This Week at Tabernacle
THIS WEEK AT TABERNACLE CHURCH, UCC
May 31, 2026
Plan to join us this Sunday, May 31st, at 10:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary for our Sunday service followed by fellowship time in the Bigelow Room.
The Zilber Beatles will be playing this Sunday.
The title of Reverend Joe’s sermon is “It’s a Mythtery ”
Appeal From your Co-Moderators……
Spring is finally here after a long, difficult winter. And as Rev. Joe wrote in This Week a month or two ago, winter had a big impact on Tabernacle’s cash flow! Heating and snow plowing expenses were way above “normal” and budget. That impact unfortunately has continued even into Spring. This year we budgeted a $29,000 draw from investments to cover our anticipated gap, but given where we are now we are projecting we may need to exceed that. And with the coming of Summer, historically the rate of our pledge donations slows down a bit as members usually travel and enjoy the outdoors. So we’re asking our members to consider trying to get ahead in their pledging over the next few weeks to provide us with more “cushion” until the fall when rental income picks up. Perhaps pay your normal pledge in advance or possibly even contribute to the Congregational Challenge (the “13th month pledge”). With rising costs of living we know these are challenging times, and we always appreciate the faithful support of Team Tabernacle! Thanks for all you do!
Peace,
Jack MacLean & Stephen Parthum
A Message from Reverend Joe…….
Dear Members and Friends,
Monday Jim and I leave for our annual trek to Minneapolis and Wisconsin. We met in Minneapolis 36 years ago while I was serving as a counselor and then Executive Director of Pride Institute, the first LGBTQ+ treatment program in the country! During my ten years there I also served as the choir director at Lynnhurst Congregational Church, which loved me into the UCC! Needless to say we have lots of friends there, including the minister who married us in the Rose Garden by Lake Harriet four years ago. Some of you have heard me read from that minister’s book, Meditations on a Moose, for devotions at meetings. We always make time to meet with Rev Bob and Sue Griggs while there.
Next Sunday we head over to UW-Stout in Menomonie, WI where I chair the National Institute on Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction from June 7-11. I then chair the board meeting of the National Rural Alcohol and Drug Abuse Network that Thursday and Friday. Friday afternoon we drive the 4 hours across WI to have dinner with my grandkids and their mother. Saturday it’s my tradition to attend our country’s oldest Flag Day Parade in Appleton, WI (you know how I love parades). The next day I pick up the grandkids in Markesan (a small town southwest of Appleton) and we all go to Madison where we have lunch with my daughter.
This is a valuable time of renewal, refreshment, and education for me. I cherish this gift of time to wear my other vocational hat and be with family and friends.
Rev. Holly Brauner will be on call for any pastoral emergencies. Her cell number is 781-632-8964. June 7th Rusty Chadwick will be preaching and leading communion. June 14th Betsey Bennet has a great service lined up featuring information on our pastor who was here during the ordination of the missionaries. Wish I could be here but I’ll settle for watching the zoom recording when I return.
We’ll appreciate your prayers for traveling mercies.
Meanwhile I’ve asked the Zilber Beatles to play Don McLean’s “American Pie” this Sunday because it fits into my Trinity Sunday sermon!
See you in church or on zoom,
Reverend Joe
The Deacon for the Week of May 31st is Jan Roberts-Breslin
The Deacon for the month of June is Betsey Bennett,
The Lighting of the Steeple for the month of May is provided by the Parthum Family in loving memory of Mary and Chuck Parthum.
Maire and Jack MacLean are lighting the steeple for the month of June to honor the 25th anniversary of their daughter Catherine’s curative bone marrow transplant, and to honor the love and support they received from the Tabernacle Community throughout her illness.
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, Catherine 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 that Sunday’s service will follow.
The World Needs You Here Walk 2026
MISSIONS IS COLLECTING NEW ITEMS FOR THE SALEM PANTRY“SOAPS AND SUDS”
To support the Salem Pantry during the months of April, 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.
Missions Group
WE NEED HELP SERVING LIFEBRIDGE MEALSTHE SUMMER MONTHS OF JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST
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 pulltabs from cans. Collection Jars are in the Bigelow Room.
Calendar
Sunday, May 31st, 2026
10:00 a.m. Worship Service in the Sanctuary and via Zoom
11:00 a.m. Fellowship Time in the Bigelow Room
Monday, June 1st, 2026
7:00 p.m. Alanon Meeting downstairs in the dining room.
Tuesday, June 2nd, 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, June 3rd, 2026
7:00 p.m. Bible Study via Zoom
Friday, June 5th, 2026
6:30 p.m. AA Meeting downstairs in the dining room
Sunday, June 7th, 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
BIBLE STUDY TONIGHT
May 27th, 2026
7:00 pm via Zoom
TONIGHTS READINGS
Hebrew Reading
Genesis 1:1-2:4a Creation of the heavens and the earth
1:1 When God began to create the heavens and the earth,
1:2 the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
1:3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
1:4 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
1:6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
1:7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.
1:8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
1:9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
1:10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
1:11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so.
1:12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.
1:13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
1:15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
1:16 God made the two great lights–the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night–and the stars.
1:17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth,
1:18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
1:19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
1:20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”
1:21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
1:22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
1:23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
1:24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so.
1:25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind and the cattle of every kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
1:27 So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
1:28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
1:29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
1:30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
1:31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude.
2:2 On the sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.
2:3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
2:4a These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
CHRISTIAN TESTAMENT READING
Matthew 28:16-20 Living in the community of the Trinity
28:16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
28:17 When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted.
28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
28:20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”