The Parish Visitor
First Reformed
Church of Fishkill
March 2010
Dear
Friends,
I
have heard more than one person say in the past couple of weeks that they
stayed up too late last night – watching the Olympics. The competitions have
been exciting and the view of Vancouver and surrounding areas are breath
taking.
And
so as pastor and teacher, I have to ask – what does this mean for us in this
Season of Lent that began with the signing of the cross on our foreheads or
hands with the ash from last year’s palms - a reminder of our baptism and our
complete dependence on God? How do the Olympics affect this somber, yet hopeful
act, where we proclaim that as we are buried with Christ in his death, so we
are raised with Christ in his resurrection?
Well,
believe it or not, there really is a connection, not perhaps in the triple
twist, but the discipline that made it possible for all these athletes to make
it to the Olympics. Their lives show us the positive, growing side of physical,
mental and emotional discipline. They have put in years of discipline for the
opportunity to just be at the games and the hope of one moment of glory.
So,
what would it look like for the church if we adopt the same attitude as the
talented athletes performing at the winter Olympics? What if we all paused to
listen to how God wants us to grow as spiritual athletes, as disciples of
Christ, preparing us not just for a moment or a season, but an eternity of
glory?
If
the discipline of these athletes can create such amazing results, think of the
possibilities when the church at large and the individual members join in
practicing spiritual disciplines for the Season of Lent and beyond. The Lenten
disciplines of acts of kindness, prayer and fasting are tools of discipline
that can lead us to renewal as we bury all that is holding us back from being
truly alive in Christ. Let’s go for the
gold!
May
God give us strength for the journey,
P.S. Our special Easter offering will go Reformed
Church World Service and their continued work in Haiti, and The Lunchbox
Program in Poughkeepsie, where many seek their daily bread.
MARCH CALENDAR
|
2 |
Lenten Luncheon – 12 noon* |
17 |
Bible Study – 10 am Book Study – 7:15 pm |
|
3 |
Bible Study – 10 am Book Study – 7:15 pm |
18 |
Soup pickup – 6-7 pm* Choir – 7 pm |
|
4 |
Soup pickup – 6-7 pm* Choir – 6 pm |
21 |
Sunday School – 9 am Worship – 10 am Organizational meeting for Everything Sale* |
|
7 |
Girl Scout Sunday* Sunday School – 9 am Worship – 10 am Communion |
23 |
Lenten Luncheon – 12 noon* |
|
9 |
Lenten Luncheon – 12 noon* Consistory – 7:15 pm |
24 |
Bible Study – 10 am Book Study – 7:15 pm |
|
10 |
Bible Study – 10 am Book Study – 7:15 pm Women to Hedgewood – 2 pm* |
25 |
Choir – 7 pm |
|
11 |
Choir – 7 pm |
28 |
PALM SUNDAY Sunday School – 9 am Worship – 10 am |
|
14 |
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS: SPRING AHEAD Sunday School – 9 am Worship – 10 am Ordination of Edward Hawkins – 4 pm* |
31 |
Bible Study – 10 am |
|
16 |
Lenten Luncheon – 12 noon* |
|
|
*See this Parish Visitor for more information
HOMEMADE SOUP
March 3 Butternut Squash
March 17, New England Clam Chowder
Sign up in the Education
Building to order or call Mary Lu at 831-4035 and
leave a message. Pick up at the DuBois House Thursday evening between 6-7, Soup
will also be available in the Education Building on Fridays, left in the
refrigerator, for
those who did not get a chance to pick up or for any extra there may be.
The Women of the Church will be going to sing with the residents of Hedgewood Adult Home
in Beacon on Wednesday, March 10 at 2 PM. If you would like to
carpool, we will meet in the DuBois House at 1:30. We will be bringing
cookies to serve to the residents. If you are not able to join us but would
like to contribute cookies, you may leave them in the Secretary's office before
1:30.
+++
March 7th is Girl Scout Sunday. Dig
out your pins and wear them with pride.
COFFEE HOUR
Every
Sunday we worship God together and then we continue our fellowship during our
coffee hour in the Education Building. The more people who come to coffee hour,
the sweeter the fellowship!
Coffee hour is possible because our church family
take turns serving each other beverages and a small treat. In the list of dates
and names below, the first name on the list serves as the host. This means
calling the other names on the list for that day and seeing who will bring
what, including juice and milk.
While
many enjoy making something special, something simple is just as appreciated.
Also, if someone on the list has a commitment before or after worship, than the
group can make arrangements as to who will set up, who will keep the creamer
pitcher full and who will clean up.
Maisie
Minot is the one who makes sure the coffeepots are on and full. Those serving
make sure the coffee pots are cleaned and all the tables and counters wiped
down with the water/bleach mixture found in the spray bottle. Please take the
dirty dish towels home for a wash and bring them back the next week.
If you
are not able to do the coffee hour on your scheduled date, please find a
replacement and call the church office with the name of your replacement. If
you have any concerns regarding your availability at this time to do coffee
hour due to health or other large issues, please contact Karen Twohig at
831-5694.
If anyone
plans to bring food to coffee hour for a special occasion, please
notify the host for that date.
MARCH APRIL
7 Kayson, Rodriguez, Skorewicz 4 (Easter) Sanders, Rudberg, Nolting, Minot
14 Fellin, Crawford, Dachenhausen/Totino 11 Harty, Houston, Lanni
21
Rush, Doerr, D. Hansen 18 Twohig, Lane,
Carruthers
28 Wright, Jones, Wynn 25 Vasquez, Teske, McGann
The Reverend Classis of the Mid-Hudson
of the
Reformed
Church in America
(and Ed Hawkins)
invites
The
Congregation and Friends of the First Reformed Church of Fishkill
to the
Ordination
of
Ed
Hawkins
to the
Office
of Minister of Word and Sacrament
at
The
First Reformed Church of Fishkill
1153 Main
Street (Route 52)
Fishkill,
NY 12524
on
Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 4:00 PM
EASTER LILIES
It is time to place your order if you would like to put
a LILY in the church for Easter. The cost will be $10 payable to Women
of the Reformed Church at the time you place your order. The deadline
will be MARCH 21. There is a sign up sheet in the entry to the
Christian Education Building. You may give your payment to Liz Alexander
or Dorrie Hansen or mark it for a lily and place it in the offering.
EVERYTHING SALE
MAY 15, 2010
coming
soon!
Start gathering your stuff!!!
Organizational Meeting-March 21,
after Coffee Hour.
LENTEN
LUNCHEON SERIES CONTINUES
The Lenten Luncheon series entitled Holy Friendship continues on Tuesdays,
through March 23rd from noon to 1:00 in the DuBois House parlor. Bring your
lunch. Coffee, tea, and dessert will be provided.
*NO
COMMITMENT CRAFT GROUP*
Join us when you
are able for easy
crafts.
DAY: Monday
TIME: 10
AM - 12 PM
PLACE: Downstairs in the DuBois House
parlor
(Sharp scissors and new ideas are always welcomed.)
When we meet, the date will appear in the bulletin or
call Dorrie Hansen 896-8307.
Stewardship: Caring for Creation.
The stewardship committee would like the congregation to look hard at their
recycling efforts. We feel that as part of caring for our environment, we
all need to expand our efforts and include things we usually do not think as
recyclable. I know I am amazed at the amount of plastic I return to supermarket
drop off bins now provided.
We recently held a yard sale where we sold a set of old kitchen chairs for $12, only to see them a few months later for sale at a Cold Spring store for $140. And I thought they were ready for the trash.
Habitat for Humanity has a store in Newburgh accepting used furniture, fixtures and building materials. Check web sites like Green America, Free Cycle and Royal Carting for updates on what and where to recycle. There are stores accepting electronics; Lowes and Home Depot accept lithium batteries and LCD light bulbs.
This is in no way an exhaustive list, so feel free to forward any suggestions
to me, John Twohig at twigman52@hotmail.com.
The Wednesday morning Bible study group recently prepared and shipped 39 hygiene kits for Church World Service, to help replenish their supply after the earthquake in Haiti. Supplies left over, not enough to do more complete kits, were donated to House of Faith.
Women of the Church:
Mark your calendars:
April 17: Reformed Church Women of the Hudson Valley will have a
joint meeting with the women from Ulster County at St. John's Reformed Church
in Upper Red Hook. The speaker will be Beverly Kipp, their Health
Minister director and a Preaching Elder. Full details next month.
October 18
and 19: Warwick Auxiliary Open
House. The speaker will be Rev. Barbara Fillette. Lorraine
Nelson-Wolff will again provide the music.
Notes from February Consistory Meeting
Ü Deacon Karen Twohig John led devotions,
beginning with “God help me.” The consistory was challenged to think about the
obvious and not so obvious ways that God helps us. Psalm 64 reminded us of
God’s constant care for us.
Ü Affirmations and Appointments were reviewed
and elections held. Don Porter is Vice President, Bonnie Chao, chair of elders,
and JoAnn Supan, chair of deacons.
Ü Treasurer’s Operating Report for January
shows revenues totaling $25,165.94, and expenses totaling $19,505.21.
Ü Food Pantry requests for the
month of January were 164, for a total of 6,555 meals.
Ü
Ü Finance and Stewardship
Committees will meet to discuss the repayment of the $20,000 drawn from
investments for payment of the solar system on the
Ü The “Voices of Glory”
concert, scheduled for February 27th, has been publicized in local
newspapers, websites and in our church communications.
Ü A walk through of the
parsonage shows that the house is in very good condition and needs a number of
minor repairs.
Ü Pastor Gloria is a classis delegate to General
Synod, June 10-15,
Ü Next regular
CHILDREN’S COMMUNITY SERVICES
What
a busy time we've been having at Children's Community Services. We've had
snow days, Valentine parties, Tea Time with our moms (4 year olds), picture
days and days of "adventure" (today we had no heat or lights for a
few hours while the solar panels were connected). The most fun was using
the lanterns in the bathrooms!!.
We
are all working hard preparing for our annual Open House. On Monday,
March 15th and Tuesday, March 16th from 6:30 until 8:00pm, we are inviting
EVERYONE both big and small to visit Children's Community Services. You
will be amazed at all you will be seeing. The display created by the 4
year olds will really give you hope that spring is around the corner. The
3 year olds will be creating a swamp and all the critters you might see
there. The Before and After School Program are making "swamp
monsters" and are planning activities for that night. We will also
be holding our annual Scholastic Book Fair and snacks! If you
can, we encourage you to set aside a few minutes to come and visit
CCS. You'll be proud of this special outreach the First Reformed Church
has provided to the community for close to 30 years!!
Heather
Hansen
Director
Treating Our Neighbors As Ourselves
Twenty
Casseroles were taken to Hudson River Housing Coalition for the Homeless on
Jan. 29, 2010. The first 20 people called stepped to the plate and
volunteered to help in this worthy project of feeding the Homeless.
Twelve messages were left on phones and 11 of those people returned the call
offering food. It was a splendid show of God's love. Thank
you very much, you amazing ambassadors of God. April 30, 2010 we will
again feed the Homeless at Hillcrest in Poughkeepsie. Please see
the Sign Up Sheet to share a Pot Luck Casserole again. These
people do so appreciate our love!
The
Deacons
Easter Special Offering
The Deacons have chosen The Lunch Box and RCWS for Haiti as the recipients of our Easter offering. The Lunch Box serves lunches every day in the Family Partnership Center in Poughkeepsie and has recently lost its United Way funding. In addition, we must continue to remember the victims of the Haitian earthquake in our prayers and with our giving.
Fishkill
Food Pantry
In 2009 the Food Pantry supplied needy southern Dutchess families with all the ingredients to prepare over 70,000 meals. The question has arisen what is the retail value of all the food we have been providing? A related question is what would be a rational method for estimating this value? My goal here is to impart some appreciation of the value of the food we acquire and to answer the questions raised.
The bulk of the food we give to the hungry has been either donated by individuals or acquired through government and United Way programs. The $9041 food expense listed in the Pantry’s 2009 Financial Report primarily covered the purchase of perishable foods such as milk, eggs, cheese and meat. Purchased food represents only a small part of the food handed out. A source of free food is the FEMA program, Second Harvest, that supplies us with USDA commodities. Recently we learned that the USDA commodities we picked up at the Regional Food Bank in 2009 were worth $17,671.47. In 2008 they were valued at $11,563.46. Another source of value not appearing in the financial report is provided through New York State and United Way grants. These programs set up a Pantry line of credit at the Food Bank. During 2009, drawing from these accounts we acquired approximately $9,000 worth of food, some of which was priced at 16 cents per pound.
Roughly half of what we provide is non-perishable foods donated by individuals and businesses. The Feinstein Challenge (being held again this March and April) requires that each donated article be valued at one dollar regardless of purchase price. A dollar per-item value is not realistic for the bags of food we have been handing out. As an alternative we tried the following approach to come up with an estimate of the retail value of the food we give to the needy.
We asked several of our volunteers to pack bags for a five day supply for a family of four (two children) and again for two adults. Each volunteer’s selection of food was recorded and the results were averaged to produce lists of what is typically supplied for the two types of families. Members of last year’s Confirmation Class were asked to take the lists to a local supermarket, price each item and total up the cost of the five day supply of food. The results gathered at different stores indicate that last year we were providing about $4.80 worth of food per person per day, or $1.60 each for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our volunteers think this valuation is too low and the process should be repeated. This may take place. We do need a broader sample. The process has high-lighted issues we need to address, such as the uniformity of what is packed. The process is not straightforward as our available supplies do vary widely. The study has demonstrated that half of the value of the food we hand out comes as items purchased and donated by individuals.
Murray Suggitt
+++++
Croatia Update
Fellow American missionary keeps us going
By Rev. Eric Titus
He has been our wheels, our voice, our cultural
reference. Without him, we would have jumped in the deep end of missionary life
in Croatia without a wall to swim over to and get our bearings, not to mention
our breath. His name is Paul Dragowski, a fellow Michigander (from Kalamazoo to
my Lansing), and a good friend who keeps us going.
Paul has been
one of the answers to prayers in our work here in Osijek. In addition to being
a missionary himself, he is a member of the Reformed Christian Church in
Croatia and so is a direct partner with us as he reaches out to the youth of
our city.
With a wealth of experience across Croatia and
near-native command of the language, Paul helps us negotiate the many and
assorted challenges that arise when living in another culture.
He began this ministry to us even before we arrived,
helping us with visa documents, an official translator who charged reasonable
rates, and insights into what we could expect. Early on, he helped us buy cell
phones and took my wife shopping every week for nearly two years before we got
a car. He also has driven us – quite happily I might add – to the airport
numerous times. This is especially kind since Budapest is a four-hour trip each
way. He drove us everywhere and translated for us as we shopped for a car and
then walked with me through the two-day process of registering it the first
time and the two-day processing of renewing it the next year.
Paul dropped everything to go with me to buy a
refrigerator when ours died last summer and again in January when we bought a
washing machine, which he installed for us. He has been my translator for
sermons and has driven me to Prague when I needed to go for my doctoral work.
Paul came to Croatia in 1988 and worked in Rijeka, on
the coast. He moved to war-torn Vukovar at the border with Serbia when it was
still basically a city of rubble. He moved to Osijek to help the Reformed
Church reach out to youth, and he lives in the Osijek church property where he
conducts a drop-in ministry that sees dozens of youth per week.
His is a ministry of relationship, built one at a time
with more than 200 young people in Osijek. It is no exaggeration to say that
whenever we go anywhere in Osijek with Paul, someone will stop him just to
chat.
One reason he is so successful is his Croatian
ability. Natives are surprised to learn he is an American who didn’t start
learning the language until his mid-thirties. He goes wherever the youth are,
and his Croatian allows him to interact naturally as he strikes up conversations
that invariably lead to questions of faith.
Another reason is his interest in the things that
interest youth, which in turn he uses as tools of ministry, such as:
weight-lifting, backpacking, swimming, and skateboarding, a new hobby he took
up while we were in the States. With these, he builds friendships that
naturally provide opportunities for ministry.
His heart of
gold extends to the larger missionary community as well. Recently an American
Pentecostal missionary who runs a different youth ministry in Osijek had
problems with his car. He went to a repair shop and got an estimate for 18,000
kuna, about $3,600. Paul called his mechanic and found a garage in another
town. The cost to our friend was 2,400 kuna, about $480. Without Paul’s intervention,
this missionary could not have found a way around this obvious price-gouging of
an American!
Paul does all
this freely and joyfully and never begrudgingly. He lives out the passage that
tells us never to be weary in well-doing.
That in a nutshell is Paul’s ministry to us and others, Americans or
Croatians. When you pray for us, please add Paul to your prayers, as he is a
vital part of our ministry.
Eric and Nancy Titus are RCA missionaries in Osijek, Croatia, where they
work at the Evangelical Theological Seminary and with the Reformed Christian
Church in Croatia. They have three children: Samuel, 15, Valerie, 12, and
Penny, 10.
First Reformed Church of Fishkill
1153 Main Street
Fishkill, NY 12524
Lunch N
Listen Free Concert Series
March 3, 2010
Novus Cantus
Alexander and Christian Herasimtschuk
April 7, 2010
Student String Ensembles
Students of Marla Rathbun and Charlotte Dinwiddie
12 noon
First Lutheran Church
Fellowship Hall
Corner of Mill and Catharine Streets
Poughkeepsie
Light refreshments at 12:45