The First Presbyterian - First Presbyterian Church
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The First Presbyterian - First Presbyterian Church
The First Presbyterian Volume 62 No 2 October 2007 Consecration Sunday Is Coming Sunday, October 28 Congregations that approach financial stewardship from a biblical perspective do not view the money Christians give to their church merely as a way to pay its bills. Rather, such congregations see financial contributions as a way to help people grow spiritually in their relationship with God by supporting their church’s mission and ministry with a percentage of their incomes. Our congregation’s stewardship committee has selected the Consecration Sunday Stewardship Program as a way to teach the biblical and spiritual principles of generous giving in our stewardship education emphasis this year. Consecration Sunday is based on the biblical philosophy of the need of the giver to give for his or her own spiritual development, rather than on the need of the church to receive. Instead of treating people like members of a social club who should pay dues, we will treat people like followers of Jesus Christ who want to give unselfishly as an act of discipleship. Consecration Sunday encourages people toward proportionate and systematic giving in response to the question, “What percentage of my income is God calling me to give?” “… on this rock I will build my church.” Matthew 16:18. Homecoming Picnic - 2006. See p. 3 for 2007 Picnic. In This Issue Visioning Update .......... 2 Mission Opportunity..... 2 Homecoming ................. 3 Guatemala Trip........... 4-5 Equinox Thanksgiving.. 6 Focus Breakfast............ 6 Committee Night ........... 7 Summer Flock Party ..... 7 Choir Notes ............. 8, 10 Grant Awarded .............. 8 Pause Here a Moment .. 9 Calendar ...................... 11 During morning worship (at 9:30) on Consecration Sunday, October 28, we are asking our attendees and members to make their financial commitments to our church’s missionary, benevolent, and educational ministries in this community and around the world. Every attendee and member who completes an Estimate of Giving Card does so voluntarily by attending morning worship on Consecration Sunday. (We urge people to attend who feel strongly opposed to completing a card. The procedure is done in such a way that no one feels personal embarrassment if he or she chooses not to fill out a card.) We will do no home solicitation to ask people to complete cards. During morning worship our guest leader will conduct a brief period of instruction and inspiration, climaxed by members making their commitments as a confidential act of worship. We will encourage participation in Consecration Sunday events through the Consecration Sunday team and governing board members. Since we will make no follow-up visits to ask people to complete their cards, we will make every effort to inform, inspire, and commit everyone to attend Consecration Sunday worship. Thanks in advance for your enthusiastic participation in Consecration Sunday events. Sincerely, Garrett DeGraff Stewardship Committee Chairperson The First Presbyterian Visioning Update By Rev. Dr. Miriam Lawrence Leupold First Presbyterian Church Albany, NY Founded in 1763 Miriam Lawrence Leupold Glenn D. Leupold Co-Pastors Robert C. Lamar Pastor Emeritus Victor A. Klimash Director of Music Nancy J. Frank Organist Elders Gladys Crowder Clerk of Session Michael Attwell Ted Cameron Garrett DeGraff Eric Eisenbraun Catherine Fletcher Freda Gardner Lee Helsby Ray Henrikson Jack Holmes Tara Lindsley Judith Mark Phillip Riddle Peggy Schalit Irving Smith William Storrs Deacons Peter E. Thomas Moderator Rita Austin Keith Barber Marc Boucher Bruce Brynolfson Leif Engstrom Heidi Elad Sue Holmes Yousaf Mathias Vaughn Nevin David Quist Gail Scott Rachel Smith Sarah Sperry Linda Stevens Judith Wing Albert Wood Margaret Zettle We are moving forward in our implementation of Session’s visioning process begun in February. One of the Ministry Priorities that was identified at that time was the Music Ministry. The Administration Committee met with Music Director, Victor Klimash, to discuss ways to develop further the music ministry of First Pres. Development strategies include the following: beginning a Bell Choir, using more instrumentalists in worship services (we have great talent within our congregation), scheduling more outside musical groups to use our building, creating fellowship opportunities centered on music (e.g. Coffee House), continuing to expand the use of new music in the choir repertoire, including the words of more musical pieces in the bulletin. As the choir returned to singing in September, they were given the opportunity to participate in Adult Education or in the teaching of our children and youth education with the cancellation of the 9:30 Sunday Chancel Choir rehearsal. This also allows those people who had chosen Adult Education over singing in the choir the opportunity to do both. The choir has a warm up at 10:20 on Sunday mornings in Assembly Hall. As mentioned in the September newsletter, the Administration Committee has received from the Christian Education Committee the job descriptions for someone to coordinate the Christian Education of children and youth in the church – a vital ministry within our church. Administration will be exploring ways to staff that area along with the Small Group Ministry area. It is exciting to see the visioning process being lived out in our midst as we seek to be the church God calls us to be. Mission Workday This summer, Roscoe, NY, suffered significant flood damage from heavy rain. 35 homes and businesses needed to be "mucked out", relief language for stripping a house of damaged material after a flood. While almost all of that work is complete, they have asked for help with debris removal from the town site and planting along the river edge. "Mucking out" is harder work because it is work that is focused on what has been lost. Doing rebuilding and construction is much more enjoyable because it is an act of giving a community a new future. In response to a call for help, First Pres will be doing a workday on Saturday, October 13. This one-day mission event is a great way to let the love of God be known by doing acts of love. We will meet at the church around 8 am and carpool to Roscoe (with our lunches packed), working till around 5 or 6 pm and drive home, arriving back at First Pres around 7 pm. This will give us a fairly good length of time to help them out. We can bring shovels, work gloves, water/waterbottles, sun hat/sunscreen, saw, dirt rake. If you don't have tools, that's OK. If it is raining, we'll cancel. Let Glenn know if you are interested (449-7332 or gleupold@firstpresalbany.org) so we can tell the people there how many to expect! 2 The Assembly Hall was filled with picnickers… The First Presbyterian Fiona McKinney, Roger Green, Gladys Crowder, Al, Easton, Susan Easton, Jack Holmes, Peggy Schalit, Bob Schalit, and Tim O’Toole lead in praising God with song. Susan Brynolfson, Peggy and Bob Schalit on oboe, violin, and harmonica We were glad to be in God’s company and each other’s — over 150 of us. Homecoming And the party continued. Dotting the Assembly Room were white covered tables, and down one side, serving tables filled with sandwiches, pickles, ice cream bars, and all the good foods that spell p-i-c-n-i-c. Small children ran around on the stage as their parents and others shared conversations filled with news of the last few months and what lies ahead for First Pres. It was community at its best. Actually, when one thinks about it, homecoming is where the people are — inside or out really doesn’t matter. Picnic is a State of Mind – and Spirit By Judy Mark It rained. A welcome, needed rain. But we had, indeed, been looking forward to having worship and a picnic in Washington Park to celebrate the return of our First Pres “flock” after a summer of rest and relaxation. Yet, the dampness outside did not affect our spirits in the least as we gathered in the Sanctuary for song, the Word, and Communion. The Assembly Hall was filled with picnickers . . . . … and with an abundance of picnic food. 3 The First Presbyterian Un Viaje de Amistad, Labor y Entender A Journey of Friendship, Work, and Understanding From Albany to San Juan Ostuncalco, Guatemala By Alice Schrade Trip participants: Matt Haller, Melanie Mayberry, Marilyn Riddle, Alice Schrade, Irving Smith (First Presbyterian, Albany); Rev. Kathy Gorman Coombs and son Kyle, Beverly Burnett (Trinity Presbyterian, Scotia); Rev. Rick Hill (Schoharie Presbyterian); Rev. Alexandra Lusak (Troy United Presbyterian); Kim Koza and daughter Jess. We were a group of twelve when we left Albany, joined by three others in Guatemala City: Dania and Emerson, our leaders, and Raul, our Turismo bus driver. The Mission Team from First Pres on the Sunday of their commissioning After an orientation at the offices of CEDEPCA (Centro Evangélico de Estudios Pastorales en Centro América), we drove to a park where there was a huge relief map with volcanoes, mountains, and lakes of Guatemala, which we viewed from small towers. There we became oriented to the vast magnificence of Guatemala’s highlands and lowlands. We had two purposes in traveling to Guatemala as a group from the Albany Presbytery: 1) to review and renegotiate our partnership with IENPG (National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala), and 2) to construct a chicken coop. Irving, on the trip two years ago, had promised to return to help Salome’s youth group with a project. That was it – chicken coop construction! We came in the rainy season. It was cold and damp, and we trekked up and down and through muddy cornfields that bordered our quarters and the area where the chicken coops were built. After breakfast we began our work. We gathered wood for stakes, dug holes, picked apples, and even Raul, our bus driver, joined the team and excavated a trench for concrete blocks. The area under the coop needed grading. We learned to use tools in a way we had never imagined. They showed us that the machete has a variety of useful purposes. Marilyn bought a post-hole digger in town, and we discovered that it was as strange to them as the machete was to us. On our last day together we offered lap top computers to the youth and found that their facility with our technological tool matched our skills with their tool of choice. 4 Trabajamos juntos, jugamos juntos, reímos juntos: el comienzo de amistad. -- We work together, we play together, we laugh together: the beginning of friendship. We joined the youth of their church and together we mixed and wheeled cement to the site. Each day the church women brought us soup, tortillas, and a case of soda. One day in the pouring rain three women carrying water from the restaurant slid down the hill with the soup pot, along with the case of soda a young man had been carrying on his head. The poignancy of the situation was matched only by their kindness and generosity to us. Indigenous people make a kind of corn gruel, which served as a morning snack along with corn on the cob (more like field corn than what we are used to at the local farm stand). Alice helped in the kitchen, grinding, stirring, sifting, and stoking the fire: all part of the working day for Guatemalan girls and women. The First Presbyterian Cooperative chicken coop construction A Guatemalan displays her goods at the local market. Then the pot was carried to the work site up the muddy hill for everyone to share. Before any work could begin, everything had to be checked with a level and a plumb line. There is an art to building chicken coops. One evening we listened to a short homily on plumb lines. At the end of each day we gathered for reflection and to discuss our progress toward achieving our goals. Kathy Gorman-Coombs offered a workshop for the girls and women of the church on domestic violence. The conversation and smiles we shared with the Mam women and the youth brought us all closer together as women, young and old. We made drawings to show what we do on a daily basis. We laughed together as we discovered that most of us have to make coffee in the morning, first thing, but they don’t set their pots on a timer. On Saturday when we had completed our work, we set out for a meeting with the Mam Presbytery. The chicken coop was nearly finished with the roof on when we packed up, cleaned up the mud, and boarded our bus for the presbytery office, not a great distance but a two-hour journey with road blocks, mud slides and construction. We had been assured that the officers of the executive council were expecting us, but, as it turned out, our arrival was a bit of a surprise. However, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, everyone who was supposed to be there arrived. The meeting was long, and it soon became clear that the agreement was not to be signed that day and that we would begin again to redefine our relationship with the Mam Presbytery. Their offices and staff are not set up like ours. E-mails are not read daily and staff comes in maybe once a week. Communications are difficult in English, Spanish, and Mam, in vastly different cultures, and in the delicate negotiations and cultural protocol needed to develop a firm relationship and a binding friendship. It doesn’t happen in a moment between groups. Individually, when one soul meets another and sees its partner in the soul of a brother or sister, it can happen. However, bureaucracy, an imbalance of money, and inequality of power are barriers that we still need to overcome. The men of the executive council of the Mam Presbytery are interested in continuing to develop a relationship with the Albany Presbytery. The travelers are ready for another trip, and we all are grateful for our congregations who held us in their prayers while we were gone. We are all looking forward to talking with groups in our various churches about our trip. Alice stirs the pot under the watchful eye of a Guatemalan friend. 5 The First Presbyterian The Annual Equinox Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner A Special Volunteer Opportunity By Carol Bullard For more than three decades, First Presbyterian Church has offered Equinox space to host the Annual Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner, and from our church each year more than 500 individuals are served a sit-down Thanksgiving meal that brings guests and volunteers together to share and give thanks in our community. It is truly a joyous feast! While some members of our church have for years generously and spontaneously given of their time and talent to this event, this year the Mission Committee would like to pull together a group of interested volunteers who would have the unique assignment of “shadowing” the Church Site Coordinator for a designated period of time on one of the days leading up to Thanksgiving (when all the planning and preparation takes place), on Thanksgiving Day itself (serving 500plus meals), or on the day after Thanksgiving (clean-up operation). The goal would be to provide assistance to the Coordinator as needed, but also to help us at First Pres get a better idea of what actually goes into coordinating and carrying out this major event. Shortly after Thanksgiving, the “shadowing” group would meet with members of the Mission Committee to share what they had learned from their shadowing experience. FOCUS Breakfast Program Specifically, we would like to find 6-8 individuals willing to roll up their sleeves and devote one day (or a half of the day on Thanksgiving) to the project on any one of the following dates: November 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. If you are seeking a new challenge and one that will put you in direct contact with people from all walks of life who come together in thanks, please contact Carol Bullard, 463-8256 (evenings and weekends). The 2007 – 2008 FOCUS Breakfast Program will open on Tuesday, October 30th, beginning the 24th year of our cold weather emergency feeding program for the poor and needy of downtown Albany. Bring or wear orange and black – clothing and treats - since the program will be celebrating Halloween during that first week back. October 7 is Peacemaking Sunday and World Communion Sunday If you would like to know more about this program and are considering helping out, consider yourself invited to the FOCUS Breakfast Program’s Fall Luncheon on Friday, October 26, 12 – 1 p.m., at Westminster Presbyterian Church on State Street. Parking is available at 85 Chestnut, beside the church. This event will welcome new volunteers and provide a quick overview of the program, as well as offer returning volunteers a chance to reconnect with team members and get back in the breakfast program groove. Please contact program coordinator Kathy Linhardt (Tutmans@aol.com or 518-265-4967) by October 15. Christians around the world will be sharing the Lord's Supper, creating a global statement of solidarity and witness. To share this act of rememberance around the world reminds us that we are not Africans, Europeans, Asians or North and South Americans. Rather, we are beloved children of God, forgiven and accepted in order to love one another and tell the world of God's gracious love. And what better day than Word Communion Sunday to work toward peace in the world by receiving the Peacemaking Offering in worship. This offering is used by First Pres as well as around our nation and around the world by our denomination. Please be generous, as peace is sorely needed these days. 6 The First Presbyterian Committee Night Flock Celebrates Summer at the Sperrys’ Session voted at its August meeting to try a new way of scheduling committee meetings. “Committee Night” will be held the first Tuesday of the month and will involve seven committees that meet on a regular basis. In this arrangement there will be two committee sessions with a meal in between. By Keith Barber The Downtown/North Albany Flock wrapped up summer with a wonderful pot luck picnic at Sarah and Adam Sperry's home on Edgewood Avenue. The weather cooperated, and it was warm enough to enjoy dining in the screened-in back porch, yet cool enough to be fully comfortable. It was an evening of good food, good conversation, and the company of people we like a lot. The following advantages were cited for such a schedule: an opportunity for fellowship, a way to accommodate Elders and other members who serve on two committees, a means to communicate among committees dealing with the same issue, an opportunity for the Co-Pastors to be available as requested by Committee chairs, a more efficent use of pastoral time, and an opportunity to carpool. Four other committees (Administration, Finance, Nominating and Stewardship) which meet less or more frequently or more seasonally, will not be included in the new scheme. Session will evaluate this process in January. The schedule is below. 5:30–7:00 Membership Mission Property Worship 7–7:30 Dinner 7:30–9:00 Christian Education Communications & Technology More Light Don Mark, Carol Green and Lydia, Rita Austin and Roger Green relax at the home of Sarah and Adam Sperry. Adam Sperry, Irene Slivoski, and Bruce Brynolfson share food and conversation at the neighborhood flock party. 7 Sarah Sperry, deacon and host of the party The First Presbyterian Grant Awarded to Brian Fuss By Judy Mark Brian Fuss, a ministerial inquirer and active member of First Pres, has received an Educational Grant which will enable him to be able to take his first seminary course. Brian will be studying at Saint Bernards Seminary. We wish Brian well and look forward to following his faith journey. Remember, if there are any other First Pres. members pursuing courses of study beyond the high school level which lead to a certificate or a degree and are in need of financial assistance, please contact the church office and a financial grant fund application will be mailed to you. Brian Fuss Chapel Choir Notes By Fiona McKinney Our first rehearsal this season was Monday, September 17, 6:30 pm. Monday evenings will be our regular rehearsal time. The Chapel Choir music is organized in individual folders, and most of the music for the year has been selected, but there is always opportunity for chorister input. My experience at Temple Berith Shalom in Troy, where I was solist for the fall High Holy days, opened a new world of musical tradition to me, some of which will be incorporated into our Chapel Choir repertoire. The Chapel Choir’s first appearance will be on October 21 at both the 8:30 and 10:45 services. We’ll see you then! Come to a Potluck Supper fellowship! October 19, 6 pm in the Rose Room. Seated around the table at a previous gathering are (clockwise) Lois Cameron, Tim O’Toole, Gladys Crowder, Katie Henrikson, Sue Holmes, and Jack Homes 8 The Chapel Choir starts a new season under the direction of Fiona McKinney. Britany Orlebeke and Fiona McKinney perform here with a group of choirsters: Annabel Lewis, Araglin Kite, Mackenzie Robinson, and Margaret Leupold. The First Presbyterian Pause Here a Moment • • • By the Rev. Glenn Leupold The laws of physics dictate that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Far too many times this law spills over into the arena of human affairs. We push the limits of technology, press to higher speeds, deeper oceans, and further into space. We drive the limits of human endurance to say we were there - Everest, the North and South Poles, the Moon – and someday, Mars. There are people looking into the process for cloning human beings. Someone will do it - just to be first. We do learn in the effort. But, there is often a backlash. Scott did not live to return from the South Pole. The men of Apollo 13 and the space station have had their own near misses with the vacuum of space. The astronauts of two Space Shuttles and a few of the Russian cosmonauts have passed into eternity in their efforts. It is the competitive spirit in humanity that seeks to push back the envelope just a little further. At its best, it drives us to learn to save lives, reap more per acre, and reach for Don Quixote's farthest star from The Impossible Dream. At its worst it drives society to grapple for political, economic, social or financial power at the expense of the powerless. All the more interesting that Jesus didn’t let this quality disqualify Judas from being a disciple. Judas saw Jesus as the Messiah King who would throw off the Roman yoke and free Israel. But the Lord had set higher sights. Did You Know? . . . that the Joseph Henry window is found in the Assembly Hall and is in memory of the scientist who studied electromagnetism? Son of a laborer, he was accepted into Albany Academy on scholarship, where the child prodigy was soon assisting in teaching science lessons. Henry was the first Secretary and later a Director of the Smithsonian Institution, and also a President of the National Academy of Science. Mr. Henry was baptized in the First Presbyterian Church of Albany. Whenever I find myself jealous of the disciples and think that, if I had been one of them, surely I would have all my questions answered and my faith would be absolute, I think of Judas. For the better part of three years, he walked and talked and sat at the feet of Jesus. Instead of understanding what Jesus was about, he hoped Jesus would take the throne of David. It seems that being a disciple is no guarantee at all. Judas was hoping to be Treasurer or maybe head of the Federal Reserve in Jesus’ administration. Judas tried to make God do it his way - the way Judas thought it should happen. During the Last Supper, Jesus had told him, "Do quickly what you must.” Judas departed with his plan in motion, but it was not God's plan after all. In the morning, Judas returned to the religious leaders grief stricken and searching for answers. These were the same men who had paid him for Jesus betrayal. Again, Judas' plan. God's plan is for us to turn to God for help in those times. Generally, God points us to God’s self. Sometimes God will lead us to a friend, but that friend will be pointing us through our pain to Jesus. In the end, Judas' plan cost him his life. Judas' enormous action had an equally enormous reaction. 9 The First Presbyterian Notes from The Choir Loft Ushers and Greeters By Victor Klimash Oct 7 8:30 am John Myers 10:45 am Team 6 - Esther Yomoah, J. Melvin Bostic, Alice Schrade, Gail Scott Oct 14 8:30 am Eric Eisenbraun 10:45 am Team 7 - Marc Scarlett, Amy Scarlett, Carolyn Garvin, Marc Boucher Oct 21 8:30 am Bruce Brynolfson 10:45 am Team 8 - Elly Rice, Bill Storrs, Irving Smith, Heidi Iyok-Elad, Margaret Zettle, Sherry Hall Our Second Sunday Prelude Recital this month will be presented by the accomplished pianist, Gordon Hibberd. A graduate of The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, Gordon did postgraduate study at the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers include the famed Cecile Genhart, Joseph Fennimore, Artur Balsam and Dora Zaslovsky. Oct 28 9:30 am Gordon is the accompanist for the University at Albany University-Community Chorale, the Ne’imah Jewish Community Chorus, and our Chapel Choir. He serves as the staff accompanist for Schenectady Community College, accompaniist for students at the College of St. Rose, New York State School Music Association adjudications, recitals, auditions, competitions, lessons and coachings. Consecration Sunday (One Service) Team 1 - Phillip Riddle, Marilyn Riddle, Harriet Seeley, Carol Green Have you enjoyed Visiting First Presbyterian? Do you like what you see? Are you wondering how you can become a part of this? Of special interest in October is the Anthem that will be presented on Sunday, October 20: Let all the People Praise Thee, O God by Willam Matthias. It was originally composed in 1981 for the wedding of HRH Phillip, Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer. To find out more about First Pres and how to become a member, plan to attend the Inquirers’ Seminar on Sundays, October 14 and 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Library. Register to attend by calling the Church Office (449-7332). If you have any questions contact CoPastors Miriam and Glenn at the church. Bells at First Presbyterian Are you interested in offering hospitality to church members and visitors on Sunday mornings at First Pres? First Presbyterian Church has a rich history of music making, and one of the legacies we would like to once again enjoy is the sound of a bell choir. Therefore, we would like to revive the bell choir tradition, too long absent from our church. People who have an interest in taking part in this kind of musical experience are asked to speak with Victor Klimash either in person, or by calling the church and leaving a message (449-7332). Come ring! If so, consider signing up to be on an usher/greeter team. You would usher and greet once every two months, offering hospitality to people worshiping. If you’re interested please let Sandra know in the Church Office (info@firstpresalbany.org or 449-7332). 10 The First Presbyterian Sunday Lectionary Readings for October Oct 7 Lam. 1:1-6; Lam. 3:19-26 or Ps. 137; 2 Tim. 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10 Oct 14 Jer. 29:1, 4-7; Ps. 66:1-12; 2 Tim. 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19 Oct 21 Jer. 31:27-34; Ps. 119:97-104; 2 Tim. 3:14--4:5; Luke 18:1-8 Oct 28 Joel 2:23-32; Ps. 65; 2 Tim. 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14 Consecration Sunday October 28 Office hours Monday through Friday 9:30 am to 1:30 pm Secretary Sandra Marr Phone Fax Web E-mail 518-449-7332 518-449-3104 www.firstpresalbany.org info@firstpresalbany.org The First Presbyterian Newsletter is published 11 times a year. Editor Layout Rev. Glenn D. Leupold Richard C. Gascoyne Please notify the church office of any change in address. You can sign up for the Celebration Luncheon during worship! 11 Recordings of the worship service are available from the Church Office.
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