Spring color is finally arriving!

Mother’s Day Offering

This year’s Mother’s and Father’s Day offerings are united by the theme of Younger and Older.  Our “younger” offering for Mother’s Day will benefit Heart to Art, a special interdisciplinary arts camp, based in Chicago, for children and young people ages 7-14, who have experienced the death of one or more parents. An ever growing network of financial gifts makes this camp accessible to children, regardless of the financial situation of their families. You are invited to contribute $5 for each woman you would like to remember or honor this year. The sheet on which to record your offering accompanies this memo. There are also copies of it in the Gathering Area at church. Please have your names to the church office by Wednesday, May 9, so they can be published in our May 13 worship bulletin. Special Mother’s and Father’s Day offerings at Mayfield are a longstanding and treasured tradition.

Mayfield Fellowship Dates and Programs – Mark Your Calendars

The Mayfield Fellowship will meet on at noon on May 10 at the Somerset Farm Clubhouse. Please bring a potluck dish to share.  Use the sign-up sheet at church to indicate that you are coming and what you are bringing.  Our enjoyable afternoon program will be Zentangles with Sue Goudey. On June 14 we will be at Mayfield in the Monarch Waystation. We will have box lunches, ordered ahead of time, and will have an opportunity to participate in a project to enhance and ready the Waystation for the July 14 DeKalb County Garden Walk. August 9  JT will host us at the Prairie State Winery where we will have a tour of this local business and also purchase lunch. On October 11 we will be at Oakcrest. We will share lunch in their dining room and have an informative program provided by Safe Passage.  Our annual Christmas meeting will be held on December 13 at Wilma and Rita’s. Bring a dish to share and board books for the Children’s Waiting Room. At this meeting we will divide the money collected by the Fellowship during the year among various agencies and programs in DeKalb County, hear a Christmas story, and participate in a robust rendering of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Bookcase Project News

Two Rivers Head Start children will receive their bookcases and books on Saturday, May 5 at 3:00 pm. The public is invited to attend this festive Bookcase Project event at Faranda’s, 302 Grove Street, DeKalb. This is an opportunity for us to see what a difference all the books make that we collected in February and early March.

Jane Adeny Memorial School – Anita is Graduating

Anita Odhiambo, our scholarship student at Jane Adeny Memorial School for Girls in Kenya, will be graduating this year. We have the opportunity to send her greetings, congratulations, and best wishes. Diana and Sue G. will put our cards, notes, and photos (4”x6” please) into a scrapbook as a keepsake for Anita. School founders Teresa and Andrew will hand deliver our scrapbook to her. Photos, cards, and notes are needed by Sunday, May 6.  Photos of you and your family, church activities, your town, and the landscape around us will all be of interest to Anita.  If you have questions, contact Diana Swanson.

News from Jen Conley

Jen Conley, our music director since late January 2017, has found that managing the time constraints of personal and family commitments, fulltime work at hospice, and musical leadership at Mayfield UCC is no longer possible for her. It is with regret that she has informed the Deacons and Martha that she will be resigning as music director on Sunday, July 15, 2018. She does intend to continue to be involved with Mayfield as her schedule allows and to be available as a substitute musician. We are deeply grateful for all that Jen has offered with her musical leadership. Thank you Jen. You will be missed in this capacity.

Flower power orders are due by May 1, 2018.  Contact Dawn Carlson if you have questions or need any additional information.

We are always grateful for your continued generous gifts for the Northern Illinois Food Bank.  Place them in the offering plate or the food bank box.