Stone Soup Kitchen Most Needed Items

Stone Soup Kitchen is feeding over 25 families (up to 45 people) at the Living Waters Church in Ayer. They are in need of both monetary and food donations.  Donations can be made to “Stone Soup Kitchen”, 41 Littleton Rd, Ayer MA 01432. Food donation can be dropped off Wed – Fri, between 10 am and noon. 

Food items most needed  to stock their food pantry and help provide hot meals are:  
spaghetti sauce
pasta (spaghetti and other shapes)
boxes of cereal
boxes of oatmeal packets
canned tuna (or the pre-mixed packets)
canned chicken (or the pre-mixed packets)
canned soups (no fish or shellfish soups please)
canned carrots, green beans, corn, peas
fruit cups
corn beef hash
baked beans
canned pasta (spaghettios, beef ravioli, etc)
canned chili (like Hormel)
boxed mac + cheese
envelopes or small boxes of instant potatoes, any flavor
small boxes or foil packs of rice, rice pilaf, rice-a-roni, etc
instant ramen noodles (no shrimp please)
2 lb bags of rice
small jars of peanut butter
small jars of jelly
box cartons of shelf stable whole milk (not evaporated)
pudding cups
granola bars
peanut butter or cheese cracker packs
juice boxes
toilet paper
sliced bread

From Loaves & Fishes

When Loaves & Fishes issued a plea for help, our local business community answered the call!  The COVID-19 crisis created a challenge for the Pantry on many levels.  One of their biggest challenges was finding a replacement truck and driver to retrieve orders from The Greater Boston Food Bank each week. 

Seven businesses offered their help.  Loaves & Fishes is beyond grateful for their support and can’t adequately thank them.  Please consider supporting all of these great companies and make sure you mention their kindness to Loaves & Fishes during our time of need:

Wilson Brothers HVAC, Inc. – Pepperell

Bursaw Gas and Oil – Acton

Nypro – A Jabil Company – Devens

Habitat for Humanity – North Central Massachusetts

The Bull Run – Shirley

Einsteen’s Solutions

New England Apple Product

SOV and COVID-19

The council met to discuss our policy around COVID-19.   After much discussion, the council recommends that SOV NOT resume service at our Church building at this time, but continue our on-line worship.  There are many reasons for this.  First, and foremost, despite the Governor’s announcements that churches can resume physical worship, there’s a lot of “fine-print” regarding how Churches can do this, that frankly we are not equipped to handle.  There is a 21 point checklist for conducting public worshiping in the State of Massachusetts.  It  would be quite a challenge for our little congregation to monitor the building attendees, provide the cleaning and sanitation services required to support social safety requirements, as well as track any members who might have COVID-19 and require us to file reports with the State.  

We will have a chance to discuss this topic further at the SOV Town Hall Meeting this Sunday, May 31st. .  We’d like to hear your suggestions.  Also consider some creative ways that small groups might meet in a safe social manner outside or in folks’ homes.  So for the time-being, it’s sticking with Zoom on-line worship, coupled with a “wait-and-see” approach on opening our doors.

On the positive side, we’ve applied for (thanks to Cindy Boaen) AND RECEIVED  a Payroll Protection Plan loan from the SBA. More on that later!

Building Ministry update

We had mulch delivered to the church building on Friday 5/22. Thanks to Cliff Bailey for arranging this and to the team who helped weed, lay some stones around the perimeter, and spread the mulch  – Cliff, Andy George, Richard Vila, Wayne Twombly and the Kamalaraj family! It looks great! If you were not able to participate in this beautification effort, you have another opportunity! Saturday June 6th is the tentative next date when we will be working outside again, so contact Cliff if you can help. Thanks too to Richard for mowing the lawn on Saturday as well. Even if we cannot hold worship in the building, at least it looks good 😊 

Denise and Wayne met with a roofer this week. Quotes are on the way! Thank you both!

Wayne has also been working with ACS to install high speed internet at the church. Comcast is now installed instead of DSL. Pastor will have a private internet and there will also be a public internet “BellTowerPublic” in the office, chapel, fellowship hall, the sanctuary and the parlor. SOVPublic is the password.

Here is a list of items that were accomplished by the Building Ministry Team and all the helpers at the end of last year/early this year. 

·  3 of 4 faucets replaced in Fellowship hall bathrooms

·  Furnace gas leak repaired

·  Royal Stoneworks snow plowing/shoveling/sanding going well

·  Sewer pipe replaced in furnace room

·  Red door hydraulic hinge replaced

·  Building inspection complete, repair items identified, and action initiated

·  Water supply above HTP water heater and heat pipes in pre-school capped

·  Fixed supply line leak in fellowship hall right bathroom sink 

·  Affixed loose toilet to floor

We will be developing a prioritized list of “to do” items that we will be working on over the summer. If you are interested in helping improve OUR church home, please let us know!

Blessings from the Building Ministry Team – Christine Anderson, Cliff Bailey, Tom Bielecki, Denise Boyd, John Hansen, Kathy Johnson and Wayne Twombly

Worship Sunday, May 17

If you would like your own copy of the worship service that will be shared tomorrow, you may download a copy of the pdf file above.

Worship begins at 10:00am but feel free to jump on the Zoom meeting a little earlier. We also have some time for fellowship and conversation after the service. Children are encouraged to be present in whatever way makes life easiest for the adults in their lives!

You may notice a new addition to the service: prayer for spiritual communion. During this time of physical distancing we may be longing for the physical elements of bread and wine, in which Jesus Christ is truly present. Yet we know that Christ is indeed present in all ways. This prayer acknowledges the longing we may have and assures us of Christ’s presence in other ways. This has been a practice in the church for centuries when various situations have prevented the participation in the sacrament of holy communion.