A Mother's Day Reflection

    I’m honored, as part of commemorating Mother’s Day and giving tribute to moms everywhere, to be given the opportunity to share a little bit with you of how my mom’s life and her relationship with God through Jesus was shaped by being part of the Methodist church community. Mom passed away recently, and part of what’s getting us through this difficult time is realizing just how much of her is still with us; her values, beliefs and being were such a result of the fact that Methodism – that this one particular strand of way of knowing God through Jesus, one of the many, incredibly diverse ways people all over the world have come to know God and their role in the world – became her church, her spiritual home and her way of being part of the community of God.

    It was through being part of this community that Mom developed such a passionate belief in the good that can be done through the church.  John Wesley himself said,  “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” This is, to me, the legacy of what the church meant to Mom and what she gave to the church.  In spite of life’s challenges, Mom lived her life following Jesus’ words and examples and always strived to make this a world of love, justice and compassion in whatever capacity and scope she could.  She did this through her career as a nurse, her commitment to her church and community, and – here’s the Mother’s Day plug – the sheer devotion she had to her family.  John Steinbeck wrote of his own mom that “her first boundary was the geography of her family,” and that line is so appropriate for Mom. I’d mentioned in her eulogy that she truly believed her family was the best in the world, so she instilled those values in us – and worked REALLY HARD at it.  It couldn’t have been easy.

    Once we’d learned it in Sunday School, we’d say the Lord’s Prayer every night before bed.  Mom LOVED the Lord’s Prayer – that prayer of such profound reverence and gratitude (either in spite of or because of life’s many challenges, I don’t know) that the words are imprinted into our hearts.  Mom always saw the Lord’s Prayer as a promise on our parts, too…it’s like a yes to God’s commission -  that we’ll pick up our end of the bargain.  That together, as the body of Christ, we’ll always work to make this world and our lives into God’s kingdom.  That’s what Methodism was to Mom.  She took nothing for granted, was always grateful for the gifts that God had given her, and embraced God’s role for her.  Those values live on in my family.  I know Mom’s somehow with us, but the phrase “looking down on us,” which we hear so much about this time, just doesn’t feel quite right.  It’s more like she’s in our hearts, and everything about her is with us in our lives. That’s truly a gift from God, and I’ll always be truly grateful to God for making Mom my mom. 

This is what Mother’s Day is about.

 UMCOR Birthing Kits

 
As a way of supporting and celebrating mothers everywhere, we will be creating at least 50 UMCOR Birthing Kits. These will be brought to Annual Conference in June to be shipped to the UMCOR distribution center. The general mission fund will provide for the items in the kit that are really easily bought in "bulk” (latex gloves, plastic sheeting, string, etc.).

We do need your help for one important item. We need 100 new flannel/flannelette receiving blankets (1 square yard/each). Since strict rules often govern product entry into international countries, it is important that the receiving blankets by made of flannel or flannelette and are new. Please no microfiber, terrycloth, thermal, fleece, knit or used blankets. We will be collecting the blankets thru Sunday, May 20. There will be a box in the office. We will also need some volunteers to come on May 22 from 7:00—8:30 p.m. to help put the birthing kits together into one gallon zip lock plastic bags.

What a blessing you will receive thinking of a newborn baby somewhere in the world being wrapped in the receiving blanket that you donated!

Please contact Deb Draizen with any questions

Buck-A-Book Follow-Up

The money raised from the Buck-a-Book Mission Fundraiser was an amazing $100!

Thank you to all that participated.

Spring Chicken Dinner Follow-up

The money raised for missions from the Spring Chicken Dinner held on April 28th was $665!

Thank you to all that helped out and those who attended.

Rock Cats Baseball

Fellowship Opportunity

We are going to the Rock Cats baseball game on Sunday, August 12 at 1:35 p.m.

The Rockcats are the AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins and they play at New Britain Stadium in New Britain. We have been going as a church group for many years and it’s always a good time. All ages and fans are welcome, even Yankee fans.

The game on August 12 is against the Reading Phillies. This is their annual Faith & Family game. There is special entertainment throughout the game and afterwards the kids get to run the bases!! We are sitting in Reserved Section 204, on the first base line. Tickets are $6 each (adults + kids). Please sign up in the Family Life Center hallway by July 29.

Bring your friends too! Please contact Sharon Richwine ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 860-563-2026) with any questions.

Lenten Evaluation Survey

We hope you all experienced a wonderful and enriching Lenten Season.

We want to know what went right and what went wrong so it can be even better next year. A four question survey about the Lenten Season was emailed to everyone. If you did not receive the survey, we don’t have your email address. To receive the survey, please send your email address to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can send you the link. Doing this will also insure you receive all future surveys. Only one person can vote per email address. There will also be paper copies available in the hallway to the Family Life Center if you do not use email.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Sharon Richwine at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 860-563-2026.

Thank you for your time and participation.
Your Worship Committee

Amrein Scholarship News

For those of you who want to participate in the offering being taken on April 29, envelopes will be provided with the Sunday worship bulletin. As stated in the Lenten Newsletter, the committee decided that this year’s offering can be used toward this year’s scholarship.

June 4 is the deadline for applications for the scholarship. These applications are available in the church office. June 17 the scholarship will be awarded at the second service.

Women's Bible Study by Beth Moore

Here and Now...There and Then

Monday 9:00 a.m. — 10:30 a.m.
and
Monday 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Starting date to be announced

All women of our church are invited to participate in an 11 week Beth Moore Study Here and Now...There and Then, a lecture series on the book of Revelation. This study was offered last spring and a number of women completed the study. The feedback from those who completed the study was so positive that we thought we would offer both a morning and an evening class again. There will be a class Monday mornings from 9:00-10:30 a.m. and Monday evenings from 7:00—8:30 p.m. This study has NO HOMEWORK! For the study, we will be viewing the videos each week, followed by a short discussion period. There is a work book that is optional, so the study really has NO COST! There will be a sign up sheet in the Family Life Center hallway. Thank you. Deb Draizen

Women of Faith

“Imagine”

November 2nd and 3rd

It is time for another payment towards your “Women of Faith” Conference tickets.

Please pay at least another $40 by April 29 (if possible, pay off your remaining balance). Checks should be made out to Deb Draizen and if you need to know your balance, you can check with her at 860-563-9888 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

If you have been thinking about joining us for a great “Women of Faith” weekend,
you can still sign up at the table leading to the Family Life Center. There are a few seats
left. Thank you. Deb Draizen