A weekly newsletter from United Methodist Church of Lenox
Rev. Nami Yu, Pastor
Notes from our Pastor
A Prayer for the Anniversary of 9/11
by the Rev. Jeremy Pridgeon
O God, our hope and refuge,
in our distress we come quickly to you.
Shock and horror of that tragic day have subsided,
replaced now with an emptiness,
a longing for an innocence lost.
We come remembering those who lost their lives
in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.
We are mindful of the sacrifice of public servants
who demonstrated the greatest love of all
by laying down their lives for friends.
We commit their souls to your eternal care
and celebrate their gifts to a fallen humanity.
We come remembering
and we come in hope,
not in ourselves, but in you.
As foundations we once thought secure have been shaken,
we are reminded of the illusion of security.
In commemorating this tragedy,
we give you thanks for your presence
in our time of need
and we seek to worship you in Spirit and in truth,
our guide and our guardian.
Amen.
Sunday Worship Service
As a Special Giving Sunday for Peace with justice, we will dedicate our worship to seek peace and justice in the world.
Are we building up food security, employment, living wages, health and wellness, abundance and compassion?
Do our systems and policies, budgets and legislation look like punishment or like compassion?
Do they reflect on your faith and life as Christians?
The 2019 Lenox Apple Squeeze is just around the corner and for the 5th year we will be hosting a booth. Mark your calendars, Saturday September 21 and Sunday September 22, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The mission of our booth is to:
provide hospitality without expectation,
strengthen our relationships with the people of Lenox and surrounding communities and
inform visitors of who we are
This is a great opportunity for us to reach out to the greater communities of Lenox and Pittsfield. As in past years we will be participating in an Ecumenical Worship Service. The service will in Lilac Park at 10:30 a.m. so there will be no worship service at UMCL the Sunday of September 22. Please consider spending a couple of hours at our booth, serving coffee and/or greeting visitors or assisting with our worship service Sunday morning. The sign-up sheets are located on the tables in fellowship hall. We realize that parking during the Apple Squeeze weekend is a challenge and has prevented many of us from volunteering and/or attending the event, however this year there will parking at the Tanglewood East Gate lot with a shuttle to transport attendees. The shuttles will be running all day both Saturday and Sunday. The shuttle bus stops will be in front of town hall for drop off and at The Curtis Hotel for return to the parking lot. So please consider volunteering a couple hours of your time on that weekend.
Memorial Flowers at UMC Lenox
As a way to offer a remembrance of a loved one or to honor someone whom we love and is still with us, or to celebrate a special event the Worship Committee would like to bring back the Memorial Flower ministry. Any member of the congregation can choose to buy sign up to have flowers for the altar for a particular Sunday that is important to him or her. There are several options for supplying the flowers:
You can pick a bouquet and bring them in yourself. Someone from the Worship Committee will put them onto the altar
You can buy flowers and if you need help arranging them, someone from the Worship Committee will help you arrange them and put them on the altar
You can make a modest payment – approximately $25-35 – and we will order an arrangement to be put on the altar.
This can be a one time donation, or can be made as an ongoing, annual donation. When you arrange for the flowers, you’ll specify who the flowers are in memory or in honor of and that will appear in the bulletin for that Sunday, along with your name as the donor.
And, if flowers are not your thing, talk to anyone on the Worship committee about alternate adornments.
Look for a sign-up sheet on the table in fellowship hall
Life Line Screening
Life Line Screening, a leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings, is pleased to offer a preventive health event at United Methodist Church of Lenox on 9/17/2019. Five screenings will be offered that scan for potential health problems related to: blocked arteries which is a leading cause of stroke; abdominal aortic aneurysms which can lead to a ruptured aorta; hardening of the arteries in the legs which is a strong predictor of heart disease; atrial fibrillation or irregular heart beat which is closely tied to stroke risk; and a bone density screening, for men and women, used to assess the risk of osteoporosis. Register for a Wellness Package which includes 4 vascular tests and osteoporosis screening from $149 ($139 with our member discount). All five screenings take 60-90 minutes to complete. There are three ways to register for this event and to receive a $10 discount off any package priced above $129, please call toll-free 1-888-653-6441 or visit http://lifelinescreening.com/communitycircle or text the word circle to 797979.
Do you have an event to share? Email details to box1655@yahoo.com; deadline is
Tuesday at 5 p.m. All art work, flyers and photos must be in jpeg format.
