Worship on Sunday, May 8th will begin at our new time, 9:00 am, and will feature scripture from John 17:20-26, read by Perry Fuller, sharing Jesus’ prayer that we may all be one. Rev. Cheryl Meachen’s sermon, entitled “We Are One” will explore the possibilities and the impediments to oneness in Christ. The Children’s Message is “A Jigsaw Puzzle” based on John 17 and will share how people, like jigsaw pieces can be incredibly different yet fit together so beautifully. Marilyn Kugler leads the choir and music. Contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or phone 413-774-6441. The church is located at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall and is handicap-accessible. All are welcome!
0 Comments
Worship on Sunday, April 10th will begin at 8:45 am and will feature scripture from Acts 11:1-18, read by Valerie Snow, telling the story of Peter’s dream of a large sheet with the animals prohibited as food and the voice from heaven saying these things are allowed. Rev. Cheryl Meachen’s sermon, entitled “Breaking down Walls to Build up the Church” will explore the invitation to “not make a distinction between them and us.” The Children’s Message is “Jesus Loves Us All” based on John 13 and will share how Jesus teaches us to love one another and leave no one out. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Beginning Sunday, May 8th we will worship at our new time: 9:00am. Please join us then! Marilyn Kugler leads the choir and music. Contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or phone 413-774-6441. The church is located at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall and is handicap-accessible. All are welcome! Please join us this Thursday, March 24 at 6:00 pm at the Leyden United Methodist Church at 15 West Leyden Road, Leyden for a potluck dinner on Thursday, March 24th that will include informal teaching about the Passover Seder and foot washing associated with Maundy Thursday along with crafty, fun prayer stations to deepen the Lenten journey with spiritual exercises. Worship on Easter Sunday, March 27th will begin at 8:45 am and will feature scripture from Luke 24:1-12, telling the story of Christ’s resurrection. Rev. Cheryl Meachen’s sermon, entitled “He is Risen!” will explore the glorious meaning of Jesus’ conquering death and hatred, atoning us to God-Love once and for all. The Children’s Message is “The Case of the Empty Tomb” also based on Luke 24 and will solve the mystery of the Easter story. There will be a joint sunrise service with the Leyden United Methodist Church at 15 West Leyden Road, Leyden on the Leyden Town Common at 6:30 am, followed by a brunch at that church. Marilyn Kugler leads the choir and music and will accompany Pastor Cheryl singing "Was it a Morning Like This?" Contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or phone 413-774-6441. The church is located at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall and is handicap-accessible. All are welcome! On Friday, March 25, the community will gather at noon in word, prayer, and song to mark Good Friday, the day on which Jesus was crucified. Seven local pastors will each preach on one of Jesus’ last words from the cross, and each of the seven segments will include special music, readings and hymns.
A community massed choir will sing several numbers under the direction of Peter Amidon, with Molly Melloan accompanying on the organ. Worshipers are welcome to come and go during the planned intervals. Singers are invited to join the choir by replying to this post. NOON “Father, Forgive Them: For They Know Not What They Do” The Rev. Susanna Griefen, Dummerston Congregational Church, UCC 12:25 “Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise” Jeff Hiam 12:50 “Woman, Behold Your Son…Behold Your Mother!” The Rev. Cheryl Meachen, First UMC, Brattleboro and Leyden United Methodist Church 1:15 “My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?” The Rev. Susie Webster-Toleno, Congregational Church of Westminster West 1:40 “I Thirst” The Rev. Bert Marshall, Centre congregational Church, UCC 2:05 “It Is Finished” The Rev. Mary Lindquist, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church 2:30 “Father, Into Thy Hands I Commit My Spirit” The Rev. Peggy Yingst, Trinity Lutheran Church, ELCA Guilford Community Church, UCC, is located at 38 Church Dr., Guilford There is ample parking and the sanctuary is handicap accessible. Worship on Sunday, March 20th at 8:45 am will feature scripture from Luke 19:28-40, read by Mary Lou Barton, telling the story of Palm Sunday. Rev. Cheryl Meachen’s sermon, entitled “Hosanna!” will explore the nature of praise and shouting at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem contrasted with the use of those same words in communion liturgy and contemporary worship knowing how the week ended. The Children’s Message is “A Rock Concert” also based on Luke 19 and will teach about how all of creation praises God. There will be a joint service with the Leyden United Methodist Church at 15 West Leyden Road, Leyden with a potluck dinner on Thursday, March 24th at 6pm that will include informal teaching about the Passover Seder and foot washing associated with Maundy Thursday along with crafty, fun prayer stations to deepen the Lenten journey with spiritual exercises. On Friday, March 25th – Good Friday, there will be a joint service at the Brattleboro United Methodist Church presenting a Good Friday drama at 18 Town Crier Drive at 6pm. Easter Sunday, March 27th will start bright and early with a joint sunrise service on the Leyden Town Common at 6:30 am, followed by a brunch at that church. Marilyn Kugler leads the choir and music. Contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or phone 413-774-6441. Find more information at leydenumc.weebly.com. The church is located at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall and is handicap-accessible. All are welcome! Worship on Sunday, March 6th at 8:45 am will feature scripture from Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32, read by Emily Herron-Clark, telling the story of the prodigal son. Rev. Cheryl Meachen’s sermon, entitled “Forgive, Forgiven, Forgiving” will explore Jesus’ story of forgiveness from the standpoints of the son, the father and the brother. The Children’s Message is “He Loves Me” also based on Luke 15:20 and will teach that the unconditional love of God is more certain than picking the petals off a daisy. Marilyn Kugler leads the choir and music. Contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or phone 413-774-6441. The church is located at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall and is handicap-accessible. All are welcome! (as published in the March 2016 issue of Leyden Life) Ash Wednesday was celebrated on February 10th marking the beginning of the season of Lent, patterning Jesus time of temptation in the wilderness. You can read this important story of the Christian heritage in Luke 4:1-13. After not eating for forty days, Jesus is tempted with bread, then power and then safety. All he has to do is worship Satan instead of God and he refuses. Instead, he draws closer to God. That’s the promise this season has for us too, an opportunity to draw nearer to the Creator—the one who calls us beloved. Some people give up chocolate or alcohol or meat for Lent and those are noble sacrifices, especially in line with Jesus’ first temptation, but we are equally as tempted by power and safety. We worry about things we have no power or control over. We worry about our health and unsafe roads. But what does that have to do with being close to God? Sin is the reverse of being close to God. Sin is choosing to turn away from God, to separate from God. When we worry about things--when we fail to trust God, that is sin. God provides for our needs like bread. Luke 12:27 says, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” God is the one who is powerful. In Isaiah 43:1, God says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” God provides our security. Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.” We need not fear or be tempted. We need to trust God. Trust doesn’t come naturally to us. We have to work at it. The season of Lent provides us with opportunities to cultivate trust. Besides fasting from chocolate or alcohol or meat, other spiritual disciplines (or exercises) include prayer, studying scripture, and gathering with others for worship. When we exercise any muscle, it becomes stronger and that’s true of our spiritual lives too. When we exercise trust in God, our trust in God becomes stronger and we are less susceptible to temptation. Throughout the months of February and March, worship at the Leyden church will include opportunities to exercise our spiritual muscles. Join us on Sundays and Maundy Thursday on March 24th at 6pm when we will be invited to sample several prayer and craft activity stations designed to connect the ancient texts to our current lives. Our annual Sunrise Service will be held Easter Sunday, March 27th on the Green at 6:30am, followed by free breakfast in the fellowship hall and then Easter worship at 8:45am. All are welcome! Rev. Cheryl L. Meachen Pastor Cheryl preaches at the Leyden United Methodist Church which holds inspired worship at 8:45 each Sunday morning at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall. Our facilities are handicap accessible and we offer Sunday School during our worship services. Come as you are, there are no fashion police. We welcome everyone to share communion on the first Sunday of each month. After worship every week you are invited to join us in our downstairs fellowship hall for delicious fresh baked goodies and friendly conversation. Worship on Sunday, February 28th at 8:45 am will feature scripture from Luke 13:1-9, read by Gilda Galvis, telling the story of Jesus’ parable about the man whose fig tree hadn’t produced fruit for three years but the gardener suggesting that a little fertilizer and time might help. Rev. Cheryl Meachen’s sermon, entitled “Give it One More Year” will explore how God’s forgiveness and a period of fertilizer can produce lives that bear fruit. The Children’s Message is “God of the Second Chance” also based on Luke 13 and will teach of God’s forgiveness through an example of Thomas Edison's invention of the light bulb. Marilyn Kugler leads the choir and music. Contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or phone 413-774-6441. The church is located at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall and is handicap-accessible. All are welcome! Worship on Sunday, February 21st at 8:45 am will feature scripture from Luke 13:31-35, read by Rita Klaus, telling the story of Herod’s threats to kill Jesus and Jesus lament that Jerusalem kills its prophets and is unwilling to be gathered by Jesus as a hen gathers her brood. Rev. Cheryl Meachen’s sermon, entitled “Gathered Together” will explore the mother hen analogy for Jesus: the security, care and community that entails. The Children’s Message is “The Fox and the Hen” also based on Luke 13 and will teach of Jesus’ crafty protection. Marilyn Kugler leads the choir and music. Contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or phone 413-774-6441. The church is located at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall and is handicap-accessible. All are welcome! |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2016
Categories |