Fellowship Opportunities

ASSETS (Singles) will meet for lunch on Wednesday, March 19, at 1:00 PM at TGI Fridays.  If you have questions, please contact Betty Somers at 651-633-4127.
Bridge Group meets on Friday, April 4th at 7:00 PM in the Lounge.  Contact Vern or Erma Comstock at 651-604-0646 to join.  Players of all levels welcome.
Deborah Fellowship (women of all ages) will meet for breakfast and fellowship at Baker’s Square in Roseville Friday, April 4 at 8:30 AM. Contact Nancy Ness,
651-483-3663.
Married Couple’s Group will attend the dinner and swing dance youth fundraiser on Saturday, April 26 at 6:00 PM. Contact Mark & Dawn Meyer at 651-486-0757.
Men’s Club Dinner Program March 17 at 6:30 PM.  Vernon Eidman, who is a professor at the U of M and a member of Centennial, will be speaking on "The Expanding Bio-Fuels Industry: What Does it mean for Minnesotans?”
Piecemakers meet at 9:30 AM Wednesdays at the church for craftwork. Contact Donna Hedblom at 651-633-4191.
Prime Timers Movie Night at Centennial Saturday, April 12 at 6:30 PM.  Sign up at the Welcome Center. 
RARES April 10 at 12:00 PM. This month’s program will be Don & Mary Hopkins speaking about their mission trip to Honduras.  Sign up at the Welcome Center.
S.O.S. (Slightly Older Singles) Extra Chalkboard Capers at Irondale High School, Saturday
April 5 at 1:00 PM.  Tickets are $5.00 and your check is your reservation.  If you have questions, contact Barbara Stone at 651-653-4296 or Corky Donaldson at 651-765-0046.
UMW Day Apart Saturday, April 12, 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Women’s Breakfast Fellowship meets Wednesdays at Byerly’s, 7:00 AM. Contact Thelma Boeder, 651-489-2604.
Women’s Night Out (women of all ages in fellowship) will be gathering at Chianti Grill, Monday, April 7 at 6:30 PM. Contact Wendy at wendyalucas@comcast.net.
Young Adult Ministry Join us for the Easter Sunrise Service, morning worship and The Well.  Contact Kelly Swanson at kswanson@centennialumc.org with questions.

Remember in Prayer

   Steve Koehn, Todd Lewis, Carter Nerhaugen, Eric Nevalainen, and Perry Olson who are in active military service.  Steve is at a base in Korea, Todd and Eric are now home from Iraq, Carter is in Iraq, and Perry is at Fort Wainwright in Alaska.

We celebrate
The birth of Maiken Delaney Shaw who was born March 6 2008.  Maiken is the daughter of Sarah and Jeff Shaw, and granddaughter of Chris and Doug Lund.

We remember
Vivian Cassidy who passed away March 7, 2008.

Praying through our
Membership Rolls
Our prayers for each other empower us and create joyful bonds of love!

• Jean Van Doren
• Allison Vandenburgh
• Derek & Tracie Vandenburgh
• Bob & Jessica VanWyhe
• Ted & Darlene Veilleux
• Marv Vogel
• Hannah Wagner
• Jeff Wagner
• Rose Wagner
• Carol Wahi

 

Sunday Worship Schedule
  9:00 AM  Worship
10:00 AM  Fellowship Time
10:30 AM  Worship and FaithWalk
  5:00 PM  The Well

Next Centinel Deadline:
March 24, 2008
Sunday Bulletin Deadline:
12:00 Noon on Wednesdays

*Scholarships are available and confidential for Centennial sponsored events. Please contact one of the pastors. Contact Child Care Supervisor-Coordinator, Jean Moline, by leaving a message at 651.633.7644 ext. 38 or emailing hewle002@tc.umnc.edu at least 48 hours before an event. If there are no calls, child care will not be provided.

Paperless Centinel?
Whether you would like to help by saving paper or postage, you can receive the Centinel via email.
Please send an email to communications@centennialumc.org to start receiving the Centinel via email and to be taken off the list for a paper copy.  Also, please email us if you have changed your email address or we have an old email address for you.

Centennial Prom for distinguished adults is on April 5.! The Centennial high school youth will host a night of dinner and live music by the Moonlight Serenaders (Dave Magnuson’s Big Band). at 5:30, dinner is served at 6:00 PM followed by dancing from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM. Tickets are $15 per person.All proceeds go toward our high school summer mission trip to New York City.  Buy your tickets during coffee hour or call Kelly at 651-633-7644.

Formal Dinner and Swing Dancing evening 6:00 PM on Saturday April 26.Dinner starts at 6:30 followed by basic Swing Dance Lessons.All are welcome!6th grade students and older are invited to the formal dinner and 5th graders and younger will be served a less formal dinner upstairs with childcare and entertainment provided.So bring the whole family!Tickets are $15/person or $45/family.Contact Kelly to buy your tickets!

AAA Driver Improvement Course - It’s time once again to expand your driving skills and knowledge with Nito, our instructor from the AAA Driver Improvement Course.  You may qualify for a discount on your auto insurance rate.  We will be offering a four hour refresher course on Monday, April 14 from 5:00 - 9:00 PM.  Please register by calling 888-234-1294.

Spring Concert  - Centennial's annual Lent/Spring Choir Concert will be on Sunday, April 6 at 3:00 PM. The Chancel Choir will perform Requiem by John Leavitt. This work is different from the normal Requiem in that it does not incorporate the typical liturgical Latin texts. Rather it is a compilation of texts from the Psalms and other sources to both celebrate the life of the departed and to provide comfort and hope for the living. And it is in English! The range of the piece varies from meditative to joyous and rhythmic. Also in the program will be Centennial's Alleluia Ringers, under the direction of Deb Olsen.  There is no admission charge and a free-will offering will be taken with proceeds going to the music ministry of Centennial.  Child care will be provided and a reception follows the concert.
Questions? Contact Bob Nienaber at the church. Please come and join us for an enjoyable musical event.

Earth Hour - Saturday March 29, at 8:00 PM turn your lights off for one hour.  On March 31, 2007, 2.2 million people and 2,100 Sydney, Australia, businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour.  This massive collective effort reduced Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for a year.
The world took notice, and many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.  As a result, millions of people around the world will unite and switch off for Earth Hour 2008.
Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

Check Out WhatsNew in the Library
UMW Books
Letters to a Young Doubter by William Sloane Coffin
30 Stories of Interspiritual Discovery by Wayne Tearsdale
What Keeps Me Standing by Dennis Kimbro
Social—Political Issues & Biographies
Racial Healing by Harlon L. Dalton
Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper
Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter
Saving Graces by Elizabeth Edwards
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Prayer-Religion-Spiritual Growth
How to be a Perfect Stranger Edited by Stuart M Matlings & Arthur J. Magida
Religious Literacy by Stephen Prothero
Books for Children
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
The First Easter by Carol Heyer
Hooray for You by Marianne Richmond
I Love The Night by Dar Hosta
The Raven’s Gift by Kelly Dupre
We’re Going on A Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury

The library welcomes new and gently used current fiction and nonfiction materials.
We would like to replace a number of well-loved and worn children’s classics; please consider making a gift of one of these books.  Contact Susan Blakeslee at     763-574-1215 for details.

Pastors’ Keyboard

‘Tis the time for spring cleaning! A couple of weeks ago my wife and I de-cluttered. Our 21-year-old Colin had given us his blessing to change his room into whatever we wanted. He had most of the belongings he wanted, and so we went to work: sorting, throwing away, cleaning, then priming the midnight-blue walls with two coats, followed by painting them with two coats of “Morning Sunshine Yellow.” We moved the sofa-sleeper and entertainment center around, moved in a desk, and voila! A den was born. It is now a room we cannot stay away from, the den for which we had not had room for 5½ years. It’s telling how much a little de-cluttering will do for my mind and heart.It seems that doing so clears mental and emotional RAM in my brain, giving me space to do what I really need to focus upon in my life a little bit better. Is it time for a little spring cleaning of the soul perhaps? Think about what your life-mission is. Could you take some time to write your own personal mission statement, making it an item you put before God in prayer?Then keep it in front of you so it reminds you of what is really important in your life.It will help you know what to de-clutter.What to de-clutter?Maybe it is a perfectionism that tightens you up and keeps you from pursuing excellence and receiving grace in your life. we need to discard a tendency to sweat the small things so we lose sight of the big things in life.Maybe you need to de-clutter over-the-top people-pleasing that pulls you away from being who God created and calls you to be.

I’m writing this on the Sunday before Palm Sunday, and I’m reminded of the turning point in Luke where Luke tells us that Jesus “set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem.” What’s your passion, the Spirit-nudged mission for your life?Pray about it in the season after Easter.

Imagining in faith with you,
Brian

Thank you's

Palm/Passion Sunday                       March 16       9:00 and 10:30 AM
Palm/Passion Sunday at The Well    March 16       5:00 PM
Maundy Thursday                             March 20       6:30 PM
Good Friday/Silent Meditation
(self-guided Stations of the Cross)   March 21       8:00 AM-8:00 PM
Good Friday
(Live Stations of the Cross)        March 21       7:30 PM
Easter Sunrise Service                March 23       7:00 AM
Easter Pancake Breakfast           March 23       7:45 - 9:00 AM
Easter Festival Worship              March 23       9:00 and 10:30 AM
Easter at The Well                      March 23       5:00 PM

Parish Nurse

Every Second Counts!!!

Time lost can mean brain cells lost if one does not recognize the signs and symptoms of a stroke.  Stroke is the third leading cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer.  Time is of the essence in preventing serious complications.

A stroke is caused by either a blood clot blocking flow to a part of the brain and depriving it of oxygen (ischemic), or a blood vessel bursting and bleeding into the brain (hemorrhagic).  Each type can result in devastating damage to your body. Disabilities from stroke include paralysis, vision problems, memory and behavior issues and speech difficulties.

It is helpful to know the warning signs of stroke, all of which occur SUDDENLY!
*Numbness or weakness on one side of the body, namely the face, arm or leg
*Trouble walking, loss of balance and coordination
*Confusion, difficulty speaking and understanding
*Severe headache with no known cause
*Trouble seeing in one or both eyes

If you notice these symptoms in a spouse or colleague, remember the following: S.  T.  R.
Ask these questions to determine if a stroke is occurring.
Ask the individual to (S) mile
                                 (T) alk or speak a simple sentence (coherently)
                                 (R) aise both arms

You may also ask them to stick out their tongue!  If it deviates to one side of the mouth, this is another indication of stroke.  Difficulties with any of these actions warrants an immediate 911 call.

Dr. Jeffrey Saver, Director of the UCLA Stroke Center used research data to author a study on the loss of brain cells during a stroke.  He writes “a pea sized piece of brain dies for every 12 minutes that treatment is delayed.  Every minute you wait hoping symptoms will go away, you lose 2 million brain cells. Having a stroke can be translated into accelerated brain aging.  With every one second delay, the brain ages 8.7 hours.”  Time wasted in obtaining treatment can result in permanent impairment, causing a change in lifestyle and perhaps living situation.

According to the American Stroke Association approximately 780,000 persons in the U.S. suffer a stroke each year.  This figure translates to a stroke occurring every 40 seconds, and a death every 3-4 minutes. Of every 5 deaths, 2 are men and 3 are women, with African Americans dying more often than Caucasians.  Every Second Counts!

In Partnership with Lyngblomsten,
Julia Nordling
Parish Nurse
American Stroke Association, Merck Manual

Vacation Bible School

Beach Party: Surfin’ Through the Scriptures
June 16 - 20, 2008
9:00 AM - 12 noon
For ages 3 through Grade 5

Get ready to feel the surf and catch the wave of God’s love at Centennial’s Vacation Bible School this June.

• Parents: Put the dates on your calendar now so your kids can be part   of this great week of fun and learning.
• Adults and Youth: Volunteer to help with teaching, snack time,

          recreation, crafts, missions, publicity or planning.

• Invite your friends and neighbors to participate.
• Share your ideas for this fun beach theme.

Willing to help on the planning team? Talk with Donna Draeger.  We’ll have a planning meeting soon after Easter!

BOY SCOUT TROOP 186 - PAPER RECYCLING   

Did you know that 21% of Minnesota’s trash is recyclable paper?  And did you know that recycling 1 ton of paper saves 7,000 gallons of water and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space?  Please support Centennial’s own Boy Scout Troop and save trees by placing your recycled newspapers in the pale green boxes southwest of the church (near the playground).  Only newspapers and magazines please.  Cardboard is acceptable if flattened and (preferably) bundled.  Please pack your newspapers flat inside a grocery bag.  Contact Brian Nordling at 636-1236 with questions or to arrange pickups at your home.