Dear friends in Christ,
I hope you’re all doing well this week and getting a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather. This weekend is the play! I’ve seen a number of different scenes being rehearsed over the past few months, and it looks like we’re all in for a fun time this weekend! Here’s what’s going on:
MCC Players Present As You Were: Last Chance for Tickets!
Dinner theater is back at MCC! Play rehearsals are in full swing. Mark your calendars for a performance like no other this Mother’s Day weekend. As You Were is the play written by our very own Chris A., which was scheduled to be performed in Spring of 2020. After three years of pandemic delays, the show will go on! More information and tickets can be found here: https://www.middleburyucc.org/mcc-players/
Vacation Bible School Registration is Live!
Vacation Bible School is back this summer at MCC, and registration is now open! Join us for “Hero Hotline”, June 19-23rd. To register a child (K-6th), go to: https://middleburycc.breezechms.com/form/VBS2023.
To register a counselor (7th-college), please go to: https://middleburycc.breezechms.com/form/VBSCounselor2023.
If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact Valerie at vbeard@middleburyucc.org.
Interested in Joining MCC?
We’ve noticed a number of new faces around! If you’re interested in learning more about MCC or about joining the church please contact me! (kmanzi@middleburyucc.org). We’re looking to receive new members during worship on Pentecost, 5/28.
Charles P. Luckey Scholarship: Deadline May 31st
The application for the Charles P. Luckey Scholarship is available and is on our website:
https://www.middleburyucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-Luckey-Scholarship.pdf
Scholarships are open to any high school student entering their freshman year of college that is a member of Middlebury Congregational Church and will be attending an accredited college or university.
All applications must be postmarked by May 31, 2023.
Interim Faith Formation Coordinator Position Posted
As many of you are aware, Valerie Beard, our Faith Formation Coordinator, is stepping down at the end of this school year. Church leadership has decided to search for an Interim Faith Formation Coordinator for the 2023-2024 program year, and there is possibility that person may be eligible for the permanent position. We’re beginning a search for that position which is open to people outside of MCC and people affiliated with MCC. The job posting is available here: https://www.middleburyucc.org/job-openings-at-middlebury-congregational-church/
Raffle Basket Items Needed
Well we need some of your items you’d like to recycle for our raffle baskets that we are putting together for the Strawberry Festival. The themes are: Date Night, Baking to Your Hearts Content, Kids Summer Fun, Beach Time, Christmas in June, Garden Delight, and Margarita Salsa Night. So if you are getting rid of that pasta maker you never used or garden tools, Christmas ornaments, extra spatulas, rolling pins, bread bowls, Frisbees, beach balls, buckets, tickets to a restaurant you haven’t used, etc. we would love to have them to incorporate in our baskets. So please let us know what you have that you think would work well in these baskets. Look out for signup sheets on the bulletin board by the kitchen. Thank you from the Mission Board.
Strawberry Festival: June 11th 3-7pm
Strawberry Festival is scheduled for Sunday, June 11th from 3-7pm. We’ll have strawberry shortcake. food, games, raffle baskets, and a book sale! Mark your calendars!
General Comments
Last week was May 4th, which is Star Wars Day, May the Fourth be with you. I meant to share this church Star Wars fact last week, but I figure a few days late is alright. So, in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, the book used for worship in the Episcopal Church, there are a number of different prayer options for communion. One of them, Prayer, C, is often referred to as the Star Wars payer. However, one of my friends in seminary was doing a paper on Eucharistic prayers, and he found there’s a divide in scholarly literature on whether it’s called the Star Wars prayer or the Star Trek prayer. We’re going to go with Star Wars prayer for the sake proximity to Star Wars Day. So, it’s called the Star Wars prayer because it mentions space, and it’s part of a lot of hymns and liturgy written after the moon landing and space race that sort of tried to reckon with Earth’s place in the cosmos. Going to space revealed the vastness of creation and our small place in it. How does that affect our understanding of God and of ourselves? So, Eucharistic Prayer C is a place where we can see people trying to make sense of those things. So, here’s the space part from Eucharistic Prayer C: “God of all power, Ruler of the Universe, you are worthy of glory and praise. Glory to you for ever and ever. At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home.”
See you at the play and at church!
Peace,
Pastor Katrina