Thursday, March 26, 2009

On The Calendar

Holy Week and Easter Worship Schedule

Sunday, April 5. Palm/Passion Sunday
8:45 a.m. Meet for coffee in fellowship hall. Walk to the Mudhole for the Blessing of Palms
9:00 a.m. Ecumenical Blessing of the Palms service. Process back to Holy Trinity for coffee and bagels.
10 a.m. Festival worship with Palm Procession led by Sunday School children.

Thursday, April 9. Maundy Thursday
6:15 p.m. Soup Supper.
7:30 p.m. Service of Holy Communion

Friday, April 10. Good Friday
Noon: Nutley Clergy Fellowship Good Friday service at Grace Church
7:30 p.m. Good Friday service and passion reading for John.

Saturday, April 11
10:00 a.m. Would you like to help prepare the church for Easter? We will meet in the morning to change the paraments, hang wreaths and place the Easter flowers around the sanctuary. Please call Scott and
Debbie Jones (973-338-0267) or the church office.

Sunday, April 12. Easter Sunday
8:30 a.m. Easter Breakfast to benefit the Nutley First Aid Squad
10:00 a.m. Festival worship with Holy Communion.

Eco-Palms for Palm Sunday Worship

For this Palm Sunday we ordered “Eco-Palms” direct from Lutheran World Relief. Lutheran World Relief is partnering with the University of Minnesota to build support in the U.S. for Eco-Palms by introducing Lutheran parishes to this social and environmental justice project. In addition to environmental and economic sustainability, Eco-Palms promote improvement for entire communities in Guatemala and Mexico. Eco-Palm cooperatives designate five cents from each palm they sell to improve the lives of all community members. Consider the good that can be accomplished through our Palm Sunday celebration.


Pastor's Message

"... he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"
-- 2 Corinthians 5:15-17


As the people of Jesus, the events of Holy Week and Easter challenge us, again and again, to explore and to discover, to preach and then to work out in practicing the meaning and the implications of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. When Jesus rose from the dead, everything we knew about life and death and this world changed.

In the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul worked through some of the implications of Jesus' resurrection as he wrote to the church in Corinth. In our baptism we are joined to Jesus' death, therefore we are dead to this world and its powers. As we are joined with Jesus in death, we are also part of Jesus in his life, his resurrection. The resurrection is the promise of our future, guaranteed by the crucified but now living Jesus. Now, if we as a community have been gathered and joined to Jesus' death and resurrection ... if resurrection, new life and new creation are the future for us and for the whole creation ... then we can no longer look at each other or relate to each other in the same old ways.

Because Jesus rose from the dead, because God is making all things new, we can no longer see each other or judge each other by the standards of this world -- color, race, culture, economics, gender or sex, intelligence, mental or physical health. By what other standards do we relate to each other? Beyond all of these things that describe who we are to ourselves and to each other, is the simple fact that we are in Christ. In Christ, we are God's new creation.

Moving on from the events of Holy Week and Easter, Jesus lead us out to proclaim the alarming good news -- Christ is risen! God sends us out to live ... or start to live out the implications of what God is doing to this world and for this world. In our worship together, our praying together, our studying together, our serving together, our giving together, God forms and transforms us into a living community that proclaims -- by what we say, by what we do and, especially in how we relate to each other -- that God raised Jesus from the dead.

That is what we are about as Jesus' people gathered into a community called Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. As Jesus' people we share the good news, overcome barriers and connect in the love of Christ. Join us. And remember, invite your friends. Christ is risen!



Price Change for Sunday Flowers

It is moving to see how lovingly the people of Holy Trinity dedicate the Sunday flowers to the glory of God in honor of the people who have touched their lives. Beyond providing a way to honor loved ones, the flowers often brighten the homes of our shut-in members with the knowledge that even though they can no longer be present in our worship, they remain present in our worship, our prayers and our hearts. Thank you for supporting this important ministry.

Starting March 1, however, the price of these flowers will increase from $25 to $30. This is the price Holy Trinity is charged by our florist. If you have signed up for flowers and this $5 price increase will be a burden to you, please call or e-mail the church office.

For those of you that are interested, please note that we still have available dates for Altar Flowers in the following months: May, July, September, October, November and December.

Boxtops for Education

Please save Boxtops for Education &
Campbell’s UPC Labels for Education
for the ELCA Navajo Mission
Rock Point, AZ www.nelm.org
There is a collection box at the church entry.

(For Campbell’s, please trim to just the dotted area around the UPC. They no longer accept label fronts. Boxtops are found on Big G cereals and Kimberly Clark paper products—Scott products, Ziplocs and some popcorn/food items)

Pastor Jim has worked with this mission and it is our designated mission project for Discovery Canyon VBS this summer.

In Our Community

In Memoriam
World War II veteran, William D. Ryden Sr., 86, of Clifton passed away peacefully at home on March 9, 2009. A 59-year resident of Clifton, Mr. Ryden was born and raised in Nutley, graduating from Nutley High School in 1940. He worked for the State of New Jersey as an electrician and proudly served his country during World War II as a gunner's mate second class in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1948. He is survived by his devoted and loving wife, Gloria (Rosetta), to whom he was married for 66 years; his four children, Karen Palkewicz and her husband, Richard, Sandra Woudenberg, William D. Ryden Jr. and Wayne Ryden and his wife, Connie; his eight grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Mr. Ryden is also survived by his eldest brother, Carl "Freddy" and his youngest brother, Richard, as well as several nieces and nephews.

Using E-mail to Make, Keep and Invite Friends.
Communication is vital to any relationship. That includes your relationship with others groups, teams and ministries going on at Holy Trinity. E-mail puts a powerful communication tool at our fingertips. Not only can we stay informed about news, events and happenings in the Holy Trinity community, but we are able to share that news with our friends as well by passing the information along to them or inviting them to be part of the Holy Trinity mailing list.

As postal rates continue to rise -- another two cents in May -- we are trying to distribute more and more of our information electronically. If you haven't already shared your e-mail address with the church office, please consider doing so by sending an e-mail with ADD ME TO THE MAILING LIST in the subject line to office.htlcnutley@verizon.net.

Congratulations!
On the engagements of:

Chelsea Cicci to Christopher Wright

and

Janette Lutz to Patrick McGinness


Graduating in May or June?
Please let us know the date and from where you are graduating and we will share that good news. Feel free to share your future plans, ad well.

April Birthdays, Anniversaries and Disciples

April Birthdays
4:Ken Duke
5:Justin Munoz, Richard Hudnett
9:Brian Johnson, Alexandra Rubens
10:Elfrieda Fenton, Erica Geiselmann
14:Sarah Jones
18:Christine Esparolini, Jeff Lin
22:Richard Bacik
24:Nancy Guenther
26:Ed Cordes, Miriam Mascola
29:Sharon Murphy

April Anniversaries
7:Greg and Ruth Sekula
21:Otto and Hedy Mayr

Disciples
Each day of the week (except Sunday) has the name of a person in this community. Please, remember that person in your prayers that day. On Sunday, we will pray for all of the people listed in the coming week.

1:Nicole Mozeliak
2:Lizzy Wiede
3:Holly Wiede
4:Martin Mueller
6:Sally Mueller
7:Max Mueller
8:Miles Mueller
9:Daniel Munoz
10:Brenda Munoz
11:Justin Munoz
13:Ethan Munoz
14:Bonnie Munoz
15:Marie Munoz
16:Damian Murphy
17:Sharon Murphy
18:Angela Murphy
20:Erika Murphy
21:Alex Murphy
22:Olivia Murphy
23:Sara Murphy
24:William Murphy
25:Dennis Murphy
27:Daniel Murphy
28:Shannon Murphy
29:Kathe Nieciecki
30:John Norton


SAVE THE DAT!

AIDS WALK NEW YORK
Sunday, May 17, 2009
AIDS Walk New York (AWNY) is the world’s largest AIDS fundraising event. In 2008, more than 45,000 people participated and raised a record breaking sum of over $7 million. Funds raised from the walkathon go to numerous programs and educational services to support people living with HIV/AIDS, and to over 60 other tri-state area AIDS organizations. The 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) walkathon begins and ends in Central Park. Nancy and Tony Maguire are again raising funds and on Sunday, May 17, 2009 they will participate in AIDS Walk New York. If you would like to walk with them, or sponsor them by donating money, please let them know.

Checks should be payable to AWNY and can be given to Nancy or Tony anytime. You can also mail your check to their address at 26 Parsons Ct., Mahwah, NJ 07430. If you would like to raise money at your school or place of business they can provide you with sponsor forms. If you would like more information please call them at (201) 934-9366. You can also visit www.aidswalk.net.

Discovery Canyon VBS is just around the rim!
Our journey begins Sunday, August 16 and ends with a closing program on Friday, August 21. We will meet in the evening again, from 6:00-8:30 PM. Registration materials will be available soon for Pre-K to grade 6. There will also be a track for teens and adults, including study/discussion time with Pastor Jim.

Mark your calendars and grab your hiking gear. This is a week filled with amazing Bible stories, Cavern Crafts, Sagebrush Storytelling and Red Rock Rhythm! Plan to join us and invite a friend. See you at the Canyon!


Stewardship Strengthens...

Thank you. Together we fight hunger.
Together, we gave more than $200 (surpassing our goal of $175) on Sunday, February 1as part of the Souper Bowl of Caring. The money has been sent to support the local feeding programs in our community.


Stewardship of the Earth
Churches today are becoming more concerned about the stewardship of our Earth’s resources; the New Jersey Synod and Holy Trinity are no exception. Martin and Sally Mueller are heading up a committee to begin looking into ways that we can make “green” choices.

Stay tuned for more information and talk to the Mueller’s if you would like to help.


Invite a Friend This Easter/Easter Breakfast Sign-Up

Can you think of a better day than Easter to invite a friend or their entire family to join you in worship, to sing God’s praises and to hear God’s promises for you and the world God loves?

Bring them to the breakfast to benefit the Nutley First Aid Squad and then worship God together, because Jesus has been raised from the dead! What better news could we share with people we love?

Easter Breakfast Sign-up
Please fill out this form and return it to the Church Office no later than Sunday, April 5th. This will help us to know how much food to prepare.
Remember, this is the perfect opportunity to invite a friend or relative to come with you to hear the good news that changes everything in this world: God raised Jesus from the dead! Because He lives, we live, too.


_____Yes, I/we plan to be at the Easter Breakfast (Sunday, April 12th)

Number of people who plan to attend:_____

_____I/we would like to serve at the breakfast.

Names(s) of those attending:___________________________________

__________________________________________________________