|  | Open Table UCC E-NewsWeek of February 20th-February 26th, 2023 |  | A Note From the Pastors
Hi friends! We hope this email finds you well. Welcome to the season of Lent, an intentional 40-day journey into the wilderness with Jesus. We are joining the capital “C” Church in observing this special season in the church year as a way of journeying inward, engaging in prayer, introspection, and connection.
During this seasons, we are working with Worship Design Studio’s Lenten Series, “Lookin For Love.” The full title of their series is “Lookin’ For Love In All the Wrong Places,” but we have decided not to use the full title because we want don’t want to dwell in the negative. We want to look for love together by seeking a path of spiritual enlightenment via reconstruction, rather than deconstruction. Will we be doing some deconstruction along the way? Absolutely - it feels like that is always a part of the journey of faith. However, as people who believe in, and express, love in broad and imaginative ways, we really want to lean into “lookin’ for love” and the hope of finding it, rather than saying what love is not.
On this first Sunday in Lent, our Seminary Intern, and fellow sibling in Christ, Max Staley, is going to be sharing with us some thoughts on “lookin’ for love” as found in the Genesis story, the story of our very beginnings. You won’t want to miss it! Come on the journey with us! Join us in our common pursuit of love!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Nichole | |  | Sunday Worship ServiceWe are gathering at Steel River Playhouse this Sunday, February 26th, at 10:00am for our weekly Worship Service. Our service will be livestreamed for folks who can’t join in person .
Every week, we will be partaking in Holy Communion together, so if you are joining us online, make sure to gather your elements (bread/crackers/grape juice/water, etc.) so you participate at home. | |
|  | Lent 2023
with Open Table UCCThis is our first Lenten season together as a faith community, and we are excited to engage in it with all of you this year! We will be working with Worship Design Studio’s Lenten series, “Looking for Love,” on Sunday mornings, as well as during our special services and offerings. Here is what is coming up:
*Six Sundays in Lent, beginning next Sunday, February 26-Sunday April 2nd: Sunday Worship Services at Steel River Playhouse at 10:00am.
*April 6th - Maundy Thursday Dinner Service at Steel River Playhouse at 6:30pm
*April 7th - Community Good Friday Processional through Pottstown - 10:15am (meet on the green between Emmanuel Lutheran and Zion’s UCC on High Street); Pottstown Ministerium Traditional Good Friday Service at 12:00pm, location TBD
*April 9th - Outdoor Easter Sunday celebration at 10:00am at the Riverfront Park Pavilion. |
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| |  | Community Connections: Conversations on Well-beingThe Pottstown Ministerium has partnered with Pottstown Hospital Tower Health and Creative Health to host "Community Connections: Conversations on Wellbeing” on Sundays, beginning on February 19th, from 3:30-4:30pm. This 6-part series will feature speakers from Pottstown Hospital and Creative Health Services and will focus on specific topics related to mental health and wellbeing. The topics by week are included below.
*February 26th: Child and Family Wellbeing
*March 5th: Teen Wellbeing
*March 12th: Adult Wellbeing
*March 19th: Suicide Prevention
*March 26th: Self-Care
Click on the image above to access the flyer, and the button below to register. By registering, you are doing so for the entire series, however, if a session does not apply to you, you do not need to attend. | |
|  | Pottstown NAACP Book Club Pottstown has a very active NAACP chapter, and they are always up to some good work in our Borough. If you are looking for a way to get involved in the work of justice on behalf of our community, you can join this group of dedicated individuals who are committed to the work of racial justice, anti-racism and reconciliatory relationships.The NAACP Book Club has now resumed! They will meet the second Monday of every month at 6 p.m. at the Pottstown Library, 500 E. High Street. From the Branch Office, "The next meeting will be Monday, March 13, at 6 p.m. at the library. Each month, those who attend vote on what book to read for the next month’s discussion. For March, the group chose “Barracoon:The Story of the Last “Black Cargo,” by Zora Neale Hurston. It’s described as the true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade – Cudjo Lewis, who was 86 years old when Hurston interviewed him in 1927.And since this book sounded so good, we went ahead and picked it for April: "Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine," by Damon Tweedy, M.D.Kerry Pidcock-Lester is arranging for the library to reserve books for us. If you would like one, just tell the librarian at the desk you’d like one of Kerry’s books."If you would like to get some more information about joining the Pottstown Branch of the NAACP, please click below. Hope you can join us! | |
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| |  | Disney High School Musical at Pottstown High SchoolThe Foundation for Pottstown Education’s Celebration of the Arts Pottstown High School presents, Disney High School Musical, on March 4th. The Pottstown High School musical production, Disney High School Musical, will be presented on March 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Tickets are only $5 for students and $10 for adults in advance. Tickets purchased in cash are $6 for students and $11 for adults. Click on the button below to purchase tickets for the show. | | |  | The S.T.R.I.V.E. Initiative Mentor Program Did you know that Pottstown Middle School has a mentoring program? It’s called “Created for Greatness” and they are always looking for adults who want to invest in the lives of young people to join in. According to their website, “Created for Greatness is a mentoring program where we work directly with Pottstown youth, focusing on middle school students. We work to build generations of activists who are connected to Pottstown mentors that provide guidance, support, and growth.” Friend of Open Table, Mr. David Charles, is the director of this incredible program that several of us are involved, or are beginning to get involved, with, and we want to invite you to check it out and see if God might be calling you to this very special program. If you would like some more information, see full information flyer here, visit the S.T.R.I.V.E. website here, or contact David directly at dcharles@striveinitiative.org. Click below for online application to apply. | |
|  | Steel River Playhouse Upcoming ShowsSteel River Playhouse, our gracious host for our Sunday Worship Services, has an incredible season of shows and we would like to highlight the ones coming up and encourage you to see them!
*The Laramie Project -March 10th – 12th AND March 24th – 26th
In October 1998, a 21 year-old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten, and left tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. His bloody, bruised and battered body was not discovered until the next day, and he died several days later. His name was Matthew Shepard, the victim of this assault because he was gay. Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the next year and a half in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the two young men accused of the killing. They conducted 200+ interviews with the people of the town. Some were directly connected to the case and others were citizens of Laramie. Kaufman and Tectonic Theater constructed a deeply moving theatrical experience from the interviews and their experiences.
*The Laramie Project – 10 Years Later March 17th – 19th AND March 31st – April 2nd
In 2008, the Tectonic team returned to Laramie. They interviewed many of the same people and several new, including Matthew’s mother and the two men convicted of killing him. This is that story. | |
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| |  | PodcastOur Pastors have a podcast where they discuss the values of our Church community and interview difference-makers who are stirring up good things in the world. We are also now uploading our weekly sermons to the podcast as well.
“Reimagining Faith With the Pastors Jackson” can be found wherever you listen to podcasts. | |
|  | GivingIf you would like to financially support the mission and ministry of Open Table UCC, you can give online by going to opentablepottstown.com/give, or by scanning the QR code above. Your donation will be processed through Tithely and is safe and secure.
If you need to send a check, please make it out to "Open Table UCC" and send it to:
Open Table UCC
PO Box 1034
Pottstown, PA 19464 | |
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