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Out of an abundance of caution and following Gov. Ned Lamont's injunction to
"Stay Safe. Stay at Home."
The Prince of Peace building
is closed for the foreseeable future (but not the people)
.
In the meantime, we are
being the "church" (God's people) in the world.
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Blanket Sunday Opportunities:
Here’s what your gift today could mean in 2020:
- $50 Gives blankets to an entire family
- $250 Stocks shelves in a shelter with blankets before wintry lows hit
- No "at worship" collection this year but you can make an online donation - complete with a receipt for your records at cwsblankets.org/donate
Your gift supports two types of CWS Blankets:
HEAVYWEIGHT Woolen blankets are great for frigid temperatures. They hold heat extremely well, they’re water resistant, and they don’t easily catch fire so people can use them while warming up by a heat source.
LIGHTWEIGHT Appropriate for warmer climates, these fleece blankets keep families covered without adding bulk if they have to move around a lot. Fleece is water repellant, durable,warm and soft.
Families also share that they use blankets:
• As insulated padding if they have to sleep on hard, cold surfaces
• As room dividers if they’re staying in shelters and need a moment of privacy
• As bags to carry supplies if they must move from place to place
Thank you for embracing your neighbors in many different ways through your gift today!
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Blessing of Quilts
and Baby Blankets
We will be blessing the quilts made by the Naomi Circle and the baby blankets made by the women of P.O.P. that are sent to the ELCA Global Missions during our virtual worship on Sunday, May 10
th
(Mother's Day).
If you have any completed please take them to church. There will be a box outside the church where you can leave them. If you have a key to the church, you can leave them inside on the bench in the Narthex. Please deliver them no later than
Friday, May 8
th
.
If you are unable to deliver...contact Pastor Paul (609-578-7921) and he will pick them up.
Questions:
Contact - Marci Sharp
(203-775-4657) or
Karen Mueller
(203- 743-6750).
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DAILY BREAD
FOOD PANTRY IS SEEKING DONATIONS
Please consider a food or monetary donation to the DAILY BREAD FOOD PANTRY during this pandemic.
Your food-insecure neighbors will benefit from your donations of:
- Black beans or any kind of canned or bagged beans
- Rice in 1,2 or 3 lb. bags
- Pasta - any kind
- Cereal - Cheerios, Corn Flakes. Rice Krispies (no sweet cereals)
- Tomato sauce in cans
- Tuna
- Chicken in cans
- Peanut butter
- Pork & beans or meals in cans
- Canned vegetables (especially corn)
Drop off your food items or checks (payable to DAILY BREAD FOOD PANTRY) to the church's freshly painted front door anytime between now and Tuesday morning.
Your neighbors thank you.
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Meal Train Plus
The Danbury High School baseball team wanted to help take care of those on the front lines of the coronavirus, not only by social distancing and staying home but also by coming together to both support our local restaurants, doctors, nurses and other personnel at Danbury Hospital.
They are working hard to make sure everyone can get through these trying times and what better way to help them accomplish that then to keep their energy up, and most importantly - boost morale. By ordering food (any cuisine) we'll help local restaurants' bottom line. Restaurants will prepare the food and drop it off at the hospital - and we'll help fund this important task!
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Update on Summer 2020 VBS
There will be no Brookfield Ecumenical Vacation Bible School this year due to the COVID19 virus.
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Christ in Our Home
is available for pick up.
Please pick up your copy of this devotion by driving to the church building and walking up to the front door. Please wear gloves and keep 6 feet away from any others you may find there.
Pastor Lutz
is available
to drop Christ in our Home devotion or the Gather Magazine to your home per your request.
You may reach him at 609.578.7921 or
by email or by Facebook.
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Offering,Tithes and
Special Donations
Please help us stay current with our financial obligations
during this difficult time.
We say "Thank you" to all who have mailed in their offerings.
We are now able to offer online giving here.
Now you can give a one time gift or a reoccurring gift through a checking account or a debit/credit card.
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Graduation?
Have a soon-to-be graduate in your family?
Consider the following resource as a way to help make it even more memorable.
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HOW TO BE A STEWARD IN TODAY'S ECONOMY:
MONEY FROM THE GOVERNMENT
I want to give you something to consider. It is looking as many citizens will receive a check from the government sometime in the near future. Like with all of your income, I invite you to join with me in considering a tithe.
A tithe is the giving of a percentage (typically 10%) of salary, financial gifts, interest, winnings or other income to others out of Christian concern. Jesus taught that "tithing must be done in conjunction with a deep concern for justice, mercy and faithfulness" (Matthew 23:23).
I invite you to consider any payment from our government as subject to tithing. There are many worthy organizations, small businesses, and efforts that would benefit from your generosity. Supporting “Brookfield Recovers”, the Dorothy Day House, your favorite local business, restaurant, coffee house, or favorite charity, to name a few. (See the list of local open business below).
To be clear, this is not a request to send money to Prince of Peace. This is an invitation to see this government payment as an opportunity to practice tithing. I am encouraging you to continue to be the church in the world by helping others in need with an act of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
Let me know where your tithe goes. I will pray for the business.
Easter Blessings,
Pastor Paul Lutz
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VIRTUAL WORSHIP
Please join us whenever convenient for your household for virtual worship. Each Sunday service is posted by 8 a.m. on our website. The abbreviated virtual worship experience including hymns you can sing along with, a gospel story worth telling, a sermon that speaks to our current reality, prayers for the community and world and community announcements about what's happening at PoP. Check your email for the link or go our website (
http://princeofpeacebrookfield.org/
) and click on the date of the service you would like to experience.
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Masks and Scrub Caps
Our sewers and helpers continue to be very productive. Monica Walsh brought 130 scrub caps to the 8
th
and 12
th
floor staff of Danbury Hospital.
We also brought cloth masks to Food Banks of Brookfield and Bethel. Mary Weisensee will bring masks to Daily Bread Food Pantry. We also dropped off masks at Glen Hill, Filosa and Hancock Hall in Danbury. The residents are required to wear masks when out of their rooms. We distributed over 70 masks on Tuesday.
As the stay-at-home rules relax, all will be required to wear masks when interacting with others so the need for masks continues.
We have not yet reached the goal of the flat curve for 14 days so please STAY HOME and STAY SAFE. Sew masks and scrub caps if you can. It’s a great way to contribute to the containment of Covid-19.
Food and Distribution
In the processes of assessing community needs, it became clear that more people are in need of food. We assume that if they need food, they also need masks to keep healthy.
Donations of food are very low and most of the food comes from the Connecticut Food Bank.
Would you send some food down to the Daily Bread with Mary on Tuesday morning?
Non-perishable, nutritious food is so important. Leave it at church and we’ll help Mary. Most of the food pantry volunteers are no longer able to deal with exposure to the general public because of Covid-19. Would you be willing to help distribute the food during this time? Please consider these desperate needs. Adults and children are hungry. They find themselves without food, waiting for the unemployment or the stimulus check to arrive or maybe that money has been spent.
Hungry adults and children find life difficult and can’t function.
Please call Debbie Landsberg, the contact person at St James Church in Danbury at
203-748-3561 Ext 15.
Peace,
Nan Carlson
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Faith Formation
at Home
Parents of Sunday School children, we are supplying several options for faith formation at home. Download the Taking Faith Home insert from our website for daily family prayers, rituals and traditions. In addition there is on the web page Sunday School readings, questions, and activities that correspond to the bible story presented in the worship clip.
Parents of Confirmands, we have moved to a Zoom class every Tuesday. Let me know if you have any questions
Adult learners, I would like to also create an Adult Faith Formation blog to continue our learning. How many would be interested in such an experience? We could also hold the Women's Bible Study online with Zoom. Ladies, are you interested?
As a friend of mine said recently, .... it is also a time to recall that our God is an abundant, enduring and fiercely caring God who responds to our prayers by reminding us we are all ministers capable of serving our neighbors and the common good at ANY time.
Time in worship and study are perhaps more needed than ever before.
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New Way to be
the Church
So, what ideas do you have for new ways to be the church at a time like this? Here are some thoughts that may trigger some ideas for you.
- Take care of yourself. Read. Try to relax. I’ve rekindled a new music listening habit that had gone away because of a busy life. Restoring the practice has been such a gift. Exercise 30 minutes a day if you can. Taking a walk works.
- Reach out to others in new ways. Social distancing does not have to mean social absence. Try a Zoom meeting. Stay in touch with PoP friends by cell phone, email or by writing a compassionate note.
- Renew or energize family relationships and relationships with other friends with whom you’ve lost touch. You may have “forced” free time now to build on relationships that have lagged.
- Check on your neighbors. You can still knock on a door and give the gift of a smile, showing that you care. (That would be a group of less than 10, right?)
- Have a grudge against someone? No time like the present to mend fences.
- Say thanks to a doctor or nurse or EMT volunteer you know who may be having a tough time right now.
- Keep your offerings to the church going. Thanks to you, the ministry of PoP continues in the hardest of times. Remember PoP, its pastor and faithful staff and leaders in your prayers
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Let us Pray
O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where
i
mpossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams. All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
(Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Additional Prayers, pg. 72-87)
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“Brookfield Recovers”
is a special fund created to assist residents impacted by the Covid19 emergency. Brookfield is an extremely generous town, so it’s not surprising that we’ve been overwhelmed with inquiries from residents about “how can we help?” This is how you can help Brookfield residents. Donations will be administered by the town’s Department of Social Services with 100% of all contributions directly benefiting residents in need.
Funds will be used to purchase items to resupply our food pantry and to assist clients impacted with basic needs to help them stay in their homes. Your gift will have a measurable and immediate impact on friends and neighbors. Please consider a donation to Brookfield Recovers.
All donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
You may send a donation via check, payable to:
Town of Brookfield
(note Brookfield Recovers on the memo line)
Brookfield Social Services
100 Pocono Road
Brookfield CT 06804
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How to Reach
the Pastor
And as always, Pastor Lutz is easily accessible. You can email him (poppastorpaul@ sbcglobal.net) call him on his cell (609.578.7921) or post on his Facebook page (
https://www.facebook.com/plutznj
). Although there will be no regular office hours, the church phone is checked every couple of days for messages.
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