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Good Day to you Church,

It’s shaping up to be a hot one today. For saying we’ve been having such cool and rainy weather the last couple of weeks, it looks like summer is now upon us! A few days of this and the river will be warm enough for swimming! 

Here’s the news for the week: 

The Rummage Sale is On! 

Friends, the rummage sale is shaping up to be a success, but we still need help with set up and clean up. If you have an hour or two in the next couple of days to help out, it would be much appreciated. Just drop in and ask Beth Grace what you can do to help out. She’ll put you to work! 

And don’t forget to tell your friends about the sale itself. We’ve got a lot of items to sell, but now we need people to come and buy them! 

Rummage Sale:

Saturday, 8:30am-3:30pm

Sunday, 12pm-3pm– WHATEVER ISN’T SOLD ON SATURDAY WILL BE FREE FOR THE TAKING ON SUNDAY!!!! 

Juneteenth Celebration!

This Saturday is shaping up to be a busy day. After the rummage sale is over, make your way over for one of the best community events in Potsdam at Ives Park! The whole town will be celebrating Juneteenth from 4pm-9pm, with free food, singing and dancing, storytelling, a fashion show, merch and craft tables, and more! Bring a picnic blanket or a lawn chair for the festivities. 

Marty Weitz to Preach, June 26th

Marty will be preaching and leading worship next Sunday, the 26th. After pastoring churches in the Caribbean, Oman, India, and Scotland, Rev. Weitz is now back in the North Country for retirement. He’s a dynamic preacher and you’ll enjoy this Sunday with him. 

Special Offering June 26th

As a way of acknowledging the racism involved in the tragic mass shooting in Buffalo last month, we will be collecting a special offering to support the work and mission of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Buffalo, NY as they work to support the grief stricken, carve out economic improvements in their city, and work for racial reconciliation. Please pray about what God might be asking you to give. 

Invasive Species Awareness

A big shout out of thanks to all who came and participated in our invasive species awareness events last week. We learned a lot and had fun doing it! 

Also: Renee is still missing some of her books that were on display. If you took them home to read, please just let her know that you have them. 

Rock Charitable Grant

Have you noticed that the turrets on the front of the sanctuary are missing roofing tiles? Dave Wells will be collecting estimates on the work in the next few weeks, for us to be able to write up our application for the Rock Charitable Grant, which offers $100,000 every year to churches and cemeteries for the upkeep of their buildings and land, and for veterans organizations. We’re hoping we have a chance of being selected this year! (Grantees will be named on 12/31/2022.) 

Prayers for Julie Miller

We offer up prayers for Julie Miller, who is undergoing surgery today for her 3rd port for chemo. If you’d like to send her a card in the mail, email me and I’ll send along her address. 

National Gun Violence in Perspective

Friends, I’m still thinking about gun violence in America. Are you? This morning, the New York Times posted an article that helps shine a light on an ignored and overlooked issue around gun violence in America– something white, middle-class Americans are often uncomfortable with acknowledging or addressing because of how it focuses on our systemic racism. If we’re serious about loving Jesus and following his Way, this is something we need to start addressing in ourselves as a culture and as a society.

Here are excerpts from the article entitled Highly Concentrated, by German Lopez in today’s NYT’s. I’m including them to get us thinking and talking together.

“Thirty-five people were killed in mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa over the past few weeks, focusing national attention on America’s unique gun problem.

In that same time, around 1,800 people were killed and almost 500 wounded in nearly 1,600 other shootings in the U.S…. 

Mass shootings account for less than 4 percent of gun homicides in a typical year, and most gun violence in the U.S. takes a different form. So I went to Chicago, where shootings are a daily occurrence in some areas, to see what more-typical gun violence looks like.

There, I met 24-year-old Jomarria Vaughn. After spending time in jail on domestic violence and weapon charges, he has tried to rebuild his life. But his past haunts him.

The last time he was on Facebook, he found out his best friend had been shot to death. He now tries to stay off the site, out of fear that posting the wrong thing could anger the wrong people — and make him a target.

In his neighborhood, he tries to avoid spending too much time “out on the block,” he said. Even if he is not a target, violence is so common there that Vaughn worries he could be hit by a stray bullet.

“I’m scared,” Vaughn told me. “I have my guard up all day.”

This is what daily life looks like for many Black Chicagoans. Across the city, the murder rate for Black people is higher than it was from the 1980s through the 1990s — a violent period that drove a nationwide push for mass incarceration. Black Chicagoans are nearly 40 times more likely to be shot to death than their white peers, according to an analysis by the University of Chicago Crime Lab.

….Similar disparities exist across America. Black and brown neighborhoods suffer higher rates of poverty, and violence concentrates around poverty. The violence is so intensive that a few neighborhoods, blocks or people often drive most of the shootings and murders in a city or county. And this is true in both urban and rural areas, said Patrick Sharkey, a sociologist at Princeton.

The disparities have held up as murders have spiked across the country since 2020. So while the numbers are typically reported through a national lens, the reality on the ground is that a small slice of the population — disproportionately poor, Black and brown — suffers the most from it.

The concentration of violence has another effect: It pushes violence out of sight for most people.

In Chicago, 51 people were shot in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend — a five-year high. Almost all of the victims were on the city’s South and West Sides, which are mostly Black and brown.

Only when violence hits closer to home does it typically grab more people’s attention. That happened nationwide this year after mass shootings in schools and grocery stores, where Americans can imagine themselves or loved ones falling victim. In Chicago, public outrage over a shooting last month that killed a 16-year-old boy downtown — a richer, whiter area — prompted the mayor to impose a curfew for minors.

But that is the kind of violence that poorer, minority communities deal with daily, with little to no public attention. The vast majority of shootings never make national headlines.

Speaking to Black activists and residents in Chicago, I was struck by how they spoke almost dispassionately about the violence around them. They all had stories of dead friends and family members killed in gang shootings, episodes of domestic violence or road rage, or during petty conflicts over women — the shootings sometimes just days or weeks apart. Outside their homes, the sound of gunshots is common.

As I traveled around Chicago, the two worlds were clearly visible. Wealthier parts looked like a modern, rich city — parking meters and payment terminals built for smartphones, bustle around packed businesses, and residents on electric bikes and scooters. Poor areas were marked by disinvestment: homes in disrepair, boarded-up buildings and few to no stores.

What I saw exemplifies a vicious cycle that causes the concentration of violence in an area, experts said. Poverty leads to violence, which leads to disinvestment, which leads to more poverty and violence. Coupled with a police force that fails to solve most murders and shootings, the cycle becomes difficult to break.”

By contrast, other communities have a host of social supports keeping violence at bay, including good jobs, better schools, well-kept parks and recreation centers, and responsive police.

For most Americans, violence is something they may hear about on the news but do not deal with on a regular basis. But for people in the hardest-hit communities, violence is a fact of daily life. Like Vaughn, they come to expect it — and worry that they could be the next victim.”

Friends, as a predominately white, middle class church, it is not our place to solve what has often been referred to as “black-on-black” crime. The actual violence taking place in places like Chicago, Rochester, LA, and Buffalo is for those communities to work on healing. What is our responsibility, however, is to address how our accumulated white affluence has created the circumstances for such violence to take shape in poor Black and Brown communities. 

On average, a white American holds 13 times more wealth than a Black American. That doesn’t happen by chance. And the ripple effects are real. 

Jesus made it clear to his followers that we are to take care of one another– not just through charity, but through justice; through shifting our systems of economic and social engagement with one another. 

The racial and economic injustices that live in our country are easy for us to ignore when we stay in our regular ol’ patterns of community engagement, but what if we stepped out past the comfortable boundary lines we make for ourselves? How can we do this in our current situation? How can we address systemic poverty and racism here in Potsdam, NY? We are not immune to poverty or racism where we live. 

My prayer is that as a church, we might find ways of living deeper into God’s call to follow Jesus– even when it takes us into uncomfortable territory. Because when we do, we find ourselves living in the Kingdom of God. 

God, be with us and lead us, I pray!
Pastor Katrina

Good Day to You Church!

Today I’m sitting out on my back porch as the sun peaks in and out from the clouds and the leaves of the forest rustle in the breeze. My bleeding hearts are nearing the end of their bloom and the yellow iris are in full display. What do you have singing in color at your house right now? 

Here’s the news for the week: 

Univited— the Movie– Showing Saturday Night

If you’d like to learn more about how to control Japanese knot weed, wild parsnip, spongy moths, and other invasive species, this is the movie for you! We’ll be viewing it at 7 pm in the Center. 

Then, Sunday at around 11:15 am, following the service, folks from the Nature Conservancy will be here to take us on a guided tour of other invasive species we have on the church grounds. They will talk to us about replacement options and how to manage invasives more effectively.

March for Our Lives

Also on Saturday– a rally in Ives Park against gun violence will begin at noon. North Country This Week ran an article about this event on Thursday, misrepresenting it as an anti-gun event, but that is not the case. To clarify, this is an anti-gun violence rally. (I know that some of you were looking for clarification on that.) 

Book Group’s Final Gathering, June 14th

Those folks who have been reading Shalom and the Community of Creation will gather for a final book talk and dinner Tuesday, June 14th at Jane Wells house at 6pm. 

Rummage Sale on June 18th

Starting next Wednesday, June 15th, you are invited to bring gently used items to sell in our upcoming rummage sale. Clothes, toys, books, household items, furniture, and jewelry will be accepted. Please do not donate electronics, however. 

Beth Grace is looking for volunteers on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to help organize and set up. Please get in touch with her if you’d like to help! 

The sale itself will be Saturday from 8:30 am-3:30 pm. 

Juneteenth Celebration, June 18th

This year’s Juneteenth celebration will be held on Saturday, June 18th from 4-9 pm in Ives Park. Delicious (free) food, dancing, speeches, singing, and a Black is Beautiful fashion show are some of the offerings on tap for this day, which commemorates when Black Americans were freed from enslavement in America. Come learn some history you didn’t know, revel in Black culture, and celebrate! 

Community Supper on June 23rd

Our monthly get-together with the Episcopaleans to prepare a take-out meal will be happening this month on Thursday, June 23rd. If you’d like to volunteer, please give Sharon Pickard a call. 

The dinner is served from 5-6 pm– this month at the Episcopal Church. 

Taking a Break from Monthly Lunches

After a low turnout for the men’s and women’s lunches last month, Sharon and Bob Pickard have decided to hit the pause button on these get-togethers for the summer months. Too many of us are off doing summer things. But! They will be back again in the fall. 

Special Offering for Buffalo

In the wake of the most recent shootings, and as a way to honor Pentecost, Session is inviting people to contribute to a special offering that will be taken on June 26th. This offering will be sent to the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Buffalo as a sign of care and support of the Black community there, as they grieve the racially-motivated killing that occurred in their city last month. Mt. Olive does a lot of outreach into the community and we believe that the money we send will be put to good use fighting racism and upholding their community. 

Violence in America

Friends, it’s been a tough few weeks in our country, and all across America our hearts are aching. If you’re anything like me, you might also be feeling dismayed over our collective inability to find a way forward– to find a way to reduce gun violence while still honoring the 2nd Amendment. As a nation we do not agree on how to do this, and resentment and anger mounts on both sides. 

I don’t see any way out of this political battle in the near future. The two “sides” hold opposing strategies for how to approach the problem and we are stuck in gridlock. There does not appear to be a way forward. What I do wonder about, however, is if there might be a way sideways, that might eventually lead to a way forward. 

Clearly, attempts at man-handling each other does not work. No one wins when we live at war with each other. So what if we try Jesus’ way instead?

My brother (who is a card-carrying member of the NRA, and strongly believes in full-fledged gun rights) and I (who am not and do not) have talked about this issue a number of times over the last couple of years, and I’ve come to realize that, while we seek different solutions to the problem of gun violence, we both start from the same place: we both fear violence and feel deep-seated concern for the safety of our families. 

Friends, I know the feeling is strong to want to demonize people who hold differing opinions– especially when it comes to issues of life and death. But Jesus calls us to recognize and see the humanity in people whom we would deem our enemies. This does not mean that we let go of our own position, but it does mean that we seek to know them as people, rather than as objects of disgust. 

I don’t have any answers today for the problem that lies before us. Only questions and curious wonderings. And prayer…. prayer for those who grieve the loss of loved ones, those who live in fear of gun violence, those whom I have a tendency to consider my “enemy,” and for myself. 

God of both justice and mercy, hear our cry for peace in our land! And help us, we pray! We are at a loss to save ourselves from our own madness. 

Looking to God,
Pastor Katrina 

Good Afternoon Church!

It’s a lovely sunny spring day and I hope you’re enjoying it! I’ve got tulips, hyacinths, violets, and the last of the daffies blooming in my yard. And there are marsh marigolds and wild leaks not too far away. What’s blooming in your neck of the woods? 

Here’s the news for the week: 

Two-Week Sunday Series on God, Gender, and Patriarchy 

Every once in a while, we have “teaching” Sundays where we explore a theological topic in depth during Sunday worship. This coming Sunday we’re going to kick off a two-week mini-series that looks at the topic of God, gender, and patriarchy. 

The topic emerged a few weeks ago, after a professor at SUNY Potsdam contacted me. He wondered if I’d come be part of a panel of local faith leaders that discusses the aforementioned subject for students on campus. He was asking at the prompting of students who were upset about a local campus group doing an event that praised patriarchy as “God’s way.” These students wondered if there’s an alternate way of understanding the relationship between God and patriarchy, besides believing that God ordained for men to be “over” women. 

Since students aren’t the only ones thinking about this topic, it makes sense that we take up the subject at church too. I hope you’ll join us for these special Sundays of theological inquiry! 

 May 12th– Gender and Religious Belief: A Conversation with Local Faith Leaders

If you’re interested in furthering your understanding on this topic, you’re also welcome to attend the event itself at SUNY Potsdam. On Thursday, May 12th, from 4-5:30 pm at Satterlee Hall, in Room 117, three local faith leaders will gather with students and guests to discuss the relationship between gender and religious belief. Pastor Hattie Taylor of the Potsdam United Methodist Church, Rev. James Galisinski of the Unitarian Universalist Church, and Rev. Katrina Hebb of the Potsdam Presbyterian Church will converse with students about the nature of God, the persistence of patriarchy in society, and the role of religion in patriarchy’s existence. 

If you’d like to attend, let me know and I will send you a parking pass for Satterlee Hall. 

Learn How to Sing Like a Professional with PIC, Online, May 10

 Join the Potsdam Interfaith Community online on Tuesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. for this one-hour, interactive program. Topics will include posture, breathing, vocal technique, artistic interpretation and more. Dr. Colleen Skull, assistant professor of voice at the Crane School of Music, and the students in her Vocal Pedagogy class will be providing us with the tools necessary to develop and improve our own singing technique and artistic communication. Here’s the zoom link: 

https://potsdam-edu.zoom.us/j/82192053926

Pastor Katrina to Take Study Leave 

I will be away at the end of May for study leave, taking a class on prayer and meditation. I will be gone Sunday, May 22nd and Sunday, May 29th. Rev. Rich Hinkle will be filling the pulpit those two Sundays. 

Difficult Conversation Lab

Results are in from the survey sent out about when to hold the Difficult Conversations Lab. It looks like the majority of people would like a 6-week class that runs from the beginning of June to mid-July. The class time that works best will be Wednesday afternoons. 

If you’d like to join us in learning how to function better in difficult conversations, there’s still time to sign up! Please email me and let me know if you’d like to participate. The cost will be $60 for the course, but we have scholarships available for anyone who would like one. 

Communion Coming June 6th 

We will be celebrating communion together in about a month and we need volunteers to help make it happen. If you’d like to participate in this special way, please contact me or Sharon Pickard. You do not need to be an elder or a deacon to help. It’s free and open to anyone who feels called to serve.

Covid Still Kicking Around

Friends, Covid is still a major thing in our neck of the woods. Many people are finding themselves sick and under the weather. If you haven’t heard from a friend in a while, it’s worth reaching out and asking how they’re doing. 

Let’s also be praying for our teachers and students right now. This remains a difficult time to learn and teach. 

In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul offered all sorts of wisdom to the early believers living in Galatia. In it he advises, 

“Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord’s command.“

~Galatians 6:2

Friends, this is good news– as Christians, no one does anything alone. We can help friends and family get through life’s big and small obstacles, and they will do the same for us. 

Let’s lift each other us up,
Pastor Katrina 

Good Day to you, Church! 

The wind is breezy today, but the coltsfoot, the sun, and the daffodils are all shining brightly today against a blue sky! I hope you get a chance to step outside and feel the warmth of spring’s energy. Grace abounds all around! 

Here’s the news for the week: 

A Shift in the Batting Rotation for this Sunday

Well friends, I have succumbed to Covid. I’ve been sick for a few days now, and although, thankfully, I’m on the mend, I need to stay home this Sunday. Consequently, Monica Sandreczki, who is contemplating going to seminary at some point in her life, has offered to try her hand at leading worship and preaching the sermon I had already written for this coming Sunday. Will you come out and support her as she dips her toe into the waters of leading worship? It fills me with such joy when people are willing to be part of leading worship! Thank you Monica for meeting our church’s need this week. 

A “Difficult Conversations Lab” 

Last week I told you about an exciting opportunity we have coming up at church– learning how to become better communicators with our spouses, friends, “enemies,” neighbors, and family. It’s an opportunity that might well be the most important ministry-related activity we’ve ever engaged in. 

Raamitha Pillay, a professor at SUNY Canton, has put together what she calls “a conversation lab” to help people practice skills to help navigate thorny and emotionally-charged conversations. 

In this 6-8 week lab we will learn how to: 

• build courageous conversational space and develop trust
• listen and speak with empathy
• foster the art of patience and critical thinking before responding
• reflect before articulating our thoughts and feelings

Dr. Pillay is available to teach us beginning in mid-May to early June, and suggests that an 8-week class will be most effective, but if our summer schedules will not allow us to meet for 8 weeks, she can squeeze the content into 6 weeks. 

If you’re interested in signing up, these labs will meet IN-PERSON at church on a weekly basis. The cost will be $10/session– so either $60 or $80 depending on how long the course runs. (For those who cannot afford the class, sliding scale pricing and/or full scholarships will be available!) 

If you’re interested, I’m requesting that you fill out the survey at the link below to help us to figure out scheduling. So far we’ve only had 2 respondents and I’m wondering if there might be more interest. Here’s the link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XRKC2MT

Also, if you would reply to my email here and let me know that you’re interested, I’d greatly appreciate it! (If you’re interested in the class but can’t meet this summer, I’d like to know that too.) 

Learn How to Sing Like a Professional with PIC, Online, May 10

For any individual who sings in a congregation or a choir, Dr. Colleen Skull, assistant professor of voice at the Crane School of Music, and the students in her Vocal Pedagogy class, have volunteered to provide us with the tools necessary to develop and improve our own singing technique and artistic communication.

Join the Potsdam Interfaith Community online on Tuesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. for this one-hour, interactive program. Topics will include posture, breathing, vocal technique, artistic interpretation and more. Here’s the zoom link: 

https://potsdam-edu.zoom.us/j/82192053926

Rummage Sale Coming Soon!!!

Have you heard the rumor of an upcoming rummage sale? If so, I’m here to confirm it! Beth Grace has offered to organize this important fundraiser in June. The sale will be Saturday, June 18th. We’ll start taking donations for the event the week of June 18th.

Honoring Our Bodies with Rest

This week, while I’ve been laying at home sick in bed, I’ve been thinking about how toxic our American culture of productivity is. We’ve built a world around the idea that “time is money.” We’ve come to believe that we must always be working, working, working…. busy, busy, busy…. doing something “productive!” If we’re not constantly moving, we’ve been taught to feel a sense of worthlessness creeping into our souls. 

Lying in bed, I realized just how far our culture has moved away from honoring and celebrating God’s created order. When we give into the culturally-accepted practice of never letting the grass grow under our feet, we end up disregarding God’s gift of shalom to us here in this life. 

Friends, we were not created by God to be machines– to work, work, work– never taking time to rest and rejuvenate. In God’s great wisdom at the beginning of creation, she knew that even she needed time to rest. To lay low for a while. To nestle into peaceful restoration. 

And God built that into creation for us too! It’s the whole point of having a Sunday in the week! Our day of peace was designed to be a blessing of restfulness– not because there isn’t still more work to be done. (Anyone who’s ever done dishes knows that there’s always more work to be done.) But that’s not the point! 

The point is to set the work down on a regular basis. Not just to restore rest to our weary bones, but to be reminded that God’s got this– that you and I are not responsible to carry 100% of the weight of the world on our backs 100% of the time. In a sense, living into rest is actually a form of faith. It’s choosing to live into the belief that nothing, in all of creation, can ever grow too big or unwieldy for God to take care of, in God’s good timing. 

At the end of God’s work week, in Genesis 1-2, we learn this wise truth about creation: 

“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”

~Genesis 1:31-2:3

My prayer for all of us this week is that we will intentionally take time to stop our working– not only on our day of Sabbath, but when our bodies need us to slow down. May we have the faith to believe that God will bless us and keep us, even when we’re not able to work. 

Resting in faith this week,
Pastor Katrina

Happy Earth Day to you, Church! 

Have you been outside yet today? Felt the breeze on your skin? Smelled the spring air? Listened for birds returning to our area? Looked for blooming flowers? It’s a great day to appreciate the beauty of the world we live in! 

Here’s the news for today: 

Rev. Shaun Whitehead will be preaching and leading worship this Sunday, April 24th. 

Men’s and Women’s Lunches

Next week, the men’s lunch will be taking place at Jake’s on Wednesday, April 27th at 11:30am and the women will meet on Thursday, April 28th at 11:30. Please let the Pickards’ know if you will be attending so they can make the reservation. 

A “Difficult Conversations Lab” 

Do you get frustrated trying to communicate with people, especially when it comes to sensitive or “hot button” topics? Today I am thrilled to let you know that we have an exciting opportunity to learn how to become better communicators– with our spouses, friends, “enemies,” neighbors, and family. 

Raamitha Pillay, a professor at SUNY Canton, has put together what she calls “a conversation lab” to help people practice skills to help navigate conversations that seem thorny, end up emotionally charged, or seem to have insurmountable barriers. And Dr. Pillay has offered to teach her lab to folks at our church, if we’re willing and interested! 

In this 6-8 week lab we will learn how to: 

• build courageous conversational space and develop trust
• listen and speak with empathy
• foster the art of patience and critical thinking before responding
• synthesize what we experience from the outside environment
• reflect before articulating or rephrasing our thoughts and feelings

Dr. Pillay is available to teach us beginning in mid-May to early June, and suggests that an 8-week class will be most effective, but if our summer schedules will not allow us to meet for 8 weeks, she can squeeze the content into 6 weeks. If you’re interested in signing up, these labs will meet IN-PERSON at church and require weekly participation (if you miss a week because of vacation, that is understandable.) 

The cost will be $10/session– so either $60 or $80 depending on how long the course runs. (For those who cannot afford the class, sliding scale pricing and/or full scholarships will be available.) 

If you’re interested, I’m requesting that you fill out the survey at this link to help us to figure out scheduling. Given everyone’s summer schedules, we need to decide when to begin the class, how long to run it, and when during the week to hold class. Here’s the link to the survey: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XRKC2MT

Also, if you would reply to my email here and let me know that you’re interested, I’d greatly appreciate it! (If you’re interested in the class but can’t meet this summer, I’d like to know that too.) 

Learning to Communicate

Dealing with conflict is never easy, is it? As followers of Jesus, our most important job in life is to lead our lives in love, and it’s quite possible that the most critical moments for doing this are when we are faced with relational struggle– when we can’t figure out how to agree, how to get along, or how to stay in relationship. 

Oftentimes, when we get caught in these troubling waters, we do what humans have been doing for thousands of years: we try to ignore the problem. We sweep things under the rug. But doing this doesn’t make whatever the problem might be go away. It just moves the trouble into the dark shadows, where the troubles have space to fester and multiply. 

But what if we learned how to manage conflict better? The love that Jesus asks us to live into is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling, friends. Learning to love is a skill that we can practice getting better at. Love, dear Hearts, is a muscle we can strengthen! 

Ephesians says:

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

~ Ephesians 4:31-32

Kindness, tenderness, forgiveness, gentleness, patience, love– all of these descriptions of Jesus’ Way of living are muscles that grow with training. And just like physical muscles need training, so do our spiritual muscles. I truly hope that you will consider joining us in strengthening our love muscles with Dr. Pillay’s conversation lab. 

Excited to begin spring training,
Pastor Katrina

Good Day to you, Church,

Although sunny, today is a blustery spring day. It feels fitting, perhaps, that creation is offering the chaos and disruption of wind on this Good Friday– a day that turned the world upside down. I think I will sit outside for a bit and feel the topsy-turvy effect of the churning air pressures. Change is afoot, as they say. 

Here’s the news for the week: 

Easter Resurrection, this Sunday, 10 am

Then, you are again invited to join us this Sunday, as we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the cross. 

Rev. Shaun Whitehead to preach April 24th

Join us Sunday, April 24th, as Rev. Shaun brings us a word from the Word. 

Coffee Hour is Coming!

If you’ve been wondering when we’re ever going to drink coffee together again, the answer is…. soon! Starting April 24th, we will resume this age-old tradition after Sunday worship. 

I realize that some of us are more than ready for this, while others are thinking to themselves, “Why in the world would we take up coffee hour when the next wave of Omicron is about to hit!” 

As you know, we are still choosing to wear masks in our worship service in order to honor those with compromised immune systems. This gift of love makes it possible for some of us to join in person– those who otherwise would have to stay home. 

Now, while making this sacrifice for the good of the whole community, Session has simultaneously decided that it’s also important to honor those who are ready to gather together without masks, by resuming coffee hour once again. 

I recognize that not everyone is going to want to partake of coffee hour, sans masks. And that’s ok. There’s still the option to visit in the sanctuary after the service is over. But for those who desire it, coffee hour will also be available. 

It’s no easy task to strike a balance between people’s varying desires and needs to wear masks, and also, to take them off. Session is trying its best to hold the balance, and we appreciate your grace and understanding in the process of holding our whole community together as best we can. 

Men’s and Women’s Lunches

For those who are open to it, lunch dates are being set once again to gather together at Jake’s on the Water! The men will be gathering on Wednesday, April 27th at 11:30am and the women will gather at the same time on Thursday, April 28th. If you’d like to attend, please let the Pickards know so that they can make the appropriate sized reservation. 

*An important note: For those who are non-binary in their gender, you are welcome to choose the lunch crew you feel most comfortable with. 

The World in Chaos

Dear Hearts, if you’ve been listening to the news, you know that the next wave of Covid is on our doorstep, the war in Ukraine continues, and inflation is jacking up the cost of everything. And my heart is heavy. Is yours? I am so tired of Covid, I don’t even know what to do with myself some days. And my soul aches and my worries fret over what is happening half-way around the world. And if that’s not enough, my stomach also sinks every time I go to the gas station to pump gas. 

This Easter I don’t feel much like celebrating. I’m tired, and grieved, and plumb worn out. 

And also. And also, this year, especially, I need Easter. This year, especially, we need Easter. We need to be shocked out of our dredgery with the mystery and the power of God’s love– which somehow, someway, cuts straight through the walls of our darkness, and cracks open our world to let the light stream in. 

Friends, if you are struggling like I am right now, I invite you to turn your ear in the direction of the resurrection. 

Listen. Can you hear the seed growing? 

Waiting in the dark for the Light of the World,
Pastor Katrina 

Good Afternoon Church,

Well, we’ve had a variety of spring weather the last few days haven’t we? From bright, warm, shining skies to rain, rain, and then more rain! But we’ll take it because the snowdrops are in full bloom, the crocus are beginning to flower, and the daffodils are in their warm ups!

Here’s the news for the week: 

Festival of Sacred Music and Text This Sunday!

After a two-year hiatus, PIC’s Festival of Sacred Music and Text is back in person once again! This year it is being hosted at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Sunday, April 10th at 3pm (21 Castle Drive, Potsdam). Please come, listen to beautiful music and spoken word from a variety of different faiths and Christian traditions, and eat dessert at the reception to follow. There will be entries from the Mormon Church, the Catholic Church, the Masjid, the Christian Science Church, the Synagogue, the Quakers, and from us at the Presbyterian Church. 

Tenebrae Service Set for Friday, April 15th, 7pm

This year for Good Friday we will be coming together to sit in the shadows with Jesus and the disciples, as we prepare our hearts and minds for the resurrection of Easter Sunday. This simple and moving service will give us a chance to plumb the silent depths of holy week, and find a spiritual posture that will put Easter in proper focus. I hope you’ll join us!

Coffee Hour is Coming!

Have you been practicing your coffee cup holding stance?  I hope so, because you’re going to need it once again starting April 24th. In just a couple more weeks, we will be back to drinking coffee and nibbling cookies in the Center while we visit after the Sunday service!  

Men’s and Women’s Lunches to Resume in April

Friends, the Pickards have returned from Florida, and are ready to organize our monthly lunch dates once again! Sharon will have all the details for April’s lunch dates during announcements on Sunday. (Stay tuned.) 

Sitting with Jesus’ Lament

Did you know that our Bibles make room to rail at God? I was nearly an adult before I learned that, in the Bible, part of having reverence for God includes holding God’s feet to the fire sometimes.  

Next week, as we witness Jesus on the cross, we will hear him cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!” Have you ever thought that that was a bit of a sassy thing to say to God? Well, when Jesus speaks these words, he’s actually quoting from Scripture, and in so doing, he participates in the long-standing tradition of offering spiritual lament.

To lament is to express deep sorrow, grief, or regret, and the Psalms are filled with hymns that express the depths of human struggle, as well as the fear, bitterness, anger, and sorrow that comes with feeling betrayed or abandoned by God. 

If you ever wonder if it’s ok to yell at God, or question God’s presence, you might find it helpful to dig into the psalms of lament. They offer powerful examples of people’s honest moments of grappling around in the dark, as they seek to find God when he seems nowhere to be found.  

Psalm 22, which Jesus quoted on the cross begins this way, 

1-4 “Doubled up with pain, I call to God
    all the day long. No answer. Nothing.
I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.

3-5 And you! Are you indifferent, above it all,
    leaning back on the cushions of Israel’s praise?
We know you were there for our parents:
    they cried for your help and you gave it;
    they trusted and lived a good life.

6-8 And here I am, a nothing—an earthworm,
    something to step on, to squash.
Everyone pokes fun at me;
    they make faces at me, they shake their heads:
“Let’s see how God handles this one;
    since God likes him so much, let him help him!”

9-11 And to think you were midwife at my birth,
    setting me at my mother’s breasts!
When I left the womb you cradled me;
    since the moment of birth you’ve been my God.
Then you moved far away
    and trouble moved in next door.
I need a neighbor.

12-13 Herds of bulls come at me,
    the raging bulls stampede,
Horns lowered, nostrils flaring,
    like a herd of buffalo on the move.

14-15 I’m a bucket kicked over and spilled,
    every joint in my body has been pulled apart.
My heart is a blob
    of melted wax in my gut.
I’m dry as a bone,
    my tongue black and swollen.
They have laid me out for burial
    in the dirt.

16-18 Now packs of wild dogs come at me;
    thugs gang up on me.
They pin me down hand and foot,
    and lock me in a cage—a bag
Of bones in a cage, stared at
    by every passerby.
They take my wallet and the shirt off my back,
    and then throw dice for my clothes.

19-21 You, God—don’t put off my rescue!
    Hurry and help me!
Don’t let them cut my throat;
    don’t let those mongrels devour me.
If you don’t show up soon,
    I’m done for—gored by the bulls,
    meat for the lions.” 

~Psalm 22:1-21, the Message Version

Psalms of lament always begin with raw, aching sorrow– with laying before the feet of God our true feelings.  But they do not end there.  While holding in balance the struggles and suffering of life, psalms of lament also hold the faith line.  Even while sticking it to God for what God seems to not be doing, laments always end on a note of hope– of choosing to trust that somehow, some way, God is going to right what has been wrong.   

Psalm 22 makes this shift into hope, beginning this way: 

22-24 “Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship,
    and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:
Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers;
    give glory, you sons of Jacob;
    adore him, you daughters of Israel.
He has never let you down,
    never looked the other way
    when you were being kicked around.
He has never wandered off to do his own thing;
    he has been right there, listening.”

Friends, I don’t know what you’re going through today, but I hope that you can practice the dance of lament– of holding tenderly in your hands the balled-up messes we are of hope and struggle, trust and sorrow.  

I hope you can be honest with God and still find room in your heart to say, “This is not going to be the end of my story. There’s more to come.”

Holding the faith line with you,
Pastor Katrina   

Happy April Fool’s Day to you Church! 

Can you believe we made it to April? We did it! We survived another winter. And today the sap is running, the earth is thawing, the birds are singing, and the mud is mudding. Hello Spring! 

Here’s the news for this week: 

Baptism this Sunday

Just a reminder that this will be a special Sunday at church. Terrance Summers is going to be baptized!  Please join us for this important day. 

The Peep Show is Coming! 

For those who don’t know, every year on Palm and Easter Sunday we do a reenactment of Holy Week in the kid sermon with marshmallow peeps and a chocolate bunny.  In the past, I’ve used minimal props, but this year Isaiah and Levi went all out building stage sets.  You’re going to be amazed by Pilate’s palace and the Palestinian home the disciples ate their Passover meal in!  Stay tuned! 

Festival of Sacred Music and Text

The Festival of Sacred Music and Text will take place Sunday, April 10 at 3 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 21 Castle Drive in Potsdam. Participants include choirs and readers from a variety of local congregations and campus groups.

Admission to the concert is free and open to the public. A dessert reception will follow. (This is the first time since 2019 that the Festival will be held in person. The past two years the program moved online due to COVID.)

Sponsored by the Potsdam Interfaith Community (PIC), the annual event is an opportunity for congregations to come together from different faith backgrounds to appreciate the individuality of the various religious communities that are found in Potsdam. The mission of the Potsdam Interfaith Community is to celebrate diversity within our community by providing mutual support, encouragement, and education through acts of service and compassion, common witness, and spiritual and intellectual growth.

*Unfortunately, our church does not have an entry in the program this year, but it would be wonderful if some of us would go to support our neighbors and friends from other congregations, as they share their faith. 

Support for Kenyan Students

For a long time, our church has supported high school students in Kenya. For the past several years, owing to a shortage of financial resources, this support continued through the efforts of individual members of our congregation. Now, our church will resume support for the coming year, which allows contributions to again be tax deductible. 

We have supported up to six students in the past, but we currently have two seniors to support this year:

Annicy Kaimuri Gichovi at Njuri High School
David Mututgi Macharia at Tharaka Boys School

The total estimated costs for the coming year are about $750.

$354 of this will go to support Annicy at Njuri HS and the rest will go for David Mututgi. (We are awaiting the final fee estimate and due date from Tharaka, the other school.)  The funds will be wired to each school at the end of April by Dave Wells.

Many have participated in supporting students in Kenya in the past. If you wish to do so, make your contribution to the Potsdam 1st Presbyterian Church and note that it is for the support of our sponsored high school students in Kenya.

Hopefully, in this coming year, new students can be identified for support! 

The Flow of Life

Well, today is a bit of a hard day for me, friends. My daughter Lexi, who is 21, has been living with me for the last year, and it has been a wonderful gift for both of us. Yesterday, however, she moved out — to try living all on her own! (Thankfully for me, she’s only 1/2 block down the road in a tiny cabin, so I still get to see her a lot.)  

And while I am both excited and delighted for her new adventure, my mama’s heart is also grievous and sad. I will miss having her around all the time. 

As a result, I’ve been reflecting on the impermanence of life. Even though we don’t necessarily want it to, life is always changing, isn’t it? Our kids are born, and then they grow up. Our grandchildren are born, and then they grow up. Our parents, older family members, and even our spourses get older each day, and then eventually, they die. In the same manner, friends and neighbors come into our lives, and then they leave again.

It can feel disheartening when people leave us, can’t it? We feel like they should belong to us forever! But here’s the paradox that God made for us: while we do belong to one another, and we are deeply connected to each other– also– we are also separate beings living in our own spheres of influence. And we don’t get to dictate for one another when or how we will come or go.

This can create a feeling of immense “alone-ness” in us sometimes. But here’s the thing to always hold in this mix of the “comings and the goings”: No matter what, all of us belong to God. All the different ways– both coming and going. 

No matter where you go, you will always belong to God.  And no matter where someone you love moves on to, they also belong to God.

It’s still hard to say good-byes when people leave us, but we can rest in the assurance that no matter what, we all still belong to the one who loves, redeems, and sustains us. And in this belonging, we are all still eternally connected to one another.

Last week I gave you a bit of Psalm 139 to read, but it’s so powerful that I’m going to give you more of the same this week.   

Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit?
    to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
    If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
    to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
    you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
    At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.

~Psalm 139:7-16

Friends, let us never forget that we belong to the God who made us and shaped us; to the God who rests with us and travels with us to the furthest limits of where we reach. For God is everywhere– abiding in all places, times, and things.

In everything, each of us– all of us– belong forevermore to Love,
Pastor Katrina