UNITED
CHURCH NEWS May
2006
“A community of faith providing nurture, strength,
& direction for living today in God’s world.”
From the Interim Pastor’s Pen:
Perhaps
you have heard individuals describe our church as going through a “calling”
process. Yes, we are going through a
“calling” process, a process that involves many individuals, groups and steps,
not just the final step when the congregation votes to approve a pastoral
candidate.
Towards
the end of 2003 your pastor of 24 years experienced a “calling” to leave The
United Church and begin a ministry in a new setting. Phil Courtney discerned the voice of God
through his family and others and responded to that call and departed in
February of 2004.
The
congregation, through its Board, responded to a “calling” to provide pastoral
leadership during the time of transition and invited me to serve as your
temporary pastor while the search of the permanent pastor took place. I began
my service among you in September of 2004.
At
the congregational meeting in June of 2005 the congregation elected eight
individuals to serve on the Pastor Search and Nominating Committee. You offered the following prayer for them
which remains applicable for today:
Loving God, you know all
things good for us, and your Holy Spirit leads us in your way. Guide the members of this committee as they
seek a pastor to serve this congregation.
Open their minds to know your will and their hearts to consider all
candidates fairly. Give them strength
and endurance equal to the commitment they now make; and mutual love and
patience in the work that lies ahead.
Prepare us to receive our new pastor with joy and instruct us all as we
accept new ways. We pray in the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This
“called out” group has been busy reviewing resumes and interviewing potential
candidates, hoping to soon be able to present a candidate to the
congregation. It is important that the
PSNC continue to receive support in their efforts through prayers and words of
encouragement.
Through
the ReVisioning Studies the entire congregation has been involved in the “calling”
process as you have sought to discover what God wants you to be and do in the
next phase of ministry. This process involved
Bible Study, prayer, thoughtful research of the congregation and community.
Our
two denominations are involved in this “calling” process. Representatives of the
Each
of the individuals and groups mentioned above have understood and responded to
God’s leading to meet a specific need for service. As we journey from one phase of the
congregation’s life to another, may we continue to know the power of God’s
presence and God’s will each step of the way.
Kathleen
Waters, Interim Pastor
Worship
for May 2006
Sunday Worship at
Before worship coffee
fellowship with Adult Ed groups at 9 AM
Fellowship Time each week
after worship in Fellowship Hall
May 7 4th
Sunday of Easter
Meditation:
“Counting Sheep” Rev.
Dr. Kathleen Waters
Scriptures: Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23, 1 John
Liturgist Jackie Meyer
May 14 5th Sunday
of Easter
10:25 AM Festival of
the
Sermon: “The Jesus Code” Rev. Dr. Kathleen Waters
Scriptures: Acts
8:26-40; Psalm
Liturgist: Stu Bruce
May
21 6th Sunday of Easter
Theme: “Changing Times” Liturgist: Jason Wieczorek;
Scriptures: Daniel 2:17-22; Malachi 3:6,7; Mark 13:11; 2
Corint. 3:18; 2 Tim. 1:7
Word to the Children: Esau Price; Music: Dan
and Rich Blumenthal coordinating
Signing: Esau Price, Gillian Knafelc, Susie
Spencer
May
28 7th Sunday of Easter
10:25 AM Ascension of the Lord Rev.
Dr. Gene Turner
Scriptures: Acts
Welcome our Guest Preacher for May 28 – Rev. Gene Turner:
The Rev. Dr. Gene Turner is our guest preacher for May
28. Gene presently lives in the
His work in urban mission and leadership development in
He is a graduate of
Pastoral Care: Rev. Waters, works with our Congregational Care Committee and can be reached through the church office (637-3186), elders of the month, or at home.
Elders of the Month
for May: Mike Olmsted and Greg
Ketcham.
Purpose of Elders of the Month: For members with a crisis, emergency situation, a particular concern or need for care, the elders of the month are available to assist the pastor, when a pastor is unavailable, or when the church office is closed.
Procedure for calling:
please call the church office weekdays between
Worship
& Spiritual Life
Thank you: to
ushers, greeters, liturgists, choirs, visual artists, and many more for sharing
your gifts and your dedication which enriched the Holy Week services. What a
joyful Palm Sunday Procession, Youth Handbells with percussion, youth and
adults in the drama on Maundy Thursday, saxophone quartet, youth singers, Good
Friday Senior Choir’s cantata, John Price’s solo, the always inspiring Taize
prayers around the cross. Easter was a
glorious celebration with Kathleen’s message and children’s colorful
procession, beautiful visual floral arrangements by Pam Speer and her team,
Joyful Sign, Senior Choir, Adult Handbells, Hallelujah Chorus and brass and
timpani. All of these musical, visual
and dramatic ministries of the Word supported our worship and praise of God
during this Holy season.
May 14 Festival of the
THIS IS MY FAMILY! On May 14th
bring something that says “This is my family!” to help celebrate God’s gift of community,
especially the family. Bring photos, quilts, or other artifacts that
characterize your family. You will be invited to bring them to the table during
a hymn.
The National Council of Churches of Christ (NCCC) sponsors Family Week
which begins the Monday prior to Mother’s Day. This is an ecumenical observance
in which Presbyterian and American Baptists participate by first observing the Festival
of the
The Presbyterian
Church website has several tools for families in celebration of this annual
Family Week. This year’s theme is
“Family Values: A Tapestry of Choices”
and there is a resource to download
designed to help families think about the values they cherish and want to live
by. http://www.ncccusa.org/elmc/family2006/
CNY Spring Handbell Workshop – Sat.
May 13,
Coming in June!
June 4 – The
musical “Paul & Co.” has been postponed to the fall due to scheduling
conflicts and lack of rehearsal time. June
4th will be celebrated as PENTECOST SUNDAY!
June 11 -Worship & Church
Picnic at Mill Run Park, Manlius,
June 18 -
Baccalaureate/Graduation Sunday - 2006 Graduates will be recognized in worship (
June 25 – Summer Worship hour at
Alice Dickerson Hatt, Minister of Music
& Worship
Adult Education
Forums and
Bible Study
Sundays
Join us for coffee, fellowship & discussion
I. Forums in Beard Lounge
Forums are
presentations and discussions which focus on timely topics of Christian social
concern, personal and spiritual development, Bible study, or explorations of
our Christian heritage and world religions.
Through Forums we seek to provide a place for understanding special
topics or current issues of our Christian presence in the community and world.
May 7 and May 14:
'What a Muslim wishes Christians knew about Islam'. This interesting and relevant
topic will be discussed by Ms.Tasik
Kassam, a Muslim and Professor of Religion at S.U. There will be time for
questions and discussion.
May 21: The Rev.
Jim Wiggins, the executive director of the Inter-religious council will
give us an update of what the council is doing and the issues we are
facing.
May 28: We will see a film about the history of
Christian Fundamentalism in our country.
Marge Julian will introduce
the film and lead the discussion.
II. Bible Study in Women’s Lounge
9:00 AM The Sunday morning Bible study group reads and studies scripture. They are currently studying from the book of Romans. Come and be welcomed.
III. A Parents’ Place [Downstairs
in Room 5]
IV. New
Midweek Adult Bible Study
Jason Larson is leading an adult Bible Study taking us
through the Gospel of Mark. The study group will meet through May 10, resume in
September, and will be exploring dimensions of radical discipleship in Mark and
how these apply to our world today. He
is using Tom Wright's “Mark for Everyone”. The group will meet Wed. April 26, May 3 and May 10 from
Suggestions for future Adult Forums –
please speak with Chairperson Ed Clarke or a member of the committee: Lois Coleman, Shirley DeHority, Dorothy
Harrold, Jason Larson, Dick Lang, Jackie Meyer, Carol Reinsmith, Lois Spitzer,
Joe Steiner.
Church and
Society
Submitted by Cara Steiner
Summer Peacemaking
Conferences
The
February UCF newsletter reported on the denominational peacemaking conferences
for this summer. Word has now been received that the Presbyterian Peacemaking
Program staff has made a difficult decision and cancelled the 2006
Intergenerational Peacemaking Conference scheduled for July 22 - 27.
Anticipating that attendance would not generate the income needed to cover the
costs of the conference, this decision was reached after prayerful discernment.
Learn more about this at pcusa.org/peacemaking/conferences/2006.htm.
Materials
for the Baptist Peace Fellowship conference from
National Religious Campaign
Against Torture
Launched
at a January 13 - 15 conference at Princeton Theological Seminary, this
nonpartisan campaign brings together people of conscience and diverse faiths in
opposition to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading practices by anyone for
any purpose. The campaign recognizes that the
The
Christian Century (
The Rev. William Sloane
Coffin, Jr.
On
April, 12, William Sloane Coffin died, and the world lost what Samuel Kobia,
General Secretary, World Council of Churches called "one of the 20th
Century's great Christian pastors and activists for peace and justice." Dr. William C. Hough, President of Union
Theological Seminary said he was "one of God's chosen prophets…a great
patriot who loved this country too much to leave it alone…his voice cried out
for justice and peace, a justice and peace that in his mind flowed directly
from his deep and abiding personal faith in the God made known to him in Jesus
Christ…"
The
Volunteers Needed:
Please
contact Alice Borning or the church office if you would like to assist with the
pictorial directory. We are looking for
people for the Sign Up Committee, the Telephone Committee and the Host and
Hostess Committee.
Another giving
opportunity....
Dear Congregation,
For the past seven years we
have been blessed with child care workers who have provided us with a very
important service each Sunday morning in our nursery. Amela Denic came to us as a new immigrant
from
Amela has worked for
several years in the Eckerd warehouse and Mirela works after school from 3:30
to 8:00 in a nursing home to earn money to help their family that also includes
an eleven year old daughter,
dad and Amela's mother-in-law.
We recently learned that
they are going to take a trip back to
two and now sometimes even the younger daughter's efforts as well,
The Children's and Staff Support Committees thought that it would be wonderful
if we could present them with a love offering. Donations
will be accepted through
the end of May via mail to the office or placed in the offering plate marked
with "The Denics". We know the cost is close to $1,000 per
person to fly to
Thanks in advance for your
support as we show our gratitude to a very hard-working family.
Sincerely,
Greg and Martha Ketcham and
Gloria Manuel
I would like to thank my Visual Arts
Committee and Spiritual Life for all their assistance in staging the various
set ups for Palm Sunday and Holy Week in the Sanctuary. We all make a real
contribution to the visual impact of our worship space and our seasonal
preparations and decorations. Thanks to Marti
Vasiliades for Palm Sunday decorating with me, Dave Bender for delivering the cross for Good Friday, Alice Hatt and Mary Jane Woodcock for the finishing touches for Good Friday, Julie Higgins for coordinating the Easter plant order and pick up, Julie, Marge Mahony, Penny Appleby, Debbie Bender,
Shirley Anderson, Kathy Bohnsack for all their expertise
with Easter Sunday decorating and Curtis
Wenke for Easter Sunday assistance.
Also thanks to Julie and Jim Higgins for their
contribution towards our new Easter Banner. It was a lovely new look for our
Sanctuary.
Pam Speer
A Letter to
the Seeker Class and Instructors
from the
To: The United Church of Fayetteville.
It was my honor to escort each of you in a tour and
introduction to
I am warmly touched by the Thank You notes
from each of the class members. The
notes have been shared and are now with a collection of experiences associated
with the
Sometimes as teachers we are privileged to
experience a special rapport with a group.
I will remember your visit as one of those special times.
I wish you all a future bright with promise.
Sincerely,
Thelie Trotty Selzer
Highlights for the Board Meeting
Bill Carlsen, Executive Minister of the ABC
of New York State spoke on issues surrounding inclusion within the ABC. He stated that UCF could join the welcoming
and affirming association; it would require Board action.
Scott Manuel, Treasurer, reported that pledges
and plate are below budget by a substantial amount and also that revenue lagged
expenses for January and February. Expenses
are under running under budget, however.
Norm Hatt reported that the Jubilee House Work Group has met twice and
work is underway. There will be a report
to the Board when work is complete which Norm estimated that the report might
be available by the end of the year.
Rich Hole noted that the April Annual
meeting is scheduled for late April and that reports for the meeting are due on
April 3.
Carl Borning presented a motion to the Board to provide a
series of public forums on topics of interest to the community and in that
there are important local, state, and national elections in 2006. The Board authorized the motion.
Norm Hatt presented a motion,
which was passed, from the Mission Committee that the receipts from the green
colored Easter offering envelope go to the IRC Refugee Committee to be used for
emergency needs of refugees in
A motion from the Finance Committee was approved to provide for the Treasurer and Chairperson of the Finance
Committee be authorized to sign checks for the church checking accounts.
A motion
from the Children's Committee to conduct a carwash
June 3 to fulfill Capital Campaign pledge was approved.
Several
motions from the Youth Committee were approved:
1.
Hold a flowering bulb sale beginning in the month of March and
another soup and bread sale on April 30th;
2.
Approach local companies and corporations to ask for sponsorship
for the July Mission trip. (The need to
coordinate with the Julian’s for the SU Brass concert was emphasized.); and
3.
Hold a
bake sale prior to Easter to aid local mission projects
Gloria Manuel presented a procedure, which was approved, from the Staff
Support Committee for hiring non-ordained personnel. It was approved after discussion.
Submitted by Chris Harrison, Clerk of
Session.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Financial statistics
for the month of March are as follows:
This chart shows real dollars
|
|
March |
Year to Date |
|
Income |
$22,189. |
$60,742. |
|
Expenses |
$28,070. |
$70,947. |
|
Difference |
($5,881.) |