• Sunday, March 24 at 10:00 am – Palm Sunday service
• Tuesday, March 26 at 7:00 pm – ICMEP The Palestinian Way of the Cross
• Wednesday, March 27 at 5:15 pm – Final Lenten Book Study
• Thursday, March 28 at 6:00 pm – Maundy Thursday supper and service with foot washing and communion
• Friday, March 29 from 7:00 am – 6:45pm – Good Friday prayer vigil (participants pray from home)
• Friday, March 29 at 7:00 pm – Good Friday Tenebrae service
• Sunday, March 31 at 7:30 am – Easter Sunrise service, followed by Easter breakfast. To join via Zoom, click this link. The passcode to join is 878745.
• Sunday, March 31 at 10:00 am – Easter Celebration service

Please see below for the full schedule of adult chapel class sessions from now until Easter. Chapel class begins at 9:00 am every Sunday, in person and via Zoom, and is open to all adults. The Zoom passcode is 063060. Click the link below to join on Sunday morning.

Sunday, March 24 – Celtic Christianity – Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

Back by popular demand, Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals continues her series on Celtic Christianity during the season of Lent.

Easter Sunday, March 31 – No Chapel Class

As always, we know that Plymouth is full of many talented and knowledgeable folks. If you have a topic you would like to teach in Chapel Class, please contact Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals, or a member of the Christian Education board.

Friendly reminder that E&M will host Tapping Into Faith at Mad Anthony’s on Monday, March 25 at 7:00 pm. Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals will be joining us as the special guest facilitator! It’s a wonderful chance to get to know fellow Plymouth folks a little better and sometimes welcome folks from the community into fellowship. Loosely guided conversation and story-sharing, good food & drink, and good people – what more could you want?!

We will provide appetizers for all to share, and you are welcome to buy whatever meal or beverage you’d like. Come on over!

Indiana Center for Middle East Peace and Plymouth Church invite you to join us for The Palestinian Way of the Cross on Tuesday, March 26 at 7:00 pm in the Chapel.

The Way of the Cross is a centuries-old devotion to focus the Christian’s journey with Christ on his way to the Cross. In the Old City of Jerusalem, pilgrims follow the Via Dolorosa, the winding route of 14 stations, beginning at the Garden of Gethsemane and ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Michael Spath (Indiana Center for Middle East Peace), Sara Ofner-Seals (Plymouth Congregational Church), and others will lead us on a “Palestinian Way of the Cross” as a means of personal spiritual reflection, of solidarity with the people of Palestine in their suffering and in their steadfastness and resilience, and in their – and our – resistance to the powers of Empire in Israel and in the US.

We will journey with our Palestinian friends as they carry their crosses – Checkpoints, Settlers, Night Raids and Child Torture, Refugees, the Apartheid Wall, and more.

There will be an option to join the service by Zoom. Click the button below to attend this event virtually.

Regular Wednesday Night Live programming will not meet on Wednesday, March 27 in observance of Holy Week. However, Rev. Timothy's Lenten Book Study will meet at 5:15 pm. The Lenten Book Study with Rev. Timothy can be attended in person or via Zoom using the link below. The passcode to join via Zoom is 648589. Wednesday Night Live programming will resume Wednesday, April 3.

Our Lenten Book Study will have its final session this Wednesday, March 27 at 5:15 pm. We will be discussing Chapter 8: Sunday of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan’s 2007 book The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem. The passcode to join via Zoom is 648589.

Plymouth members are once again invited to participate in an all-day prayer vigil from their homes on Good Friday. Sign up for one or more 15-minute slots using the link below, and you will receive further instructions and prayer resources via email. Please consider joining your fellow church members in prayer on this sacred day.

Rev. Murphy’s sabbatical will begin shortly, running from April 1 through June 30. During this time of rest and rejuvenation, Rev. Ofner-Seals will be serving as the acting Senior Pastor. Rev. Murphy will be out of contact during the sabbatical, so if you need to talk to him before his return in July, now is the time to reach out!

Starting Sunday, April 14, Rev. Sara and Rev. January will be co-leading a chapel class series on the book Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey. The book casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted. Our worth does not reside in how much we produce, especially not for a system that exploits and dehumanizes us. Rest, in its simplest form, becomes an act of resistance and a reclaiming of power because it asserts our most basic humanity. Rest Is Resistance is a call to action, a battle cry, a field guide, and a manifesto for all of us who are sleep deprived, searching for justice, and longing to be liberated from the oppressive grip of Grind Culture. Buy a copy on Amazon, or wherever you buy your books, and plan to join us on April 14 at 9:00 am, in person or on Zoom!

It’s time to order Easter flowers! Each year, we offer the opportunity to dedicate flowers on Easter Sunday. You can pick between Easter lilies or daffodils (or feel free to order both). Lilies are $10 each and daffodils are also $10 each.

To order, print off the order form at the button below or pick one up from the receptionist's office or Folsom Room, and return it no later than Monday, March 25. We encourage you to take your flowers with you following worship on Easter Sunday.

Just Neighbors has asked if Plymouth would consider hosting homeless families in the winter when temperatures drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The City of Fort Wayne and Just Neighbors, as well as a few other organizations, work with local shelters and a few local churches to house homeless people in the coldest weather. This past winter, there were quite a few more homeless families than in past years which has put a strain on the shelters.

The EC is forming a task force to determine whether the Plymouth Church Congregation would be supportive of occasionally sheltering families between 7:00 pm and 7:00 am on the coldest winter nights. The Task Force’s first job is to identify concerns such as safety, liability, level of interest and other factors, before the recommendation is made to the Executive Council. The Executive Council will then present the Task Force’s findings to the congregation. The congregation ultimately will have the decision to whether Plymouth would occasionally house families in the winter when the other shelters are full.

A link to a very brief survey is linked at the button below for each congregant to express their level of support for housing families in cold weather. Please complete the survey by Wednesday, March 27. Thank you for your consideration.

The Property Board needs volunteers to pick up trash and pull weeds around the church, parking lot, and the 527 W. Berry property west of the church. Questions? Call or text Gary Kerr at (260) 341-2943 or email [email protected] to find out how you can help!

Completed applications for the Richard C. Hess Peace Studies Scholarship are due in the church office by April 15:

• The Richard C. Hess Peace Studies Scholarship provides a $1,000 tuition and fees scholarship for a college student majoring in peace studies or a related program.

Contact Linda Balthaser at [email protected] with your name, email address, 

and the name of the college/university in which will be enrolled in the 2024 fall semester.

Masks are optional in worship and church programming. If you are feeling under the weather or prefer to wear a mask around others, it is an ongoing option. A high-quality mask provides good protection against infection even if others around you are not wearing one. We will continue to offer livestreamed and recorded worship services for anyone unable to attend services in person.

Plymouth Church is looking for volunteers to cover the 1:00 pm Staff Meetings on Tuesdays. If you would like to assist, please sign up with Jake in the office or sign up by clicking the button below.

The following links can be found on our Linktree:

• 2024 Stewardship Campaign Website
• Study Connection Volunteer Sign Up
• Plymouth Directory Login
• Chancel Flower Dedication Sign Up Form
• Donate
• Past Chapel Class Series
• Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Sign Up
• Plymouth Google Calendar
• Plymouth's Social Media