Notes from the Diaconate

The Diaconate welcomed new members: Ruth Boutilier, Jerry Simmons, Barbara Daverin, April Goss-Baker, Susan McLay, Dennis Blanchette, and Bob Miner to our group this month. These folks join Cindy Tomlin and Lynne Hildreth who will be Senior Deacons and Jean Button who will be secretary. We thank Glenda Lovegrove, Bob Slack, Helen Carroll, Bruce Hildreth, Mary Ann Durand and Betty Rice for their years of service to the Diaconate. We are blessed to have so much diversity in our group. As our new members become acclimated to their roles, you will be seeing two as Deacons of the Month for February: Susan McLay and Barbara Daverin. The remarkable thing about many of our members is that they serve in more than one capacity at First Congregational Church.

Lent began this past month. As you prepare yourself spiritually for Lent, please consider ordering an Easter lily for yourself or for someone who is not able to come to church. We Deacons deliver these lilies on Palm Sunday. Receiving a flower and a visit from a friendly face means a lot to folks who are not able to get out of their house.

May this time of Lent help each of us to look inward and count our blessings and look outward to give of ourselves, our time and our talents.

Jean Button
for the Diaconate   

Trustees

Respectfully submitted,
Board of Trustees

From the Nominating Committee

Now that the new committees are getting organized, it's time to think about some of the needs that can be met by individuals outside of committees. You can contribute to the growth and strength of the Church even if you can not commit to regular meetings.

So what kinds of tasks can be done on an irregular schedule and possibly from home?

1) Lay Shepherds always could use some help with visitations and note writing. Visits are arranged at times convenient to the shut-in and of course note-writing can be done at odd hours from home.

2) We could use someone to help better get the word out of what our Church is doing to rest of the community. Currently we do not have someone who can be a resource to committees on how to get our message into the local newspapers, onto signs, onto local store bulletin boards, or on the local cable networks. A willingness to submit or produce short pieces or to design flyers or posters would be helpful. It may be that this is a job for more than one person, so if you would be comfortable doing some of the job, but not all of it please consider doing the part that you are comfortable with.

3) We now have a good library space, and we could use some help to organize the library, and let the congregation know what is available in the library. I would anticipate as the library is used more, it would receive additional contributions of materials that would need to be organized.

So please consider that you have been asked to help, and if you feel called to help with one of the tasks above, and want further information, please contact me or Rev. Adams.

Andrew Jennings
Nominating Committee Chair
(978) 663-8193; aajennings@aol.com

Outreach Committee Report

Do you love me? Feed my sheep. (John 21: 15-17)

Billerica Food Pantry
The February collection for the Billerica Food Pantry numbered 252 items! The focus for this collection was "Soup-er Bowl Sunday" - and you donated 150 cans of soup, plus 102 other types of food donations. Thank you for your generosity! Also, we'd like to thank Cindy and Courtney Tomlin for their help in taking donations from upstairs to downstairs, and Dennis Blanchette for his ever-faithful support in delivering your donations to the Billerica Food Pantry.

It has been brought to our committee's attention that there are members who would like to add their contributions to our Pantry collections, but due to physical limitations, cannot deliver their donations to and/or into the church. If you would like to arrange a "pickup", whereby someone stops at your house or meets you at your car on the applicable Sundays, please contact one of the following Outreach Committee members: Don Lovegrove@ 978-667-3596 * Stephen Lewis @ 978-670-1612 * Bob Miner @ 978-667-2961 * Jenny Carmichael @ 978-262-0251. Any one of us would be happy to assist you.

February Contributions
The Outreach Committee unanimously voted to focus the greatest portion of our attention and giving for February to the emergency relief efforts in Haiti, in response to the January 12th 7.3 magnitude earthquake. After the careful deliberation of 3 major support organizations, we chose to send $1,500 to Oxfam America. Oxfam has been working in Haiti for years to create sustainable means of earning a living, helping Haitians reduce their vulnerability to disasters, and strengthen and support people's ability to hold their government accountable. These long-term efforts meant that when the earthquake hit, Oxfam already had staff on the ground ready to respond to the disaster. At the time of the quake, there was approximately a 200 person Oxfam staff on the ground in Haiti, including a group of highly experienced emergency specialists.

Oxfam's emergency team based in the capital will be supporting rescue efforts, assessing the damage and responding with the public health and water and sanitation service to prevent the outbreak and spread of disease. Oxfam was appointed as the initial lead to coordinate all international aid groups working to provide emergency water and sanitation services. Their long-term community work means that they have a large network of local organizations that are uniquely suited to ensure that they get aid to affected people quickly. Oxfam's emergency work is tailored according to need and provides both immediate relief and longer term support to help people get back on their feet and support themselves. We thank you for allowing us to direct your donations to this worthwhile charity and to the support of the people of Haiti.

Thank you!
We have received thank you letters and cards from many of the recipients. Please see the Outreach Committee's bulletin board for these in their entirety.

Lowell Transitional Living Center: "Thank you much for your very generous donations of 42 pairs of sox and a blanket to the LTLC. The person who dropped them off wouldn't take a donation receipt or leave a name, only the fact that it was a Congregational Church in Billerica." If you are the anonymous donor, please let us add our gratitude to that expressed by the LTLC. You are indeed the hands and feet of Christ!

Church World Service: "Thank you for contributing to CWS through your Alternative Holiday Fair. With your help we can continue to assist people overcome by natural and human-caused disasters, as well as supporting community efforts to develop sustainable agriculture, reliable safe water supplies, and other means to break the grip of grinding poverty."

Bread for the World Institute: "Dear Friend, Thank you for your gift of $100."

Grameen Foundation: "Dear Friends, Thank you for your recent generous gift to Grameen Foundation. Your gift provides an opportunity for the world's poorest-especially women-to lift themselves out of poverty."

House of Hope: "Thank you very much for your donation in the amount of $200. We thank you for helping us."

One Great Hour of Sharing
The One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) Offering, administered by Wider Church Ministries, is the refugee, relief and development fund of the United Church of Christ. It provides support to people in more than eighty countries. We will be taking the collection for this fund on March 14th. For more information regarding this collection, please visit online at www.ucc.org/oghs.

Looking forward
In March, we will be focusing our attention on hunger relief. Some of the agencies that we contribute towards are eligible for a "multiplier effect"-funds raised by them will be matched by a large charitable foundation. More information regarding this will be forthcoming-please stay tuned!

With hunger relief in mind, please remember the two following dates: Friday, April 2nd and Sunday, May 2nd. April 2nd is the 28th Annual Greater Lowell Walk for Hunger. This is a 13 mile walk to help eliminate hunger. They have sent us extra forms, posted on our bulletin board, if you are interested in participating in this worthwhile cause! May 2nd is Project Bread's annual Walk for Hunger. Our church's own Bob Miner will be making the hike this year!

- Jenny Carmichael