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Middle Island Presbyterian Church Newsletter |
APRIL 2006 |
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Middle Island Presbyterian Church Newsletter |
APRIL 2006 |
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In my time here at MIPC, what has
become my favorite part of our observance of Lent is the Maundy Thursday
service that so many find so moving.
Maundy Thursday, of course, is the night of Jesus= arrest and the night in which he
instituted the Lord=s Supper out of a simple Passover
celebration with the disciples. We
remember this night every time we celebrate communion, but for many Christians
an annual Maundy Thursday service is the most important time to remember it.
I often wonder why Jesus chose a
meal with his disciples to show his
love for them when it seems he had so many other options. He could have given them a special hug, a
special handshake or even some special words to recite every time they gathered
in his name, but instead, he chose to give them this meal. Could it be that Jesus was trying to tell us
that one of the best ways to show the love he came to bring was through feeding
the hungry? As any parent knows who has
watched their baby scream and make tortured expressions on their face when
their bellies are empty, few needs are quite as desperate or profound as
hunger, and few gestures are therefore more compassionate than feeding one who
hungers.
Few of us would doubt that there
are hungry people in developing countries such as El Salvador, or even in this
country following disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, but I wonder how many of
us really believe that there are hungry people living right here in Ridge or in
Suffolk County? Well, I am convinced
that there are many such people living in our communities. The problem, though, is that they are often
invisible. You can=t always tell who is hungry and who
isn=t simply based on how they dress or
how well fed they appear. But, if you
do the math you can tell that someone who works a full time job making seven to
eight dollars an hour bagging groceries, working as a store clerk or pumping
gasoline can ill afford to live in this area without missing a few meals.
The good news, though, is that we
can do something both to feed the hungry
here at MIPC and to show Jesus= love in the most meaningful way he taught us to show
it. We can feed the hungry in our
community by continuing to support local missions such as the Riverhead Food
Pantry, but we can also start our own food pantry here at MIPC so that we can
see the human faces of those we are feeding and know their names. If you believe that God is calling you to be
a part of establishing our Food Pantry, please speak with me or our new mission
committee chairperson Debbie Strauss.
Together, we can make hunger in our community a thing of the past and
together we can love our neighbors as Jesus taught us to love them.
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Blessings,
Pastor Rich
AFEED MY SHEEP...@
RIVERHEAD
FOOD PANTRY
by
Judi & John Heinrich
Our
last visit to the Long Island Council of Churches=
Riverhead Food Pantry on March 6, 2006, remained sobering. The number of needy families remains at the
2004/2005 record levels. Our continued
food donation support is sorely needed.
We
need to remember the hungry and needy in Suffolk County each time we do our
grocery shopping. There are usually
some great bargains on nutritious staple foods that we could purchase to share
with the less fortunate.
The
Souper Bowl effort is a close race between Jr. High and Team Kids (160 to 159
respectively). As Judi and I are
leaving on vacation, we are dropping 5 cans into the Team Kids box to change
the count to 160 to 164. Sr. High is
way behind with 99. The winners are the
hungry in Suffolk County!
Please
keep filling the MIPC food boxes! We
promise delivery with a smile.
TREASURER=S
THOUGHTS
John
Heinrich
This year we have 53 Sundays, but the snow closed us down - back to
52! We
have started out very well with a record number of members paying their Per
Capita (membership) fees and several members catching up on 2005
donations. Please continue!
Please
note that all special offerings, including the ARaise
the Roof@
fund, Tsunami relief, Per Capita, OGHS, Youth Mission Trips, Easter,
Thanksgiving and Christmas, are in addition to your pledge and offering
envelopes. Remember that God loves a
cheerful giver! I want Him to really
love us this year. Thank you!
MARK
YOUR CALENDAR!
WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 5 AT 12 P.M.
Ecumenical
Lenten Service at MIPC
SATURDAY,
APRIL 8 AT 7 P.M.
Team
Kids Youth Group meeting (Grades 4-5)
SUNDAY,
APRIL 9
9:00
Adult Bible Study
10:00 Palm Sunday Worship Service
11:15 Shepherds=
Meeting
7:00 Jr High Youth (Gr 6-7) Movie
Night
THURSDAY,
APRIL 13 AT 7:30 P.M.
Maundy
Thursday Worship Service
FRIDAY,
APRIL 14 AT 12 P.M.
Good
Friday service at Trinity Lutheran
SATURDAY,
APRIL 15 AT 10:30 A.M.
Women=s
Association Meeting
SUNDAY,
APRIL 16 AT 10:00 A.M.
Easter
Worship Service
SATURDAY,
APRIL 22 AT 6:30 P.M.
Progressive
Dinner (must sign up right away!)
SUNDAY,
APRIL 23
5:00 Confirmation Class
7:00 Jr. High Youth (Gr 6-7) Outdoor
Sports Night
SUNDAY,
MAY 7
Bring-A-Friend-To-Church Sunday!
Please
join us for the potluck luncheon to follow, and don=t
forget the ABring
& Buy@
Craft and Bake Sale after church.
5:00 Last confirmation class
SATURDAY,
MAY 13
Longwood
Day - stay tuned for more info!
SUNDAY,
MAY 14
Mother=s
Day! (Thanks, Mom...)
ABRING-A-FRIEND@ SUNDAY
MAY 7, 2006
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When was the last
time you invited a friend, neighbor, or co-worker to attend worship service
with you? Can=t remember? Well, here=s your chance! On May 7th, the Fellowship Team
will be hosting a wonderful potluck luncheon following worship service, so be
sure to invite someone new to join us here for worship at MIPC.
NEWS
FROM OUR PRESBYTERY
March 7th
letter from Tom M. Castlen, Executive Presbyter
AFor
everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven@
(Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Dear
Colleagues and Friends,
After
a time of discernment, I have concluded it is time to write a new chapter in my
life. This chapter will include
continuing ministries as a consultant, trainer, teacher and coach through
Pathfinders: Church Consulting and as a pulpit supply pastor; personal and
family time; and a transition from doing to being.
So,
today, I submitted my resignation as Executive Presbyter to the Personnel
Committee, effective July 31, 2006, which concurred in my request, and will
recommend approval to Presbytery Council and the Presbytery. I am asking the Committee on Ministry to
recommend that the Presbytery of Long Island grant me the status of Honorably
Retired effective August 1, 2006.
The
plan calls for me to continue in service through the June 6, 2006 Presbytery
Meeting and use the remaining period to phase out of my work, attend the
General Assembly, and vacation time. In
my annual report at the March Presbytery meeting, I will look back over the
past eleven years and try to put some perspective on where we are and where we
are going as a Presbytery.
This
chapter closes forty-seven years of ministry as a student pastor, pastor,
stated supply, teacher, consultant, Synod and General Assembly staff, and
executive presbyter. I look forward to
reflecting on these years to see what, if anything, is of significance in this
ministry. I want to work with those who
are ready to engage the challenges before the Church now and in the
future. I am more committed today to my
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to ministry than at any time. God willing, the Castlens intend to remain
on Long Island. Home is here. My role as Executive Presbyter will
stop. I will honor that. Lead me not into temptation.
I
thank you for the opportunity to minister among you and with you. Ministry here is hard, yet it brings love
and joy and hope to life. Following
Jesus on this mission field is a witness for the whole denomination to watch
and learn from. My prayers will be with
you in the years ahead.
Be
good to yourself at least once a day.
God bless.
Sincerely,
Tom
M. Castlen
Executive
Presbyter
ABRING
& BUY@
CRAFT
AND BAKE SALE
Coming
to the ABring-a-Friend@
potluck luncheon after church on May 7th? Good! Don=t
forget to bring a pie or a cake for the bake sale!
The
Women=s
Association will be holding a ABring
and Buy@
Craft and Bake Sale in the hallway following worship service on May 7th. Anyone handy with a mixer or a pair of
knitting needles is asked to bake a treat or make a handmade craft item to
benefit the Peggy Bernard Raise the Roof Fund.
BUILDING
& GROUNDS REPORT
By
Jerry Mauder
Thankfully,
we had a relatively mild winter and managed to avoid any major problems or
repairs. We did have a myriad of minor problems, but fortunately, members of
our congregation came to the rescue and took care of those maintenance and
repair issues. Many thanks to those who contributed their time and talents.
Spring
is just around the corner and soon it will be time again for our Spring
Clean-up Day, which will be scheduled for May 20th, with May 27th
as a rain date. So, please mark your calendars now and plan to be there. Watch
for further details in future bulletins.
After
we clean all the branches, leaves, and debris from the property, it will once
again be time to begin the mowing schedule. Depending on the weather, mowing is
usually required beginning late May or early June and extending into October.
We will be posting a weekly sign-up schedule in late April and I hope to see
more than four members carrying the load this year.
The
raise the roof fund has been steadily growing and is currently around $14,000.
We are on target to reach our goal and should be able to begin the project in
late spring or early summer. We will need a total of $20,000 to do the entire
building. Fortunately, there are five distinct sections of roof so we can do it
in stages, if necessary. Kudos to everyone, who have worked on a variety of
fundraisers and to those who have made donations to the fund. A very special thanks
to the memory of Peggy Bernard, whose bequest of $5,000 provided the seed money
to start the fund.
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We
still have an ongoing objective to paint the sanctuary, the hallway, and
Fellowship Hall. Every effort will be made to accomplish this immediately
following the end of the Little Lambs school year.
SOMETHING
TO THINK ABOUT
By
The Worship and Music Committee
It
seems that at MIPC we are always asking for money. As this Voyager goes to print we have just gotten the 2006 budget
in place, it=s
time for One Great Hour of Sharing and we are still working on fund
raising for the new roof. We don=t
want to overburden anyone but the Worship and Music Committee over the next few
months would like your help with something we think is very worthwhile.
Many
people have said that some of the hymns in the ABig
Blue Hymnal@
are getting kind of stale. There is
plenty of other great Christian music to sing, but problems with putting the
lyrics in the bulletins and copyright laws make it difficult to use this music
for service. Pastor Rich has discovered
a great supplemental hymnal and music book, recently published by the
Presbyterian Church. It has many
contemporary hymns, praise songs and a lot of other pieces that could really
add to the service.
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The
Worship and Music Committee would like the church to purchase these books and
start using them for service in September.
The price of each book with shipping is approximately $11. To offset the cost we would like everyone
the think about Adonating@ a
hymnal or hymnals. This could be Ain
memory of a loved one@, ATo
the Glory of God@
or to anything else that would be appropriate.
A label will be placed in the inside cover of the hymnal noting the
dedication. We will begin collecting cash donations for this cause
later this spring.
CALLING ALL MEN!!
Don=t forget that all men
of MIPC are invited to the Rocky Point Diner at 8 a.m. on the 4th
Sunday of each month for breakfast and fellowship. Our next meeting will be on April 22nd - see you
there!
IT=S BEEN THREE YEARS!!!
By Bill Goodland
Did you know that the
pictures of our MIPC family hanging on the wall of Fellowship Hall have been
there for almost three years? Since
that time we have added a lot of new members and unfortunately lost a few very
dear members as well. And lets face it,
the rest of us have just gotten better looking, so it=s time to update the
wall. Beginning on Palm Sunday and
continuing through Easter and the next
few Sundays after, Bill Goodland and the other Avolunteer photographers@ will be taking
pictures of our MIPC family.
Pictures will be
posed for and taken after service during fellowship time. We will try to take
the pictures by family. If you would
prefer to bring your own picture, use the one from the Church Directory or do
not wish to have your picture posted, please let Bill Goodland know.
WHO=S COMING TO DINNER?
By Lenore Paprocky
Everyone is invited
to a great time of fellowship and fun.
We are having our Progressive Dinner on Saturday, April 22nd. Please sign up as soon as possible, and let
us know if you can host appetizers or
dinner. Remember, everyone brings a
dessert along with that Aspecial something@ that you no longer
want, but know someone else will get joy from!! Wrap it up nicely...remember, the packaging is everything! Please join us for a fun night, guaranteed
to bring a lot of laughs.
READY FOR SOME BASEBALL??
By Lenore Paprocky
Mark your
calendar! Thursday, August 17th
will be our 7th annual Long Island Duck=s Outing. We have reserved only 80 tickets, so please
sign up and pay immediately. The
Tailgate Party will be held at the Church.
We will caravan to the ballpark.
The price for this event is $11.00, which includes admission to the
game, and food at the tailgate party.
Please bring a dessert with you for all to enjoy. See you at the ball game!!!
DO YOU HAVE A PRAYER
REQUEST?
The new prayer chain
is now in place. If you, or someone you
know, is in need of a special prayer (especially during the week) there are
nine people ready to lift up your joys or concerns to the Lord.
All you have to do is
call the church office at 924-6443 with your request, and we will activate the
prayer chain for you.
BELL CHOIR
The MIPC Bell Choir
is always looking for new members. If
you are interested in picking up a new instrument, please join us on Monday
nights from 7-8 p.m. Everyone is
welcome and there is no need to be able to read music.
CALLING ALL SHEPHERDS
Membership Committee
Shepherds are reminded to attend a meeting after church on Sunday, April 9th. Please call Pastor Rich if you will be
unable to attend.
HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
Holy Week begins with
the joyful celebration of Palm Sunday on April 9th. During this service, palms will be
distributed.
On Maundy Thursday,
April 13th, we will hold a
special worship service at 7:30 p.m.
This will be a Tenebrae service in which the sanctuary is gradually
darkened in memory of the crucifixion, and will include communion and a
hand-washing ceremony.
An ecumenical Good
Friday service will be held on April 14th at Trinity Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Rocky Point, with Rev. Peter Vibert as the guest preacher. The service begins at noon.
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On Easter Sunday,
April 16th, we will celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord at
10:00 a.m.
