A Picture is Worth...

For two Sundays in January PCMK hosted the amazing posters of the "Humanize not Militarize" project.  They were on loan from the American Friends Service Committee in Chicago where our daughter Debbie works.  The posters were grouped under the themes of the important justice issues of our time, such as war, policing, borders and prisons.  They were made by artists around the country and they could be beautiful or quite upsetting, but they always made you think, and that is obviously the goal.

The posters were part of our MLK weekend focus at PCMK which included the preaching of Rick Ufford-Chase in worship.  Rick challenged us to reflect on our position of privilege and how that has gotten in the way of our message of God's justice.  After the posters were up for two weekends at PCMK, we took them to Stony Point Conference Center and the meeting of the Hudson River Presbytery.  There I led a "community conversation" based on the posters and the issues they speak to.  Currently the posters are on display at the new Art Center at Stony Point as part of a Lenten exhibit.

I have my favorites from the collection, but it was fascinating to watch other people react to the various posters.  Everyone I talked to thought they were amazing and provocative.  I'm sure not everyone agreed with the perspective being shared, but no one objected to being exposed to such thought-provoking art.

If you are interested, you can check out the "Humanize not Militarize" project at AFSC by using the following link: http://allofus.afsc.org/posters.

Thank you to all the artists and the people of AFSC who work so hard to make us live up to our ideals of liberty and justice for all.

See you in church (or at the Art Center),

Pastor Dale

A Letter to our Muslim Friends

سلام

(Arabic for “peace”)

 “I want to end by saying that peace and love for everyone is a basic fundamental principle of both this school and of Islam.  In light of recent events, all our hearts, tears, and prayers go to those who lost loved ones in the recent attacks.  I want to say that these terrorists claiming to be of Islam are not Muslims because terror has no religion.”

(A quote from a teenager from the Islamic School of Upper Westchester)

To our brothers and sisters of faith in the Islamic School of Upper Westchester, we want you to know we stand with your community in this time of such senseless violence carried on in the name of religion.  We know you represent Islam as a religion of peace.  We know you and love you as individuals, families and a community of faith that shares much more than just these walls.  We share a commitment to peace, love and justice for all God’s children; and we celebrate our common bond as descendants in the faith of Abraham.  We pledge to you our friendship and our dedication to countering the fearmongering and scapegoating of Muslims in our nation.  In this Christian season of Advent we renew ourselves to praying for and actively speaking up for God’s peace, pas, shalom, salaam.

Your brothers and sisters of PCMK

The aftermath of the latest mass shooting in California has been so hateful and ignorant, I felt we needed to do and say something as a church.  We have the privilege of hosting the Islamic School of Upper Westchester in our building.  We share more than just the roof we gather under.  Our women get together, along with the women from the Mount Zion Apostolic Church, in May for a Mothers' Day Tea.

Last month our 3 youth groups got together for our first Interfaith Youth Event.  At that latter event we got together for bowling and pizza, and each youth group had a spokesperson tell about life in their faith community.  The young man from the Islamic School moved us all as he spoke less than a week after the Paris attacks.  It seemed as though he felt the weight of the whole Muslim world on his shoulders.

I share with you some of his words and our letter of response that I invited the congregation to sign after worship this last Sunday.  Nearly 100 members of PCMK have signed it!  It is the least we can d to stand up for a group of decent people who are being vilified in some very offensive and ominous ways.

See you in church (the one we share with our Muslim neighbors),
Pastor Dale

A Perfect Fall Day in New York

Crop Walk Refreshment Stand 

Making "Veggie Packs" to Roast

When are we going to have S'mores?

Fresh Apple Cider!

Sunday, October 25th was a perfect fall day for many reasons.  After an overnight rain, the sun came out for a warm autumn afternoon.  I was praying for good weather because we had two outdoor activities that afternoon--the Crop Walk and the Youth Bonfire.

The Crop Walk has been an annual tradition with churches around the country for decades.  I remember walking Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA.  It is an easy walk so we can talk with one another along the way.  Children are even able to participate, and this year our kids set up a refreshment station for walkers who had made the turnaround and were on their way back.  Over $1000 was raised for hunger relief through Church World Service and our own Interfaith Food Pantry.

Later in the day the middle and high school youth gathered at the Lucas' farm for their annual bonfire.  Over 20 excited kids gathered around a beautiful fire and roasted vegetables, hot dogs and s'mores (of course).  They then played a crazy game of "Ghost in the Graveyard."  It was so appropriate to be together as our youth leader, Sarah Lucas, had just delivered a powerful sermon on how our food choices impact the earth.  Her theological training and organic farming experience have come together to form a world-view that just may help save our planet.

I hit the pillow that night tired but happy.  It was a perfect fall day!

The Best Youth Anywhere!

Sunday our high school mission team shared stories from their time in Portland, Maine earlier this summer.  In fact, when you think about it, the mission trip acted like bookends for the summer season.  We left on the trip June 28th, about one week into summer; and they told their stories on September 20th, the last Sunday of summer.

In between there were some life-changing experiences.  It was great to sit back (not have to prepare a sermon) and to remember the work we did, the fun we had, and the people we met.  I smiled as Theo described the day we made 600 pancakes together.  That moment and many others were captured in photos we all enjoyed seeing on our new digital picture frame in the narthex.

One of the highlights of the morning is caught in the picture above.  It was when three of our youth shared the skit that they shared with the children of Portland.  Young and old laughed at the jokes and got the message about patience, which came from our scripture for the day, I Corinthians 13.  That passage ends with, "love never fails."  I love our youth, and watching them serve others on these mission trips never fails to impress me.  I know they made an impression on everyone in church on Sunday, and I know they made an impression on the people of Portland, Maine.  Where are we going to go next year?

See you in church,
Pastor Dale

Fall Festival Fun

Sunday was the perfect day for our fourth annual Fall Family Festival.  After threatening rain all week, it was a perfectly beautiful fall day--sunny but not too hot.  We were prepared for a rain plan, but the last of the rain moved through overnight and we awoke to a perfect day.

It was a perfect day because we had a great turnout for worship, Sunday School, and, of course, the festival.  On Labor Day weekend I had two children on the steps for the Children's Time.  On Sunday there were over 30 children lining the steps completely across the sanctuary.

Sanctuary was the theme for the day in worship.   After the terrible images of refugees desperately seeking sanctuary in Europe, we looked to see what Scripture had to say about the issue.  Of all places, we found a teaching of generosity in Leviticus 19 where we are taught to respect and even LOVE the alien in our midst.  As a former Resident Alien who was welcomed into this country, I believe hospitality to tired migrants is the only Christian response.


It was a perfect day because we were able to show hospitality to many visitors, some of whom were new to the community.  We have been blessed with a steady stream of new families who find us to be a welcoming community with everything they are looking for in a church.  One father even admitted that when his children saw a picture of last year's Fall Festival on our website, they wanted to go to that church.  How many churches have a bouncy castle and a visit from the ice cream truck?  Only the perfect church!

See you in Church,

Pastor Dale

Bells Across New York

Yesterday was the 14th anniversary of that terrible 11th day of September that we know simply as 9-11.  Every year it makes us stop and remember where we were as we saw those unbelievable images unfold on TV (or before your very eyes in NYC).  It has now been long enough that there is a generation of high school freshmen who were born on or after that day.  Of course, the entire class of current high schoolers were too young to remember much of anything.  So it is important we help them remember.

At the 9-11 memorial there was the annual telecast of the solemn ceremony of reading the names of those who lost their lives in that explosion of terror.  At the moment each tower was hit they paused for a moment of silence.  Then in that silence the large bell on our bell tower began to peal steadily and powerfully.  I opened the door of our house to listen.  I remembered that Terry had programmed the bell to peal at the moment of each of that day's horrible moments.  I was able to go outside and record the one that rang at 9:59 am, which was the moment that the South Tower collapsed.

Maybe you heard bells ring out yesterday morning wherever you may have been as these moments came and went.  Time is moving on, but the memory of that day is still powerful.  After that day our country went to war and many, many more lives were lost, so when we ring the bells on 9-11, we should remember all the innocent victims of war and violence.  Including those running for their lives across Europe.

I invite you to play the video above and say a prayer for peace in our world and sanctuary for all God's children.

See you in Church,
Pastor Dale

Saying Goodbye to Summer

Last Wednesday we had a perfect, warm, low-humidity day to enjoy an outdoor lunch with church staff, volunteers and family.  We try to share lunch after staff meeting once a month or so, but summer schedules had made it hard to get together.  Well, it all came together on the last Wednesday of August to relax before the buzyness of September was upon us.

Speaking of September, it is now here and we are ready.  We are ready for our fourth-annual Fall Family Festival on the 13th.  Plan now to attend worship and the party afterwards with food and fun for the whole family.  We are ready for Sunday School, youth groups, adult education and choirs.  We are ready with opportunities to serve in our ministries of social justice.  We are ready for you!

On Sunday, September 20th, we will hold our annual Ministry Fair where you can meet folks involved in each of these ministries and find where you would like to get more involved this year.  Also, on that Sunday our youth group will report on their recent mission trip to Portland, Maine.

So you can see why we needed to relax over lunch while we had the chance!

See you in church,

Pastor Dale