Christmas Past, Present and Future,

Beginning in 2012 I had the opportunity to accompany Al LePage on the organ as he took on the role of Englishman Thomas Hutchinson, Traveling Thespian, and did a dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol in the style of Charles Dickens.

We met when Al was asked to perform in Franklin for the Historical Society and since Franklin UMC was next door LePage asked to use the Victorian style Methodist church as the venue. LePage regularly came home from the Pacific Northwest to visit family and perform for the benefit of local Food Pantrys in the Middlesex County area and at the Parker House in Boston.

Providing music for the scene changes and featuring Bach’s Toccata in D minor https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=erXG9vnN-GI for Marley’s ghost, I joined him until 2018. We played at the Wayside Inn Chapel, the Old South Meeting House, the Sherborn Unitarian Church, Providence RI and several other venues during those years.

This year members of Harwich UMC have the opportunity to use A Christmas Carol as our Advent/ Christmas study and devotionals.

Al’s father died near Thanksgiving in 2019 and Al no longer comes East from The Pacific Northwest where he is a park ranger who regularly portrays historic persons. Others have taken up the role and provide dramatic readings of A Christmas Carol but in Christmases Past Al filled an important niche in providing an historic entertainment and funds for Food Pantrys in the area.

Your contributions to the people of Harwich and neighboring communities thru your capabilities, our Thrift Shop and our presence here at 1 Church St changes lives. Thank-you for the Christmases Past, present and – God willing- for many years to come.

Your pastor,

Dianne

To the People of God at Harwich UMC,

Gratitude is the attitude of the season and as the year has whizzed by I often forget what has been overcome by God’s grace and a committed community of God’s people.  We have so much to be grateful for …

Personally, I am grateful that the church helped me recover from what was a serious fall – it took most of the spring to resume driving myself to church.  After 10 weeks of people bringing Zoey and myself to church and back to Centerville, on May 13th I drove to Jo Buess’ Memorial Service and regained a measure of independence!  Thank-you for Pastors David and Ed who led worship during the month of February, for meals and company, tending the parsonage and so many prayers!

__The church and the community appear to be emerging from the effects of Covid though there are still outbreaks.

__The Thrift shop has continued to serve the community thru faithful volunteers. 

__As a church family we have continued to have steady attendance as people come and go with busy lives!

__We anticipate a new day for the United Methodist Church around issues of inclusion. 

It is easy to feel the loss of Saints who have left us because of the need to relocate near family.  We lament the passing of loved ones who have served long among us.  Gratitude includes the sober recognition of a goodly heritage and the opportunity to answer God’s call to service “where we are planted!”

As we anticipate our All Church Conference on November 26^th , my prayers are that your Thanksgiving 2023 gratitude list is long and your challenges few.

With sincere gratitude for God’s bringing us to this place to be in ministry together I am Yours in the Love of the Lord.

Pastor Dianne

To the People of God at Harwich UMC

The month of October has at least 2 well-known dates, “Columbus Day” and Halloween!   And like recent Covid history, they both feature Masks….

The  Halloween excuse to “become something else” for a day has a long association with CANDY for young people and some fun as well as some darker associations with the macabre.  For the Music Teacher it is the opportunity to have the class listen to Camille Saint-Saëns – Danse Macabre:  FYI:   https://youtu.be/YyknBTm_YyM?feature=shared

The night before the Holy Day of All Saints is the recognition that we are mortal – a time for prayer, remembering, and centering.  Like so many holy days it has secular connotations that some people resist.  While we stand “unmasked” before God, we tend to have a “public” face for the world and a more vulnerable experience of our “real” selves.  We wear many masks! For many reasons.

Columbus Day has traditionally been recognized as a Day when we celebrated the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492.  However, upon the 500^th anniversary of that date in 1992 people started to acknowledge that Indigenous Peoples populated these lands long before Columbus arrived!  There was no need to “discover” and conquer these lands except for the Europeans – and some people made that discovery even before Columbus.  Is it a mask that history wears that refuses to be inclusive of everyone’s reality?

It is said that there is YOUR truth and MY truth and THE TRUTH.  God knows the truth of the masks we wear.  And God Loves all of us equally.  As for me – I love a holiday, a reason to be joyful and take a break.

This year we can pause to remember that God’s history with the world includes all people and God has a history with Indigenous Peoples as well as the invading Europeans who came to live here.  God has an agenda for us to embrace one another instead of hiding behind masks and misconceptions.

Enjoy October 2023 and celebrate that God is Good – All the Time!

Pastor Dianne

To the People of God at Harwich United Methodist,

Last Sunday was Pentecost, the day the Church was born and was empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry the message of Jesus’ teachings forward. The longest season of the church is devoted to the Church’s witness of Christ. This season lasts From May 28^th to December 3^rd, in 2023, and, when I was growing up it was called Kingdomtide. Today this season is called “Ordinary” time. For 33 -34 weeks the Church celebrates what is sometimes called “Weeks after Pentecost”.

There is power in the names we use to identify things and people. This season is anything but ORDINARY in my opinion. For those of us in the Northeast at least half of the season is vacation time from school and our “work as usual”. This year the season began with Memorial Day and June will feature “Father’s Day” and “Juneteenth” quickly followed by the 4^th of July.  Each of these dates has important remembrances:

Memorial Day for the sacrifices necessary for our ideal of Freedom.
Father’s Day for the work of parenting.
Juneteenth for the effective emancipation of slaves in Texas and the ongoing realities of racism.
The 4^th of July for our National Declaration of Independence from colonialism.  

Finally, we recognize Labor Day on the first Monday in September and our typical routines begin in earnest. 

Actually, I prefer these weeks to be called Weeks after Pentecost because Pentecost needs to infect our lives for more than 1 day. The work of the Church – living as though we are Kingdom People- undergirds our best ideals. Our faith is that God’s LOVE extends to all creation and condemns racism, and slavery, and sets the captives free from domination. God’s Kingdom predicts a future hope of Peace with Justice. See you at the Fair on June 24^th!

This season is anything but ORDINARY. I pray you will see the Vision and experience the Hope that came with the Day of Pentecost all season long.

Pastor Dianne

Dear People of God at Harwich UMC,

Holy Week Greetings as April arrives after a [shhhhh] mild winter. For Jesus, the pomp of Palm Sunday and the final opportunities to teach and lead by example, unfold before us. Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and sharing the Passover with them as a memorial meal are often celebrated as services during Holy Week. This year, due to the circumstances of my recovery, I will be sharing a reflection for Maundy Thursday on Zoom* at 6 pm on April 6th. This also will be recorded for YouTube so that you might pause on Friday and remember if you cannot be with us Thursday evening. Jesus and the disciples met for the Passover meal because it was part of their faith journey, and it is part of our response to Jesus’ invitation. 

As Christians, we become part of the faith at our Baptism and affirm our personal commitment to Jesus who is “The Way” in our Confirmation. Baptism/confirmation and Communion are the 2 Protestant Sacraments because Jesus told his disciples to continue to celebrate them. [Matthew 28:18-20 and Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; and Luke 22:17–20]  If you know you were baptized as an infant and wish to renew your baptism with a statement of confirmation at Pentecost – May 28^th, 2023- or if you wish to sponsor an infant or adult for Baptism, please contact me at 774 212-0520. There will be more information during April!

Join me on this wonderful journey of remembrance so that we might celebrate the Victory of Easter possibilities!

In the everlasting Love of Christ Jesus I am yours,

Pastor Dianne

A Message from Pastor Dianne

To the people of God at Harwich UMC,

Lent begins February 22^nd with the observance of Ash Wednesday.

Our Lenten theme this year will be ”Looking for Love.” We spend a good deal of our lives Looking for Love, which, of course, means various things to each of us. Our faith tells us that God is Love and that in Christ Jesus “Love looks for Us.” Ultimately Easter tells us that “Love Wins.”

What are the challenges of life over which God triumphs? We know that our mortality is the final challenge. However, the mountains we climb in the living of our lives are many.

The struggle to survive: physically and emotionally.

The ability to deal with the unexpected: personally and globally.

The temptations to worship lesser gods at any cost: like wealth and beauty.

The search for “security.”

Each year we welcome Lent as an opportunity to journey towards a renewed sense of wholeness and happiness. Lent is a reflective time to reassess where we are searching for meaning and purpose. I invite you to join us for a Lenten study on Thursdays and the unique midweek times of worship that begin and end the season. I challenge you to invite someone to journey with you – someone who will not receive this invitation from me – someone only you can invite.

May the blessings of the Lord be yours today.

Pastor Dianne

P.S.  Knowing that I love to have a metaphor for the season I hope you still have a scrabble board in some closet that you can dig out and use as a worship focal point!

*** Study to begin Thursday, February 9^th at 3:00 pm.