This Week at Tabernacle
THIS WEEK AT TABERNACLE CHURCH, UCC
May 10, 2026
Plan to join us this Sunday, May 10th, Mother’s Day at 10:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary for our Sunday service followed by fellowship time in the Bigelow Room.
The title of Reverend Joe’s sermon is “We are the Story”
Join us and the Zilber Beatles for our Monthly Vigil on the Front Steps of Church, Tuesday May 12th at 5 P.M.
A Message from Reverend Joe…….
Dear Members and Friends,
In light of all that’s going on around us, I thought it might be good to have a chuckle for Mothers’ Day:
Former president Jimmy Carter spoke at Southern Methodist University and related an incident that occurred after he left the White House. A woman reporter came to Plains, Georgia, to interview his mother in relation to an article about Mr. Carter and his family. His mother really didn’t want to be interviewed, but was being gracious. So when the reporter knocked at her door, Mrs. Carter invited her in. The reporter asked some hard questions and actually was rather aggressive and rude.
“I want to ask you a question,” she said. “Your son ran for the presidency on the premise that he would always tell the truth. Has he ever lied?”
Mrs. Carter said, “I think he’s truthful; I think you can depend on his word.”
The reporter again asked if he had ever lied in his entire life.
His mother said, “Well, I guess maybe he’s told a little white lie.”
“Ah, see there!” the reporter exclaimed. “He’s lied! If he told a white lie, he has lied.”
The reporter was still not satisfied and asked, “What is a white lie?” And then Lillian Carter said, “It’s like a moment ago when you knocked on the door and I went to the door and said I was glad to see you.”
Brett Blair, Sermons.com. Adapted from an unknown source.
Happy Mothers’ Day.
See you in church or on zoom,
Reverend Joe
Sad news…..
Anna Porter passed away at the Kaplan House in Danvers, MA on Sunday, May 3rd. Anna was 93 years old.
No further details are currently available.
The Deacons for the month of May are as follows:
Week of May 3rd: Stephen Fisher and Dave Woolfenden
Week of May 10th through May 24th: Betsey Bennett
Week of May 31st; Jan Roberts-Breslin
The Lighting of the Steeple for the month of May is provided by the Parthum Family in loving memory of Mary and Chuck Parthum.
Upcoming event of interest……
The Board of the Council on Aging will host A Council on Aging Salem 400+ event on Thursday, May 21st at the Community Life center 401 Bridge Street.
Salem Historian, Jim McAlilster will deliver a lecture entitled. Salem Seniors in Service: Four Centuries of Activism. The lecture will be given twice on that day, 10:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Please join us to hear about Salem’s key influencers through the ages. He will talk about older adults who left their mark on the community helping to make Salem what it is today. Preregistration for each session is required by calling Rosanna Donahue at 978-744-0924.
Monday Theology Circle
(Formerly the Bonhoeffer Study Group)
After taking a break, The Monday afternoon Theology Circle Group will start up again on Monday, June 1 in the Bigelow room at 3 PM.
Our theme for the next several weeks will be “Mothers of the Church”.
We will begin with St. Hildegard of Bingen. Stephen will provide the group with readings and handouts.
Future figures will include Teresa of Avila, Catheine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, Katherina von Bora, Catherine Parr, and Anne Bradford.
Never heard of some or all of them? Curious? Come join this incredulous group.
It doesn’t require a lot of reading. In fact you can just come and listen and you will learn a lot. Join Us!….
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!!!
Please join the Missions Committee and the Friends & Family of
Marc Lemieux for the annual World Needs You Here Walk
Sunday, August 2nd at 10am.
Register at the link below and join Team Tabernacle in memory of Marc. More details about our Sunday’s service on that day will follow.
The World Needs You Here Walk 2026 pro.gofundme.com
MISSIONS IS COLLECTING NEW ITEMS FOR THE SALEM PANTRY
To support the Salem Pantry during the months of May, and June, Missions is collecting items such as bars of soap, liquid body wash, dishwashing liquid soap, and laundry detergents.
These are items the Pantry does not receive from other resources, but they are much needed products.
Thank you as always for supporting members in our community.
Bless you for your contributions!
Missions Group
WE NEED HELP SERVING LIFEBRIDGE MEALS
WE ARE IN NEED OF VOLUNTEERS FOR THE FOLLOWING DATES:
THE SUMMER MONTHS OF JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST
Sign up Sheets are on the board in the Bigelow Room
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
Sunday, May 10th, 2026
10:00 a.m. Worship Service in the Sanctuary and via Zoom
11:00 a.m. Fellowship Time in the Bigelow Room
Monday, May 11th, 2026
7:00 p.m. Alanon Meeting downstairs in the dining room.
Tuesday, May 12th, 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, May 13th, 2026
7:00 p.m. Bible Study via Zoom
Friday, May 15th, 2026
6:30 p.m. AA Meeting downstairs in the dining room
Sunday, May 17th, 2026
10:00 a.m. Worship Service in the Sanctuary and via Zoom
11:00 a.m. Fellowship Time in the Bigelow Room
BIBLE STUDY TONIGHT
May 6, 2026
7:00 pm via Zoom
TONIGHTS READINGS
Psalm 66:8-20 Be joyful in God, all you lands
66:8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard,
66:9 who has kept us among the living and has not let our feet slip.
66:10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
66:11 You brought us into the net; you laid burdens on our backs;
66:12 you let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.
66:13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows,
66:14thos e that my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
66:15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatted calves, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
66:16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.
66:17 I cried aloud to him, and he was extolled with my tongue.
66:18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
66:19 But truly God has listened; he has heard to the words of my prayer.
66:20 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me.
Christian reading
John 14:15-21 Christ our advocate
14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.
14:17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
14:18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.
14:19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.
14:20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
14:21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”