03/26/2026
THE BLAST
MARCH 26, 2026 MINISTER MUSINGS
Before I get to thoughts around this week’s worship, I just wanted to thank y’all for your kindness around my leading worship. It’s a real joy to be able to lead in some various ways and also be a full community member. Thank you for being open and flexible as I explore how best to serve alongside all of y’all who are such experts on serving this community faithfully!
Palm Sunday is always a little tricky for me. Every time it comes around, I wonder what it’s really all about. Is it about parading around the sanctuary or even around the outside of the building? Is it about celebration? Is it a somber preparation for Good Friday? Is it an Easter warm-up act?
I’m never exactly sure how to feel.
This year, I’m struck by how central community is in this story. I think sometimes I think of Holy Week as a solitary event, because I think of Good Friday, with Jesus on the cross, feeling forsaken even by God. I imagine everyone alone in their thoughts, scattered like sheep without a shepherd. Even on Easter, I think about Mary crying in the garden alone.
But though that might be part of the story, it’s not the whole story. Palm
Sunday begins with a community-wide celebration of God’s goodness – stranger rejoicing and singing together on the streets and they welcome throngs of visitors into Jerusalem for worship. And yes, on Easter Mary is alone in the Garden, but she’s not alone for long, and when she realizes what’s happened, she runs to tell the others who – even without knowing the miracle of that morning – have started regathering and rejoining and re-community-izing.
I believe that Christ-centered and Christ-led community is central to the work that God is calling us to, because I believe that God’s dream isn’t just for me to be made whole or you to be made whole or Mallet’s Bay to be made whole, but for all of God’s world to be reclaimed and redeemed and re-formed.
So here’s some homework – and this will be on the test. What is a way in which you have been blessed by your faith or your faith community? It can be Mallet’s Bay, but it could be any experience that you’ve had around faith. I’m looking forward to hearing what you feel like sharing on Sunday!
Rev. Ken White
Sunday’s Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
21 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a c**t with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” 4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a c**t, the foal of a donkey.”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the c**t and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Sunday’s Hymns
We Praise You, O God NCH 420
This Land Is Your Land - Handout
Love Divine All Love Excelling NCH 43
Zoom link for worship use passcode “faith”
April 3, 2026 @ Noon
The First Congregational Church of Essex Jct is hosting a Good Friday Service. Ten churches and their pastors will attend. The service will be creative, inspiring and full of divergent views of what is Good About Good
Friday as refelcted in the seven last words of Jesus. The Champlain Valley Clervy Association participants thought it would be a great opportunity to share a meal together and get to know some of the members at our sister churches in the area. After the service, there will be sandwich fixings for all. BRING A FRIEND!
MBCUCC will not be having a Good Friday service, however carpooling to The FCC in Essex can be arranged for those interested.
Prayer List
Eddie O’Shea: extra prayers for health
Jeff Fontaine: emotional and physical healing for family members involved in a plane accident
Joel Long: health concerns
Lois Fontaine: health concerns
Lois Johnson (Lois’s mom): health concerns
Linda Carey: healing & recovery
Paul Tagliamonte: health concerns
Sharon Robbins: for her upcoming eye surgeries
Tom Chadwick: health concerns and death of his father
Tricia (Sharon’s daughter): healing
Rev. Marjorie: healing
Rev. Dr. Lynn Bujnak: health concerns
Don Ballas: health concerns
Malletts Bay UCC
P.O. Box 157
1672 W Lakeshore Drive
Colchester, VT 05446 mallettsbayucc.org
[email protected]
802.658.9155
EASTER LILIES
$14 PER 7” POT, 1 PLANT; $33 PER 10” POT, 4 PLANTS. PLEASE INDICATE HOW MANY LILY PLANTS YOU ARE ORDERING:
7” LILY PLANT/S 10” LILY PLANT/S
$ TOTAL
TULIPS AND DAFFODILS
$13 PER 7” POT; $16 PER 8.5” POT.
PLEASE INDICATE HOW MANY TULIP OR DAFFODIL PLANTS YOU ARE ORDERING:
PLEASE CIRCLE YOUR CHOICE.
7” TULIP OR DAFFODIL 8.5” TULIP OR DAFFODIL
$ TOTAL
Introduction to the Christian church, Malletts Bay UCC, and contact information.
