A Word from Rev. Karen

Pandemic Standard Time

Dear CUMC friends in faith,

Time in pandemic seems to move both fast and slow at the same time. Holy Week begins on the calendar this Sunday with our Palm Sunday celebration. But the first note of that worship service was recorded several weeks ago, and the sanctuary transformed last Sunday, filled with palm branches, so that acolytes and families, recorded one at a time, could provide a joyous entrance to our Palm Sunday worship.

Rev. Martha and I celebrated Maundy Thursday communion last night and others will join tonight to strip the altar and drape the cross.

I will worship with you this Holy Week at the "normal times."
Pandemic Standard Time offers an odd opportunity to create worship and then sit back and join in worship.

This Sunday at 9:30 a.m. I will play the Palm Sunday worship service on YouTube and shout my loud Hosannas! And I will listen with a full heart as our quartet proclaims "Ride On, King Jesus!"

And, when the Triduum begins, I will play our Maundy Thursday worship at 7 p.m. as dusk has turned to evening and join you in communion and remembrance.

We will be together live on Good Friday on Zoom at 7 p.m., sharing together the sacred texts that tell the heart-rending story of the Passion of Christ.

And at 9:30 on Easter Sunday, I will play our Easter Sunday worship and shout my Alleluias!

As a worship team, we have been recording separately, though planning and praying together via Zoom, for more than a year. It remains both a great privilege and a great challenge. And we appreciate hearing from you that you sense we are worshipping together and in worship with you.

We can see a time on the horizon when we are back together in person, yet none of us would have predicted that we would still be waiting in hope a year later for the day we could celebrate Easter together in person.

Regardless, we ARE the Body of Christ.

And we celebrate his birth and life of healing ministry, and we mourn his brutal death, and we celebrate his resurrection.

New Life Awaits.

In prayer and care,
Rev. Karen

Palm Sunday Drive-Through Event

Drive Through for Holy Week Communion Elements
On Palm Sunday, March 28 at 2 p.m., you may drive around the magnolia tree at the entrance of the church to receive individual elements for Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday communion. (Of course the meal at your own table or the bread you bake is also quite worthy during Holy Week, too!)

The communion elements are in individual servings, and we will provide as many as your household needs.

We also welcome any non-perishable food donations you might have for Beta Center. We are especially seeking jars of peanut butter; canned meals, vegetables, fruits, beans, etc. with the easy-open pop-tops. Thank you!

We do ask that everyone remain in their cars when they come, and that everyone please wear your masks. We're excited to see you!

Holy Week 2021 at Claremont UMC

Palm Sunday, March 28 marks the start of Holy Week. In some ways, it is hard to believe we have been worshiping online together for a whole year. In other ways, it may feel strangely familiar. As we gather, each Sunday, around laptops, tablets, phone screens, desktop monitors, and even smart TVs, the experience has become one we know well.

It is a blessing for your leaders of the worship ministry of CUMC to bring an authentic and comforting worship experience to each of you. We are grateful that in these times, you have found sustenance in our virtual gatherings.

As it has been every Sunday for the past year, Palm Sunday worship will be available on our Clarmeont UMC YouTube page. The link can be found below. You will receive an email about worship on Saturday, which is when the video for Palm Sunday will be available.

On Holy Thursday, April 1, we hope to provide a similar visual and spiritual experience of past years with the realities of our present times, reflected as we remember the foot washing of Jesus. As we recall the meal Jesus shared with disciples that has become for us, Holy Communion. As we experience the stripping of the altar as twilight turns to night. This worship will also be pre-recorded and available on YouTube.

On Good Friday, April 2, at 7:00 p.m. we will "gather" live via Zoom. Watch your email next week for information and the Zoom link. We will share the traditional Passion readings for Good Friday. The worship service will then be available later on our YouTube page.

Easter Sunday, April 4 we won't be together in person to worship; however, we will celebrate the Risen Christ with shouts of Alleluia! in a pre-recorded worship service that will be posted on our YouTube page.

Our prayers are with all of you during one of the most holy times of year. Please also keep your CUMC worship leaders in prayer and care as they have already begun to plan and pre-record the elements of worship.

Click HERE for the Claremont UMC YouTube Page.

Please note that CUMC Staff will receive an Easter Holiday on Monday, April 5.

A Contemporary Word

Each week in Lent, as a part of worship, we'll hear an "Ancient Word" on healing, coming from Scripture. We will also hear a "Contemporary Word," a quote from a more contemporary figure, on healing. You'll see one quote each week in the worship video and printed in the Sunday bulletin. And we will feature a different quote in the "Weekly Window." Below is this week's quote for this week's "Window":

A Lenten Dismantling Racism Study

Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
Claremont UMC's Dismantling Racism Committee invites you to a six-week study during Lent of Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. This one-hour Lenten Study via Zoom concludes this Sunday, March 28 at 11:00 a.m.

Let's read together and reflect on what this wise prophet is saying to the disinherited and to all of us today. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi learned from him. There is a powerful voice that comes through from the disinherited that we need to hear.

You will receive the Zoom link for this class in the Saturday "Where to Find Worship" email. Be sure to look for it when you receive that email! Thank you for NOT sharing the Zoom information on social media!

Blessings, CUMC's Dismantling Racism Committee

We Continue to "March for Change"

A great big “hello” from the Youth Chimes and Youth Group! It’s hard to believe, but we’re in the last full week of our March for Change. Only seven more days to get your miles in, or sponsor a youth (it’s not too late to join or sponsor: click HERE if you’d like to participate). We will start totalling up our miles next Thursday, so be ready to fill out the little form that Katie will send for you to submit your final total.

In the meantime, we wanted to pass on some of our Marchers’ reflections about their journeys. One of our participants shared, “I have enjoyed walking and trying to meet my goals for the week.” Another wrote, “Through the whole Covid experience, walking has really helped me to stay hopeful and healthy. I’m happy to know that our group is walking together even though separated.” And finally, another member expressed quite beautifully, “Working on our restoration of wellness together makes it possible in ways that doing it alone does not. I get a renewed sense of motivation knowing a greater community marches for personal and collective change. I’m grateful for that.”

And Claremont UMC’s Youth are grateful for all of your support and generosity as we come to the close of our Lenten journey together. We hope you’ve been as blessed by this effort as we have been.

Thanks, 
The Youth Chimes and the Youth Group

A CUMC Discipleship Group Update

Our discipleship group has been meeting regularly since before the pandemic. For the past few months we’ve been discussing A Path Appears by Kristof and Wu Dunn as background to help us decide how we might individually or as a group make a difference for positive change in the world. The book is full of inspiring true stories of how one person can make a significant difference.

A search of the Charity Watch website revealed the top-rated (A+) charities based on the percentage spent on programs and the number of dollars spent to raise $100. The one that stood out for me was the United Methodist Committee on Relief, an organization that works globally to alleviate human suffering caused by wars or natural disasters. Not only did their missions speak to me, but they had one of the highest percentages of program spending and funds raised to costs of raising them.

All donations to UMCOR go to designated projects other than the Church’s One Great Hour of Sharing donations, which go to fund overhead for the year. Excess funds from the OGHS also fund the most urgent or least funded projects. Five core areas of relief: Hunger, Health, Refugees, Emergencies, and Relief Supplies were developed consisting of many projects in different areas of the world, with hunger and poverty among the most urgent humanitarian problems.

Our discipleship group’s philosophy is to individually decide on a way to make a positive impact either financially or by hands on efforts, without affecting our giving to our own Church and its ministries. The group has been an inspiration to all six of us!

~ Ethel Rogers

A Musical Meditation from Katie

This week's musical meditation is the hymn, "Blessed is He Who Comes in God's Name" from Worship & Song No. 3077.  
Click HERE and enjoy!

~ Katie Franklin Ledsinger

We Are Praying For...

If you have someone you would like Claremont UMC to keep in prayer, and list on our prayer list, please email Jessica, prayers@claremontumc.org. Please indicate whether they are to be listed on the public prayer list, or kept private.

Please pray for these dear ones on our prayer list, HERE.

April "Life Goes On" Gathering

Part of the human experience is facing all kinds of challenges, dealing with loss, and working our way through grief that at times can threaten to overwhelm us. Life Goes On responds by offering support, comfort, and objective information in a safe and confidential setting.

Life Goes On meets in April via Zoom on Wednesday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m. The Zoom link will be sent out that week. April's discussion is on "Living with Uncertainty." Each gathering begins with prayer and a short presentation, led by Rev. Martha in April, followed by small group discussion of whatever feels important to the participants.

Life Goes On continues on the fourth Wednesday of the month through the spring. You may drop in as your schedule allows. If you have questions, please contact Paula Hui. If you need Paula's contact information, email the church office, info@claremontumc.org.

Claremont UMC Website

www.claremontumc.org
https://claremontumc.org/events/
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