shepherdstown community of prayer school of love ...shepherdstown presbyterian church newsletter...
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ShepherdStown
preSbyterian ChurCh
www.shepherdstownpresbyterian.org NEWSLETTER June 2015
COMMUNITY OF PRAYERSCHOOL OF LOVE
SERVING THE WORLDWELCOMING ALL
ALEX PATCHIN MCNEILL, Executive Director of More Light Presbyterians, is the first openly transgender person to head a mainline Protestant organization. He is a life-long Presbyterian, and a nationally known educator and advocate for LGBTQ Christians.
Alex has trained hundreds of Christians to become community leaders through the Institute for
Welcoming Resources and the Reconciling Ministries Network. He played a key role in the passage of marriage equality in Maryland.
His journey to ordination is currently being chronicled in the documentary, Out of Order.
He holds a Master’s of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. He currently resides just outside of Washington, DC with his wife and three dogs.
Alex will worship with us and preach at both services. Between services, he will answer questions about the the Marriage Equality Amendment, and the opportunities that lie ahead for More Light Churches to grow into the new PCUSA. It will be a great day to wear your rainbows and celebrate being an inclusive Church!
—Jeananne StineMore Light Coordinator
SPC SUMMER PICNICThe entire congregation together in one place at one time Sunday, June 14, 5:00 p.m., at Morgan’s Grove Park
Come one, come all to the annual SPC picnic. Enjoy beautiful surroundings at our beloved Morgan’s Grove Park,
great food, even better fellowship, and the now legendary soccer match—kids vs. kids at heart.
This is truly a not-to-be-missed SPC fellowship event.
Bring a dish to serve 12 Assignments per last name A-H: side dish;
I-P: vegetable or salad; Q-Z: dessert Chicken, beverages, dishes and flatware are provided. Volunteers needed to set up at 4:30 p.m. and clean up after. Contact Chris Cubby via [email protected].
Make Suggestions to the Nominating Committee for Elders and Deacons by Sunday, June 21
1. Send an email to [email protected], or2. Pick up a form in the Fellowship Hall or Narthex, or3. Check for the form on the website, nominating form.(Note: See church directory for those currently serving as Session elders and deacons.)
GUEST PREACHER AT SPC, June 7
Elsewhere…
SPC Monthly Activities…BLOOD PRESSURE CLINIC First Sundays, 9:15–10:15 a.m., in the narthex. Next: June 7.
FIRST THINGS FIRST SUNDAY Coins for Presbyterian Hunger Program. Place in bucket in the narthex. Next: June 7.
PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN’S (PW) CIRCLE annual salad luncheon, Thursday, June 4 at 11:00 a.m. at the home of Helen Burns, 189 Hensel Drive, Shepherdstown. Call 304.876.9146 for directions. All women of the church are invited. Bread, iced tea, plates, etc., will be provided. Please bring a salad or dessert. (Note: not meeting in July and August.)
MEN’S BREAKFAST Third Saturdays. Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Discussion, 8–9 a.m. Next: June 20.
PRACTICING SILENCE Third Sundays, 5 p.m. For God alone, my soul in silence waits. Come for silent contemplative prayer in the Sanctuary. Next: June 21.
SUPPER GROUPS, 6:30 p.m.• Moveable Feast Saturday, June 13, hosted by Esther & Tim Murphy, 304.876.8133.• TGIF Saturday, May 30, hosted by Carol Wood, 304.876.2758; Friday, June 19, hosted by Dee & Tom Taylor, 304.876.3871.
CANTERBURY SERVICE Third Wednesdays at 10:45 a.m. (Meet in lobby at 10:15 a.m.) Contact: Debbie Romano, [email protected]. Next: June 17.
SPC KNITTING GROUP Last Saturdays, 1 p.m., Library Hall. Bring your own project or join us making prayer shawls and baby blankets. Contacts: Melinda Landolt, or Elaine Hurd via [email protected]. Next: May 30 and June 27
NOTE: The folowing activities will resume in the fall:• TAIZÉ SERVICE• LISTENING GROUPS• CONNECTIONS AT SHEPHERD UNIVERSITY
ROLLING RIDGE STUDY RETREAT COMMUNITY For details check Upcoming Events at http://www.rollingridge.net.
“Restorying the Heroine’s Journey: Sacred Circles and Wild Wanders.” May 29–31.
“Arts to the Ridge: A creative spirit retreat for girls ages 10–15.” June 21–26.
COMMUNITY HYMN SINGS Last Sundays, 4:30 p.m., in the choir room, 2nd floor. One hour of nothing but singing—hymns, and occasionally the folk songs whose melodies grace the hymns. All are welcome. Hymnals and song sheets are provided. Contact: Terry Tucker via [email protected]. Next: May 31 and June 28.
Looking Forward to Storied EveningsStories, Music & Art
Delectable DessertsWednesdays at 7:30 p.m., Sanctuary
July 8 Margaret Cogswell July 15 Jan Hafer
July 22 Bradley Sanders
GOOD SHEPHERD CAREGIVERS Annual Rubber Ducky Classic on Saturday July 18, 4:30 p.m., starting in the Town Run across from Betty’s Restaurant. Goal: $10,000. For tickets, contact 304.876.3325 or www.gsivc.org.
SAVE THE DATE! Shepherdstown Community Bible school is July 20–24, 9 a.m.–12 noon, for children age 3 through middle school. High schoolers are encouraged
to be teaching assistants and helpers. (Community service credit available!) Themes and registration information will be announced soon. We need registration help the morning of July 20, and for each day storytellers, music leaders, games helper, shepherds and teachers. If you would like to volunteer one day, some
days or all days please contact Anne Barrat via [email protected].
COMMUNITY DINNER sponsored by the Jefferson County Homeless Coalition. First Sundays, 6 p.m. at Zion Episcopal Church, 301 East Congress St., Charles Town. We need: main dishes, veggies, salad, fresh fruit, bread, and desserts. Please go to this scheduler and sign up: http://doodle.com/4is49kfrq3trkhai.
Drop off hot food from 4:30–5:15 p.m. that Sunday. Leave other food in the SPC refrigerator anytime (marked Community Dinner). Please use disposable containers if possible. Questions? Contact Anne Post via [email protected]. Next: June 7.
NOTE: We need a coordinator for this outreach program. Please contact [email protected].
SECOND SUNDAY SUMMER SEMINARS
Between services (9:30-10:30 a.m.) Opportunities to practice prayer and meditation
June 14 Larry Neumark: “Relaxation Through Imagination,” a form of concentration meditation, which Larry uses in one of his prison meditation classes. Differences between insight and concentration meditation methods will be discussed. July 12 Nan Broadhurst: “Lovingkindness Meditation,” a form of Buddhist meditation with the focus of sending benevolent, compassionate and loving energy toward oneself, others and the world.August 9 Yvonne Fisher: “Centering Prayer,”a receptive method of silent prayer with the focus of deepening our relationship with God and awareness of God’s presence within us.
REFLECTIONS ON SPC MODERN MYSTICS CLASSSunday between-services classes by the Adult Education
Committee finished studying Modern Mystics May 10. Our reader, Eleven Modern Mystics and the Secrets of a Happy Holy Life, gave tips for emulating each mystic. (Good luck, huh?) Videos amplified some readings.
A late-life stroke left British Catholic-priest-guru-to-India Bede Griffiths with his male brain knocked down and his female brain fore-grounded (to simplify neurology). SPC confirmation classes should show his discourse. It also helped balance the majority male language among the videos.
We studied Thich Nhat Hahn, Griffiths, Dorothy Day, Ben Salmon, Abraham Heschel, Oscar Romero, Etty Hillesum, Caryll Houselander, Pope John 23, Thea Bowman, and Eknath Easwaran. Don’t know them all? We didn’t either. Church hierarchies elected Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope John 23 because rock the boat—or live long. Wrong! Both brought radical change.
Hollander Etty Hillesum volunteered as a social worker in Westerbork—later a Nazi concentration camp—refusing offers of escape. She and her parents and siblings would be shipped to gas chambers. Neurotic Britisher Caryll Houselander should have been a gooey mass of self-pity. But she developed genius for helping “hopeless” cases—young and old—find healing.
Are mystics dreamy dreamers? Forget that: They showed us that silence is complicity. That our culture is sick and our ethos bankrupt. But not to drag you down!—before John was pope, he saved 25,000 Jews from Nazi death camps by handing out baptism certificates, no strings attached. Oscar Romero begged US President Jimmy Carter: please don’t send more guns down here. They use them to kill us.
As theologian Karl Rahner said: “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or [s/he] will not exist at all.” These mystics saw God in everything, and felt deep personal connections to God. —Ed Zahniser
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT produced by St. Agnes and performed at Reynold’s Hall, June 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21. For information and tickets, go to StAgnesShepherdstown.org.
Congratulations Graduates… CollegeMichael Byrne, Berklee College of MusicJoe Hill, West Virginia University Logan Musselwhite, Shepherd UniversitySara Hornbeck, Miami University of OhioSky Benedict, Florida Atlantic UniversityEric Smith, Haverford College
Graduate schoolKathy Gottlieb, Shepherd University, Masters in EducationJenny Baker-Shenk, Eastern Mennonite University, Masters in Counseling
High school grads were asked (1) A fond memory of SPC; (2) Plans past high school “as far as you can see.”Jack Barrat (1) Randy’s lessons to the children before heading off to Sunday school; (2) Elon University in North CarolinaMadeline Madison (1) Three DC mission trips to serve homeless people; (2) Beloit College in Wisconsin and then Peace CorpsAddison Murdock (1) Ski trip, first trip with the youth group; (2) Shepherd University to learn computer science and psychologyGeorgia Musselwhite (1) Youth group trips, especially to southern WV to help build a Habitat for Humanity house; and DC mission trips to serve homeless people; (2) Shepherd University, the Peace Corps, then Law SchoolMadison Quinn (1) DC mission trip; (2) Shepherd University nursing programWill Ransom (1) Trip to Nicaragua; (2) Shepherd University and playing on football teamWilliam Snyder (1) Christmas Eve 5 p.m. service every year, and the 8:15 Sunday service; (2) Computer Science at Johns Hopkins; fence on their team, study Artificial Intelligence in regard to game design
CONFIRMATION OF YOUTH Bea Barrat, Kate Cauvel, Hannah Hanes, Isabella
Snyder, and Nathan Walker will make their “public profession of faith” and confirm the “covenant of membership,” Sunday, May 31, at 4:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
Each will share a brief reflection on the decision to stand in our faith tradition. The congregation is invited to attend and witness the covenant of membership. A reception follows in Fellowship Hall.
RANDY’S SURPRISE!In celebration of 40 years since Randy first preached at SPC, the congregation wore T-shirts, jeans and sandals. (He claims he didn’t show up that way to preach, but…) We pulled off the surprise and, to say the least, he was shocked!
Nan Broadhurst
Karen Waugh, Wendy Ransom
Mary Ellen Lloyd, Randy Temba, Randy, 40 years ago, aka Phil Baker-Shenk
Rie Wilson, Carol Wood, Addison Murdock, Charlotte Baker-Shenk,
Jim Edwards, Libby HowardWill Ransom, Addison Murdock, Georgia Musselwhite, Randy Tremba
NURSE’S NOTES
HEADACHEThere are five kinds of headaches: (1) Tension
headache: affects as much as 78%of the population, is often attributed to stress, anxiety or low blood sugar. It feels like a tight band is squeezing your skull, sometimes for hours. To treat, use ice pack or heat to neck and shoulders, stand up straight and use over the counter pain meds for relief. (2) Migraine: throbbing pain often accompanied by blurred vision, light sensitivity and nausea. Try Excedrin migraine. Also identify triggers, if possible, in order to avoid them. (3) Chronic migraine: a migraine that occurs for 15 days or more monthly. May need Botox or other more aggressive treatment recommended by your physician. (4) Cluster: rare, comes on late at night and lasts 15 minutes up to three hours and feels like a drill boring into your eye. Don’t lay down; instead walk around. If pain persists, go to the ER. (5) Sinus: technically, this is not a headache but is likely facial pressure from congestion. To treat, hydrate, try a steaming shower and take decongestants.
Obviously, any headache that does not go away should be checked out by a physician. So, avoid headaches and have a good summer! Blood pressure clinic Sunday, June 7 and August 2 Taking off the 4th of July!
Stay tuned for a stress management workshop in October. We’reworking on a very dynamic speaker from Baltimore. —Merry Morgan RN, Parish Nurse
Financial Corner...GENERAL FUND through May 24. Expected to date: $121,834; actual giving: $121,655. Building Fund pledged for 2015: $32,480; received to date: $9,610.
PENTECOST OFFERING $2,414 plus an additional $130 for Caring Cupboard.
NEXT NEWSLETTER July-August 2015 Send announcements, articles, news on our members, and digital pictures to Rie Wilson via [email protected]. Deadline: June 24.
Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church100 West Washington Street
P.O. Box 268Shepherdstown, WV 25443
304.876.6466304.876.2033 (fax)
Pastor: Rev. Dr. Randall [email protected]
Director of Spiritual Formation and Campus Ministry: Ethel Hornbeck
Visit www.shepherdstownpresbyterian.org for the latest news, podcasts, and calendar of events.
Congratulations…ROBBIE BARRAT won first place in the computer science category at the WV State Science and Engineering Fair on March 28 in Fairmont. He also won the Intel Award for Excellence in Computer Science. The winning entry is search engine tool entitled “Coding an Academic Search Engine.” Robbie has since released this tool for open source use.
BOB PROUDMAN won the first annual PROUD-MAN/PROUD-WOMAN AWARD [yes, it was named for him] “For sustained, substantial and superior contributions to the achievement of the mission of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy [ATC].” Bob began his career there 34 years ago, but started with the Appalachian Mountain Club 16 years before that, for a total half-century’s work on the Appalachian Trail this June.
This award was given to him, and will be issued annually to a staff member, for displaying these characteristics: unrelenting dedication to ATC’s mission; substantial innovation and contributions to ATC’s programs; congeniality; team player; and clear, crisp, professional, persuasive writing. Bob also co-authored two
books: AMC’s (Appalachian Mountain Club) Trail Building and Maintenance and Appalachian Trail Design, Construction and Maintenance.
JOHN BURNS won a limerick contest in the Washington Post. [PostPoints is a rewards program with the Post.] He won $100!
Who said printed papers are dead?Seven days a week, ours is read.PostPoints has the deal,With plenty appeal.Just cash in your points; enough said.
DIANE KRADEL’s new email: [email protected]
THE PIEDMONT SINGERS will present a festive Choral Evensong (or Evening Prayer), one of the oldest liturgies of the Christian Church, at SPC on Friday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m. The liturgy includes the Magnificat (Song of Mary) and Nunc Dimittis (Song of Simeon), as well as scripture, hymns, and spoken and sung prayers. This summer the Piedmont Singers will be the visiting choir-in-residence at York Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe.
SPC’s own Georgiann Toole composed a setting of the Evensong liturgy to be sung in York and at the SPC service. The Piedmont Singers, directed by Wendy Oesterling, include Georgiann and Brad Toole, Chris Cubby, Diane Holliman, Elaine Hurd, Suellen Myers, Rie Wilson, and Carol Wood. The service is free and open to the public.