Children ages 8 and up and youth are invited to participate in an Easter Escape Room on Sunday morning, April 7, beginning with a brunch at 9:00 a.m.followed by 4 mysteries of Easter that have to be unlocked in order to exit the Escape Room. The location will be somewhere in the church. Watch for more details in next week’s Church Chimes!
Recipes Appreciated!
Each week we include a recipe in the Church Chimes and we hope that you are enjoying reading and trying them. You can add your favorite recipes to the Chimes by sending them to Cheryl Beck at cabeck@ncsu.edu. This is an ongoing WMU project.
Thanks for participating!
Joy SS Class To Supply Candy For Easter Goody Bags
The Joy Sunday School class led by Arlin Middleton has been tapped to supply candy for this year’s Easter Egg Hunt goody bags. Please bring individually wrapped candies to the church office by March 28. We need to pack around 40 bags. Thank you, Joy Class!
Easter Sunrise Service
We will join with our First Methodist and First Presbyterian brethren for Easter Sunrise Service at First Presbyterian’s pavilion on Sunday, March 31, at 7:00 a.m. A light breakfast will be available following the service. Attendees have been invited to provide breakfast items such as fresh fruits, donuts, pastries, bagels, etc. Coffee & other drinks will be provided by First Presbyterian.
Women’s Community Bible Study
Women's Community Bible Study, a non-denominational bible study in Sylva, will begin a 6-week study on Wednesday, April 3: "Kingdom Disciples," by Tony Evans. An opening coffee will be held at 9:00 a.m. at Sylva First Presbyterian Church on Grindstaff Cove Road. Enjoy refreshments and an introduction to this video-based study that will show us how to move from simple faith to progressively learning how to live all of life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Childcare is provided at no charge. For more information, or to pre-register, please email joyce_pope@hotmail.com.
Sunday School and Childcare is Available!
Please Join Dining for Jackson and Support Equinox Ranch
Tuesday, April 2 at 11:30 at the Mission & Fellowship Center
Margo Capparelli had four college degrees in Sociology and Counseling Psychology including a Ph.D. but more than that she had a vision and a heart for the men and women who had served our country in terrible situations that had left them wounded and suffering – veterans who had invisible war wounds – veterans who suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or military sexual trauma – a place that provided suicide prevention – a place that would allow the veterans to get help outside the confines of a hospital and immerse them in a positive environment surrounded by nature.
Margo had taught Sociology on military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Djibouti. She had served as a responder on the National Veterans Crisis Line. She had done many things in an effort to help our veterans but it never felt like it was enough. And then her parents passed and left her with enough money to begin to fulfill her dream – to have a place where wounded veterans could come and find peace, comfort, and healing. She wanted a place removed from the sights and sounds of our busy, noisy civilian world. She searched several states until she found just what she was looking for in Cullowhee. Twenty-three acres that the Tuckasegee River wrapped around on three sides. A place where wounded warriors could fish, go tubing or rafting, hike, experience the music of the mountains, or sit around campfires and just be. This peaceful tranquil place is called Equinox Ranch. The name comes from the two seasonal markers to help bring veterans from the dark to the light. For many the ranch is a mission of urgency.
The program focuses on building the skills that help veterans readjust to the civilian world and their work, relationships and communities. For many returning combat veterans their homecoming was not the celebration that they or their loved ones dreamed about while they were deployed. These veterans often cope with invisible wounds that lead to emotional numbness, anger, depression, anxiety, isolation and hypervigilance. Attempting to distance themselves from their pain and its effects, they try to repress the intrusive thoughts, flashbacks and nightmares. Their military training, fear of psychiatric labels, lack of trust makes it difficult to ask for help. If they do summon the courage to ask, the treatment is often cursory, capricious, involves long waiting periods and sometimes confinement to a hospital. Locked in the past, feeling alone and in agony, some veterans seek the antidote in suicide. The conservative estimate calculated by the Veterans Administration report, is that at least 20 veterans end their lives every day and many more attempt suicide.” But Margo’s plan is to help alleviate such suffering.
What is so special is that the veterans who come for a week can return again. When they leave, the ranch will aid the veterans in connecting to the Veterans Administration or civilian follow up care to ensure they have the social support to continue their recovery when they return home. And the best part is that this program is free to combat veterans.
Many of us have a dream of helping others. Too many only dream but Margo Capparelli made her dream a reality. Please join us on April 2 at 11:30 at the Mission & Fellowship Center of Sylva First Baptist and let’s support Equinox Ranch and the many veterans who have served our county and now need our help – veterans who have put their lives on the line in protecting our American way of life.
Walk-a-Thon for UCM Coming Up!
Everyone is invited to the Walk-A-Thon to benefit United Christian Ministries on Saturday, March 23, at Smoky Mountain High School. The "Super Hero Stroll" will take place from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. In addition to the fun walk, there will be live music, face painting, a costume contest, and more.
Let your inner "super hero" come out to play and walk to raise funds for this vital ministry in Jackson County. Register at www.ucmsylva.org or call 828-586-8228.
Flowers for Sanctuary
If you would like to provide flowers in the sanctuary for Sunday morning services, please contact Gwen Messer at 828-506-8370, or Janice in the church office to be placed on the calendar.
A Holiday Afternoon at the Library Was Busy!
Seven children participated in this event on March 18. Included in the afternoon was a story about Easter, a spring craft, making a delicious snack — a cookie and fruit flower, practicing for the Palm Sunday processional, and an Easter egg hunt. It was a busy but fun time!
Left: Siler Messer shows off his flower cookie topped with delicious fresh fruit.
Right: Strider Drum is caught in the act of eating his flower creation.