What are your hopes and dreams for the immediate future of our church? If we were to have the church space for our own use, what could this space offer? Prayer groups? Adult studies? Teen space? What are your ideas? How could we accomplish this?

In the relaxed atmosphere of the summer, we would like to open up a dialogue about our church’s immediate future. We invite you to participate in informal conversations centering on space usage, the finances to meet our goals, and mostly your hopes and dreams. This is an exciting time in the life of our church that offers all kinds of possibilities.

You can offer your input by attending one of the get-togethers that will be planned in July through September. We know your time is precious, so we are only asking for an hour of your time. We are looking for hosts who will offer their homes to a small gathering of people. Church leaders will facilitate the discussion. If you are willing to be a host, please contact Cindy Flohr (392-9548) or Bev Welsh (692-7797), or sign up in church. Also, monthly get-togethers after church in the summer will especially accommodate adults with children, as an activity and childcare will be provided, although any adult may attend.

Please watch for the dates of these gatherings soon to be announced. You can sign up to attend by email, phone, or in church. Join in the opportunity to share your hopes and dreams, as we work together to move forward and make some of our dreams become a reality.

Our congregation welcomed 19 new members to UMCW on Sunday, March 16.

Please extend a warm UMCW welcome to:

• Kari and Eric Anderson
• Jim and Mary Brinkerhoff
• Jerod and Blaine Colley
• Barry, Linda and Robert Greene
• Alan and Judy Miller
• Amy Morales
• Sharon and Noel Powell
• Jean Berube and Bill Quirk
• Tod and Pattie Salmonsen
• Jim Snyder

Over 400 members and friends celebrated the joy and victory of Easter 2008 at UMCW, at three Services — including an outdoor Sunrise service - and an Easter family breakfast run by the UMCW Youth Group.

A great night of fun and basketball raised more than $1,000 for the UMCW Youth Mission trip to Maine this summer.

Players from age 11 to 70-something turned out at Roudenbush Gym in Westford on Friday night, March 28, playing in a 3-on-3 “March Madness” benefit tournament that raised more than $1,000 for the UMCW Youth Mission trip to Maine this summer.

The bracket-style tournament included teams comprised of middle school boys and girls, high schoolers, moms, dads and grandparents.

The championship game featured one of the pre-tournament favorites – WA students Brian Ganley, Lee Russo and Calvin Liu, squaring off against the “sleeper” team of the tournament – “old guys” Mark Beatty, Rob O’Neal, Brian Ryder, and “super sub” Todd Shepherd. The old guys represented the over the hill set proudly, but eventually fell to the superior play of the Ganley/Russo/Liu team.

“It was great to see everyone having a fun time,” said Tommy Grip, one of the event’s organizers along with Erich Mueller, Shane O’Neal and Michael Grip. “We’re going to try to make this an annual event.”

Stay tuned for postings and updates!