This Week at Tabernacle
THIS WEEK AT TABERNACLE CHURCH, UCC
September 6th to September 20th, 2026
Please take notice…
This newsletter covers the weeks September 6th through September 20th.
The Zoom links provided for Sunday Service is the same for each Sunday.
Join us this Sunday as Stephen Fisher will be preaching and Reverend Joe will be playing the organ!
It is communion Sunday so please be sure to have some bread and juice on hand.
Betsey Bennett will be preaching Sunday, September 13th.
The Zilber Beatles will be providing the music on Sunday September 20th.
A message from Reverend Joe……..
Dear Members and Friends,
September will be very different Sundays for worship! Please take note and plan accordingly as this will be a special edition of This Week for the next couple of weeks!
Labor Sunday, September 6th:
Boh has the Sunday off, so I asked our very talented Stephen Fisher, who gets back from his tour group in Poland on the 4th, to preach while I play the organ (pray for us!). It will also be communion.
Sunday., September 13th: Jim and I will be attending our annual car club event in Provincetown over the weekend. Betsey Bennett offered to preach and I know she has something special she is working on to share with you all.
Sunday, September 20th: Music will be provided by the Zilber Beatles and yours truly will be preaching!
Sunday, September 27th: The Southern New England Conference will be holding Annual Meeting at the DCU Center in Worcester all weekend. All three of our delegates (Kathy Dougherty, Jack MacLean, Anne Bogan) and I will all be attending. The conference will be live streaming the service from the DCU Center to all churches in the conference so be watching for a special email blast that week as the link for the service will not be our usual Sunday worship link. The worship services at Annual Meeting are always hugely inspirational with great music and preaching but this year will be especially exciting with US Senator Rev. Dr. Ralph Warnock preaching. You will not want to miss this service! Mark your calendars now and look for the special link via email that week. There will be no in person Sunday service at the church on that day.
See you in church or on zoom,
Reverend Joe
The Lighting of the Steeple for the month of September is provided by Jenn and Gary Santo in loving memory of Jenn’s Father, Clark E. Moore.
The Deacons for the month of September are Betsey Bennett and Dave Woolfenden.
HAUNTED HAPPENINGS PARKING FUND RAISER BEGINS THIS
MONTH
ON THE JOB TRAINING BEING OFFERED….
For September We will park cars in our Washington Street lot on Saturdays.
September Saturday dates are: the 12th, 19th, and 26th
Time: 9 AM until the lot is full
For October we will park cars both Saturdays and Sundays.
October dates are: 3rd and 4th, 10th and 11th, 17th and 18th, and 24th and 25th.
Sign-up Sheets are posted in the Bigelow Room.
OR
text Betsey B. 508-843-5780 with your choice(s) of date.
Please help with this important fund raiser.
(In the past we have raised as much as $14,000)
Thanking you in advance…
Special Invitation….
Join us for a screening of The Third Harmony, a film documenting the power of non-violence.
The 45 minute film invites us into a powerful rethink of human nature, and the role nonviolence has played – and can continue to play- in shaping our shared future.
From there, we will take time together to reflect on the moment we’re in.
WHERE? Cape Ann Community Cinema, 37 Whistlestop Mall, Rockport
WHEN? September 15th and 17th, 2026 at 6:30 pm
The is no charge but seating is limited and reservations are required: Email CapeAnnCinema@gmail.com
Sponsored by North Shore Friends Meeting(Quakers)
NEW ITEM FOR SALEM PANTRY
JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER
“Reading is Fundamental”
To support the Salem Pantry during the months of July, August, and September, Missions is collecting donations of new or used (good condition only please) books for all ages (all languages welcome).
The growing literacy crisis is troubling and Missions is aware that our previous donations of reading materials were a great hit at the Pantry.
Books can be left at the church in the narthex. Missions has put together an amazon Wishlist & has provided amazon with a delivery address of a mission’s member that will be automatically supplied if you choose to use the wishlist. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/8Z9UN68AM89K?ref_=wl_share
WE NEED HELP SERVING LIFEBRIDGE MEALS
Sign-up Sheets are on the board in the Bigelow Room
or Call Martha Bagby: 508-932-0221
CHOOSE YOUR MONTH TO SERVE
4-6- P.M. the fourth Monday of the Month
WITHOUT VOLUNTEERS WE CANNOT MAKE THIS MOST IMPORTANT COMMUNITY SERVICE HAPPEN!!
AND WE ARE STILL COLLECTING …..
Missions is collecting plastic tabs from bread and fruit bags, and the pull tabs from cans. Collection Jars are in the Bigelow Room.
Calendar September 6th to 20th
Sunday, September 6th, 2026
10:00 a.m. Worship Service with Communion in the Sanctuary and via Zoom
11:00 a.m. Fellowship Time in the Bigelow Room
Monday, September 7th , 2026 Labor Day Office is Closed
7:00 p.m. Alanon Meeting downstairs in the dining room
Tuesday, September 8th, 2026
5:00 p.m. Vigil on Front steps of Church
6:00 p.m. Zilber Beatles rehearsal downstairs classroom
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Jubilate Choir Rehearsal in the Bigelow Room
Wednesday, September 9th, 2026
7:00 p.m. Bible Study via Zoom
Friday, September 11th, 2026
All day – Magician in Emerson Hall
6:30 p.m. AA meeting downstairs in the dining room
Saturday, September 12th, 2026
All day – Magician in Emerson Hall
9:00 a.m. Halloween Parking
Sunday, September 13th, 2026
12 noon to 9 pm Magician in Emerson Hall
10:00 a.m. Worship Service in the Sanctuary and on Zoom
11:00 a.m. Fellowship Time in the Bigelow Room
Calendar September 13th to 20th
Sunday, September 13th, 2026
10:00 a.m. Worship Service in the Sanctuary and via Zoom
11:00 a.m. Fellowship Time in the Bigelow Room
Monday, September 14th, 2026
7:00 p.m. Alanon Meeting downstairs in the dining room
Tuesday, September 15th, 2026
6:00 p.m. Zilber Beatles rehearsal downstairs classroom
7:00 p.m. Council meeting via zoom
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Jubilate Choir Rehearsal in the Bigelow Room
Wednesday, September 16th, 2026
7:00 p.m. Bible Study via Zoom
Friday, September 18th, 2026
All day – Magician in Emerson Hall
6:30 p.m. AA meeting downstairs in the dining room
Saturday, September 19th, 2026
All day – Magician in Emerson Hall
9:00 a.m. Halloween Parking
Sunday, September 20th, 2026
12 noon to 9 pm Magician in Emerson Hall
10:00 a.m. Worship Service in the Sanctuary and on Zoom
11:00 a.m. Fellowship Time in the Bigelow Room
Calendar September 20th to 27th
Sunday, September 20th, 2026
10:00 a.m. Worship Service in the Sanctuary and via Zoom
11:00 a.m. Fellowship Time in the Bigelow Room
12 noon magician in Emerson Hall
Monday, September 21st,2026
7:00 p.m. Alanon Meeting downstairs in the dining room
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026
6:00 p.m. Zilber Beatles rehearsal downstairs classroom
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Jubilate Choir Rehearsal in the Bigelow Room
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2026
7:00 p.m. Bible Study via Zoom
Friday, September 25th, 2026
All day – Magician in Emerson Hall
6:30 p.m. AA meeting downstairs in the dining room
Saturday, September 26th, 2026
All day – Magician in Emerson Hall
9:00 a.m. Halloween Parking
Sunday, September 27th, 2026
12 noon to 9 pm Magician in Emerson Hall
NO IN PERSON SERVICE AT CHURCH TODAY
10:00 a.m. Southern New England Conference Live stream
BIBLE STUDY READINGS FOR THE NEXT # MEETINGS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS NEWSLETTER!
BIBLE STUDY will take place on Wednesday, September 2nd,September 9thth and September 16thrd. The Zoom link is the same for all three Wednesdays.
Readings for each week are provided below and the zoom link is the same for each week.
READINGS FOR TONIGHT WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2nd
HEBREW BIBLE READING
Exodus 12:1-14 the Passover
12:1 the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
12:2 “this month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.
12:3 tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household.
12:4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it.
12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
12:6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.
12:7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
12:8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12:9 Ddo not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs.
12:10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn with fire.
12:11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it hurriedly. it is the passover of the lord.
12:12 I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: i am the lord.
12:13the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
12:14 “this day shall be a day of remembrance for you. you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
CHRISTIAN TESTAMENT READING
Matthew 18:15-20 reconciliation in the community of faith
18:15 “if your brother and sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. if you are listened to, you have regained that one.
18:16 but if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
18:17 If that person refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a gentile and a tax collector.
18:18 truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
18:19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my father in heaven.
18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, i am there among them.”
READINGS FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 9th.
HEBREW BIBLE READING
Exodus 14:19-31 Israel delivered at the sea
14:19 The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them.
14:20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.
14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
14:22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
14:23 The Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.
14:24 At the morning watch the LORD, in the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into a panic.
14:25 He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”
14:26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.”
14:27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the LORD tossed the Egyptians into the sea.
14:28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained.
14:29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
14:30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
14:31 Israel saw the great work that the LORD did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
CHRISTIAN TESTAMENT READING
Matthew 18:21-35 A parable of forgiveness
18:21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?”
18:22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
18:23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
18:24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him,
18:25 and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made.
18:26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’
18:27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.
18:28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’
18:29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’
18:30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.
18:31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.
18:32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
18:33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’
18:34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.
18:35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
READINGS FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th.
HEBREW READING
Psalm 145 From the First Nations Version of the Bible
A sacred song of praise by Much Loved One (David).
1 I will highly honor you, my Creator and Chief, and never stop giving thanks for the
ways you remain true to your name.
2 Day after day, I will never stop praising you for the ways you remain true to your
name.
3 Grandfather is great and highly honored. His greatness rises above our small ways
of thinking. 4One generation will say to the next, “He has done great things!” Each
will make known your mighty deeds.
5 I will meditate on your shining-greatness and your deeds of wonder. 6Every tongue
will speak of the fearsome power you have shown. I will tell stories of your
greatness.
7 All people will retell the stories of your far-reaching goodness and shout for joy at
your just ways.
8 Grandfather is kind, merciful, and slow to anger. His greatness is shown by his love,
which remains faithful and true.
9 Grandfather is good to all. His kindness covers all of creation like a warm blanket.
10 All creation gives thanks to you, Grandfather. Your people who walk in a sacred
manner speak well of you.
11 They speak of the beauty and shining-greatness of your good road and tell stories
of your power.
12 They will make known to all human beings the powerful things you have done and
your shining-greatness as you lead us down the path of your good road.
13 Your good road goes on and on, guiding people from generation to generation.
Grandfather’s path of life never fades away, and his love remains faithful and true
toward all he has made.
14 Grandfather takes hold of all who fall and lifts all who are bent low.
15 All created things look to you, and you feed them at the right time.
16 You open your hand, and every living thing is filled to the full.
17 Grandfather always does what is right and is kind in all his ways.
18 Grandfather stands close to all who call out to him, all who call out to him in truth.
19 He fulfills the longings of all who look up to him. He hears their cries and comes
to set them free and make them whole.
20 Grandfather’s medicine shield protects all who love him, but he will bring all
evildoers to a bad end.
21 With my mouth, I will sing honor songs to Grandfather. Every created thing will
bless his holy name for all days to come.
CHRISTIAN READING
Philippians 1:21-30 Standing firm in the gospel
1:21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.
1:22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; yet I cannot say
which I will choose.
1:23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for
that is far better,
1:24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.
1:25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of
you for your progress and joy in faith,
1:26 so that, by my presence again with you, your boast might abound in Christ Jesus
because of me.
1:27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I
come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are
standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of
the gospel
1:28 and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of
their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing.
1:29 For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but
of suffering for him as well,
1:30 since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I
still have.