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Easter

April 5, 2015

We will have three events on Easter this year.  Join us for one, two, or all of these events.

Easter Sunrise Service: A community Easter Sunrise Service will be held at 6:10 a.m. at Robbins Farm Park, across Easton Avenue from the Brackett School, to welcome the Sun and the Risen Son with prayer, liturgy, and song. All are welcome.

Celebration of the Resurrection: A celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus will be held at 10 a.m. A brass quartet will join our organ and Festival Choir. There will not be Sunday School classes.  Childcare will be available for children aged 5 and younger.  Older children will receive activity bags.

An Easter Egg Hunt will be after the service. Location to be determined.

Our next meeting will be on Saturday, March 14th from 10 AM until 12 noon in the Fellowship Room at PACC.  As usual, those who wish to meditate may come at 9:30 AM.  Because of the snow, we postponed our Valentine’s Day meeting and book to our March meeting. Our choice is Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom, by John O’Donohue.   This book is available in the Minuteman Library network, in hardcover, paperback, Kindle and audio book formats.  Description from Amazon.com: Anam Cara: offers an exploration of the secret universe we all carry inside us, the connections we forge with the worlds of our friends and loved ones, and the products of our worlds reflected in the things we create outside of ourselves. Anam Cara, Gaelic for “soul friend,” is an ancient journey down a nearly forgotten path of wisdom into what it means to be human…John O’Donohue helps us to see ourselves as more than just flesh, blood, and bone; we comprise individual worlds. The comprehension of the sublime architecture of the worlds we are born with will engender a new appreciation for the outside world and the way we contribute to its evolution.

For more information, contact the church office.

Faith Formation

Our Faith Formation group has now met a number of times and held fairly loose but lively discussions on our connection with God and our faith and experience with prayer.  Our next few meetings are likely to focus on the book “Help, Thanks, Wow” by Anne Lamott in which she describes “Help!” and “Thanks!” and “Wow!” as the three essential prayers.  Each meeting will likely begin by reading together four or five pages from a chapter discussing one of these prayers, and then hold a fairly unstructured discussion of what we have read.  Our next meeting will be March 15 at 9am in the Fireplace Room before church.  Please feel free to join us.  No prior experience or preparation required.  Just show up.  Contact the church office for more information.

Palm Sunday Pancake Breakfast

Sunday, March 29, 8:30-9:30am

Join us for pancakes, sausage, bacon and fruit on Palm Sunday!  The Youth groups will host and serve the pancake breakfast on Palm Sunday, March 29 from 8:30-9:30 am in Parish Hall. $6/adult, $5/child, $20 family maximum.  All proceeds benefit the youth fund.

Welcome Reverend John Zehring

We are pleased to welcome Reverend John to PACC as our interim sabbatical minister. He will lead us in worship, provide pastoral care to church members, oversee ongoing administrative matters of the church, supervise church staff, and provide other services as needed and called for by the Council of Deacons. John served UCC congregations for twenty-one years as Senior Pastor in Massachusetts (Andover, South Church), Rhode Island (Kingston), and Maine (Augusta). Prior to parish ministry, he served in higher education for more than two decades. John holds graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, Rider University, and the Earlham School of Religion. He is married to his high school sweetheart Donna and they have two children and five grandchildren.

Please join us in welcoming John to PACC, and join us for a light luncheon after church on March 1 to welcome Reverend John.

PACC Lenten Study Series for 2015

Job and Divine Justice
Wednesdays, February 25 to March 25, 7:30pm

Join us for a new Lenten study series on the topic of Job and Divine Justice.

The story of Job is one of the most challenging works in the Bible. It contains profound observations about human suffering and the expression of God’s justice in the world. Considering Job can help us think about the difficulties of the human condition in today’s world. Passages from Job were read as part of Lenten readings even in the Early Church. As we move toward Holy week, we may also explore some Passion narratives.

The study series will be led by Dr. Timothy LaVallee, who has a Ph.D. in Ancient and Biblical Studies.

The series will take place on five Wednesdays running from February 25 through March 25, 2015.

Meetings will take place at 7:30-9:30 pm in the Fireplace Room at Park Avenue Congregation Church.

No preparation is necessary, and no materials are needed other than a Bible (bring your own or borrow one of PACC’s). Also, the discussions won’t require attendance at prior sessions; we’d love to see you at any or all of the meetings.

Unequal Justice: Consequences of Race and Class in Our Criminal Justice System

A panel discussion and community conversation
Arlington Town Hall
Saturday, February 28, 7:00pm

PACC is delighted to be a co-sponsor of this event.

The timely and important topic of the inequities in our criminal justice system as they relate to race and class will be the focus of an enlightening program in the Arlington Town Hall organized by the Town’s Vision 2020 Diversity Task Group. The free event is on Saturday evening, February 28. All are welcome to this panel discussion and community conversation.

The goal of “Unequal Justice: Consequences of Race and Class in Our Criminal Justice System” is to provide information about the inequities of the justice system and ideas for what might be done to improve it. While on paper the law is “equal” for all races and classes, it is very unequal in practice, as race and class are critical factors in the actual practice of law.

Panelists include Fred Ryan, Arlington Police Chief; Peniel Joseph, Tufts University civil rights historian; Frank Rudy Cooper, Suffolk Law School Professor specializing in race and masculinity, and Don Perry, parole reform activist. The panel will be introduced by Bonie Bagchi Williamson, Co-chair of the Vision 2020 Diversity Task Group, and moderated by David Whitford, editor-at-large for Inc. magazine. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The program starts at 7:00 p.m. Refreshments will be available.

Vision 2020’s Diversity Task Group is looking for us and other sponsoring organizations to advertise the event, contribute cookies or bottled water for the refreshment table and for volunteers to help with set-up and clean-up on Saturday, February 28, for more information contact the church office and see the press release and event poster below.

• Press release
• Poster

Women’s Guild

The Women’s Guild will meet on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 11:30am for fellowship and a light lunch. All women of the church are invited to attend this group, as they are able, in the Fellowship room. For planning purposes it is helpful to let the church office know if you are able to attend or if you need transportation. Mark your calendar…we look forward to seeing you.

Knitting Group

Bring your knitting, crochet or any handcraft and join us for handcrafts and chat on Tuesday, January 13 and 27 at 7:30 in the Fellowship room. If you’d like to knit, but don’t know how, we’ll show you! If you have questions, contact the church office.

Martin Luther King Day

Arlington’s 27th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance will be at Town Hall on Monday, January 19. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. with light refreshments. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. The guest speaker will be Afaa Weaver – poet, playwright, scholar and winner of the 2014 Kingsley Tufts award. Music will be provided by the People’s Baptist Church Ensemble. Non-perishable food items for the Arlington Food Pantry will be collected and a free-will offering to benefit public and non-profit programs that further the goals of Dr. King will be taken.