Pastor’s Letter
I remember growing up I had a strong dislike for May. May was the time of the year when we were forced in school to be a part of a May Pole Dance. From my perspective as a young child it was the dumbest thing we ever did in school. Ever…
Historically some have written that the Maypole dance was almost definitely a fertility rite meant to symbolize the union of the masculine and feminine, which was a major theme in May Day celebrations across the historical Pagan footprint. As a third grader that would have been beyond my comprehension. I am so glad I didn’t know at that time. I would have simply said “That’s gross!” And yet even as clueless as we all were, I still had to participate because the teachers told us that we had to, and I trusted their wisdom and authority.
So, what does this have to do with our church at this point in time? Well most people really do not like the idea of physical isolation. And yet we simply need to follow the guidelines of the best medical practitioners like the CDC and other known medical scholars in the field whether we like it or not. We are going to be dealing with this COVID 19 pandemic for quite a while. I believe that we will be lucky if we can return to church in the fall.
This situation is traumatic to all of us. From my extensive work in the field of trauma and recovery, the step that begins the healing process is Acceptance. As a church community we simply have to accept that we are not going to be physically together for a while. And make the best of it!
Being a faithful Christian has never been an easy task. Being faithful means that we draw of the strength of our faith whenever we face adversity. Now is the time to do that! Please take the time to think about how you can make a positive difference in the world even given all our restrictions.
Be a Blessing to Others, Rev. Fred
Hello from the Deacons.
We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe during this time of isolation. Even though the church is currently closed, its work persists. Rev. Meade continues to lead us in worship, and along with Mary Beth’s music ministry, online services have allowed us to continue with our faith life. The video expertise of Debi Dona, her many hours of hard work, create a beautiful worship service each week. Many thanks to everyone who is making this possible, including our talented guest soloists and musicians. Our service is available on the church website (here). Please view it each week! If you need any assistance during this time, please text the Deacon Chair, Jay Hodge at 781-534-0794 or email at wickone1@gmail.com. We hope and pray that this strange time of quarantine will soon be a memory and that we can all reunite in our beautiful church soon.
Isaiah 41:10: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Best wishes to all from the Stewardship Team.
This is a difficult time for all of us and for our beloved church. It may seem that since our building is unable to be open that our expenses no longer exist. The costs of our church still continue, however. Our staff is still hard at work each week and so all the costs of our payroll must still be paid. Our building is still insured and maintained.
We prayerfully ask all who can to continue with your pledged offerings and other gifts so that as soon as we are able to reopen we will be able to join together in worship and continue with our ministry, outreach, and growth. You may mail your offering to the church or use the secure link found on the website to submit your offerings. We thank everyone who is supporting our church and pray God’s blessings for all.
Missions
This is an update on our favors for St. Patrick’s Day and our collection of Hygiene Kits for Church World Services.
Because of the cancellation of our wonderful Saint Patrick’s Day dinner our favors did not get to be given out, so it was decided to give them to the Pembroke Firehouse Pantry and the Pembroke Pantry for Easter. All the green ribbon was taken off and replaced with yellow and purple ribbon for either Eastertime or even to give out on May Day. The candies in the favors last quite a long time and they have been keeping safe away from “germs”. When it came time to bring the favors over to the pantries, we found out that the pantries had been temporary closed because of the virus. People who do go to the pantries and need an extra helping hand have been welcomed to visit other areas such as Marshfield Pantry etc. We still have our favors and really looking forward to giving them out perhaps in the future June or July?
In reference to our Hygiene kit collection for this year, we will be unable to deliver them to Brockton. We will put them together and save them for our donation next year. The postage money will be kept in the Missions account for the purpose of postage next year. If anyone would like their money refunded, please let us know. Church World Services are using all the past blankets and hygiene kits donations during this pandemic. If for any reason our Pembroke community needs them, we will be there to help. Our church is blessed with a congregation that is kind, loving and considerate people and we will send our hygiene kits with God’s Blessings to people in need.
It is now time for our Morris Scholarship. If you know of anyone who qualifies for this Scholarship, please e-mail our church secretary, Kristen at: Firstchurchpembroke@gmail.com We will send out a letter to you and an application to apply for the Morris Scholarship. Thank you.
It is Mother’s Day/Blanket Sunday on May 10. We feel that perhaps we will not be able to open church at this time, but we would like to look forward to June Father’s Day/Tool Sunday. At that time, we will have Mother’s Day/Blanket Sunday and Father’s Day /Tool Sunday together.
We are all part of the team of Church World Services helping during this epidemic.
May is a busy month and we have Memorial Day. On Memorial Day we support The Pembroke Military Support Group. Our Military Basket is going to be filled this year with personal care products from the Tom’s of Maine Charitable giving program kindly procured by the US Felt Company. Plus, we donate $100 from Missions. Tons of thanks to Vin Boragine. Thank you – thank you – thank you. Praise God and Blessings to Vin & US Felt
Other donations given by Missions on behalf of the First Church in Pembroke congregation: – MACUCC $100, Pembroke Firehouse Pantry $100, Pembroke Food Pantry $100.
Freda Burke – Missions Chairperson / Mary Ford – Treasurer / Judy Graham & Elaine Spalding
Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Jesus shares your worries and cares. You’ll never be left alone, For He stands beside you to comfort and guide you, He always looks out for His own – Brandt. Taken from Our Daily Bread June-July 2002
SEARCH
The Search Committee wanted to let you know that we continue to press ahead with the search. We plan on meeting (via zoom) to review the profiles we have received from the UCC.
These are crazy times that we are living! It seems like this separation has been going on forever. But soon things will go back to normal not sure what normal will look like, but we have to make the best of this time.
#NeverAlone #FirstChurchPembroke #WeAreStrong #WeAreFamily
Greetings from the FCP Creative Crafters
Hope you are all safe and healthy with our “new way of life.” Wanted to let members know that the Creative Crafters have been busy making masks for essential workers in our town. Your church wants to extend to its members, masks, to keep you safe and healthy. Below is an announcement made on April 27th by the Town of Pembroke for ALL PEMBROKE residents.
Board of Health Order to Prevent the Spread of Infectious Respiratory Droplets – Facial Covering Required
For your mask -you may contact: JoEllen Graham – joellenstowers@yahoo.com
Or, Kristen Schultz Firstchurchpembroke@gmail.com
Blessings and Peace
– JoEllen
TRUSTEES – 1ST QTR FINANCIAL
Good Morning, I hope you all had a wonderful safe Easter. We are trying something new this year instead of waiting till the annual meeting I will be giving a snap shot of where we stand after each quarter and if you have any questions I would appreciate an email or a phone call so I can answer them now rather than at the annual meeting. With that being said, our pledges are down by 6% which is due to the fact we are not in church and some people are not sure on how to get the pledges or offering to us. We did find out that if you mail it to the church it must be sent to the P. O. Box 576 and not to the physical address of the church 105 Center St, the post office will return it to you. We just had that happen on two contributions and we only know that because one of the contributors sent it in with the original envelope. I called the PO and they said unless we put a mailbox on the church it must be sent to the P.O. Box 576, Pembroke, Ma 02359. So please send it there till we find a nice mailbox. As for funds at the end of March all bills and payroll were paid, and our the balance was $2,798.02. The total monthly average expense is $11,780.49 and we have been averaging $8,827.67 of income, which is a deficit of $2,952.82 per month. I have contacted all of the utility companies and we are now on budget plans that will help with cash flow and working other vendors to give us a better price on purchases. On a positive note 5 people have contributed above their pledges in April which resulted in $900.00 and the church thanks you and sends blessings.
You can email me (bfpalmer@verizon.net) or phone 781-771-6164 with any questions.
Although the church building is not open, the office is still responding to phone calls at 781 293-2584.