Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter Day Schedule

March 20, Palm Sunday - The Liturgy of Palms and the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ Services of the Holy Eucharist, 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Folding Palms - Immediately following Children's Chapel at 9:30 a.m. Learn how to fold a palm into a cross and keep it until next year.

March 23, Wednesday - Holy Eucharist in the Chapel at 10 a.m.

March 24, Maundy Thursday - Holy Eucharist in the Chapel at 10 a.m. A Seder Supper for the congregation in the Parish Hall at 6:30 p.m.

March 25, Good Friday - Good Friday Service at Noon

March 26, Saturday - Easter Egg Hunt at Toddsbury at 3 p.m.
Toddsbury is east of Ware Church off Route 14. Turn onto Toddsbury Lane and go to the road's end. Activities include prizes, an Easter Bonnet Parade and a special guest!

March 27, Easter Day - Festive Easter Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Flowering of the Cross, 9:30 a.m. Please bring lots of flowers from your garden. The Sunday School will decorate the cross.
Lenten Mite Box Offering - Have you been filling your mite boxes with coins and folding money? Bring them to church to be included in the Easter offering. This year the Mite Box offering will be sent to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund to help the tsunami victims.

PASSOVER MEAL

Ware Church is hosting a Passover Fellowship Meal, Thursday, March 24th at 6:30 p.m. in the Parish House. The purpose of this event is to explore the Passover observance of our Jewish forefathers and our Lord, Jesus the Christ and his disciples, and discover in it the roots of our own Holy Communion. Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper and the institution of Holy Eucharist during a Passover meal. This is the traditional time for holding a Christian Passover Fellowship or Seder. The celebration tells the story of God's people through tradition, liturgy and the breaking of bread.

Everyone is invited to contribute to the community meal. Suggested items are cheeses, fruits, vegetables, lamb or other meats, eggs, salad, nuts and lentils. Foods traditionally excluded in a Passover meal are pork, leavened bread, shellfish and meat dishes cooked with dairy products. Being Lent, dessert will not be served. Everyone is welcome, especially children and guests.

SHRINE MONT

The Diocese of Virginia offers wonderful summer camp programs at Shrine Mmont - the diocesan conference center in Orkney Springs just east of West Virginia and north of Harrisonburg. There are camp sessions for soccer, the arts, music and drama, and regular summer camp sessions. The camps fill up quickly, but there should still be some openings. Apply by calling 1-800-DIOCESE, accessing the web site at http://camps.thediocese.net or picking up a brochure with an application in the church office.

Apologies to those of you who did not receive your January Grapevine on time. It was mailed on December 24th. Hopefully, this will not happen again. Please do inform the church office when you don't receive your Grapevine. Your report is the only way the office knows about the lag in delivery.

SUNDAY MORNING LENTEN SERIES CONTINUES

Dr. Edward L. Long, Jr. Contiues with his series of discussions titled Dealing with Terrorism. The meetings are in the Parish Hall at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays-March 6th and March 13th.

Sunday, March 6th
Dangers and Pitfalls in Countering Terrorism
Efforts to combat terrorism can prompt actions that threaten civil liberties and may even encourage sadism. How can these dangers be avoided?

Sunday, March 13th
Christian Resources
What foundational Christian understandings can help us to deal with terrorism most constructively?

The themes and ideas in this series are treated at greater length and in a somewhat different configuration in Dr. Long's book Facing Terrorism: Responding as Christians.

STEWARDSHIP CONFERENCE

Lee Brown, Nancy James and Sara Delo attended the 26th Annual Diocesan Stewardship Conference in Fredericksburg at Trinity Church on Saturday, February 19th. This conference offered Stewardship 101 and three other workshops-Planning Parish Stewardship Programs, Fall Commitment Programs, and Time and Talent Programs. They were able to attend 3 of the 4 programs offered as well as hear about the importance of teaching our children about stewardship. Throughout the coming months, they plan to share with you some of what they learned about stewardship-and it is not ALL about our annual tithing program!!!

COFFEE HOUR

Please sign up to host Coffee Hour after the late service. Sundays in April and May are open.

PARISH PLANNING DAY ARRANGEMENTS COMPLETE FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 12TH

The Steering Committee for the Planning Day has been preparing since last Fall for an exciting goal setting for Ware Church. Please plan to attend this important event. Presentations have been developed by Monty Haskell, Molly Hoffman, Marv Hohenberger, Mike Jenkins, Robert Johnson, Louisa Jones, Diane Joyce, Lew Lawrence, Steve Parker, Rip Radcliffe, Margie Teagle, Robert Teagle and Pat Zima on topics ranging from specific missional objectives, visitation, competent programs, effective groups, inspiring worship to a host opportunities for leadership and the care of the church and grounds. Beginning at 9 a.m. the presentations will introduce the day with parishioners working of teams of two to articulate needs and then develop goals and objectives. Box lunches will be available for everyone. The theme of the day is "Plan less to achieve more." Our work will be complete by mid-afternoon. The Vestry has scheduled its annual retreat just after the planning day so that the selected goals might be part of its work this year. Join us for an exciting day on the 12th!

FROM THE RECTOR

Dear Parishioners,

We enter the holiest part of the Christian year with a sense of urgency that has been building since the events of 9/11. On that dreadful day our world was altered to the point that things that were once far off are now ever closer to us. It has changed so much of how we live our lives.

Dr. Ed Long is leading this year's Lenten series on Terrorism which is the subject of his recent book, Facing Terrorism. It's an excellent set of lectures and discussion about a very real aspect of our lives.

This Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter Day remind us that it is our Lord who came into the world to defeat the forces of sin and evil through his death on the cross and to give us the gift of everlasting life.

We live in a world where there is increased fear and terror and where real events can hurt us. Know that in the face of these worries and events that God loves and cares for us! The real power of the Easter message is that our Lord is victorious over sin and death.

May the good news of Easter be part of you life and the lives of everyone.

Faithfully yours,
Pater Worthington

VESTRY NEWS

The Vestry of Ware Church will meet Tuesday, March 1st at 7:00 p.m. All meetings are open to the congregation. The meeting minutes and monthly financial report are posted on the Parish Hall bulletin board. Should you have questions, please telephone or speak to any Vestry member.

PRAYER GROUP MEETS March 9th

The Ware Church Prayer Group will gather for fellowship, prayer and the Holy Eucharist at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 9th in the Parish House Chapel. The group prays for friends and members of Ware. For prayer requests, please call Jane Van Leeuwen at 693-3500, Bruce Forsberg at 776-7734 or Anne Clark at 693-4026.

In addition to offering prayer for the joys and concerns of the church, the Prayer Chain begins with less formal celebrations of the Holy Eucharist with various members writing prayers more suitable for the group's worship. New members are always welcome to join this important work of the church.

FOOD PANTRY INGATHERING

The cold weather has put extra demands on the Food Pantry at the Salvation Army. Folks are using their limited resources for high heating costs. Canned and boxed food items, paper products, etc. are needed. Bring your gifts March 6th.

MUSICAL NOTES

Musicians Celebrate Easter

The Senior and Handbell Choirs will provide festive music for both Easter Sunday services. The Junior Choir will be singing at the 10:30 service. Between the services, the musicians will gather in the kitchen of the Parish House for an informal "covered dish" breakfast.

Encore Performance

The Senior Choir serenaded Peter Worthington at his 20th anniversary celebration in January with "Peter's Train Song", written by Dee Johnston and Nancy and Ron James. By popular request they will perform it again at the Talent Show April 10th. If you missed it, or simply can't wait to hear it again, be sure to come to the Talent Show!

Tuneful Tuesdays - The Senior Choir Monday Night Vocals will meet for Tuneful Tuesdays at Dee Johnston's home on March 8th and 15th at 7:00 p.m. They will work diligently on their Easter music.

EPISCOPAL YOUTH

The Ware Episcopal Youth Committee, open to all members, 7th - 12th grades, will meet in the Youth Room on Sunday, March 13th at 9:30 a.m. The Youth are going on their annual ski trip on March 6th and 7th.

APRIL GRAPEVINE DEADLINE - Monday, March 14th

EPISCOPAL CHURCH WOMEN (ECW) NEWS

The ECW's Book Circle will meet on Thursday, March 3rd at noon at the home of Anne Clark, 6632 Baiae Lane, Schley. The book the group has chosend for March is The Devil in White City, a history of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Please call Anne at 693-4026 if you plan to come.

Nell Jones took supper to the Gloucester-Mathews Free Clinic volunteers in February. A volunteer is needed to take supper to the Clinic workers on Tuesday, April 12th. Please call Lenore Munger at 694-5415 to offer to cook a meal for these dedicated workers.

VASES NEEDED

Have you been the recipient of flowers from the altar at Ware Church recently? If so, would you please return the white vase that held the flowers to the church office so that it may be used again? Thanks.

EFM GIFT TO LAUREL SHELTER

On Sunday, February 6th, our Education for Ministry (EFM) group presented Sherie Stone, the Laurel Shelter director with 10 quilts made at the first Quilt Day for Laurel's Kids. Quilt Day was an all day workshop held at Ware Church for the express purpose of making quilts for the children at the shelter on St. Valentine's Day. Expert quilter and Ware member Maryethel Miller was on hand to lend her expertise. She also appliquéd the heart squares that were included on each of the quilts. The other volunteer quilters were Sylvia Appel, Pat Darby, Wendy Darby, Jeanne Hubbard, Tracy Lanum, Grace Long, Linda Ours and Louisa Jones. Special thanks are due to Anne Clark and Love 2 Quilt for the generous donations of fabric for the project.

The Laurel Shelter provides refuge and counseling for women and children who become victims of domestic violence on the Middle Peninsula. Often when a child comes to the Laurel Shelter, they have had to leave behind toys and other familiar comforts. Our EFM group hopes to provide relief by giving these children something that they can keep that will comfort as well. One of the traditions surrounding St. Valentine includes a story of the saint healing the jailer's daughter of blindness. EFM hopes that these quilts will be part of the healing process as these children start their new lives.

SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPER

The Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper was a wonderful success. Seventy parishioners enjoyed pancakes, baked apples, sausage and fellowship. Boy Scout Troup 111 will receive a total donation of $750 as a result. Thank you to all who helped to set up, cook, and clean up. We hope to see you next year.

LONG RANGE PLANNING

The Long Range Planning Group will meet on Thursday, March 3rd at 7:30 p.m. in the Parish House.

CHILI AND POTATO BAR WARE TALENT SHOW

Change the date on your calendars. The Chili and Potato Bar and Ware Talent Show date has been changed to Sunday, April 10th after the late service. Polish up your talent!

OFFICE CLOSED GOOD FRIDAY

The office will be closed on Good Friday, March 25th.