Seasonal
Sarah Ackers
Holy Week and Easter 2025
Holy Week and Easter 2025

2nd Time Sale - 9/14 & 15

Our wildly popular 2nd Time Sale will be Saturday, Sept. 14 (9 am - 4 pm) and Sunday, Sept. 15 (11:30 am - 3 pm) in and around Fellowship Hall. This event is much anticipated by the whole community, from those who really need bargains to those on the hunt for collectibles. See the full scope of what will be on offer below.

If you have quality items in working order to donate, see the list of what we cannot take here. We'll be accepting items at the back door of Fellowship Hall weekdays 10 am - 2 pm Wednesday, Sept. 4, through Monday, Sept. 9. Call the church office with questions or to arrange a special drop-off or pick-up.

All-Church Potluck/Picnic

Join the Parish Life Ministry for a Potluck/Picnic after worship on Sunday, 9/8.  Pulled pork sandwiches, veggie burgers, chips and beverages will be provided.  Please bring something to share (salads, side dishes, desserts). Suggestions for what to bring and answers to frequently asked questions found below.

Volunteers are needed to help setup, prep the food and beverage tables, to assist those with mobility challenges, and to clean up. Contact the church if you can volunteer!

Announcing Bronwyn Edward's Retirement

Some of you already know, but I would like to officially announce that Bron, our Music Director Extraordinaire (we should add that to her title, I think), has shared that she will retire at the end of June 2025.

While Bron plans to remain in our congregation as a member, plans at present are for her to shift her music involvement and reengage as a supportive volunteer and participant.

I want to acknowledge that most of you probably just took a deep breath in and let it out with a long sigh. We all knew this day would come, but we hoped it could be put off for as long as possible. And it has. Bron actually first began talking to me about retirement eight years ago, and I'm eternally grateful to her for what will be 17 years of service to Fauntleroy Church in 2025.

I also want to assure you: I and other leaders of Fauntleroy Church know the value of the powerful and vibrant music programs Bron has built with the help of members and friends of this church. The Personnel Committee has been in conversation with Bron and has put together some plans. They have identified that a search committee was needed (because this task is bigger than Personnel can handle alone while still engaging other needed work). A search team has now been appointed and is preparing to have their first official meeting. We thank the team for saying "yes" to serving on that Search Committee. It's a good group with a breadth of experience that will serve us well in the year to come.

There is much more that I could share and that will be shared in weeks and months to come, but there will be time for all of that. For now, I'd ask of you two things: 1) to trust the search committee that has been formed and give them space to begin their good work, and 2) to focus our energy and efforts on enjoying our final programmatic year with Bronwyn Edwards in her role as Music Director. Come join the choir or the ukelele band! Enjoy worship in person where the sound is so much better than online! And mark your calendars now for the next Sweet, Sweet Music (Friday, November 8) and Christmas concerts (December 21st at 7pm and 22nd at 4pm)!

Right now, I'm enjoying planning with Bron and Karyn toward the lovely year that lies ahead for worship at Fauntleroy Church. It's going to be awesome and joy-filled!

God-willing and us-determined-people following the Spirit's lead, what lies ahead will be phenomenal too!

Onward we go,

Pastor Leah

Fellowship at the Fish Sticks Game

On Saturday, July 13, 45+ people from our congregation enjoyed a fun evening at the DubSea Fish Sticks baseball game in White Center. It was quite the intergenerational activity with those in attendance ranging in age from two to 80-something. Each fellowship group in the church (Sojourners, Sisters, Crock Pots, AFG, Solo Seniors, Monday Lunch Bunch, Knitters, and Youth Group) was represented! And…the Fish Sticks won!

Annual School Supply Drive

With summer activities in full swing, school may be the furthest thing from your mind but now is the time for the annual school-supply drive coordinated by our Homelessness Task Force. We are partnering with West Seattle Rotary's Pencil Me In for Kids campaign and the West Seattle/Fauntleroy Y to equip elementary and Head Start programs in this area with supplies their students will need come fall. Find the list of high-priority items HERE. Look for donation boxes in the narthex and lobby OR make a cash donation HERE. The drive will run through Aug. 4.

Immigration Book Author is Coming

The author of a new book examining the immigration crisis on the southern U.S. border will discuss her experiences at Fauntleroy Church on Monday June 10 at 7 p.m.

Sarah Towle’s book, Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands, expresses her outrage about U.S. immigration policies and how she believes that they have led to a retreat in commitments to protect human rights. Through a series of interviews and visits to the U.S. Mexico border she describes conditions there, especially focusing on 2018 when immigration officials forcefully separated migrant families from their children.

The book has drawn praise from commentators, including filmmaker Ken Burns who declared “Sarah Towle has obliterated today’s dead-end arguments about immigration and transformed them into riveting, human stories.”

Towle, based in London, is an educator, researcher and writer who can be found online on Substack. The book is being published by She Writes Press with release on June 18.

The talk is being hosted by the Immigration Task Force at Fauntleroy UCC Church and Alki UCC Church.

More information about Towle and her book can be found at https://sarahtowle.com. More information about the talk can be found by contacting Bob Wyss at bobwyss@gmail.com

Guatemala Mission Trip

“Team Fauntleroy” will soon be off to Guatemala to install stoves and water filters in 110 impoverished homes in the Mayan village of Esperanza Blanca Flor.   We have now exceeded our fundraising goals!  Tremendous thanks for the generosity of friends and family of Fauntleroy Church, as well as generous contributions from twelve Rotary Clubs in Western Washington and Los Angeles.  With these excess funds we’ll be able to fund additional needs for the village, including school desks, whiteboards, books for the school library, paint and a tin roof for the school, and various school repairs.  

Seven members or friends of our church will join our team of sixteen people to depart on May 23rd.  We’ll travel to the Hands for Peacemaking Mission House in Santa Cruz Barillas, receive training on stove assembly, and then work in the village for 5 days before returning to Seattle on June 2nd.

We’re grateful for those who have supported us in this journey – it truly takes a village!

Esperanza Blanca Flor

Holy Week and Easter @ Fauntleroy Church

MARCH 24, 10:00AM, PALM SUNDAY WORSHIP 

Worship will begin with joyful palm waving. We welcome all children (and their parents with child-like hearts) to join in a palm processional with the choir. We process down the center aisle with joy, leaving our palm branches on the chancel steps. Then children can return to join their parents in the pews until Sunday School. Children who would like to be involved should look for Carol Gilderoy in the Narthex about ten minutes before worship.

MARCH 29, 7:00PM, HOLY FRIDAY WORSHIP (in-person only) 

We will gather in the sanctuary for a contemplative Tenebrae service to remember the moments surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion. This is a worship of readings and songs, and candles will be extinguished as the service progresses to signify Jesus’ death approaches. Many say that the experience of community in the deepest shadows of this moving worship is what causes their hearts to soar on Easter morning.  

HOLY WEEK VIGIL 

The sanctuary will be open for a Vigil from 9:00PM on Friday, March 29 (Holy Friday) to 3:00PM on March 30. You are invited to choose an hour to “keep watch” during this stretch of time before Easter morning’s resurrection. Materials to help guide some reflection will be available, and someone will be at the church all night for security. Look for an opportunity to sign up during the coffee hour or reach out to Sarah Ackers (sarah.ackers@fauntleroyucc.org).  

MARCH 31, EASTER MORNING WORSHIPS 

Three opportunities to celebrate Easter!  

  • 6:30AM, we’ll join Alki U.C.C. and Admiral U.C.C. for a sunrise service on Alki Beach (look for a bonfire near 57th Ave SW). A simple communion will be served. Rain or shine! Dress warmly.   

  • 9:00 and 11:00AM, identical Easter worship services will take place, with the 9:00AM livestreamed. We’ll transform a simple wire cross with beautiful spring flowers at the start of worship, so bring a favorite flower to add. Both services will include a Time with Children, and we’ll conclude with a joyous rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. Sunday school is available at the 11:00AM service for elementary-age children, and childcare is provided at both services for infants thru age 3 in the nursery.  

EASTER BREAKFAST Enjoy some wonderful Easter fellowship and a delicious breakfast from 9:30-11:00 on Easter morning in Fellowship Hall! Pancakes, egg casseroles, fruit, ham and sausage…! ($10/adults & $5/children suggested donation.) 

EASTER EGG HUNT 

After the 11:00AM worship (about 12:20PM) children are invited to enjoy an Easter Egg Hunt! Our youth will hide lots of eggs filled with treats around the church property. We’ll set aside the narthex/patio area for younger children and the front of the church for older children to enjoy this fun. (Dress for rain or shine!) 

EASTER FLOWERS IN MEMORY/HONOR OF LOVED ONES 

If you would like to give toward flowers used to fill our outdoor flower cross, beautify our breakfast tables, and supplement flowers brought for our wire cross, you can do so online or with a check marked “Easter flowers” + “In memory/honor of NAME.” These names will then be shared in our Easter bulletins if submitted by March 25.   

For Our Neighbors at The Welcome Table

Guests come to the free Saturday Welcome Table in White Center for nourishing food, socializing, and whatever is out on giveaway tables. Our Homelessness Task Force enthusiastically supports this weekly community service by enabling members and friends of this congregation to contribute food, volunteer during the meal, and donate these much-needed items that are clean and in good condition:

  • camping gear

  • linens (blankets, sheets, towels)

  • pants

  • jackets

  • t-shirts (L, XL)

  • sweatshirts/hoodies (L, XL, XXL)

  • socks

  • gloves

  • stocking caps

  • baby wipes

  • laundry pods

  • paper towels

  • toilet paper

  • first-aid supplies

  • full-sized hygiene & menstrual products

  • cough drops & other cold products

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