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A Word From Pastor Christy

March 2019

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the

face of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2

Dearest Church Family, These two verses from Genesis offer us our first glimpse of God’s movement in the world. Before anything existed - before land or sky were formed, before the sun, moon, and stars were visible in the sky, before plants sprouted from the ground, before animals walked, flew, slithered, crawled, or swam, before people were created in community - God was on the move. Throughout the Bible, we witness God’s movement throughout history, and we are told the stories of people, communities, and nations who felt God’s movement within and through their own lives. As we gather to worship on Sundays this Lenten season, we are going to explore what it means to have a God on the move. We’re going to look back at some of the ways people recognized God’s movement in the past, look around us to see some of the ways God is continuing to move here and now, and look forward to see the ways God’s is calling the church to move forward into the future. In the United Church of Christ, we are familiar with the saying, “God is still speaking.” It’s something we’ve preached since the “Still Speaking” campaign was launched in 2004. But, during this Lenten season, we’ll be modifying it a bit as we proclaim that “God is still moving” in our lives. Lent is a season of self-reflection and repentance. Although repentance sounds like an ominous word, it simply means “turning around”. When we repent, we realize that we are moving in the wrong direction and turn around to follow a better way. As we meet each Sunday, I hope that we can use the lessons of God’s movement as a springboard to repentance. We’ll look to Jesus’ example, witness God’s movement in the world, and challenge ourselves to ‘turn around’ from our misguided paths and follow where God’s spirit is leading us instead. Below, I’ve listed the themes for each week, and I pray that you will come and join us on our Lenten journey.

Ash Wednesday – God moves in our hearts. March 10 – God moves in the wilderness. March 17 – God moves past all obstacles.

March 24 – God moves us to grow. March 31 – God moves in forgiveness.

April 7 – God moves us to empty ourselves. April 14 – God moves towards the cross. April 21 – God moves from death to life.

May you feel God’s movement in your life today and every day, and

may you be courageous in following wherever it leads. Grace and Peace,

Pastor Christy

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St. John Prayer List

Countryside Manor – 450 West First Street – Aviston IL 62216: Betty Becker, Jack Milligan

Trenton Village – 980 E. Broadway – Trenton IL 62293: Beryl Kuhn, Lillian Janssen

Faith Countryside - 100 Faith Drive - Highland, IL 62249: Marge Goble

Magnolia Terrace - 623 Hamacher St. - Waterloo, IL 62298: Velva McGavock

At Home: Hal Wehrle

Worship Participants Thank you for your service to the church!!

GREETERS: March 3: Christine Becker March 10: Barbie & Jeral Szpila March 17: Isabel Hull March 24: Hank & Laurie Henderson March 31: Pehg & John Zeller

ACOLYTES:

March 3: Sunday School Children March 10: Sunday School Children March 17: Sunday School Children March 24: Sunday School Children March 31: Sunday School Children

LITURGISTS:

March 3: Lisa Groennert March 10: Lois Roach March 17: Open March 24: Ian Henderson March 31: Open If you can be a liturgist for a Sunday or a series of Sundays, there is a sign-up sheet on the table in the narthex. Thank you!

COFFEE HOUR HOST/S:

March 3: Open March 10: Women's J.O.Y. Fellowship March 17: Worship Committee March 24: Congregational Life March 31: Lois Roach If you can supply the Coffee Hour refreshments for a first or a fifth Sunday this year, there is a sign-up sheet on the table in the narthex. Thank you!

PASTOR’S HOURS are from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM Monday - Thursday. You can reach her at the church office at 224-9828, cell phone at 618-973-3040 or email revchristyeckert@gmail.com.

COMMUNION PREPARATION

March: Lana Tobin

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BLESSINGS FROM ST. JOHN TO:

March 4 March 6

Lauren Holloway Bev Rogers

Amelia Rakers

March 9 March 12

Rick Nelson Mike Williamson

Owen Szpila

March 13 March 14

Darci Louden-Materkowski Shelagh Fox

Stephanie Schroeder Sheryl Pedersen

March 15 March 19

Cheryl Bair Christine Becker

Jeral Szpila

Laura Wesselmann

March 20 March 21

Kris Schaeffer Tish Bates

March 23 March 24

Nicholas Bair Pehg Zeller

Harper Gerstner

March 25 March 27

Lonna Patton Stan Clark

Nicole Wernle

Lucas Haller

March 29 March 31

Gracie Johnson Deb Athmer

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Many thanks to:

everyone who donated to the "Souper

Bowl" donations

Heather Netemeyer & Mickey Williamson

for serving as substitute organists

Billie Rinderer for starting a Happy Crafters

group for fellowship time while doing crafts

Stan & Lois Clark for being St. John's

delegates at the Day of Discipleship

CONGRATULATIONS FROM ST. JOHN TO:

March 1 Billie & Orville Rinderer

March 3 Mickey & Mike Williamson

March 21 Carl Clark & Patricia McConnell

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CONDOLENCES to the family of Phyllis Brown who passed away Sunday, February 10th. Family and friends gathered at Trenton Cemetery on February 14th at 10:30 AM for remembrances.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Liturgists and Coffee Hour hosts are needed. In March liturgists are needed for the 17th and the 31st. The Coffee

Hour is open on March 3rd. Please let the office know at 224-9828 or stjohntrenton@gmail.com if

you can help out for either of these duties.

Inclement Weather Alerts Please be aware that if we need to cancel church services due to snow or ice, it will be posted on KSDK channel 5. We hope that you will make note of this for future reference. If you have any questions, please call the church office at 224-9828. PHONE NOTIFICATIONS: If you or someone you know would like a phone call in case of weather closures, please let us know so we can make sure everyone gets the message. There will be a sign-up list in the narthex for anyone who is interested

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Men's Fellowship Breakfast The March Men's Fellowship Breakfast will be on Tuesday, March 5th at 8:00 AM. All men of the congregation are invited to join us for good food and great fellowship at Good Ol' Days in New Baden.

Women’s J.O.Y. Fellowship

KINDERCOTTAGE REPEAT- Yes, we are going to repeat this month for Kindercottage. Brenda Crisp has requested healthy snacks again for the collection date of March 17. This week the following items went to East St. Louis: 62 fruit snacks, a giant box of Cheerios,one package of cookies, twenty Mandarin orange cups, one box of toaster pops, a barrel of pretzels, fifteen individual packs of cheese and crackers, a giant box of goldfish, 34 granola bars, a zoo full of animal crackers, and thirty-eight diapers. Hopefully, the bad weather which affected our worship services is past and we will have an even larger amount in March. As always, thank you for your generosity. ASH WEDNESDAY PROGRAM: St. John is again hosting the Ash Wednesday service on March 6th for the ladies of the community. Pastor Christy will be the speaker and the theme of the program is "Blessings". We will also have breakfast casseroles in addition to sweet rolls as we did last year because it was a delicious brunch and greatly enjoyed. There is a sign-up sheet in the Narthex for the ladies of St. John. If you would like to contribute a casserole, please indicate so on the sign up. Also, let us know if it will include meat. We are looking forward to a meaningful morning with our friends from St. John and the other churches.

KARAOKE IN THE AFTERNOON Jo-Allison Rogers is starting up Karaoke in the Afternoon again and invites everyone to come out for another fun afternoon of singing on Sunday, March 24th from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. This is a fun event for whoever who would like to sing along with some favorite songs. If you don't want to sing, come and be the audience! Bring your own snacks and non-alcoholic drinks if you would like. Please see Jo-Allison if you have any questions.

ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING

One Great Hour of Sharing, as part of Our Churches Wider Mission, is the special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that carries God’s message of love and hope to people in crisis. The UCC works with international partners to provide sources of clean water, food, education and health care, small business micro-credit, advocacy and resettlement for refugees and displaced persons, and emergency relief and rehabilitation. OGHS also supports domestic and international ministries for disaster preparedness and response. Informational brochures will be in your bulletins at the end of March with donations taken for OGHS on April 7th. Thank you for helping others.

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St John UCC Hope-sters (Youth Group)

- Sunday, March 17th – Trip to Skyzone – We’ll be leaving church around

12:30pm, to arrive at Skyzone at 1. I will need to know if you are going by

March 10th, so we can order tickets ahead of time. You can also sign your waiver

online so you don’t have to do it when we get there.

o Cost: $15.99 for 60 minutes, $2.99 for special socks

o If you wear green, you will receive one free game of laser tag.

- Saturday, April 13th –Work Day @ DuBois Center. We will be traveling to DuBois

for the day to help clean up in preparation for their summer camping season and

in honor of earth day.

o Cost: Free! And, for helping out, you’ll get a free lunch from DuBois. This is

open to the whole church.

- Sunday, May 19th – Trip to Centerfield

- Summer Mission Trip – July 7-13th – Grand Rapids Michigan

LENTEN SERVICES Come and worship with us on five Wednesdays during Lent, as we learn how to connect to God in the midst of our busy lives. We'll gather for worship in the sanctuary from 6:30-7:00 PM, as we explore the following subjects:

March 13: Praying while doing chores March 20: Praying while eating

March 27: Praying while creating April 3: Praying while fidgeting

April 10: Praying while serving others

Highlights of February 19, 2019 Council Meeting Members: Laura Wesselmann-President, Mickey Williamson-Vice President, Dustin Atwood-Treasurer, Lana Tobin-Secretary, Stan Clark, Greg Erdmann and Jake Johnson (Official Copies of the Minutes are available upon request.) Monthly reports were given by the officers and various committee/team members. DISCUSSIONS:

Custodial services-Interviews

Endowment

5th Sunday Offering for March Next meeting will be Tuesday, March 19 at 6:00 PM.

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Hi parents, families, and friends. I hope everyone enjoyed a happy Valentine’s Day. February has proven to have a lot of challenges with various weather conditions disrupting our routines. As I write this, we are receiving yet another snow system. The ever changing weather has created a variety of health issues for our students. I hope we have everyone healthy and in school very soon.

As many of you realize, we are in the process of registering for the 2019-2020 school year. If you plan to return to Rainbow, please complete the Registration Form in your child’s homework folder soon. We have begun to receive new student registrations. It looks to be an exciting year. Our new school year will begin on August 19th and 20th. However, before all of that can begin, we still have many exciting things to complete in this school year!

Celebrating birthdays is one of the fun times to experience. We want to wish a very “Happy Birthday” to our February birthday students. Our students are Aften Emig on the 17th, Logan Harriss on the 21st, Madisyn Woltering on the 24th, and Adyson Kruger on the 26th! We love all the yummy treats! For students with summer birthdays, please watch for a list in your homework folder next week. We pick a date for all our students to share his or her birthday with their classmates.

A very special date – April 26th - is our preschool performance! Please take note. This year we are going to return to a mid-day program for parents and friends. So on that Friday we will need ALL students to attend school starting at 8:15! It will be the first time ever that all our students will actually

practice our performance as a group. Then at 11:00 we will open the doors to present a unique and special concert for family and friends. It is neither a graduation nora closing program; just a wonderful, exciting presentation by our students. Since it is still obviously in the planning stages, more information will be sent to you as the time

nears. Please mark the date April 26th and all our Tuesday/Thursday families please make arrangements to have your child attend on that Friday!

We continue our many fun activities and projects. Our Alphabet Basket has been a great experience for our students. As we go through the letter bags each day, I am very impressed with all the items your children have brought to share. I always say I will remember something unique for when I write my article. However, there are so many wonderful items it would take the entire newsletter. We have had a few “first” items even after seventeen years. One really cute item was the caveman for C! Equally exciting is to receive feedback that students are trying to sound out words, objects, colors and more; while having fun doing it. That is what truly makes it exciting! Along with sharing items, we often have snack items each week to match our letters. Yes, we really did have green eggs and ham as well as many more fun foods. Please continue to encourage your child to try new and different snacks. So far, they are being great sports.

Due to the weather, we have not been outside as much as we would like to run and scream. However, that doesn’t entirely stop the fun. We play “Follow the Leader” and find adventure exploring the numerous areas of the church. Has your child mentioned the secret stairs to the choir loft? Or did he/she report how many steps we have marched up or down on a given day? Or perhaps they discussed the color of the quilt the ladies are sewing as we walk along? Also, we want to say thank

you to the quilters for sharing with our students during the impromptu adventures! Their voices can really echo in the basement.

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Another date that is rushing to meet us is the last day of school. Due to our wonderful winter weather, our last day will be Tuesday, May 14th and Wednesday, May 15th! It seems to be right around the corner. There is so much I still want to do with the students. I could use an extra month to magically insert itself if you know a way to make it happen. Even then I often feel there is so much more we should be doing. If you have any questions, please email me at rainbowpreschooltrenton@gmail.com; or message on Facebook, or call the church number 224-9828. As always, have a wonderful day!

Kathy

DUBOIS CENTER NEWS

Many things are happening at DuBois even before their busy summer camper season. Please make note of the following events and if you wish to participate in any of them, there are flyers in the narthex with a reservation form. Some activities have early bird registration or deadlines, so please read the brochure carefully. If you have any questions, call DuBois Center at 618-787-2202.

o March 23 & April 13 @ 8:30 AM: Service Saturday to help spruce up the grounds at DuBois

o March 23 & April 13 @ 9:00 AM: Wrangle & Ride day for horse lovers of any ability

o March 29 @ 7:00 PM through March 31 @ 1:00 PM: Father & Son Retreat o April 27 @ 8:15 AM: Stewardship Day to help get rid of invasive plants o May 5 @ 1:00 PM: Rustic Block Party for youth groups and kids Grade 5 and above

REMINDER

Daylight Savings Time

Begins March 10

Set Clocks 1 Hour Ahead the Night Before

Our 5th Sunday offering will be for the campership

fund. Offering will be taken Sunday, March 31st.

Thank you for your generosity!

DUBOIS QUILT RAFFLE Due to a weather cancellation in January, the Happy Quilters from St. John UCC in

Mascoutah moved their quilt raffle to Sunday, March 31, 2019 before and after service to sell chances on the Dubois Youth Quilt (74 x 84), “I SPY”. St. John Mascoutah matches

all money that the Happy Quilters raise, so each dollar you donate is two dollars for DuBois Center. Also, write this date on your calendar: St. John UCC Mascoutah

40th Quilt Show - April 27, 2019.

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for Easter Sunday

*Please use this form to order plants for the altar on Easter Sunday.

*Forms MUST be turned in no later than March 24th!

Your Name:____________________________________

I/We would like to order the following plant(s) for Easter:

___________Lilies at $13.00 per plant

___________Tulips at $12.00 per plant

___________Hyacinths $12.00 per plant

I/We would like the plant(s) to be listed in the bulletin as follows:

Given by:

In Memory/ Honor/ Celebration of:

$ Amount enclosed (Please note: “Easter Flowers” on your check)

$

You may place your order form and check in the collection plate or mail it to the office. Payment is appreciated when order is

placed.

Thank you for sharing the beauty of your flowers with us!