Minister's Corner

“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 

As part of our 275th Anniversary commemorations, several programs this past month raised awareness about the often-ignored histories and landmarks in our immediate environs. The theme of these programs was “the ground upon which we stand.” Each speaker focused on those who were on this land long before us and those who were made to toil the land as enslaved persons. Knowing more about this history changes the way we think about who we are and how we think about our legacy.

Professor Charlotte Carrington-Farmer of Roger Williams University shifted our thinking in the message she gave the last Sunday in February. First, she revealed that Roger Williams was an enslaver of Indigenous People. This is in contrast to his advocacy for their language and their land rights. Next, she shared research she did in eighteenth century newspapers from Tiverton that opened our eyes to ads/notices by white citizens trying to recapture their enslaved laborers who had sought freedom.

We had to rethink the story of one of the icons of Rhode Island history and the place of enslavement in the Rhode Island story!

Jesus was all about shifting the paradigm of his times. He frustrated to no end the civil and religious authorities in Galilee and specifically in Jerusalem when they tested him with questions about the Torah and Jewish law. They saw their world narrowly defined by these texts and practices. While deeply rooted in Judaism, Jesus’s reference point was vastly different from so many around him. His reference was God’s love for all people. Sounds simple, but it is amazing how love is resisted.

Easter is meant to alter, to challenge, our understanding of God’s love for us. The events of Holy Week, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday are meant to transform our minds and hearts, to shock us out of a spiritual complacency, to not accept things on face value. Jesus’s life is meant to take hold of us in ways that are new and unexpected. We only have to be open to the love deeply rooted in those events and believe!

- Rev. Nancy Hamlin Soukup, Interim Minister

April Worship Themes

During April, we make the transition from Lent to Easter. We are planning services that we hope will mirror this shift between seasons through word, music, and prayer.

On Sunday, April 3, Communion Sunday, we completed the Lenten series on Rest, Reflect, Refill, and Renew with the theme “Renew.” Renewal is both exciting and anxiety-producing. Yet, what keeps us from moving beyond anxiety to appreciate fully the new places and spaces we might inhabit? How might we embrace renewal as a means to enrich and inspire our spiritual life as individuals and as a community?

On Palm Sunday, April 10, we journey with Jesus through the gates of Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. His triumphal procession will be overshadowed by forces of betrayal and conspiracy leading to Good Friday. Our world today is equally challenged by those who seek power and wealth. The peace of nations, civil liberties, expressions of love and acceptance, and the health and well-being for all are continually challenged by those who yearn for power over others. How do we address these forces in the world today?

Good Friday, 12:00-3:00 pm, will be a time for prayer, meditation, and silent reflection led by Rev. Nancy Soukup. The church will be open for any who wish to join for any part of those three hours or all of it.

On Easter Sunday, April 17, we will celebrate Easter with Communion. We arrive at the moment of light and love when Jesus is unbound by death. It is also a time to recall our own journeys to Easter especially after two years of a pandemic. How have we unbound ourselves from the same constraint Jesus experienced? How have we learned to “love more than the law allows”—to love beyond what a world driven by power will allow us to do?

Holy Humor Sunday, April 24, which has been an Amicable tradition, returns for  the last Sunday in April. Get your jokes ready (keep them appropriate for the sanctuary), get ready for a hymn sing at the beginning of the service, and get ready to wear something funny and outrageous. This is a time to join in the greatest form of human expression—laughter.

Ukraine Support

UCC Ukraine Appeal

On Sunday, March 27, Amicable church members joined with Little Compton Congregational Church and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in a Vigil for Ukraine on the Little Compton Commons. The event was a moving expression of how we can show support within our own community for the Ukrainian people during this disastrous humanitarian emergency.

There are other ways you can show offer assistance. The United Church of Christ (UCC) has formed a UCC Ukrainian Emergency Appeal, which is a partnership with ACT Alliance and the Reformed Church of Hungary (RCH). The appeal seeks to provide shelter, food, and other care to war refugees and internally displaced people. It also will help refugees and asylum seekers from African, Middle Eastern, and other countries who had sought refuge in Ukraine and now are twice displaced, as well as other citizens of more than 125 countries living in Ukraine. You can donate directly through the UCC’s website page.

More information about the UCC’s efforts during this humanitarian crisis (global prayer initiatives and advocacy) are available through a full press release on the UCC website.

Homeless Health Kits

Many thanks to all of the congregation for donations made to the Sunday School mission to provide Homeless Health Kits to First Step Inn.

Thirty kits were assembled by youth and Sunday School members. Each kit contained a toothbrush, toothpaste, tissues, hand sanitizer, disposable razors, small calendars, and more.

Amicable to Explore How Spiritual Connection to Earth and Community Can Heal the Planet!

Amicable’s Worship Team and Faith Formation Committee are currently working together to create a series of worship services and community events called "Regenerating Our Community’s Ecosystems: Healing the Earth through the food we eat, the farmers we support, and the way we garden." Amicable is teaming up with the Tiverton Public Library, area farmers, eco-friendly garden organizations, the Girl Scouts, and others to demonstrate how exciting and enjoyable it can be to act locally to make a real difference in restoring our natural environment! The series will include four worship services, a screening of the film Kiss the Ground, book groups, and the creation of a native plant pollinator garden. (If you’d like to order the book, in advance, it is Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard.) Watch for more specifics soon!

Amicable Church Native Plant Pollinator Garden Project Awarded $2K Grant

In March, a new initiative of this spring’s “Regenerating Our Community’s Ecosystems” program was awarded a $2,000 grant from the Garden Foundation of Rhode Island. The “Native Plant Pollinator Picnic Garden Project'' is a key component of the program. Groundbreaking on the garden will begin later in April and will be organized by Amicable Sunday School teacher Sarah Martin. She sees two purposes to the project: “1. to (re)introduce beneficial native plants into the local ecosystem with a pollinator-friendly native plant specimen garden, and 2. to create an outdoor gathering space for Amicable’s children and youth, congregants, visitors, and associated community groups within the garden area.”

From an educational lens, the garden will be a tool for children and youth, congregants, and community members to learn together about native plants, pollinators, and wildlife. It will be an example of greenspace that supports local wildlife and carbon sequestration. The garden will be situated on the church property, and it will be carried out by Amicable’s Faith Formation Sunday School and Youth groups with Girl Scout Troop 540 of the Tiverton/Little Compton/Westport service unit of the Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England. 

Amicable’s garden fits nicely with the Garden Foundation’s mission, which is to support the transformative power of nature. The Foundation states that it is “dedicated to supporting horticultural endeavors that inspire and promote sustainable gardening practices, educational outreach, and environmental protection in the State of Rhode Island and surrounding communities.”

We congratulate Sarah Martin and Vaughn Bryner, who are organizing the “Regenerating Our Community’s Ecosystem’s” program. We are eager to watch this garden grow!

Amicable FarmCoast 5K a Great Success!

On Saturday, April 2, Amicable held its FarmCoast 5K at Four Corners!  With a two-year hiatus and this year's brisk but beautiful weather, the race brought out the most participants yet! 192 registrants of which 73% were new!  The youngest participant this year was seven-year old Coroline Perrot and the oldest participant was 78 years young. The fastest was Steve Brightman with a time of 17:44.

Comments were:  "It's my first race since COVID; love coming to this area; never been here before; it was windy but beautiful; I look forward to this every year; great prizes and this is so fun; thank you for doing it; and how do I become a sponsor next year? I am a local business person!"

A big thank you to race organizers Rike Sterrett and Sandra Lovley and all of the Amicable volunteers that made the morning run so smoothly and to Tiffany Paey who helped lead the charge with the merchants at Four Corners. Her guidance and involvement is greatly appreciated. A very big thank you to this year's sponsors:

Twelve Guns Brewery

Maxon Precision Motors

Bally's Tiverton Casino & Hotel

Messier Construction

Bank Newport

Sixteen on Center

T Holland Real Estate

Tiffany Peay Jewelry

Tiverton Four Corners Merchants Association

Wine Wizards

Bowen Brothers

L.I.F.E Inc.

Memorial Funeral Home

Newport Wealth Management

Pappas Physical Therapy

Saint Anne's Hospital

Mass Escape

Rail Explorers

Six Pack Brewing

Fern Acres Funeral Home

Dunkin'

Sip and Dip

Spring Has Arrived in ACTS

If you haven’t had a chance to visit our church thrift shop lately come by and see our new spring line of clothes, décor, and interesting found items. We have so many really nice art pieces and vintage clothes that we opened a room just to display them. If you are looking to decorate for Easter or find just the right planter for your spring flowers, we have it. 
 

As always, if you have a bit of time here or there we welcome your help any Wednesday morning or Thursday or Saturday from 10-2. No need to call ahead, just drop by and help out.

Be sure and check out the Facebook page for all the news! https://www.facebook.com/AmicableChurchThriftShop for more ACTS news.

Amicable Choir Resumes!

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, we are excited to announce that Amicable’s choir began rehearsing on March 30th and will begin singing in services again in the very near future! As always, new members are welcome. We rehearse every week on Wednesday from 6:30-7:30 pm in the sanctuary. The choir typically sings in services a couple of times a month. For the time being, choir members will rehearse and perform in N95 masks, spread out more than usual. (We look forward to hopefully dropping these COVID precautions in the very near future, assuming the numbers continue to drop!)

Financial Notes of Interest - March 2022

• Church services continued to open up as congregational singing began late March, but still with general masking in place. Upper Hall coffee hour gatherings continued with some additional leniency regarding serving of drinks and snacks.
• Donation receipt amounts continued as expected, with all varieties of giving methods being utilized – mail, drop-offs at church, transfers into Amicable’s bank account, via Amicable’s Website Donate option, general PayPal donations, and of course now with collections during Sunday Services.
• The Thrift Shop was closed for two weeks in March, for their Spring seasonal change over, and it still managed a full normal month of receipts. The opening day for a new season is a big event.
• The 5K Event scheduled for this Saturday April 2nd continued to receive sponsor donations and participant registrations during the month. Receipts are within just 2% of planned amounts.
• Expenses were again standard for the month. Although they have grown due to our new Coordinator of Admin and Social Media employee, Susan Morgado, now being on the payroll, expenses remain in line with what was budgeted.
• Cleaning, maintenance, and utility expenses still remain a little lower than budgeted, but they are growing now that we are opening up more. Oil expenses were somewhat higher than normal with the recent spike in oil prices. We’ve also welcomed in a new housekeeper who just started this month.
• As planned, the standard 1st quarter withdrawal from the General Endowment Fund was not taken, but the Operation Account financial status through March remains in good shape.

- Respectfully Submitted: 
    Treasurer, Roger Gauthier 401-624-2323, r.c.gauthier@cox.net

April 2022 Calendar of Events

For more up-to-date calendar information please view our calendar here.