NEW! Snow Closure Policy

Church Gatherings Happening Every Week:

Choir Rehearsal~~Every Wednesday at 6:30 PM in the Church Dining Room
Loose Ends~~Sewing and Support Group meets every Thursday from 2 to 4 PM in the Church Dining Room.  All welcome for a time of sewing, knitting, drinking tea and sharing fellowship.
Fridays at Four Writing Group meets every Friday at 4 PM in the Church Dining Room. 

Announcements

FELLOWSHIP HOUR FOOD~~The following is line-up for folks to bring goodies for Coffee Hour.  The calendar goes by last name. Thank you for contributing to our famous Coffee Hour after church each Sunday:  When it is your week to bring food, you also help set up and clean up.  Thank you Mar 7: H, I, J, K~~Mar 14: L, M, N, O~~Mar 21: P, Q, R, S~~ Mar 28: T, U, V, W, X, Y Z

NEWS FROM THE CHURCH STORY CORPS PROJECT~~TODAY following our worship service, the Story Corps coordinating team is going to do a group interview and recording with the "HCChurch Saints."  All the "Saints" are invited to join us in the Sanctuary. We will provide snacks so we can begin right after the service. We will continue to schedule individual interviews but our goal for the group session is to generate an interactive dialogue building on the generations of experiences in HCC.

ORGAN CONCERT~~Pastor Andrea gave a dozen people tickets to sell for the big Organ Concert on March 13th.  Please give Andrea the money for those tickets OR the tickets back if you have not sold them!  We are trying to sell 100 tickets @ $10 each to make $1000 for our Capital Campaign.  This will be a WONDERFUL concert, Matt is an extraordinary artist.  Please everyone come and bring friends!!!!!!

EASTER SUNDAY~~Our Worship Service on Easter Sunday will be filled with color, song, flowers AND Coni Gilman-Solomon's Baptism as well as Communion. There will not be any Children's Church that day, all children are invited to remain in Church for the entire service.  Parents can decide if they want to bring their children up for Communion (which will be by Intinction). Please bring a single stem flower (any kind) to transform our wooden and wire cross into a thing a beauty.  We invite you to come forward to the wooden cross during our Prelude and weave your flower into the wire to make the cross filled with color and beauty.

ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING~~The Deacons have decided that our Church will again-continuing our tradition from the past-be participating in the UCC One Great Hour of Sharing Special Mission Offering.  That special collection will be taken NEXT SUNDAY!

Do Not Forget Haiti!  The crisis in Haiti may have fallen off page 1 of most newspapers, but as people of faith we are not forgetting our sisters and brothers and the crisis they are facing and will face for years and years to come.  Please continue to pray for the Haitian people, young and old, and continue, when you can, to send contributions to MACUCC or Church World Service.   Both found on the web, or Pastor Andrea has addresses.  Thank you.

BIBLE BASKET!  Gift Bibles to you from the HCChurch Ladies Aid!  Help yourself!

The Church is on Facebook!  Search "Haydenville Congregational Church" and click on "become a fan."  We are also on Twitter!  Follow us at http://twitter.com/HaydenvilleUCC

A NOTE ABOUT CHURCH SUMMER CAMP AND SCHOLARSHIP MONEY!  There is a form attached to these announcements, please let us know if you NEED scholarship money to attend the Craigville Summer Camp in August OR if you can DONATE money to help someone or a family attend camp.  If you need scholarship money, please let us know if you can contribute any amount toward the cost of Craigville.  Thank you!

BE COOL, BE HIP, BE EVER-SO-CURRENT~~Donate to our Capital Campaign on the Church website, there is a secure link and we are eager to have people donate to the Campaign ON LINE! 

A Message from Deb Edwards~~The Angel Take Out list of cooks has dwindled down to 4 people. It is not fair for me to be calling these same people to be Angels for people who are in need. If you are currently on my list or can help out please sign the list in the dining room. Please include your name, home phone, cell phone, and what days are best for you to arrange a meal for someone. Thank you for your kindness.

NEWS ABOUT CHURCH SUMMER CAMP ON CAPE COD August 2010 There is still time to join us for our Summer Camp Retreat to be held at the Craigville Conference Center from Aug. 20-23.  Please join us for what promises to be a wonderful, exciting few days together on the Cape!  The $35 registration fee and the second payment (50% of your remaining balance) must be received by March 14th in order to secure your place.  For example, if you owe $281 for one adult to attend, and you paid your $35 to hold your slot, your balance due is $246.  You owe 50% of that, or $123 by March 14th, with the rest due by June 1.  Please note these dates because we have to send money to Craigville in these staggered payments to hold our spots! Please see Carolyn du Bois for registration forms and payment info and remember to make your checks payable to the Haydenville Congregational Church.

Pure Euphoria: Soups, Songs, Stories & Pottery~~A post-fire benefit for the West Cummington Congregational Church Monday, March 22, 6 -8 PM Haydenville, MA: Bread Euphoria presents on Monday, March 22, from 6-8 PM:   Pure Euphoria: Soups, Songs, Stories & Pots~~This is a one time, wild time benefit at the Bread Euphoria Cafe in Haydenville for the church in West Cummington whose building burned to the ground in January. Everyone, living anywhere, is cordially invited to the party. Kids included! They will have soups, breads, salads and cookies. We will have four extraordinary storytellers: Rochelle Wildfong, Stephen Philbrick, Penny Schultz and Gene Flores, music from the Karen Simon-Bob Lovell Duo and the Prism Chamber Singers and pottery to raffle. The food will be free. They will pass the hat for the burned-down church. Raffle tickets ($1 each) will be on sale in advance at the Bread Euphoria Cafe.

Church Members and Friends: Would you like to be a Greeter some Sunday? Please contact Jo Cannon.  Like to be an Usher?  Please contact Robert Davis.   Like to Read Scripture?  Please contact Lisa Hall.  We welcome your leadership!  Also if you need to schedule the use of the Church Dining Room/Kitchen or Sanctuary, please contact Church Scheduler Kate Davidheiser.

Lovely Thank You Note~~Lisa Kautz's dear friends Ellen and Sarah had a house fire last week (in Williamsburg) and turned to our Lisa for support.  They ended up moving in with Lisa for a little while.  Our Church responded by sending Ellen and Sarah two grocery Gift Cards.  We received a lovely thank you note from them saying how much the support means to them!  They wrote: "It was a kind and useful gesture during a time of great turmoil and stress for us."

Please remember to bring FOOD FOR THE SURVIVAL CENTER and place in the big basket on the table in the Dining Room of the Church.  We welcome your items, thank you! 

THE HIDDEN DANGER OF FRAGRANCES~~As our Church continues to work on our commitment to reduce fragrances in our Church and be a safe, welcoming place to those with chemical sensitivities, we have a new brochure to share with everyone that can help us learn and do more on this issue.  "The Hidden Danger of Fragrances," covers: Fragrance Facts, What's in a Smell?, Symptoms and Health Effects, Products to Watch Out For, and Accessibility Issues. Please help yourself to one of these brochures found on the welcome table in the Dining Room.

TRAFFIC SAFETY~~In the interest of traffic safety, the Board of Trustees has asked that we not park right next to the intersection of High Street and Route 9 but leave two car lengths open on both sides of High Street. This will give drivers better visibility as they turn into or pull out of High Street. Meanwhile, there is plenty of safe parking on the other side of Route 9. Thank you.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE HOME A NEW BOARD GAME TO PLAY WITH FOR A WEEK OR SO? The church owns a big stack of games that YOU can sign out and take home to enjoy for a week or two!  The stack is on a table in the hallway upstairs outside of Children's Church.  Feel free to go upstairs, look over the games and sign out the ones you want to borrow on the clipboard there!

A CHURCH TRANSFORMED~~Our former Yale Divinity School Intern Jeannine Oakes made a film of our church called "A Church Transformed."  We have DVDs of the film for you to borrow.  If you would like to "sign out" a copy to watch at home, please see Church Librarians  Annie Warner or Paula Spencer-they have the notebooks for you to sign out a DVD and then return it in a week. 

The Ladies Aid is distributing toiletries, socks and underwear to our homeless brothers and sisters at Safe Passage and Grove Street Inn. Questions/money should be directed to Kate Davidheiser. The items needed include: towels (new or used), washcloths, ivory soap, hair brushes, deodorants, shampoos/conditioners, feminine hygiene items, socks (men, women, children), underwear (men, women, children), diapers, tissues, hand sanitizer, body lotions, hand cream, paper towels, shaving cream.  We have a collection site set up in the Dining Room to take your donations OR you can give us money and we will shop for the best deals on needed items.