art of Muriel Harris at Centenary During Lent: We have been 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 after Worship this Sunday 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.

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.

CUMC Music Ministry presents
Silent Movie Night featuring Comedy “Shorts” by Buster Keaton & Charlie Chaplin with Jonathan Benjamin at the piano

Saturday, April 5th at 7:00 PM
Suggested Donation: $5:00
Snacks will be available

Centenary will next be serving dinner at the Ozanam Shelter on Monday, April 7. Please check the information on the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up to assist with food preparation or serving. The April Menu: Sliced turkey breast with gravy; mashed potatoes; broccoli; cranberry sauce; vanilla ice cream; apple pie. For further information, please contact Glenna Gundell (732-463-1431) or Mary Ellen Heim (732-548-2587). Thanks.

2008 Summer Camp Programs at Aldersgate Center and Pinelands Retreat Center: Information about the 2008 Summer camping programs for children and youth (and some specialized adult and family programs) are posted on the Children’s Ministry bulletin board in the hallway alongside the Sanctuary, near the Narthex. Please check out the dates and programs to see if your elementary-age child or Junior/Senior high youth may want to participate in a summer camp experience at Aldersgate Center (Swartswood, NJ) or Pinelands Retreat Center at Mt. Misery (Browns Mills, NJ). You may also check out the offerings and register online at either www.aldersgatenj.com or www.mtmisery.com. Scholarship assistance is available through the Church. Please speak with Children’s Ministries Director Cathy Jean Savoia or Pastor John Painter to get additional information about these programs and appropriate registration forms.

You 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.

You are invited to sponsor flower arrangements for our Worship services. The 2008 Flower Chart is posted in the Narthex. Floral arrangements cost $25.00 each week to sponsor. (Please make your check payable to Centenary UM Church and write “Altar Flowers” in the Memo line.) Information is available from our Flower Chairperson, Linda Serentino (732-940-2135) or by calling the Church Office. Thank you for providing these beautiful tributes for our Sunday services.

“Nothing But Nets” Anti-Malaria Campaign
Raises $18 Million in First Year
March Celebration of Found Coins
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (United Methodist News Service)—Nothing But Nets, an anti-malaria campaign of The United Methodist Church and other partners, raised more than $18 million from 60,000 donors during its first year.

A new report issued by the United Nations Foundation said the total was raised as of Dec. 31, 2007, to buy and distribute insecticide-treated sleeping nets for families in Africa.

The sum includes more than $9.4 million donated by individuals, $3 million in matching funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and $5.7 million contributed through “Idol Gives Back,” a two-night “American Idol” television special benefiting organizations that help children in poverty.
The United Methodist Church is a founding partner in Nothing But Nets. Other partners include the U.N. Foundation, Sports Illustrated, the National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares, Major League Soccer, the Mark J. Gordon Foundation and VH-1.

“Nothing But Nets has developed a unique set of partners over the last 18 months, ranging from multimedia organizations to professional sports leagues to faith-based groups to foundations,” the report states. “These partners are key to the success of the campaign, for it is through partnerships that Nothing But Nets has been able to reach mass constituencies and engage diverse segments of the American public in this global effort to prevent malaria.”

During 2007, the campaign attracted broad participation across The United Methodist Church through local churches, youth groups, annual conferences and individuals. Organizers also partnered with a number of bishops” offices to host special malaria awareness events in Miami, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Houston, Detroit and Minneapolis.

“It’s just phenomenal what we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short time,” said Bishop Thomas Bickerton, United Methodist spokesman for the campaign. “It’s been more like a movement than a campaign. The reality is that we can save a child’s life for such a small amount of money, and that message has really touched people’s hearts and compelled them to get engaged.”

* This story was based on a news release by the Office of Public Relations for The United Methodist Church.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

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

God chooses us, not because we believe, but that we may believe. – St. Augustine [adapted]

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left. – St. Patrick

In the Midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you. – Deepak Chopra

To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. – Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

There is no faith in Jesus without understanding that on the cross we see into the heart of God and find it filled with mercy for the sinner whoever he or she may be. – Robert G. Trache

We should be more concerned that we will not hear God than that God will not hear us.

Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother rather than all major credit cards. – Robert Orben

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference. – Reinhold Niebuhr

Through prayer, finite humans tap the power of the infinite God.

Next Sunday — March 30, 2008:
9:00 AM– Adult Study—Serious Answers to Hard Questions (Sunshine Room)
10:15 AM– Worship &Sunday School (PreK Children through 12th Grade Youth)
The Second Sunday of Easter
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Through Closed Doors
Lectionary Readings: Acts 2:14a, 22-32 1 Peter 1:1-9
Psalm 16 John 20:19-31
11:30 AM– Fellowship Time (Room 20)
5:45 PM– Junior Choir Rehearsal (Music Room)
6:30 PM– Centenary UM Youth (Youth Room / Room 20)

Prayer for the Week of March 23: Almighty and merciful God, we praise you for this festival season of Easter, for all who gather in celebration, and for flowers and music that delight our senses and point us to you. We are thankful for the season of Lent and for Holy Week, that long time of preparation for Easter. We thank you for your church, for the presence of communities like ours throughout the world where millions gather to hear of Jesus and his victory over the power of death. We thank you for the great gift of a faith centered on the life-transforming message of Jesus, and we give you thanks for destroying death’s ultimate power by his resurrection. Hear us in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I look forward to sharing with many of you in Worship and Christian fellowship this Easter Sunday at Centenary. Tina and I pray you all will have a blessed and joy-filled Easter.

Shalom, John

John D. Painter, Pastor