News 04/24/2020

April 24, 2020

Please Note: The church building is currently closed due to the COVID-19 “Safer at Home” quarantine. Weekly worship services are still occurring via YouTube (see below).

Donate online!

On Sunday, April 26th, at 10am, click here for our Worship Service.

In case you missed it: 

Click here for the April 19th Sunday Worship Service 

Click here for the April 12th Easter Sunday Service 

Click here for the April 5th Palm Sunday Service  

JESUS, THE STRANGER, GUEST AND HOST

Luke 24:13-35

Pope Francis stirred up the Roman Catholic Church a few years ago with a comment that gained particular attention around making the church “the home of all.” In a recent interview, he talked about proclamation and Christian hospitality. “Proclamation … focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things,” he said. “This is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn, as it did for the disciples at Emmaus. It is good the pope mentioned Emmaus, because this is where Jesus came to his disciples as a stranger, as a guest and as a host. Emmaus is where we learn how to welcome one another around a table, and then go out into the world with a proclamation. Emmaus is where we come together and strengthen our bonds with Jesus and with each other. When we practice Christian hospitality, we become part of a mighty spiritual movement — one that can overcome divisions in a terribly polarized world. It all begins when Jesus breaks the bread, our eyes are opened and we recognize him. Let’s talk further on Sunday. — Dave
Come back here on Sunday, April 26th, at 10:00am to watch the service on our YouTube channel by clicking on the icon, below.

REJOICE IN GOD!

WORSHIP FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY OF EASTER

April 26, 2020 – Bulletin

 

Welcome and Announcements

 

Passing of the Peace

 

Prelude

 

Call to Worship (inspired by Acts 2: 14a, 36-24; Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; Luke 24:13-35)

Leader: Travelers on the Way, what shall we do?
People: We shall praise God who hears our prayers, who draws near to us, and brings new life out of death.

Leader: Dear Ones, how shall we live?
People: With the confidence of God’s beloved children,
with security and joy of God’s saving grace.

Leader: Friends old and new, what is the promise?
People: New life, forgiveness of sin, the Spirit as gift!

Leader: Beloved Siblings, how shall we praise?
People: We lift our voices and our hearts in love, thanks, and praise!
We will praise the Lord as long as we live!

 

Unison Prayer of Invocation

Loving God, we welcome your living presence in our midst.
Share our joy and our thanks for the life you give us.
with us! Dance among us! Pray with us!
Shower us with your love! Amen!

 

Prayer of Confession (Luke 24:13-35)

Heavenly Stranger, our Companion on the Way,
we yearn for your love and grace. We seek your wisdom and guidance.
We relish the joy which burns within our hearts when you are with us.
Yet, sometimes we would cling to you,
hoard the blessings of relationship with you,
and not share your love with others.
Forgive us, Dear One.
Remind us that your love is to be carried throughout the world.
Press us to share the hope and joy of your love,
so that someone who hungers for spiritual food
may be filled by our witness to your grace.
Shine the light of your Spirit through us,
so that we may show your Way those who long for peace
and help to revive those in whom hope has died. Amen.

 

Words of Assurance

God may come to us, unrecognized, as a stranger.
The Risen Christ reaches out to us in unexpected ways
as we travel our own Emmaus roads.
May the Word of our Stillspeaking God
continue to burn in our hearts

 

Children’s Sermon

 

Gospel Scripture Luke 24:13-35 Rev. Wesley Snedeker

 

Message “Jesus, the Stranger, Guest and Host” Rev. David K. Bucey

 

Offering Invitation
In our giving today, let us give, not out of obligation, but from the heart.
Let our gifts be seeds of the living and enduring word of God,
that will sprout in abundance of justice and hope all that is necessary for life,
for sisters and brothers here at hand, and around the world.

 

Offertory Music “Just a Closer Walk” Amy Maneval

 

Unison Offertory Prayer
Jesus, God has made you both Sovereign and Christ.
Therefore we pray your blessing upon these gifts, upon us,
and those whose lives will benefit from them.
May your victory over death
empower all whom you call to trust in God.
In faith and hope we pray. Amen.

 

Prayers of the People

 

Silent Prayer

 

Lord’s Prayer

 

Benediction in Unison
Friends, rejoice in the mothering and fathering love of God!
Rejoice in the victorious life of our Risen Savior!
Rejoice in the power of the Spirit!
Go, living in the love of Christ!
Go, serving in the name of Christ!
Let your love of God embrace
Your children
Your family
Your enemies
Those who are afar off
Those who are strangers met on the road
May your lives praise the Lord! Amen.

 

Postlude
From the Heart: Service Prayers for the Third Sunday of Easter was written by the
Rev. Renee C. Jackson, Minister for Ministerial Formation, MESA Team, United Church of Christ

 

PLEDGE CARDS

As we continue to forge through these new obstacles, we know that some of you have not had a chance to return your pledge card. The Finance Board is working to have a completed budge and needs to make sure your pledge has been counted.

 

If you haven’t had the chance to send it in and would like to, click here to get a new pledge card that you can print out at home and mail in.

 

Thank you to everyone who has already returned your pledge cards and for everyone faithfully helping our mission continue.

 

Click on the card below to send your pledge information electronically to our Finance Coordinator, Laura Wunderly.

SEND US YOUR PHOTOS

Over the duration of our social (but not spiritual) distancing, I invite you to email your photos to me at davidbucey@gmail.com or ofcmgrfmcucc@gmail.com.

 

We have received some photos and are thrilled to be able to put them up in the Sanctuary but we would love to get more. If you have not had the chance to send one in, please email one today. It doesn’t have to be a formal photo, a selfie works great!

 

Each day I will set aside time to pray for each person included in the March 20, 2020, Church Directory sent as a separate email. You are invited as well to take the new directory and pray for those you know AND those you do not.

 

A lot has been made of social separation in recent days. As we pray for each other and contact each other via phone, text, and email, may we strive to be closer spiritually as well as on social media. — Dave

NOW MORE THAN EVER, YOUR STEWARDSHIP IS IMPORTANT

Fort Myers Congregational UCC is accepting your tithes and offerings via our website. Simply go to FMCUCC.org and find the word “DONATE” prominently displayed on the main page.

 

Depending upon which option you choose, your donation will be processed by PayPal or Tithe.ly as a safe and secure way to underwrite the expenses of our vital ministries. Or if you prefer, you may mail your offering in the convenient, pre-addressed envelopes you use every week. Don’t forget to mail in your pledge cards if you haven’t already.

 

Don’t have giving envelopes? Place your check in any envelope and mail it to FMCUCC. That way you’ll be participating in your church’s vital ministries during our time apart.

 

Remember: When You Give ONLINE Through tithe.ly You Can “Cover the Cost“ of the fees and save the church about $2.50 when you donate $100.00. That’s good Stewardship!
Click on the logos below to make a donation

Or, if you prefer, please mail your donation to the church

Fort Myers Congregational
United Church of Christ
8210 College Parkway
Fort Myers, Florida 33919

GROW STAYS INSIDE

For the next several weeks, FMCUCC’s GROW is hosting conversations with advocates and educators who will guide us in exploring vital moral and theological issues while we’re all stuck inside. There are still important justice issues that require our attention and exciting possibilities for enlightenment we can pursue even though we’re staying at home!

Next week, we are excited to welcome a couple familiar faces as our facilitators!

THURSDAY – 4/30 at 2:00 pm

Chelsea Baker, Lead Organizer of Lee Interfaith For Empowerment (LIFE), will host a conversation titled: “COVID-19: The crisis of stay at home orders when one has no home.” Together, we will explore the relationships between housing, poverty, public health, and marginalized communities. We will delve into historical responses as well as people-movements of today.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84570057040

Meeting ID: 845 7005 7040
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,84570057040# US (Chicago)
+16465588656,,84570057040# US (New York)

FRIDAY – 5/1 at 2:00 pm

Dr. Rebecca Totaro, Associate Dean and Professor, Florida Gulf Coast University, will lead a discussion exploring meaning-making and common care in a time of pandemic. Pandemic caregiving practices from centuries before the advent of science have a lot to teach us right now. In this conversation, we will discuss the habits of care, faith, and community that have always been in need.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86322094583

Meeting ID: 863 2209 4583
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,86322094583# US (New York)
+13126266799,,86322094583# US (Chicago)

YOUTH GROUP ZOOM SESSIONS

Thursdays at 6pm

FMCUCC’s youth group is still getting together–just virtually! If you’re in middle or high school and want to attend, reach out to our Community Minister Wesley at wesleysnedeker@gmail.com.


DO YOU NEED A MASK?

Have you been leaving the house with an uncovered face lately?

 

We at FMCUCC want you to be safe and so with the help of our Deacons are able to provide you a cloth mask that will protect the people you “safely “ encounter outside.

 

On Friday you will find masks inside a bright Christmas tin with a puppy on it, on the bench outside the Narthex door. Please take one for your family member who ventured beyond your home the most.

 

All masks are washer/dryer friendly and Should Not Be Microwaved. 

 

If you would to be part of this project, please contact Vice-Moderator, Carolyn Martin at 315-529-3369

This is urgent.

As one of the country’s most vulnerable populations, our community of 25,000 farmworkers is in grave danger from the rapid spread of coronavirus. Most workers live in overcrowded housing units, are transported to and from the fields in packed vans and buses, and lack access to personal protective gear.

 

If nothing is done, the virus will carve through the state’s agricultural workforce like wildfire, and in a matter of weeks, Florida will not have enough workers to harvest our crops.

 

Simply put, without farmworkers, there is no food.

 

Help protect the lives of tens of thousands of farmworkers and prevent Florida’s agricultural industry from collapsing. Click here to call Gov. Ron DeSantis now >> After you click, you’ll be redirected to instructions and talking points to make sure you’re ready to amplify farmworkers’ call for critical health care in Immokalee.

 

STAND WITH IMMOKALEE FARMWORKERS: MAKE A CALL NOW

 

The message to our country’s farmworkers is unmistakable: While your labor is essential, you are expendable. That is wrong, both morally and for our nation’s food security. We can’t treat the people who harvest our food as expendable. Like health care workers and first responders, they are putting themselves in harm’s way for the rest of us.

 

The COVID-19 crisis in Immokalee will not only threaten the lives of thousands of farmworkers but will also hurt millions of families around the country who are depending on the shelves of their local supermarkets to be stocked in the months ahead.

 

Farmworkers feed us all. No food workers, no food. It’s that simple. Make a call now and tell Gov. DeSantis to protect Immokalee workers and save the state’s agricultural industry.

 

Thank you for standing with us, first in the Fair Food Movement and now in the fight to protect the health and safety of the women and men who are harvesting our food during this unprecedented pandemic.

 

— Coalition of Immokalee Workers

PRAYER CHAIN

Would you be willing to take a few minutes to pray for people during the week? We have a group who is praying for those who have needs, be it health/medical, a family member, a neighbor or a friend. God knows the needs of those we lift in prayer to him. Cheryl Frank will accept the information and then email the request out to those who are willing to pray. If you would like to join the group who are praying, please email her with your contact information. If you have someone who would like prayer for their situation, please email her: cfrank50@gmail.com. 

PASTOR’S DISCRETIONARY FUND

Many are out of work at this time and are having trouble meeting their financial obligations. The pastor has been busy helping those in need. Because of this, the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund is getting low. Please consider a gift to this fund. Thanks.

STAYING CONNECTED WITH OTHERS IN OUR CONFERENCE

Here is the link to the April/May issue of Celebrate Florida: Click here to see what other UCC Churches are doing. See if you can locate where our FMCUCC family is featured.

THE COMFORT AND BLESSING OF A PRAYER SHAWL

If you know someone who would benefit from the comfort and blessing of a prayer shawl, please don’t hesitate to let me know and you can present it to a loved one yourself. If you would like to create and donate a shawl, we can provide printed instructions and yarn. Of course you can always use your own pattern and yarn if you would prefer! In God’s service, Kris Hurren  239-565-4289

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

911kris@comcast.net

RADICAL HOSPITALITY

Are you interested in helping serve the FMCUCC community by being a welcoming face before guests enter the sanctuary? Please consider serving at the Welcome Center desk or as a door opener once a month. See the sign-up sheets in the Fellowship Hall to indicate your desire.

BODY PARTS

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27) Paul uses the metaphor of a human body to explain how Christians are to work together to be the body (and message) of Jesus in the world. There are lots of parts needed to make a body function. So too with the church. So what part are you? Please take some time to review the ministry opportunities and see all the different parts that are needed to make the church function. Prayerfully consider stepping out in faith and/or stepping up to leadership. Maybe your part is to host a coffee hour, or volunteer to usher. Maybe even join a committee. What part are you? Think about it.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We have many volunteer opportunities available to assist with various aspects of our Sunday worship services and around the church. Please consider signing up for one of these important jobs. Sign-up sheets can be found on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall or send an email to Lisa Riehl, ofcmgrfmcucc@gmail.com, and let her know what you are interested in doing. Thanks in advance for helping make our church so great!

THE BOARD OF DEACONS NEEDS YOUR HELP

Did Joan go on the around the world cruise she’s been planning these past several months? Do you know whether Harold is recuperating at his daughter’s home in Wisconsin? And how about Marie – she’s usually back in Fort Myers for the season by now, have you heard from her? Oftentimes, the Board of Deacons and the church staff know when a church member is homebound locally, and keep tabs on him or her. However, we aren’t always informed by family members or caretakers when a member has prolonged health issues making it difficult for them to attend church functions. Here’s where the members of the congregation can help out. If you are aware of a member that is homebound, or have noticed a member’s prolonged absence but haven’t heard it announced at church, please bring it to the attention of one of the deacons or the church office. Most times we are aware of the members who are homebound locally, but we don’t want to overlook anyone.

NEED TO REACH US?

Rev. David Bucey – davidbucey@gmail.com – 513-535-2121
Rev. Wesley Snedeker – wesleysnedeker@gmail.com – 239-297-1586
Church Office – ofcmgrfmcucc@gmail.com – 239-482-3133

    

*
Filed Under: General, Home, News