In our Church this Sunday,March 1, 2020

The First Sunday in Lentand Holy Communion

10:00 a.m. Servicein the sanctuary

Message by

Rev Paige Besse-Rankin

Choosing Wilderness Times

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7:16-21;Matthew 4:1-11

Ministry of MusicFirst Parish Choir; Emily Grondin, violin:

Prayer of Peace Earlene RentzJeannie Goodwin and Jackie Young, piano duet:O Worship the King/Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

arr Weekley and Arganbright

All are invited to a time of Fellowship and Refreshmentsfollowing the service.

Child care is available during the service.

In Steeple Chatthis week:

*Sunday School*Adult Class

*OGHS*Hands-On Lent*Church Supper

*Book Club*What Does this

Mean?*Deacons Bench

*Craft Group*Fellowship Hour

https://www.firstparishdover.org/https://www.firstparishdover.org/

*Prayer List*Horton Center

*Audio Recordings*Day of Service

*Thrift Shop*Stephen Ministry

In Our Sunday SchoolSunday, March 1 schedule:

New Testaments Sunday SchoolClass will meet at 9:00 a.m.

First Kids Gathering thisSunday at 9:30!

We will meet in the Nazareth Hallfor Welcome and Announcements,followed by our Sunday Schoolclasses.

Adult Sunday SchoolWe will meet this Sunday, March 1.What's next? We'll return to theregular Seasons of the Spirit materialthat follows the Biblelectionary selections for each Sunday.For this Sunday, the theme is: OneVoice, One Choice

Click here for this week's study guide: OneVoiceOneChoice

Please grab some coffee in the Atrium and join us downstairs in room 8at 8:50 AM!

One Great Hour of Sharing: March 2020 One spiritual practice we invite everyone toparticipate in this year is the use of a givingcalendar. Containers and calendars will bedistributed in worship TODAY to help us thinkabout those in need around the world. ThroughOGHS, our church reaches people who sufferfrom emergencies, chronic poverty, and

violence worldwide.

Hands-On Lent—beginning Thursday,March 5.

Dinner, Devotions & Explorations--Thursdays at 5:30

You are invited to join us for a light supper, a shortvespers service, and activities for all ages toexplore the Lenten gospels. Hands on Lent will beoffered March 5, 12, 19, 26, and April 2.

Come as you are available—once or every week. Allare welcome.

https://files.constantcontact.com/2da81427401/f1f1f94f-88e0-4e9e-be6a-c6ba2726f601.pdf

The next Book Club meeting is onWednesday March 11th from 6:30-8 pm atAdelle's Coffee House in Dover, in the backroom.

The next book that we're reading isThe Autobiography of God by JuliusLester. All are welcome to the conversation,please join us!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101773.The_Autobiography_of_God

Please contact Ingrid Roeder with any questionsIngridFPCDover@gmail.com

What does this mean? Lenten QuestionsThe Gospel stories in this Lenten cycle arefilled with encounters with Jesus and lots ofquestions. Nicodemus asking “what does itmean to be born anew?” and the woman at thewell asking how Jesus can give her living waterwithout a bucket, the man who was blind andhis community asking whose fault it was, andMary and Martha asking why Jesus wasn’t

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101773.The_Autobiography_of_Godmailto:IngridFPCDover@gmail.com

there when Lazarus died. Even Jesus hasquestions to ask both his followers and God. Inthis Lenten season we will sit with some ofthese questions and create space for our ownquestions. We will ponder with our Lentenartist “What does this mean?” and perhapseven move beyond to “How?”

Many thanks go to Nancy Prue forconceiving and constructing the Deacon’s“puzzle” that debuted at the Ministries Fair;and thanks also, to those who stopped byand helped solve it! If you missed seeing ourpuzzle, which showcased the manyactivities that deacons are involved in,check it out on the Fellowship Hall bulletinboard.We also extend our thanks to Gary Munsonfor his dedicated leadership of First Parish’svisitation ministry. Gary met with the boardrecently and shared how he and his team of

volunteer visitors help maintain a connection with our homebound parishioners.We are deeply grateful for the work of this very important ministry.

The Lenten season is upon us, and the board of deacons has enthusiasticallyendorsed some exciting plans that have been conceived by the ad hoc Lentenworship committee. This group of volunteers will transform our sanctuaryaround the theme “What does this mean?” Additionally, we are trying out somedifferent formats for Ash Wednesday and Tenebrae services that we hope willenhance your Lenten experience.

With the return of the Recording Ministry, CD’s of Sunday morning services arenow available by request. The deacons ask that those who are offering up joysand concerns during prayer time please use the microphone when approachedby a deacon. This will not only allow those with hearing devices to hear yourrequests, but will also greatly improve the quality of our recordings.We rejoice with the newly baptized and eagerly await the welcoming of our nextgroup of new members into First Parish on March 8!

Bonnie Marshall, Deacon Co-Chair

First Parish Church Craft GroupDid you know that FPC has a Craft Groupthat meets every Tuesday morning from9:00 - 11:00 in Fellowship Hall? Bring aproject to work on, either personal or forthe Christmas Fair, and joinus! On occasional Tuesdays, some even goout to lunch.The snowflake box remains on the table,outside of the church office, where used greeting cards (of any occasion) can beplaced. Please note that to make "love boxes" both front & back of old cards areneeded. To/From gift tags will also be upcycled this year from used carddonations.

We are collecting clean out-grown cotton t-shirts (all sizes) to make dog toys. T-shirts can be put in the blue peace box underneath the table, outside of thechurch office, for this new craft project.

Our congregation isoverflowing withparishioners whounderstand theimportance of gatheringafter our Sunday Service tochat, to care for eachother, and to celebrate ourfaith. We are now seekingvolunteers for MarchFellowship Hour goodies.If you are already in ourFellowship HourVolunteer system, you will

receive a message in the next few days; simply click on the link to submit yourcontribution.

If you are not yet part of our Fellowship Hour email list, you can join bysubmitting your information at:https://fpcdover.breezechms.com/form/5d8b3e You will then receivethe Fellowship Hour Volunteer signup message that’s sent out once each month.Or, you can sign up in the First Parish volunteer notebook.

Let’s keep our celebration going …. won’t you please consider providing bakedgoods or fresh fruit one Sunday in February?

Please contact me if you have any questions –Joyce Tugel, Fellowship Hour Coordinatorjtugel@gmail.com

Our Prayer List is published weekly as a"click through" link in Steeple Chat.

The Prayer list is also available in hardcopies at the church on the bulletin boardsnear the office and on the table in thenarthex.

If you have prayer concerns that should beincluded in our weekly listings, pleasecontact the church office at 742-5664 or byemail at: firstparish@comcast.net.

For the latest Prayer List, click here Prayer List.

Horton CenterSummer Camps!Details on the scheduleand exciting plans forsummer 2020 at ourown New HampshireUCC camp are nowavailable.Click here for theHorton Center website:Horton Center

Worship Service Audio Recordings

Each week, we record the audio portion of ourSunday services. These recordings are nowavailable as mp3 files through our Basecampsoftware program.

If you do not already have access to Basecamp,you may register by filling in the registrationform posted on the Breeze program Here is the link to sign-up:

https://fpcdover.breezechms.com/form/5d8b3ehttps://files.constantcontact.com/2da81427401/5177f55b-d6cc-46c2-9bd0-73b24717a0a9.pdfhttps://hortoncenter.org/

https://fpcdover.breezechms.com/form/55811a

When you get to the Basecamp homepage, scroll down to the Projectssection and click on "Worship Recordings".

Community Service Day-FOLLOW UP DETAILSMission and Action’s Community Service Day sign-upwas a grand success. Among the five projects, there issomething for everyone. Here are the projects andcontact info about the leaders. Give one of the leaders acall if you want to volunteer.Food Pantry/Thrift Shop Deep Clean: Erin Penderreports five volunteers. You can reach Erin atPender66erin@gmail.com or at 603-969-9928.Homeless Camp Clean-Up: We are working withSarah Jones of Strafford County Community ActionPartnership to set dates for training and for the project,probably in April. We have eight volunteersinterested. You can reach Don Goodnow atDDGoodnow@gmail.com or at 603-953-4500.My Friend’s Place Basement Reorganizing: Five volunteers plan to workWednesday February 22 from 12 Noon to 2:00 p.m. You can reach Ann Drysdaleat AEDrysdale@sbcglobal.net or at 216-410-8685.Plarn Mats: Thirteen people have volunteered to meet with Paige on SaturdayMarch 14 at 1:00 p.m. to weave plarn mats. This project gets the award for themost volunteers! You can reach Paige at PastorPaigeBR@gmail.com or at 860-387-5546. Freezer Meals: Four volunteers have set a date of Saturday February 29 at1:00 p.m. NOTE TIME CHANGE! You can reach Judy Edwards atZipper65@comcast.net or at 603-978-4789.Thank you to all the volunteers for making service central to our faithcommunity!

Find it at the First Thrift Shop The Thrift Shop is open on Thursdays, 1-4p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

https://fpcdover.breezechms.com/form/55811amailto:Pender66erin@gmail.commailto:DDGoodnow@gmail.commailto:AEDrysdale@sbcglobal.netmailto:PastorPaigeBR@gmail.commailto:Zipper65@comcast.net

First Parish is a Stephen Ministry Church that provides weekly individualand confidential spiritual care for those in need.Please contact one of thefollowing to get connected: Judy Edwards, 603-978-4789 or Dave Dickson, 603-781-9791.

First Parish Church is Open and Affirming,

welcoming all to participate fully in the life of our church family, itsministries, fellowship, leadership, rites and sacraments, regardless of

ability, race, ethnicity, social or economic situation, sexual orientation orgender identity.

See you in church!

First Parish Church Congregational

United Church of Christ218 Central AveDover, New Hampshire 03820(603) 742-5664Visit our website: www.firstparishdover.org

http://www.firstparishdover.org