How to help those affected by the tornados in Oklahoma

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

By postal mail:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

P.O. Box 643700

Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Note: Oklahoma Relief—PDA

on check memo line

Give online: 

http://tinyurl.com/pen8b78

Note: Oklahoma Relief—PDA on check memo line

Cell Phone Text Giving:

Text “PDA” 202222 to give $10

Church World Service

By postal mail:

28606 Phillips St
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515

Note: Oklahoma Relief—on check memo line

Give online:

http://tinyurl.com/p9rls6c

Text giving from your phone:

Text “RESPOND” to 50555 to give $10

Spring is in the air.  Renewal, new life.  New possibilities, new directions!    

I’ve spent quite a bit of time the last month or so thinking and praying about various issues as they relate to our faith and our direction as a congregation and the larger church.  Our Session is reading short articles each month, to think about these issues alongside me in their role as the spiritual leaders of our congregation.  One article we read last month was from Jan Edminston, who is a pastor in Chicago.  She relates this story of an encounter she had with an Elder at a new church in their Presbytery: 

Me (Jan): So tell me about your new church.


Elder: Well, we meet in a school and it’s kind of a pain to set up the chairs every week. I miss having pews and a center aisle.


Me: What’s worship like?


Elder: I don’t really like the music. I’m more traditional and the music is a little wild for me.
And I’m not crazy about all the moving around.


Me: So, you don’t like where you worship and you don’t like the music. Why in the world is that your church?

Elder (face lighting up): Because I’d give up the things I love to see all those young adults crowd into that school cafeteria every Sunday to meet God. Hundreds of young adults coming through the doors every week to be God’s people together. I’m happy to give up what makes me happy to make God happy.

This brief conversation brings up a real question for all of us, that is so important.  What are we willing to give up in our lives to make God happy?   The story’s main point isn’t about who is coming to this new church in Chicago, or their style or worship, or where they worship.  Doing what makes God happy won’t get you a particular result in changing something that makes you anxious.   The main point of this story is the question it has for us:  can we give up what we like, what we are used to, for the sake of the big picture—the kingdom picture of what God’s desire for us is? 

This question can come to us in all sorts of forms.  It can be related to our life as a congregation.  Or it could be related to our individual practices.   It’s a good question for spring when new life is taking shape all around us.  You have to let go of something to get the new life.  Something has to be given up.  Sacrifices are made. 

Starting on Sunday May 12, I will be preaching a sermon series that will go all the way until July 21—eleven Sundays.   We’ll start in the early parts of the Bible and then move towards the early church in Acts and finish up in July in some of Jesus’ lessons in the Gospels.   The theme of the sermon series will be on journeying towards change and renewal and how this is woven throughout the larger biblical narrative.   We’ll be looking at these ancient scriptural stories and voices and then teasing out in worship where the intersections are for our personal, spiritual and corporate life as a congregation.   We’ll be talking about the question of what makes us happy and what makes God happy.  When are these the same thing, and when are these different (and then how do we reconcile this challenge?).  The good news is this isn’t just our journey, issue or problem—but one that’s been present since the beginning of our spiritual story, right back to Genesis.  My hope with this longer theme for the next few months in worship that we will have the opportunity to engage and see what is going on with these themes—and think through our choices and actions related to them!   I’m looking forward to seeing where this takes us!

Looking forward to the conversations in worship and the learnings together as we dive into this idea in scripture over the next few months!

Peace,

Pastor Shannan

Friends,



I know that this has been a disturbing and upsetting week for so many of you.  The bombing at the end of the Boston Marathon, ricin-laced letters being sent through the mail, gridlock in the Senate and the outpouring of grief from families who have lost loved ones to gun violence, a terrible explosion in Texas that has killed more than 35 people and nearly leveled a town and now a violent manhunt in Boston locking down a whole city and its suburbs.  We mourn the senseless loss of life in all these instances.  

I know that many of us have friends and family members who are involved in one way or another in these terrible events.  We are connected in many ways.  I know some of the members of our church have children who are studying in Boston or have family members there.   Those of us who lived through September 11th undoubtedly have our fears and worries brought back to us from that day.  

I am thinking about and praying for all of those things this week.

Yet this morning I received an email from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance letting me know that they are on the ground and at work in both Boston and Texas.  Sadly, one of the volunteer firefighters who is still unaccounted for in Texas is the son of the organist at First Presbyterian in Hillsboro, TX.   PDA is already providing love, care and ministry, bringing the love and light of Jesus to those places where it is most needed.  I give thanks for this ministry of our larger church, that we so generously support.  It is a reminder that we must hold on so tightly this week to these ties that bind us one to the other.



I look forward to seeing you this Sunday for worship.  We will gather together as we always do, listen to music and song, to God's Word and to each other.  We will gather around the Table for Communion and remember the love that gives us new life in all circumstances.  We all know people who are struggling this week and might not have a place to be to share their fears and worries and find peace with other people.  If you know of someone like that, invite them to be with us this Sunday...



May God's peace surround you and may the Psalm below sustain you,


Pastor Shannan
 

Psalm 46



God is our refuge and strength,
 a very present help in trouble. 
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; 
though its waters roar and foam,
   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy habitation of the Most High. 
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
   God will help it when the morning dawns. 
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
   he utters his voice, the earth melts. 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;
   see what desolations he has brought on the earth. 
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire. 
‘Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’ 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Since the mass shooting of schoolchildren in late 2012 in Newtown, CT there have been 2332 gun deaths in the United States. Two thousand three hundred thirty two. 2332 funerals.   2332 grieving families. 2332 shattered lives. 

Since the mass shootings of schoolchildren in late 2012 in Newtown, CT there have been 42 children and 123 teenagers killed by guns in the United States. Shattered dreams. Lives cut too short. Children and teenagers just the like the ones we love and cherish in our lives. 

Our Session has been talking since the shootings in Newton, CT about what can we do as people of faith. Our Presbytery has been talking too. The Peacemaking Team of our Presbytery decided that we wanted to show a new film produced by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and that has been shown on some PBS and NBC stations called Trigger: The Ripple Effect of Gun Violence.   We will be hosting the screening of this film on Palm Sunday March 24^th at 3PM in our Parish Hall. Our Presbytery has called this as a Special Meeting of Elizabeth Presbytery to underscore the importance of this conversation about how our congregations can serve as places of peace and change in the culture we live in which is broken apart by senseless violence everywhere we turn. Rick Ufford-Chase who you all met at my installation back in 2009 (he was the preacher) will be leading us in conversation that day. Rick is a longtime leader in our denomination for peacemaking. We are not just going to talk on this day. We are going to take action by reaching out to our elected officials and also making plans about things our congregations can do in our local communities to promote peace and stop violence.  Click here to RSVP that you are coming and invite others. 

Why Palm Sunday? Why Holy Week? Aren’t we already so busy that week? Why add something else to our schedules? Can we see this movie another time, talk about this issue another time? Sure we can. But Holy Week is the perfect week for this conversation.  

Luke’s Gospel tells the story of the last week of Jesus. Right after Jesus enters Jerusalem he begins to cry. He says, “If only you knew for the things that make for peace.”  Later Jesus tells the truth that the Temple, the religious center has become contaminated by consumption and greed. And then when Jesus is betrayed in the Garden and one of those with Jesus tries to stop him from being taken by taking a sword to cut off the ear of one of those trying to arrest Jesus.   What is Jesus’ response? He says: “Enough of this!” and he heals the person with the cut-off ear. He heals one of the people coming to arrest him! Jesus does not say, “Thank you for trying to protect me.” Instead Jesus says “Not even now. No more violence.” Later Jesus does not struggle against or try to fight his way out of his arrest, torture and murder. 

Holy Week is the culmination of the ministry of Jesus—our Lord and our Savior. His last week tells us some of the most important things we need to know about him.   Jesus is nonviolent. Jesus is a man of peace.  We cannot have New Life if we do not completely renounce and end violence. 

Come and join us on March 24 at 3PM as we talk about what following Jesus can be. As we talk about how to redefine our ministry and our lives to always seek and create peace.   Let’s talk about how to end the violence and be people of the Resurrection.

Peace in this Lenten Season,

Pastor Shannan 

Christmas still does not feel too far away does it?   While Christmas is a fixed date on the calendar—Easter is not.  Depending on how the calendar goes…Easter can happen anywhere between March 22nd and April 25th.    This year we are getting an early Easter!  The start of Lent is just two weeks away! 

Jeremy, Mark, Ann Elyse and I have been busy preparing for Lent (we got started before Christmas arrived if you will believe it!) and we have a wonderful Lent planned.  Enclosed in this newsletter is our Lent calendar, all on one page.  This includes special activities and classes, along with our extra worship services.   Our goal is to offer a wide-range of spiritual offerings during Lent—many different ways to stretch and grow our spiritual muscles.  Lent can be seen as a time of letting go, of abstaining from something, or of sadness as we contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus.  Lent can also be a season of renewal, of coming to know God more deeply and intimately and of growing our faith together with others.  This year we are taking the second path with worship and our offerings.  Both Mark and Ann Elyse will solo-lead an after-worship class as will I.   Taking seriously the epidemic of gun violence and wanting to see how we best can respond as people of faith, we will host a Presbytery-wide gathering to watch the documentary Trigger and be led in conversation by Rick Ufford-Chase (he’s the one that gave us that stole of courage a few years back!).   We have the soup-a-thon and the Session will go on retreat.   Jeremy has some beautiful music planned for Lent—and Ann Elyse and Mark will be co-leading our kick-off worship for Lent—Ash Wednesday on Wednesday February 13th.   So come and join us and enjoy this Lenten Season as we dig deep into our journey of faith that is both individual and together!  We are all very excited! 

The other new thing that will roll out this month is on the third Sunday of February when we will sing from the new Glory to God hymnal (something we’ll do once a month until the new hymnal arrives!).  Our Response to Confession for the season of Lent is from the new hymnal.  We’ll have it memorized by the time Lent is done! 

Enclosed in this newsletter is an article about the new hymnal and an order form so you can help us to outfit our Sanctuary with the new hymnals.  After spending the fall working through the music in the new hymnal in worship and after enthusiastic support from the choir and Congregation the Session voted to purchase the hymnals.  We did the order in 2012 to take advantage of free shipping, which adds up with a book order like this!  They will arrive around September 20th and our goal is to “christen” them in worship on World Communion Sunday, the first Sunday in October!  But first we need to pay for them!  New hymnals only come around about every 20-25 years and this one is amazing.  Hymnals are $15 each and you can buy as many as you want in honor or in memory of a person or a ministry.  Whatever you want to say—and we’ll put it inside the hymnals.   What a great way to leave a little legacy in the pews each Sunday!   We are taking orders now and you can continue to “buy” your hymnals up until the end of September!   Another exciting new thing among us!

Lent holds the promise in our part of the world of spring.  Warmth, renewal, new growth, flowers and color.   That’s what we have going on here at Watchung Avenue too—many new things sprouting up amongst us…and open spirits ready to receive the renewing warmth of God in Jesus Christ who walks with us every day!

Peace,

\

Sermon for Sunday December 16, 2012,  Advent Three

Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church

Rev. Shannan R. Vance-Ocampo

Isaiah 12 & John 3: 7-20

Let us pray:

O Lord our God—Light of our Salvation.

It is hard to find the right words for this time. 

It is hard to hear your voice in the midst of so many voices demanding to be heard.

In these moments quiet our hearts.  Still our minds.  Open our souls. 

Let your Word fill us with new life.

Let your Word move us to faithful action.

In Christ we pray.  Amen.  Amen.

"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are." 

-Saint Augustine

Two Sundays ago Presbyterians in Coundersport, Pennsylvania gathered for worship at First United Presbyterian Church.   It was the first Sunday of Advent.  Twenty minutes into their worship service a man walked into the sanctuary and up to their music director of many years, Darlene Sitler.  He shot her and killed her in front of the congregation.  He was her ex-husband who she had divorced two years ago.[1] 

On Tuesday of this past week a man walked into a mall outside of Portland, Oregon and killed two people.  Their names were Cindy Ann Yuille, she was a hospice nurse, and Steve Forsyth, a father of two and a youth sports coach. 

On Friday of this week 20 children aged 6 and 7 years old and five of their teachers were killed in Newtown, Connecticut—the second largest mass school shooting in US history.   The gunman killed himself and his mother. 

Since Friday, at least 10 people have been shot in Chicago.

Statistically, about 80 people die day each day in the United States from gun violence.

It is the official policy of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), our church, to seek a ban in all 50 states on assault weapons, armor-piercing bullets that are intended for the sole purpose of killing law enforcement personnel, and .50 caliber rifles[2].   It is also the official policy of the Presbyterian Church USA to work to strengthen access to mental health care in the United States.   As a church we have a historic commitment not just to peacemaking, but to nonviolence[3].  We do not believe, and we are not called to do these things as Presbyterians because we are political.  We believe and are called to do these things as Presbyterians because we follow Jesus. 

I am just as heartbroken, sick and sad as everyone else.  I confess that I feel powerless to some degree by the evil that is not just before us—but a part of the communities we all live in.  Just because it hasn’t happened here in North Plainfield doesn’t mean it won’t.  Mass shootings make the news, but the truth is we have a mass shooting every day of every year in our country.   About 3X the number of people killed this past Friday in Connecticut die every day in the United States because of a gun and a because of a person who pulls the trigger of that gun.   Two days ago feels very different for all of us because it was 6 and 7 year-olds who were mowed down by guns, wielded by a 20 year-old.  It is sad and it is senseless.  And I do not have enough of the right words to say today.   I am still, like you, full of grief.  My soul and my heart are emptied by the sadness I feel.

I had another sermon written for today.  The only thing that was usable from my first sermon is the scripture lesson about John the Baptist.  John is a prophet.  He’s someone who tells others what God wants them to know, and how God wants them to change their lives.  Let’s be honest…no one really likes a prophet.  None of us really likes it when we are told we have to change, or that we are living a sinful way of life.  Who likes that?  John uses the word repent.  Change your ways.  Do something different.  Do something new.  Live in a new way.  Take God seriously.   Repent. 

Today I am thinking about the fact that none of us have really done enough, and that there is a lot we all have to repent for.  Today I am thinking about the incredible sadness that families who lost their children and loved ones feel and that we all have.  Today I am thinking about the helplessness we feel, and today I am thinking about the fear that has gripped us, keeping us from prioritizing our lives in the way Jesus would ask us to do.  Most of us do not heed the wake-up calls when they arrive.   God through the prophets like John the Baptist calls us on to repent and live in new ways. 

So, that means we have to take an honest, real look at our lives and figure out what needs to change so we can be the people we say we are.  People who follow Jesus.  So, today I am thinking about my personal sins as a person who tries to get up every day and follow Jesus.  Less than two months ago a large part of the State we live in was knocked out by a huge mega-storm—most likely a harbinger of things to come with global warming—a result of a sinful way of living we all take part in in one way or another as we participate in the destruction of God’s beautiful and beloved Creation.  We had gas rationing.  People died and communities were destroyed including the one I live in.  I know I haven’t really changed my ways, or my life choices since October.  Have you?  I haven’t really repented for the sin my consuming way of life visits upon God’s Creation every day by doing something radically different with my life.  Have you? 

We’ve watched the news too many times before about these mass shooting but have we ever changed our ways?  I still sometimes let my child watch some shows on TV that have violent themes because they entertained us.  I have engaged in that sin as a parent.  Have you ever done that?  I know I can’t be alone.  

I haven’t spoken up enough about gun violence and when I look back on the entire ballot I cast last month in the elections, not one person I voted for has had the moral or spiritual core inside of them to do what needs to be done on the issue of guns in our country and access to mental health care.  I sinned that day when I went to vote, because I did a lot of research on every single candidate I voted for—so I knew what I was doing.  My confession is that about a month ago I voted for my wishes and dreams for those people, for what they might do if re-elected to new terms, rather than go with their records.  And every single last one of them has a bad record on gun violence and access to mental health care.  Most so-called “leaders” in our country do.  Instead I participated in voting in what John the Baptist would call a “brood of vipers.”  In my heart of hearts I wanted to vote for some other candidates, but I was afraid and so I didn’t.  I know I cannot be alone in that sin I committed a month ago.

I am confessing my sins today to you as your Pastor because I think we all need to if we want to really change our lives and live in a new ways after something like Friday.  We are all in deep because we are all have complicated lives that are enmeshed with a world that is far from what God would have it be.  Just like the people who came to John the Baptist for help and advice.   They probably felt sick about their lives, about the state of their communities, and how hard it is to change just like you and I do on weekends like this.  John gave them prescriptions for change.  How many of them were able to make the leap and walk away from all they had built up in life in order to really follow God?  How many of us come here to church looking for that same thing: help? Don’t we each have a longing in our hearts today?

I do not have answers today, only many questions and a heart heavy with sorrow as I meditate on sin.  My sin.  Our sin.   

The only words of consolation I have come from my dearest friends in this world—my friends who lead the church in Colombia—their church motto:  “In a culture of violence, we choose to live the resurrection.”  

Let us be that church.  Let us be those people.  Let us walk away from the broods of vipers—the sin in our lives.  Let us have courage and do what we know is right.  In this Advent season let us live the Resurrection that the Child we wait for has invited us into. 

"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are." 

-Saint Augustine

Let us pray:

O Lord our God—Light of our Salvation.

It is hard to find the right words for this time. 

It is hard to hear your voice in the midst of so many voices demanding to be heard.

In these moments quiet our hearts.  Still our minds.  Open our souls. 

Let your Word fill us with new life.

Let your Word move us to faithful action.

God help us please.

God help us please.

In Christ we pray.  Amen.  Amen.

An Advent Calendar is a great way to count down the days until Christmas.  Here are a few to help you in your Advent Journey! Take time each day with your Advent calendar.  Invite your family and friends to join you and get closer to God in this Advent season so we are all ready for the Baby Jesus at Christmas!!!  

• This link is to the Advent Calendar Pastor Shannan handed out to everyone in worship on December 2, the first Sunday of Advent!  
• If you are looking for a calendar that helps you get in touch with God's Creation, and caring for it this calendar is a great one!  
• If you are looking for a daily online devotion, this one from d365 called Following the Star is a wonderful one to use with your family.  
• If you are looking for something that pulls in popular culture, this calendar from Busted Halo is just right!  
• And if you want the traditional readings for every day in Advent, here they are!  

Peace to you this Advent Season!

If you need a new stewardship commitment form for 2013, you may download one by clicking on this link

November 8, 2012 

Dear Members and Friends of Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church,

There is no way to understate just how vital and important your gifts of all sorts are to the ministry and life of our congregation.  Every year at this time, our Session goes through the work of building our budget and looking forward to our ministries for the next year.  We cannot do this without your input: by letting us know what your pledge, what you expect to be able to give to our congregation will be for 2013.

A few Sundays ago in worship we heard the story in Mark’s Gospel of the rich young man and his encounter with Jesus.  The young man had accumulated many material things, and he came to Jesus to ask how to inherit eternal life.  Jesus told him that he would need to leave all of his possessions behind—so he could follow the way of Jesus to the best of his abilities.  It is a hard story to hear.  Sometimes we do not think it has to do with us.  Some of us might say, “I’m not rich, that doesn’t apply to me!” The call from Jesus is not as simple as just giving up everything and following Jesus.  The young man who comes to Jesus is asking an individual question, “How do I inherit eternal life?”  Jesus is telling him to come and be a part of a community, and to learn a new way of living.   

When I hear this story it reminds me about why we are a congregation.  Our culture sells us an individual story—about individual achievements and individual salvation.  But that way of life does not bring new life or healing to God’s beloved Creation.  Only community, like the one we keep together can do that.  When we gather around a family at the death of a loved one to lift up their spirits, we are proclaiming that we are following in the Way of Jesus.  When we pull together to send our youth group off to grow as disciples and do mission we are following in the Way of Jesus.  And as we have been painfully reminded in the last two weeks, we cannot survive and heal after a disaster without a community around us.  These are important things that our church community does in the name of Jesus—all which could not be possible without your many gifts of time, talents, and treasure. 

A community requires many things; one of them is funding to do the work it feels called to do.  Our Session works very hard to honor every gift, no matter its size—and to stretch it out as far as it can go.  We are entrusted with three things: to go out into our community to transform it in the name of Jesus, to care for our people and those who come to us with their needs, and to manage the building we call home.  We work hard each year to keep our operating deficit to a minimum.  We have many dreams for ministry and mission—but we need a strong foundation of pledges in order to grow and expand as we seek to walk in the Way of Jesus.  And our dreams have grown bigger in just the last two weeks as we seek to expand our mission and outreach locally—a need that will be ongoing for years to come.  And this is a need that offers us an opportunity to also tell the community around us what we know to be true: that our congregation is a place of hope, healing and welcome for all people—a message we know that many need to hear and experience!

This letter is an invitation to make a pledge for 2013 to the ministry of Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church.  I know that this is a difficult economic climate for many of our families, and so the request you will find in this letter to pledge and even increase your pledge is a tough sell.  I know this, and I struggle with that call I place in front of you every year.  As I write these stewardship letters and work with our stewardship team I spend a great deal of time in prayer—for the life of our congregation and for the lives of those who make up our congregation.  I also know that God is always inviting us to stretch and dig deep, to do a bit more than we thought possible—trusting in God’s Spirit to guide and sustain us.  As you consider your pledge for 2013 I invite you to also listen prayerfully to the call of God—and how you might be able to stretch just a bit more so we can keep moving forward with the exciting ministry that God has entrusted us with here in North Plainfield, New Jersey!

Thank you for your gifts in 2012.  I am holding you and our congregation and our larger community in prayer as we look forward with joy to the New Year together!    

Peace in Christ,

Rev. Shannan R. Vance-Ocampo

Pastor/Head of Staff

North Plainfield, New Jersey

County:

Somerset County, New Jersey

Union County, New Jersey

Middlesex County, New Jersey

State:

List of open Pharmacies, Hotels, Restaurants, and Gas Stations

NJ Disaster Assistance

Emergencias en Nueva Jersey en Espanol

NJ Transit Public Transit Information

If you left your pet home and can't get back, a shelter will get it and keep it for free.  Call:  1-855-407-4787

Federal:

To apply for federal FEMA aid and job assistance/Para aplicar para ayuda:

FEMA or 800-621-FEMA or 800-JERSEY7

FEMA en Espanol

American Red Cross

Other:

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

Give:

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance:  Gifts will support PDA in its recovery efforts for all of those affected by Hurricane Sandy in the United States and Internationally.  You can give online by clicking this link.  

Elizabeth Presbytery:  Gifts will support local relief efforts in the bounds of Elizabeth Presbytery for our member congregations.  Please mail a check to Elizabeth Presbytery 525 East Front Street, Plainfield, NJ 07060 and put "Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief" in your memo line.  

Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church:  Gifts will support our congregation's local mission outreach efforts.  We are focused on offering food assistance to the hungry in our community further set-back by Hurricane Sandy and coordinating relief efforts in North Plainfield.  Please mail a check to Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church 170 Watchung Avenue North Plainfield, NJ 07060 and put "Sandy Relief" in the memo line.

God is our refuge and strength--a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved,

though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.

(Psalm 46)

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help in our time of need.

(Psalm 46, The Message)

Dear WAPC Members and Friends—

Please know that I am praying for you each by name, every day, as we wander our way through this new reality that we are living with in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  I know that many of you are still without power and heat, have families and friends that are or were in harm’s way, and some have lost beloved homes in the southern part of our State.  

I also want to thank each of you for your concern for my family as we live on the Raritan Bay.  Juan and I made our way home on Wednesday.  Ours was one of five blocks in our town and surrounding towns that was spared.   However we are surrounded by destruction and are staying at my parent’s home in Summit.   We felt your prayers for us.  Thank you.

I have been in and out of North Plainfield this week and have seen some of you.  I am conserving trips due to the gas shortage, even from Summit.  I plan to spend the entire weekend in North Plainfield, staying at the Rectory at St. Joseph’s and working out of their offices that have power at 99 Westervelt on Saturday.  I will also be at the Presbytery offices at 2PM on Saturday to meet with members of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance who have arrived in NJ to help us.   I have been working this week on putting together a community needs report to bring to them tomorrow for both members of our congregation and our community partners who are in need.   Since the storm hit I’ve been checking on many members who I can reach by phone, and this weekend and last week walking around town to visit as many by foot as possible whose phones are not working. 

We will be having worship this Sunday at 10AM.  Jeremy cannot get to us to lead us in music, but we will make do on our own.  There is no choir this Sunday (we’ll need your voices in the congregation!) and the Session Retreat for this weekend has been cancelled.  Seminarian Mark Smith will be leading Bible Study following worship.  Come and be with us.  Let us gather together, praise God, pray for our larger community, and share information and help with each other.  We’ll have warm coffee and donuts and I have invited the PDA volunteers to join us on Sunday. 

I have created a page on the church website with links to local, state, and federal assistance programs for unemployment benefits, emergency aid, etc.  I will keep updating this page.  I am also live-tweeting emergency help information on our twitter feed: @watchungavenue with information about aid and help and we are updating our Facebook page. 

As of today, the church still does not have power, but we are hopeful every day that power will be restored.   The church phones are not working.  My cell phone works, but I cannot access voicemail.  You can reach me via email or text me at 732-895-9083.  

I am praying for each of you by name every day.  I invite you to join me in prayer as as well for the members of Cristo mi Rey church who worship in our building, for the children who come to our church from Headstart and receive free breakfast and lunch everyday who are not right now and whose families are in dire straits, for our WIC mothers and babies who are also in need and for our partner, the Plainfield YMCA who is struggling to feed 100 homeless men, women and children every day at their shelter.   If you have the ability to bring donations to help them this Sunday, please bring donations of food with you to church this Sunday. 

Do not hesitate to contact me at any time.  By God’s love and grace, we will walk this path together in faith.

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Shannan

We have a busy October here at Watchung Avenue.  Many different activities, all of them important to the life and witness of our congregation.  Let me just take this time to highlight each of them and how I see them fitting into our continued spiritual growth and development as people who follow Jesus Christ:

World Communion Sunday:  We will gather around the table and remember our connections and ties to Christians around this world and pray for peace. 

Jeremiah Journey Projects:  We will be lifting up thoughts in worship about the Jeremiah Journey for us to think and meditate on.  This began last Sunday in worship with one on the negative affects of “individualism” on a life of faith.   There are two Bible study opportunities to engage with Jeremiah Journey, one on Tuesday mornings with me, and the other with our Seminarian Mark Smith (info in the newsletter).  There are also Bible studies to pick up on the information table in the Mission Room and on the church website for download.  I hope all members of our congregation will take the opportunity to hear God’s Word in fresh new ways this fall through the Jeremiah Journey!  New ways of hearing God’s Word will help us to think more intentionally about our life together and where the Spirit is calling us to journey in our future!

Love Free or Die Film Screening:  I am so excited that we are hosting this screening for our community.  This film tells the story of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopalian church.  We are showing this film in partnership with Presbyterian Welcome and this is part of our continued outreach to our community as we tell them the good news about our congregation as a place of welcome for all people.  We want to be known and seen as the leading congregation in our community that has an open welcome to all people to be with us.  We want to tell our story and this film is one piece of this!  You can watch trailers to the film here. 

CROP Walk:  This year we celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the CROP Walk.  We’ll be sharing in worship at the conclusion of the walk at 4PM to celebrate this milestone of ministry and leadership in our community while at the same time acknowledging how much further we have to go in eradicating hunger.  The CROP walk is a long-term, signature ministry of our congregation and we want to encourage everyone to walk and be a part of ending hunger!  Click here to be directed to our Plainfield/North Plainfield CROP Walk page where you can download your registration information!

Blessing of the Pets:  We’ll be blessing our pets again this October and welcoming them into worship for the third year.  What a great day this is when our beloved animals, part of the Kingdom of God join us for worship!  See all of you there as we remember the love God has for all creatures great and small!

Combined Worship of the Plainfield Presbyterian Congregations:  We are looking forward to another opportunity to worship together with our sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ from the Plainfields.  Rev. Mark Koenig will be joining us and we’ll be engaging in learning on how to end racism in ourselves, our churches and our communities as we build God’s dream—the beloved community!

What a diverse witness we are offering this month of God’s love!  See you in church!

This is the question for the week of September 30th that Pastor Shannan lifted up in her sermon:

This is the question for the week of September 23rd that Pastor Shannan lifted up in her sermon:

We live in a culture of self-centeredness, instant gratification, and convenience.  The phrase: “What does it do for me?” shapes how we participate—or choose not to participate in—most of our activities, including the church.  Our behavior often models the culture of self-centeredness, while our witness—to understand ourselves and live as God’s people called into community with and for one another—is silent.  

How does individualism impact the life of the church and our congregation, Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church? 

Here are a few ideas:

1. Individualism sells us the “story” that we can be Christian all by ourselves.  We do not need a group, so long as we believe in Jesus and try to “live a good life” that is all there is….
2. Individualism sells us the “story” that we can believe anything we want, free from ties to tradition, family, authority and our sacred texts (the Bible).
3. Individualism sells us the “story” that Christian faith is best when it is our private spiritual lives and we do not show it to those around us.
   

How does individualism impact the life of the church and our congregation, Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church? 

(Note:  This letter was written on August 30, 2012.  The following day, just a few miles from our church there was another mass shooting, this time at a Pathmark grocery store, three people were killed, many others traumatized.)  

I have been thinking and praying about what to write about in the September newsletter for the last two weeks, bouncing between several topics in my mind.  Basically I have been trying to decide about if I should take a risk and write something edgy or keep it safe.  I have decided to not ignore the very loud voice in my head that keeps on pushing at me every day.  

The one that keeps coming up over-and-over again is this: our summer of large-scale shootings in our country. 

It began on July 20 in Aurora, Colorado as a young man entered a movie theatre and killed 12 people, and injured 58.  It was the highest number ever in a mass-shooting in the history of our country.  Less than a month later, a gunman opened fire in a Sikh Temple, killing 6 people and injuring four more.  Just last week outside the Empire State building in New York City a gunman opened fire on another person, prompting the police to return fire in a crowded downtown street.  Both the gunman and his intended victim died.  Nine innocent bystanders were hit by bullets from police weapons that day.  They are all expected to survive, but with injuries. 

What hasn’t gotten much national press is that the killing is endemic in Chicago this year.  One funeral director in Chicago reports that he conducts an average of 125 funerals a year for victims of gun violence—many of them young men.  According to a news article from June of this year, 240 persons had already died in the streets of Chicago from a gun.  In the same time period 144 U.S. soldiers had died in Afghanistan.  If you do the statistics of gun deaths in Chicago versus the war in Afghanistan for U.S. troops the numbers are a little over 2000 U.S. soldiers versus a little over 5000 people in Chicago since 2001.[1]   I attended seminary in Chicago and still have friends based in Chicago doing incredible work in urban ministry.  I hear from them all the time that there are people dying in the streets of Chicago right and left.  It is more dangerous to be a young person in the streets of Chicago than a U.S. solider in Afghanistan.  

The Children’s Defense Fund has studied how gun violence affects children in our country.  In 2008 and 2009 more toddlers than police officers were killed by a gun in the United States, and an average of 8 children die in our country every day at the barrel of a gun.[2] 

How terrible is that?  Every single one of these deaths, both on the streets of our country, and far away on the other side of the world is a person, just like you or me.  Someone with a family; with hopes and dreams.  A person who other people loved.  A family that will never be the same.   Ruined lives.  Ruined communities.

Here in the Plainfields there have been shootings this summer.  Our friends at El Centro Hispanoamerica held a vigil in June for one of the victims of gun violence, Manuel Moscoso who was killed just a few blocks from our congregation on Front Street this May while waiting for a bus to go to work.  Mr. Moscoso was a former client at El Centro, which means that someone who our mission monies have supported over the years was a victim of gun violence here in our community of the Plainfields.  

What should we as people of faith be doing about this?  I know the debate, which is usually couched in language about our country, and our Constitution.  We have a right to “bear arms.”  Personally, that is fine with me.  I don’t like to hunt, but I have family members who do—and that doesn’t really bother me too much.  But that is our country, and as Christians that should not be where our highest calling or allegiance resides.  If that is what we first think of or where we draw the line on what is or isn’t right—then for me, we have forgotten our calling and our faith as Christians.  Our biblical story tells us that violence of any kind is always an affront to God and unacceptable as people who follow Jesus—Prince of Peace. 

Many congregations around the country have been thinking about how to talk about gun violence and be proactive in their community to stop it.  I want to challenge us at WAPC to do more and be more in our community about this issue.  We should not be waiting for a mass shooting to happen in our community to want to do something.  People are dying, blocks away from our church.  Children in our community are fearful.   We should be doing something. 

I have had a dream for about a year now that I want to share with you.  I want our congregation to host a gun drop-off event with the local police, and in partnership with other local congregations.  I want people to walk into our church and bring in their guns so they aren’t on our streets anymore.  And then I want us to march together through the streets of North Plainfield and Plainfield carrying signs and singing hymns about our faith and peace, and that we demand an end to gun violence.  I want us to shout our faith loud and clear—we are people of peace because we follow Jesus.  I want us to tell the story that we love the children in our community more than anything else and we are doing this for them.   My dream is getting more and more persistent.  I want to have this event in the next six months, and then make plans to do even more.

Our larger church has an amazing document called: “Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call.”  It is on the church website for everyone to read and hard copies on the table in the Mission Room if you don’t do online downloads.   This document calls us on as Presbyterians and as Christians, as people who follow Jesus, to get serious about “saving thousands of lives a year.”  It is our signature document in the Presbyterian Church (USA) that details our church policy on gun violence, gun ownership, gun laws, and what we should do.  It is a powerful read and I commend it to everyone.  It comes out of the Virginia Tech shooting from a few years ago and the experiences of the Presbyterian chaplain at that school along with those of an innovative program in South Jersey and Philadelphia to get guns out of communities. 

I want people when they drive by our church to know that we are a place that will stand for peace no matter the cost.  I personally have had it with the violence around us and feel very called by God to do something and for us as a congregation to offer leadership in our community on this issue.   Please let me know if you want to be a part of making an event like the one I’ve described happen!   I would love to talk with you! 

I commended them for others to read!

Belhar Confession

Accra Confession and Study Guide

I helped set up the new sign for the Gimore Sloane House and other construction projets.  I also helped with the painting of the buildings to help them keep up their appearance.  Aside from work, we also went boating again, where I had the lovely experience of running into a bush and capsizing twice which turned out to be quite wonderfl.  We also had the chance to meet the interfaith interns who taught us about their experiences and what they were doing there.  

All in all, this week was another incredible journey for the youth of WAPC and I cannot wait to return!

On Thursday night we all enjoyed our last night there by hanging out around the campfire and made smores.  We enjoyed spending time together talking about the week and how everything was going.  We also played a bit of manhunt.  After we finished our work each day we would mostly play ultimate frisbee.  This got everyone out playing together and enjoying the week.  The week was good and definitally something to remember!

•  There are five large buildings that comprise the Stony Point Center campus.  All the building are 70+ years old and our kids worked on scraping down and repainting all the soffit and trip of all the buildings giving them a much-needed and important facelift.  The buildings look great!  It was a lot of work that took many days to accomplish.
• Another team weeded out and cleaned up the labriynth for Stony Point that was overgrown and in need of TLC.  Now people can walk the labyrinth again and meditate and pray in the beauty it was meant to be.
• There are many wooden picnic tables and chairs around the campus.  All haven't been painted and repaired in years.  Our kids painted and repaired all of them, and they are now a beautiful cottage red color and look great!  
• We washed down all the windows (again a very tall and high job) in one of the buildings
• Set up and secured the construction site for the Building on the Rock Project
• Made a lot of sawhorses that will be used during the year

So the big project we started on last summer is still in the permitting process here, so we did all this other great and much needed work.  We will come back and work at least one weekend this fall and then back again next summer to work more on the Building on the Rock project.  It's exciting to see our youth group committed to a place like Stony Point and ready to be a long-term partner with this wonderful place and all that they do for our larger church.  I think this helps our kids make connections to the larger church of which we are a part and our responsiblity as a connectional church to care for all of it!  

We also had a lot of fun!  Ice cream runs into town to Hoyars Ice Cream (yum!), bonfires and smores, manhunt (one youth from another church had to stay up in a tree I hear last night for almost an hour because there was a skunk!), seeing deer meander across the campus, catching fireflies, movie night, canoeing and kayaking...we had a really full week of great fun and bonding.  Every day was started out with morning prayer and meditation that was began our day, each group took turns leading the prayers.  We prayed for all of you at home and know you were praying for us!

Thanks for sending our kids and being so supportive of the youth of our church!

Peace,

Shannan

Hanging out is not all that I have been doing since I've been here though. I have been working very hard. On monday we split up into different teams for different jobs that had to be completed. I chose to do spakling (mud and taper), which is pretty much just covering any holes or dents that are in the wall with joint compound. This substance is like white mud that fills in the holes to make it smooth. It's not as simple as it sounds though. putting the joint compound on the walls take skills. It has to be applied lightly, and after rub the walls with a wet rag, and a whole lot of sanding is required.

Today we pretty much completed the walls and tomorrow we will start painting. I am enjoying the thrip here this summer more than ever. It is nice that for once we are not the only group here to do work. Canoeing was fun yesterday. I still havent mastered it yet ( I went in circles for a really looong time :( , but I really enjoyed it. I also even went kayaking. Off to bed now, Bye!!! 

        It was rather quickly disclosed to us that the projects we had anticipated working on were no longer expected to be followed through with during our stay here at the center, as the excavation process is still under way and the masonry clients have yet to arrive due to the still-full-of-rubble construction site. We have not, however, been left without anything to do, as Fernando and RIck have each supplied the groupd attending with various odd-jobs around the camp which, after their completion, will hopefully make the grounds look nicer and draw more attention towards the camp, suh as putting up a new sign for the Gilmore Sloan House and scraping/painting various parts of the living quarters' exteriors.

          Tuesday evening all of the youth staying at the center for the week were taken out canoeing and kayaking, which turned out to be a fair amount of fun, though no one seemed as willing as RYan and myself to get into the water, as were were the first ones in. However this action set off a chain reaction which resulted in the over-turning of both mine and Jake's canoe, and Ryan and Michael's. After returning the vessels to their appropriate, upright positions, we switched partners and cast off, only to have our canoe, along with a few others tip over once again not too long after. 

Our kids have bit a bit slower this year in getting their blog posts written, John and I are going to fix that with them today!   They are having a great time and doing great work!  Some of them have built sawhorses and made construction signs, others have done mudding and taping to two interior rooms here at Stony Point Center.  Another group has been working on scraping and redoing old soffit and gutters around buildings, and today will move onto painting.  They've also done some weeding and cleaning work.   The entire campus here is seeing the benefit of our group's TLC.

The building project on the Arts Center that was our original plan is held up in some red tape with the town of Stony Point, but there are TONS of other big jobs here on campus that our kids are tackling.  The best thing of the week for John and I is that the kids are working with the youth groups from the Fifth Avenue and White Plains Presbyterian Churches.  The kids all bonded the first night and are working in mixed teams and having an amazing time together.  Last night Rick took al the kids canoeing and kayaking and Jake and Ryan were the first to tip their canoe which started off a chain-reaction (of course!).  They've been playing ultimate frisbee with each other at night and in general just enjoying being together.  We are going to do things with these two other churches again, we have made good friends.   Tonight's evening activity will be a game of ultimate with the interns from the Community of Living Traditions here at Stony Point, who will share with us their interfaith journey.  Most of them are college students from the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions, and they plan to hang out with the kids tonight.  Tomorrow night we are having a movie night and smores.

Keep watch on the blog today, we'll get up photos and we'll get up blogs from the kids.  They are all working hard, safe, having fun, learning a lot of new skills, and growing together as a group.  We are both tired, but having a wonderful, wonderful time with all the kids!  

Shannan and John 

We had a great orientation with Rick and the kids from the White Plains and the Fifth Avenue Churches and already everyone was making friends.  We are going to have a great week doing work, and laying the foundation for the new Arts Center here at Stony Point!  Starting on Monday our youth will be blogging about the week and uploading photos so stay tuned!!!

-Shannan

(the photo is of Edwin at his graduation from Princeton in 2011 and his baby neice, Alana who was there to celebrate!)

Dear Friends,

Coming off Holy Week, I have so much to be thankful for.

I have the opportunity to teach at a Jesuit University, Universidad Rafael Landívar, as well as teaching English to people who want to serve as translators for mission groups from the US.

I have an opportunity to work on my reports for Princeton Seminary by spending time with different indigenous families, and living with them.

I have travelled all over:  Lago Atitlán, Flores-Petén Itza, Tikal, Antigua, and so many other adventures.

And lastly, I just heard that I have been accepted into the Lily Residency as a Pastoral Resident at Fourth Presbyterian in Chicago, for 2 years.  It is a wonderful opportunity, and I am truly thankful.  Of course, that means I only have a short summer to spend with my family, July and August.

I am grateful for the prayers of the WAPC family and leave off with the following reflection:

Celebrating Holy Week, for the second time in Guatemala, has been a rich blessing.  As a child, I couldn´t stand ritual, routine, tradition, repetition, etc, etc. It was boring, unexciting and kept me from playing in the woods with friends or kickball on the street.

As I grow older, and especially after graduating from seminary, I realize how important ritual is, how important tradition can be.  In fact, in Guatemala, which due to its strong Catholic community, the Holy Week tradition is a BIG DEAL.  It means families gather, on vacation, to prepare for processions, as they decorate the streets, prepare food, and spend a great deal of time together. In fact, on Thursday and Friday night, families stay up through the night, in a sort of vigil, making all of the preparations.  These are not quiet nights.  In fact, with the processions come a ton of live marching bands and fireworks.  It is beautiful, the night is alive in the way American 4th of Julys are alive with BBQs and family gatherings.

But most of all, in the midst of transition, both in my own life and in the world around, and especially in Guatemala where one can so easily find a great deal of poverty, sickness, orphans, marginalized peoples, crime, and murder and death, Holy Week tradition is what gets me through. It reminds me of the mystery of Jesus as the Christ, his own life, suffering and death, which tells us the story of a God who enters our world, our history and therefore, our painful stories.  God with us, Emanuel, in Christ, even in the suffering.

But it is also that wondrous, mysterious Resurrection morning, that offers us a way and a world beyond our greed, thirst for revenge, anger and hate, and points us to our true humanity and identity in Christ Jesus, as a Resurrection people called to be a part of life, to be life-giving, healing, and tranforming agents in this world.  And in this, we are also called to rest in the God that goes before us, among us, around us, with and within us, and for that, I am most thankful.

Peace to you,

Edwin Estevez

HOPE IN THE DARK DAYS

-by Sister Joan Chittister

Note from Pastor Shannan:

This is a Holy Week reflection from Joan Chittister, a Roman Catholic nun.  Joan's work has ranged over many themes throughout the years, and she is not just considered a teacher in the Roman Catholic tradition, but in the Protestant one as well.  This reflection uses the traditional Christian practice of the Stations of the Cross for Holy Week for reflection.  Her words are powerful and I hope that they are a help and guide to any of us who reads this as we journey through Holy Week.  Many thanks to WAPC member Sarellen Hogan for passing along this beautiful devotional! 

The Stations of the Cross, unlike many traditional private devotions—novenas, for instance—are not designed to beg God for favors or graces or special attention of any kind. They are instead simply an excursion through the hard moments of life as those periods are demonstrated in the life of Jesus himself. They remain universally popular throughout the ages not because they concentrate on suffering, surely, but because they give us a model of how to live life when our own suffering is unavoidable and life seems most impossible. I invite you to use these for reflection during Holy Week.  -J.C.

MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK
Station 1 – Jesus is condemned to die.

The first station of the cross requires us to examine our entire philosophy of life. Jesus is condemned to die because he defied the standards of both the state and the religious establishment in which he lived. To both, he brought a truth they did not want to hear. He set out to witness to the love and justice of the God of all creation: Jews and non-Jews, women as well as men, underlings as well as the professional types of his time.

 The question with which the first station confronts us is a stark one: What is it in life for which we are willing to be condemned? The goal of life is not to avoid condemnation. No one does. Life’s greatest challenge is simply to decide who will condemn us and why.

TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
Station IV – Jesus meets his mother.

The fourth station of the cross teaches us the freedom that comes with real love. Jesus and Mary meet under the worst circumstances. He has become an enemy of the state, an outcast from the synagogue. She is a widow left alone in a male world without the sustenance of her only son and no visible means of support. Both of them, in a way, are condemned to death. But she does not beg him to change his life for her sake and he does not tailor his life to please her. In this case mother and son love one another enough to respect the place of God in both their lives.

The question with which the fourth station confronts us is, Why do we love and how well? If we love another for our own sake, that love is doomed for both of us. If we love them enough to respect the place of God in their lives, love can never fail us.

WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
Station V – Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross.

The fifth station of the cross demonstrates for us the power of presence in the life of the poor and oppressed. Being where suffering is, associating ourselves with it, standing with those whom society has condemned is a great and gracious witness.

At times, this witness is thrust upon us: the state wants more tax money to support the poor or a neighbor turns to us for help we did not freely offer and do not want to give. But sometimes, if we’re lucky, we find ourselves in one of life’s great acts whether we want to be there or not. Then we so often discover that it is not so much what Simon did for Jesus as what Jesus did for Simon that counts.

The questions of the fifth station are, What are we being called to do for someone right now for which we are a disinclined observer? What does the situation have to offer us, as well? When we open our hearts to the other in need, we are very likely to discover that our own hidden needs have been healed in the process.

HOLY THURSDAY
Station X – Jesus is stripped of his garments.

The tenth station of the cross confronts us with the inevitable in every life: somewhere along the way, we each get stripped of what we have spent our lives acquiring, of things closest to our hearts, of possessions or positions that made us who we thought we were. Then, thrown back on ourselves, we are left to discover who we have really become. It is a frightening moment, often an embarrassing one, always a difficult one.

The question of the tenth station is, What is underneath the garments of pomp, authority, dignity and wealth that we have so carefully cultivated around us? Anything at all? The Jesus who stands before us naked and unashamed, dignified and full of conviction is calling us to pay more attention to who we are than what we have so cunningly conspired to pretend to be.

GOOD FRIDAY
Station XII – Jesus dies on the cross.

The twelfth station of the cross brings us face-to-face with the finality of defeat. Sometimes things don’t have a happy ending in life. Sometimes we fail. Sometimes we’re humiliated. Sometimes we’re misunderstood. Sometimes we are abandoned by the very people we love most in life and whom we thought also loved us. At that point, without doubt, something in us dies.

The question of the twelfth station is, Am I able to accept the daily defeats of life, both the great ones and small, knowing that death is not the end of life, only its passing over to something new in me?

HOLY SATURDAY
Station XIV – Jesus is laid in the tomb.

The fourteenth station of the cross brings us to grapple with the grace of closure. Some phases of life end and cannot be retrieved. They go by before we’re ready to see them go. Worse, their going may feel like ignominy at the time or may even look to the world as failure. But only in the ability to realize that life goes on from one moment to another, from one task to another, from one kind of presence to another, can we ever come to new life. When Jesus submits to the death of his ministry, when Jesus allows both state and synagogue to cast him out, one life ends so that another one can begin.

The question that this station of the cross leaves in our soul is a resounding one: Am I able to trust that the tombs of my life are all gateways to resurrection?

                   

                    

Sharing resources, Changing lives

In my sermon on January 15th I will be talking about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  

Every year I re-read his most famous piece of writing, his Letter from Birmingham City Jail as a personal spiritual practice.  This year I am putting copies of it out on the mission table at the church for people to pick up after worship on Sunday morning, but there is also a link to it on here on the church website.  I hope that reading Dr. King's letter will become a spiritual practice and inspirtation for you too.

Peace,

Pastor Shannan

Link to the Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Interactive Prayer Stations for Advent—Week #1

This past Sunday (November 27^th) we tried out something new in worship.  Interactive Prayer Stations!  My friend from Seminary, Theresa Cho who is at St. John’s Presbyterian in San Francisco is a whiz at prayer stations and offered advice to us!  This is an idea that been around for a while, I remember engaging in these at worship conferences, and there are all sorts of great ideas out there.  So thank you Theresa for some help getting going! 

Our Session retreat in November focused on some new ideas for worship and prayer stations were one idea we all really liked and we spent time looking at Theresa’s ideas for prayer stations and decided to spend the season of Advent (the four weeks before Christmas) in worship experimenting with this different way of praying.  

I of course, was nervous about trying something new, wondering what the reactions would be.  I have learned through, over my two and a half year (so far!) time with Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church that this is a very adventurous and forgiving congregation—which gives so much freedom to try all sorts of new things!   That is a huge asset and a gift beyond all others!

This is how prayer stations work:  Instead of the usual prayers of the people (one person praying while others sit quietly in the pews), stations are created around the room/sanctuary that can be just about anything that invites and elicits prayer.  Because they are different (and use different tools for praying, like markers, ribbons, etc.) they evoke new senses out of us in our response to the movement of the Spirit in our lives.  We see new things and we hear a new Word from God as we pray.  

Our stations this past weekend focused on our scripture readings from Isaiah and Mark that were the cornerstone of our worship service. 

These were the descriptions of our five prayer stations:

Today in place of the Prayers of the People we will share the practice of interactive prayer stations.   The idea is to get up and to interact in silence with others as you offer prayers to God in a variety of ways.  You may go to as many or as few stations of prayer as you want to.  

There are five prayer stations throughout the Sanctuary…

Prayer Wall—This prayer station is located on the back wall of the Sanctuary.  Here you are invited to write short prayers to God, reflecting on prayer questions related to the Isaiah and Mark readings for this Sunday.  

Prayer Ornaments—This prayer station is located on the side of the church near the front.  Here you will find small clear glass ball ornaments.  You are invited to write Advent "spiritual intentions" on strips of colored paper and then place them into your ornament to take home.  You can then place your ornament on your Christmas Tree at home as a way of remembering the spiritual commitments you have made today to God at the beginning of your Advent journey.

Prayer Ribbons—This prayer station is located at the front of the church in front of the Christmas Tree.  Here you are invited to write Advent prayers for the world.  Leave one prayer tied to the tree and take one prayer home with you. 

Remembering Your Baptism—This prayer station is located at the front of the church at the Baptismal Font which is filled with water.  Come and dip your hands in the water and remember that as one who has been baptized into Christ you are loved by God.   As you dip your hands into the water ask God to help open your heart to the new places that God in Jesus Christ is calling you during this Advent Season. 

The Silence of the Moment—Quiet music will be played throughout this time in worship. You can always return (or stay) in your pew to pray silently.  

I noticed many things this Sunday in worship as people went to the prayer stations:

·         Children and youth in the church smiling and having fun

·         People pausing in prayer on the steps in front the baptismal font, some with their hands over their eyes, some with their hands raised in the air

·         Tears

·         Smiles as people passed each other and got near to each other as they moved through the prayer stations

·         Thoughtful pauses and some people stopped to contemplate the questions on the prayer wall

The space felt different, worship felt different.  I am hearing good feedback, but seriously, if people have other feedback—I really do want to hear it so we can keep making this the best possible experience of worship for everyone! 

And some samplings of the prayers that were written on the prayer wall this Sunday:

·         Find ways to do more with less and then have more to give

·         Remember the “real” Christmas!

·         Give my time and talent to those in need!

·         To dig deeper and share with those in need

·         Supporting our military always!

·         Be with us as we await your return

·         Thanks to our military, but God, let there be no need!

·         Remember to begin and end the day with “global” prayer

·         Agonizing over the writing of Christmas cards

·         Away from commercialism and toward the reality of God in Christ in our lives

·         To prevent violence against children

·         God thank you for our food  --from a child

There are a few photos in this posting, but if you want to see all the photos from the prayer stations click here

So what do you think about this?   How did you sense the Spirit moving on Sunday morning?

…And see you this Sunday for worship at 10AM in the Sanctuary, we’ll be doing more prayer stations, and yes, they will be different, we’ll be doing this all the way until we get to Christmas!  

See you this Advent as we prepare our souls and spirits to once again be as open and ready as possible to welcome the Christ Child into our world--into our lives--so that we and the Creation might be transformed....

Peace…..

The WAPC Session met on Sunday November 13, 2011 to talk about ideas about changing up how we worship.  We used this powerpoint presentation to help us through our conversation and we also shared some of our thoughts/hopes/dreams.  Below are the rough notes from what ideas and conversations we had.   We made a few decisions out of our meeting:

1.       We are going to look into the use of increased media in worship (projection, sound)

2.       We are going to try out the idea of prayer stations in worship during Advent

3.       We are going to look into signage issues all around the church property and come back with ideas and a plan for this in the coming months

4.       We are going to try out the idea of worship at an alternate time in 2012.  From January-June 2012 we will have worship on the Second Sundays of each month at 4PM with a shared potluck dinner afterwards.  There will be no morning worship service on these Sundays.  We hear lots of feedback across the spectrum at WAPC that morning worship does not work for many people, so we are going to give it a try for part of 2012 and evaluate with the full participation of the congregation what we thought about this change.  This is not a final commitment, but a trial that we feel we should take at this time.   There will be full details about this in the December church newsletter!  We are very excited about this!

5.       A small group of “dreamers” will work with Pastor Shannan and Elder Bob Goellner on a variety of these issues around worship/community in-between Session meetings, always reporting back to the Session.

Question to Elders:  Where have you experienced the mystery of God/Spirit?

·         Mountains.  Once I climbed a mountain and seeing what was beautiful around me and the expanse was humbling

·         Repetition helps me with mystery in worship.   I don’t have to think about the words and can “give into” the Spirit

·         When we sing the Doxology or We Are An Offering after the offering

·         The Cross in the front of the church is a focal point for me in worship

·         Big Sky out West

·         When I have recovered from illness or health-crises and experienced God in the midst of that

·         When my senses are woken up

·         Beauty outside

Question to Elders:  Why do you come to worship at WAPC?

·         Communion.  Some like the liturgy, others do not.

·         For silence

·         Worship grounds me when I am stressed

·         I stay away from worship when I am stressed

·         I have a sense of belonging here—HOME

·         Sometimes I am angry with God

·         I like being Presbyterian, our polity is a democracy and I appreciate that

·         Worship gives me perspective—gives me an opportunity to know what others are facing and see my life through that lens

·         Opportunity to express gratitude

·         Helps with raising children (morals/intergenerational experiences for them)

·         Time to give thanks and ask God for help

·         I feel we have community here.  We might believe different things, but we have a shared community with each other. 

Issues that we have raised to think about:

·         Maybe we change the location of the prayers of the people in the service.  Right now it is at the end which is where it is “supposed to go” liturgically, but so many people feel safe to raise “heavy” issues during this time which is wonderful.  But we want worship to end with joy, and so perhaps moving that to a different spot in the service might help with that.  Sometimes I feel “up” after the sermon and this can make me feel a bit down again. 

·         Signs—We need better signs out front of the building about worship time, handicapped access, which doors to use, buzzer system, etc.  Also, inside building for visitors.   To be followed up on with BNO.

·         We’d like to do hymn-sings 1-2x/year

·         Can we use incense in worship?  More smell?  People liked the oil two Sundays ago and the smell of that.

·         Can we have Bob’s band play more often or Leslie’s harp?  We love that!

·         Let’s bring back the Halleluiah Chorus at Easter

·         More songs we can sing easily

·         New songs, Jeremy to lead/teach it at the beginning of worship

·         Can we cut the divider down between Jeremy and the congregation so we can see him when he’s at the organ and he can give us more signals for singing? 

·         We like variety in music, we know we are moving away from it for good reasons, but can we mix it up a bit?  

·         Want to do interactive prayer stations

·         Timing of worship, especially for families (Sunday mornings do not work for many)  Elders shared positive feedback on a time change of worship in their conversations with members.  A trial balloon of this for six-months in 2012 will happen

·         We like having communion 2x/month, but we need to get others to take charge of this.  Beverly and Andy are tired and it isn’t fair that we give them all the work to do alone.  Others must step up to do this and we must lead on this as the Session

·         Children’s sermons—we need to get the kids to not sit on the chancel steps but face Shannan so they can hear her!  Hard to teach a new habit.  Judy will make special worship pillows for the children to sit on to encourage new seating for them.

·         We want to use more video/projection in worship and looked at the two videos linked on the WAPC blog as examples. 

Video One

Video Two

Wayne is going to look into projection equipment for the Sanctuary.  We have a gift to the church we want to use for this purpose.  The youth group’s video presentation a few Sundays ago was very well-received and we heard feedback from our Elders in the youth group that more video in worship would be something they would like

·         We want to film an entire worship service at WAPC and put it on the website for visitors.  We understand that many people are afraid of churches, have had negative experiences or seen them via media that is negative on TV, etc.  We cannot assume that people will come to worship to check us out, without knowing what they will “get” and that this is a safe space.  This works against us.  So, one of the ways we want to show this to visitors is via the website so they know we are not scary and that we have a welcoming, inclusive congregation and worship service

·         We really liked the idea of prayer stations in worship.  We plan to do a trial run of this in Advent 2011.

·         We talked about use of design in the worship space, color, banners, prayer tree etc.  We plan to implement these ideas over time in 2012

We looked at this video about fun design ideas in church as a jumping off point

·         We also discussed the location of the pews in the Sanctuary and the idea of reconfiguring worship space for intimacy