Shaping The Future Through Friendship And Faith

May Friendship Day is an annual Church Women United event observed as a common worship experience that strengthens and builds friendly relationships within communities.

Church Women United of Newtown-Bethel invites the public to join a service planned for Friday, May 7, at Lockwood Lodge (at Ashlar of Newtown), 139 Toddy Hill Road. The building is fully handicapped accessible, and there is no charge to attend. Donations will be welcomed, and will be used for the ongoing work of CWU/Newtown-Bethel.

The service will begin at 2:30 pm.

May Friendship Day is a time to celebrate The Fellowship of the Least Coin (FLC), a movement that seeks to instill peace and reconciliation in families, work places, communities, the nation, and the world through prayer and the setting aside of the least coin of each nation. Each time a participant prays for peace and reconciliation, he or she will put a coin — one US penny — into a FLC Coin Bank.

Once each year these coins are collected worldwide and used to provide educational experiences for women, to promote literacy, health, leadership development, and to enable women to meet ecumenically in regional and global gatherings. The CWU/Newtown-Bethel service at Lockwood Lodge will mirror similar services being held around the world on May 7.

“In Faith, Women Shape the Future Through Friendship” is this year’s May Friendship Day theme. The theme goes to the New Testament to examine the characteristics of friendship shown by Lois, Mary Magdalene, Lydia, Priscilla, Salome (the mother of James and John), and Phoebe.

In the Bible there are great friendships. The May 7 service will concentrate on women of the Bible and the characteristics that support friendship.

Midrash is a Hebrew term meaning “reading in between the lines” to the feeling part of a passage. Much of CWU’s Friendship Day program will allow attendees to put themselves into the scenes as they listen to what might have happened when the six women from the New Testament women were living. Each woman represents a specific characteristic of friendship: Lois is faith, Mary Magdalene is gratitude, Lydia is strength, Salome is serenity, Priscilla is hospitality, and Phoebe is courage.

The format for the CWU celebration will be a readers’ theater, using the writings of five poets from Eve’s Version: 150 Women of the Bible Speak Through Modern Poets, edited by Pauline Durrett Robertson.

Light refreshments will be served following the service.

For additional information contact CWU/Newtown-Bethel co-presidents Darlene Jackson, 426-5192, or Jeane Roberts, 426-9707.