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The Church of the Pilgrimage

"a beacon for good in the world"

May 14, 2026

From the Pastor:

Friends,

Today, Thursday, May 14^th, is the Feast of the Ascension. Christians across the globe will celebrate this feast day in worship and over shared meals, feasts. The observance is a celebration of Jesus’ Ascension to God forty days after his resurrection. This is an ancient feast that goes back to at least the 4^th century CE.

In Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christianity, this feast is known in Greek as Analepsis, the “taking up”, and also as the Episozomene, the “salvation from on high”, denoting that by ascending in glory, Jesus completed the work of our redemption. The Ascension is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox liturgical calendar.

In Western Christianity, the Latin terms used for the feast, ascension and, occasionally, ascensa, signify that Jesus was raised up by his own power, and it is from these terms that the holy day gets its name. In the Roman Catholic Church Ascension Day is a Holy Day of Obligation. In the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church in the US is a member, “Holy Thursday” is listed as another name for Ascension Day, and it is a Principal Feast. The Methodist Church observes Ascension Day through worship. The Lutheran Church celebrates the day with a feast.

While we may not gather in worship or around the table today, I invite all of us to be in communion with our siblings in Christ as they celebrate the Feast of the Ascension.

Peace,

Rev. Tim

Proud Parents – Grandparents and Friends

We Are Seeking Names of Those Graduating

High School – Service Program - College – Other Degrees

Send Graduate’s Name, Degree and Institution

from which they are graduating

These will be published

in the Beacon and Sunday Bulletin for

Youth Sunday on June 7

Office needs names by June 1^st

Bible Study

Bible study continues with Rev. Tim next week on

Tuesday, May 19^that 10:30am & 5:30pm.

The passage for this coming Tuesday is:

Matthew 10:24-39

Music Notes

The prelude Sicilienne is a beautiful piece by Malcolm Archer (b. 1952) of Great Britain. It is a gentle composition with a lovely melody. There is a short interlude in the middle before the melody returns with gently flowing accompaniment.

The pipe organ has been used for centuries to imitate thunder or a storm. ‘Storm” pieces were popular in nineteenth century America. Usually in four parts; Pastorale – Shepherds Call – The Tempest – Vesper Hymn, these compositions showed the range of power of the pipe organ. There is even an example of a dedicated pedal for ‘thunder effect’ surviving in an organ from 1866 in Newburyport. This ‘thunder pedal’ can be traced to organs in France in the nineteenth century. Michel Corrette’s (1707-1795) Grand Jeu avec tonnerre shows that this effect was in use in the eighteenth century. The title roughly translates to Full Organ with Thunder. I use the largest pipes played by my feet in tone clusters to achieve the ‘thunder’ effect.

Enjoy!

--Michael Eaton

Portrait

Generous contributions from congregation members have brought us most of the way toward our goal of $1950 for the professional portrait of Rev. Tim. If you would like to assist in this project, please write “Pastor Portrait” in the memo line of your check, and send it to the Office at 8 Town Square or put It in the Sunday offering plate.

Rev. Tim has brought renewed vitality to our church. We want to show his engaging countenance to friends and visitors.

Rick Dower, Moderator

Time & Talent

For the the weeks to come we will share activities from Creation Justice Ministries that will educate and equip Christians to protect, restore, and rightly share God's creation.

Rest and Reflect

“There are no unsacred places. There are only sacred places and desecrated places.” - Wendell Berry

Looking for Assitance

The Communications Committee is looking for a volunteer to coordinate social media for the church. We currently have a FaceBook page, and we want to explore other platforms to expand our social media presence.

If you are interested, please contact Moderator Rick Dower (rickdower@gmail.com).

Important Announcement

School Street Parking and School Street building access

Beginning in early May 2026 and continuing for ten months or so, the first two metered parking spaces on School Street will have a large construction dumpster placed there. This dumpster will be used by the construction crew working on the renovation of the Mayflower Meeting House.

The location of this dumpster will impact handicap parking on School Street. Therefore, persons in our congregation who have mobility issues should plan to drop-off in front of the church to use the oceanside door with ramp.

We will keep you updated on the timeline of how long the dumpster will be located in these parking spaces on School Street.

We’ve created a small allocation of discounted tickets for your community. This provides 15% off gold tickets (limited to 5 per sitting) Please see instructions on how to enter this code below,

Instructions for entering the discount code here:
Click on the ticket link provided > Click on ‘Enter Promo Code’ > Enter discount code WELCOME15 and click ‘Apply Code’ > A ticket tier will appear under each sitting and state ‘PROMO TICKET’ > Add tickets to your basket and enter your details in to purchase these tickets.

Click HERE for Ticket Information

Help Needed

Help is needed for the upcoming Visit by the Wesley Bell Ringers from Salt Lake City, Utah.

We are hosting the arrival of the Wesley Bell Ringers on June 14^th and we will need to provide them with dinner on that day, before their concert that night. Please see Debby Porter after Coffee Hour for the next few weeks to sign up to provide a donation to the Pot Luck dinner. You may also call her at home.

Parking for Newcomers

Reminder that paid parking recommences on April 1

A reminder that on Sundays most of us park on School St., Main St. Extension (3 handicap), Summer St. (4 hours), and in the Market St. and Middle St. lots. Park Plymouth has informally agreed to not start ticketing vehicles near the church until noon on Sundays. One can get parking permits from Park Plymouth at 4 North Street; ph. 508.747.5929; www.parkplymouth.com. If you have questions, please speak with Mike Eaton.

Church Office Hours

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

8:30am - 4:00pm

Wednesday 10:00am - 5:30pm

508-746-3026

office@8townsquare.org

On The Calendar

May 17: Worship, 10:00am
May 18: Monday Meals (last event until September)
Upper Room, 7:30pm
May 19: Bible Study 10:30am & 5:30pm (last meeting until September)
Deacons, 7:00pm
May 20: Choir Rehearsal, 7:00pm
May 21: Trustees, 7:00pm
May 23: Candle Light Concerts, 6:00pm & 9:00pm