Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion, April 2

10:30 a.m. Worship with Communion

We immerse ourselves into Matthew’s telling of the last days of Jesus’ life beginning with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and journeying to the cross.

Maundy Thursday, April 6

6:30 p.m. Worship with Communion

We will hear two stories: Jesus anointed at Bethany and the Last Supper This worship service will include a time for anointing, Holy Communion, and the stripping of the Altar as well as music from our Choir.

Good Friday, April 7

6:30 p.m. Worship

Our Friday Worship is a service of lessons and hymns new to us this year. It will pair readings from elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel with readings from the Passion narrative. Each pair of texts will sit in tension with the other—one reminding us of Jesus’ Way as the other shows the way to the cross.

The Great Vigil of Easter, April 8

8:00 p.m. St. Margarets’ Episcopal Church, Belfast, hosts this Ecumenical worship service which begins in darkness with the new fire and brings us to the glorious resurrection of Christ.

Easter Sunday, April 9

Easter Sunrise Service

6:00 a.m., Glen Cove Park on Rt. 1, Rockport

Festive Worship Service

10:30 a.m. with Holy Communion

We celebrate the resurrection of Christ with praise, proclamation, and MUSIC!

“You think winter will never end, and then, when you don’t expect it, when you have almost forgotten it, warmth comes and a different light.” ~Wendell Berry

There are about three weeks out of the year living in Maine that feel a bit like torture to me. It’s not the darkness of the shortest days of the year and it’s not the frigid cold that sometimes comes in January or February. I like winter (at least for a while). It’s this in-between winter and spring time. This time when we get teased with sunny days and maybe a day when the temp goes to 50 and then you wake up to snow on the ground and windchills below 20 and even though the crocuses are poking out of the ground you can’t help but wonder if spring will evvvver come. It’s the time we are in right now as March ends and the first few weeks of April arrive.

The women who went to the tomb that very first Easter may have felt they would never again feel the warmth that Jesus brought to the world, would never again see the bright light. His death had no doubt plunged them into the darkness life can bring. I wonder did they feel the warmth of the sun as they arrived and feel some inkling of hope? As they realized the stone had been moved and the tomb was empty did the morning sky brighten and did the future look less dim?

The writer of 1st John writes:

“This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you:

God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another”

--(1 John 1:5-7a, The Message)

Sometimes we can almost forget God’s love for us. But just like the rhythms of the created world move from winter to spring, the rhythms of the church year bring us form darkness to light. Lent ends and Easter begins, bringing warmth and light to our lives as Christians. Warmth and light brings rebirth and growth. Hope.

I pray you feel God’s light and the blessings of spring.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Anderson

Saturday, April 1

10:00 AM - Al-Anon Family Group Meeting

Sunday, April 2 - Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion

9:00 AM - Choir rehearsal

10:30 AM - Worship in-person and online

Assistant: Kim Murphy

Altar Care and Flowers: Donna Perry

Monday, April 3

7:00 PM Men’s Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting

Tuesday, April 4

9:30 - 11:00 AM Out of Office Hours

Thursday, April 6 - Maundy Thursday

8:00 AM - Morning Prayer, via Zoom

6:30 PM - Worship Service in person and online

Note: If you plan to join us via zoom you can look for the weeknight links (or meeting numbers) in your email early this week.

Friday, April 7 - Good Friday

6:30 PM - Worship Service in person and online

Note: If you plan to join us via zoom you can look for the weeknight links (or meeting numbers) in your email early this week.

Saturday, April 8

10:00 AM - Al-Anon Family Group Meeting

8:00 PM - The Great Vigil of Easter at St. Margarets’ Episcopal Church, Belfast

Sunday, April 9 - Easter Sunday

6:00 AM - Sunrise Service at Glen Cove Park on Rt. 1, Rockport (in person only)

9:00 AM - Choir rehearsal

10:30 AM - Worship in-person and online

The Easter morning link will be the regular Sunday link/meeting number.

Assistant: Marty Taylor

Altar Care: Donna Perry

Monday, April 10

Pastoral Assessment observations due to Ted Long (see article below)

7:00 PM - Men’s Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting

Tuesday, April 11

9:30 - 11:00 AM - Out of Office Hours

Thursday, April 13

8:00 AM - Morning Prayer, via Zoom

Saturday, April 15

10:00 AM Al-Anon Family Group Meeting

Sunday, April 16

9:00 AM - Choir rehearsal

10:30 AM - Worship in-person and online

Assistant: Kim Murphy Altar Care: Donna Perry

Monday, April 17

7:00 PM Men’s Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting

Tuesday, April 18

9:30 - 11:00 AM Out of Office Hours

Thursday, April 20

8:00 AM - Morning Prayer, via Zoom

Saturday, April 22 - Earth Day

10:00 AM Al-Anon Family Group Meeting

Sunday, April 23

9:00 AM - Choir rehearsal

10:30 AM - Worship in-person and online

Assistant: Betty Long Altar Care: Donna Perry

Monday, April 24

7:00 PM Men’s Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting

Tuesday, April 25

9:30 - 11:00 AM Out of Office Hours

Thursday, April 27

8:00 AM - Morning Prayer, via Zoom

Saturday, April 29

10:00 AM Al-Anon Family Group Meeting

Sunday, April 30

9:00 AM - Choir rehearsal

10:30 AM - Worship in-person and online

Assistant: Ted Long Altar Care: Donna Perry

Note

For midweek prayer via zoom - there is a separate Zoom link. Email Pastor at office@nativityrockport.org if you would like the zoom link.

Please also email Pastor if you do not have the Sunday or Jazz Vespers Zoom link.

At the Legislative Advocacy Orientation and Action Session held after worship on March 12th we reviewed the basics of advocating for bills that support our goal of caring for God’s amazing creation. Since then, some of us have attended the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s (NRCM) webinar on the bottle bills coming up before the Maine State Legislature. You can watch the webinar here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXCMujYV3CQ

From the NRCM website: “Maine’s Bottle Bill is our most successful recycling and litter prevention program. Unfortunately, the local redemption centers that are key to its success are struggling due to inflation and labor shortages. NRCM is encouraging lawmakers to pass two bills that will help redemption centers stay in business and ensure that Mainers have places to redeem their bottles and cans.”

The bottle bills are not just about redeeming the 5- or 15-cent deposit we paid at the point of purchase. They are also about litter prevention. Imagine Maine without enough redemption centers. A percentage of redeemable bottles would be strewn along our highways, waterways, and in our parks.

This article, https://www.wmtw.com/article/dozens-of-maine-bottle-redemption-centers-close-amid-pandemic-inflation/40862788 published in August, 2022, tells us: “According to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the number of active redemption center licenses fell from 374 at the end of 2019 to 328 last month.” That’s a reduction of about 14% by last July, and likely more by now. The article goes on to say that central Maine is the area most affected.

You can read more about the bills here: https://www.nrcm.org/programs/sustainability/recycling-product-stewardship/maines-bottle-bill/

And here: https://www.nrcm.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-bottle-bills-facts.pdf

The bills have not been printed yet, but when they are, you can track them here: https://www.nrcm.org/programs/state-house/legislative-bill-tracking/

Please let your legislative delegates know how you want them to vote on these bills. You can look up contact information for your legislators here: https://nrcm.salsalabs.org/mainelegislatorlookup/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=0dc9fa2a-5aad-424c-9a7a-b128e513c9bd

ELCA Advocacy. As Lutherans we are very fortunate to have the ELCA advocating for humanitarian issues nationally and globally. Their website provides form letters that you can personalize. When you enter your name and address, the site automatically sends your letter to your Congressional delegates – senators and representative. Please take a look and see if there is an issue you would like to support. https://support.elca.org/site/SPageNavigator/elca_action_center.html?NONCE_TOKEN=8C2F151875E53FCD9C1DEED4BFBC8AC5

One of the Congregation Council’s annual responsibilities is to help the pastor “evaluate the fulfillment of her calling” in her ministry here at Nativity. In our process, led by a 3-person committee (this year: Ted Long, Judy Pelletier and Sue Ann Moore), both the pastor and congregation provide observations regarding how the pastor’s ministry has gone in the past year. The committee will then offer feedback to help her strengthen her performance as pastor and set goals for the year ahead.

I am writing to invite you to provide any observations you wish about Pastor Anderson’s ministry to the committee. In particular, we seek observations regarding the following:

• Meaningful accomplishments of the past year or so,

• Significant strengths of Pastor Anderson’s ministry,

• Areas where she could strengthen her performance, and

• Pastoral goals you think would be important for the coming year.

Please submit your thoughts in writing to Ted Long no later than Monday, April 10. Your observations will be treated confidentially, and we will not identify anyone with specific comments or observations. Ted’s Contact information is listed below.

To be clear, this purpose of this process is developmental and formative, to assist Pastor Anderson in making her ministry among us as impactful and fulfilling as possible. It is not to evaluate her call or employment status or to determine her salary increase for the coming year. We carry out this process in a spirit of appreciation for her ministry and with a view toward supporting her in extending and enhancing her effectiveness.

We very much look forward to hearing from you by April 10.

Ted Long

23 Acadia Drive

Rockland, ME 04841

longte1507@gmail.com

We spent part of the beautiful afternoon this week looking for brown tail moth caterpillar nests in the trees around the church yard.

As most of you know, these caterpillars emerge in the spring and eat the leaves on trees. Worse, the hairs on them are very irritant, as one of our mowers can, unfortunately confirm! So in the past couple of years, we have tried to get rid of the nests to help control the infestation. We are not experts but we look up into the trees and if we see suspicious leaves curled up, we cut them down and burn them. At this time of year there are no creep-crawlies in the nests, just eggs. The white cocoons are sometime very evident, as you can see in one of the pictures. We almost certainly didn’t get all of the nests.

In another couple weeks we will take another look. Once the eggs hatch, the nest bulge out with caterpillars and are easier to spot. At that point, it is important to get them before they emerge and start eating the leaves.

We can always use another pair of eyes for this. If you have the time and want of help just contact one of us and we will coordinate with you.

Ann and Fred Walker

6 - Bruce Meyer

10 - Judy Pelletier

13 - Carl Anton

14 - Martha Meyer

16 - Kyle Waters

27 - Tina Huntley

3-17-23

Dear Pastor Wendy and the members of Nativity Lutheran,

The members of The Monday Club join me in expressing our gratitude to Nativity Lutheran Church for the opportunity to hold our meetings in your Fellowship Hall.

Like so may organizations, we were anxious to get back to meeting in person. As our membership consists of many who are over 65, there was reluctance to resume meeting in the confined spaces of members' homes. Nativity Lutheran made it possible to return to "normal."

When we moved to meeting in your sanctuary, many members remarked on the warm feeling and beauty of the space.

Again, our thanks to you and the congregation.

With warm regards,

Esther Sexton

Secretary

• The Pastor’s Discretionary Fund: Please remember that an extra $5 or $10 each month may make a huge difference to a family in need! Please indicate any additional donations as "Pastor's Discretionary" when you mail in your monthly offering.
• Don't forget: One simple way to help care for creation is to download the weekly bulletin onto your smart phone or tablet and then bring that device to worship or use it when you zoom at home saving paper and resources. Need help figuring that out? Call Pastor for Android help or Denise Stadler for Apple help.
  
• Your aluminum pop tabs can help keep families with sick children close to each other and the care and resources they need. Look for the paper bag on the Social Ministry bulletin board in the Narthex. Place your tabs in the bag and take your container home and fill it again! The tabs are donated to the Ronald McDonald House.
  

A Note from your editor, Kim Murphy

Reminder - send articles and photos by the 15th of each month.

Email kmusicorama@gmail.com

Photos this month: Pastor Anderson, Elaine Isakson, Fred Walker, Kim Murphy, internet resources

Rev. Wendy J. Anderson

Sunday Worship (Sept -May) 10:30 AM

Summer Sunday Worship (June - August) 9:30 AM

Email: office@nativityrockport.org
Website: www.nativityrockport.org
Location: 179 Old County Rd, Rockport, ME, United States
Phone: 207-594-4665
Facebook: facebook.com/nativitylutheranchurch.rockport.maine