107 Concord Road, Wayland Massachusetts 01778

L’Amour, Liebe, Amore, Love songs in 3 languages is the theme of a vocal recital by Ramona Leeman and David Pergola at Peace on Sunday, May 12 at 7 pm. Admission free.

Adult forums in the next few weeks continue our discussions of uses of our building and, at the same time, of a new welcome statement for our church.

Last Saturday Warren and Carol Green, Mary Ann Borkowski and Ron Riggert worked on the gardens and grounds together. Thank you to all of them for their ongoing attention to the property. Thank you to Emilie Altemose for tending to the Magnolia trees in the front of our church. She has been pruning them and advising us about their care. Mary Ann  has arranged for a soil application that will treat the insects that tend to appear on these trees from time to time. The next property and grounds day is Saturday, June 1. Ron and I are hoping that we can get enough help to remove the large cross from the front of the building. When the cross spire was put up on the building we decided to remove the cross from the building. We’re hoping to accomplish that this spring. If you can help, or have ideas about how to do it, speak to Ron.

The council meets Monday, May 13 at 7:30 pm.
Confirmation instruction Tuesday, May 14 at 4 pm.
Confirmation struction Tuesday, May 21 at 4 pm.
Senior lunch Thursday, May 16 at 12 noon.

The Day of Pentecost  Sunday, May 19. Blessing of the Confirmation students as they begin their confirmation years.  We’ll talk about learning the language of faith. Pentecost is one of the major festivals of the church, often a day of confirmation and of baptisms. I hope that you will all attend, if you are in town, on this day of the giving of the holy spirit.

Memorial Day weekend camping at Calumet, May 24-27. Many Peace families and their friends will spend the weekend together at our New England Synod’s Camp Calumet in New Hampshire. Deb Vogt is the coordinator of this annual event. vogtboston@comcast.net

Prayers for the Peace Garden  Sunday, June 2, at the end of Sunday worship.  Confirmation students should wear work clothes. Stephanie Smoot will lead a workshop on garden design and we will begin planting. All are welcome.

Family outing and picnic at Overlook Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts, Sunday, June 9. This is our traditional year-ending Sunday School event.

Peace summer picnic Sunday, June 23 following morning worship. Bring a dish to share. We’ll grill hamburgers and hotdogs.

Parents of preschool students, pick up a copy of The Little Lutheran from the table in the narthex. A member of the congregation paid for a group subscription for you and your children. The May/June issue is about Parents.

The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.  John 14:26The Christian church is meant by God the Father to be a place of positive energy and good works in the world. The Christian church offers an ethical framework for living. It is a place of  social interaction between the generations, a place to discuss important issues and to meet other members of the community at large. The church is  a gathering community in which the mystery of life is cherished through ritual actions (that’s worship), and more. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is the way Christian teachings have taken up the positive nature of the church’s reason for being in the world. We are to do good things, to be helpful and to provide useful services. I’m happy to be a part of a spirit-driven community. I hope you are too.

Sunday we will remember, and give thanks for, fifteen years of Little Dove Early Childhood Center. Marisa Lutz, chair of the Little Dove Board, will speak, and a brief service for the closing of the school will be held in the Little Dove rooms.

This week Kathryn Welter was honored by her high school for her achievements in the area of music and the arts. Congratulations to Kathryn. This spring our congregation will honor Kathryn for her faithful music leadership within our church. We are fortunate to have Kathryn as the lead musician in a musically talented congregation.

The Sunday school is in session this week. If you haven’t been here in awhile, make a plan to come back this Sunday. The Little Dove farewell open house is scheduled for 11 am until 1 pm.

A forum discussion on uses of the building and a revised welcome statement for our congregation, as we look forward to beginning our 50th year of ministry, will take place in the sanctuary during the education hour.

Tomorrow: property work day on the first Saturday of the month. If you have time to spend, some to church for an hour or so, and help with the care of the property and grounds.

Through the month of May the confirmation students will work through a study entitled Toward Affirmation. There are four chapters, each of which focuses on a “big” question related to the confirmation program and to their lives:  Why am I here?  Where am I going? Who’s going with me? What will it be like?  The confirmation program of our church is the responsibility of all the members. Find a way to support these middle school children as they go through their two-year program of “trying on” the Christian faith. I will try to keep you informed about the content of their study so that 1. you may support them and 2. you may continue to grow into deeper and more mature Christian faith and life.

Jeff Stein, director of Arcosanti in Arizona, sent a note of congratulations to us as we prepare to dedicate the solar panel system this Sunday. He quotes Thomas Berry, a Roman Catholic priest and eco-theologian (d. 2009). http://www.arcosanti.org.

“We might summarize our present human situation by the simple statement: In the 20th century (now the 21st), the glory of the human has become the desolation of the Earth. And now, the desolation of the Earth is becoming the destiny of the human. From here on, the primary judgement of all human institutions, professions, programs and activities will be determined by the extent to which they inhibit, ignore or foster a mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship.”

“THE NEW STORY: Comments on the Origin, Identification and Transmission of Values.”

I send this to you because this is what the community is doing at Peace with its solar project: beginning to foster a mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship.

–Jeff Stein