Sunday Bulletin

Calendar of Events

Monday, 4/13           Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Tuesday, 4/14            7:30 AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, 4/15    Noon AA meeting in Fellowship Hall
                                  5:30 Choir Rehearsal in Organ Loft
Thursday, 4/16 3:15 Cherub Choir
                                    4:00 Youth Choir
7:00 “Just Mercy”  Stowe Cinema

Happy Birthday this week to:
Matthew Blauvelt and Sandy Godin on 4/27
Andrew Bennett, Sara Espey and Lee E. Helmken on 4/28
Sara Percy on 4/30
Skeeter Austin, Annamay Brown, Dillan Cobaugh, Robert Johnson, Lisa Nelson, and Louisa Percy on 5/1

Happy Anniversary this week to:
Mitch and Renee Mitchell on 4/30

Announcements

The ushers today are Christine DeRienzo and David Roy. Thank you for helping today.

Pledging 2026

We are very close to our goal of $325,000. It is not an unreasonable goal. If we succeed in reaching it, we can fulfill our plans to continue supporting Christian Education for our youth and maintaining our beautiful church and offering a fair workplace environment for our staff. 

The amount you pledge is less important than the fact that you pledge!  It is a way of showing your appreciation and support for the gift of this church, our pastor and the opportunity to pray and find peace with our church neighbors.  Without hesitation we pay a toll to drive on a highway or to cross a bridge. We buy a mocha latte without batting an eye. Showing our support and appreciation for Stowe Community Church is a gift we give and a gift we receive. Nancy Money, Stewardship Chair.

Stewardship Pledge Tokens

Many members and friends of Stowe Community Church faithfully support our ministry through pledged gifts that are given online, by check, or in other ways during the week. When the offering plate is passed during worship, some have shared that they feel uncomfortable having nothing to place in the plate. Thanks to a thoughtful idea from Roger Keller, we are now offering SCC Pledge Tokens, available on the Welcome Table in the Narthex. If you give through a pledge, you are invited to take a token at the beginning of the service and place it in the offering plate as a symbol of your ongoing support and participation in our shared ministry.

Movie Screening at Stowe Cinema- Just Mercy

Join our interfaith partners and us on April 30th at 7:00 PM at Stowe Cinema for a special screening of Just Mercy, based on the powerful book by Bryan Stevenson. This inspiring film explores themes of justice, mercy, and the dignity of every human life, inviting thoughtful reflection and conversation. Admission is free, but registration is required on our website.

Please join the Stowe Community Church GREEN TEAM on Saturday, May 2nd 2026 for Vermont Green Up Day! This has been a Vermont tradition since 1970, and will mark our 3rd annual SCC Green Team volunteer effort! 

WHAT: GREEN UP DAY clean up effort

WHERE: meet in front of Stowe Community Church.

WHEN: 1st Sat of May- Saturday May 2nd, 2026 at 9:00.

HOW: Dress comfortably and for whatever Vermont spring weather might be thrown at us that day. Bring gloves to protect your hands. Green up day bags for trash collection will be provided.

QUESTIONS: contact Laura Drenen for further information: ldrenen@gmail.com/ 617-470-3914.

We will be receiving new members on Sunday, May 10, 2026 during our 9:30 worship service.  If you are interested about being a new member, speak with Dan. 

SCC Men’s Group Outdoor Adventure  May 14, 2026 9:00 am

Cottonbrook Road hike – 4 – 5 miles. Easy.  Very pretty hike up (and back down) Cottonbrook Road. Good early-season walk that avoids snow and mud that can limit hikes at higher elevations. Meet at the small parking area near the closed gate on Cottonbrook Rd.

Save the Dates:
Vermont Green Up Day – May 2
New Members Reception – May 10
Men’s Group Outdoor Adventure May 14, 9:00 am
Youth Outing – Biking & Pizza – May 30th 11-1
Bible Camp – August 17-21, 2026 9am to noon “Rainforest Falls – exploring the nature of God”

If you, or someone you know, would like prayers for comfort or healing, the members of the Prayer Team are ready to support you. Please fill out the prayer request form in the pew and put it in the offering plate or hand it to an usher to deliver to the office. 

Please do not forget our neighbors in need by donating food for the Lamoille Community Food Share. Non-perishable items can be put in our two bins, one in the Narthex and one in the hall downstairs. Thank you.

Musical Notes by Karen Miller

‍ Prelude:  The fourth Sunday in Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday.  Much of today's music is centered around that theme.  Luxembourg monk Dom Paul Benoit (1893-1979) included in his collection Pieces d'Orgue a piece called "Le Bon Pasteur" (The Good Shepherd) and dedicated it to his friend R.P. Pierre Maurice Benoit, professor at the Bible school in Jerusalem.  The work has a very lyrical melody line on a solo stop.  A middle interlude on flute stops occurs before the solo returns, this time in G Major, rather than G Minor.  It soon returns to G Minor before ending very quietly.

‍ Anthem:  Antonin Leopold Dvorak (1841-1904) as a young student trained as an organist at the Prague Organ School.  He wrote a few pieces for organ and performed two of them at his final examination along with works by J.S. Bach.  And then he turned his musical gifts elsewhere.  He wrote operas, symphonies, orchestral works, pieces for soloists and orchestra, chamber music, choral works, songs, piano pieces, and piano duets.  His "Biblical Songs" is a group of 10 settings for voice and piano based on the psalms and composed in 1874.  In the mid 20th century Joseph Clokey arranged and adapted Dvorak's piece based on "Psalm 23" for choral singing.  The choir presents this piece as their anthem.

‍ Offertory:  Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) initially taught himself music but then entered the Leipzig Conservatory.  He became director of the Conservatory in 1919, succeeding Max Reger.  He wrote a lengthy list of compositions for piano, strings, harmonium, chamber groups, and the organ.  Unfortunately, his writing was in the later romantic style and musical interest soon turned to Impressionism.  His "Idyl" is an early work from a collection of six pieces.  The term "idyll" in literature refers to the description of a happy rural life.  Applied to music it suggests a peaceful pastoral mood.

‍ Postlude:  "Gelobt sei Gott" is a chorale tune that was written by Melchior Vulpius.  The melody has been paired with numerous texts in hymnals over time.  In some it is an Easter hymn (Ye Sons and Daughters of the King).  In the Chalice Hymnal it is the music to Hymn No. 423, a communion hymn.  In Canadian composer Healey Willan's piece, the forte, multi maestoso indications point toward an Easter interpretation.  The tune is heard phrase by phrase in the tenor line on a solo stop.