Holy Week at Pilgrim

Holy Week begins with Passion Sunday, April 13. As in many congregations, worship this Sunday reflects events during the final week of Jesus' life.  The Pilgrim Choir along with Jeremy Craycraft, percussion, Janelle Lemire, harp, and Rachael Kresha, organ, will be presenting Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein.  The work was commissioned for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival in Sussex, England while Berstein was on sabbatical from the New York Philharmonic.   The text was arranged by Bernstein from the psalms in the original Hebrew.  In the Sunday service, the congregation will hear the reading of Jesus' passion between the musical movements.

Rabbi David Steinberg will lead a teaching Seder at Pilgrim on Thursday, April 17.  It is widely believed that when Jesus and his disciples gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem, they were celebrating Passover together.  It was after this meal that Jesus was arrested, sent to trial and executed.  At Pilgrim, we reach back to our Judeo roots during Holy week.  Because this event involves considerable preparation, reservations need to be made through the church office no later than Tuesday, April 15.  (call 724-8503 or email Pilgrim pilgrimdlh@msn.com)

Good Friday evening Pilgrims gather with members of Glen Avon Presbyterian Church and Peace United Church of Christ to hear the story of Jesus' crucifixion and final words.  There are anthems by the three choirs as well as the readings.  During the service, the lights are dimmed, signifying the end of Jesus' life.  This year's service will be begin at 7:00 and will be held at Peace UCC, 1111 11th Avenue, Duluth.   

Pilgrim worships at its usual time, 10:00 a.m. on Easter morning.  A continental breakfast and social hour begins at 9:00 a.m.  A brass quartet will enhance the worship service in which we gather to celebrate the triumph of life over death, love over hate, and victory over evil:  in a word, resurrection.  Children are encouraged to enjoy the worship service along with adults and Sunday school classes resume the following week.

Ash Wednesday March 5

Pilgrim, like many Christian congregations, observes the season of Lent.  The season begins on Ash Wednesday, six weeks before Easter.  It consists of 40 days (Sundays are not counted among the 40), a reminder of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness outside of Jerusalem.  While there, Jesus faced various temptations and his sense of vocation was strengthened.

Some Christians "give up" something during the season of Lent and others take on added spiritual disciplines for the six weeks.  At Pilgrim, we take time for faith discussions in small groups.  This year we are reading Marcus Borg's book, The Heart of Christianity.  Small groups will meet at 8:45 and 11:20 on Sundays and at 1:30 on Thursday afternoons.  These groups give members and friends an opportunity to reflect on what is important in our individual experiences of Christian faith.  Copies of the book and a reading guide are available in the church office or after services on Sunday.

On Wednesday, March 5th, we will begin Lent with a soup supper, to be served between 6:00 and 6:30 and a worship service at 7:00.  The service will include the imposition of ashes, an ancient reminder of our mortality and the saving grace of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Sunday School Students Feed the Hungry

This past fall Pilgrim's 4th-8th Sunday school class began to study issues of food justice.  They learned about food production and food waste.  They also learned how differently people eat in various parts of the world.  They were surprised at the cost of processed foods in the United States.  They heard about local hunger issues and some of them visited places in Duluth where meals are served.  They wanted to do something to alleviate hunger and chose to work with an organization called Kids Against Hunger.

Kids Against Hunger packages single servings of a highly nutritious meal and distributes the packets to refugee camps or places where people are living in the wake of agricultural disasters.  Pilgrim's Sunday school class set a goal for themselves--to raise $2500, enough to package 10,000 meals for Kids Against Hunger.  On February 2, the Sunday School class and their teachers presented information to the congregation.  During the coffee hour, they accepted donations which amounted to more than $1800!  When they have reached their fund raising goal, they will make arrangements for a packing event to which they will invite members and friends of Pilgrim.

CHUM Church

Many people know that Congregations United in Ministry (CHUM) operates a Food Shelf, a Daytime Drop in Center, and an Emergency Shelter.  CHUM also helps homeless families and individuals look for permanent housing and jobs.  A less known ministry is CHUM CHURCH, a faith community for developmentally disabled persons, their caregivers and families.

CHUM Church meets about 6 times a year, always at Peace UCC.  Other CHUM congregations take turns providing the supportive ministries needed so that this unique faith community can gather for Christian education, worship, food and fellowship.

Pilgrim Congregational Church, a member of CHUM, is supporting CHUM Church gatherings on February 9, April 13 and July 13.  On February 9, Pilgrim will provide the meal following CHUM Church's worship service.  On April 13, Pilgrim will provide leadership for the worship service.  On July 13, Pilgrim will provide a "set up and clean up" crew.  Other supporting congregations for these dates are St. Paul's and First Lutheran.

Members of Pilgrim are invited to visit CHUM Church on any of these dates and participate with the regular members of this faith community.   Visitors help CHUM Church members feel recognized and supported by the wider community and are enthusiastically welcomed.  The CHUM church schedule is as follows:  4:00 p.m., Christian education classes;  4:30, worship;  5:00 meal.

Peace is located is 1111 E. 11th Avenue and is a United Church of Christ, as is Pilgrim.

Christmas at Pilgrim

It's cold outside, but at Pilgrim, the warmth and energy of the season continues!  We especially welcome guests and visitors to our traditional Christmas activities and worship:

Sunday, December 22, 10:00.  A worship service led by Pilgrim's Handbell Choir, Children and Youth.  This collaborative effort will retell the Christmas story from the perspective of Twinkle and the Bethlehem star by which the Magi found their way to Bethlehem.

Sunday, December 22, 4:30.  Christmas caroling-a most enjoyable intergenerational activity.  We sing traditional Christmas carols to home bound and elderly members of our congregation and then come back to the church to warm up with pizza.

Christmas Eve, 5:00 and 10:00 pm.  Come for a meditative beginning or end to your Christmas Eve gatherings.  Carols, candlelight, and the Christmas story in our beautiful sanctuary.

Sunday, December 29, 10:00 a.m.  "I Remember Christmas."  On the Sunday following Christmas, Pilgrim gathers as a community to hear from its own members.  Bob Rhode, Parker Tewes, Rachael Kresha and Paula Polasky will share stories of their Christmas remembrances.

Please note that our church office closes at noon on Christmas Eve and will be closed Christmas Day, and from December 27-January 1.  Staff members will be in working flexible hours, so leave a message if you like and someone will return your call.

Advent Anticipation

For centuries, the four Sundays prior to Christmas have been set aside as the season of Advent, a time for preparation and anticipation of the Messiah's coming.  Advent is multi-dimensional: in addition to preparing for this year's Christmas, we also contemplate the time when Messiah comes again.   In the midst of all the outer hustle and bustle of the season, households in our congregation reflect on deeper issues of life and meaning.  Each Sunday morning service during Advent has its own special character and excitement.

First Sunday, December 1.  Hanging of the Greens   Pilgrim's sanctuary is beautiful during the Christmas season.  The seasonal transformation takes place during worship when lights, flowers, the Christmas tree and nativity set are put in place.  We recall the long history of God's people, especially the times of deep national darkness and distress.  Generation after generation, prophets offered reassurance and hope of God's presence.  They reminded the people of their calling to live as if God's reign had already begun.

Second Sunday, December 8.  Worship, Advent Workshop and Art Fair.   The Rev. Karen Schuder will conduct worship and preach on this second Sunday of Advent.  Following worship, there will be tables set up for making a variety of seasonal decorations and gifts to take home.  In  addition, several artisans in the congregation will offer items for sale for holiday gift giving.  Lunch is available during the workshop.

Third Sunday, December 15.  Gloria by Anton Vivaldi.  The Pilgrim choir and instrumentalists will present Vivaldi's Gloria on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m.  The music is an inspiration to the joy of the season.

Fourth Sunday. December 22.  Children's Pageant accompanied by Bellissimo Handbell Choir.  Children, youth and musicians will retell the Christmas story with readings, bells and drama as captured in Twinkle and the Bethlehem Star by Tammy Waldrop.

Christmas Eve Candlelight services will be held on December 24 at 5:00 and 10:00 p.m.

Stewardship Season

This is stewardship season at Pilgrim Congregational Church.  It's the time of year when we ask members and friends about their support for our ministry and mission in the following calendar year.  Our operating budget provides for our staff, routine building maintenance and operations, our support of interfaith and denominational missions, and our programs.  Most of our funding comes from donations from friends and members of the congregation.

In addition to the operating budget, we ask members and friends to support our capital needs.  In 2005 we put a new roof on the building and did some interior work to make the building attractive and safe for community use.  We are paying down a mortgage that was necessary to finance the 1.2 million dollar effort --we are nearing the last $100,000.

Every gift helps--whether large or small.  Together we can do things that we could not do alone.  Our theme for our stewardship campaign this year is "Surprising Gifts."  We hope to surprise one another with our faithful contributions to next year's operating expenses!

Sunday, November 17, we will receive pledges and gifts for 2014.  We will stay after worship for a brunch in Fellowship Hall.  Guests and visitors are invited!