Church guide

Celebration of the life of Tom Wallace ... an almost 70 year member ... Funeral @ 10 am at Woodridge on Saturday (April 13) with a burial to follow at Highland Memorial Park in Johnston. Following the burial, everyone will be invited to an area restaurant for continued fellowship. Calling hours will be from 5 - 7 pm on Friday (April 12) at Carpenter Jenks Funeral Home at 659 East Greenwich Ave, West Warwick.

Hi there! My grandmother always said, "I'll keep having birthdays as longs as they give me presents." Years later, I realized that what she meant was "presence"! And so, as our Hallelujah Chorus celebrates its 10th anniversary, I hope you will join us with your presence at 7 pm tomorrow evening in the Woodridge sanctuary. My grandma would be proud! Amen! Bob The Reverend Robert W. Nolan, Associate Pastor, Music & Healing Ministry - Woodridge Congregational Church, UCC

This week @ Woodridge ... Ash Wednesday Service – tonight, March 6 @ 7 pm ... We will begin our Lenten journey with our annual Ash Wednesday service in the sanctuary. The service will be appropriate for all ages and include: the receiving of ashes; an opportunity to use our Lenten sanctuary art for devotion; music; prayers; and a brief message. Sunday worship with full Sunday school & fellowship @ 10 am Sunday worship will begin a 5 week sermon series - "Stones to the Bread of Life." The series will use the symbols of stones in scripture to represent the kinds of "challenges" we may struggle with in our journeys of everyday faith. This week we will look at the "challenge of temptation" as shown in the story of Jesus facing temptation in the wilderness. Remember - Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday, March 10 - Spring ahead In Memoriam Avis Johnson died Monday, February 25. Avis and her late husband, Dr. Donald Johnson, were Cranston residents for many years, joining Woodridge in 1962. A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 9 at 11:00 am at Carpenter-Jenks Funeral Home in West Warwick. There will be a calling hour just prior to the service from 10:00-11:00 am. Lenten Journaling Opportunity begins Sunday The Rev. Bill Comeau will provide guidance and support for those who would like to “journal” during Lent as a way to deepen this time of spiritual growth. Journals will be provided at the orientation on March 10 (after church at 11:30 am). This will mostly be an independent spiritual discipline that you can do on your own time. There will be a retreat on April 7 as part of this program, but it is not required to be part of the journaling experience. To register - or ask questions, contact Scott email: [email protected] Lenten Mission Project -  As our congregation prepares for Easter Sunday, we traditionally ask our community to participate in a Lenten mission project. This year we are collecting diapers, underwear and socks --all sizes-- for foster care children. Families who provide temporary or long-term homes for foster children often struggle to meet the cost of providing these items because they are not provided nor do families get fully reimbursed for them. Our collection will relieve some of the burden on these families and help them continue to provide for the children who need it most. The collection runs Sunday, March 10th through April 28th. Look for collection boxes outside of the sanctuary and in fellowship hall. We’re transitioning the weekly email to the “Wednesday Woodridge Word” using Constant Contact. Please bear with us (if you’ve already seen this message) as we insure that everyone who wishes to, stays on our mailing list.

Sunday, March 3 ... worship @ 10 am with full Sunday school & nursery This week we will continue our sermon series based on spiritual questions from the congregation. This week's topic: How do we welcome the stranger and look after our safety? This week's service will include communion, music, fellowship, and prayer. Join us - we would love to see you! Lent at Woodridge Ash Wednesday (March 6) - 7 pm We will begin Lent on Ash Wednesday with an evening service in the sanctuary. The service will be appropriate for all ages and include: the receiving of ashes; an opportunity to use our Lenten sanctuary art for devotion; music; prayers; and a brief message. Lenten Retreat & Journaling Opportunity The Rev. Bill Comeau will provide guidance and support for those who would like to “journal” during Lent as a way to deepen this time of spiritual growth. Journals will be provided at the orientation on March 10 (after church at 11:30 am) and Bill will outline an approach for daily journaling. To register contact Scott Spencer by phone or email: [email protected] Lenten Mission Project -  As our congregation prepares for Easter Sunday, we traditionally ask our community to participate in a Lenten mission project. This year we are collecting diapers, underwear and socks --all sizes-- for foster care children. Families who provide temporary or long-term homes for foster children often struggle to meet the cost of providing these items because they are not provided nor do families get fully reimbursed for them. Our collection will relieve some of the burden on these families and help them continue to provide for the children who need it most. The collection runs Sunday, March 10th through April 28th. Look for collection boxes outside of the sanctuary and in fellowship hall. Community needs The Interfaith Food Pantry is very low on the following items: Peanut Butter, Cold Breakfast Cereal, Canned soup and Canned fruit. Please consider including these in your next donation (in the box in the Narthex). Thank you. DVD Player Donation The CE Ministry Team is seeking a donation of a new or used DVD player. Some of the new and exciting programs we would like to try in our Sunday School classrooms have media components. If you have one you no longer use or would like to make a donation towards the purchase of one please email Hope Cahill at [email protected]. If the weather and/or driving conditions are poor on Sunday morning, always use your best judgement in deciding whether or not to come to church . . . If Sunday services are cancelled due to severe weather, the following steps will be taken to notify the congregation: The Moderator will contact Rhode Island Broadcasters Association to report the cancellation of services, which will also be posted on the church’s Facebook page. Church members will be able to tune into local television and radio stations, as well as their corresponding websites, to find the cancellation notice. The Minister or Moderator will contact the Associate Minister of Music and the Sunday School Coordinator to inform them of the decision to cancel services. The Associate Minister of Music will inform the appropriate choir members of the cancellation. The Sunday School Coordinator will inform teachers of the cancellation.

In Memoriam Avis Johnson died Monday, February 25. Avis and her late husband, Dr. Donald Johnson, were Cranston residents for many years, joining Woodridge in 1962. A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 9 at 11:00 am at Carpenter-Jenks Funeral Home in West Warwick. There will be a calling hour just prior to the service from 10:00-11:00 am. https://www.carpenterjenks.com/obituaries/Avis-A-Johnson?obId=4201440#/celebrationWall

This week @ Woodridge ... worship @ 10 am with full Sunday school & nursery This week we will continue our sermon series based on spiritual questions from the congregation. This week's topic: where do we go when we die? The following week's topic will be: How do we welcome the stranger and look after our safety? The service will also include music; fellowship; prayer and a children's sermon. Join us - we would love to see you! Lenten Mission Project - As our congregation prepares for Easter Sunday, we traditionally ask our community to participate in a Lenten mission project. This year we are collecting diapers, underwear and socks --all sizes-- for foster care children. Families who provide temporary or long-term homes for foster children often struggle to meet the cost of providing these items because they are not provided nor do families get fully reimbursed for them. Our collection will relieve some of the burden on these families and help them continue to provide for the children who need it most. The collection runs Sunday, March 10th through Easter, on April 21st. Look for collection boxes outside of the sanctuary and in fellowship hall. DVD Player Donation The CE Committee is seeking a donation of a new or used DVD player. Some of the new and exciting programs we would like to try in our Sunday School classrooms have media components. If you have one you longer use or would like to make a donation towards the purchase of one please email Hope Cahill at [email protected]. Here are some March events that may be of interest: Super Saturday - UCC Southern New England conferences event on March 16 in Wilbraham, Massachusetts - for more information and to register, go to the RI UCC website https://www.ricucc.org/eventdetail/11156586 A full day of worship, workshops and networking. Cost: $54 ($64 after March 3rd). Cost includes morning worship, 2 workshops, an optional lunch activity, continental breakfast, lunch, marketplace and closing worship. Due to the size of the classrooms, MOST workshops will be limited to 25 people on a first-come, first-served basis, so please REGISTER EARLY. Those registering online can see which workshops have available space. Mail-in registrations must indicate their top three choices and will be placed according to availability. “Who Do You Think You Are”, a conference especially for women, is a refreshing discussion about “Self, Scripture and the Savior”, Friday evening, March 15 through Saturday, March 16, at Godspeed Church in East Providence. This is a wonderful opportunity to refresh your walk with Christ, renew friendships, and enjoy a welcome retreat during the “gray days” of New England’s waiting-patiently-for-spring season. Speakers: Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson, of San Diego, CA, are well known authors and speakers. Cost: $40 For more information or to register, click on the Godspeed Church link above or enter this address in your browser: https://www.ricucc.org/eventdetail/11156586 Woodridge contact: Elayna Boucher [email protected] If the weather and/or driving conditions are poor on Sunday morning, always use your best judgement in deciding whether or not to come to church . . . If Sunday services are cancelled due to severe weather, the following steps will be taken to notify the congregation: o The Moderator will contact Rhode Island Broadcasters Association to report the cancellation of services, which will also be posted on the church’s Facebook page. Church members will be able to tune into local television and radio stations, as well as their corresponding websites, to find the cancellation notice. o The Minister or Moderator will contact the Associate Minister of Music and the Sunday School Coordinator to inform them of the decision to cancel services. o The Associate Minister of Music will inform the appropriate choir members of the cancellation. o The Sunday School Coordinator will inform teachers of the cancellation.

This week @ Woodridge ... worship @ 10 am with full Sunday school & nursery ... annual "all church birthday party" to follow worship - fellowship, games, and cake! This week - we will begin a new sermon series that will be based on spiritual questions that people in our community have submitted. Over the next 4 weeks - we will explore some of these questions. Since there were more than we can address in 4 weeks - we will hope to explore those questions we didn't get to in subsequent sermons. The questions for the first 2 weeks will be: Feb 10: "Why do bad things happen to good people? (The "why" question with the "what" answers.) Revelation 21: 1 - 4; Romans 8: 35 - 39 Feb 17: "Different expressions of Christianity in public life and politics" (The Bible as a guide.) 2 Timothy 3: 16, 17 Perhaps these are some questions on your mind and heart - if so, come and explore them with us on Sunday morning. Here are some March events that may be of interest: Super Saturday - UCC conference on March 16 in Massachusetts - for more information and to register, go to the RI UCC website https://www.ricucc.org/eventdetail/11156586 A full day of worship, workshops and networking. Cost: $54 ($64 after March 3rd). Cost includes morning worship, 2 workshops, an optional lunch activity, continental breakfast, lunch, marketplace and closing worship. Due to the size of the classrooms, MOST workshops will be limited to 25 people on a first-come, first-served basis, so please REGISTER EARLY. Those registering online can see which workshops have available space. Mail-in registrations must indicate their top three choices and will be placed according to availability. “Who Do You Think You Are”, a conference especially for women, is a refreshing discussion about “Self, Scripture and the Savior”, Friday evening, March 15 through Saturday, March 16, at Godspeed Church in East Providence. This is a wonderful opportunity to refresh your walk with Christ, renew friendships, and enjoy a welcome retreat during the “gray days” of New England’s waiting-patiently-for-spring season. Speakers: Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson, of San Diego, CA, are well known authors and speakers. Cost: $40 For more information or to register, click on the Godspeed Church link above or enter this address in your browser: https://www.ricucc.org/eventdetail/11156586 Woodridge contact: Elayna Boucher [email protected] Dinners for fun and fellowship ... Courtney Lombardi and the Fellowship Team are working on bringing our community together around a potluck meal in people's homes. The gatherings will be organized by the hosts and be a mix of newer and longer term members in groups of 5 - 8. You can sign up on Sunday or call the church office (indicating which Sundays in March you would be able to participate). If the weather and/or driving conditions are poor on Sunday morning, always use your best judgement in deciding whether or not to come to church . . . If Sunday services are cancelled due to severe weather, the following steps will be taken to notify the congregation: o The Moderator will contact Rhode Island Broadcasters Association to report the cancellation of services, which will also be posted on the church’s Facebook page. Church members will be able to tune into local television and radio stations, as well as the corresponding websites, to find the cancellation notice. o The Minister or Moderator will contact the Associate Minister of Music and the Sunday School Coordinator to inform them of the decision to cancel services. o The Associate Minister of Music will inform the appropriate choir members of the cancellation. o The Sunday School Coordinator will inform teachers of the cancellation.

Good Morning Everyone, Worship service is on. Choir please be there for 9:30. Please use your best judgement today either to drive or not to drive.

Weather update: Pastor Spencer and Marsha has been in talks with the plowing company. As of right now church is still on for services tomorrow. Updates will be listed here and also through your local television station. If we do have service please use your best judgement in driving. Thank you and have a great day.

Our sanctuary is all decorated for the season. Come check it out for yourself. There will be 2 Christmas Eve services. 5pm- Family Service : children's message, Christmas carols, prayers, reading of the Christmas story and the lighting of the Christmas candles. 11pm- Candlelight service of lessons and carols with worship leadership provided by our High School graduates, message by the Pastor, celebration of communion and lighting of our Christmas Candles. See you all there. All is Welcomed.

Today several members of the congregation went to Cedar Crest and Greenwich Farms to sing Christmas Carols to residents. What a great time.

Check out our latest Woodridge Church Youth Group newsletter!

This week @ Woodridge ... Worship in our newly renovated sanctuary @ 10 am - with full Sunday school & nursery This week we will continue the theme of gratitude as it relates to our stewardship campaign/ our financial commitments to the church. We will use a well known passage from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth - 2 Corinthians 9: 6 - 9. If you know someone looking for a church family - invite them to join us. This week after church: Congregational meeting starting around 11:30 am. This is an important meeting as we will discuss some minor changes and updates to our church constitution and other important church business. Please take some time to stay after church. The proposed constitutional changes were sent in early August; members may reply to this email to request another copy. Note: The chime practice will happen between the end of the worship service and Sunday school and the beginning of the congregational meeting. Further note: The Bible study that was to begin this coming Sunday will be delayed a week and instead run for 5 weeks beginning the last Sunday of the month - October 28. See Bob for more information at [email protected] Trunk or Treat (an alternative to door-to-door trick or treating) will be held on Saturday, October 27th from 4:00 - 5:30 pm in the Woodridge Church parking lot. People are needed to decorate trunks and/or donate candy (enough for 100 kids). If you can help, please email Laura Dillon: [email protected]. Our annual Thanksgiving Basket Service Project is starting. Sign-ups begin Sunday, October 21st. Contact: Bob Cole @ [email protected] There are many opportunities to help with our Holiday Bazaar (November 10): Look for sign-up sheets in the narthex (sanctuary entry) or talk to Courtney Lombardi or Deb Scipione. Thank you! Maybe you can help - a church family moving into a new apartment is in need of some furnishings: Twin size bed Kitchen table & chairs Microwave Storage bins Ironing board Possibly other living room chairs Bedroom dresser Changing table Dryer Hangers If you have any item(s) to donate, please contact Pastor Scott at [email protected]

Worship this Sunday @ Woodridge ... 10 am in our newly renovated sanctuary ... Sunday school & fellowship to follow. As we enjoy the beauty of our newly renovated sanctuary, we will continue our fall theme of gratitude with a message to provide guidance for our annual stewardship campaign in which we all consider our financial commitments to the church. This week we will look at a wonderful Psalm about how we are "stewards of God's grace." There will be a time to share your own moments of gratefulness and prayer, a children's message and music and fellowship. Won't you join us - and invite someone who may be looking for a church home? Last call to register for our Fall Retreat, October 14, 1 - 6 pm - $10/ person with a potluck dinner. Continuing with our theme of Gratitude, we will work with passages of scripture and excerpts from Diana Butler Bass' book: Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks. To register: email [email protected] There are many opportunities to help with our Holiday Bazaar (November 10): Pie-making 6 pm tonight (Oct. 10); next planning meeting Sunday, Oct. 14. Look for sign-up sheets in the narthex (sanctuary entry) or talk to Courtney Lombardi or Deb Scipione. Thank you! A 5-week Bible Study, following worship, will begin Sunday, October 21. We will examine current day social concerns through reading of scriptures and study of our faith history. If you plan to attend or would like more information, contact Rev. Bob Nolan: [email protected] Maybe you can help - a church family moving into a new apartment is in need of some furnishings: Twin size bed Kitchen table & chairs Microwave Storage bins Ironing board Possibly other living room chairs Bedroom dresser Changing table Dryer Hangers If you have any item(s) to donate, please contact Pastor Scott at [email protected]

The Great Pie-Making Event is on for tomorrow (Wed.) October 10, in preparation for the Holiday Bazaar. If you can bake - or are able to help with the process, or have any questions, please contact Deb Scipione, Courtney Lombardi or Carol Kinoian. Thank you! (you may reply to this message - by 1 pm Wed. - and your response will be forwarded)

Today is World Communion Sunday. Today at church we will hear the Lord's prayer in several different languages. Also, we will be having the First Korean Church UCC joining us in service today. We will be in the Sanctuary today so you can park in the Chelo's parking lot and walk over. God is good

This week @ Woodridge ... worship in fellowship hall and full Sunday school & fellowship to follow We will continue to worship in our fellowship hall this coming Sunday as the sanctuary needs a little more time to be completed. We will keep you updated on its progress and when we can return to the sanctuary. Thank you for your patience and continued support. We will continue our theme of gratitude with a look at a Bible story from the gospel of Luke in which Jesus talks about worry as we explore the topic, “Worry, Gratitude, and Peace”. This Sunday we will provide time in our worship service for sharing "blessings" from our "gratitude journals" following the sermon. Hope to see you Sunday ... and remember to share your experience at Woodridge through social media and as you see friends and families - co-workers and neighbors! Special event this Sunday afternoon . . . The Rhode Island Sax Quartet (RISQ), which played special music during our August 26 "Ask the Pastors" Sunday service, will be playing more of our lively, familiar, fun selections in Fellowship Hall on Sunday, September 30 at 3 PM. We believe there is never too much sax music, but, to give the audience a break, also performing will be the flute trio Flute Salad and the woodwind quintet Les Cinq. This one-hour concert is free. The audience is invited to participate in an offering which will be donated to Woodridge Church. Please join us if you can! Any questions about this event, please see Martha Ryan. A church family moving into a new apartment is in need of some furnishings: Twin size bed Kitchen table & chairs Storage bins Ironing board Possibly other living room chairs Bedroom dresser Changing table Dryer Hangers If you can help with any item(s) please contact Pastor Scott at [email protected]

Attention all friends of Woodridge. We need Books all types for our annual bazaar. If you have books that are in good shape please reach out to the church office.

Hallelujah chorus

Celebrating Spring with Senior Citizens In March the Junior Youth Group visited the Scandinavian Home in Cranston. We played get-to-know-you games and took part in an activity called "With These Hands," where we traced our hands and shared a personal story.​

Several Members of the congregation sing Hallelujah from Messiah by G.F. Handel

Today Our Prime Time Chimers played "Star Wars" Directed by Bob Q. What other church can you go to and hear Star Wars.

2013 Philly Mission slideshow