WPC Daily News

Chuck Cary returns to the pulpit this Sunday. The theme? The State of the Church-2012 with the Scripture Isaiah 40:21-31. As you might imagine, the topic feeds into the work of the congregational meeting which follows the service in the sanctuary. Be sure to plan to stay for it, and if you have yet to read the 2011 Annual Report, do so afterwards. Elder Barbara Mitchell will offer a minute for Mission on the Blanket Sunday appeal, and the choir will sing the wonderful anthem based on the 23^rd Psalm, The King of Love My Shepherd Is.

The youth groups will be supporting various ministries to hungry neighbors by selling soup in observation of “Souper Bowl” Sunday. They also invite the church to bring canned soup to donate to the local food pantry. Be sure to give on their behalf as they join other groups across the country to make a difference.

The Adult Study Group continues at 8:30 am examining the tough questions of Life through a video of a similar name. Please gather in the Founders’ Room and remember, this study does not require prior participation in order to benefit. Special thanks go to Nancy Miller for her leadership.

Are you receiving the church newsletter? Does the church have your up to date address and email address? Do you know of neighbors or friends who would enjoy receiving this information? Pass along names and addresses to Nancy in the church office….admin@westhamptonpresbyterian.org

A Craft Group is forming and will make crafts for the Christmas Bazaar. Its first meeting will be at Gini Wagner’s next Friday February 10 at 7:00 pm. Her address is 9 West Side Avenue in East Quogue and phone number is 653-9633.

A movie night for the very young and their parents happens tonight (Friday 2/3) at 6:00 here at the church. Amy Mosher and company from the Christian Education ministries invite families and care-givers to be a part of this time of Fellowship. And yes…all showings are G rated.

Christian Sympathy to Mary Beth Lundborg and family on the death of her father, Mr. James Moeller. His memorial service happens next Wednesday the 8^th at 1:00pm at the First Presbyterian Church of East Hampton. The church also extends the same sympathy to the family of Steven Fesnick of East Quogue upon his untimely death this past week. Rev. Cary conducted the service at O’Shea’s Funeral Home in Hampton Bays.

A Prayer for Those in Crisis- God of life, there are days when the burdens we carry are heavy and weigh us down, when the road before us seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening, when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood our path with your light. Turn our eyes to where your skies are full of promise. Tune our hearts to brave music, giving us a sense of companionship with neighbors and saints of every age. Quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on a way of life that will reveal your unending mercy and compassion. In Christ’s name, Amen.

When you have seen the youth come back home from REACH, have you ever thought, “I would like to have an experience like that”?

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□ No, I can not attend, but I would like to contribute $_____ for the work camp.

*Each participant is asked to contribute $300 toward building supplies. Please enclose a deposit of $100 to reserve your space.

Return this form and your deposit to Dave LeBleu. Make checks payable to WPC and note that it is for Adult Work Camp. If you need help with the funding please let him know. 325-1791

The Rev Jeanne Wilson Baum will be preaching and leading worship this Sunday at Westhampton Presbyterian. Jeanne is no stranger as she and her husband Robert worship with us frequently when she is not filling the pulpit elsewhere. She is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and is Honorably Retired following service to the Brookhaven Presbyterian Church.

Chuck and Millie Cary are away using vacation time from 2011 and are visiting Naples, Florida. In the event of an emergency please contact Nancy Hamma -Clavin in the church office 288-2576. The Rev Jack King of Beach United Methodist Church will provide pastoral care, as will Jeanne Wilson Baum especially if a hospital call is required nearer her East Patchogue home.

The adult class got off to a grand beginning and is meeting in the Founder’s Room on Sundays at 8:30am. Nancy Miller is coordinating the discussion using a video presentation from various authors. Last Sunday’s presentation by Dr. Tony Campolo was relevant and inspired. Grab a cup of coffee and join your friends for this program.

A variety of services and events in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday will be held across Long Island. Closest to home will be an ecumenical service at the St Paul’s AME Zion Church in Quogue at 7:00pm. Monday evening (on Montauk Highway across from the new Hess Station).

As trustees, elders and deacons get organized for the year at this month’s meetings, watch for reports about who is doing what. The February newsletter will contain assignments of responsibilities. Be sure to offer a word of thanks to officers who give so much of their time to keep the church faithful throughout the year.

The Annual meeting of the congregation has been called for Sunday, February 5, 2012 in the sanctuary following the 10:00 am service. Annual reports are scheduled to be available the Sunday prior for review. Plan to come and take part in the life of your congregation.

The Presbyterian Men’s group will gather on Saturday the 28^th of January for a breakfast meeting at 8:30. The program will be announced.

Presbyterian Walkers are gathering for an outing this Saturday (1/14) at 9:30am to go to the County Park in Riverhead. The hike is not strenuous and walkers of every level are welcome.

Reminder: get your bulletin announcements to Nancy by Wednesday noon in order to be included in the ensuing Sunday bulletin. Let’s keep the Faith in the winter season.

Prayer- Lord, may we love all your creation, all the earth and every grain of sand in it. May we love every leaf, every ray of your light. May we love all animals, never harassing them, or depriving them of the goodness of your creation. For we acknowledge unto you that all is like an ocean, all is flowing and blending, and to withhold any measure of love is to withhold that same measure from you. Amen. (Dostoevsky)

Sunday worship is rooted in the Baptism of Jesus, recognizing and celebrating his full entrance into a ministry which builds the Kingdom of God among us. We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper and ordain and install new officers. The choir will sing the invitational anthem so appropriate for the day, Come Share the Lord. The meditation is entitled: Baptism, Does It Still Matter? The text is Mark 1:4-11. A Reminder: children and youth first grade and above are always welcome to take part in the Sacrament on communion Sundays. Parents, please encourage your children and youth to attend.

The Youth Group will host a French Toast Fundraiser this Sunday in the Parish Hall from 9:00 until 12:30. Proceeds will be used to support next summer’s REACH trip.

A new adult study gets underway at 8:30 in the Founder’s Room. Please come! The topics fall under the rubric Wrestling With Angels: An Intimate Look at the Tough Questions of Life. Each week will focus on a particular practice of the Christian Faith. Come for one or all. Again, the time frame is 8:30 through 9:30 so choir members and others who have worship responsibilities and rehearsals can participate.

2012 Giving Opportunities--- As the new year gets underway we thank all whose support helped us end 2011 strong, and whose pledges promise to keep us faithful in the year to come. The session encourages each active member of the church to help pay for our per capita obligation which this year is 30.00 per individual. Questions about your pledge, giving envelopes, or giving record in 2011? Please contact Nancy Hamma-Clavin in the church office at 631-288-2576 or email her at admin@westhamptonpresbyterian.org

Presbyterian Women will meet next Wednesday, January 11 for a covered dish luncheon at noon in the Parish Hall. Presbyterian Men’s next meeting is scheduled for Saturday the 28^th at 8:30 am. Newcomers are eagerly and always welcome.

The Mission Committee continues to oversee a variety of endeavors such as the ongoing homeless ministry with Maureen’s Haven, special offerings such as the Blanket Appeal and the One Great Hour of Sharing offering at Lent/Easter. They are also planning an adult work camp to Stony Point Conference Center June 18-22 to help construct a new arts facility. Be on the lookout for ways you can help strengthen our mission and outreach to the community. See Elder Dave LeBleu and pray for all who work to make Christ’s mission happen here.

Visit our denomination’s website pcusa.org to discover what’s going on in the Presbyterian Church as well as access resources to support our ministry and mission.

Your Spirit hovers over the waters of the Font, O Lord, cleansing us and marking us for your service. Thank you for calling us to daily discipleship regardless of our age, gender or status. Give us sharp memories of all the ways you renew us, and ready us for your call. Work through our works, we pray and help us build a beloved community in which you delight. For Christ’s sake and our own. Amen.

The Long Island Brass Guild and our Senior Choir will proclaim the Gospel in their annual Christmas concert this Sunday at 10:00 in the sanctuary. Music conveys the essence of this Holy season like no other medium, so please bring a friend and come early to hear every note! The Scripture for the day is Luke 1:26-38 and Chuck Cary will offer a brief meditation entitled Rejoice! The Children’s message will be given by youth elder Mara Terchunian on the ministry of Heifer international.

The Adopt a Family program winds up this Monday. Please take any and all gifts to the Immaculate Conception Parish Hall and speak with Deborah Busking if you have any questions. Kudos to the people of WPC. All of the families assigned to us were adopted! The bonus support came in the form of toys collected by the children of the church on the Sunday of the Pageant! The chancel was full!

Christmas Eve Worship will take place at 5:00 here in the sanctuary with a family friendly service of carols and lights. The later service at the chapel is set for 10:00pm. Christmas Day, Sunday will follow our regular time of 10:00 am with a family-friendly liturgy and sharing by the Korey and Donna Williams family, What Christmas Means to Me. Again, plan to come for both the evening and the morning service as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Church support for 2011 will be welcomed through the end of the month. All are encouraged to complete your commitment by year’s end, and submit your pledge for 2012 if you have yet to do so. A sizable gulf exists between the pledges received and pledge goal for next year. Everyone’s pledge is vital to the good stewardship of our congregation. Extra cards are in the sanctuary and church office.

Special thanks go to the Neubauer family for their contribution of a new sound system for the sanctuary, Ellen Campbell and Company for the outstanding Christmas Pageant last week, Jane and Tom Otis for preparing a delicious Brunch last week as well, and John and Meryle King for hosting a Christmas party fundraiser at their home. There are numerous other groups to acknowledge for your part in making Christmas 2011 joyous in every way. The staff here at the church sends an inclusive thanks to all of you for helping to make WPC a faithful and loving congregation!

God of Hope and Joy, the day draws near when the glory of your Son will brighten the night of the waiting world. Let no sorrow hinder the joy of those who seek Him. Let no sin obscure the vision of wisdom seen by those who find Him. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

God of Grace, ever faithful to your promises, the earth rejoices in hope of the Savior’s coming and looks forward with longing to His return at the end of Time. Prepare our hearts to receive Him when He comes, for He is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Contributions toward the LI Brass Guild are made in loving memory of or in honor of the following:

Rosemary and Edward Terchunian and Norma and Emory Cline from Rosemary and Christopher Cline

Come early for a good seat to worship God and enjoy the Pageant of the Bells- this year’s children’s Christmas program. Their witness conveys the message of Christmas better than any other, and all will be inspired. Special thanks go to Ellen Campbell and all the leaders as well as the children and their parents. Invite a friend and come!

Following worship Jane and Tom Otis and company will host a Santa Brunch fundraiser in the parish hall. The cost is 15 for adults, 10 for children and seniors, or 40 maximum for families. All proceeds help your church meet its commitments for 2011.

Sunday afternoon at 2:00 carolers will gather and continue the inspiration of the day for those homebound members and friends, returning to church later for hot soup and Christmas cookies. All are welcome.

Other Holiday initiatives continue such as the Adopt a Family program, the Christmas Joy Offering, and the stewardship campaign for 2012. Please do your part so that others can have a part in life’s blessings.

Christian Sympathy goes out to Nancy Winters and family upon the death of her brother, Eugene Romano of Pennsylvania. Services will be held over the weekend.

December Board Meetings happen this Tuesday, December 13^th beginning at 6:00 with an Open House at the manse. Boards will then hold their separate sessions at the church at 7:00pm. Reminder: Newly elected officers are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Best wishes go to Niels Hansen, father of Hanne Manker who turns 100 years young December 23; and to our sexton and his wife, John and Barbara Blydenburgh on the occasion of their 50^th wedding anniversary December 16^th! Rejoice!

Christmas Cocktail Party at the Kings-next Friday the 16^th from 5:00 until 8:00- come and go as you can. Cost is 30.00 per person with proceeds going to help balance the 2011 budget.

Ralph Neubauer’s company has underwritten a new sound system for the sanctuary which will enable better hearing of the choir and individual voices. This gift comes just in time for the pageant. Join in thanks to Ralph, Karen, Leif, and their families for their generosity!

Memorial Service for Pat Shuttleworth happens in the sanctuary this Saturday at 1:00 with a deacons reception to follow. Memorial gifts are welcome to the church or to the Quogue Historical Society in her name.

God of grace, ever faithful to your promises, the earth rejoices in hope of the Savior’s coming and looks forward with longing to your return at the end of time. Prepare our hearts to receive you when you come, for you are Lord forever and ever. Amen.

To all members and friends of the church this email comes with good wishes for a happy Thanksgiving amongst you and yours! Make it a safe and reverent holiday, with time for reflection on the blessings of life. Also, get out for a walk or a run! Some exercise will be good for mind, body, and spirit!

This coming Sunday is the first in the Advent Season. Worship will include the celebration of the Lord’s Supper as well as candle lighting at the Advent Wreath. The choir will sing a stirring anthem entitled Thou Shalt Know Him When He Comes. The communion meditation is entitled Wait! and derives from the epistle reading for the day, I Corinthians 1:3-9. Children and youth are encouraged to remain in the sanctuary to partake of the Sacrament with their families.

God of all wisdom, our hearts yearn for the warmth of your love, and our minds search for the light of your Word. Increase our longing for Christ our savior, and strengthen us to grow in love, that at the dawn of his coming, we may rejoice in his presence and welcome the light of his truth. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Worship this Sunday contains several themes. Thanksgiving appears at the top of this list, with the lovely Fruits of the Harvest display reminding us of the bounty of natural blessings we enjoy. It is also new member Sunday in which we will welcome sisters and brothers who will stand to declare that this is their church home. It is the concluding Sunday of the church liturgical year called Christ the King. The sermon is rooted in the great text of Matthew 25:31-46, and the title is A King in Disguise. Chuck Cary is preaching at both the morning service and the evening ecumenical service at Westhampton Methodist Church at 7:00pm. Finally, a reminder to all members of Presbyterian Women, we will dedicate the 2011 Thank Offering this Sunday. Bring your offering boxes and place them at the foot of the chancel.

The stewardship campaign continues with 88 pledges received totaling $138,000 toward our 2012 mission. Return your card as soon as possible if you have yet to make a commitment for next year. Thanks!

The church office will be closed on Thursday and Friday next in celebration of Thanksgiving. Please forward any bulletin announcements to Nancy no later than Monday noon for inclusion the 11/27 bulletin. admin@westhamptonpresbyterian.org

Various announcements about the Thanksgiving Pie Sale pickup, Presbyterian Women’s Christmas Bazaar (12/03), and the All Church Advent Festival (12/04) are noted in the Sunday bulletin.

Read a Psalm such as Psalm 100. Have each person name one thing or theme for which he/she is thankful this year. Offer one of the following prayers:

Bountiful God, we rejoice this Thanksgiving Day. You have given us health and life abundant even in these hard times. Our family gathers in relative freedom and prosperity compared to so much of the world. Thank you for the work we do, the love we feel, the inspiration we have received. Let each of these gifts multiply in the world where they will meet the needs of those who are hungry and hurting, or who simply need the love by which you bless. Remember those who dine alone, or perhaps do not dine at all. Let your Amazing Grace break forth on us yet again. Amen

God, we are so grateful for so many things, we scarcely know where to begin. For health and happiness. For vision and hope. For love and laughter. For good food that nourishes our bodies as well as your Holy Spirit who nourishes our spirits. Most of all we thank you for the opportunity to set aside this special day of gratitude. As long as we have breath we will praise you for the lives we enjoy. Amen

PS Pass this along to someone who may wish to know more about your church. Let us know it there are other email addresses to add to our list.

The Fruits of the Harvest Display will welcome you to worship this Sunday. A beautiful tradition practiced by many congregations in the northeast, visible reminders of natural blessings will adorn our sanctuary. It is also Veteran’s Day weekend and all Veterans and those currently serving in the military will be recognized and asked to stand during the pastor’s announcements.

The Scripture providing the foundation for worship is I Thessalonians 5:1-11. The sermon title is Concerning The Times and Seasons. The choir sings a wonderful thanksgiving anthem, “Let All Things Now Living” arranged by Davis. Find your place in worship as the people of God say Thank you!

A reminder: The church office will be closed Friday the 11^th to observe the Veteran’s Day holiday.

Stewardship commitment for 2012 continues. As of last week 68 pledges have been received for a total of $117,747. This represents a strong start toward our $210K goal. Turn in your pledge as soon as you are able through the morning offering or through the mail.

Men’s Group meets next Saturday, 11/19 at 8:30 in the Founder’s Room. Dr Louis Pizzarello, MD will be speaking on Eye care as well as his medical ministries. Newcomers are welcome. Continental breakfast is provided and the program concludes at 9:30am.

The Children of the Church School raised nearly $200 dollars in support of the UNICEF Halloween appeal. Hats off to each for their efforts to remember the poor and suffering while Trick or Treating!

Parents, watch for communications and announcements about forthcoming holiday events such as the Advent Festival (12/04) and the Christmas Pageant (12/11).

Inquiry Class for new members happens this Sunday following worship in the Founder’s Room. On the agenda will be basic beliefs of the Presbyterian Church and ways to serve here. Remember, one can join in three ways….as an active member, as an affiliate member (whose main membership is elsewhere) , and as a Friend of Westhampton Presbyterian. New Members and friends will be welcomed as part of worship next Sunday the 20^th.

Presbyterian Women will dedicate their Thank Offering as part of Worship on Sunday the 20^th. It is also not too early to think of the ways you can support their Christmas Bazaar on Saturday December 3.

Deacon’s Thanksgiving Baskets are being planned as part of our church’s support of families in need. Remember to pick up nonperishable foods for your contribution to this outreach. Our youth group will be collecting non-perishable foods outside of the Hampton Bays Stop and Shop from noon until 3 this Sunday. Please stop by and support them if you are in the neighborhood!

Email addresses? Do you know of others who would enjoy receiving these weekly emails? Please forward these announcements, or better yet, give their address to Nancy in the church office admin@westhamptonpresbyterian.org

Prayer of the day: Gracious God, we pray especially for wounded and afflicted veterans and all who have suffered as a result of war throughout the world. Speed the day when humanity will be able to resolve our differences at the conference table. Speed the day when all your children will have enough to eat. We pray in the strong name of Jesus the Christ! Amen.

November 6^th is anniversary Sunday for our church. It was this day in 1755 when we received our charter and the first stewardship appeal was made (It came in at 31 Pounds!). We celebrate the official beginning as well as the grassroots organization 13 years earlier in 1742. There is a lot for which we give thanks as a church, not the least of which is a distinguished past. Give it some thought and prayer as you gather this weekend.

It is also stewardship Sunday wherein we dedicate our pledges for 2012. Please bring your commitment card and either place it in the basket atop the communion table or offer it as part of the morning offering. You can also mail it to the church in the envelope provided. If you did not receive a card please notify Nancy in the church office and feel free to use the extras in the pew racks.

The morning sermon is taken from Joshua 24, selected verses, which is a covenant renewal ceremony at Shechem in which Joshua proclaims his allegiance to God and God’s ways. His words, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, make up the sermon title. The choir sings an anthem of praise, Sterling’s arrangement of Praise to the Lord, the Almighty. Come and be part of worship!

TIME CHANGE! Don’t forget to move your clocks back one hour on Saturday evening in recognition of the end of Daylight Savings Time. Change the battery in your smoke detector while you are at it.

Youth groups will be attending the Fall Play at the High School and preparing for our community Thanksgiving outreach later this month. Speaking of the Play, it is entitled Fools by Neil Simon, and is directed by Elder Rosemary Cline. The curtain rises at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday, with a 2:00 pm finale on Sunday. The fellow playing the role of the butcher bears a striking resemblance to our own youth deacon. Keep an eye out for him.

On the Road to Yaphank….WPC will join with supply pastor Glorya Johnson and the good folks of the Presbyterian Church at Yaphank for a Service for Wholeness at 4:00 pm there. You can carpool from WPC or travel on your own. Bus leaves at 3:15 from the church parking lot.

Christian Sympathy…to the family of Patricia Driver Shuttleworth upon her death on Tuesday. Tentative plans call for a memorial service on Saturday, December 10, 2011 in the sanctuary with a deacons’ reception to follow. Pat was an outstanding leader within our church and community, surviving the Hurricane of 38 and helping to establish the Quogue Historical Society. She and her family were instrumental in the revitalization of the Quogue Chapel as well.

We also remember Ms. Lindsay Crennan and family upon the death of her mother, Mrs. Barbara Benjamin at the Westhampton Care Center. Services were held at the Reginald Tuthill funeral home in Riverhead with burial in the Riverhead Cemetery.

A big thank you goes to John and Meryle King and all others who made the Harvest Dinner a delicious success. Hats off to Kyle, Jill and all the youth for their inspirational depiction of this year’s REACH trip to Cairo, New York.

This Sunday celebrates a transformative day in the life of the Christian Church, when Martin Luther posted 95 theses or “Protests” on the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral in Germany in 1517. His aim? To restore the integrity of a Christian body which had sold its soul for the price of whatever they charged for indulgences. Your pastor thinks even Luther would be surprised at the evolution of the church in our day, ever in need of new reformation. Chuck Cary’s sermon stems from Matthew 23:1-12 and is entitled A New Measure for Greatness. The choir sings “From Age to Age the Same”, a variation of the great hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.

Following worship in the sanctuary is the congregational/corporation meeting called for the purpose of electing officers and receiving the proposed 2012 church budget. Please attend. Copies of the budget are at the back of the sanctuary, and all candidates for church office will be asked to rise and be recognized.

This is also stewardship time, when the Minute for Mission, offered by Jeanette Smith will call our attention to our motives for supporting the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ here at 90 Meeting House Road. Watch for your pledge card in next week’s mail. Prayerfully consider your part in keeping us the blessed congregation we are in the year to come. Return your card November 6^th or sooner. See Stu Wood or any member of the session if you have questions.

Our youth group will be collecting non-perishable foods outside of the Hampton Bays Stop N Shop from noon until 4 this Sunday. If you are in the neighborhood, seek them out and support their efforts. Note Kyle Miller’s article in the November Tidings. Don’t forget their holiday pie fundraiser as well!

Speaking of Youth….It’s time for the Annual Harvest Dinner (What? You are not yet signed up??) on Thursday, November 3 at 6:00pm. Besides the best Thanksgiving fare anywhere, young people who attended the REACH work camp last summer will tell the story of their journey. Don’t miss it.

Congratulations all you CROP walkers. A total of $1,935 was raised for hunger ministries on October 15^th. Hats off to all!

Upcoming Events: New Member classes on Sundays November 6 and 13 after worship, with the reception of new members November 20 in morning worship; Service of Wholeness at the Presbyterian Church in Yaphank on Sunday November 6^th at 4:00pm- Bus leaves our parking lot promptly at 3:10; Maureen’s Haven homeless ministry on Monday November 7; Men’s Group Saturday November 19 at 8:30 with Dr Louis Pizzarello M.D. as speaker; Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service on November 20 at 7:00 at West Methodist.

Halloween…let’s make it safe. Parents, help your child remember the UNICEF collection. Return boxes.

Prayer: You are a mighty fortress, O God. Help us to stand strong as able men and women, loving you and neighbor in a rhythm which will never be denied. Where individuals are persecuted because of their beliefs, keep them strong. Where the flame of faith has gone out, bring new inspiration. Help us be faithful in this and every age, to the glory of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The resplendent colors of autumn are just one of many reasons to praise our maker this weekend. Worship will capture the theme of praise and blessing, focusing on a text from Deuteronomy 34:1-12 which features the death of Moses after surveying the gifts and blessings of the Promised Land. It is a puzzle to many scholars why he stopped short of entrance (vicarious suffering for the sins of the Israelites?). In any event the Scripture is rich in meaning and inspiration. The choir sings a psalm which will lift our thanks and praise My Shepherd Will Supply My Need arranged by Randall Thomson. Elder Amy Mosher will offer the Children’s Message on the UNICEF Halloween collection. New member Scott Campbell will bring a Minute for Mission on behalf of the 2012 Stewardship appeal.

The adult class gathers at 8:30 to discuss the Making of a Minister , specifically the Worship and Sacraments Ordination exam. Chuck Cary convenes this discussion. Shh! Don’t tell anyone. It’s quite a fun group.

All-Church cleanup follows worship. Plan to remain for all or part of this time to clean and ready our facility for the upcoming holidays and winter season. Trustees will have a to-do list and materials necessary to complete the work. Many hands make light work, to the Glory of God.

A detailed announcement in the bulletin calls attention to our staying healthy, specifically in worship. Make sure you read it and pay attention to your well-being and that of your neighbor.

Friday, the 21^st Treks N Tours Visit to the William Floyd Estate with Lunch afterwards. Meet @9:45; Room Still Available

Saturday, the 22^nd The Men’s Group Meets for Continental Breakfast and Program. 8:30-9:30am

Saturday the 22^nd, Food Pantry Fundraiser at Immaculate Conception Parish Hall. 5:00-8:00pm. Tkts at Door

New Member Classes: November 6 and 13^th following worship in the Founder’s Room. Including Brunch and childcare. New Member reception on November 20^th during morning worship.

Most gracious God, according to your wisdom deep waters are opened up and clouds drop gentle moisture. We praise you for the harvest season, for the fertility of soil, the harvesting of crops, and for all other blessings which you in your generosity pour on this nation and its people. Give us a fuller understanding of your mercy, and lives which will be forever respectful, holy, and obedient to you throughout our days. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Sunday coincides with World Food Day, an observance which draws our attention to the vision of feeding all of God’s people. The Scripture for the morning is John 6:1-14, the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 followers with the lunch of a single child, a boy who carries 5 loaves and two fish. The sermon title is likewise Five Loaves and Two Fish. The Choir sings the anthem “Out in the Fields with God”, a fitting introduction to the CROP Walk which immediately follows worship. There will be three routes, the Stroller walk for families with young children to the Duck Pond and back, the intermediate distance to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and back, and the full six miles which follows Beach Lane to Dune Road and then back to town via Potunk Lane and back through Main Street. It is for a good cause, with a bulk of the contributions going to support the ten food pantries between WHB and Montauk. Come walk and support our ministries on behalf of hungry persons.

Chuck Cary will lead the Adult Class this Sunday @8:30 in an examination of the ordination requirements necessary for a Presbyterian Pastor. We will look at a typical Polity exam.

Recently hospitalized persons include Marie Osburg at Peconic Medical Center in Riverhead, Jean Duffield who has been transferred to Riverhead Care Center for rehabilitation Therapy, and Madeline Hackworth, mother of Vern who is healing from a recent fall and broken hip in Kentucky.

Remember other events happening in the week to come including the Treks N Tours destination of the William Floyd Estate on Friday (leave the church parking lot at 9:45-return following lunch); and the Men’s Group next Saturday at 8:30 with Eileen Schwinn speaking on Birding and Rare Birds of the East End. Be sure to sign up for the Treks N Tours expedition.

As Thanksgiving season approaches remember those in need when you shop. Deacons are collecting non-perishables for their Thanksgiving basket distribution.

New Member Class happens in November following Sunday worship. Invite a friend if you are a veteran member. If you have yet to join, please consider doing so. Categories of membership are: Active Member, Affiliate Member (Whose main membership is elsewhere), and Friend of the Church.

O God, your heart breaks when children die from starvation. Through your son you multiplied a simple lunch to feed the multitudes. Help us in the effort to feed all in need. Whether it is a local neighbor on Quiogue, or Somali refugees in Kenya, help us help one another in Christ’s name. Amen.

Help raise money to fight hunger with a walk around the Village of Westhampton Beach

Sunday worship is centered in a challenging parable from the Gospel of Matthew, 22:1-14 which describes a wedding reception where invited guests don’t come, the uninvited do, and a certain individual is removed for being improperly attired. In fact his punishment far outweighs his poor choice in clothing. The text says he is to be tossed into the outer darkness. The sermon title poses the Scripture’s last sentence as a question: “Many Are Called, Few Are Chosen?” The choir sings a lively anthem, I Know I Have Been Changed.

Randy Dayton will offer a Minute for Mission on this year’s CROP Walk, to take place following worship next Sunday October 16^th. Proceeds support hunger ministries near and far.

Creighton Berry is reviewing a book on the history of prayer for the adult class which gathers each Sunday at 8:30 in the Founder’s Room. You do not have to prepare in order to attend or benefit.

Our youth group is conducting a Pie/Cheesecake fundraiser in support of their activities. Please find them during Coffee Hour and order yours. The sale concludes October 30.

New Member Classes are scheduled for next month…Sundays November 6 and 13 following worship, with a reception on Sunday the 20^th. If you are not yet a church member and have questions, please see Chuck Cary or Tom Otis, Chair of the Membership Committee.

The Roof N Paint Fund grand total is 52,010. Special thanks go to all for your generous response. The facility now has a new roof where it was needed and the outside surfaces are bright in appearance, to the Glory of God. A final accounting will appear in the 2011 Annual Report.

The Presbyterian Women’s October luncheon happens next Wednesday at noon in the parish hall. The Men’s Group, which enjoyed 8 attendees at its inaugural session, is scheduled for Saturday the 22^nd at 8:30 am.

Recent hospital admissions include Jean Duffield at Southampton, and Tim Euphrasio at Stony Brook. Seven Month old Mia Gosnell, daughter of Daniel and Sonya Gosnell of the Remsenburg Community Church has been diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer. Prayers for God’s intercession on behalf of these friends are in order.

The Bridgehampton Historical Society is sponsoring a concert this Friday, October 7 at 7:00 pm at their Archives Building (2539-A Montauk Highway, former Marders Barn) Featured soloist will be Joanna Howard along with other area musicians. Tickets are $25, $10 for members.

Give us O Lord, a reverence for the truth, the desire both to think and to speak truly. Save us from fear of difficult verities. Grant us an appreciation of Beauty and things lovely. Increase our adoration for all which symbolizes the beauty we see in You, through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

World Communion Sunday concludes Global Mission week with a wonderful speaker, Rick Ufford-Chase, director of Stony Point Conference Center and former Moderator of the General Assembly. Rick was one of the youngest moderators to be elected to this position and has a heart for helping Presbyterians become more youth and young adult friendly. He will also be speaking at the Brunch which follows. Plan to stay and expect good things throughout the day!

Rick’s meditation title is Following Jesus in a Time of Fear. Scripture lessons are Exodus 20:1-20 and Luke 6:27-31. The Senior Choir sings the reverent anthem, Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether, so appropriate for the church gathered at the Lord’s Table. Children and youth First Grade and above are encouraged to remain for the entire service, take part in the Sacrament with their families and remain for the brunch. Kyle Miller and Jill D’Abramo are taking the youth group on an afternoon outing. Details are included in an email announcement to them.

This year’s Peacemaking Offering will be received on Sunday. 25% will be retained and distributed directly to the Stony Point Conference Center for its mission and ministry. Please give generously.

The Presbyterian Women’s Rummage Sale concludes on Saturday (doors open at 9:00). Helpers in the cleanup are always welcome. Special thanks go to all the workers who make this and all PW activities a success. The Scrap Metal Drive also ends on Saturday.

The month of October is active from start to finish. Sunday the 16^th is the occasion of the CROP walk in support of world hunger. Sunday the 23^rd is the occasion of the All-Church cleanup. October 30^th is the date of the Fall Congregational/Corporation meeting. Plan now to support these and all activities designed to move Christ’s mission forward here.

Correction: The time for departure for the Treks N Tours trip to the William Floyd Estate on Friday October 21 is 9:45, not the time announced in the newsletter. Please sign up!

Loving God, thank you for the nourishment we receive at your table. May we be strengthened and challenged by all who share this meal, both here and around the world. Whatever our burdens, may we draw strength from your Son who invites us to come unto You, all who are weary and thus find rest for our souls. May we carry in our hearts your peace, that which is embodied in the bread and wine. Send your Spirit to strengthen our love for one another and your creation. We earnestly desire your Kingdom to break forth here and throughout creation. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Know someone who would benefit from this email? Feel free to forward it to them, or better yet, notify Nancy admin@westhamptonpresbyterian.org to add their address to our list.

The CROP Walk will take place on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2011 at 11 AM.

Help raise money to fight hunger with a walk around the Village of Westhampton Beach

beginning at the Westhampton Presbyterian Church.

Materials are available in the church office.

Global Mission Week happens beginning this Sunday with the leadership of Dr. Emad Philobbos, former General Secretary of the Protestant Community in Egypt and board member of the Presbyterian Seminary in Cairo. He is also professor emeritus of Geology at Assiut University in Upper Egypt, and will provide first hand commentary on the changes underway as a result of the “Arab Spring”. His sermon will focus on what it means to be a religious minority in a majority culture.

The senior choir sings the solemn anthem by Stainer, For God So Loved the World. Special offerings include the Peacemaking Offering, which provides support for Dr. Philobbos and other international church leaders in their visits to American churches. 25% of local proceeds will go to Stony Point Conference Center in Stony Point, New York which is led by Rick Ufford-Chase, former moderator of the General Assembly and our speaker for October 2…World Communion Sunday.

Church School and Youth programs are off and running! See Amy Mosher or Ellen Campbell if you have questions. Classes for all children and youth happen following the Children’s message. The youth program is under the able leadership of Kyle Miller and Jill D’Abramo. At 12:30 Sunday they are leading a hike and picnic for all youth at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge.

Presbyterian Women’s activity is busy this week. It’s time for rummage sale setup (actual dates for the sale are next Friday-Saturday beginning at 9:00 am both days). Circle meets at the home of Sarajane Giere, 18 Woodfield Avenue in East Quogue on Monday, the 26^th at 6:00 for a potluck dinner with Dr. Philobbos presenting the program.

Church Support Opportunities: Scrap Metal Drive, October 1 (9:00 until 4:00) in the church parking lot; Gift Cards; The Roof and Paint Fund (Still holding at 36,010 with hopes of reaching 42,000 to meet the second challenge); and of course our regular giving in support of the operating fund. If you are behind in your pledged commitment, please catch up. Thanks for your part in helping your church maintain a balanced budget for the year.

Know someone interested in our church who is not receiving this email?? Please forward it to them and let Nancy know of their address so we can include it in our weekly correspondence.

We pray that someday an arrow will be broken, not in something or someone, but by every human to indicate peace, not violence. Someday, oneness with creation rather than domination over creation will be the goal to be respected. Someday, fearlessness to love and make a difference will be experienced by all people. Then the eagle will carry our prayer for peace and love, and the people of the red, white, yellow, brown, and black communities can sit in the same circle together to communicate in love and experience the presence of the Great Mystery in their midst. Someday can be today for you and me.

The CROP Walk will take place on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2011 at 11 AM. Help raise money to fight hunger with a walk

around the Village of Westhampton Beach beginning at the Westhampton Presbyterian Church. Materials are available in the church office.

Worship this weekend will take on a Christian Education theme as the church awards Bibles to Third graders, commissions Church School Teachers, and ordains and installs youth officers. The Scripture for the day is Matthew 20:1-16 and the sermon title is “An Economy of Gifts”. The choir will sing an anthem entitled, Christ the Way of Life Possess Me.

Chuck Cary will offer a review of Henri Nouwen’s book In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership for the adult class at 8:30 in the Founder’s Room. Newcomers are encouraged to come. It is not necessary to have read the book in order to attend.

Kyle Miller and Jill D’Abramo invite all Middle School and High School youth and their families to attend the potluck dinner at 5:30 pm here at the church this Sunday. The agenda includes surveying the programs for the year and gathering ideas and support for special projects. Kyle’s email is Popskfm@aol.com and Jill’s is jillian.dabramo@gmail.com .

The Men’s group will meet Saturday the 24^th at 8:30 am for continental breakfast and conversation with Dr. Emad Ramzey Philobbos of Egypt.

Dr. Philobbus will be with us for the majority of Global Mission week, 9/23-10/02. Former moderator of the General Assembly and current director of the Stony Point Conference Center, Elder Rick Ufford Chase will conclude this observance on World Communion Sunday. Please show each of these guests sincere hospitality as we acknowledge what God is doing in the wider world. Questions? See Linni Deihl.

New membership directories are available in the church office and parish hall. Do notify Nancy Hamma of any corrections (288-2576 or admin@westhamptonpresbyterian.edu)

Additional ways to support the church: The Roof and Paint Appeal, the scrap metal drive on October 1, purchasing Gift Cards, and bringing good, usable items for the Presbyterian Women’s Fall Rummage Sale September 30-October 1. Faithful and consistent response to these appeals and regular pledged giving promises a balanced budget for 2011.

Special thanks go to all members and friends for your faithfulness on September 11^th. The services both here at church and at the Gazebo on the Village Green were well attended and a fitting memorial.

Gracious God, your Son welcomed children over the protests of disciples and declared To such belong the Kingdom of God. Growing up is not easy in our day. Young people face the taunts of bullies and the temptations to do and be other than what you intend. Often the Kingdom you describe seems far off and elusive. Create in our church and community, a safe haven for all children and youth. Excite each with new opportunities to grow and become your disciples. In the name of Him who came not to be served but to serve, Jesus Christ. Amen.

This Sunday marks the 10^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our country, and calls on everyone to remember with sincere reflection as well as rededication to the principles we hold dear. It is also homecoming Sunday here at the church as we return to one service at 10:00 in the Quiogue sanctuary. The choir will sing. We will celebrate communion. Following the children’s message children will be dismissed to a special welcome back carnival with games and activities for all. Ellen Campbell and Amy Mosher, plus Kyle Miller and Jill D’Abramo and others will lead. Find your place in worship as with reverence we mark this milestone and keep our hopes strong.

An interfaith service of remembrance takes place Sunday evening at 7:00 at the Gazebo in Westhampton Beach. Area religious as well as civic leaders will take part. Times such as these call for standing together.

Youth Ministry programs will be in the capable hands of Kyle Miller and Jill D’Abramo this fall. A kick-off potluck is scheduled for Sunday the 18^th at the church. Families as well as youth themselves are encouraged to be present. Watch for details.

Get ready for special programs in September. Presbyterian Women will meet on the 14^th for a luncheon and make final plans for the Fall Rummage Sale September 30-October 1. New comers are always welcome. The reorganization of Presbyterian Men’s group happens on Saturday morning the 24^th (8:30-9:30) with a continental breakfast and discussion. Global Mission Week happens Sunday September 25 –October 2 with special guests to help us understand our connections to the greater church here in the US and around the world.

Special thanks go to Randy Dayton and members of the Deacons communications committee for their role in promoting our church’s mission and ministry. Listen to WLNG for Randy’s announcement about our Sunday services.

God of compassion: you watch the ways of humanity, and weave out of terrible happenings wonders of goodness and grace. Surround those who have been shaken by the events of 9-11 with a sense of your presence and love, and hold all in the embrace of Faith in you. Though we may still be burdened with grief, may we find you and your strength; through Jesus Christ, who was dead, but lives, and rules this world with you. Amen.

God of earth and air, water and fire, height and depth, we pray for those who work in danger, who rush in to bring help when the prudent flee. Their presence embodies the protection of the Good Shepherd, whose mission is to seek and save. Give them caution and continued concern, so that in safety they may do what must be done. Support them in their courage and dedication, that they may mend the torn fabrics of our life together. Amen.

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A Memorial Service for Lee Allyn Davis will be held at The Westhampton Presbyterian Church at

Wednesday, September 1st at 3PM. There will be no viewing prior to the service and interment services are private. A reception following the service will be held in the Parish Hall.

The great goalpost of summer, the Labor Day holiday is upon us with the final Sunday of the summer schedule. We will gather in the chapel and the sanctuary following an earthquake and hurricane. All of us have much for which to give thanks. I encourage you to set aside an hour on Sunday morning for that purpose. It’s also a good time to remember those unemployed and underemployed neighbors, and pray for better days ahead for all God’s children.

Chuck Cary is preaching, drawing on a text from Romans, the 13^th chapter, verses 8-14. The sermon title is simply, Etiquette. The Sacrament of Baptism happens at the Chapel for Louisa and Oliver Bradley.

A native icon, Lee Allyn Davis died during the hurricane. His memorial service will happen this Thursday, September 1 at 3:00pm in the sanctuary. A Deacon’s reception follows in the Parish Hall. Please pass the word to those who may not have heard. There is no other service, thus this is the only public opportunity to give thanks for his life and greet his son Chris and daughter in law, Mary Ellen. Lee was a popular columnist and local historian as well as supporter of the Arts on Long Island.

While most of us survived the hurricane unscathed compared with many others say in New Jersey and Vermont, one of our church members, Raymond Hann suffered a heart attack during the cleanup. As of this writing Ray is in the Heart Center at Stony Brook University Hospital. Prayers for his healing and peace are of course welcome.

Children and youth beginning a new school year, Godspeed to you! Watch for opportunities to grow in Faith here in your church!

Eternal God, we look for knowledge when what we really need is wisdom. Impart your truth through the teaching which happens in classrooms near and far. To those who study, give curiosity. To those who question, grant imagination. To those who seek solutions to problems grant both determination and patience. Help us to doubt in such a way that it leads to greater Faith. Lead us to rediscover our connections to you and this wonderful world you have created. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Based on the forecast for a Sunday landfall of Hurricane Irene, it is necessary to cancel both worship services out of concern for everyone’s safety.

Sunday Worship Services Cancelled Based on the forecast for a Sunday landfall of Hurricane Irene, it is necessary to cancel both worship services out of concern for everyone’s safety. Please stay home and pray for the well-being of all, especially those seniors and others who have been evacuated. If you know of another who does not have access to email, please notify them of this cancellation.

Worship will take place at the chapel and sanctuary on September 4, which is the final Sunday of the summer schedule. We return to one service on 9/11 at 10:00 with special remembrances of this tragic day in American history.

The joint meeting of the session and trustees is also cancelled and rescheduled for next Tuesday night, August 30 at 7:00.

O God of earthquake, wind, and fire, tame natural forces that defy control, or shock us by their fury. Keep us from panicking in the face of a hurricane, forever trusting your providence and mercy. Safeguard those who have no safe place to lay their head. Watch over those who are vulnerable to high water and strong wind. Keep us strong in the Faith, now and always. In the name of Jesus Christ who silences demons and overcomes the storms of life. Amen.

Weekly worship is the order of the Day, and Sunday we welcome the Rev. Mark Tammen, newly called General Presbyter of the Presbytery of Long Island. Mark is a native of Illinois, and enjoys the rather unique status of being both a pastor and an attorney. His most recent service was at the General Assembly office in Louisville, Kentucky where he was director of Constitutional Services. He and his wife Anita have three grown daughters. His sermon title….Friends and Neighbors. Find your place in worship and join Chuck Cary in welcoming Mark for his first visit to Quogue and Quiogue.

Special thanks go to Gabe and Nancy Vigorito for their hospitality in hosting last week’s fundraiser at their lovely home. Like other similar events, a good time was had by all!

This coming Thursday the 25^th at 7:00pm in the parish hall Dr. Bill Whetsell, professor emeritus of Neuropathology at Vanderbilt Medical School will give a presentation on the brain, in particular how it ages. Bill and Anne are regular summer worshipers with us.

Painters are busy brightening our space at 90 Meeting House Road. The Roof and Paint Appeal continues. Check the Sunday worship bulletin for the exact amount raised. We rejoice in the number of gifts given thus far.

Congratulations are in order for Mara Terchunian, Christian Tureski, and Marissa Schultze who were elected as youth officers for 2011-12 at last Sunday’s congregational meeting.

Almighty God, you know us better than we know ourselves. You understand our complexities and your foolishness is greater than our wisdom. Keep us from unnecessary anxiety in these uncertain times. Let not our spirits mirror the highs and lows of the market place. Instead, lead us to a more profound trust in your goodness, which has blessed us with enough. Continue to raise in us a generous stewardship, giving thanks for what we have and sharing with those who have little. Remind us often that to whom much is given, much is required. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Dr. Herbert B. Anderson, pastor emeritus of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City and volunteer associate at the Moorings Church in Naples, Florida will preach at both worship services this Sunday August 14^th. His topic derives from Psalm 133, and his title is Behold How Good and Pleasant It Is. Chuck Cary will assist and be present to moderate the congregational meeting after the 10:15 service in which we elect youth officers for the 2011-2012 program year.

This Sunday is also the occasion of the Bagel Breakfast in parish hall between services. Special thanks go to Elder Vern Hackworth and the church life committee for their work in making possible this and last month’s event. As the saying goes, a good time was had by all.

Youth Coordinator Cassie Dayton has resigned in order to devote more time to her work as a teacher in the Hampton Bays School System as well as pursue graduate studies. Cassie will be replaced by Kyle Miller and Jillian D’Abramo. A more detailed introduction of them both is forthcoming. Neither, however is a stranger to WPC. Kyle grew up in our church and he and Jill have already been busy chaperoning youth events. Offer your thanks to Cassie and a word of welcome to Kyle and Jill as they take up a most important ministry.

The August fundraiser happens this Wednesday the 17^th at the home of Nancy and Gabe Vigorito. Tickets are still available through the church office (288-2576). Certainly the funds generated for our church are welcome, but equally important is the goodwill present. Do come, bring a friend(s) and help support a balanced budget here at WPC.

Thursday-August 25- 7:00pm Dr Bill Whetsell, Professor Emeritus of Neuropathology at Vanderbilt Medical School will offer a lecture Your Brain: How It Works and How It Ages. Admission is free and the public is welcome. Bill and wife Anne are summer residents and fellow worshippers here at WPC.

Eternal God, your Son Jesus Christ knew not where he would lay his head. Speak to your people, burdened with worry. Where there is hunger, bring relief. Where there is suffering and human neglect, restore hope and well being. Where there is reluctance to work together to create a better world, keep us from retreat and show us how together we can make a difference. Help us keep you and your will as our main priority. Enable us to hold our heads high, confident that a better day is on the way, In Christ’s name. Amen.

This summer began a sermon series under the rubric “Questions People Ask.” The topic for each Sunday derives from questions of the congregation.

Violence is never an end in itself, but is a force to be used as a last resort to defeat greater violence.

Last May someone asked me how I felt about the death of Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01 which resulted in over 3,000 deaths and God knows how many more in separate acts of terror. I confessed to mixed feelings. On the one hand I shed no tears in reading his obituary and was more than a little angry that he seemed to enjoy tacit protection from the military and intelligence communities in Pakistan. So, one part of me was relieved. A ten year man-hunt was over.

But my relief did not lead me to pop open the champagne. Part of me, the idealist side, wished he could have faced a courtroom and the kind of justice you and I take for granted. Part of me wished that he could have witnessed the war of ideas, the debate over the nature of freedom, etc. Part of me wished that he would have been forced to honor life because, I believe, in the long run wars are won not on the battlefields, but in the hearts and minds of those who wage them.

Amy and Samantha Patton ask the question for today. It is, like the others, a deep challenge. Violence: Is it ever justified? Is it ever permissible or honorable? My answer, quite simply is that it is only when necessary to avert a greater violence. But, it should never be used as a means to humiliate or dominate another.

The first stop in my explanation is the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus offers words which serve as the ultimate standard or ideal. He calls for a higher righteousness when he says: You have heard that it is said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you will be children of your Father in Heaven.

These words are difficult to accept. They are demanding, inviting what seems to be the impossible. They are countercultural. They are revolutionary. But, they are also abundantly clear. Jesus calls for an ethic that when we practice it, keeps us in relationship with the very people we despise! You have heard it said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you……

A deranged gunman goes into a Knoxville, Tennessee Unitarian Congregation a few years ago. He has let the toxic views he has heard on rant-radio corrupt his mind and harden his heart. He blames progressive types for being the cause of our nation’s problems. He therefore takes up arms, takes the law into his own hands and opens fire. He destroys lives and creates a climate of fear in the very place that should be characterized by a climate of love. Was his violence justified? Of course not. But Jesus tells us to be careful. He cautions us that we not become like this gunman in curtailing his destruction. He warns us not to permit his violence to unleash a torrent of violence in us. You have heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But, I say to you…..

Not only did Jesus preach this ethic, He lived it. Not only did He live it, He died practicing it. Not only did He die practicing it, He rose, vindicating it. His Spirit makes it possible even today.

The Christian life is never easy. In Nickle-Mines, Pennsylvania an Amish community still aches at the violence one man wreaked upon its children. A frustrated, deeply troubled milk truck driver terrorized school girls, killing 5. Was his violence justified? Of course not. It was and remains demonic, cowardly. As one who allows for violence to be used against a greater violence, how I wish someone, anyone, could have jammed his weapon of mass destruction, or blinded him so that he could not locate his victims. But, the story is not over. The Christian community there and elsewhere struggles to live by a higher righteousness than the forces which fueled his rage. They try as they can to practice an ethic of love and peace which will not be defeated by violence and terror.

Someone, instead of justifying violence, needs to break its cycle. Someone needs to interrupt the violence which begets violence. Someone needs to reinforce the higher righteousness our Lord calls for when even on His cross, near the hour of His painful death, He cries out, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.

I confess, it will not be today or even tomorrow that I can find the means to forgive Osama Bin Laden. His crimes took the innocent lives of people known to this congregation. But, let it never be said that his use of violence inspired my own. If so, he is the ultimate victor!

On May 12 of this year Senator John McCain gave what I believe is one of the most important speeches ever given on the floor of the United States Senate. He, who spent time as a prisoner of war in North Viet Nam. He, who was tortured himself by his enemies in their attempt to extract top-secret information. His speech refuted those who say that torture and violence are always justified in getting the information we want from our enemies. He said No. He with the moral authority to say otherwise. He appealed to us to honor the best of our creeds, our ideals as a nation. He called for the humane treatment of prisoners. He spoke with zeal to defend peace and justice. His renunciation of terror on our part was not because of what it might do to our enemies, but because of what it would do to us!! Weakening our strengths, and diluting our core values. He honored those who brought Osama Bin Laden to justice. At the same time he called on us to rise to the highest of our ideals, never stooping to extract information by violent means. His remarks should be required listening for us all.

Another person who helps us answer today’s question. Mrs. De Grafenreid. She was an illustration in a sermon I delivered here 25 years ago in response to Bernie Goetz, the subway vigilante. Mrs D…and her husband became the surprise hosts of an escaped convict on their Mississippi farm when he barged into their kitchen violently. He did not realize what he had done. Mrs. De Grafenreid was no pushover. Too exhausted for further bravado or intimidation, the escapee was wet and vulnerable. Rather than beat him or berate him, or cower in fear, Mrs D said Looks like you could use some breakfast! The convict hung his head. She asked her husband to get the man some dry socks and call the sheriff while she fixed him some sausage, grits, eggs, and biscuits. She was also quick to remind him of their practice to recite a passage of Scripture before every meal. The man uttered the only one he could recall at the time: Jesus Wept! After that the three of them ate hurriedly. Soon squad cars arrived. Mrs De Grafenreid and her husband placed the escaped convict in the middle and escorted him outside to meet the Sheriff. Against a phalanx of drawn guns she said something Christ-like: Put your guns away, we don’t allow no violence around here!

Is violence ever justified? Only within a very narrow window of exceptions…when it is the only means to defeat a greater violence. Moreover, the human race will not survive it if we cannot break its cycle. We will survive it indeed when we defeat it with the peace and justice of Jesus Christ.

Sunday worship this weekend will witness the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper at both worship services and the Sacrament of Baptism at the Chapel service. The question raised in the sermon series is from Amy Patton: Violence: Can It Ever Be Justified? The text is Matthew 5:43-48, a section of Jesus’ first sermon. Mr. James Brophy will be the substitute organist.

The session will meet on Tuesday. Several committees planning Fall programs are also meeting this week. September 11^th is homecoming Sunday when our worship schedule returns to one service at 10:00 in the Quiogue Sanctuary. Meanwhile, please support summer activities including the Bagel Breakfast on the 14^th, the Congregational Meeting that same day, and the special Taste of Italy fundraiser at the Vigorito’s on the 17^th!

Event to Remember: Summer Lecture, The Brain and How It Ages by Dr. Bill Whetsell, Professor Emeritus of Neurology at Vanderbilt Medical School and summer worshiper here. Thursday, August 25 at 7:00 in the parish hall.

Eternal God, our Creator, you set us to live in Families. We commend to your care all the homes where your people live. Keep us, we pray, free from bitterness, from the thirst for personal victory, and from arrogance in self. Fill us with faith, virtue, knowledge, moderation, patience and Godliness. Knit together in enduring affection those who have become one in marriage. Enable children and parents to have full respect for one another. Light the fires of kindness among us all, that we may show Christ-like affection for you and your people. Amen.

This summer began a sermon series under the rubric “Questions People Ask.” The topic for each Sunday derives from questions of the congregation.

Faith in God is a way of life as much as it is a belief, much more than an abstraction.

The evening news has been anything but pretty this past week. The world waits with increasing indignation and outrage while our elected leaders fail to achieve a resolution of the debt-ceiling issue. The rhetoric is raucous and there is enough finger- pointing to last a life-time. Their inability to settle the matter contributes to dis-ease in the marketplace and yet more worry about an uncertain economy. While the logjam tests our confidence in our government, there are other matters which test our faith.

Enemy hunger rears its ugly head and appears to be triumphant in the Horn of Africa. While we are burdened by economic distress, life and death are on the line in places like Somalia and Kenya. I watched the normally placid Brian Williams of NBC News agonize over the scenes of malnourished children, so weak they could barely move. I am shocked by the clinics in refugee camps so overcrowded that they offer no relief. While we are busy with debt-ceilings, the world needs a hand, needs a heart, needs a word of love and compassion. While we are busy, mothers elsewhere cannot feed their children. Our collective powerlessness and inability to marshal the will to feed the people worries me.

The question in the sermon series is timely and appropriate. Cindy Drayton and Jim Rowbotham invite us to consider a more practical matter than the previous questions. They want to know how Faith, Faith in God and faith in general can lead to good works. In light of the world’s needs which are severe and relentless, how does our faith motivate us to work to make things right, or if not right, at least better? I might add, are Faith and its outlet, good works worth it, when children die in staggering numbers, and the efficacy of our efforts questionable? It is a question which has prodded the church for centuries. What does Faith in God compel us to do? What actions, if any, does Faith compel?

The Letter of James picks up the matter and responds as plainly as possible. It is the kind of direct answer we need when there is so much unmet human need in the world. Faith without works is dead. Faith and action are synonymous. If you are faithful, you will demonstrate it in the way you live. Or to say it another way, your way of life will tell us a lot about your faith in God. Consider Jesus. He loved the unlovable, making them lovely. He embraced those the world described as ugly, making them beautiful. He fraternized with sinners because that is the will and nature of God. He fed the multitudes, because of course, His is the first heart to break whenever one child goes hungry. He died for the people rather than live for some twisted agenda. His Faith in God was/is testimony that Faith/action are part of the same dynamic. One without the other is dead. Together, Faith and action or works can move mountains.

A new pastor in Pittsburgh was greeting after the worship service on his first Sunday when a church member offered an unusual introduction. A man who had had a distinguished career in politics, said to him, I am pleased to meet the pastor who will be doing my funeral. The new pastor was taken aback. He quickly wrote down the gentleman’s name and called to make a time to visit. He was blown away by the man’s candor about his terminal disease, as well as by his sense of humor and his faith in God! Over homemade lemonade they spoke freely about life and death, about his past memories and future concerns. The conversation went deep into funeral plans. It had its lighter moments such as when he and his wife described chemotherapy as “not being in Kansas anymore”. In the end this new pastor received so much more than he gave in terms of counsel and support. The Faith he encountered in another human being was contagious, enthusiastic, and friendly. It was so strong that it made it possible for others, near strangers, to fall in love with this dying man. His crowded funeral service saw much grief, tears at his loss, but tears also at the profound truths to which his life bore witness.

Six weeks after the funeral service his widow called the pastor and wanted him to go with her to inspect and bless the new gravestone. He agreed, even though we have no prayers designed to bless granite gravestones! They arrived at the cemetery in a solemn, reverent state. Somehow the strength of her late husband’s faith in God still reverberated in the air. After the prayer, the grieving widow pointed to an inscription on the gravestone. What did it say? Not in Kansas anymore. (I am indebted to Craig Barnes article in the July 26 Christian Century for the substance of this illustration)

How does Faith in God lead to good works? The power of Faith makes us open to the world’s needs. And its power makes the world’s needs open to us! Somewhere along the journey called church history faith and action became separated, distinct and even unrelated ventures. Thanks to James and ultimately to Jesus Himself- Faith and works are restored to be part and parcel of the same thing. Belief and witness are one. What you name in your prayers and how you help a neighbor are distinct but inseparable. To ignore the starving while we sing hymns of Faith is heresy. To feed the starving and never sing hymns of Faith is incomplete.

Albert Curry Winn was a leader in the former southern Presbyterian Church. He was a moderator of their General Assembly and a president of one of their seminaries. He was a pastor whom God endowed with multiple gifts and skills. He takes up the Rowbotham/Drayton question and answers it in a different way. He lists all of the noteworthy saints and looks for similarities in their makeup and commitments. The Apostle Paul, St Augustine, Martin Luther, Mother Theresa, St. Joan of Arc make up his list. What do they have in common besides the attention of history? Each of them were called and sent. They were called to places they never imagined themselves going. They were called to do things they never imagined themselves doing. God called them to associate with people they had never dreamed of associating with, and speaking words they never figured they would hear from their own mouths. Most of the time they were in conflict because of the Faith they held, but they nevertheless remained loyal despite the cost. They were called and sent, open to a new agenda that included tipping this world toward becoming a more Godly place and people. Faith leads to works which reinforces faith in God. Faith involves being called by God to do and be something that often contradicts popularity. It means being called to take up the difficult as if it were easy. It means shouldering part of the world’s cross, including reversing death in the Horn of Africa!

Old Testament professor Donald Gowan talks about his mother and father-in-law who were faithful, good people in his estimation. They were sincere Christians who felt called and sent to the small church they served in a variety of leadership roles. We might call them pillars of that congregation. It was hardly the best possible church you could be called and sent to….it had more downs than ups. It was broke financially. Its morale was low. There had been senseless controversy amongst its people. But, both of his in-laws had given their utmost to preserve a climate of stability there. Despite never being thanked or affirmed in their work they remained at their posts in what we would describe as a less than mutual relationship. Once Donald Gowan had counseled them to consider leaving, driving to the larger church across town which had much more to offer. Despite opportunities to enjoy a more stimulating church at worship and service, they elected to stay where they believed God had called them. They felt called and sent. They felt called and sent by God above. Their faith told them to persevere. So they did! How does Faith in God lead to good works? It is the medium through which God calls and sends us. It is the gift of God through which our maker summons us to do great things, sending us to fulfill great needs!

Permit today’s question to address you. How is God calling and sending you to places where desperate people are trying to keep the wolf from their door, if not from their children’s neck? Is that your maker calling you to lend a hand to children who have not the energy to get up to their feet? Is God calling and sending us somewhere here on Long Island, where needs are urgent? Faith and works, belief and witness are not isolated activities, forever independent of one another. One reinforces the other, and one is the outlet of another. When you were baptized God called you and sent you to tip the world toward Grace and Peace.

One Sunday morning some years ago Craig Dykstra was having a typical conversation with his two elementary age sons. They were in the car on their way home from Sunday worship. What did you do in Sunday School today? As a dad who also teaches Christian Education at Princeton Seminary he was primed for something profound. He figured that they would be filled with some new knowledge like the parable of the Prodigal Son or the miracle of loaves and fishes or the Ten Commandments. He therefore pressed the question: What did you do in Sunday School today? The younger of the two boys, the six year old, decided to reply. Listen carefully to what he said: My teacher, we made bread together. I ate mine. It was good! At first Craig Dykstra was unimpressed. You had your Sunday School class in the kitchen near the baking ovens? Really?! Then it occurred to him that son number 2 had said something both simple and deep about good teaching in the church. My teacher, we made bread together. I ate mine. It was good. An anonymous teacher, motivated by some inward grace, a gift, brought herself to her students and in the end they made bread together. It was good!

Faith in God/ Faith in ourselves lead to good work. It opens us to give and receive good gifts. A church school teacher kneads the bread dough and bakes it with the help of her students. They came to understand the church as a safe place, a benevolent people where things are good.

Do not believe those who tell you that Faith in God leads to retreat. It has never led to withdrawal from the world God loves. Faith in God, instead, ignites the song in our hearts. Faith in God inspires courage, not fear…blessed trust, not suspicion. Faith leads us to engage the world around us, propelling us to places and peoples we know not. Yet God is there as a result of God’s steadfast promise to abide with us wherever we are on this pilgrimage called Faith. Faith takes root in a six year old when in the course of debriefing his Sunday morning activities he says for the world to hear: My teacher, we made bread together. I ate mine. It was good!

To know ourselves as we are known is the prescription for effective, honest, Christ-like leadership. To be able to reflect on both our gifts and skills is essential for ministers and all leaders.

The Rev. Walter Gower, the Episcopal Priest in Gail Godwin’s Father Melancholy’s Daughter is an example of a minister who struggles to keep his faith as he wrestles with his failings. The setting is Romulus, Virginia where he serves a small parish. He is traditional in terms of Theology and liturgy—not really outstanding, but good enough as a pastor and preacher. Walter Gower’s friend, Adrian Bonner describes him this way: He’s just himself…..He worries about people, he worries about himself—he baptizes and buries, and listens to peoples’ fears and confessions, and isn’t above sharing some of his own. He’s a dedicated man, lonely and bedeviled like the rest of us, but he has time for it all, and tries to do it right!

Unfortunately, Father Gower suffers from depression, so much so that the small town nicknames him Father Melancholy. At times he is overwhelmed by what he describes as a black cloud or curtain. Something not in his control. Something which keeps him from seeing the light. Walter is, nonetheless a passive sufferer. Even when his depression overwhelms him, he carries on his long list of duties. He still writes his sermons “without hope or pleasure”, every sentence reexamined and found wanting. This is all counterfeit he tells his wife Ruth. She disagrees as she reads his work. It is real and unpresumptuous says she.

Father Melancholy, despite everything which makes his life hopeful, deteriorates before his eyes. Yet, he is caring of others and faithful to his belief. Eventually his burdens increase. He suffers a massive stroke and dies. His daughter has another conversation with Adrian Bonner who recalls her father speaking about a time in Zurich Switzerland studying at the Carl Jung institute. He had asked a Jesuit, What if you as a Priest stopped believing? What would you do? The priest replied, I would make a fist in my pocket and go on with the ritual. Father Melancholy said: Exactly!

What do we make of pastors when we reveal our feet of clay and those feet pull the pedestal of honor and virtue out from under us? Or as Linni Deihl asks: What are we to make of pastors who use their very office to end up doing more evil than good? What are we to make, for instance of the Reverend in the Scarlett Letter who manages to turn the world’s attention to Ester Prynne when it was he who deserved their judgment?

One of the early pastors of this church was a man named Abner Reeve. He served from 1754 to 1763, second in the line of settled clergy at Catchaponack- the original name of this area and our parish. Abner Reeve was an admirable man in many ways. He did have one rather public flaw. He had a chronic drinking problem. He was a chronic alcoholic long before the world knew very much about addiction. In fact, in his day alcoholism was cast in terms of sinfulness, fallenness, more a moral/spiritual breakdown. Not surprisingly, his alcoholism was made worse by the sudden loss of his very young wife in 1747. His grief was sharp. Who knows besides God what other demons haunted Abner Reeve? At first the Presbytery suspended him from all ministry. Thereafter he fought to remain sober and was reinstated. His confession and repentance were read in all sister churches on Long Island! He had other falls from Grace and his relationship to this church was dissolved in 1763. Eventually he moved to Brattleboro, Vt. where he labored as a pastor until just short of his 85^th birthday. (His son Topping Reeve was a Chief Justice in Connecticut, who married into the family of Aaron Burr, the 3^rd Vice President of the US.) I wish that I could board a time machine and travel back to 1758 or thereabouts, and listen to the conversations around the church. What are we to make of a pastor such as Abner Reeve who shows forth his feet of clay? His corruptible side? What are we to do when faced with the limitations and sins of religious leaders whose lives are supposed to reflect the Good News of the Gospel…but instead reflect the problems and questionable ambitions of fallen humanity?

In 311 A.D. there was a church controversy that spread throughout the known world. It was a dispute articulated by a Bishop named Donatus… who declared that whenever clergy committed sins, they rendered their office obsolete. In other words, if a priest renounced his faith under threat of Roman persecution, any confession he heard, and sacraments he officiated were deemed null and void, corrupted forever. If he relinquished his beliefs, such action made his other ministries illegitimate. A case in point was the Lord’s Supper. It counted on having a sinless clergyman presiding in order to be true. Such an understanding upped the ante. St Augustine was a budding Theologian at the time and soon he weighed in on this conflict. Could a less than pure priest negate the presence of God in the Lord’s Supper? Could a pastor and preacher such as Abner Reeve discredit the entire ministry of Jesus Christ in the church of our forebears from 1754-1763? Donatus said Yes. Not only was this corruption possible, but probable. St Augustine thought about it and said something wise, counsel which has served the church throughout the ages. He said No, that the actions of God are never dependent on the purity of the religious leader invoking God’s name. If it did, no one would ever be eligible to speak on God’s behalf. Augustine went even further. He declared that God uses our very fallibilities as vehicles or revelations of Himself. A relieved Church sided with St Augustine.

Why do clergymen and women fall from their pedestals of integrity? What is it that exposes our feet of clay, our limitations and leads us to exploit our positions? Why is it that ministers called to a high calling run afoul and do the very things we are told and taught not to do? Why do we not do what we know to be right and honorable in the sight of the Lord? What is it that leads some to graduate from Seminary and fall long and hard, and eventually demit the ministry? Why do others rise and shine for generations?

The stories of the Scriptures themselves as well as what we know about human nature answer our questions. I believe that one of the reasons we exploit the very positions we hold is that we forget. We forget that we are human beings and think we are gods. We forget that we are human beings with all of our warts and foibles, and conclude that we are no longer accountable. We forget that we are human beings and figure that the rules were made for someone else. This is not some new condition. Aaron and the Israelites, camped at the foot of Mt Sinai, fashion a golden calf and worship it as well as themselves as gods. They build a roaring fire and dance around their idol until the voice of the most high calls them back to reality. David forgets he is human and disrespects Bathsheba. He forgets his humanity and tries to cover up his crime. He forgets that the rules about adultery were made for people just like him, and fell under the delusion that he was above any boundaries as an idol. The disciples of Jesus ask for positions of power and privilege, ringside seats at the heavenly banquet. Jesus said in reply that such seating assignments were not his to grant. The ultimate measure of the Faith is loving God, loving neighbor, and loving ourselves. Ministers and religious leaders fall into trouble because we forget our humanity and grasp at being gods and goddesses unto ourselves. Father Melancholy hears a wise word when a priest, confessing his doubts, declares that nevertheless, he would make a fist and continue to say the liturgy. When we remember that we are human, we remember as well that nowhere does it say we have to be perfect. We pastors are human, fallible, and limited in our abilities. Such is the case, thank God, with everyone!

We also suffer from a second form of amnesia. It is no less serious than the first. If we fail to remember that we are human, we also fail to remember that we carry within us the spark of the divine. We forget that God is near and God is within. We forget that God made us in God’s own image, and even though that image is distorted, it is reclaimed by Christ in His cross. Isaiah was calling this memory to mind when he sang to the children of Israel words of Hope: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. He has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed. To bind up the broken hearted. Proclaim liberty to the captives. Release to the Prisoners (61^st Chapter). We forget that God is near, that the spark of God is within us and empowering us to do good, and not evil. If there are pastors who exploit their calling by pretending to be God and not human, there are others who discredit their calling by being so human that they eliminate the presence of God at work in them! We pastors are ordinary human beings. That reality is a source of comfort. We pastors are ordinary human beings possessed by the spark of divinity, or the spark of God. That’s the source of our Hope.

Many of you already know all too well my feet of clay. I’ve been around long enough so that my secrets are known, my bad habits tolerated, and my sins understood. You know, for example, that I am sometimes too quiet and should be more assertive. You also know that I should pay greater attention to details and be more patient with the need to plan well. I often work as though it is all up to me, and pray with words that do not allow time for listening to God.

Those here at Westhampton Presbyterian in the middle nineties remember a venture that ended in failure. We tried to call an associate pastor and eventually did so. It was just after the completion of the Failing wing (1994). We dedicated it and plunged into the search. Unfortunately, the results were not what anyone had dreamed, on the side of the associate pastor candidate or the church. Soon it became clear that the match was not made in heaven. We had our share of testy meetings and restless nights without much sleep. We reached a mutual decision to end the relationship. Years later the associate, the Rev. Cathy Eck, is newly remarried to the director of the Presbyterian Camp at Holmes, the Rev. Peter Surgenor, and is a member of the Presbytery of Hudson River. I left to become a professor at McCormick seminary in Chicago. You know the details of that journey well enough.

But, I was not finished reflecting on this disappointing period and outcome. I wondered where we went wrong. I decided to make our experience a case study for the church administration class I was teaching. One winter afternoon, before 16 students, I told our story as best I could, without naming names, and as much as possible, without biasing the class one way or another. I drew a timeline of the process and decisions. I also reflected on the ups and downs of the call process itself, figuring that these same students would be considering a call and might learn from us. They were to divide into small groups and analyze our case. What are the learnings?

The class surged with energy and opinions. They were surprisingly sensitive and compassionate. One woman from Wisconsin said, Don’t blame yourself. A student from Indiana became upset, angry, not at anyone in the case, but angry that such cases actually happen in churches. Another student who is now an executive presbyter in a Midwest presbytery, said something kind and insightful: Professor, you had just built a new building, why didn’t you give yourselves some more time, and live into the reality of your new space? Why did you not let your goals and objectives reflect the kind of church you hoped to be before you jumped into the search for an associate? Another asked, how would you have had to change from being a solo pastor to being a head of staff? There were other comments and helpful critiques. The whole scenario….the whole fallible, failed attempt taught me and a group of pastors in training multiple lessons. It taught me humility. It taught me that I am, we are, human, thanks be to God, gloriously human. It taught me that we are human with a spark of Divine within us nonetheless.

Every pastor I know, every religious leader I know, has feet of clay. If they think otherwise, they are at the precipice of falling hard and falling far. Every pastor I know has a spark of God near, and available. If they think otherwise, they are unlikely to witness their dreams come true. If they overlook the nearness of God, they will neglect the power of God who works through us to do the impossible.

Yet, when we combine the two understandings…our fallibility and accessing the spark of the Divine, God can and does do great things through us. God does things which save the earth….things which redeem creation, things which bring a generous smile to the face of God!

Back to Linni’s question: What about pastors and our feet of clay? What are we to make of pastors who exploit their very office and end up doing more evil than good? Can the infallible good news still speak through fallible humans? The answer is Yes. From what I know of God, He would have it no other way.

Sunday, July 31 is the seventh Sunday of the Pentecost. The question for the day was posed by Jim Rowbotham and Cindy Drayton…How does Faith lead to good works? The text is from the letter of James, the second chapter. We will celebrate the sacrament of Baptism for Georgia Gooder at the chapel and offer thanks at both services for a most successful Vacation Bible School which ended Thursday. (Director Ellen Campbell and her staff did an outstanding job). We also commend Bob and Deborah Busking for their generous hospitality in hosting a wonderful party/fundraiser at their home. Good support and much goodwill were in the air on Wednesday evening.

The “Roof and Paint” fund has surpassed $12,000 in pledges and gifts which exceeds the minimum necessary to insure the matching gift of 10 K from an anonymous donor. Hence, the total raised thus far is 22K toward the $60,000 total cost. Special thanks go to all who have supported this effort as well as the anonymous donor.

A special request comes from the family of Anjele Kalfayan, a close friend of our church who has been ill in California. Cards and letters are welcome during her recuperation. Phone calls are discouraged for now until she is stronger and able to enjoy a telephone conversation.

Address Changes….Please report all address changes to Nancy in the church office. In particular we want to keep up with students away at college and those in the military or other forms of public service. Admin@westhamptonpresbyterian.org

Almighty and Everlasting God, the comfort of the sad and the strength of those who suffer, let the prayers of your children who cry out of any tribulation come to you. To every soul that is distressed, grant mercy, grant relief, grant refreshment; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Worship this week addresses Linni Deihl’s excellent question, Can An Infallible Word Be Spoken by Fallible Leaders? In other words, what are we to make of the limitations and sins of clergy and how they impede their respective ministries? On the other end of the spectrum, what are we to do when a double standard makes it impossible for religious leaders especially to fulfill the ideals of their calling? The text is Isaiah 61:1-11. Chapel worship is at 9:00 and sanctuary worship will be at 10:15. Special thanks to Jamie Hulse Allen as substitute organist.

Pandemania is upon Us!! The year’s Vacation Bible School is an evening affair and gets underway at 5:30 on Sunday with dinner and a fantastic program. There is something for everyone including a simple meal, music, learning, much fun. Preliminary signups are lower than we had hoped, so let’s get the word out and increase our participants. New this year is an adult class concurrent with VBS (6:15 til 7:15) in the church library…Poets and Faith, led by Chuck Cary.

Lots of thanks go to Bob and Deborah Busking for opening their home for a fundraising opportunity this coming Wednesday. Extra efforts like theirs and those who support these events make possible a balanced budget and much good-will throughout the church.

Almighty God, from whom we receive our life, you have blessed us with the joy and care of children. As we raise them, give us calm strength and patient wisdom, that we may teach them to love whatever is just and true and good, following the example of our savior Jesus Christ! Amen.

Great God, your greatness is measured not as the world measures. We see your love in your capacity to embrace the smallest child. You reassure the most frightened and insecure. You comfort the sad, and console the heart-broken. You celebrate the growth of all. Make your church a place and people where everyone, regardless of age, feels at home.

This summer began a sermon series under the rubric “Questions People Ask.” The topic for each Sunday derives from questions of the congregation.

Theme: One way that God’s goodness can be reconciled with the reality of evil in the world is through the Cross of Jesus Christ wherein God engages the evils we deplore.

Dottie Dudley was a thoughtful, wise member of this congregation for many years, who was never afraid to express her questions. One night during a discussion about the book of Job, Dottie showed her exasperation. We were wrestling with the meaning and meaninglessness of human suffering. We had come to a point where simple answers to this complex question no longer satisfied. Dottie spoke for a generation when she said, Either God is free to deliver us, or He is not. Either God is capable of delivering us from evil, or He is not! Her tone of voice and posture were sincere and engaging. I do not recall how we ended the session. I simply remember her challenge to the rest of us. Either God is free to deliver us, or He is not!

Martin Buber, a wise Jewish Theologian asked the question this way in describing the difference between Christians and Jews: Jews observe the evil in the world and wonder why the Messiah will not come? Christians declare that the Messiah has come, why is there still evil in the world? The common denominator is that there is evil in this world….evil which is not only a genetic aberration, but a cosmic force. An Hasidic community in Brooklyn has seen evil rear its ugly head in the aimless death of an eight year old boy learning to walk home by himself, murdered by an adult who kidnapped him and then panicked.

This week’s question from Dick Anderson and several others is provocative, and will drive us to question how God and evil can coexist in a world which is supposed to be created good. Can God’s goodness even begin to be reconciled with the realities of life’s evils??

For many the answer to this question is No. When evil appears to be defeated here, it reemerges unexpectedly there. Consider these related questions. Why do the innocent suffer from disease? Why even after extensive training does a physician make a mistake that results in the death of a patient? When I was teaching in the seminary one of my students was an emergency room physician on Sabbatical, thinking of changing careers. She confided that she found it harder and harder to live with her mistakes which diminished the life of another. It did not make any difference that she had likewise healed any number of broken people. She was haunted by her mistakes. Why do the innocent suffer? Why are children malnourished in a world which has the capacity and wisdom to feed everyone? Why are there corruption and scandal amongst those who are charged to keep the public’s trust? Why is there crime in which people hurt other people? Why are terrorism and violence perpetrated against those who have no ideological agenda but to live in peace and harmony? Why is there chronic selfishness? Why is there chronic loneliness? Why is there chronic indifference to the needs of the global environment? Why do the wicked thrive and the innocent agonize? This list of questions never ends, it only grows longer and apparently more complex. God, at times seems asleep or deaf, or at worst aloof from the evils we deplore. One million Rwandans die in a tribal genocide. One million Cambodians vanished in the notorious Killing Fields of their terrible civil war. If we never asked Why Lord? we would be less than honest. If we never arrived at the same exasperated conclusion Dottie Dudley once voiced, we would be less than real. Where is God and God’s capacity to intervene when an eight year old in Brooklyn is kidnapped and tortured? Don’t tell me that he wasn’t prayed for the morning of his ill fated walk home.

Why doesn’t God act more often to thwart evil and insure righteousness and peace? The patriarch Job did ask the question. In his case he was righteous and just, undeserving of his fate of suffering and woe. His friends kept coming to him with trivial explanations which never did satisfy. One suggested that Job must have committed some evil deed for which he was receiving just punishment. Another declared that Job would eventually understand in the passage of time, as though answers are deliberately veiled, kept in some kind of time capsule until Job is ready to understand. He is wise to their trivializations. And Job is dogged, refusing to let go of God’s lapels until he hears an answer which justifies his innocence and suffering. It is only when God turns the question back on to Job himself that we get relief from this conundrum. God asks: Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me. Were you there when I assembled the stars of heaven? God is not quick to justify Himself to ordinary humans, even one so righteous as Job.

The question remains. Can the goodness of God be reconciled with the reality of evil? In so many ways the answer is No, period. However, if this answer left us with no possibilities or alternatives, then I would myself turn in my keys and look for other work. If there is no other response, no Word from the Lord about the evils we deplore, then despair or indifference is the answer. If we cannot reconcile God’s goodness and worldly evil, the Christian ministry itself becomes a futile business.

Can God and His goodness be reconciled with the reality of evil in the world? The question forces me to reexamine a range of issues, especially what I believe about the crucifixion itself. The Cross. It is there, I believe, that God’s power engages the world of sin and evil. If there is any answer to the series of Why? questions, it is there, in God’s willingness to suffer with us in order to show us where we find a glimpse of the reconciliation of His goodness and worldly evil.

I return to the Rwandan genocide. School girls in a boarding school in Gisenyi were ordered to sort themselves ethnically by tribe or suffer the consequences. They refused. Rather than reveal their tribal identity- Hutus or Tutsis- they declared that they were Rwandans. They were then beaten and shot indiscriminately. Some were saved and some killed. But, in the thick of it love triumphed over hate and the other evils we deplore…fear, violence, and death.

In the cross of His son, God engages the evils of this world and overcomes them with the force of His love which refuses to die.

Another story which underscores this truth. “Quo Vadis?”. Peter the Apostle, legend has it, is fleeing persecution from Rome which is on fire from mad Nero’s holocaust. Old Peter, with bad knees and scarred hands, sunburned skin and bent posture, is escaping along the Appian Way- lined with the tombs of Patrician Romans, when suddenly he is apprehended by a vision of Christ Himself heading in the opposite direction…back into the conflagration. “Quo Vadis, Domine?” Where are you going Lord?

The Lord answers, “Into Rome to be crucified again!” Then Peter, once more humbled by the truth, turns about and makes His way back into the burning city- and according to legend- to his own upside down crucifixion! I call that the path of repentance. Every time there is evil it is as though Christ is crucified yet again!

Can the goodness of God be reconciled with the reality of evil? Yes, I believe it can. It is whenever people do the impossible, reflecting His love in the face of death. Yes, I believe it can, whenever a righteous man stands against injustice, even if it costs him his life. Will God ever justify His actions or lack thereof? Maybe not to our satisfaction. But, God has acted. On a hill, far away, on an old rugged cross. The emblem of suffering and shame. There He acted to defeat evil, and at the same time transforming the cross into the judge of us, inviting us to justify our ways before almighty God.

Why do the innocent suffer? The question turns back on me and you. (Is that God asking it?) It demands that we declare what we have done to relieve their suffering.

Why are children malnourished in a world that has the capacity and wisdom to feed everyone? The question I believe scandalizes God- and it also scandalizes you and me for not demanding that every child eat three square meals a day.

Why is there corruption and scandal amongst those who are charged to keep the public trust? Why does evil thrive in the midst of the disobedience of leaders who should know better? Again, the question addresses us. Why are we complicit in not doing enough to prevent such scandal or corruption in the first place? I believe that the Cross empowers us to say no to evil. Why do we persist in saying Yes?

Why are there crimes against humanity? Why do we do evil when we have the capacity to do good? Why do we screw up when we are given the knowledge of the good? Is that God asking us to be less worried about the evils out there and more concerned about the evils within, those lying close at hand? Why are there crimes against humanity? Is that God’s exasperation we hear- “You are asking me?”

Why is there terrorism? Why is there violence? Why do some people plot evil against another? Is that God weeping because His creation knows not what makes for peace? Is that God turning over our conference tables in judgment of our inability to work out our differences in more constructive ways? Does anyone really think that we are doing the will of God when we kill one another? Is the presence of evil in the world a judgment of us?

Why is there chronic selfishness? Chronic loneliness Why is there chronic indifference to the needs of the global environment? Why do the wicked thrive? Why do the innocent lose? I ask these questions and they are then reflected back at me in the figure of the crucified. It is as though I ask God and God says faster than I can register, “You tell me why the innocent suffer. You tell me why the lonely are lonely.” If we are willing to call on God to justify God’s ways, let us be willing to offer a justification of our own ways…ways that diminish life and of course ways that bless it.

There are mysteries about God which I cannot begin to explain. There are also mysteries about human behavior I cannot explain, like why some of us do the exact opposite of what we know to be right. For me, the cross itself is the assurance that God cares. It is the assurance that tragedy and evil do not drive God away. The cross itself is the assurance that our Faith is not in vain. The cross of Christ judges our question and in the end reassures us that we are not alone.

Can the goodness of God be reconciled with the reality of evil? I do not know all the answers. But, what I do know about Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection prod me to “Yes”.

Another student I had in seminary I have now lost touch with…he is from the world’s newest nation, southern Sudan. His name is Takk, and is a Christian from a region where Christians were a persecuted minority. He had little money but was possessed by a spirit no money could buy. He rode his bicycle in the freezing cold of Chicago after having lived not too far from the equator. He had an arresting smile and loved to come to our apartment for baked chicken and Kenyan Tea. The man knows God even though he did not know whether his family lived or died. The last image I have of him is of a quick bike ride from the seminary library back to his dorm. Takk kept the faith in a world where answers about his family’s suffering were nil. He kept the faith because there was some force for good so tangible that he would never turn back. I learned a great deal from him during our brief encounters. Mainly I learned that life is a pilgrimage from one revelation to the next. The glue which holds us in between is God’s love which never lets us go. This glue is often nothing more than a childlike faith that says the journey with God is never in vain.

Can the goodness of God be reconciled with the reality of evil? Consider the cross of Jesus Christ. You tell me.

As this is being composed friends in the Presbyterian Women’s organization are busily preparing for this Saturday’s Treasure Sale from 10:00 am until 2:00 here at the church. Stop by and lend your support. Bring a friend. Tell a neighbor. There is no group quite like P.W. when it comes to working hard for Christ’s church over the years. Kudos to those who make such fundraising efforts possible.

On Friday morning at 11:00am at the Follett-Werner Funeral Home a service will take place for Mr. Harold Raynor, long time friend of WPC and husband of the late Helen Raynor who made WPC her church home over the years.

On Saturday afternoon a memorial service takes place at 3:00 at the Quogue Chapel for Mr. George Riordan, formerly of Quogue and at one time next door neighbor to the chapel. Christian sympathy goes to his family as they adjust to his passing.

Sunday worship continues to address the questions raised in this summer’s sermon series. Dick Anderson and others posed the one for the 17^th: Can the Goodness of God be Reconciled With the Reality of Evil? Quogue Chapel worship at 9:00 and Sanctuary worship at 10:15.

Chuck Cary will be part of an interfaith panel at the Westhampton Synagogue on Sunday evening at 7:30 responding to the question of Gehinom, or understanding of Hell. Members and friends of the church as well as the greater community are invited to attend. Visit thehamptonsynagogue.org for more information.

Watch for members of the youth group who return from their REACH trip. Thanks go to those who have prayed for their safety and well-being during their mission trip.

Eternal God, your heart cries out for unity in a world where conflict and mistrust rule. Save your people from arrogance which puts down others whose beliefs differ. Save us for greater understanding which mirrors your will that all live together in unity. Amen.

Almighty and merciful God, you form us in the womb and know us by name. Help us to stay strong in the face of death, our loved ones’ or our own. Remind us of the courage of Jesus Christ, who turned not aside from His cross, transforming it from an instrument of death into the Tree of Life. Amen.

This past Sunday began a summer sermon series under the rubric “Questions People Ask.” The topic for each Sunday derives from questions of the congregation.

Theme: Heaven is the relationship we enjoy with God that is pure gift from Him who seeks that relationship with all persons.

Questions about heaven and human destiny are on people’ minds these days. Alice Schultze wrote from far-flung Arizona to pose today’s question about heaven’s meaning as well as its membership. Closer to home, Barbara Betts wonders what God does with us after we die. Such queries even made it to the New York Times bestseller list. Mega church pastor Rob Bell of Grand Rapids, Michigan has written a book Love Wins in which he challenges traditional Christian thinking and angers not a few folks in the process. He asserts that God’s mercy is wide enough for all people, and even those we judge unworthy of admittance to heaven will find their way to this divine home. In the first chapter he recounts an experience at an art show at his church whereby an artist had referenced the words of Mahatma Ghandi. Unfortunately, someone appended a post-it note to the piece which declared: “Reality Check; Ghandi is in Hell”. To which Rob Bell responds, “Huh?”….We have confirmation of this?

My paternal aunt, the late Hilda Clark asks the same question in a different manner. Aunt Hilda, who had but an eighth grade education and bore ten children, was nonetheless a woman of letters. She wrote a poem one time describing her ascent into heaven. She artfully, almost playfully talks about being surprised. She looked around at the faces of people she never dreamed would be there. There were ne’erdowells, the unworthy, sinners guilty of dramatic and unforgivable sins. The neighborhood gossip who represented all that was wrong in her small mining town of Inman. Virginia was there. She then turned the table. She began to describe the looks on their faces…looks which revealed their surprise at seeing her there!

The place to begin is with the Scriptures themselves. Stories which offer an answer to this fundamental question. A primary text for me is the interaction between one of the criminals and Jesus on the day of His death. One can only imagine what this man had done to deserve his fate. Perhaps he had swindled a generation of folks who had trusted in him. In a fit of rage he might have murdered someone in his own family or someone in authority. He might have been one of the zealots who led an insurrection against the Romans who occupied his homeland. He may have failed to pay his taxes. He may have been a chronic criminal, a crook who had simply exhausted his chances at redemption. Whatever this criminal’s offense, he was now at the point of his execution. While his colleague sought deliverance, he treated Jesus with the love nearly everyone else had forgotten. And he said: “Remember me. Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

What does Jesus say in return? Does he further condemn the man for his sins, large and small? Does Jesus pile on more as though to prod him to greater repentance? Does He berate the criminal for his crime(s)? No, Jesus says none of that. What then does He say?

Jesus says words that are amazing in their embrace and compassion. He says something which assures this one man of his destiny. He says, Today, you will be with me in paradise!

Another story which teaches me about the meaning of heaven. In Matthew’s Gospel, the Sadducees, a group of religious leaders, endeavor to trap Jesus with a trick question. A common ploy by His opponents was to trick Jesus by ensnaring Him in his own words. Here goes: A woman outlives her husband, and as law and custom dictate, remarries his brother for her own security. This sequence happens again and again, so that she ends up marrying and remarrying seven times. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? What a riddle, what a conundrum! Their position would mean that in heaven she would be married to multiple men---a polygamist’s nightmare or field day depending on your point of view. How will Jesus get out of this problem??

He responds by broadening the definition. In the Resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are instead like angels! Further, God is not God of the dead but of the living. The reality of heaven, in other words, is different. Instead of a world identical to our own, it is characterized by such love and joy that we can leave the worries of this life behind.

Somewhere along the paths and convolutions of church history, notions of heaven and hell became exploited. Somewhere in the efforts of people with power to keep control over those without, they began to use the fear of hell and the hope of heaven as a carrot and stick, as a human system of rewards and punishment. Imagine again the very small mind that said Mahatma Ghandi is in hell. The person who wrote that did not arrive at the conclusion by himself/by herself. Popular culture in movies like Pollyanna with Hayley Mills has Karl Maulden playing the role of the firebrand preacher going wild about sinners and rarely if ever talking about the mercy of God. Recall the finger-pointing gyrations of judgmental preachers who manipulate the Gospel to hurt or maim, to ridicule and exclude. One of the most shameful illustrations is documented in the research of Joe Driskill and Karen LaBacqz, ethicists who have written widely on the matter of ethics and Spiritual Care. They tell the chilling story of those who used their office as clergy to abuse others sexually, and then threaten them with going to hell if they tell anyone!

I do not agree with everything that Rob Bell declares in his book, but I do welcome his effort to rescue the conversation about heaven and hell from the small minded and those who seek to manipulate others. In fact, this question in this sermon series wakes me up to the fact that God is less about condemning people to hell and more about saving us from hells of our own making. Further, I believe that Jesus cares as much about heaven in the here and now as He cares about heaven after we die. I believe that this life is not a simple dress rehearsal for the next chapter. I believe that the Kingdom of heaven Jesus describes goes beyond the limits of time and space, and includes experiences before as well as after our demise.

I have seen and felt heaven on earth. I have seen and felt heaven the moment I held a child born to a couple thought to be infertile. I have seen and experienced heaven on earth when a surgeon told an anxious family, “Your loved one is going to make it”. I have seen and felt heaven on earth when an aged person greets death with the peace and confidence of Jesus Christ, that which surpasses human understanding. I have witnessed heaven on earth at the site of a Habitat for Humanity dedication in Collier County, Florida where a single mother and her three children accepted ownership with much pride and thanksgiving! Heaven is that relationship with God which is so much deeper and wider than the three dimensions of this life. It is a relationship that death cannot nor will not destroy. We have it on good authority that even the worst of the worst can experience heaven…Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom. His reply? Today you will be with me in paradise.

I have also seen hell on earth. I have seen and experienced that state of God-forsakenness in which evil appears to triumph. I have seen hell in the anguish of a mother unable to feed her infant. I have seen hell in the desperation of a drug addict who knows not where to turn in order to feed his habit, and enters a pharmacy here on Long Island and kills four. I have read about hell and its conditions in descriptions of the Shoah, the Holocaust. I have read about hell and its participants when in one of the financial scandals a widow lost everything to the greed of a once reputable money manager. I have seen and felt the sting of hell when a 35 year old father of two beautiful daughters succumbed to leukemia, and was buried out of this church!

Think about it. Think long and hard about it. Does not Jesus speak more about heaven and hell this side of the grave than beyond it? The Kingdom of Heaven is like the woman who loses 10 silver coins, then turns the house upside down until she finds them, rejoicing all the while for the world to hear! The Kingdom of heaven is like that. And it is like so much more.

What is heaven? It is that gracious relationship with God that quickens our faith and gives us courage in the face of whatever we fear. Heaven is the state of God’s presence that inspires unity when there is discord, and hope when there is despair. Heaven is the experience of singing without end, and is the realm where they neither marry nor are given in marriage, where all are one.

This life is short. One of these days I will die. My eyes will close. My lungs will collapse. My heart will stop beating, and the electricity in my nervous system will cease. The thoughts in my head will, I hope, give way to a song or two. Let there be a funeral service testifying to God’s goodness. Eliminate the hyperbole of praise or condemnation.

I trust the decision about my fate to God alone, not to a body of human beings who pretend to know with absolute certainty who is saved and who is damned. My faith tells me that it is God’s grace alone which determines my destiny. It’s the same Grace which determined the fate of the criminal alongside Jesus, and the woman of multiple marriages who made it to heaven only to realize that there they neither wed nor are proposed to wed, but are like angels above. Descriptions of heaven are just that descriptive, not prescriptive. The Kingdom of Heaven is so much more than my finite understanding will allow me to imagine. Rather than something to fear, it is something to greet with confidence!

There is a scene in the movie Amadeus when the renowned composer Antonio Salieri kneels before God when he’s young and seeks to make the following bargain:

“Lord make me a great composer! Let me celebrate your glory through music and be celebrated myself. Make me famous throughout the world, dear God. Make me immortal!” So what exactly does God get for doing him this favor? “In return I will give you my chastity, my industry, my deepest humility every hour of my life. I will help my fellow man and woman all of my days!”

God does not negotiate this deal. In the movie as in real life God proceeds to give musical genius to Salieri’s nemesis, a young brat named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! As an old man Salieri ends up bitter and indignant. He is bitter and indignant because God had not blessed him according to what he thinks he deserves as one of the saved, or redeemed.

Our God is not a deal maker. Instead He is a savior…not counting our sins against us, but giving us all of heaven that we need in order to live for God and for the world around us. Heaven is God’s gift, not the reward we somehow deserve. It is a gift God offers everyone, from the least to the most. (I am indebted to Bell’s book for this illustration.)

The final hymn for this morning’s worship says in song what I have been trying to say in words. Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound! Composed by John Newton- the same preacher and composer who wrote the hymn “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken”. John Newton was at one time involved in the slave trade. Later in life he was compelled to see the error of his ways and published a pamphlet “Thoughts on the Slave Trade” which describes his turnaround. In short, he ascribes all glory and honor to our maker for helping him see the light and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is neither pride, nor contempt, nor is there triumphalism in this hymn. Instead he describes what we all know: God’s essential goodness is amazing. It extends to all…even to a wretch like me.

What is heaven? It is the presence of God on both sides of the grave, a presence death cannot defeat. Who gets in or who is eligible? Everyone with a beating heart and a loving spirit. People like you and like me!

Theme: Doubts never disqualify. But, rarely do we use them for what God intends, to prod us to fresh discoveries of what we believe.

Welcome to this summer’s sermon series. It is not your typical schedule of related themes from Scripture or tenets of the Faith. Instead, it comes from you, your questions…matters which puzzle or perhaps perplex you. The response to my newsletter article seeking your questions in May was outstanding. Many of you asked about the goodness of God and the reality of evil, while others wanted to know about Heaven and who gets in and who is left behind. Is violence ever justified according to church teachings? What about the shortcomings of clergy themselves…what are we to make of a pastor’s fallibility, his/her feet of clay? I am grateful for these and other thoughtful questions. None can be dismissed as irrelevant nor can they be answered glibly or with superficial responses. Instead, they serve as challenges to grow in faith, and can serve as the means to grow in wisdom. I have often said that our wisdom will be found not in the answers we give, but in the questions we ask.

The first question is fundamental. It originates with Dick and Pat Lutz. They speak for all of us at one time in our lives. “Can someone be a faithful (church) member who likes being part of the church community, seeks answers to ultimate questions, and wants to believe in a caring God, but sustains doubts about the existence and nature of God, the resurrection of the body, and life after death?”

Prior to the age of enlightenment the answer to this question would have be an angry, unequivocal “No”. Doubts would invariably lead to heresies. Heretics were then burned at the stake for denying certain of the basics that form part of our creeds. Church traditionalists scorned and repudiated those whose dissent made their beliefs fall outside certain standards of acceptability. History is replete with illustrations of those whose doubts led them to take a different stand that challenged the status-quo. Martin Luther himself questioned the infallibility of the Pope and was a marked man as a result. He also questioned the church’s power to sell indulgences, a practice which promised that one could get into heaven, or get a deceased relative into heaven for a price. There was a time in church history when your doubts about the existence of God would not only jeopardize your church membership, but would threaten your very existence.

Fortunately, those days are over, even though there are still plenty of extremists in the world whose religious views allow no freedom of thought, no critical examination, and no dissent!

The first stop in my answer is from a panel of experts who get their church mail at 90 Meeting House Road on Quiogue. Those who wrote the Church Information Form in 2010, the document which advertised the opening for a pastor at the church wrote the following answer to today’s question: “We are an all-inclusive church. The goal-posts of our beliefs/acceptance are set wide. We count it a strength that it is our love for God that binds us together, and not a narrow doctrine”. In short, your Pastor Nominating Committee SAID “No” to rejecting anyone for church membership due to doubts or serious questions about Presbyterian or Protestant doctrine. What then is essential? The answer is a four letter word, Love. This Love includes our love for God and love for one another. Further, when the church board, the session, welcomes new members, they examine not their doubts or event he orthodoxy of their beliefs. What do they seek instead? They search for people who are sincere, truthful, and loving toward God and neighbor. If church membership becomes synonymous with certainty of beliefs or if adherence to every doctrine must be absolute, then who among us would be eligible to be part of this great fellowship called church? If the goal posts (to borrow your metaphor) become too narrow, then what do we tell the confirmation class student who still seeks a fuller experience of God, one which is beyond his/her doubts? What do we do with those who cannot accept certain Scriptures to be true…like the woman whose understanding of fairness prevents her from accepting the Parable of the Prodigal son? Freedom of thought, and freedom of conscience are to me evidence of the nearness of God, not God’s absence. Our doubts should be the springboards to further discovery about God and what God requires.

There are but three essential questions we sign on for when we join the church…..Do you turn from the ways of sin, renouncing evil and its power in the world? Is Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior? Will you be His disciple, obeying His word, and showing His love? Notice what is not there. There is no pledge never to doubt. There is no litmus test which requires that you ignore your questions. There is no subscription oath, calling for you to be loyal to every last doctrine in our confessions and Creeds. I prefer to imagine that being a Christian involves our response to a series of questions which are organized in a series of concentric circles, with the essentials in the middle and the less essential on the periphery. In the middle is the assertion that Jesus is Lord and Savior. In the middle is the call to love neighbor as your self. Next to the center is the invitation to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength. Supporting these fundamentals is essential.

Back to the question: “Can someone be a faithful member of our church who likes being part of the church, seeks answers to ultimate questions, and wants to believe in a caring God, but sustains doubts about the existence and nature of God, the resurrection of the Body and life after death?” You know the answer by now. Of course you can be a member. I have a hunch that Jesus Himself would prefer that kind of member to the one who is pompous and self-assured. I have a hunch that He prefers the open-minded debate to the closed minded inquisition. I believe that the very existence of the church, when so many forces would dismiss it, is one way that God answers the questions which keep dogging us. The age of enlightenment calls for us to be able to think for ourselves, use our reason and common sense to think for ourselves, and draw our own conclusions. God created us with a brain to use it. The church of Jesus Christ is never a fortress against the inquiries of its people. It is instead the place where such inquiries are welcome. In fact they are needed if we are to grow closer to God and become wiser today than yesterday.

But, permit me to take this question further. It is one thing to be open and quite another if such openness leads us to conclude that our experience, our answers are the only measure, the only criteria for Faith in God. If the liberal side of me suggests that doubts are welcome, the conservative side of me declares that they are but a step towards greater discovery. They should never be the last word. One of my good friends at McCormick seminary was Robert Cathey, head of the Theology and Ethics field. I am sure that Bob has read every book there is to read when it comes to his discipline. He quotes the tomes of dense Theologians like Karl Barth ad nauseum! He loves to discuss complex philosophy and once suggested that I read a French intellectual named Jacques Derrida. He has never forgotten a fact that entered his mind. A student who was registering for a class Bob and I co-taught on Atonement theory said to me with a plaintive, half joking and half serious look, “Can you keep him grounded? Can you keep Bob from soaring into the heavens?”. I smiled and winked. She took the class and excelled throughout!

Here is what Bob asked of me and an entire seminary community one day in worship. While offering the Prayers of the People, he asked, “Lord, help us to doubt our doubts”. He was asking God to assist us in questioning our doubts as if they were the ultimate answers. For example. If I doubt the reality of Easter and the promise that Jesus lives, let me doubt this doubt and question its conclusion. If I doubt the nature of God, that God cares for you and me, let me doubt this doubt in order to reassert what it is I do believe about God and God’s nature. If I doubt that there is life after death, let me doubt this doubt so that I can define what it means that neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Of course we need to be honest about our doubts. They will not go gently into the night leaving us unperturbed. My plea is nevertheless simple. Let them prod us to new beliefs rather than give up on the journey or pilgrimage we hold dear. Let none of our questions serve as dead ends in the quest to know and believe. For example, my doubts cannot veto 2000 years of revelation. Nor should they.

This past week I did something that any pastor hopes never to do…preside at the funeral of an 18 year old, killed in a tragic accident. Cameron Nicholls died in a single car accident in East Quogue. When you bury an aging adult, there is something almost natural, as though you bury the past. But, when you bury a child, you bury a future. It is quite unnatural. There we were, at the Follett-Werner funeral home, a place where young people are unaccustomed to hang out. The family was so wracked by grief that at times they could hardly stand. Here was a young man who was on the cusp of getting his life together, going off to college in the fall. Here was a young man who lived on Quiogue, an excellent wind-surfer who loved the water and worked at a surf shop in Southampton. Here was a teenager who, on his own volition, came to worship in this sanctuary. In a flash he was gone…his life cut short by a senseless, tragic accident.

What can anyone say? What force can possibly remove the sting of death? What can anyone do that would even begin to restore meaning to his family and friends and their shattered universe? Talk about doubt. Talk about visceral questions. Talk about despair!

Was there a place to turn? Yes there was, but it was not the usual resources. It was not Psalm 23 or the promises of John 14. It would not do to turn to slogans we are accustomed to hearing as though this accident was the will of God. It is not God’s will that we drive too fast after a night of partying and throw safety to the winds. Where to turn? I turned to the Psalm just before the 23^rd, the song Jesus quotes while hanging from His cross on the Friday we call good….”My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Yet, I will seek you nonetheless”. We referred to the words of Jesus not because they erased our doubts but because they presented them to God out of our desperation. Eventually we spoke of the young boy himself, declaring that he was alive in the hearts, the broken hearts of those who still love him today. Is this an adequate explanation? No. What is it? It is my assertion that love is the only force which can ultimately defeat the death, and the doubts that would destroy us.

There are few things that are stronger than death. Stronger than despair. Stronger than the doubts which become uncertainties which rob us of peace. One thing which can and will overcome death is the agape love that emanates from a church like you. A church that sets the goal posts of its beliefs too wide as opposed to too narrow. It is the force which says on behalf of the Christ: Come unto me all who labor and are overburdened. I will give you rest. I not only believe that. I have seen it!

Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher who wrote a book call Pensees has something important to offer this sermon today. I find him worthy because he declared what I really needed to hear at one time in my life. Ultimate revelations have a way of being timeless. He said something to the effect that when we get to the end of words, Faith in God is a great wager, or I prefer to understand it as a leap. It is a leap beyond weak evidence, a leap beyond troubling doubts. A leap beyond the paradoxes and problems which the limitations of our knowledge construct. I like this image because it suggests that we humans travel from discovery to discovery, and eventually leap into the world of uncertainty, and I believe into the Love of our maker. It is not a leap from absolute to absolute, but a leap from faith to faith.

Can someone, can anyone be a faithful member of a church, but sustain doubts about the existence and nature of God, resurrection of the Body, and life hereafter? Again the answer is yes, otherwise who among us would be worthy? The only one with perfect knowledge of God and humanity was put death for blasphemy and sedition! Even his best loved disciple was incapable of doubt, if you allow Peter’s denial as being born of such profound uncertainty.

Faith means to me going beyond our limited and imperfect knowledge, persisting in asking the hard questions, and ultimately, basking in the love that never lets us go. Now or ever.

Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and Watermelon will be provided. Bring a dish to pass!

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Several themes converge in worship as we gather. As it is the final Sunday of the program year, we will recognize the ministry of the choir and celebrate with additional anthems and songs of praise. As it is Pentecost Sunday, we will recognize the Holy Spirit’s activity to inspire us and bring us together. As it is the Sunday of the all Church picnic, we will celebrate the fellowship of our church in a time of good fun following the service. There is, in short, much to be thankful for as we gather. There will be a meditation entitled, Tell All of God’s People To Prophesy! The Scripture is Numbers 11:24-30. Come and bring a friend.

Note that beginning June 19 through Labor Day weekend we will hold two services at 9:00 at the Quogue Chapel and 10:15 at the sanctuary. Childcare for infants and toddlers will be available at the sanctuary nursery and new this summer will be a program led by Kyle Miller for primary children, happening immediately following the children’s message at the 10:15 service.

Other events and programs continue throughout the summer season. Please note them on your schedule and participate. Young people will be departing for their REACH mission July 10. Presbyterian Women’s Treasure Sale will happen July 16. Vacation Bible School gets going in an evening format on July 24. Treks N Tours and the Presbyterian Walking Group have events scheduled. Newcomers are always welcome.

A word about your financial support: Please remain current in your giving, so that your church can remain current in its obligations over the summer season. Thank you!!

Almighty God, we pray for your blessing on the church in this place. Here may the faithful find salvation, and the careless be awakened. Here may the doubting find faith, and the anxious be encouraged. Here may the tempted find help, and the sorrowful comfort. Here may the weary find rest, and the strong be renewed. Here may the aged find consolation and the young be inspired; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

See you in worship and the picnic to follow. Remember, main courses of Hot Dogs and Hamburgers are provided along with Watermelon. Please bring a side dish to pass.

This Sunday we recognize the faithfulness of those who lead our Christian Education programs. Their dedication is integral to shaping the faith of a new generation of disciples. Add your word of thanks to the following teachers:

Amy Mosher and Ellen Campbell share leadership of the total program. Cassie Dayton serves as Youth Coordinator.

Worship will include the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as well as the celebration of our ministry of education. The choir will sing From Age To Age the Same (Larson). The morning meditation is entitled, Recognition Sunday at Ephesus, centered in Ephesians 1:15-23.

Thursday, June 9^th will mark the anniversary celebration of St. Paul’s AME Zion Church in Quogue with a service at 7:00pm at the church on Montauk Highway. Our choir will sing and Chuck Cary will preach. Our congregations have enjoyed a close relationship across the years and all are welcome at this celebration.

Check the upcoming events schedule in the bulletin or on the church website for information on what’s happening in your church. We are excited about the Youth REACH trip July 10-16 and Vacation Bible School July 24-28.

A Prayer for children: Great God, guard the laughter of children. Bring them safely through injury or illness, so they may witness your promises in them fulfilled. Do not let adults be so preoccupied with our purposes that we fail to hear their voices, or pay attention to their special vision of the truth. Keep all of us ready to listen and to love, even as in Jesus Christ you have loved us, children of every age. Amen.

A Prayer for Parents: Almighty God, from whom we receive our life, you have blessed us with the joy and care of children and youth. As we nurture them, give us calm strength and patient wisdom, that we may teach them to love whatever is just, true, and good, following the example of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Memorial Sunday worship begins in the sanctuary and ends in the Memorial Garden where we thank God for those who left this life for the next in the year past. We will also dedicate new accessible space on the west side of the sanctuary made possible by a gift in memory of Judith Le Bleu. The sermon is entitled If Our Monuments Could Speak, based on Acts 17:22-31. The choir will sing the anthem “Behold a Host” by Edvard Grieg. Our intercessory prayers for persons and communities ravaged by tornadoes and floods in the Midwest continue. Do worship and bring your house guests who may be here for the long weekend.

June 2: (Thursday-7:00) Special Program- Guest Speaker Pam Salaway- RSVP to Sarajane Giere-728-3183

June 5: Worship and the Lord’s Supper- Church school teacher and student Recognition

June 9: (Thursday) 7:00 Pm Anniversary Service at St. Paul’s AME Zion Church in Quogue- WPC Choir to Sing and Chuck Cary is preaching

June 12: Pentecost Sunday, Choir Recognition and Church Picnic on the church grounds

June 19: Summer Schedule Begins- 9:00 am Service at the Quogue Chapel; 10:15 Church Sanctuary

With reverence and affection we remember before you, O everlasting God, all departed friends and relatives. Keep us in union with them here, through faith and love toward you, that hereafter we may enter your presence, and be numbered with those who serve you and look upon your face in glory everlasting; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Righteous God, you rule the nations. Guard brave men and women who risk themselves on behalf of their country. Give them compassion, and surround them with your love. Speed the day when the peace they keep will outshine any conflict which threatens. Enable the rest of us to honor their sacrifice, and not forget those who have fallen in the pursuit of justice. We pray in the name of the Christ who came not to be served but to serve. Amen.

This Sunday at church will be special in a variety of ways. The confirmation class of 2011 will be presented and publicly welcomed into church membership. This group of seventh/eighth graders have worked hard throughout the winter and were officially received by the session this past Tuesday. Their Faith statements were outstanding. We hope to make them available to you on line at the church’s website, www.westhamptonpresbyterian.org

The choir will sing the beautiful spiritual, Steal Away, arranged by Moses Hogan. The sermon will be a reflection on Jeremiah 1:4-10, and include individual observations on the gifts and talents of each of the young people being confirmed. This is an excellent Sunday to bring a friend and celebrate the many gifts and strengths of WPC.

In the afternoon at 4:00pm the worship ministry team will lead a service of wholeness at the Quogue Chapel. The liturgy and testimony of this worship service evolve from the belief that God’s Spirit can and does play an unique role in reconciling the broken and healing the sick. The setting is intimate and the message an inspiration. Come, and again bring a friend.

Good friend Bud Kavan continues to recuperate in the Intensive Care Unit of Southampton Hospital. He has made measurable progress, but is still battling pneumonia and other issues. The family has requested limits on visitors until he is able to speak. Meanwhile, remember Bud and all patients in your prayers for healing and strength.

Our Presbyterian denomination has acted to change the constitution allowing homosexual brothers and sisters full service as church officers and clergy. You can find out what this change means and how it will be implemented by visiting pcusa.org and linking to sections dealing with amendment 10-A. Moderator John Underwood of Deer Park has written a very sensitive letter to Long Island Presbyterians and I commend it to you on the Presbytery’s web site www.presbyteryofli.org

I welcome this development and hope that as a greater church we can see this change as a call to stop fighting about sexuality and concentrate on some of the great challenges before us. For example, fewer than half of the congregations in our denomination have a full-time, installed pastor due to financial hardship. Unless we can reverse the radical drop in church membership, we will witness more congregations struggling to survive and carry out an inspired ministry. (The 2010 Presbyterian Panel).

I have received a number of excellent questions in response to my Tidings article seeking ideas and themes for this summer’s sermon series. I am open for more. Please submit yours soon in order to have it in the worship schedule.

How great is your love, Lord God! How wide is your mercy! Never let us board up the narrow gate that leads to life with rules or doctrines that you dismiss. Give us instead a Spirit to welcome all people with affection, so that your church will never exclude friends of yours, whom you include in the love of Jesus Christ, who came to save us all! Amen.

Mother’s Day worship at Westhampton Presbyterian will honor God and those who gave us life. Liturgical dancers will testify to the Sacred through their rhythm and movement. The choir will sing an anthem entitled “My Master from a Garden Rose” reminding us that the Easter message still rings true. The sermon will stem from the Book of Job, specifically the 42^nd chapter where his fortunes are restored and going against the grain of a patriarchal society, he blesses his daughters with an inheritance. The title? Job’s Daughters. Geraniums will be springtime signs of renewal even as they point to loved ones whose memory still stirs the heart on this national holiday. Find your place in worship.

The month of May witnesses a large number of events which signal the close of the program year and the preparation for summer. You will note a number of announcements about programs such as the Presbyterian Women’s spring luncheon (Wednesday at Noon at the Inn Spot in Hampton Bays), Elizabeth Circle, the Adult Study on Sunday mornings at 8:30 with a wonderful book on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, confirmation students getting ready for confirmation Sunday on the 15^th, and a new program called Treks n Tours, with a visit to the Montauk Lighthouse (Sign Up!). Consult the Tidings, the church bulletin, or the website for additional information.

Our list of concerns this week includes Trustee Bud Kavan who required emergency surgery on Monday at Southampton Hospital and is still recovering in the intensive care unit there. Pray for him and others, that healing will come. Offer words of thanksgiving on behalf of Bill Grimbol, pastor of the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church. Bill is now home after open heart surgery at Winthrop Hospital in Mineola. On Sunday May 15^th in the afternoon at 4:00 pm at the Quogue Chapel, the worship ministry offers a service of wholeness in which we will lift up these and other needs in this intimate setting. Folks in the greater community are especially welcome!

Consistent church support enables the church to be consistent in paying its bills. Please be current in your pledge, especially as one season gives way to another.

Eternal God our Creator, you set us to live in families. We commend to your care all the homes where your people live. Keep them, we pray, free from bitterness, from the thirst for personal victory, and from arrogance and contempt. Fill them with the gifts of the Spirit…with Faith, virtue, knowledge, patience and Godliness. Knit together in enduring affection those who have become one. Let children and parents have full respect for one another; and light the fire of kindliness among us all, that we may show affection for each other, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Good and gracious God, we thank you for those who gave us life and accompanied us on the journey of Faith. We praise you for moms who sacrificed their own comfort for our well-being, and who guided us in the ways of righteousness and peace. Remind us that every day is mother’s day, an opportunity to cherish love and good-will and celebrate the gifts we have received. In Christ’s name, Amen.

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People in the Orthodox Christian communities call the week after Easter Bright Week. Their description is apt in that the world is filled with the risen Christ. May it be so for you and yours following the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Last Sunday was a grace-filled morning here at Westhampton Presbyterian.

We return to one service this Sunday at 10:00 am. Candidate and elder Glorya Johnson is preaching and leading the service. The choir will be singing Stainer’s For God So Loved the World, an anthem whose roots are in John 3:16. Do find your place in worship as we continue the joy of Easter.

Chuck Cary is in Houston, Texas this weekend for a meeting of the board of trustees of the Medical Benevolence Foundation. www.mbfoundation.org Please visit their website to find out more about this outstanding organization. He is scheduled to return Sunday afternoon in time for the Confirmation class meeting at 5:00 and their dinner with mentors at 6:30.

Support the Chinese Auction sponsored by the Youth Group this Friday at 6:00 (Doors Open). All proceeds go to offset the cost of the REACH trip this July. This event takes place in the parish hall.

The month of May is filled with anticipation as Mother’s Day happens on the 8^th, and Confirmation Sunday on the 15^th. Are you receiving your copy of the newsletter the Tidings? If not, you can go to our website where it is posted online, or look for hard copies in the church office or the back of the sanctuary.

Know a friend who worshipped at WPC perhaps for the first time in April? Thank him/her for coming and extend an invitation for any of the special events in May. Find out more about what it means to be a Presbyterian by visiting PCUSA.org our denomination’s website.

God of Grace, you cause the sun to rise and chase away the shadows of death. Each day you promise resurrection, that we may be born again to new life and overcome all that would hurt or destroy. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, that we may be alive again with the power and the peace of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Maundy Thursday (April 21)- 7:00pm at the Quogue Chapel, Beach Lane and Quogue Streets in Quogue. This will be a service of Holy Communion and Tenebrae in recognition of the night of Christ’s betrayal.

Good Friday- Noon Until 3:00pm (Come and go as you must) Ecumenical Service at St Mark’s Episcopal Church in Westhampton Beach. Area pastors will deliver homilies using as the theme, the Seven Last Words of Christ.

Holy Saturday- While there is no organized service, please unite with Christians throughout the world in keeping vigil, meditating on the life and crucifixion of Jesus. Offer prayers of thanksgiving for courage amidst suffering, and prayers of intercession for those whose lives have been seriously affected by tragedy in our day.

9:00am First Service in the Sanctuary- The Cherub Choir will sing. We will be joined by the Long Island Brass Guild. He is risen! He is risen indeed!

10:00am Children’s Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Pinata Celebration on the church grounds.

11:00 Second service in the sanctuary with the Senior Choir singing and again, we are accompanied by the Long Island Brass Guild. Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus culminates this service.

O God, your love lived in Jesus Christ, who washed disciples’ feet on the night of His betrayal. Wash us from the stain of sin, so that in the hours of danger, we may not fail, but follow your Son through every trial, and praise Him to the world as the Lord and Christ, to whom be glory, now and forever. Amen.

Merciful God, you gave your Son to suffer the shame of the cross. Save us from hardness of heart, that seeing Him who died for us, we may repent, confess our sin, and receive your overflowing love, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Faithful God, you placed the Rainbow in the skies as the sign of your covenant with all living things. May we who are saved through water and the Spirit, worthily offer to you our sacrifice and thanksgiving. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We express Christian sympathy to the family Sue Bachman upon her death this past Thursday. A service will happen here on Monday at 11 am followed by a reception in the Parish Hall. Visitation will be at Follett & Werner on Sunday from 2-4 and 7-9 pm.

We also express sympathy to the family of Mary Fritchie, upon her death on April 11^th. Services for Mary were held on Friday at Follett-Werner.

Palm Sunday tells the story of Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem, the Holy City wherein He will die for the world after being betrayed by the very people He loves. Much pomp and excitement characterizes this day as we welcome His arrival in the manner of the return of a triumphant King. The morning Scripture is Matthew 21:1-11 with the sermon title: A Rendez-Vous With Destiny. The choir sings “Rejoice and Sing Hosanna!” and as a special celebration, children of the church are encouraged to process at the beginning of worship, adding their own voice of celebration.

We welcome the following new members on Sunday: George and Lily Burns, Susan Hitzler, Mary Beth Lundborg, Amy Patton, Kenneth Spadafora, Keri Brooke Shiu, and Jeanette Smith. Also, we celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism for Keri and her two children as well as the children of Mary Beth. Add your word of welcome as these friends take these important steps.

Christian Sympathy is in order for the family of Sue Bachman upon her death this past Thursday. A service will be held here at the church on Monday at 11am. We also remember the family and friends of Mary Fritchie, whose funeral took place on Friday. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, their works do follow them!

Easter Plant orders are due in the church office today. They may be placed in the offering plate or delivered to Nancy’s desk there.

Maundy Thursday- April 21- 7:00 pm. Quogue Chapel – This is a Communion and Tenebrae service. Unfortunately, friends from St Paul’s AME Zion church are summoned to a regional service and meeting of their denomination in Hempstead and will not be joining us this year.

Good Friday (Church Office Closed) Noon Until 3:00pm. Ecumenical Worship at St Mark’s Episcopal Church on Main Street, Westhampton Beach. Come for all or part. Theme? Seven Last Words of Christ. Chuck Cary will offer the third word, Woman Here Is Your Son, Son, Here is Your Mother.

11:00 Second Easter Service withThe Senior Choir- The LI Brass Guild accompanies Both

Take all our doubts and uncertainties, O God and fill us with such Faith that we may be confident of your love and loyal in service of Him who died and yet lives for us, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

Worship this Sunday will be rooted in the story of the raising of Lazarus in John chapter 11. It is a daunting text, revealing Jesus’ own grief at the death of his friend, the unbelief of those who were defeated by death, and ultimately the assertion that Jesus Himself is the Resurrection and the Life. Like other texts in John, the passage is rich in symbolism and meaning, requiring an open heart and mind of those who interpret it. The choir will sing an appropriate Lenten anthem, Gethsemane.

Bring A Friend to Church month continues in April. Invite someone to join you in worship and celebrate whatever quickens your faith here at 90 Meeting House Road.

A new member class continues after service in the Founder’s Room. After a good beginning last week, the group will consider some of the basic beliefs of the Presbyterian Church, the expectations of church members, and explore further some of the questions they bring. Those who choose may join next week, Palm Sunday, and will be welcomed as part of the worship service that day.

Extra hands are needed to help set up for the Rummage Sale, to take place Friday and Saturday next. Help is needed throughout the week to sort and prepare. Special thanks go to the leaders of Presbyterian Women whose fundraising efforts support the mission of Jesus Christ in our congregation and beyond.

Other fundraisers on the horizon: Dinner At Micoles- Thursday April 14^th from 5:00-8:00 pm. Tickets are available during coffee hour for $30 per person. Guest chefs are Nancy Winters and Clerk of session Jenny Ketner. Bring a friend and help support your church. Thanks go to Mark and Lynne ones for their part in hosting this event.

Youth Mission Auction- April 29^th- Proceeds to support the REACH trip. Twice Nice items are needed to help make this event a success. See Cassie Dayton, our youth ministry coordinator if you need assistance in bringing your donation to Bailey Hall. Mark it for Youth Auction. Thanks!!

Have you heard Randy Dayton’s voice inviting folks to WPC? He is on most mornings at about 7:15 on WLNG. Advertisements inviting folks to our Holy Week and Easter services appear in the local papers. Thanks are in order for the efforts of those deacons who are exploring these and other means of telling our church’s story to the greater community.

Holy God, your Word, Jesus Christ, spoke peace to a sinful world and brought humanity the gift of reconciliation by the suffering and death he endured. Teach all who bear His name to follow the example He gave us. May our faith, hope, and charity turn hatred to love, conflict to peace, and death to eternal life, through Christ our Lord! Amen.

Sunday worship will focus on a text from I Samuel 16:1-13, the anointing of David as King. Sermon title: The Boy Who Would Be King. Our senior choir is back from its exchange with the Setauket choir and will sing the solemn piece, Lacrymosa by Mozart. Elder Amy Mosher will offer a Minute for Mission on the One Great Hour of Sharing, emphasizing its support for Hunger Relief.

April commences “Bring A Friend To Church” month. You will hear and see other announcements about our church and its worship on WLNG and local papers. Journeying toward Easter is a great time to encourage the Faith of others, neighbors or extended family.

Special thanks go to all who helped in the all-church cleanup last Sunday. Over twenty persons rolled up their sleeves and went to work to brighten our facility and grounds. Many projects and repairs were achieved, including creating a dedicated space for persons in wheelchairs in our sanctuary. This space is a memorial in the name of the late Judith LeBleu, who continued to worship here even when it was difficult to do so.

A new member class happens following worship in the Founder’s Room. How does one join WPC? There are three categories: Active Member, Affiliate Member (Main membership is elsewhere, but WPC is home whenever the person is on the East End), and Friend of the Church. The session’s new committee on membership has been hard at work extending invitations and preparing our church for its next stage of growth.

Fundraising Activities shift into high gear during April: on the 14^th there will be a fundraising dinner at Micoles with guest chefs Nancy Winters and Clerk of session Jenny Ketner. The cost is a reasonable 30 per person and beyond the money raised is the good will these events foster. There is also the Presbyterian Women’s rummage sale on the 15^th and 16^th, and the youth Group’s auction in support of the summer reach trip on the 29^th. Let’s do our part to make these a success.

Congratulations are in order for Matthew Sulzinski who received his Eagle Scout award at a Court of Honor here at the church on April 2. Matthew is the son of Paul and Barb (Mitchell) Sulzinski.

Almighty God, by the love of Jesus Christ you draw people to faith, and welcome them into the church family. May we show your joy by embracing new brothers and sisters, who with us believe and with us will work to serve you. Keep us close together in your Spirit, breaking bread in faith and love, one with Jesus Christ our Lord and Master. Amen.

Sunday marks the third in the Lenten season and we will welcome to worship the choir and organist of the Setauket Presbyterian Church. You guessed it, our choir plus organist Linda Howard is helping to lead services there, so make sure you lend your voice and hand of fellowship to these guests from the north shore. The text for the day is from John 4, Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well. The atmosphere is charged with scandal in that Jesus crosses several barriers to speak directly with a woman, eventually drinking from her jar, and then telling her about the grace he represents. Sermon title? “Thirsty!”.

Sunday is also the occasion of our Spring Cleanup. Members of the board of trustees will be on hand following the service to help direct our efforts to spruce up the building and grounds in readiness for the Easter season. A light lunch will be available.

Scrap metal drive is underway and will be collected on the east side of the property near the deacons’ closet.

The Minute for Mission this week will be given by Linni Deihl in support of Daffodil Sunday, which in turn supports the American Cancer Society.

Bring A Friend to Church month begins April 1 in which we encourage you to invite friends to join you in worship and other programs here at WPC. An inquiry class is set to begin after worship April 3, with the opportunity to unite in membership Palm Sunday April 17. The newly formed membership committee of session is open to those who would consider one of three categories of relationship ….active membership, affiliate membership (for folks whose main membership is in the city, for example but who wish to designate WPC as their church away from home), and Friend of the Church.

Plan to take part in the Fundraiser at Micoles, Thursday April 14^th from 5-8 pm. The cost is 30.00 per person and guest chefs this year will be Nancy Winters and Jenny Winters Ketner. Advance thanks go to them and to Mark and Lynne Jones for hosting this event!

A multitude of other announcements can be found in the Sunday bulletin and on the website. Keep them in mind as you plan your week. For example, Elizabeth Circle meets next Monday at the home of Eleanor Hoyt (7 pm, 63 Lake Avenue, Center Moriches).

As the wind is your symbol, so forward our goings. As the dove, so launch us heavenwards. As water, so purify our spirits. As a cloud, so abate our temptations. As dew, so revive our languor. As fire, so purge our dross. Amen.

The second Sunday in Lent has the familiar reading from the Gospel of John, chapter 3:1-17. The sermon title is borrowed from the words Martin Luther used to describe this passage: The Gospel Within the Gospel. The senior choir sings an arrangement of “Wondrous Love”. Deacon John David will present a minute for mission about Bring A Friend to Church month in April.

The confirmation class is on retreat this weekend at the Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center in Holmes, New York. Their preparation focuses on the New Testament and the creeds of the church as they begin thinking about writing their own individual statements of Faith.

The One Great Hour of Sharing offering continues throughout Lent. Remember that it is divided three ways between the Self Development of People, Hunger Relief, and Disaster Assistance. Separate support for specific relief in Japan is welcome. Simply earmark your check for that purpose.

Next Sunday (3/27) is Spring Cleanup day. Stick around after worship to help spruce up our building and grounds, getting them ready for the Easter holiday next month. A light lunch will be served.

Early deadline for bulletin Announcements next week: administrative assistant Nancy Hamma will be on vacation 3/23-25. Information for the 3/27 bulletin needs to be in by Tuesday morning the 20^th.

Know someone not on our email address who would enjoy these notes? Please forward this and feel free to send their address to Nancy at admin@westhamptonpresbyterian.org.

One of the best gifts you can offer those in need is your personal prayer of intercession. Remember those named in our weekly worship bulletins. It makes a difference for them as well as for you.

…Christ be with me, Christ within me. Christ behind me, Christ before me. Christ beside me, Christ to win me. Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me. Christ in quiet, Christ in danger. Christ in all the hearts that love me. Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the trinity, by invocation of the same, the three in one, the one in three, of whom all nature has creation…eternal Father, Spirit, Word. Praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord. Amen.

Sunday marks the First Sunday in the Lenten season….the journey toward Easter and the glory of the resurrection. The lectionary readings consider the fact that the faith has never been easy. Indeed it calls on the baptized to renounce that which is evil in favor of that which is divine. One is reminded of the poetry of Robert Browning, in particular his reference to the painter Andrea del Sartro…in which he declared” let your reach exceed your grasp, else what’s a heaven for?”The sermon will be based on the temptation narrative in Matthew 4:1-11, and is entitled simply Tempted! The choir will sing a traditional Lenten anthem, My Song is Love Unknown. Robert McAfee Brown quoted this hymn when he was forced by a California presbytery to distill his statement of faith into one page from eleven. He declared that the phrase “love to the loveless shown” is an apt summary of the Christian faith as we know it.

The Christian Education committee will host a Lenten Festival which happens immediately after worship in Bailey Hall. Age appropriate activities for the entire family are planned followed by a kid-friendly luncheon of Macaroni and Cheese and Hot Dogs. All are welcome, and a friendly email to Amy Mosher of the number in your family attending will help those planning the event…abmosher@optonline.net

Our confirmation class of twelve 7^th-8^th graders has commenced study of the New Testament, specifically the life of Jesus. They gather each week at 9:00 am to study and consider what the Gospel requires. Next week, March 18 they are scheduled to go on retreat to the Presbyterian Camp at Holmes, New York.

The devastating earthquake in Japan is a tragedy of epic proportion. Let us pray for the people there, asking God to relieve their suffering and heal their affliction. Let us pray for the numerous Presbyterian Missionaries and mission partners affected (they are listed in The Mission Yearbook of Prayer and Study,www.pcusa.org/missionyearbook, pages 148-149). Our youth elder, Lydia Frenzel-Sulyok will give the Minute for Mission this Sunday on the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, specifically our support for disaster relief. Her remarks and this year’s offering are timely.

God of earthquake, wind and fire, tame natural forces which defy control, and shock by their fury. Keep us from calling disaster your justice; and help us in good times or in calamity, to trust your mercy which never ends, and your power, which in Jesus Christ stilled storms, raised the dead, and put down demonic powers. Amen

For the Afflicted: God, you are the comfort of the sad and strength to those who suffer. Let the prayers of your children who are in any trouble rise to you. To everyone in distress grant mercy, grant relief, and grant deliverance through Jesus Christ our Lord.

A good time was had by all as PW rounded up men and women of the church for a delicious lunch of four kinds of chili, spoon/cornbread, salad, and taco chips. Eleanor Hoyt provided fabulous entertainment with her life-sized "Chuck Wagon" painting, cowboy music and a history of the western cowboy. Her research provided some fascinating information that most of us probably did not know before. Ben Larson treated all the women to cut flowers in bud vases as a gift for all they do for the church.

A few of our male guests (they forgot their cowboy hats!) Bud Kavan, Bernie Giere and Ben Larson

This is the first of weekly notes from the church announcing what’s happening in worship as well as other events and programs. Please forward it to friends within and beyond our membership to let them know they are included in our community of Faith.

The theme for Sunday worship derives from the Transfiguration of Jesus as found in Matthew 17:1-11. It is a story which has mystified readers in that it enjoins Divine/Human experiences, overwhelming the disciples who witness His change, and then hearing Jesus call for secrecy afterwards. The meditation title is “Transfigured”. The choir will sing “On Eagles Wings”, an inspirational anthem which reassures the faithful. We will also celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

The stage is set next week for the beginning of the Lenten season with a joint Ash Wednesday service March 9 at 7:30 at the Quogue Chapel. Friends from area churches have been invited and the Rev Andrew Teagle of the St. Paul’s AME Zion church of Quogue will be the preacher.

Meanwhile, Church Women United will sponsor the World Day of Prayer Service at the Beach United Methodist Church at 4:00 today. Our own Christian Education team sponsors an all-church movie night at 6:30 in the parish hall. Yet another program not to be missed is the March Women’s Association luncheon next Wednesday (9^th) at noon. There will be a wild west flavor in more ways than one! Men of the church are especially encouraged to attend.

If you are interested in other prayers and resources visit www. PCUSA.org/mission yearbook

There are other links to Daily Scripture readings which will support us in the journey called Faith.

Life is not merely the extension of days. It is loving, obeying, and cleaving to the Lord!

I enjoyed the movie “The King’s Speech”. If you have yet to see it, make plans. It is a feel-good film about the improbable rise of George VI to the British throne, at a momentous time before WWII. He is a stammerer, or what we might call a “stutterer”. The overriding question – would he find his voice in time to deliver a much needed word of inspiration to his people? With the help of his devoted wife – who doesn’t get the amount of credit she deserves – Bertie, as he is nicknamed, discovers his cure with an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel, in a dark, non- royal section of London. After several fits and starts the therapy takes hold because the problem is not, after all, in his speech; it’s in the freedom of his heart to express itself. Bertie made a hard choice to stick with the program. In the end, he delivers an outstanding address to his constituents as they crowd around various radios in order to hear! Go see it. It’s a decent film!

Moses, it is believed, was a stutterer. He was a man of little sophistication but like George VI had a huge heart. He delivers at a time the children of Israel need him to deliver. Here at the end of Deuteronomy in his old age (120 years), standing at the edge of the promised land, he exhorts his people in the commanding style of a covenant ceremony. His words are no less compelling than George the sixth’s pre-war address as newly crowned king: I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. Choose life – that you and your descendents may live! Choose life – which is not mere extension of days, but loving, obeying, and cleaving to the Lord God!! Sometimes all that is needed is a word – a word which motivates, which reminds us: which teaches us, which reinforces that which we already know. When you stand at the intersection of life and death, choose life. There is nothing vague or imprecise about Moses’ speech in today’s scripture.

Sometimes the options are clearly defined. But then sometimes they are not. Sometimes to choose the life Moses speaks of is hard. It is demanding. Sometimes the easy wrong is preferable to the difficult right. Sometimes the convenience of the selfish is preferable to the inconvenience of the just. Sometimes the influence of fear is stronger than the righteous act of obeying God. Sometimes it is preferable, even natural to choose an easier lie than the harder truth. Sometimes, Moses’ exhortation not-with-standing, the choices we face don’t fall cleanly into the right and the wrong, or life vs. death.

A formative moment in my life, as a member of a college class in Social Problems, we were assigned the role of observers in juvenile court in Knox County, Tennessee. There was nothing thrilling or entertaining about the docket of criminal case after criminal case. One young fellow stood before the judge, his crime, serious grand theft I believe. He couldn’t or wouldn’t look up – just kept staring at his shoes. He was not represented by counsel. The only person serving as an advocate was his grandmother – herself frightened, intimidated, weeping. I suspect she was angry that she was the only family member with the gumption to care what happened to her grandson. She made a sincere attempt to explain his delinquency. “Your honor, he’s made wrong choices. He’s hung out with rough bunches!” Her’s was a spirit of exasperation. Her words echo across the years. Wrong choices. Rough bunches. Wrong choices. Rough bunches! The scene repeats itself over and over again in 10,000 places, 10,000 scenes.

Moses declares, “I set before you life and prosperity. Death and adversity. Choose life that you and your descendants may live.” Choose the difficult if in doing so it means obeying God. Choose the difficult if in doing so it means deciding for the Lord. Choose the difficult even if it means standing apart from the whims of your peers!

Just at a time I am trying to increase the number of weddings here at Westhampton Presbyterian and the Quogue Chapel, just at a time I am hoping to reach a new generation and possibly becoming their pastor and this congregation their church home. At a time when I am opening the doors wider, I read a stinging review in the Christian Century magazine by Lillian McDaniel, a U.C.C. pastor in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She reviews a book on the Christian Church and the selling of the American Soul. She criticizes the church for compromising the hard teaching of Jesus. She admits how she refuses to officiate the wedding of non-members. She simply says “no”. She has good points. Lillian is tired of unchurched couples ordering her around as though she were just another wedding service provider, no different than the D.J. selecting music for the reception. She is tired of unchurched couples who refuse to stop lecturing her about why they detest organized religion. Or telling her: “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” She has a point. Sometimes the choices we make lead us to get taken, to be manipulated because, after all, we pastors are supposed to be sympathetic, open-minded! Sometimes in thinking we are choosing life, we are really choosing the cheap, the trivial, the idolatrous. Her sharp words make me consider the choices I make about the people who want to be married here!

But, I remember another unchurched couple who did get married in this sanctuary. I have lost touch with them over the years. They were very sincere in the pre-marriage sessions. We laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. Their wedding day was a joy to behold. They went on to live in the Hudson Valley community, to work in the city and occasionally visiting here for worship. They went on to become very active members in their Presbyterian Church there. She became the youngest moderator of the Presbyterian Women’s organization. They lecture no one about the reason they detest organized religion. Instead, they serve as prime examples of what we do right in organized religion!

Sometimes there is the risk of being wrong when we think we are choosing for the good. And sometimes our choices are right on target! I think for now that I will continue to keep the door open to the weddings of unchurched couples. How will they become churched if they are never asked?

Choose life in all circumstances so that you and your descendents will live. Choose the difficult if indeed that is the path toward the Holy. Opt for the costly if that is the option which leads to truth. Say yes to God and say no to evil. That’s the formula for abundant life!!

Craig Barnes teaches preaching and other ministry classes at Pittsburgh Seminary. One of his top students asked him to preach the sermon at his installation service at a rural church, a three hour drive from the nearest airport. This student was shy and very self-effacing. It took a long time for him to muster up the courage in class to answer a question. When he finally did his responses were brilliant. He was shy and withdrawn, but he was the brightest student among his peers. Craig had tried on numerous occasions to prod him to enter a PhD program and use his wisdom for academic pursuits. “To whom much is given, much is required.” The student had said no. He felt called to be a small church pastor where he could help put up hay in haying season and help deliver calves and keep them from freezing. He chose to serve a small, rural church with little pay and lots of work!

Craig Barnes made it to the installation service with the help of a “never-lost” guide in his rental car. He discovered a sanctuary that was largely unsatisfactory. Poorly lit. A sound system that squealed with improper feedback. A musty smell. It was the type of small church the experts ponder and over analyze. The service went very well. Afterwards there was, what else, a potluck dinner. Green jello mold with cottage cheese, sliced pears, baked bean casseroles, fried chicken and talk, lots of talk about what snow tire is the best bet to get you through the winter. But, Craig Barnes said when he sat down the love in the room was palpable. And the potluck meal was Holy. He could not erase the thought that being a part of Christ’s Church is such a good thing!! Something wholesome, something “life-giving” about saying “Yes” to God. As the newly installed pastor made the rounds of the folks eating fried chicken and green jello, Craig knew why his student chose them. And he knew why God chose his student to be their pastor. He would be there to love the people – and in between conversations about snow tires, he would bring the Word of the Lord to bear upon their community.

Moses says: I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.

How is it with you on this Scout Sunday, 2011? Perhaps you find yourself between a number of choices necessary to keep your life going in a direction that is good, kind, and faithful. Perhaps you are caught between the difficult right and the easy wrong. You may be staying awake at night trying to decide between costly love and the more socially acceptable indifference. You may be trying to decide between the more demanding cause of justice, and the less demanding option which, in the end is pure selfishness. Perhaps you are tempted to say “No” to what you hear God asking and “Yes” to the invitations of the of the evil one. Perhaps you no longer feel empowered, confident in your or God’s ability to make the right choice in these confusing times. Like a juvenile delinquent looking at his shoes before a stoic judge and a tearful grandma – what does the Lord require?

To choose justice. To choose kindness. To walk humbly with your God. The exhortation is a beacon of light amidst a sea of darkness.

I have set before you life and death. Prosperity and Adversity. Choose life so that you and your descendents will live. You can do it!

As a child I would often go with family on trips to Great Smoky Mountains. We would take a delicious picnic lunch and often after driving through the park we’d stop in Cherokee, North Carolina, have pictures made with the chief. An older man whose eyes were cloudy and whose laugh was exaggerated – I only realize now why he was so unsteady – holding on to our shoulders to keep still for the camera. He was intoxicated.

Those picture sessions happened before I knew anything about the Trail of Tears, about how the chief’s ancestors walked a brutal, tragic trail from the south to Oklahoma. This was before I understood the tragic history of American Indians. Before I began to read the works of Sherman Alexie – a Spokane Indian who knows the truth and writes words laced with dignity and reality. This was before I heard the irony of the damage alcohol addiction wreaks on reservations. How Alexie himself chose to say “no” to drink after witnessing his sister die, unable to respond to the fire in her mobile home because she was passed out in an alcoholic haze.

We learn from the choices of others the difficult challenge. We learn, do we not, that choosing the ways of God are never 100% easy. But in the end – choosing the ways of God is what really matters.

So, I have set before you live and death. Blessing and curse. Choose life! And all will be well. All manner of things will be well!

Cokie Roberts on Good Morning America recently said that what is happening in Egypt has put all dictators, rulers, and other leaders in the Middle East on notice…this can happen to you. Her reason for making that statement is that all of the histories of Middle East countries are linked together. The Prophet Mohammed traced his heritage back to Ishmael the son of Abraham and Hagar. With that thought in mind the Sunday morning Adult Class is doing a 3-week study on the Middle East. All are welcome to join us in this discussion.

The Adult Study entitled “Christ in Film” is being held Wednesdays, February 9 – March 9 from 4:30 PM until 5:30 PM here at the church. The group will examine the various ways Christ has been interpreted in films such as “The Passion of Christ”, and others. Child care will be provided for those who request it. Everyone is welcome to attend any of the studies.

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Due to the inclement weather, the start of the Wednesday afternoon adult class on
"Christ In Film" has been postponed until next week, February 9.