Mission Niagara Falls Begins

Will include pictures when I figure out how to on my I pad.

First of all, we apologize for not posting anything on the blog sooner.  We finally found wifi!
After a send-off prayer with parents we started the journey to the far northwest corner of our state.  Our first bathroom break was the first or second rest stop on the Thruway, in case you hadn't noticed, they all look the same after a while.  The vans were excited at first then settled into the quiet of sleeping and listening to music.

For lunch we stopped in the beautiful town of Utica, NY, nestled on the Erie Canal.  We bypassed our favorite upscale restaurant right on the canal and went to another upstate/Pennsylvania favorite--Moe's.  In not time we had 15 burritos or salads and were back in the vans for the afternoon.  We finally arrived in Niagara Falls and found our way to the manse of the Methodist church--our home for the week.  We unloaded our vans, set up our sleeping areas and then headed out for pizza.  After pizza we waited for Elisabeth to run into the grocery store for some supplies.  While the rest of us sat in the parking lot we had a free fireworks show, courtesy of a massive Great Lakes thunder storm.  It looks pretty ominous at first, but it blew through quickly.

Back at the house we circled up for a meeting and then headed to bed.


The following essay was a collaborative effort of Graham, River and Theo!
Greece lost and it made me sad.  We ate at Moe's and had great, filling burritos.  We saw a cat upstairs in someone else's house.

MONDAY, JUNE 30.

Everyone was slow getting up, but they did!  By 9 am we were at the Community Mission of Niagara Falls, ready to get to work. The staff gave us the background on the mission and it is amazing.  They serve 75000 meals a year and provide many services to countless thousands of people.  Our first assignments were to break into two groups.  One group went with Elisabeth to start getting ready for Vacation Bible School tomorrow.  The other group went with Sarah to organize a closet of donated toys that looked like something from the movie, "hoarders."  Sarah looked so excited, she couldn't wait to take charge and she certainly did.  Our youth started slowly, but soon got into the project and maybe even were having fun.  They tried on Halloween masks and checked out all the toys as they brought them out to be sorted.

Oh, and Dale saw the opportunity to get started on the blog.
We'll post at least one a day, so check back often.

Between Great Lakes

Pastor Dale, Rev. Tami Seidel, Leslie Mardenborough, Erica Restaino, and Stephan Valastro at General Assembly in Detroit

I just got back from the Great Lakes region on Saturday and I return to the area on Sunday.  Detroit was the home for the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to which i was a commissioner.  The city is located on the Detroit River which flows from Lake Huron to Lake Erie.  Then on Sunday I leave with the high school mission team to Niagara Falls, NY, which is located on the river connecting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  Being on either end the Great Lake I used to call home is about the only thing these two trips have in common.  One was a week of sitting in meetings and the other will be a week of working hard to keep up with energetic teenagers.

The week in Detroit was a memorable and moving experience.  After a nightmare flight with two cancellations and a night on the floor of the Minneapolis airport, we settled in for a week of reuniting with friends, worship, committee meetings and plenary sessions.  Our delegation from Hudson River Presbytery included one person I knew well (Rev. Tami Seidel from Yorktown) and three others I would know well by the end of the week (see photo caption).  We were a good delegation that faithfully fulfilled our duties and had fun doing it.  We took turns writing in our HRP GA blog, which you can still review at Hudrivpres.org.

General Assembly handled countless issues that came before the church in the form of overtures from Presbyteries around the county.  HRP sent up several including resolutions dealing with gun violence, sex trafficking, marriage equality and fossil fuel divestment.  Other important issues included approving the Belhar Confession which came out of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.  Copy and paste the web address below to download and read this inspiring theological reflection on social justice: http://www.pcusa.org/resource/belhar-confession/.

The real excitement of the Assembly came when we approved changes to the Book of Order and offered an "Authoritative Interpretation" to provide marriage equality to all God's children.  The vote was not even close, an indication that the church is finally coming to a consensus on this issue that was so divisive in the past.  We heard that we have lost 300 churches in the last 4 years (about 3%) and we will lose some more.  In HRP we have maybe one more church who will leave our fellowship, but otherwise our Presbytery and denomination are moving forward as a more inclusive and welcoming church.

The most drama was over the vote on the overture from the Mission Through Responsible Investment committee on Israel/Palestine.  The issue that has been before the church for a decade was whether to phase in divestment from three U.S. companies who are profiting from activities in the West Bank and Gaza that the church finds particularly offensive.  caterpillar, HP, and Motorola provide products and services that among other things, maintain the separation barrier and the surveillance and control of check points, and even home demolitions.  Our Palestinian Christan brothers and sisters along with Jewish Voices for Peace lobbied for divestment.  Other Jewish groups argued against divestment and brought considerable pressure to bear on the assembly through speeches and leaflets.  Both sides had young people in t-shirts supporting their perspective.  When it came time for the vote there was a gasp as the gap was unbelievably narrow--31- to 303 for divestment.  Immediately our new moderator, Elder Heath Rada, pleaded with the media to report that our love for our Jewish brothers and sisters is not diminished with this vote.  He was absolutely right.  In fact, the intensity of this debate has renewed my commitment to reach out to Jewish families and leaders in our community as well as to advocate for an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.

This week in between has been busy and quiet at the same time.  Busy because I am catching up on being gone and planning to be away again next week.  But quiet because other staff members are on vacation.  I am looking forward to my third summer in New York with opportunities for ministry, planning and a little time off.  In July I plan to fly over those Great Lakes and spend some time with my family in Western Canada.  In the meantime, I look forward to sharing my experiences in Detroit and Niagara Falls in worship and private conversations.

See you in church,
Pastor Dale

Music Appreciation Sunday

A Day in the Park

Sunday was our annual worship in the park and picnic.  It was an absolutely perfect day.  It started with perfect summer weather and it continued through grilled hot dogs and a visit from the ice cream truck.  Does it get any better than that?

It was also a great day because it came on the heels of the amazing Rummage Sale.  I was pleased how many of the army of volunteers from that event were in church.  They were tired and no one would have blamed them  if they slept in.  But many came to enjoy the celebration of a record-breaking sale and to just relax with friends and family.

Worship in the park is something special.  Parents love being able to let their kids play on the margins of our gathering while they worship.  It was Pentecost so the children blew bubbles to remind us of the blowing of the Holy Spirit.  The choir gave us beautiful music and we all sang old favorites like "How Great Thou Art."  The sermon was another chapter in the adventures of Bill and Suzie.  Bill found forgiveness in an unusual way at a family wedding.  Speaking of wedding, our son and his new bride were able to worship with us.  They still look happy after two weeks of marriage!

I leave this week for General Assembly in Detroit.  It will be a lot of meetings, but it will be good to see old friends and reflect on the challenges of our denomination.  Pray for unity and pray that I stay awake in all those meetings.

See you in church,
Pastor Dale

Sunday School Sunday

A PCMK Field Trip

When you were in school, didn't you love going on a field trip?  You boarded a bus with your friends, saw something new and made some memories together.  Well, the PCMK family went on a field trip Sunday.  After a fabulous Sunday School Sunday we packed into cars and headed to the Fellowship Hall in Bedford Hills.  The Hall is a senior housing community that was initially sponsored by PCMK and we continue to support the community in a variety of ways.  Members of our church serve on the board and the social justice committee has provided financial support and work teams.

On Sunday we brought the Angelikids choir who put on a little program for the residents.  It is easy to say that they enjoyed every moment and every note that was sung.  Many of them were singing along or tapping their feet.  I was so proud of our kids as it had been a very long morning for them.  Elisabeth does a marvelous job organizing and motivating them and she has great help from her assistant, Lindsay Emery.  Watching them let off steam and play after the program was a truly joy-filled moment.

Nancy Osborne and the adult education committee organized the field trip to inform the congregation of this tremendous community resource.  Thanks to her and the committee for making this happen (and bringing along the cookies!).  Thanks also go to Coz Procopis who gives such steady leadership to the Fellowship Hall year in and year out.

It is amazing all the ways our church connects with the larger community.  We have a good reputation out there--let's keep it up.

See you in church,
Pastor Dale

A Perfect Day

I am still recovering from the excitement of Saturday, May 24th.  It was the wedding of our son, David and his lovely wife, Saerom Yoo.  The entire wedding celebration was held at the church and the manse, so we were busy for weeks cleaning and preparing.  Then family started to arrive, including my  84 year old father from Edmonton, Canada.  Finally the big day was here.  The kids started with pictures in Central Park and then a beautiful limo brought them to Mount Kisco about 1pm.  After a light lunch on the upper patio of the church we went over to the gazebo on the property of Gov. Cuomo and Sandra Lee.  The Gov. had graciously given us permission to take pictures with the beautiful lake and landscaping as a background.

Then it was show time.  the ceremony was the most beautiful I have ever seen, with David and his friends playing one of Respighi's "Ancient Airs and Dances" on their instruments as Saerom came down the aisle with her father.  It was quite a moment.

There were two receptions.  One was on our portico with hor d'oeuvres and music.  The highlight of that event was David and Saerom coming around the front of the church on their scooters.  The dinner reception was in our Great Hall, which never looked better.  The food was excellent, music continued from the mezzanine and the couple was toasted into their married life in English and Korean.

Elisabeth and I are so proud and pleased with how things turned out.  We are grateful to the entire PCMK community for helping us pull this off.  We are especially grateful to Kelly Marlow who was our wedding coordinator extraordinaire; Love Wooten who prepared stunningly beautiful flowers; and Terry Flanagan who provided wonderful organ music.  Others helped with food service and clean up.  It was a wonderful family event that we will never forget.

See you in church,
Pastor Dale