Henderson Happenings
April 2017
Henderson United Methodist Church
2017 Issue 1
2004 Camphausen Avenue
Erie, Pa. 16510
Phone 814-453-6041
Pastor Mary Stewart 814-897-0991
Cell 814-881-9141
Email: [email protected]
Henderson Happenings
Sunday Worship Service at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday School at 10:45
April 2017
Pastor’s
Message
What is the first thing that comes to
mind when you think of Easter? As a
Christian, the first image might be the
cross or the empty tomb. For the
general public, a blitz of media images
and merchandise on store shelves
makes it more likely that the Easter
Bunny comes to mind. So how did a
rabbit distributing eggs become a part
of Easter?
There are several
reasons for the rabbit,
or hare, to be associated with Easter, all of
which come through pagan celebrations or beliefs. The most obvious
is the rabbit’s fertility. Easter comes during spring and
celebrates new life. The Christian
meaning of new life through Christ
and a general emphasis on new life
are different, but the two gradually
merged.
The hare is also an ancient symbol for the moon. The date of Easter
depends on the moon. This may have
helped the rabbit to be absorbed into
Easter celebrations.
The hare’s burrow helped the animal’s adoption as part of Easter celebrations. Believers saw the hare coming out of its underground home as a
symbol for Jesus coming out of the
tomb. Perhaps this was another case
of taking a pre-existing symbol and
giving it Christian meaning.
The Easter hare came to America
with German immigrants, and the
hare’s role passed to the common
American rabbit. Originally children
made nests for the hare in hats,
bonnets, or fancy paper boxes, rather than the baskets of today. The appealing nests full of
Continued on page 2
Who Are You?
My soon to be 3 year old great grandson asked me that question. A little puzzled by the question and not quite sure how
I wanted to answer it, I simply said ‘who are you?’ Duh! So
he answered me, “I am Chandler Robert.” I guess he just
wanted me to give him my name but I was trying to read
something else into it. Had I been a tad bit quicker, I could
have said I am a child of God and your papa; God before
self. A teachable moment slipped right on by.
CW
Inside this issue:
Pastor’s Message continued l
2
Lenten Season
3
Sunday School News
4
Holy Week
5
Company Called PRI
6
Summer Camp Update
7
Announcements
8
Henderson Happenings
April 2017
(Continued from page 1)
colored eggs probably helped the customs to
spread.
Next to the Easter bunny, the most familiar
symbol is the Easter
egg. Like others, the egg
has a long pre-Christian
history. Again, there is no
certainty as to why it became associated with Easter.
Many Ancient cultures viewed eggs as a
symbol of life. Hindus, Egyptians, Persians, and
Phoenicians believed the world begun with an
enormous egg. The Persians, Greeks, and Chinese gave gifts of eggs during spring festivals in
celebration of new life all around them.
Early Christians looked at the connection
eggs had to life and decided eggs could be a
part of their celebration of Christ’s resurrection. In addition, in some areas, eggs were forbidden during Lent; therefore, they were a delicacy at Easter. Since many of the earlier customs were Eastern in origin, some speculate
that early missionaries or knights of the Crusade
may have been responsible for bringing the tradition to the West.
In the fourth century, people presented
eggs in church to be blessed and sprinkled with
holy water. The timing of this blessing would
uphold the idea that Crusaders may have
brought the tradition back. Even though eggs
had been used previously, the Crusaders may
have made the custom more popular and widespread.
In 1290, Edward I of England recorded a
purchase of 450 eggs to be colored or covered
with gold leaf. He then gave the eggs to members of the royal household.
Once the custom became accepted, new
traditions began to grow up around it. Eggs
were dyed red for joy, and in memory of Christ’s
blood. Egg rolling contests came to America
from England, possibly as a reminder of the
stone being rolled away.
(http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/undertanding-the-
history-and-symbols-of-easter-1256039.html)
As Christians, however, it is important to
balance those images
with symbols and stories
of faith. When our children realize that rabbits
do not lay eggs, they will
remember the lasting
truth that God, through
the death and resurrection of Jesus, offers us
new life—a life of abundant love and grace.
May our extravagant
God bless you this Lenten and Easter seasons.
Love,
Pastor Mary
Come Christians, Join to Sing!
What Shall We Sing
The second week after Easter we will have
a celebration in song.
Pick your favorite hymn or song from the
Hymn Book, The Faith We Sing or one
anyway.
Then let me know what you would like to
sing.
Pastor Mary and I will then put them together as part of the Service.
Psalm 108 reads “ Sing and make music
with all your soul”
Helen.
Bunnies, eggs, jelly beans and grass-filled
baskets have become the images that describe
our Easter holiday. Is this bad? Not necessarily. For young children, they spark the imagination and create positive memories of family and
church gatherings.
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Henderson Happenings
Christian Symbols of the Lenten Season
This Lenten season we have been looking that the
symbols that remind us of the events leading up to the
first Easter.
Thirty silver coins retell the story the betrayal of Jesus by his friend and disciple
Judas Iscariot. Do you know what it feels
like to be betrayed? Know that God will
never betray us. Matthew 26:14-16, 27:3-5
The towel and basin represent Jesus’
message of being a servant of all. As disciples of Jesus Christ we are called to sere
one another. John 13: 2-5 & 12, 14, 17
April 2017
Lenten
Study
ADAM HAMILTON
Final Words
from the Cross
In life and
in death, Jesus’
words
were
powerful and
meaningful. Despite the serious
effort and increased pain required for Jesus to speak as
he hung on the cross, Jesus spoke seven “final
words”—statements that have much to teach us about
Jesus, his Father, and ourselves:

The cup reminds us of
our humanity and that Jesus drank of 
the cup to save us. No matter what we

go through here on earth, God will understand. Mark 14: 32-36

As Jesus appears before Pilate, we see 
the horrible anguish of his suffering—the whip symbolizes the pain of injustice. Many innocent people suffer 
injustice even today. May
we rise
up to speak up for those who are perse
cuted. Mark 15: 9-13 & 15
Father Forgive Them
Today You Will Be with Me in Paradise
Behold Your Son…Behold Your Mother
My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?
I Thirst
It Is Finished . . . Into Your Hands I Commit My
Spirit
Postscript: The Words After That
Each session begins with the biblical account. Then
we will explore the meaning of Jesus’ dying words for
To humiliate Jesus his captors placed a crown of our lives today.
thorns upon his head. We hate being humiliated, yet it
Study will be held Tuesdays: March 21, 28, April
is as nothing compared to what Jesus 4 at 1:00 and 7:00 p.m.
experienced on that first Good Friday.
Matthew 27: 27-31
Waving palms and shouts of
hosannas announced the entrance
a king into the Holy City—a path
that would lead to Golgotha.
Matthew 21: 6-11
of
Palm Sunday Afternoon at
the Movies
Join us at Glenwood United Methodist Church, 2931
Myrtle Street, for a showing of
the 2016 film “Risen” at 2:00
p.m.
This film follows the epic
Biblical story of the Resurrection, as told through the eyes
of a non-believer. Clavius, a powerful Roman Military
Tribune, and his aide Lucius, are tasked with solving the
mystery of what happened to Jesus in the weeks following the crucifixion, in order to disprove the rumors of a
risen Messiah and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem.
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Henderson Happenings
Sunday School
As we continue through 2017, our attendance
for Sunday School has dwindled down. We
want to start bringing our beautiful children
back!!! Through the next 3 months, we will be
learning about the Ten Lepers, Zacchaeus, the
Last Supper and Peter. The month of March is
Jesus Shows Love, April is titled Hosanna and
we will be ending the Sunday School year in
May with Peter Rocks!! I would like to make a
plea to Please bring our children back!! We enjoy having them, not only in Sunday School, but
also in church!!! We look forward to seeing you
all again!!!
Melissa
Easter Party
We will be having an Easter
party for the kids after church on
Easter Sunday. We hope that all
of our children will join us. We
plan on having an Easter egg
hunt and refreshments of juice
and donuts.
April 2017
We are looking ahead to 2017. The dates for
food pantry are:
Jan 11th , Jan 25th, Feb 8th , Feb 22nd , Mar 8th,
Mar 22nd , Apr 5th, Apr 19th , May 3rd , May 17th,
May 31st , June 14th, June 28th ,
(Recertification papers must be filled out July
1st )
July 12th , July 26th , Aug 9th , Aug 23rd ,
Sept 6th, Sept 20th, Oct 11th, Oct 25th , Nov 8th ,
Nov 22nd , Dec 6th and Dec 20th
We can always use volunteers and welcome anyone that has the time.
Our pick-up time is 9am and we sort and bag
the perishables for distribution at 12:30 pm
Please call the office at 814-453-6041 and
speak to Margaret.
Books and Toys distribution
On Dec. 17th we gave a book and a wooden toy
to those children of families that come to the
food pantry. 23 letters were mailed out on Dec
2nd. They were addressed to the family and
listed the child’s name that could come and pick
out a toy and a book. We also gave a goodie
bag for that child. The books were given to us
by Hooked on Books for Kids and requested we
take pictures of the child holding the book. We
got quite a few. Some children were shy and
held the book in front of their face, but all were
happy to receive it. The wooden toys were given to us by Santa’s Helpers. We had a large variety of age appropriate toys for babies to
teens. Henderson wants to thank both organizations for their contribution to our food pantry
children.
Operation Christmas Child update
In case you hadn’t heard…..
Food Pantry
We packed 54 shoe boxes and was informed
that they went to the Ukraine
People can find out more information about the
children that may have received our shoe boxes.
December was a month of giving and saying a
lot of Thank God and Bless us all.
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operationOur food pantry had many events where we
christmas-child-countries/ukraine/
were able to give, and God did bless us all.
The Times News Christmas boxes were distributed on Dec. 15th. Everyone that received a box
got a Smith’s ham and a package of Smith’s hot
dogs with the food, there was even a bag of
snicker’s candy.
We were able to add to that with some fresh
produce and bread and dairy, a wonderful
blessing for their Christmas dinner.
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Henderson Happenings
April 2017
In A Daze
I confess to being in a daze
Most days
It’s not a continuous one though
And
I get a warning when tears are about
To flow
But God is good
Palm Sunday—April 9
He knows my pain
He dries my eyes
9:30 a.m. Worship at Henderson
And
I can see again
11:00 a.m. Worship at San Juan
But
2:00 p.m. “Risen” to be shown at Glenwood
I see what I really
Don’t want to see
2931 Myrtle Street
Images of Sandi
As she is about to be
Maundy Thursday—April 13
Called home to him
And away from me
7:00 p.m. Communion Service at Henderson
Now
I watch the doctors
And the nurses
Good Friday—April 14
Try to keep her alive
But
7:00 p.m. “At the Cross” Tenebrae Service at That is not to be
Lakewood UMC, 3856 West 10th Street I think God wants her
To be free
Of her earthly pain
Holy Saturday—April 15
And
To be with him
8:00 p.m. “Come to the Cross and Remember” To laugh and smile again
Easter Eve Cantata at It’s not easy to see her go
But God knows best
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church,
I know, I know
3108 Sterrettania Road
So for now
I’ll deal with these days
Of being in a
Easter Sunday—April 16
Daze
Until I see her again
9:00 a.m. Outdoor Gathering Service
Laughing and smiling
As we
9:30 a.m. Resurrection Celebration
Greet each other
at Henderson
In that place called
Easter Egg hunt following worship
Heaven
11:00 a.m. Resurrection Celebration at San Juan
cw
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Henderson Happenings
April 2017
The Blessings of a Company Called PRI
UMCOR Sunday: March 26
The fourth Sunday in Lent; provides major support of
the United Methodist Committee on Relief. UMCOR
A couple months ago we were contacted by
Scott Flick, owner of a company called PRI. He provides immediate assistance in the wake of disasters
and helps support ongoing ministries of food, shelter,
wanted to talk to us about doing some work at
our church and ministry building. He explained health and peace. Allows 100 percent of designated
that PRI is a non- profit company that hires peo- gifts to be used for specified disaster response or other
ple to teach them a skill so that they can find a ministry
job and support themselves. During the summer
they have a lot of work outside, landscaping and
Native American Ministries Sunday: April 30
repairing, painting and cleaning. They were inThe
third Sunday in Easter; reminds United Methodists
terested in getting inside work such has cleaning
of
the
contributions made by Native Americans to our
or painting and repairs indoors.
He assured us that there would never be a cost society. The special offering benefits Native American
outreach within annual conferences and across the
to us and that what he was trying to do was
train people to find work in that profession. His United States and provides seminary scholarships for
workers sometimes do not speak English or
Native Americans.
speak at all. They are new to our way of life and
now live in Erie.
Peace with Justice Sunday: June 11
We met with some of them and decided that
The first Sunday after Pentecost; supports peace with
they could help in cleaning our Sanctuary, Minis- justice ministries through the General Board of Church
try building and San Juan Sanctuary and Kitch- and Society and the annual conferences
en/ dining area. About 20 of them came on a
Saturday with cleaning materials and enthusiWorld Communion Sunday: October 1
asm.
After explaining what had to be done, they went
right to work and cleaned, polished, vacuumed The first Sunday in October; supports World Communion Scholarships, the Ethnic Scholarship Program
swept and mopped. The Sanctuary smelled of
Murphy’s Oil soap and pine cleaner. The Minis- and the Ethnic In-Service Training Program.
try building was cleaned and the basement was
ready for food to be put out for pantry. San
United Methodist Student Sunday: November 26
Juan Sanctuary smelled clean and the kitchen
area shined.
The last Sunday of November supports United MethSince that day they have returned once a month odist scholarships and the United Methodist student
and we are blessed by their generosity. Scott
loan fund.
would like other churches and non profit companies to know that they would be happy to help
BLITZ BUILD COLLECTION
them out as well. Their office is at 153 East
We are asking churches to do a special collection dur13th Street, Suite 1400 (814) 480-8732 for
ing Lent this year to support this event. The church
more information visit their website at:
collections along with a free will offering will be collecthttp://www.pricommunity.com/
ed during District Conference.
Margaret Harrison
The Blitz Build has been a combined effort between
the EM District VIM activities and AGCM. For this
year, we are asking the churches in the District to supGeneral Church Special Sundays 2017
port this District activity by taking a collection during
Lent and bringing it to District conference. There will
Human Relations Sunday: January 15
also be a free will offering taken at District Conference
The Sunday before the observance of the Rev. Martin in support of this District Outreach. This will be the
Luther King Jr's birthday, supports Community Devel- 5th year for this annual event where we have worked
opers, United Methodist Voluntary Service and Youth together to build from 5-7 ramps in one weekend to
Offender Rehabilitation Programs.
serve our neighbors in need. We have had on average,
25 churches each year, and 40 churches overall, work
together during the weekend event.
6
Henderson Happenings
April 2017
It is time to be thinking about summer camp. The camping committee has met and has set up some guidelines
to make this year's registration process go smoother.
Henderson Church has been passionate about sending children to church camp for many, many years. The
camping experience provides our children and youth an opportunity to focus on building life-long relationship
with other youth and supportive adults. But even more important, they experience the love of God and develop
a life-changing relationship with their Savior.
For Henderson Church, however, its ability to send as many children as they have in the past has become more
difficult. We do not have the human resources to raise the funds to cover the rising camp tuitions and other
sources are diminishing. Therefore, we are requiring that families assume some financial responsibility
and encourage church members to contribute as able.
We will not be able provide scholarships for as many children as we have in the past. Therefore, the following
guidelines will be followed:
--Priority will be given to children and youth who attend worship and church activities on a regular basis.
--Parents must provide the registration fee at the time of registration--$50.00 for first child, and $25.00 for each
addition sibling.
--Because the tuition of some of the specialty camps has increased significantly, the church will contribute up to
$400 per child. The parents will be responsible for anything above that amount.
--Parents and children must participate in any fundraisers that benefit camp.
--Those wishing the church's financial support must register through the church on one of the following Sundays:
Summer Camp Registration
Immediately following worship (10:45 a.m.) in the Ministry Building
Sundays, April 2 or April 9, 2017
For more information and a list of information needed at registration, please speak to Melissa Washe or Sydney
Williams.
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Henderson Happenings
April 2017
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Office hours M - W - F 10 am - 2 pm
Emergency food M - W- F 12 - 1pm
MARCH
21st Tues Lent Bible Study with Pastor Mary "Final Words From the Cross" 2:00 p.m. or 7 p.m.
Girl Scout meeting at San Juan 5:30 - 7:30 pm Lay Servant classes Asbury of Waterford Pa 6:00pm - 8:30
pm
22nd Wed Pick up food at Second Harvest at 8:30 am Food Pantry 12:30 - 2 pm
23rd Thurs Senior Food Boxes 10:15 am - 2 pm Glenwood UMC hosts overflow shelter and meal.
25th Sat 8am Men's Breakfast at Christ UMC 2615 W 32nd St Erie , Pa
26th Sun UMCOR Sunday previously known as One Great Hour of Sharing Worship Service 9:30 am Sunday
School 10:45 a.m. Lay Servant classes Saegertown Pa 2:00 pm - 4:30pm
28th Tues Lent Bible Study with Pastor Mary "Final Words From the Cross" 1:00 p.m. or 7 p.m.
No Girl Scout meeting today No school
Lay Servant classes Asbury of Waterford Pa 6:00pm - 8:30 pm
31st Fri Pick up food at Second Harvest 9 am
APRIL
1st Sat 8 am Men's Breakfast at Summit UMC 1510 Townhall Road West
2nd Sun Worship Service 9:30 am Register for Summer camp in the Ministry building.11:00 am
Lay Servant classes Saegertown Pa 2:00 pm - 4:30pm
4th Tues Lent Bible Study with Pastor Mary "Final Words From the Cross" 1:00 p.m. or 7 p.m.
Girl Scout meeting at San Juan 5:30 - 7:30 pm Lay Servant classes Asbury of Waterford Pa 6:00pm - 8:30 pm
5th Wed Pick up food at Second Harvest 9 a.m. Food Pantry 112:30 - 2 p.m.
8th Sat 8 am Men's Breakfast at Wesley UMC 3308 South St Wesleyville, Pa Asbury UMC Easter Egg Hunt one
at Glenwood UMC also 9am
9th Sun Palm Sunday Worship Service 9:30 am Register for Summer camp in the Ministry building 11:00 am
"Risen" shown at Glenwood UMC 2pm
11th Tues NO Girl Scout meeting No school Spring break
13th Thurs Maundy Thursday Worship service 7pm
14th Fri Good Friday services at Lakewood 7pm
15th Sat 10 am AD council meeting in Ministry building
16th Sun Easter Sunday worship service 9:30 am Children's Easter Egg hunt after services
18th Tues Girl Scout meeting at San Juan 5:30 - 7:30 pm
19th Wed Pick up food at Second Harvest 9 am Food Pantry 12:30 - 2 pm
20th Thurs Senior Food box 10:30 am - 2 pm
22nd Sat Earth Day
23rd Sun Worship service 9:30 am Lay Servant classes Saegertown Pa 2:00 pm - 4:30pm
25th Tues Girl Scout meeting at San Juan 5:30 - 7:30 pm Lay Servant classes Asbury of Waterford Pa 6:00pm 8:30 pm
28th Fri Pick up food at Second Harvest 9am
30th Sun Native American Ministries Sunday Worship service 9:30 am Lay Servant classes Saegertown Pa
2:00 pm - 4:30pm
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