The Centinel 3-10-06

Sunday Worship Schedule
9:00 AM Worship and Kids’ Time
10:00 AM Fellowship Time
10:30 AM Worship and FaithWalk

Upcoming Centinel Deadlines:
March 20 and April 3

Pastors’ Keyboard

The book study we’re using for our Lenten Blog is titled A Clearing Season. I chose the book partly because of its title. Lent can be a time to clear things out, to make space in our lives.

I live a in small home by American standards–I’m sure it would be considered quite spacious in other parts of the world. What I notice with my space, is the more “things” I add to it, the smaller it gets and the more cluttered it feels. Each year I go through a clearing season in my home (otherwise known as spring cleaning). I let go of those things that are taking up space and cart them off to the local Goodwill store. It feels so good when I have more open space in my home!

Lent can be a time of clearing things out within ourselves—dusting off the cobwebs and sweeping up the messes that we might have earlier pushed under a rug. Letting go of hurts we have nurtured and creating some open spaces for God to reside.

Let the clearing begin… Melanie

Vacation Bible School

Adventure of the Treasure Seekers
June 12-16, 2006
9:00 AM - 12 Noon
For 3 year old children through 5th grade youth

It is time to get ready to go on an adventure with Vacation Bible School at Centennial this June. Put the dates on your calendar so the kids can attend 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 archeological theme.

Willing to help on the planning team? Join us for a meeting on Wed., March 29, 6:00–7:00 PM in Asbury Room 3. (Wednesday Soup Suppers, 5:30-6:30 PM in Fellowship Hall, and child care in the nursery at 6:00 PM.) This will be the start of something great! To volunteer or seek more info, call Joanne Bell, VBS Coordinator, 651.483.2060, or email jobell99@comcast.net.

Check this out...

New additions to the library:

• The Testament by John Grisham
• The Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
• The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
• New Video–The Illumination of the St. John's Bible
• We have also added Veggie Tales DVDs. (Please note in the future we will only be purchasing DVDs and will not be adding VHS tapes.)

The Library is open the first and third Wednesday evenings of the month. We have experienced a positive result and would like to expand our Wednesday Library offerings to include the second and fourth Wednesdays, but we need volunteers to staff those evenings. If you would like to work in the library on Wed evenings, 6:30-8:00 PM, contact Susan or Don Blakeslee 763.574.1215. Training provided.

One Great Hour of Sharing

Sunday, March 26
Designated by the United Methodist Church, One Great Hour of Sharing offerings provide the basic support for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) as it works in refugee ministries, rehabilitation, disaster relief and addressing the root causes of hunger. The offering enables UMCOR to have see money to respond immediately to crises at home and around the world. Special envelopes for this offering are provided in your envelope packet and in the pews.

Teddy Bear Party

Saturday, April 1
3:00–5:00 PM
A very special event for families with pre-school through elementary age children! Bring your favorite teddy bear (or other stuffed animal friend) to enjoy an afternoon of family fun. Teddy Bear Bingo, Teddy Bear Treasure Hunt and more, plus crafts, story time, a service project for Project Home, and Teddy Bear snacks! An oh-so-special event for kids and those who love them: moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, or others! We invite youth to help with the activities.

Too old for the Teddy Bear Party on Saturday, April 1?
Youth are invited to be a part of this festive day for families, too! Come and help with games, crafts and much more. Call Sandy Breen, 651.484.0756, to volunteer.

Wednesday Soup Suppers

Soup Suppers during Lent will be in the Fellowship Hall each Wednesday evening from 5:30–6:30 PM. Come enjoy dinner with friends, served by our Centennial UMC youth. All of our proceeds will be put towards our summer mission trips to South Dakota, Arkansas and New Orleans.

Youth News

Please pray for our youth and adults who will be attending the state wide youth event (UMYS) March 17–19. Pray for God’s spirit to teach and encourage as we spend the weekend learning more about our faith. Also pray for travel mercy and a safe trip.

The deadline for the Confirmation trip to the Boundary Waters is Mar. 31. Please fill out the registration form and return it with a $50 deposit by the end of March. Our summer trip will include a week of camping, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, serving, swimming and more. We are excited for a fantastic week together and hope to take all of our incoming ninth grade class. Contact Kelly Swanson for more information.

Seeking a Palomino Tutor

We are looking for two volunteers who are able to join the Palomino Tutoring Team immediately. You would be helping a first grade boy with reading and math. Please contact Bonnie Eidman, 651.644.5094, for more information or to volunteer.

Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Opportunities

We are seeking volunteers to assist with our summer Habitat for Humanity building project. People who would like to work onsite will have an opportunity to help rehabilitate residences in St. Paul doing various construction tasks. We also need volunteers to help prepare and serve food to hungry workers. Sign up tables will be located in Linden Court throughout the month of March. Contact Jack Griffin for further information at 651.633.8571.

Minnesota Conference 2005 Giving for Benevolences and Apportionments

Total giving (apportionments plus other benevolences) from Minnesota United Methodists increased to $8,399,480 in 2005 from $7,228,810 in 2004. Generous gifts to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) accounted for much of the overall increase in 2005 and included $430,000 for the tsunami in South East Asia, $622,000 for hurricane relief in the US Gulf Coast and $22,000 for the Pakistan earthquake. The 2005 Love Offering was almost $109,000 and was dedicated to helping children in our communities, in other parts of the United States, and around the world. Thank you for your generous response to these many needs in 2005.

Barb Carroll, Director of Finance & Administration

Parish Nurse Notes

Lent has begun and it is a forty day period of time when people sometimes “give up something.” I attended a Catholic school of nursing, pre Vatican II, and enjoyed observing my Catholic classmates as noon the day before Easter approached. Especially those who had given up cigarettes. Lent ended at noon for them and “having a cigarette” was their goal. I couldn’t help but wonder what the sacrifice was for; I always missed the point.

Perhaps, however, there is a lesson in their sacrifice. If we used these forty days for physical renewal, combined with spiritual renewal and contemplation, we might gain a great deal. Doing some form of active exercise daily, keeping a daily food diary, watching (and decreasing) the daily intake of bad food choices, sleeping 7 1/2 to 8 hours daily, and taking steps to decrease stress in our lives—all these could add to the well being we could feel that day when Lent ends. It’s well worth trying.

A new ten session Yogadevotion will begin March 16. Contact me if interested. Sign up sheets are at the Welcome Center.

Diabetes Support/Interest Group will meet on Thursday, March 23 at 7:00 PM in the Lounge. If you have an interest, please consider attending.

A Healing Service will be held on Wednesday, Mar. 29, 7:00-7:25 PM in the Sanctuary. Everyone is invited to this service of Communion, anointing with oil, and time of prayer.

In partnership with Lyngblomsten, Jan Daniels, Parish Nurse

Red Robin Round-up

The Red Robin Preschool Board is sad to note that time is running out to find a chair or co-chairs for our annual spring Super Sale. For many years the sale has been the major fund raiser for Red Robin Preschool in addition to being a way to recycle no longer needed clothing, toys and household items. Numerous volunteers have set up, sold, cleaned up and contributed items to this sale over the years. Please accept our bountiful thanks for all you have done for the preschool. Unless someone steps forward to fill the role of chair in the next few weeks, we will find it necessary to cancel the Super Sale, currently scheduled for April 28.

Thankfully the CUMC congregation has given generously at the Red Robin luncheon and the flower sales and we trust that will continue in the future. It is necessary to have these fund raisers because we cannot price ourselves out of the current market rates for preschool tuition.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Nan Carlson, Director Red Robin Preschool at 651.633.7644 or Jan House at 651.636.0372.

Islam: Religion of Nature, Logic and Common Sense

Connectivity will have a special speaker on Sunday April 2 at 10:30 AM and everyone is invited to join us in the Chapel. Dr Khalid Sami, a retired Anesthesiologist of Indian heritage and a Muslim by faith, will give a  presentation entitled "Islam: Religion of Nature, Logic and Common Sense". Dr. Sami will talk for about 35-40 minutes, leaving plenty of time for questions and discussion as a continuation of the Christian–Jewish–Islamic dialog that has been an ongoing interest of our Connectivity Class.

Remember in Prayer

Todd Lewis who is in active military service.

Pastor Brian Hacklander and the group traveling to the Holy Land March 14 to March 25: Chris Rohde, Steve and Karen Rudd, Shirley Parker, Verne and Erma Comstock, Don and Susan Blakeslee, and Val Adams.

We remember
Mariloys Gottfried, who passed away March 2. Her celebration of life was held at Centennial on March 6, 2006.

We celebrate
The baptism of Kyle Michael Christensen, son of Chad and Christy Christensen, who was baptized on February 26, 2006.

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

• David, Barbara and Danny Kinney
• Ryan, Beth, Rhet and Lauren Klaahsen
• Dick Klaus
• Brian Koberstein
• Carey Koberstein
• Katherine Kohn
• Michael Kohn
• Ronald and Kathy Kohn
• Bill and Lindsay Kohn
• John Kolden
• Rachel Konzem, Gerard Forys and Mariana Forys
• Andrew Kramarczuk
• Katie Kramarczuk
• Nick Kramarczuk
• Orest, Carrie and Lucy Kramarczuk

Our Easter Lily Tradition:

It is a tradition to decorate the chancel area of Centennial with lilies and other seasonal decorations on Easter. Please fill out the form below and mail it with payment to the church, attention Julie Elholm, or place it in Julie’s mailbox in the church office. Please do not place the forms in the offering plates on Sunday mornings.

Name(s) of donor ________________________________________
Given in memory of ______________________________________
Given in honor of ________________________________________
Number of lilies _________________@ $9.00 each = $__________

Payment must accompany your order. Orders must be received by April 2. Make checks payable to Centennial UMC and mark Lily in the memo line. You are encouraged to take your lily home after the 10:30 service on Easter Sunday.

Fellowship Opportunities

Call for more information. Sign-up at the Welcome Center.
Visit the church web-site, www.centennialumc.org, for more information.

ASSETS* (Adult Singles Enjoying Togetherness) will meet for lunch and a movie on April 19. Contact Henrietta Briggs, 651.489.4690.

Bridge Club meets in homes the 1st Friday of the month. Contact Marion & Dwight Peterson, 651.633.1786.

Deborah Fellowship meets the 1st Friday of the month, 8:30 AM, at Baker’s Square. Contact Nancy Ness, 651.483.3663.

Junior High Youth band rehearses Sundays at Noon, lunch provided. Half of the balance for our mission trip to SD is due on April 2. Send in your forms/payment by that date. Volunteer at our soup suppers from 4:30–7:00 PM on Lenten Wednesdays.

Married Couples Group (20’s, 30’s, 40’s) will meet Saturday, Mar. 18, 6:00 PM for fellowship. Contact Dawn and Mark Meyer, 651.486.0757.

Men’s Club will meet March 20, 6:30 PM for dinner and program “What is happening at the U of M?”–an update from a panel of University faculty members about the U’s historic transformation. Everyone is invited to attend. Contact Dale Noyed by March 16, 651.633.4197.

Piecemakers is a group of women that meet 9:30-11:30 AM each Wednesday at the church for craftwork. Contact Donna Hedblom 651.633.4191.

Plug & Chug (13 & over) work for Habitat for Humanity every Thursday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Call Ken Tate 651.633.6108 or Don Hopkins at 651.628.9713.

Prime Timers (couples and singles 45+) Sign up by March 26 for tickets to “Music Man” at Lakeshore Players on Fri., April 21. Tickets $16.50 each. Contact Ron and Nancy Ness, 651.483.3663 or Howard and Jean Rieke, 651.484.6194.

RARES (Retired, Almost Retired, Energetic Seniors) will meet Thursday, April 13 at 12:00 Noon for a luncheon and program. Watch for more information. Contact Joyce Rosene, 651.484.4582. Cost: $6.50.

LOGOS Senior High Youth band rehearses Sundays at 12:00 Noon, lunch provided. Deadline for this year’s mission trip to Arkansas and New Orleans is Mar 31. Send in your deposit and forms now. Volunteer at our soup suppers, 4:30–7:00 PM on Lenten Wednesdays. Contact Kelly Swanson.

SOS* (Slightly Older Singles) Chalkboard Capers at Irondale High School on April 1. Contact Barb Stone, 651.653.4296 or Corky Donaldson, 651.765.0046.

U M W (United Methodist Women) Save the date for “A Day Apart” at Centennial on April 1 with Cindy Gregorson, Metro East District Superintendent, speaking on “Children of the Bible” and how their stories relate to our lives today. Start planning now for the Spring Luncheon and Silent Auction on May 13.

Women’s Breakfast Fellowship (women of all ages) meets every Wednesday from 7:00-8:00 AM at Byerlys. Contact Thelma Boeder 651.489.2604.

Women’s Night Out (women in fellowship) will meet April 3, 6:30 PM for dinner and fellowship at Pei Mei in Maplewood. Contact Wendy Cederholm, 651.482.8592.

Young Adult Ministry (Ages 18-35, singles & married with no children) Lenten Study, Living the Questions, Wednesdays, 7:30 PM in the Chapel. Supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory and skating at the Depot in Minneapolis on March 25–meet at CUMC at 6:00 PM to carpool. Contact Jeff Niblack, 612.378.1579.