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 Identity & Communication Event held on 3-20-2004 "Tell 'em Who You Are!" | |
Community Outreach
Verona Church uses two ways to “Tell them who we are”
The idea for a Thanksgiving Service grew, in part, out
of a concern that people in the community hadn’t a clue about who we are. We decided to invite the community to a
Thanksgiving Service and Feast.
Families from the many groups that use the church (nursery,
after-school, Scouts, etc.) were
especially invited to attend, articles appeared in the newspapers and on the
town cable TV, and invitations were prepared for members to give to friends and
neighbors. All attendees were asked to
share of their own bounty by bringing something for the local food pantry.
The whole church was involved.
Church School students made costumes for themselves and for other community
members. One child and a teacher
searched the internet for appropriate, easy-to-make costumes. They made paper-bag vests and feather
headdresses for the Native American guests, and hats and bonnets and large
white collars for the Pilgrims, and had lots of extras ready for members and
guests who came that Sunday. The
children, the choir, and most of the congregation wore costumes, and processed
into church following a student playing a drum.
Priscilla Alden and Squanto each
shared their memories of the first Thanksgiving (emphasizing themes about UCC
identity). George Washington and
Abraham Lincoln (played by the town’s mayor) shared their proclamations of
Thanksgiving celebrations in the past.
John Robinson came all the way from Holland to deliver parts of the
sermon he had delivered to the departing Pilgrims, a sermon that remains
remarkably relevant today.
In conjunction with the celebration,
the pastor, Jim Leamon, wrote four articles for the weekly newspaper giving the
history of the holiday and connecting it with the UCC. This coverage along with the photos and
article contributed by a reporter who attended the service helped raise both
the profile of the church and of the UCC in the community. And at least one visitor asked “Do you do
this every year?”
The congregation continued the Pilgrim theme when we
launched our church and community study series this winter. On four Wednesday evenings in January, two
classes were offered to church and community members, separated by a fellowship
meal. A nominal charge was made for
dinner, which was cooked and served by church volunteers, but the classes were
available at no charge. The events were
publicized in the church and throughout the community with newspaper articles
and flyers.
The program began at 5:30 pm with a session on Spirituality, led
by the Rev. Barbara Prince. Dinner from
6:30 to 7:00 was followed by a second session from 7:00 to 8:00 on Gangs in
Suburbia. This session was co-sponsored
by COPE, a counseling and drug treatment program in Verona and Montclair, who
also helped with publicity. Each
session featured a speaker, including a State Police and an Essex County
Sheriff’s Department Gang Task Force Officer, as well as a former gang member
who is now a counselor, and a current gang member serving time in the county jail.
Attendance was good and grew
throughout the four sessions. The Gangs
in Suburbia session, in particular, attracted about as many members of the
community as church members, and resulted in an editorial about the concern in
the local newspaper as well as a segment on the WBGO Journal radio program in
which Jim Leamon was interviewed.
The congregation plans to offer
Pilgrims’ Progress three times a year.
We plan to schedule more time for dinner and we may begin a little later
as well. The next series, in May, will include someone from Eastern Mennonite
College teaching peace-making practices, and a series of speakers on
Terrorism. We hope you’ll come!
--Marge Royle
First
Congregational Church of Verona
973-239-3212
Email: jwleamon@hotmail.com
For more information, contact Marge
Royle at 973-628-6945,
Email: maaemba@bellatlantic.net