CWU-Newtown Planning

May Friendship Day Celebration

The Church Women United celebration called May Friendship Day is an annual event celebrated across the country. The Newtown unit of Church Women United will host its May Friendship Day celebration Saturday, May 3, beginning at 9 am, at C.H. Booth Library. All are invited.

The morning will begin with a continental breakfast and fellowship at 9 am. All are invited to join members of CWU-Newtown for this portion of the morning before everyone sits down for the celebration.

The idea for this year’s May Friendship Day came from a question of how women interact at all levels of Church Women United in being hospitable. “Do we welcome individuals who are ‘different’ from us? Those who are another race, different age, denomination, or lifestyle. Or do we seen to be exclusive and keep our local units the same as they have been for years?” CWU-Newtown unit Celebration Chairperson Linda Manganaro challenged her fellow CWU-Newtown members recently. “Do we welcome individuals with different ideas or do we maintain things as they have always been?”

The underlying scripture passage for the celebration will be Matthew 25:35–40 (“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”).

Guest speaker for the morning will be Dr Kathleen Chesto, whose presentation will follow the celebration’s theme of “God’s Wisdom Inspires Hospitality… The Heart of Hospitality.” She will talk about how to use hospitality and other concepts to bring about peace in the world.

Dr Chesto was one of the featured presenters during last month’s Parent University at Reed Intermediate School. The award-winning author, mother, grandmother, and family educator offered a program called “Raising Kids Who Care,” based on her book of the same title. The presentation offered guidance for easing the overwhelming task of helping children grow ethically in an amoral world; and also how to teach children to care about themselves, the world, and those they encounter each day.

Additionally, Dr Chesto was a featured guest this month on Unity and Diversity, the cable program produced and hosted for Charter Communications by the Sandy Hook resident the Reverend Leo McIlrath. Dr Chesto’s program covered “The Sacrament of Holy Orders.”

Previous appearances on Unity and Diversity have concerned the sacrament of baptism (July 2006), a June 2006 program in which she discussed her role as a catechist, retreat director, and convocation speaker for national workshops on spirituality; and during three different programs in August 2005, Dr Chesto offered presentations on the meaning and history of the Sacrament of Anointing, the Sacrament of Confirmation, and the Anointing of the Sick.

In addition to Dr Chesto’s talk, the service will invite attendees to look at hospitality in three focus areas: “In Your Home,” “In Your Community,” and “Sharing Your Skills, Knowledge and Talents.” The program will deviate from previous CWU presentations in that participants will be divided into three groups for part of the service so that they may discuss one of the three topics above.

Through sharing scriptures and discussion, attendees will be called to a deeper understanding of what it truly means to provide hospitality. The sharing will be brief (15 minutes), with time scheduled for each group to report to all groups, with the hope that participants will take the service back to their own churches to continue the discussions.

In following traditional CWU celebrations, there will be a welcome by local president Darlene Jackson, prayers, a general offering, and an offering for Fellowship of the Least Coin (bring pennies), and music. The celebration will include the hymns “Draw Us In The Spirit’s Tether,” “Gather Us In,” and “Here I Am, Lord.” CWU-Newtown members will help in presenting the program.

Those planning to attend can rest assured that the library will in fact be accessible to May Friendship Day attendees. While the library does not open for regular business until 9:30 am on Saturdays, the lower entrances (from the rear parking lot) will in fact be unlocked so that everyone can get into the meeting room for the celebration.

For additional information call Darlene Jackson at 426-5192 or Linda Manganaro, 426-3496.