Table of Contents:

FROM REV. DOREEN: Your Sister-in-Christ!

Rev. Doreen will be returning to work half time in the next couple of weeks. If you need assistance, call the office. If you need spiritual counseling, call Rev. Dave Steadman at Harrow United. 738-4223.

To the ARTIST He is the One Altogether Lovely. To the ARCHITECT He is the Chief Corner Stone. To the BAKER He is the Living Bread. To the BANKER He is the Hidden Treasure. To the BIOLOGIST He is the Life. To the BUILDER He is the Sure Foundation. To the CARPENTER He is the Door. To the DOCTOR He is the Great Physician. To the EDUCATOR He is the Great Teacher. To the ENGINEER He is the New and Living Way. To the FLORIST He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley. To the GEOLOGIST He is the Rock of Ages. To the HORTICULTURIST He is the True Vine. To the JUDGE He is the Righteous Judge, Judge of All men. To the JEWELER He is the Pearl of Great Price. To the LAWYER He is the Counselor, the Lawgiver, the Advocate. To the NEWSPAPER He is the Good Tidings of Great Joy. To the OCULIST He is the Light of the Eyes. To the PHILANTHROPIST He is the Unspeakable Gift. To the PHILOSOPHER He is the Wisdom of God. To the PREACHER He is the Word of God. To the SCULPTOR He is the Living Stone. To the SERVANT He is the Good Master. To the STATESMAN He is the Desire of All Nations. To the STUDENT He is the Incarnate Truth. To the THEOLOGIAN He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith. To the TOILER He is the Giver of Rest. To the SINNER He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World. To the CHRISTIAN He is the Son of the Living God, the Savior, the Redeemer and the Lord. To me...CHRIST is all of this and more, my everything, my all in all. CHRIST is more than LIFE to me, ~MY SOON COMING KING~

FROM THE YARD SALE FOLKS:

We had a very successful yard sale and want to thank all the volunteers who helped with the set-up, the pricing, the sale itself and the clean up.

Special thanks to Elsie Kuhun and her helpers for a fabulous bake sale. They had a full table of goodies and brought in $403.65. To Deanna Greaves and her crew, thanks for the delicious lunch. They made $205. 49. And a big thanks to Anna Hurst for delivering flyers all across town. Thanks to everyone, we raised $2002.67.

And a very BIG thanks to Al and Verdene Halliday and Ross and Nancy Holden for all their hard work in organizing the sale for us.

FROM THE EDITOR:

This week we celebrate the end of the Easter Season with Pentecost Sunday. The focus scripture reading (Acts 2:1-21) is the familiar story from the beginning of Acts: an account of the "gathering" of the community of faith at the time of Pentecost, and the "scattering" of the community to share those experiences of transformation. It is a story of the activity of God's Spirit, continually transforming and expanding the faith of people who live in God's way. As we prepare for this part of the church calendar, take a few moments to think about the celebration of Pentecost and the transformations set in motion by the Spirit.

Where have you experienced the "gathering" and "scattering" movement of God's Spirit in your church and in your own life?

That is the hard question! And if we can’t think of anything then we do need to really concentrate on what we are doing as a family of God and Christ, our guide and teacher. Let us pray together that we hear the Spirit amongst us, moving us toward the Kingdom.

MUSIC IS A GIFT!

Come share the gift of your voice with us! It is a gift that God has given you. Others would like to share in that gift. If you have a choice of music that you would like to sing, let Diana know. Come out and practise with us if you want to get to know if singing in the choir is your thing. We promise it won’t hurt. Practice is Sunday mornings at 9:30am!

Thanks to Diana for taking the choir out for lunch recently. It was enjoyed by all. The chance to break bread together was a rewarding experience. So we invite anyone to come out and share your gift!

DID YOU KNOW THAT:

*the SSC meets regularly to play volleyball and soccer? Call Al Halliday for more info. 776-7551.

*there will be the annual UCW bus trip to Sarnia’s Imperial Theatre “Broadway Baritones”. Cost will be $120 per person. Phyllis Armstrong has more info. Call the church office at 519-776-5121.

*there will be a talent auction at the church in the fall? It is scheduled for November 6!

*Bill Wakeley came back to Essex and led us in worship on May 2^nd? It was good to have you back with us Bill.

*you are invited to a special 85^th anniversary open house for the UCC at the General council offices in Toronto on Thursday, June 10^th from 8:30 a.m. ‘til 4:30 p.m.?

*we will have Holy Communion on June 6^th and that this will be a service of celebration of our 85^th birthday? All churches across Canada will be sharing of bannock bread in the communion service.

*the second annual GessTwood golf tournament will be held on May 30^th at Wildwood? Want to get a team together give it a go. Call Mary Webb and see if there is room left. I hear that she has had a good response already.

*Debbie Kigar assisted with worship on May 9^th? Deb is going to the Centre for Christian Studies and is going to finish her studies next year and will be commissioned, God willing, next year.

*Leslie Kigar, Debra and Bill Kigar’s daughter and Mary and Don Webb’s granddaughter, is the new executive director of Gesstwood Camp this year?

ESSEX UNITED CHURCH WISH LIST:

Pew Cushions

Wall Mural in South Entrance

Spiritual Growth Groups during the summer

Grand Piano (for sanctuary)

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratualtions to Austin Aldridge who was nominated as “a youth who made a positive difference” to our community! He was honoured at an Optimist Club of Essex dinner on Tuesday, April 27^th. Way to go Austin! We are proud of you and the contribution you make to the life of Essex United!

Also Bill Gay was honoured at the Essex County 2010 Ontario Volunteer Service Awards ceremony for his 15 years of service with the Essex Funfest. Congratulations Bill!

OUR LIFE TOGETHER AS A FAMILY:

This past winter we lost three important members of our family. To all their families we send our deepest sympathies! They are all remembered with great love. Faye Barnett passed away on January 11, 2010. Her friend, Jim Hatt, and Rev.Doreen performed her funeral service. On March 10, we lost Betty O’Neill and on April 20, Phyllis Sweetman was called home. They are all missed from our church family!

On October 10, 2009 Rev. Doreen solemnized the marriage of Amanda Jean Kennedy and Jason Edward Lambier. Congratulations to the couple.

And on May 9, Rev. Doreen performed the baptism of Alexa Gracie Britenbaugh-Davison, the daughter of Michelle Britenbaugh and Tom Davison. Welcome to our family of Christ Alexa through baptism. We are a family and are always receiving people as well as saying good-bye.

THE IMPOSSIBLY DIFFICULT AND WHY IT'S SO HARD QUIZ:

3. The disciples who gave their own money to support Jesus in his ministry (Luke 8:1–3)

4. The first people to see Jesus alive again after the resurrection (Matthew 28:1–10)

5. The first person in Europe to become converted to Christianity (Acts 16:11–15)

6. A teacher in the early church, who probably wrote The Letter to the Hebrews (Acts 18:1–3, 18, 19, 24–26,

7. Disciples, other than the twelve, who followed Jesus throughout his ministry (Mark 15:40–41)

[from WPOG curriculum. Answers on page 6]

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE!

SKIPPING CHURCH
Father Norton woke up Sunday morning and realizing it was an exceptionally beautiful and sunny early spring day, decided he just had to play golf. So... he told the Associate Pastor that he was feeling sick and persuaded him to say Mass for him that day. As soon as the Associate Pastor left the room, Father Norton headed out of town to a golf course about forty miles away. This way he knew he wouldn't accidentally meet anyone he knew from his parish. Setting up on the first tee, he was alone. After all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church! At about this time, Saint Peter leaned over to the Lord while looking down from the heavens and exclaimed, "You're not going to let him get away with this, are you? The Lord sighed, and said, "No, I guess not." Just then Father Norton hit the ball and it shot straight towards the pin, dropping just short of it, rolled up and fell into the hole.
IT WAS A 420 YARD HOLE IN ONE!
St. Peter was astonished. He looked at the Lord and asked, "Why did you let him do that?"
The Lord smiled and replied, "Who's he going to tell?"

HEADFIRST ENTRY
A jeweler standing behind the counter of his shop after hours was astounded to see a suspicious looking man come hurling headfirst through the window. "What on earth are you up to? What just happened?" he demanded.
"I'm terribly sorry," said the man, "I forgot to let go of the brick."

SUPPORTING OUR CHURCH!

Support our church when you can! This year again, as in the last few years, there are events going on to help raise money for our church .We, as a congregation, need to get behind and support these events if we are able to, for example our yard sale and luncheon. A lot of us go out for lunch once and a while and your support would be appreciated by the people involved. Also our craft fair! Most of us buy Christmas or birthday presents for some one. Why not come to this event and you might find a unique item for that special person. It takes a lot of work to organize these and the other events at our church and at times we are disappointed with the low turnout by our own members. THANK YOU to all who support our church fundraising events. For those who haven't been able to come out in the past or have not thought about it before, you will have a good time and the fellowship alone is worth coming out for. [by Doug Arnold]

WHAT AN EVENING IT WAS!

The annual Murder Mystery! We had another successful dinner theatre this year. We had a sell out crowd Friday night and almost the same Saturday night. This year Lasagna was the main dish with 35 family size lasagnas made. This successful evening would not have been possible without all the volunteer helpers providing the pies and helping with the preparation, serving and cleanup. Once again our cast of actors did a fabulous job and everyone present had a great evening. Hope to see all of you there next year.

EPILOGUE: MURDER MYSTERY 2010 ?THE ZOMBIE WAS AN ALIEN?:

Benita Mulrony: Benita continued with her local television network long enough to cover both funerals (Eddie?s and Nova?s). She did such a remarkable job with Nova?s, which was broadcast world wide, that she was picked up by a large conglomerate network and now anchors her own T.V. show. She?s a star in her own right ... again.

Eddie Cheek: Eddie had some cheek all right, but was thrilled when, after his demise, he actually BECAME a Zombie. He then spent his time haunting (do zombie?s haunt or simply terrorise?) script writers and showing them how they could capitalize on his new ...um... persona.

Nova: Her funeral was the talk, not only of the town, but of the world. You might say, she finally had her 15 minutes of fame. She did NOT become a zombie, but was destined to be treated with the same disdain, lack of respect and put downs that she had previously given to others. Her soul kept a mob of fallen angels busy, constantly insuring she knew how it felt to be victimized.

Chance: He who was an expert with duct tape, hot glue and styrofoam is now out of a job. Turning to his multi-talents, he takes a part-time job at Home Hardware just to pay the bills ... but soon his expertise in store displays and window decoration earn him recognition. He soon has enough money to manage his own Home Hardware franchise and has even more fun with his lucrative hobby: teaching courses and writing books about it. Love looms around the corner.

Henny Whippersnapper: Henny always had a comment at the ready, but you?ll remember she was most preoccupied with attracting a special someone, who she never really identified, but with whom she was in love. He however failed to notice, much less recognize, her . Quinnie, the make up expert and forever romantic soul, takes pity on Henny and gives her a complete make over. Henny now looks 15 years younger and heads off to Home Hardware in the hope her ?boy toy? Chance might notice her now.

Rock and Cherri Pit: Well, of course, these two lovers got married. It was the wedding of the century ? paid for by the Alimony money Rock no longer had to pay Nova. Rock becomes a famous director and always puts Cherri in the starring role ? Both ensure that Eddie?s casting couch is relegated to the city dump, never to be abused again. Having initially been given lemons, they are happily making lemonade. With Cherri at his side, Rock no longer needs the services of Dr. Willie .... which is just as well, because . . . .

Dr. Willie was no longer available. After this latest experience with the film stars, Dr. Willie decided she?d had enough and gave up her lucrative psychology practice. She settled down in a small town in South Western Ontario to give folks the best care in her true profession ? being a Pediatrician. Her love of babies and children knew no bounds. She?d finally come to this conclusion when she?d had to leave the set of the Murder Mystery to feed her baby.

Dan Druff has had more than enough with pretentious spoilt actresses. He never wants to be that kind of body guard again. BUT no matter how good he was at his job, the fact remains that the person he was hired to guard (Nova) did end up Dead (though it WAS before HE had time to kill her himself.) He becomes a Bouncer at a local high end Night Club. The money he earns there at night, helps him take acting classes during the day and eventually Dan becomes a handsome famous Star just like Rock was. One of his claims to fame is that he?ll take no guff from anyone on the set.

Quinnie: Quinnie has her day in court and ends up being fined heavily for insurance fraud although she avoids a jail term by receiving a suspended sentence. Why? Well, Judge Judy received such a professional make over on the bench that she showed leniency toward Quinnie as long as Quinnie promised never to take part in any more fake accidents. Quinnie is really accomplished in her field and is hired on for several film by the famous director Rock Stud.

Billie: Poor misunderstood Billie! She was arrested and charges of Blackmail, and two counts of First Degree Murder were laid against her. She came to trial and tried to convince the jury that she?d done everyone a favour in ridding the world of Eddie and Nova. While sympathetic to her plight, the jury nonetheless convicted her of the charges before her and she was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Billie, however, had been studying Rock and Cherrie and, wanting to make lemonade out of lemons, wrote a book about the film industry entitled ?The Killing of Nova Devine? and later took up the study of modern day UFO?s and Aliens. She wants to write another script for a movie on the same topic but this time she?ll leave out the Buffaloes. Who knows? Maybe she?ll get some help from her victim Zombie Eddie.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

We are now well underway in installing high efficiency lights. With a government grant we were able to install high efficiency lights in the kitchen, lower hallway and upstairs hall by the office. This did not cost us a cent and we did not have to put any money out and wait for a rebate. As a result we can save quite a bit on our power usage and end up with more light than before.

Gym. By the end of January this past winter, we were down to 3 lights out of the 18 in the gym working. They had all burnt out over time. The large based bulbs are no longer being made and there was only one place in the city that had a chance of finding any new bulbs. As well the existing lights were 300 watts apiece, real energy hogs. Property has changed the lights to 8 high efficiency light fixtures and mounted shields over all units to protect them from stray volley balls.

With the new model of energy saving lights used in both areas we have much better lights and will save better than 50 percent in energy use.

CONFERENCE AND PRESBYTERY NEWS AND EVENTS:

If you wish to follow up on London Conference, go to: www.uccanlonconf.org/ . Or you can go on line at www.united-church.ca/ and read the United Church webpage. There is always much interesting reading. London Conference will be held the last week-end of May in London. David Plant and Jim Hatt will be attending as delegates from our church.

Answers to the Impossibly Difficult Bible Quiz:

1. We are not used to thinking of Miriam, the sister of Moses, as a prophet, yet that is how she was

described. For another famous prophet who was also a judge of Israel, see Judges 4 and 5.

2. It appears that the prophet Anna was one of the first people to see that Jesus was the Messiah.

3. These three women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna obviously had money of their own

to help pay for Jesus’ ministry. They may have been quite important women in their own right.

They traveled with the male disciples, along with other women who are not named.

4. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (probably Mary the mother of James and Joseph) were the

first to see Jesus alive again, and the first to go and tell others about this wonderful event.

5. Lydia was a wealthy woman, with a heart open to God’s message. She, and all her household,

6. Priscilla (or Prisca) was a significant member of the new Christian church. Her house was one

of its first places of worship, and she is often mentioned by Paul in his letters.

7. It appears that most of the disciples, including Peter, ran away in fear, when Jesus was crucified.

But some disciples remained at the cross, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James

and Joseph, and Salome. There were probably many other female disciples who are not recorded.

One female apostle, a companion of St. Paul, was name Thecla. Her name used to appear in

the Bible and St. Jerome continued to argue that she was authentic even after she was removed

So… was that hard, or what?!! If you knew any of these women’s names without looking them up

you would be doing well. The Bible doesn’t identify very many women. We know that there must have been many other women, behind the scenes, whose names never got written down. The few women who are mentioned must have been very remarkable, indeed! And yet we hardly ever hear

Why is it that we only learn the names of the twelve male disciples, or the male prophets? Why do you think this quiz is so hard?

THURSDAY AFTERNOON U.C.W.

Our women meet in the dining room at Iler Lodge on the third Thursday of the month except December. We share our joys and our concerns. We listen to God’s word. We fellowship with each other and always have a few laughs. Sadly, we lost Ilene Plant Sayers, Faye Barnett and Eleanor Watson in the last year.

Committee members: Wilma Fawdry, Mandy Fletcher, Anna Hurst, Jill Linton, Muriel Hyland, Joan Mcfarlane and Eileen Salter.

GENERAL U.C.W. INFORMATION

Summer event at GessTwood. Registration at 9 am with coffee. Lunch is potluck. The speaker will be John Stevenett, Chaplain Windsor Jail. Music will be provided by Happy Acres. Other activities: book display, sing song, worship. This is a good day. Call Dorothy if you are going! 776-4016

Annual bus trip. Broadway Baritones in Sarnia. $120 per person. Call Phyllis Armstrong for more info. [776-5897]

Saturday, July 24 London Conference Summer Event from 9:30 til 3:30 at Siloam UC, London. Joyologist, Bonnie Siminato, will be the guest speaker. Award winning singer Jade Lester will present as well. 7 members of our UCW are attending.

Medical elective program, supported by London Conference UCW and the 8 Presbyteries, has raised $10, 724.30 in 2009. For the third year, medical students are going to developing countries to set up clinics as part of this training.

M and S Fund: $350,000 was given from London Conference UCW to the M&S Fund for 2009

A Female First: For possibly the first time ever, the first year class in the master of divinity program at Emmanuel College is composed entirely of women. Although women have often outnumbered men at the United Church-supported college on the University of Toronto campus, Principal Mark Toulouse believes the all-female class is the first. [by Dorothy Suttleworth]

OUR MISSION: WHAT DOES GOD WANT US TO DO?

Greetings! At the board meeting on Tuesday night, May 1^st, a motion was passed to call a congregational meeting on May16 to discuss setting up a joint needs assessment committee to look into the feasibility of sharing any services and expenses with another United Church congregation .This committee would look into who we are as a church, what are our needs as a church our financial situation, where we see ourselves going and our role in the community. This meeting will be right after church and the board urges everyone to make an effort to attend. There has been questions raised as at the annual meeting with what the future holds for our church and this is a first step in getting answers to our concerns. We have been in contact with Olav Kitchen and everything will proceed as per guidelines in the United Church manual. Anyone with questions can talk to Doug after church or just anytime call him. The board needs the full support and input from all the members of this church if this project is going to be successful.

The members of this committee are Neil McBeth, Cherie Farquharson, Phyllis Armstrong, Holly Boyle and Debbie Salter. Their task will be to check into all aspects of our church and report back to the board on where we are going and what we can do as far as sharing expenses and services with another congregation. Please give them your full support in their endeavours! (by Doug Arnold)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

Please watch your church bulletin for upcoming dates. Also visit our website when you have time. Check the dates and times there.