June News from the Federated Church of Ashland

Church Photo

The Chimes Online

Federated Church of Ashland

118 Main Street

Ashland, MA 01721

Volume Two, 5th Edition

June 2013

A Note of Praise!

Join Us for a

Bible Study

We gather in the Church Parlor the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at 6 PM. We have been following the Upper Room Devotional which is available at each meeting and is also available in the Church Office. No prior knowledge is required. It is informal and casual. Join us for a wonderful time of spiritual fellowship.

All Are Welcome!

Office Hours

The Church Office is staffed Monday-Friday mornings.

Larry is in the office as usual, Monday-Thursday and is also available by phone as needed.

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As noted with the last edition of the Chimes-Online, we are testing it as a way to reach out to members and friends of the Federated Church of Ashland with current and updated news and information about what is happening in our church, some stories and reflections that might inspire you, and to take advantage of the speed and convenience of electronic media, such as email.

Your thoughts and suggestions are encouraged, and any feedback on how we might improve or even articles of interest, are welcome.

It is hoped that we can all become more familiar with the exciting things happening in our church, maybe inspire your involvement, and provide a means by which you can share this email with your family and friends. Simply "forward" it by clicking on the link below.

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From Larry's Desk...

Some times they say is it just nice to kick back and smell the flowers...so here are a couple of images taken by our own Bob Richards...to help us all do just that. So as a take a week off, I will leave you with theses images... Enjoy!

Blessings, Larry

SAVE THE DATE

Sunday June 23rd

WHY?

9:30 AM: Sunday Worship Family Day Theme

10:45 AM: Annual Meeting of the Church

11:15 AM: All Church Picnic

Plan on joining us that day. Pray and Worship with us. Share in the decisions which impact our church. Celebrate the arrival of summer and fellowship together with an All Church Picnic (rain or shine)

Bring a Potluck picnic item to share...and share in this all church family day.

Vacation Bible School is Just Around the Corner!!

"The Gospel of Jesus According to Dr. Seuss"

Kim Conner is our Coordinator this year

July 8 to 12th

Ages 4-12

9:00 AM to 12 Noon

Tell your neighbors and friends.

Hey do you have children between the ages of 4 and 12? Do your neighbors have children in that range? Maybe you have grand children, or even great grand children in that age range? Well our church is gearing up for Vacation Bible School; whole week of fun, games, Bible stories, singing, arts and crafts.

The theme for this year is

"The Gospel of Jesus: According to Dr. Seuss."

It will be an exciting and fun week. Register your child or children now so we can plan to have both enough supplies and staffing.

The cost is $25 per child or $50 for a family. ( "Scholarships" are available for those member families that need assistance.)

Click this link for a registration form: VBS Registration Form

Click this link for a medical release form:Medical Release Form

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Parents/Members/Friends

LEND A HAND...

.....We will need helpers to run crafts, donate snacks, help the children with a cooking activity, and lead recreation time. All supplies will be provided as well as the lesson plan. We are breaking the helper's jobs up into time slots to make volunteering easier, so if you can't volunteer for the full 15 hour week - maybe you can do just one hour each day that week! The children greatly benefit from the interaction with other members from the congregation and more hands make the VBS program more FUN!

If you have any decorative "Dr. Seuss-themed" items we can borrow to help us transform the downstairs classrooms into Dr. Seuss World, they would be greatly appreciated and returned at the end of the week. Please contact our VBS Coordinator, Kim Conner by email at [email protected] or by phone at 508-596-8737 or the church office @ 508-881-1355 or with any questions, or email [email protected]

Images by Dr. Seuss

Our Members

June Birthdays

6/1 Cris Colby

6/3 Liz Shuter

6/8 Clayton Rieck

6/19 Sue Scotland

6/23 Guy Williams

6/25 Busi Maswoswe

6/30 John Ellsworth

Happy Birthday to One and All !!

If we missed your birthday it means we don't have it in our records, please call the church office and leave your information with Linda - thanks!

Another Successful Event !!

Family Promise Metro West

We hosted three families (4 adults and 7 children) the week of

May 5th to May 12th.

Eve, who was previously homeless and once was one of our guests, has since found work

and moved into her own apartment right here in Ashland as a result of support from Family Promise helped prepare Friday evening's meal. She served a wonderful Puerto Rican roast pork and black beans and rice which was a big hit with two of our families. She spent time talking to the families currently in the program and encouraged them to stick with the program as it was her road to success.

With great gratitude we thank the following for their help -

Dinner Preparers - Sha'arei Shalom, Sal and Roe Tocco and friends, Pam Dunham, Kathy Craib, Lisa Colby, Vauntina Franklin, Rev.Larry Iannetti, Ruth Hanning and the middle school children, and Eve (formerly with Family Promise).

Desserts - Sha'arei Shalom, Sal & Roe Tocco, Linda Iarussi, Peg Daly, and Bob Ethier.

Overnight Hosting - Bill and Lois Tougas, Kathy Craib, Raman Krishnan, Tina Kingsbury, Sue Wallace, Kim Conner, Pete and Linda Russo, Kendra Sampson from Framingham State University, Tom Colby, Karen and Emily Wenzell, and Alan and Vickie Mancini.

Set up and breakdown for converting classrooms to bedrooms - Kathy Craib, Vauntina Franklin, and Sue Rivas.

Sue Wallace for opening the Thrift Shop for the families Wednesday evening.

Steve Howard for preparing a hot breakfast Saturday morning, which is always a treat.

Thanks to all who donated food, and took home laundry when the week was over. It takes many volunteers to make this program a success.

Our next hosting date is the week of September 15th.

Lois Tougas, Meals Coordinator

This newsletter is produced by:

Federated Church of Ashland

118 Main Street, (P.O. Box 26)

Ashland, Massachusetts 01721

Church Office is staffed Monday-Friday 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Linda Iarussi, Office Manager

Rev. Larry Iannetti, Pastor

Telephone: 508-881-1355 Office Ext. 21 Pastor Ext . 25

Email: fcoa[email protected] or fcoa[email protected]

Webpage: www.federatedchurchofashland.org

Calendar of Events

Adult Bible Study

Held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every month @ 6:00 PM. Please join us anytime!

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