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Come join us for Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday Services!
Complete Worship Schedule can be found at the bottom of this edition.
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MESSAGE FROM STAFF PARISH RELATIONS
Staff Parish Relations Committee met Saturday with our District Superintendent, Dr. Steve Bailey, and in light of that meeting, we have two announcements to share.
First, concerning our associate pastor Reverend Dianne Tobey Covault, Dr. Bailey shared that an appointment has been secured for her. However, it will be a couple of weeks until we can announce that appointment and currently even Dianne does not know all of the details. Dr. Bailey was able to inform Dianne and SPRC that the appointment will involve a church that is close enough to her home to allow her children to stay in their current school district. This is truly an answer to prayer! Please bear with us until we can announce the full details of that appointment and celebrate with her.
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Second, we are happy to share that Reverend Gregory Kendrick, Jr. will be appointed to be our next Associate Pastor at Church of the Saviour. That name may be familiar to you as Gregory preached here earlier this year. Gregory is originally from the west side of Chicago. He came to Ohio as he attended college at Denison University where he studied political science, but discovered his call to ministry. After serving a year at Ohio Northern University doing multi-cultural recruitment, he attended and earned his Master of Divinity degree from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio.
Gregory has served four congregations prior to being appointed to serve here. He worked on the staff of Broad Street UMC in Columbus, Ohio - a church known for significant outreach in the downtown area. Next he served New Horizons UMC and the Hilltop Shalom Zone ministry on the west side of Columbus; followed by Clair UMC also in Columbus. Most recently Gregory has served as the Associate Pastor at The United Methodist Church for all People - a missional church founded by Reverend John Edgar.
Reverend Kendrick is an excellent match for our church as we strategize how to connect with our diverse neighbors in the eastern region of Cleveland. He has significant gifts and experiences in bringing people of faith into ministry with people who are currently outside of our walls. He is a thoughtful listener, a powerful preacher, and a gentle, deeply-grounded pastoral leader. Gregory is married to Rebecca and together they have two children: Caleb, who is 3 and Charis, who is 15 months old.
This appointment is a cooperative effort of Bishop Gregory Palmer and Bishop Tracy Malone. The appointment will begin on July 1. We are grateful and hopeful as we anticipate what Rev. Gregory Kendrick, Jr. will add to the unfolding story of our church!
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RETREAT FOR 5th & 6th GRADERS
Created by God is returning to COTS April 21-22 and is open to 5th and 6th graders. Created by God is a study of human sexuality with a Christian foundation. It will offer both you and your child an opportunity to learn, grow, and celebrate the fact that we have each been wonderfully created by God, and are called to responsible living as sexual beings. Cost is $20 - assistance is available. Click for more info and registration , which ends April 16.
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MISSIONARIES VISITING FROM LIBERIA
Joey and Kerry Davidson will be visiting Church of the Saviour the weekend of April 21 through April 23.
The Davidsons will share with us about their work with youth aging out of orphanages in Liberia. Their mission includes preparing the youth for their future with job training which prepares them for work in the eco-tourism industry.
The Davidsons will share their story with the Confirmation Class and Senior High Youth Group on the evening of April 22. They will be speaking about their mission work at 9:30 a.m. in Calvary Hall on April 23, before going into the "Hot Seat" at the Senior High Sunday School Class at 11 a.m. Finally, Joey and Kerry will greet in the Parlor following the 11 a.m. worship service that morning.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the exciting work that the Davidson's are doing with the support of your missions giving through COTS. |
UMW SUNDAY IS APRIL 30
Church of the Saviour welcomes Rev. Dr. Valerie Stultz as our guest speaker for UMW Sunday on April 30. Dr. Stultz has had a long and varied career in both education and ministry and is currently serving as an adjunct faculty member at The Methodist Theological School in Ohio. Dr. Stultz is also a Spiritual Director for individuals and groups, a church conflict consultant and a retreat leader. She will be preaching at all three services on April 30. Please plan to welcome Dr. Stultz when you attend worship on UMW Sunday. Women from our local UMW unit will be participating at all three services and the UMW Special Mission Pin recipient(s) will be announced during worship that morning. This award is given to those who most exemplify, through their words and actions, a commitment to the ideals of United Methodist Women.
Please join us for this special morning as Church of the Saviour celebrates women and their many contributions at the local, national and international level on behalf of women, children and youth.
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MEN'S ADVANCE APRIL 28-29
This year's Men's Advance will be held on April 28-29, from 5:30 p.m. on Friday evening to 5:30 p.m. Saturday evening at Camp Asbury in Hiram, Ohio.
Please join us for 24 hours of socializing, studying, and working out our faith together. The Men's Advance is a great way to get to know men in the church better, to work on your faith, to reconnect with God and fellow disciples, to reflect and have the opportunity to hit the reset button. Can you take a day away for any of these things? The better question, perhaps is how can you not? Please sign up by April 25. The retreat center holds a maximum of 50 so sign up early. The cost for the overnight is $80 and assistance is available. CLICK HERE to register now, you can also sign up in the church office.
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SERVICE OPPORTUNITY FOR CHILDREN
Abington Arms is a rent-restricted facility for senior and disabled adults. Church of the Saviour serves dinner there several times each year, and this month COTS preschool and elementary kids will be on the scene at 4:30 on April 26th to help set tables, serve, and share some fun. We can wear our There will be room for about 10 kids to participate that afternoon. To participate, please RSVP Pam Bowler (pambowler2000@gmail.com; 216-321-8880).
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BREATHE RESPITE NIGHT
FRIDAY, APRIL 28
Our next Breathe Respite night for families of children with special needs will happen on Friday, April 28, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. (volunteers to report at 5:15 for dinner). Registration is open on the church website. Breathe requires many volunteers in a variety of roles, from connecting with a child to serving food. The only requirement, if you have not participated before, is an hour-long training session on Sunday, April 23 at 12:30 in the Great Hall conference room (Room 161). Lunch will be served at the training. Please reserve a spot by contacting Pam Bowler at pambowler2000@gmail.com or 216-321-8880. If you cannot make this training time, contact Pam for an alternate time. We invite you to this wonderful mission!
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UMW SPRING FLEA MARKET MAY 5 & 6
The Spring Flea Market is coming up on May 5 and 6! The COTS UMW bi-annual flea market raises money for a number of missions and needs many volunteers to make this event a success. At the last flea market, volunteers logged more than 600 hours. Please consider donating a couple hours of your time to this mission event. Volunteers are needed Monday through Thursday, any time between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., to sort and price donations. On Friday and Saturday, we need cashiers, lunch servers, greeters, floor monitors and clean-up crew. Volunteers who work at least 4 hours, can shop for 7 items at a pre-sale on Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can indicate that you plan to volunteer by signing up in the church office or, CLICK HERE, for the SignUp Genius site. Questions? Email Mary Freer at cotsfleas@gmail.com or phone her at 216-242-6144. Donated items will be accepted from May 1 to May 3. Take linens, clothing, shoes and purses to Calvary Hall. Take all other donations to Great Hall.
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EAST CLEVELAND SERVING DAY
The next East Cleveland Serving Day will be Saturday, May 13th. This Serving Day will be done in partnership with our friends at New Life Cathedral in East Cleveland.
We will gather at New Life Cathedral at 16200 Euclid Avenue at 8:00 a.m. for Worship and a continental breakfast. The service activities will take place from 9:00 to 12:00 followed by a deli luncheon at COTS. Service opportunities will include teams at Candlewood Nursing Home, East Cleveland Library/Cultural Center, Habitat for Humanity Restore, Neighborhood Clean-Up, library painting at New Life Cathedral, and diaper drive for St. Philomena's Pantry. More information and sign-up will be available on Sundays, April 30 and May 7. Come join in this all church event!
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VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2017
Vacation Bible School at Church of the Saviour. VBS will run from Monday to Thursday, June 19 through 22.
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... WITH PASTOR JUDY
I first encountered hymn # 622 in the United Methodist Hymnal when I was well into my 30's
"There is a fountain filed with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."
That one wasn't in the book when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's, and I have to confess, when I first saw it, I was appalled. I was not appalled to think that I have guilty stains. I certainly was not appalled by the belief that Jesus' offering of his life, giving himself over to an outrageously unjust and bitterly cruel execution, frees me and all of humanity from the burden of our many, many failures to love, our estrangement from God, our sin. What appalled me was the graphic, sensory imagery of being plunged beneath a flood of blood. I can feel it. I can taste it. I can smell it. It's horrific. It's sticky. It does stain! I can't easily shake it off, shower it off, change clothes, clean myself up, move on to a more congenial enterprise. I have to stay there awhile, soaked in the revulsion of this reality: the very worst that sin can do to the very best that Love has given, Jesus' crucifixion. That's where we find ourselves on Good Friday. And God lets us stay there awhile, drenched and sticky.
Perhaps only after coming close enough to get some of that blood spilled on ourselves, to know personally some of the grief, the outrage, the injustice, the devastation of the Beloved One's betrayal, his torment, his suffering, his execution, his death; perhaps only then can one begin to be fittingly amazed at how God works in and through the worst that sin can do, and transmutes it, by love, with love, for love.
Two thousand years ago and still today, on Easter, the One who speaks all things into being, thunders an eternal NO! to the sin (our sin) that puts Love to death, and strips away its power to keep us addicted, defeated, enslaved, aimless, futile, dying and dead. On Easter, then and now, the Abba from whom Jesus came and to whom Jesus devoted and offered and sacrificed his whole life, issues an eternal Yes! to his Life and his Love, the very same Life and Love to which Jesus calls us. Even us. Even me... along the Way.
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HOLY WEEK SERVICES
Tenebrae Good Friday April 14
7 p.m., Sanctuary
Rev. Judy Wismar Claycomb
Easter Vigil April 15
7 p.m., Myers Chapel
Rev. Dianne Tobey Covault
Easter April 16
6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service, Church Front Lawn
Rev. Dianne Tobey Covault
8:30 a.m., Sanctuary
9:30 a.m., Great Hall
11:00 a.m., Sanctuary
Rev. Judy Wismar Claycomb
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