Messenger | April 12, 2023

This week's release at a glance:

Pastor’s Message

Into the Words

It's Stewardship Season

Joy & Laughter Sunday

Congregational Meeting & Luncheon

CAT Survey Executive Summary

New Member Class

Kat's Corner

VBS Registration is Open

Spots Open for WoodsWork

Pastor's Message

Dear friends and family of Woods Church,

Every family has different rules about how long holiday decorations should stay on display. For example, some people are quick to take down Christmas decorations while others leave the tree up into late January. Some people love to put up Halloween decorations in early October, while others set out pumpkins around October 25th and toss them away on November 2nd (or whenever the last bits of Halloween candy have been consumed).

But Easter is one holiday we shouldn't be too quick to put behind us. Officially, it is a long season of the church that lasts 50 days until Pentecost (which this year will be on May 28). The gospels tell of several appearances by the risen Christ between Easter Sunday and his ascension about 40 days later. We waited so long for Easter to arrive; it seems a pity to move too quickly away from its message of new life and God's victory over death.

Resurrection is such a powerful concept that it deserves to be part of our faith lives as much as possible. Resurrections can be both small and large. They can be as simple as bulbs and plants that take root and bloom in spring, or the act of faith in which older adults plant trees that will only reach maturity long after we've ended our earthly existence. Resurrections are movements out of hospitals and back into daily routines. They are moments of awareness, however fleeting, in which loved ones connect, share stories, laugh, and remember times of shared joy.

Resurrections also involve our persistent hope that no life is beyond redemption—whether that involves a person we see at a busy street intersection or the face looking back at us in the mirror. These rebirths may come about from compassionate charity, from drug treatment programs, physical therapy, or counseling support. They may also come from prayer, from sincere acts of repentance, from finding a way to break a long silence and say "I'm sorry."

Let Easter live on in the coming days. Look around with eyes open wide to the God-given possibility of resurrection all around you. And be of good cheer—for the One who was dead is now alive, and with us always until the end of the age!

Peace in Christ,

Randy Bush

Church News

“Into the Words” Mini-Podcast

In this week's episode of “Into the Words,” Pastor Randy discusses Ray Bradbury's book, The Illustrated Man. Click the button below to watch previous episodes.

It's Stewardship Season

The countdown has begun and this year's Stewardship Campaign is underway! Our theme is simply Come Home to Woods. Our hope is that Woods Church is a place in which people find a spiritual home, a community of faithful witness, compassionate service, invigorating worship, and intergenerational education. Through the act of making a stewardship pledge, you help our church leaders budget wisely and plan effectively the various programs for the coming year. In the coming weeks, you'll receive a letter and pledge card, which we hope you will return on or before Commitment Sunday, May 7. You also can click on the link below to fill out a pledge form.

To set the tone for this campaign, a short video was created that captured the stories of how two families, one new member and one long-time member, found their home here at Woods. Click on the link below to watch it. And thank you from our Stewardship Team!

Joy & Laughter Sunday

We are excited to celebrate Joy & Laughter Sunday on April 16! Join us to continue the celebration of Easter. Send your jokes to jokes@woodschurch.org.

Congregational Meeting & Luncheon

Following worship on Sunday, April 16, you are invited to attend a congregational meeting in which we'll elect our new class of officers, hear updates on the interim process, and discuss the results of the recent CAT survey. This will be followed by a luncheon in Fellowship Hall.

CAT Survey Executive Summary

Thank you once more to all who participated in our Congregational Survey. Click the button below to read an executive summary of the findings.

Session will be hosting in-person and Zoom gatherings for further discussion on how address these stated goals of evangelism, family ministry, and building faithful connections.

Gratitude for Easter Hangings

A special thanks to Marcy Magette and her team of Woods Quilters who stitched the beautiful Easter paraments in the sanctuary. They add so much to our worship experience and visually celebrate the wonderful news of Christ's resurrection. Alleluia!

New Members Class

Our next New Members Class will be held on Sunday, April 30, 11AM. If you have any family, friends, or neighbors who you'd like to invite, please contact Pastor Nancy at nreynolds@woodschurch.org.

Ministry Announcements

Kat's Corner

Children’s Ministry is CHEEP! CHEEP! We have three new friends in Kat and France’s area. Come by and meet Sandor, Hen Solo, and Honey Bear.



See photos and videos on our Children's Ministry Facebook group page.

VBS Registration is Open

BEE sure to register for VBS online at WoodsChurch.org. VBS is for children age 3–rising 6th graders and will run daily, June 26–29, 4–7PM! The cost includes dinner, and parents are welcome. Scholarships are available. Please contact a pastor or Kat Green for details.

The whole church is invited to be part of a welcoming community of faith! Volunteers are needed to decorate, set up each day, be a “Plus One” for a classroom, classroom teachers, music leaders, story helpers, dinner orderers, musicians, game leaders, nursery caregivers, and art leaders. The curriculum is based on the BEE-atitudes, and asks, "How does Jesus teach us to BEE in the world?" Let us be called children of God.

Nursery care is available for volunteers' younger children.

New 11AM Sunday Class

Join us for our new 11AM Sunday class, April 23–June 4, to discover Jesus' character through Jesus Revealed: The I Am Statements in the Gospel of John by pastor and author Matt Rawle. We'll meet in the Conference Room or on Zoom.

Light, Bread, Shepherd, Life. The Gospel uses these and other symbols to paint a picture of who Jesus is. Through the "I Am" statements, Jesus describes himself with rich images, showing us that he is both fully human and fully divine, and is calling us as his followers.

The "I Am" statements are symbols that resonate throughout the Gospel and all of Scripture. These words point beyond themselves to the deep mystery of Jesus Christ. Experience the profound truth at the heart of the gospel, that Jesus calls us to himself and offers us the hope of resurrection.

Spots Open for WoodsWork

There is still space available for youth to sign up for WoodsWork, a Youth Ministry Mission Trip supporting Habitat for Humanity. We will travel to Hartsville, South Carolina, June 22–30, to build two homes for deserving families, and to complete other needed construction projects.

No construction skills are needed. The trip is available to youth who are entering 9th grade through graduated seniors.

Registration is open until Friday, May 12. Register at WoodsChurch.org.

Food Donations Needed

Our Mission partner, SPAN ( Serving People Across Neighborhoods), is in need of some non-perishable food items for their Food Pantry. Their wish list consists of:

Baked beans

Canned tomato products,

Peanut butter and jelly

Canned meats including tuna and chicken

Ham

SPAM

Sausages

Canned chili meat

Please drop off donations in the SPAN barrel in Fellowship Hall. Your gifts of nonperishable food to SPAN make a difference in many of our neighbors’ lives. Without your help, many local families might otherwise go hungry.

Upcoming Events

Senior Spring Fellowship Dinner

Save the date for our Senior Spring Fellowship Dinner on Friday, May 5, 5:30–7:30PM. We invite all who are 70 and older (spouses welcome) to join us for our Homecoming Themed dinner. More details to come!

Writings from the Library

Books to Check Out

In keeping with the title of Pastor Randy’s Easter sermon, "Go and Tell Others," here are two books by Adam Hamilton about two of the Apostles who spent the rest of their lives doing just that.

Other books you might enjoy from the Church Library:

Paul: A Novel

by Walter Wangerin Jr. (historical fiction)

What Paul Meant

by Garry Wills

Twelve Ordinary Men

by John MacArthur

Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You

by John MacArthur

In Our Community

Drink at the Well Celebrates its 10th Anniversary

Limited tickets are available for the 10th anniversary celebration of Drink at the Well, which provides a wide range of therapeutic recovery services for abused women. The celebration will be held on Friday, April 28, 5:30–8:30PM, at the Baltimore Museum of Industry (1415 Key Hwy, 21230). Register at bit.ly/diamond-anniversary.

Boy Scout Book Drive

Cooper Powell, a Boy Scout from Troop 339 (which meets at Woods Church), will be hosting a book drive through April 30, for his Eagle Scout Project.

Woods Church is one of several drop off locations. Additional drop-off locations include The Big Bean and Park Books. All books are welcome and will either be used in the little free library he’ll be building at Earleigh Heights Ranger Station or donated to the Maryland Book Bank. Questions? Contact Cooper Powell at cooperpow06@gmail.com.

Church Family News

A Moment of Prayer

Tonight, Wednesday, April 12, PC(USA) churches in the Louisville area will hold a simultaneous moment of prayer at 6:30PM (EDT), for the victims of Monday’s tragic mass shooting. Together as a community of faith, we will pray for those who lost their lives as well as their friends and families, but also for action that will finally put an end to the gun violence epidemic in our country.



Our Woods family is encouraged to participate by holding a moment of silence in their homes at 7PM. We hope you will join us in spirit.

Congregational Prayer

God of mercy, as an Easter people, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead. He is alive and has become the Lord of life. From the waters of death you raise us with him and renew your gift of life within us. Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ, and help us to grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with you, through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.



Amen.