A beautiful late May morning to you, Church!
I’m sitting out in the sunshine on my back porch listening to the liquid silver sounds of the hermit thrush and the wood thrush, along with all of their lively neighbors. The luscious green tree tops are offering a symphony of song bird chatter this morning!
Here’s the news for the week:
Pentecost This Sunday!
Wear your favorite shades of red to church this Sunday as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church! We’re going to have a special addition to our worship service to celebrate.
If anyone has flowers from their garden they’d like to bring in– to brighten up the sanctuary–you are most welcome to do so!
Membership Classes Set for June 4th and July 2nd
Just a quick reminder that we will be holding our first membership class after worship on Sunday, June 4th.
Taking a Break from Church Potlucks This Summer
Session met this last week, and after looking at the summer schedule, we’ve decided to put our monthly potlucks on hold until September.
Juneteenth in Ives Park, June 17th
Juneteenth is upon us again, and you are invited to come take part in the celebration! There will be music, dancing, booths, speeches, free dinner, and much more at Ives Park on Saturday, June 17th from 4-8pm. Come learn about the history of this national holiday and why it’s important to commemorate it.
The planning committee is looking for a few more volunteers to help set things up and take things down on the day of the party. If you’d be willing to help, contact Laurie Lavine at (281) 639-6548. This would be a way to positively support racial healing in our town.
Also, I’m proud to say that our church has designated $100 from our mission funds to support the event.
Church Picnic at Lazy River Playground Set for June 25th!
I hope you’re growing as excited as I am! Following worship on Sunday June 25th, we are going to load ourselves up and head out to Lazy River playground, where we will get the chance to picnic with both our own church family and the folks from Trinity Episcopal– whom we have been working with to make Community Suppers happen over the last year.
If you haven’t been to Lazy River Playground, it’s loads of fun. They’ve got putt-putt golf, roller skating, corn hole, shuffleboard, swimming, fishing, forest bathing (where you go out into the woods with a guide and bask in the sounds, smells, and sights of the forest), and of course we will have so much yummy food to share in together!
I know that some of us don’t have vehicles, so we will make sure to arrange rides and offer carpooling.
If you’d like to check out their facilities, you can visit their website:
We’ve Collected $170 to Send the Box to Malawi
What a generous congregation you are. Last week we collected $170 to ship the box of knitted baby items to the crisis nursery in Malawi. The cost was going to be somewhere between $170-$200, so if anyone still wants to chip in this Sunday, that would be welcome.
Benevolence Fund has Officially Been Created
Hear ye! Hear ye! From time to time we find a particular individual in need of monetary support. Recently we learned that in order for these sorts of contributions to be tax-deductible, we needed to set up a benevolence fund. This has now been achieved. Moving forward, when we come across such a situation again, and you graciously offer financial support to help someone in need, you will be able to count that gift against your taxes.
Have an Older Vehicle You’re Thinking of Selling?
Rev. Rich Hinkle, who preaches for us on occasion, is in the market for an older model vehicle. If you’ve got one you’re interested in selling, let me know and I’ll put you in touch.
Liv and Quinn are Tying the Knot!
I have the most lovely news to share with you this week. Liv and Quinn got engaged! Check out these sweet, smiling faces.
The Church Being the Church
Friends, today I want to take a moment to say thank you to our Session and to Sue Waters, our church administrator. They have a special understanding of how important it is to share our church building with the community, and they go out of their way to offer hospitality to all sorts of community groups in need.
I don’t know if you were aware or not, but all year a woman from Cornell Cooperative Extension has been teaching nutrition classes in our building. And earlier this month we were able to invite a group of out-of-town guests to stay in the Center who had come to support the Poor People’s Campaign at a major event they were holding.
In the next couple of months we’re going to offer our sanctuary for a Crane recital, and to Gretchen Kohler, who runs a community orchestra– for her to hold rehearsals in our building and offer a free concert at a later date. A nurse is going to offer prenatal classes at a deeply discounted rate to pregnant women because we can offer her use of our building, and four times this summer we will be hosting free concerts put on by the Orchestra of Northern New York.
This is in addition to all of the other activities already happening in our building– AA groups meet here, the girl scouts descend upon the Center every Thursday night, yoga classes are taught, tai chai happens, Zumba folks dance, people eat dinners at our Community Suppers, individuals come for mental health therapy, physical therapy, massage therapy, and reiki, and of course, our sweet little 4-year-olds go to school every day in the HeadStart classrooms.
A few of these groups pay rent to us for continued use of our space, but many of them we now invite for either a free-will donation or a donation to the food pantry.
Sharing the resources we have inherited, for the health and well-being of our greater community, is one way that we can support the work and mission of our church. And we are doing it!
Thank you for being a congregation filled with such hospitality and giving spirits. Our building buzzes nearly every day with joy, hope, and faith because we are willing to share it.
Your Grateful Pastor,
Pastor Katrina