I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E
Pastor’s Paragraphs
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Dates to Remember
Financial Secretary
Outreach Committee
Earth Day
P A S T O R : B R I A N B A E D E R
Keeping In Touch March 2020 Volume 256 Issue 5
The Official Newsletter of the Second Congregational Church of Stafford
Galatians 5:1 - Christian, by God’s grace you are
free, and it is for this freedom that Christ set you free
from sin. So, fast as a free citizen of God’s kingdom,
not as a slave bound to a man-made ritual.
Lent is a period of fasting and penance leading to
Easter. It is rooted in the 40-day fast of Jesus in the
wilderness. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, and ends
right before the evening Service on Maundy Thursday,
although Lenten penance continues through Holy Sat-
urday. In 2020, Lent begins on Wednesday, February
26th this year.
Triduum begins, which lasts from Thursday to the eve-
ning of Easter Day. However, Lenten fasting and pen-
ance continue until the end of Holy Week, and all of
Holy Week is included in the traditional 40 day Lenten
fast, despite Lent ending liturgically on Holy Thurs-
day.
The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self
-denial, spiritual growth, conversion, and simplicity.
Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word
for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring
cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and
cleaning out those things which hinder our relationship
with Jesus Christ.
Thus it is fitting that the season of Lent begin with a
symbol of repentance: placing ashes mixed with oil on
one's head or forehead. However, we must remember
that our Lenten disciplines are supposed to ultimately
transform our entire person: body, soul, and spirit, and
help us become more like Christ.
The earliest fasts of Lent tended to be very strict,
allowing one meal a day, and even then meats, eggs,
and other indulgences were forbidden. The Eastern
Churches follow this today. Now, in the Western
Church, only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are
enjoined as strict fast days, but Fridays are set aside for
abstinence from meat. Sundays are not a part of the
Lenten fast, because Sunday is always a feast of the
resurrection.
Lent. Following that example, I will be leading a four
week study on the “Lost Gospels” beginning on March
1 at 11:00 AM. Please join us and learn about where
these Gospels came from, and why they “didn’t make
the cut.”
Brian
P a s t o r ’ s P a r a g r a p h s
M arch
2 0
2 0
Little Sh o
p - 10 - 2
C h
Little Sh o
p - 10 - 2
fferin g
T r e a s u r e r ’ s R e p o r t
Through January 31:
R24—Fund Raising $ 0.00 $ 0.00 0%
Capital Campaign $ 688.00 $ 663.00 104%
A preacher trained his horse to go when he said,
"Praise the Lord," and to stop when he said, "Amen."
The preacher mounted the horse, said, "Praise the
Lord" and went for a ride. When he wanted to stop for
lunch, he said, "Amen." He took off again, saying,
"Praise the Lord." The horse started going toward the
edge of a cliff. The preacher got excited and said,
"Whoa!" Then he remembered and said, "Amen," and
the horse stopped at the edge of the cliff. The preacher
was so relieved and grateful that he looked up to
heaven and said, "Praise the Lord!"
* * * *
McDonald’s one day, we passed a car accident. Usu-
ally when we see something terrible like that, we say
a prayer for whoever might be hurt, so I pointed and
said to my son, "We should pray."
From the back seat I heard his earnest voice: "Dear
God, please don’t let those cars block the entrance to
McDonald’s."
was heard.
turned 16 this week and received her driver’s license.
Let us pray for us all."
* * * *
standard-issue hospital cane just like his. Pointing to
it, my father asked the man, "New England Baptist?"
"Hell, no," the man replied, "Irish Catholic."
A L i g h t e r M o m e n t
Y a r d G o a t s
Hi all! We will be returning to the Yard Goats at
Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford on Saturday August
29th at 6pm! Rides available for those who don’t
wish to drive! I’ve got 30 seats reserved. Sign up
sheet will be out for names and head counts beginning
Sunday February 2nd. Tickets are $12.00 each. De-
posit of $5.00 to hold spots. Please see me if you have
questions! We had a great time last year!
Thank you- Kim Dickson 413-374-3247 call or text
anytime.
B i r t h d a y s a n d A n n i v e r s a r i e s
March Birthdays
March Anniversaries
March None
I n a n d A r o u n d T h e C h u r c h
At the annual meeting, Bill Gowdy, Peg Eken-
barger, and Kathy Ladr were elected to a new two-
year term joining Linda Sprague, Don Sanger, and Sue
Briggs. Kathy will remain chairperson of the commit-
tee. Deacons have been assigned for the month of Feb-
ruary and first two weeks of March. We will have a
meeting on March 10 at 3:00. We have a great group
with people always willing to help and fill in as neces-
sary.
some special events. There will be a Lenten Bible
Study led by Pastor Brian after church on books that
did not make it into the Bible. Ex. The books of Mary,
Judas, Phillip. This is open to all who are interested.
This year, we will be having a Maundy Thursday
Service here at our church. It will be held on April 9.
Watch for more details as we get closer to April.
Every year, we like to beautify the sanctuary on
Easter Sunday with spring flowers. If you would like
to bring in a plant or two on Easter and dedicate it in
honor or memory of a loved one please see Kathy
Ladr. We must have the information by April 5 in or-
der to get it into the Easter bulletin.
We are saddened by the passing of our long-time
member Alice Webb. A Memorial Service for Alice
was held on February 22 here at church. It was a
lovely tribute to her life and all the contributions she
made to others. Thank you to all who helped with ser-
vice and reception.
Our Hearts and Prayers reach out to our Brothers
and Sisters who have various needs and struggles:
...continued recovery for Ethan … neighbor Tina fac-
ing health issues … Steve and Linda facing health is-
sues … Kent Bahler suffering from traumatic brain
injury … for good health for grandson James and Mar-
cus … the Titus family … Andy, Desiree and Saman-
tha, Dane and Mary and Robin … Cindy … Shihrley
and Cindy … Al … healing for all suffering from flu
and coronavirus … good health for all healthcare
workers attending to patients … love and support for
those afflicted with substance abuse and mental ill-
ness ...Dave Brozek … Judy, John, the Kellems,
Yelfkos and Roger … the Leone’s and Laguex’s for a
successful surrogate birth … Kristina suffering ex-
treme joint pain … Pastor Brian for a full recovery
from back surgery … my family and my health, my
job and a place to live here in Stafford Springs, peace
in my mind and peace with my employer, favor from
God and man.
State, his first choice … this congregation.
S T . P A T R I C K ' S D A Y B R E A K F A S T
On March 15th, after worship, we are going to have a
potluck breakfast! Please sign up if you would like to
bring a dish. Feel free to bring a friend or two, and sign
up with how many you are bringing."
P a i n t i n g P a r t y
After the great success last year, we will again
paint with Danielle June, owner of Junebug Creations!
Dannielle will help us create a painting of a spring flo-
ral arrangement. The cost is $25 which covers all re-
quired supplies. Please sign up in advance so Danielle
will know how many supplies to bring. We had a blast
last year so we expect to have a great time again. If
you have any ideas for future activities, please see
Sarah Roman-Greaves or me. We’re open to any and
all and we welcome anyone who might want to organ-
ize an activity!
June 21, 2020 Brookside Service (Tentative Date)
June 25-28, 2020 Spring Rest Stop (Tentative
Date)
August 9, 2020 Sun Valley Service (Tentative
Date)
Date)
September 25-26, 2020 Fall Flea Market
D a t e s t o R e m e m b e r
T r u s t e e s
Hello all. As I type this I feel Spring beaming in
through the window. I already see green poking out of
my mother-in-laws plant beds. Not a bad winter at all.
Due to a very minimal amount of snow we are all
rested for everything we have coming up! I will plan a
work day sometime in April or May before the first
Flea Market, date TBD. Ryan Hoefle will be putting
down mulch and planting a variety of plants in our
garden beds for his Eagle Scout Project. He will do the
labor for free, and be reimbursed for materials. With
mowing season right around the corner, myself and
Ken will continue to mow the lawn this year. Lastly,
on March 1st we will be voting on the Trustees to ask
for an amount not to exceed 16,000.00 to replace our
church roof. The vote will be directly following the
service. The work pending a vote will be done by
Scott's Karpentry who has done a lot of work for us
before including our church barn roof. He gave us a
very fair estimate, and we look forward to the discus-
sion and vote, so please be there if you can. We will
be extending our Capital Campaign for another year to
help pay for the roof. Thank you.
Respectfully,
One Great Hour of Sharing offering will be col-
lected on March 15th and 22nd. These donations will
be used to help people all around the world.
The Safe Net envelopes will be placed in the pews
on the 5th Sunday of March, the 29th. Monies col-
lected will be used by SafeNet to purchase food, pen-
nies on the dollar from Connecticut Food Share, to be
distributed to the many people in our community who
are in need of this vital mission.
I spoke with Jen at Stafford Human Services and
she was excited to hear that we would like to offer
Easter dinner food boxes again this year. So, look for
the food tags on the coffee counter and take which
ever ones you would like. We will place the NIN jar
on the counter also, to help with the purchase of the
hams. Please bring the food items to church on or be-
fore Palm Sunday, April 5th for delivery.
I asked Jen if there is a special need at this time.
She said that clients could use feminine products (such
as tampons and sanitary napkins) since the state EBT
card (food stamps) does not cover the cost of those
items. If you think of this special needs offering while
at the store, please place the items purchased in the
large basket in the Narthex. Thank you all very much.
Linda, Kim, Jan and Lisa
C h u r c h C o u n c i l
We had a very productive annual meeting and the
hard work that Don Sanger did, amending the Church
Constitution in order to make it less burdensome and
to facilitate changes that a committee must make to
stay current and viable is very much appreciated.
These changes will eliminate the need to have special
meetings. The amended Constitution was voted on at
the annual meeting in February and was accepted by
the congregation. My thanks to Don for his hard work
and dedication.
The January Council meeting was a busy one. We
had our usual business to take care of but we also had
some new issues to discuss, there have been two new
ad hoc committees formed. The first is a Safety Com-
mittee . This committee was formed after a discussion
about what do we do if we have a situation where
someone enters the church to do us harm. This discus-
sion came up after acts of violence have been perpe-
trated on houses of worship. The committee is contact-
ing our local Police Department in order to get some
information and input into how to secure ourselves
from danger. More on this as we get more info. We
also have a committee that will serve as a community
outreach committee. This group will try to mesh the
needs and happenings of the town and other churches
with our congregation in order to help with issues and
functions in the community.
comments and input.
Bruce Ladr
F i n a n c i a l S e c r e t a r y
I have been asked by some people about pledge
envelopes. We have not purchased these in a long
time. We have asked people to either write a check or
if you prefer to pay your pledge in cash please put
your cash in an envelope and put your name on the
outside. If you need blank envelopes let me know.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Janice Gowdy
Mr. Greene (Ralph) has an interesting history him-
self. He grew up in Stafford and attended Sunday
school at West Stafford Congregational Church. Later,
when Dale Reed was our pastor, he filled in at the pul-
pit one summer and ended up sticking with preaching
as a career. Ralph later joined a young adult group at
Staffordville Church, where he connected with Dr.
Roland Heacock. Dr. Heacock was one of the first
black pastors to serve an all white church at the time.
Ralph went with Dr. Heacock to hear Martin Luther
King Jr. speak. He later came back to be the pastor at
Staffordville Congregational. He currently pastors a
church in Whitneyville, Maine.
For now, our story ends here- To Be Continued at a
later date.
-Sarah Roman GreavesHistorian"
O u t r e a c h C o m m i t t e e Do you want to help us foster a sense of commu-
nity among our church family and with our town? Are
you creative, and willing to work as a team? Are you
willing to talk about faith and our church's mission
with others, or show our mission in action? We are
piloting an outreach committee, to do the following:
- Come up with creative ways to engage our church
members and the community
us
members
greaves@aol.com.
This year's Earth Day celebration will take place on
April 18th, from 10-1 at Dennis Pond. Pot-a-plant will
be our station. Kids and adults alike may pot a plant to
bring home. Please stop by to see us! And say an extra
prayer for us, that it doesn't rain this year, even though
'April showers bring May flowers'.