Dear Friends,

In a word, I have been overwhelmed by your many notes and your outpouring of kindness and generosity. In addition to the flowers and the print of the church, which I will cherish, your contributions to my "going away" gift were huge – around $2,300. Words fail me. Rest assured I will do something frivolous and fun with some (not all) of it!

To borrow an image from the Psalms, my cup overflows with gratitude to God for the privilege of being your pastor for these many months. It is probably good that I am not staying any longer because leaving would only have become more difficult for me!

There were many more people to whom I wanted to say a personal "goodbye" than I have been able to accomplish, so, once again I am forced to ask for your forbearance.

My personal e-mail, for those who are happy to correspond that way is: MikeDunfee@juno.com And yes, it is perfectly acceptable for you to visit Scituate from time to time.

My last task is to speak with God about the rain. I recall something about a promise that God made to Noah. I believe that little detail may have slipped God’s mind, and it might be time to remind God that a promise is a promise. Of course, God’s faulty memory might simply be projection on my part, but I don’t see why our theology has to be perfect when we are not!!

The Peace of Christ be with you!
Mike

IN THE CHAPEL

July 2, 2006 – 9:00 A.M. Morning Worship

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. A. Rand Peabody

July 9, 2006 – 9:00 A.M. Holy Communion

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. A. Rand Peabody

July 16, 2006 – 9:00 A.M. Morning Worship

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. A. Rand Peabody

July 23, 2006 - 9:00 A.M. Morning Worship

Sermon by the Candidate for Settled Pastor

July 30, 2006 – 9:00 A.M. Morning Worship

Sermon by the Rev. Dr. A. Rand Peabody

We Welcome Rand Peabody

We are pleased to announce that the Rev. Dr. A. Rand Peabody will serve as Interim Pastor of Centre Church starting on July 1. Rand lives in Medford with his wife Sally. Since the late 1980’s Rand has served as an intentional interim pastor. The churches he has been called to have benefited from his unique style in covering sabbatical leaves and both short and long-term interim ministries. Rand most recently served at the Park Avenue Congregational Church in Arlington and before that at the United Parish in Auburndale in Newton. We look forward to working with Rand as we move from the departure of Mike Dunfee to the arrival of whomever our new settled Pastor will be.

From the Search Committee

June 27, 2006

Dear Members and Friends of Centre Church,

Your Pastor Search Committee is excited to report that we have found a candidate to recommend to the congregation as the settled pastor of Centre Church!

Candidate Sunday will be July 23. The candidate will preach at the 9:00 AM service, and the congregation will meet after the service to vote on whether or not to accept the candidate as our settled pastor. In order for you to have a chance to meet the candidate before July 23, we will hold an informal get-together on Thursday, July 20, from 6 to 8 PM, at Phil and Sue Johnson’s house, 15 Bluejay Road, Lynnfield, MA. Please come!

We know that summer is a busy time for everyone, and we hope that by giving you some advanced notice, you will be able to join us for informal conversation with the candidate on July 20 and attend church on July 23. We chose to schedule all these events in the summer because the candidate needs to give sixty days notice to his current church. Typically, candidates give notice on the day following a positive vote of the congregation. If we waited until September, the candidate would not be available to us until mid-November. That would be a difficult time to start; there would be no time to ease in before the Advent season. By holding Candidate Sunday on July 23, the candidate can begin with us much earlier and have some time to settle in before beginning one of the busiest seasons of the church year.

You’ll note that we have not divulged the candidate’s name. It is imperative that we maintain confidentiality until we introduce you to the candidate on July 20. But, we want you to know that we are eager for the time when we can talk freely about the candidate, and we are very anxious for all of you to meet him. As the July 20 date approaches, we will write to you again to describe what we’ve learned about the candidate during the search process and why we feel this candidate is a good fit for Centre Church. We can tell you now that this candidate is overjoyed at the possibility of coming to Centre Church.

Please join us on July 20 to meet the candidate and attend church on July 23 to hear him preach. These are truly exciting times!

Yours in Faith,

The Pastor Search Committee

We Welcome New Members

We welcome Mike, Pat and Adam Summerer to our membership. They live at 2 Fox Run Lane in North Reading and come to us from the Monroe Congregational Church in Monroe, CT. Mike is a cardiologist and hospital administrator and Adam is a student at the University of Connecticut. Pat has already shared her musical gifts as a member of the Senior Choir and assistant director of the Youth Choir.

From the Mailbox

We extend our hearty congratulations to Dr. George S. Robinson who will be 104 on July 13 and to Dr. George and Dorothy (Lambert) Robinson who will be celebrating their 65^th wedding anniversary on August 28. Their address is: 8400 Vamo Road, #110, Sarasota, FL34231

Dear Friends,

The lovely flowers delivered by Earl Richard, Marcia Stevens, Phyllis Robinson and Barbara Ericson during my recovering time have brought daylight into the house in spite of such a rainy dark Spring. Thank you for the comfort dear friends of Centre Church.

Harriet Holt

To the Moderator: My wife and I want to say how much we appreciate receiving the Church Newsletter each week. We lived on Wing Road for over twenty years, and the church was an important part of our lives. In fact, Faith started what she called "Tower Kindergarten." She used our old Chevy station wagon as a school bus to pick up and deliver the children. I remember spending the entire vacation building the little wooden cubicles where the children would hang their coats and store storm footwear. I painted the interior in a variety of bright colors, as an aid in teaching the kids to recognize color. Needless to say, we made many friends at church and still keep in touch with some of them.

Best Wishes, Hal and Faith Wyer,
Port Charlotte, Florida

Stewardship Response Card Reminder

A quick note to ask that you bring or mail your fiscal 2006/07 Stewardship Response Card to the church.

The current Stewardship campaign is for the New Fiscal Year that starts July 1^st. Don’t worry, the next campaign won’t be until the spring of 2007. Our new fiscal year will run from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007.

Thanks in advance for your continued support for Centre Church.

Donations Needed

Cleaning?

Moving?

Getting Organized?

Donations needed for Special Needs Yard Sale

to be held in August at the Meeting House.

Save and call Fran Soderberg

781-334-3437 or 781-593-9393

OUR OPPORTUNITIES

Our thoughts and prayers are with Hal Holappa at the Veterans’ Hospital, 200 Springs Rd., Bedford, 01730; Emily Jordan, (c/o her son, Hal Jordan, 11 Wheeler Rd., Bow, NH 03304); Mildred Lisi at SunBridge, 134 North St., N. Reading, 01864; Catherine Newman at Oosterman’s, 93 Laurel St., Melrose, 02176; Jack Turner, at Arnold House, 490 William St., Stoneham, 02180.

We also remember in our prayers, Dana Robinson in Kuwait and Dana’s cousin Michael Propeck in Iraq.

Schedule for July

Ushers:
July 2: George Hayden and Michelle Hagerty
July 9: Karen Harrington and Marge Robins
July 16: Judith Doe and Randy Russell
July 23: Chris Lambe
July 30: Marge Robins and Karen Harrington

Altar Flowers:
July 9: Marcia Stevens
July 16: Greta Hellmer

Punch:
July 2: Perry Hayden
July 9: Elouise Bjorkman
July 16: Carol and Bob MacKendrick
July 23: Sue Lambe
July 30: Barbara Nickerson

Church Office Schedule

Summer Office Hours of 9 am – 12 noon are in effect.

Tower Notes will be published on July 24^th and August 28^th.