God Is Still Speaking,

Week of February 19, 2012

Ash Wednesday Services, Lunch and Dinner
February 22, 2012

• 12:15 p.m. - communion and imposition of ashes in Reed Chapel
• 1:00 p.m. - light Lenten Lunch in Fellowship Hall
• 6:15 p.m. - Pancake Dinner in Fellowship Hall, free will offering to support our youth for the National Youth Event.
• 7:00 p.m. - our combined adult choirs, candle lighting, meditation, imposition of ashes in our sanctuary.

We are featuring a special movie this week presentation on our FEAST “off” week. Thursday, February 23 at 11:30 a.m. in Fellowship Hall, our own Professor Larry Long will facilitate the viewing of the movie “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.” The 90-minute documentary was shown on the PBS series POV. Bring a bag lunch. Drinks will be provided, so please sign-up on the sheet in Fellowship Hall on the bulletin board. Remember this is the only class this day, Session 2 begins the following week.

SAVE-THE-DATE: Our 4th Annual Supper for Scholars Fundraiser will take place on Saturday, February 25, 2012. We have our dinner hosts lived up so plan to attend one of the many dinners taking place that evening by signing up in Fellowship Hall. Following dinner there will be a Dessert Finale at a new venue this year, our beautiful Reed Chapel, where we will gather for fellowship and dessert. In addition, there will be musical performances by members of our congregation, along with art displays from ARTogether! For info call Charlene Nelson at 400-6810.

We will have a NEW MEMBER SEMINAR Sunday, February 26 at 12:30 p.m. in west Fellowship Hall. This seminar is for those interested in church membership. It lasts about 90 minutes & includes a light lunch. If you are interested, call the church office or speak to one of the ministers.

COLLAGE, our GLBT group, will have its Fourth Sunday Brunch at 12:30 p.m. next Sunday, February 26 at Square 1 Burgers located at 1737 South Tamiami Trail (US 41 South) across from Sarasota Memorial Hospital. No need to call ahead, we have space reserved for us.

On February 26 at 5:00 p.m. in the Chapel, we will have another HYMN SING! Please offer hymn suggestions by filling out a suggestion sheet, found in Fellowship Hall on the bulletin board. Also, let us know how many will be attending.

Movie Night Sunday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 9. We will feature Moneyball, based on a true story. Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s and the guy who assembles the team, who has an epiphany: all of baseball’s conventional scouting wisdom is wrong. It’s more than baseball, it’s a revolution - one that challenges old school traditions and puts Beane in the cross hairs of those who say he’s tearing out the heart and soul of the game.

Due to President’s Day, UCCLID INVESTMENT CLUB will meet a week later, on February 27 at noon in Fellowship Hall. Come join us - the stock market has been friendly lately! We usually bring a brown bag lunch.

On March 1st we start SESSION 2 with special guests at 11:00 a.m., during our FEAST program (and this Thursday only), guest missionaries from the Middle East, Samuel and Nohemi Pagan will be here. They are concluding a three year term of service with the Evangelical Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and the International Center of Bethlehem.

Calling all Bach lovers!! Richard Benedum will perform J. S. Bach’s last, unfinished composition, The Art of the Fugue, on Friday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. in our sanctuary. The concert will be preceded by a brief introduction tot he work, and the way in which Bach writes a whole sequence of compositions using one basic theme. This is the final concert presented by the Sarasota-Manatee Bach Festival this season. No tickets required, but there will be a free-will offering.

Our congregation is hosting Family Promise families March 4-11. If you wish to volunteer or wish to learn more about Family Promise and how you can participate, please see Nancy Kavanagh or Binh Nguyen after services. You can also reach Nancy at 941-320-1914 or Binh at 941-726-5402. Family Promise of Sarasota website is at www.familypromisesarasota.org.

The annual CWS CROP WALK is coming up on Sunday, March 11, and we are planning to defend our leadership position. We need walkers (1 mile or 5 miles). We also need sponsors. Our goal is to raise $8,500 and we can DO IT if we all pitch in. TODAY is sign-up day for walkers and sponsors. Every year Sarasota finishes second in the state and First Congregational church finishes first in Sarasota. Let’s keep that record going! The walk begins from St. James United Methodist Church.