Holy Week at a glance
To enhance your observance of Easter, South Church will offer special worship services and events during Holy Week. We hope you will avail yourself of these opportunities to reflect on what Christ did for us.

Palm Sunday, April 1
Palm Sunday worship service in the Sanctuary, 10 a.m.; palms will be given out.

Maundy Thursday, April 5
Special candlelight service in the Sanctuary, 7:30 p.m, commemorating Jesus’ last night with His disciples; communion will be shared.

Easter Sunday, April 8
• Easter sunrise service at Brooksby Farm in Peabody, 6 a.m.; we assemble on a hilltop to sing and pray together as the sun comes up; to get there, take a right from the church parking lot, take your first right onto Felton Street, and go up the hill.
• Easter breakfast in Fellowship Hall, 7 a.m.; eggs, sausages, pancakes, homefries, and cereal will be served; please sign up in the Narthex.
• Easter worship service in the Sanctuary, 10 a.m, with special music from our choir.
• Sunday School and toddler room available on Easter Sunday for up to grade 3 only.

From the annual meeting
Budget seeks substantial increase in giving
by Jennifer Estabrooks, Editor
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vv Anticipating a possible budget gap of $55,000 this year, the membership at the March 4 annual meeting approved a budget that requires a more than 25 percent increase in giving over last year.
In order to meet budget, congregational giving needs to reach approximately $265,000, up from $210,000 in 2006. There are no significant increases to expenditures in the 2007 budget over last year, meaning that this is what it costs to maintain our current programs and staffing levels.
[Note: The annual report shows required pledged giving at $275,000, but that number was amended due to the more than $9,000 we will receive in interest income.]
None of the paid staff received raises this year, although raises were recommended by their reviewers. “We have spoken with the pastors and the staff members, and they are OK with that,” said Moderator Dana Watts.
“How are we going to achieve $265,000?” asked Christine Gaudreault, chair of the Prudential Committee. “It’s a lot of money.” She outlined a plan that calls for both an increase in weekly giving from the congregation as well as an increase in attendance.

Acknowledging that some people are able to give more than others, the plan shows that if 50 individuals or families increase their giving by $7 a week, and if 50 other individuals or families increase their giving by $14 a week, we’ll see an additional $42,000 by year’s end. The remainder can be made up if we grow our attendance, in keeping with our “fill the house” theme for the year.

Financial Secretary Terry Mello said that she has given out approximately 130 sets of envelopes, which roughly represents the number of current giving units in the congregation.
Christine noted that a savings of $3,600 can be realized in the budget if volunteers mow the lawn this summer and fall, as we have done in some years. A signup sheet for volunteers will be appearing as soon as the grass starts growing again.
In a lighthearted moment that elicited groans of laughter from the 60 members in attendance, Christine joked that “while Grant is away (on sabbatical), Ray will preach every week on giving.”
In other news from the nearly two-hour meeting, a stewardship committee will be formed this Spring to obtain commitments from the congregation.

Additionally, as soon as it compiles estimates and time frames, the Prudential Committee will be presenting a plan for needed repairs to the church, such as the conversion of the heating system, replacement of windows, and exterior painting. These expenditures are outside the scope of the current budget and will require a different source of funding.
Pastor Hoofnagle noted in his closing prayer that South Church is fast approaching a monumental anniversary. “There are 300 years of testimony of your faithfulness in the life of our church,” he prayed. “We ask that as you so faithfully provided for them and their generation and the work of the kingdom, that you would do the same for us, so that by year’s end we can celebrate ‘Look what God did.’”

Town meeting challenges us to ‘fill the house’ in 2007
by Scott Estabrooks, Guest Writer

vv Even the cold Feburary night could not keep over 80 people from attending the first South Church town hall meeting in several years. This meeting was to build upon a theme Pastor Grant Hoofnagle had introduced earlier in the month called “Fill the House.”

“Tonight, we’re not introducing new programs,” said Pastor Hoofnagle. “What we’re introducing is goals for 2007. We need not only your blessing, but your commitment.”

What were these goals? First, “fill the house” so that by the end of the year we have established the need for a second worship service. Second, help our congregation get better at inviting other people to church. And finally, increase the number of our parishioners involved in the different ministries at South Church.
The first goal may sound pretty aggressive, but keep in mind that the goal is not to have a second service but to increase our attendance. Is this so that we become a mega-church or so that we increase our finances? Not at all! Instead, it’s to grow our faith as a congregation and to meet the challenge of the Great Commission— that is, to seize every opportunity God provides to share the Good News.

Pastor Hoofnagle talked about the various people groups that are not coming to church on a consistent basis. The leadership will be focusing on each of these groups and coordinating existing programs with new programs to ensure that no one is overlooked due to inattention. Already, for example, you may have noticed that we have enhanced the greeters ministry, and we’re adding a newcomers luncheon this month.

Drawing on the movie Field of Dreams, Pastor Hoofnagle talked about the ministry of “showing up.” In the movie, the Kevin Costner character builds a baseball field in a cornfield in the middle of nowhere. With the now-famous line, a voice proclaims, “If you build it, they will come.” And sure enough, by movie’s end, they come (and to this day, people still flock to the actual field in Iowa where the film was made).

The ministry of showing up is like that, contends Pastor Hoofnagle. “Attend it, and they will come back,” he said. A full house shows that there is something exciting happening in a church. Imagine attending a church for the first time that had only a handful of people. “What would that say to a visitor?” he asked.
Small groups will play a big part in achieving these goals. Through small groups, each member is able to provide support and encouragement to one another.

We’ll also be prompting all of us to become more inviting. In Matthew chapter 22, the servant is commissioned to go out and invite people to a celebration. Pastor Hoofnagle questioned, “Have you ever had a party without invitations? That’s ridiculous, but that’s what we often do as a church.”

At first thought, inviting someone may sound intimidating, but this isn’t about walking up to some stranger on the street. Though there may be some who are called to do that, for most of us it’s about inviting those we encounter on a daily basis. Maybe it’s a family member, a friend at the gym, or a classmate. Maybe it’s the woman in the cafeteria at work or the neighbor across the street.

By prayerfully asking God to guide our steps and our conversations, He will open doors. The church will also try to help out in this area by providing invitational cards, holding special “Inviting Sundays,” and conducting workshops to help us share our faith.

Another goal is to increase the number of people involved in ministry at South Church. Matthew 28:18–20, the Great Commission, gives us our marching orders. “There’s no retirement clause for individuals or churches,” quipped Assistant Pastor Ray McDaid. Already there are many needs in our church, and Pastor McDaid will have a binder full of opportunities at Coffee Hour.

But if we hope to grow in numbers, the needs of new people will increase the shortage even more. Serving will “grow your faith and deepen your relationship to God and others,” said Pastor McDaid. Added Moderator Dana Watts, “Every-body has some kind of talent that God can use.”

There is a financial side to all of this as well, and Christine Gaudreault from the Prudential Committee addressed this aspect. “Our 2006 giving was equal to our 2005 giving,” she said. “We can’t grow in every area and not grow financially as well.”
Since our giving didn’t keep pace with our budget, we need to prayerfully consider if God is calling us to increase in this area as well. “What do we have to sacrifice?” she continued. “You don’t need to give up anything. Instead, you need to increase your faith and test God. You can’t out give God.”

In closing the meeting, Pastor Hoofnagle asked a series of thought-provoking questions and challenged us to make a commitment. “Are the goals worthy? Is it worthy of your best commitment? Did Jesus give to you personally His best when He died on the cross? How committed was He to you? Did He hold back anything from you?” he asked.
“Commit to the ministry of ‘showing up.’ Giving—will you commit to giving or growing your faith in giving … stretch yourself? Will you commit to the ministry of service? Will you commit to inviting people to South Church? Who are these people? Pray for them.”

Communion Devotional: The attraction of sin

The idea
To provide a visual to kids using several magnets to represent the way sin attracts us, pulls us in, and then tries to keep us stuck in it.

How it works
Teachers make sure kids understand that the magnet on the counter represents sin by labeling it. Another magnet is hidden inside a cutout of a little boy. By using the opposite poles of the magnets, we are able to demonstrate visually how sin attracts. Then by turning the cutout to the other side labeled Holy Spirit (and thereby switching to the similar poles) we demonstrate that with God’s help we can resist the attraction of sin.

The demonstration
Children are told: “When we are not careful and we do something we know is wrong, (the cutout of the little boy is passed closely behind the magnet thus drawing the little boy cutout to the magnet labeled “sin”) sin draws us in and then sticks to us. Then it can be hard to get it out of our lives.”

Teachers then take several paper clips and demonstrate how other things get magnetized. We use this to illustrate how one person’s sin can attract others to sin also.
Children are told: “This is what happens when someone sins—it has a way of drawing friends in too and then everyone gets stuck in sin.”

The teacher turns the cutout to the other side (similar poles) where the words “Holy Spirit” are written.
Children are told: “But if we confess our sins to God, tell Him we are sorry, and ask Jesus into our heart, He will send the Holy Spirit to help us.”

The cutout of the little boy is then passed behind the magnet and this time it is repelled, thus making our point that God can help us from being attracted to sin if we ask him for help.

Children are told: “This is how God’s Spirit works in our hearts. If we ask God to help us, the Holy Spirit can break the power that sin has over us and show us how bad it really is. God’s Spirit protects us from sin’s power to attract us to it.
“Sin’s power can trap us and force us to do things we don’t want to, but God never forces us to do anything. He lets us make a choice to choose Him or choose sin. Christ died on the cross so that we could be set free from the power of sin and death. We may not always be able to avoid sin, but God’s Spirit will help us if we ask.
“Christ set us free so we could have that choice. Once we are filled with God’s Spirit we can then attract others to God in a good way and help them make that same choice— Jesus—instead of sin.”

The power of the cross
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vvJesus has given His life for us that we might have forgiveness and power to live for Him.
When we come to Jesus for forgiveness, we can trust that He will love us unconditionally. That means that no matter how badly we behave, Jesus will always love us and forgive us. If we feel bad about something we did or said, we don’t have to wait till we get to church to pray. We can tell Him we are sorry anytime we want to.
But today is Communion Sunday and that’s a special time for everyone in the church to say they are sorry and to remember that Jesus died because of our sins. We will be going up into the Sanctuary in a few minutes to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
One of the reasons Jesus asked us to celebrate Communion together is so we would be reminded that He always wants to forgive us, no matter what. All we need to do is say we are sorry and ask.
Even though everyone here is not ready to take Communion, when you go upstairs you can use that time to pray and to think about anything you did or said this week that you need to tell God you are sorry for.
Remember, Jesus loves you just the way you are and He doesn’t get mad when you mess up. But He loves you so much that He doesn’t want you to keep doing things that hurt His heart and make you feel bad. He wants to help you change and become more like Him.
So tell Jesus, “Thank you for loving me just as I am,” and then tell Him that you love Him too. But don’t forget to ask Him to help you to do better from now on.