The Easter Spirit at Peoples

During the week that precedes Easter there are many opportunities for members of the church and visitors to experience the spirit that is at the heart of our beliefs in God through his son, Jesus Christ. The Sunday preceding Easter, Palm Sunday, provides the opportunity to experience triumph as we experience the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowds that greeted Jesus were perhaps surprised that he entered the city riding a donkey and not a stallion as they may have expected. On Thursday several members of the church and visitors gathered in the semi-darkness of the sanctuary for a message given by Pastor Tom following the passage, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” With the Cross already draped with a black cloth and a crown of thorns the mood was quite different from that of the previous Sunday. When the service was over we all left silently, left to contemplate the meaning of the events that preceded Good Friday. The Good Friday evening service followed a telling of the events that led up to Jesus death on the Cross. Pastor Tom read the story according to Matthew in Chapters 26 and 27. Reference was also made to Isaiah 53:2-9. With each reading another candle in the candelabra was extinguished and for a time the Christ candle was removed, to be restored at the end of the story as the story of Resurrection becomes the climax. For a second night those of us who were present departed from the sanctuary in silence.

 

Easter Sunday began with a gathering of the faithful at Fisherman’s Point just east of Willard Beach. Some of us arrived in advance of the announced time of 6:15 AM as the sun would actually rise about 5:50 AM. Pastor Tom led the gathering that included many from Peoples but included a number of folks that were there from beyond the walls of Peoples. It was a glorious morning and as the sun rose the rays of that body seemed to form a cross.

 

All attendees were invited to go to Ellis Hall at Peoples for breakfast. A number of members instead of attending the Sunrise Service had arrived early to prepare the breakfast meal for an unknown number of breakfasters. Chris, Brad Chuck, Joanne, Danielle, Kathy and Sally were all there to provide the nourishing meal that we all enjoyed.  Several tables had been set up and folks were encouraged to sit with others in order to share their lives and experiences with folks they may have known or were meeting for the first time.

 

At 10AM the Easter service was held in the Sanctuary. The service began with the Bell Choir playing two magnificent pieces. Many members of families that are often scattered on other Sundays were in attendance at this service. The children and adults were inspired and entertained by Harry and Humphrey, two of Pastor Tom’s favorite friends. Tom’s wife, Kelly,  did assist in the service as the Lay Speaker, a position she has taken for the month of April.

 After Harry and Humphrey were finished their story and Pastor Tom closed the children’s portion of the service with a community prayer with the children, they were dismissed and went downstairs for an Easter egg hunt. Some of the older children had in previous weeks been involved with a Lego project building a display that was available for all to see in the back of the church. The children had built the temple as well as the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

The choir sang an inspirational anthem, the congregation sang hymns appropriate to the day and the pastor gave a meaningful and uplifting sermon. Easter is often more meaningful when one stops long enough on the way out of the sanctuary to gaze at the three stained glass windows that grace the back of the church. Often we may simply pass under the three windows and take them for granted, but perhaps as Christians those three windows should be the most spiritually meaningful to all of us as Christ was crucified, resurrected and arose to heaven to be one with his/our Father.

 

 

Cluster Lenten Service Series

From Ash Wednesday on March 5 through a service and meal at Thornton Heights on April 2 the Casco Bay Cluster sponsored a series of Lenten meals and services at each of the churches in the cluster. This year’s theme was “Hunger for…” with a different message each week. Unfortunately the week that the gathering was scheduled for West Scarborough March 12 there was a rather unwelcome snow storm leading to the cancelation of that service. The third week Peoples was the host for the soup meal in Ellis Hall with the service held around the tables that were arranged in the shape of a cross. Pastor Tom gave the message and also had folks break from their original seats to share space with folks from the other churches. There often is a gathering of familiar faces that happens at these affairs. The practice worked and it appears that folks followed that same pattern in those gatherings that happened after this date. As is quite often the case, the largest gathering at each location was from the host church.

Because there are only five churches now in the cluster there was no Lenten service held on April 16 and no community service scheduled for either Maundy Thursday or Good Friday   as often was the case in the past. With First Methodist closing its doors this past summer the sixth week of Lent was void of a sixth church to meet at.

Attendance at these meal and service gatherings that have met the last two years at six o’clock has ranged from 30 to 40 folks.

The most significant event of the Lenten season sponsored by the Cluster was the food packing day that took place on Saturday, April 5 at Thornton Heights United Methodist Church. This event was called “Change Hunger”. Churches from the Cluster sent teams of packers to the location, some by 8:30 in the morning. After a demonstration of what the teams of 12 would be doing, five teams began to pack packets of soup ingredients. The ingredients included a container of vitamins, dried vegetables, soy, pinto beans and rice. The packets were loaded through a funnel and then passed to another member of the team who would weigh the packets. At the proper weight the packets then were passed to someone else that would seal in the ingredients. Packets were then placed two-high on a grid until there were 36 total. Another member of the team then packed that number into a carton, sealed the carton, then sent someone off with the carton to a central receiving area.

At 10:30 AM each team had packed approximately 10 cartons or cases. This was the goal for each team. At that time another 5 teams were ready to take over.  At 12:30 a third wave of workers entered the hall to pack even more packets. The goal was to raise money to purchase the ingredients for 10,000 or more meals. The local goal was reached and superseded by several thousand. Some of the money for this project was raised via the collection plate at each week’s Lenten service.

For those that participated in this project the feeling was very positive, probably the most rewarding cluster project in recent memory. The feeling was that something like this should be repeated in the future. Much of the success of this year’s project was in the absolutely outstanding organization that made the event fun, meaningful and rewarding.

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE

Sunday--April 13 is Palm Sunday. We will begin at 9:45 am with a Hymn Sing. The worship service follows at 10 am.
Thursday--April 17 is Maundy Thursday--We will gather at 7 pm for worship
Friday--April 18 is Good Friday--A special Tennebrae Service will begin at 7 pm
EASTER SUNDAY--Sunrise service will be at 6:15 am at Fisherman's Point. Following the service, we will gather at the church for breakfast. Easter Sunday worship at the church will be at 10 am (I hear our puppet friends Harry and Humphrey may be there)
A blessed week to all and we hope to see you in worship!