What a Swan Song!

From left, Rebecca, Linda, Sandra and Denise

Remember the song, the Twelve Days of Christmas?  It goes on so long, you usually try to hurry to get it over with.  But that was not the case last Sunday as our children once again put on the amazing PCMK Christmas Pageant.  The theme was the Twelve Days of Christmas and the morning was filled with pipers piping, drummers drumming and maids a milking.  This last group even included our neighbor, Sandra Lee, who graciously shared in the day with us.

There were so many wonderful moments in this pageant that it is hard to list them all.  I suggest you go to the pcmk.org website and watch the video as soon as it is posted.

They say all good things must come to an end, and sadly this is true for our pageant team led by the talented Denise Schutz.  She, along with Linda Carelli and Rebecca Wassem have put on at least 7 great pageants.  And what a way to go out!  Their swan song even featured a beautiful dancing swan.

It really feels like Christmas now, and the stress level has even come down a notch for us all.  Thank you leaders and children for this wonderful Christmas gift!

Pastor Dale

PCMK Hosts HRP

On Tuesday, December 9th, PCMK hosted the stated meeting of the Hudson River Presbytery, and we did it with style!  The weather threatened to undermine all our careful planning, but the Nor'easter just brought heavy rain to most of the region.  Snow and ice was a problem for folks from counties up north, so there were many cancellations.  Still, there were over 100 presbyters from churches both sides of the river who came to worship, fellowship and conduct the business of our corporate life together.

As host pastor I couldn't have been more proud.  I know that pride is one of the 7 deadly sins, but there are different kinds of pride.  I was not proud of myself--I was proud of our team.  Kelly Marlow is a saint!  She pulled together a team of volunteers who worked for days to make the event something worthy of the Royal family (who were in town at the same time).  The narthex Great Hall and Community Room were decorated in beautiful seasonal style.  There were friendly people to greet visitors at every turn.  There was coffee and snacks and even the information table looked elegant.

In addition to being proud of Kelly and her team, I was proud to help lead worship in our beautiful sanctuary.  Terry blew everyone away with his sensitive and flawless work on the organ.  Carmen Emery set up our beautiful communion service and Fred helped set up all the AV equipment and so much more.

If it is a sin to be so proud of our church, I am going to be sinning in a big way this Sunday as the children once again tell us the story of Christmas in our annual pageant.

Come to church this Sunday and sin along with me!

Pastor Dale

A Surprise Party

November 20, 1994

November 23, 1014

A few weeks ago I realized that I was approaching a significant milestone in ministry.  I was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament on November 20, 1994, so this year marks 20 years in this crazy and amazing line of work.  Well, I should have known, but Elisabeth let some folks at PCMK know about this anniversary and next thing you know we had a party!  My colleague in ministry, the Rev. Charles Barton had very thoughtful remarks and the Fellowship Team put on a beautiful reception.  The most embarrassing part was the picture from 20 years ago!  What happened!

As I think back over 20 years it is as though God has had a plan all along.  I feel the experiences I have had in three different congregations have prepared me to be the pastor of this diverse, intelligent, gifted, motivated and compassionate place we call PCMK!  If I try to think of the highlights of the last two decades I remember close to 20 mission trips with youth and adults; dozens of baptisms, weddings and funerals; hundreds of sermons; countless session and committee meetings and many wonderful staff colleagues.  But the best part of all is the rhythm of starting my week in worship with my church family.  I usually have lots going on, but it is still worship and it is still a chance to greet good people over a cup of coffee and a cookie.

That reminds me what happened to the guy in the picture--thousands of cookies over 20 years!

As we move through this week of Thanksgiving we prepare to prepare; we are getting ready to get ready.  We once again begin Advent, the season of preparation for the greatest celebration of all--the birth of the savior.  Advent is a month-long party that starts and ends with worship (November 30th and December 24th).  In between are celebrations like the Christmas Fair, the Children's Pageant, and Lessons and Carols.  And, oh yes, lots of cookies.

See you in church,

Pastor Dale

Stewardship is Fun at PCMK

Stewardship is a dreaded word at so many churches.  People brace themselves for lectures on how short the budget is and how much deeper they need to reach into their pockets.  The result is that stewardship Sunday is not exactly something to look forward to.

Not so at PCMK.  Stewardship is a highlight of the year at PCMK.  We have a great team that puts together excellent mailing materials, we celebrate all God's blessings in pictures and stories; and the children even get involved.  Last year the Sunday School used their offerings to buy animals through the Heifer Project.  This year they are going to provide clean drinking water through Living Waters.

Stewardship Sunday (November 16th) was one of our best-attended worship services in a while (not necessarily what you would expect.  There were children everywhere as the Angelikids Choir sang three delightful songs and we even had a baptism.  To top it all off we went straight to the Great Hall for a delicious luncheon sponsored by our Stewardship Team.

I came home from worship feeling full in every sense of the word.

See you in church,
Pastor Dale

A Busy Day

Tuesday, November 4th was election day at PCMK.  Our Great Hall has been a polling place for years, and usually it is a very quiet non-event.  Recently a local election turned out only a handful of voters for the entire day.  But this time around was different.  Tuesday was a circus of protesters, demonstrators, media trucks, police officers and, oh yes, the occasional voter.

All the excitement was in anticipation of the arrival of Governor Cuomo and Sandra Lee who would cast their votes in front of the cameras.  Elisabeth and I were ushered through the crowd to say hi once again.  After they voted the Governor held a brief press conference in our narthex.  I knew where he was going to stand, so I put the easel with our new logo right where it would be seen in any pictures.  But his staff cleared out all our material and he stood in front of the painting of Rev. Lee Fairchild, who seemed to be asking, "Who are you and why are you in my church?"

It was an exciting day and I must confess it was fun to be in the middle of such a significant event.  But once the Governor left, the parking lot cleared and we got back to work.  It is good to be back after more than a week away.  Session meets tonight, we are in the middle of stewardship season, and before you know it Advent will be here.  It was great to have the parking lot so full for arrival the Governor, I just hope it will be as full as we once again anticipate the arrival of the Savior.

See you in church,
Pastor Dale

October Surprises



October 19th was a memorable day at PCMK.  As someone commented after worship, "Boy, there were a lot of moving parts in that service today."  There certainly were.  Some were planned and some were a complete surprise!
The planned highlights were two excellent anthems from our choir.  The first was a choral version of "The Lord's Prayer" by Durufle.  The beauty of the music made the French lyrics seem more prayerful than when we say it in English.  The anthem following the sermon built on the theme of "A Glimpse of the Divine."  The music was a dramatic selection from Mendelssohn's Elijah--the story where Elijah has his 'glimpse of God' in the still small voice.
Another planned highlight was the introduction of our new logo and branding of PCMK.  The tri-loop logo has so many elements of meaning that it will be interesting and yet instantly recognizable.  Ron Pence, Herb Reinke, Steve Griffe, Vicki Fuqua, Lisa Flanagan and I worked on this project for many months.  We even worked with a local graphic artist and after many drafts took some proposals to session for input.  These are exciting days at PCMK and this logo will be part of our identity as we journey into the future God has for us.
At the end of the service we introduced two couples as new members of our church.  One couple has an infant and the other is expecting their first.  More baptism coming up!
Then there were the surprises.  The first surprise was seeing friends from my church in Erie, PA sitting in the sanctuary!  John and Diane were always a joy to see in church in Erie, so I had to stop and take a second look when I caught them out of the corner of my eye.  We went for lunch after worship and we caught up on things.  They even treated for lunch as a birthday gift!
And that is the final surprise--the kind words, the cake and the singing of "Happy Birthday" for Terry Flanagan and myself.  Our birthdays are a few days apart in October and it has been fun to celebrate each year together.  We make a great team and we appreciate the love and support of our PCMK family.  We even spent Sunday afternoon together picking pumpkins and going for a Hayride with little Terence.
Later this week I am off to Canada and California for my dad's 85th birthday and a friend's daughter's wedding.  I have made some plans for the trip, but there will probably be some surprises along the way.  And that's the way it should be.
See you in church,
Pastor Dale

hellos and goodbyes

Our new team members (from the right)  Cindy and Barb

The first few days of October were bittersweet around the church office.  Wednesday, October 1st was Cindy Tanico's first day as our new Office Manager.  She was welcomed warmly and trained enthusiastically by Stephanie Boorman, who was on her last few days with us.  Friday was her last day with us before starting her new life in retirement on Long Island.  (Stay tuned for news about the birth of a new grandchild).

 Friday was sad, but Wednesday was all smiles.  At our weekly potluck staff lunch we welcomed Cindy and Barb, who is now a permanent employee after 5 months as a temporary.  She is doing a great job as our bookkeeper.  As you can see from the photo, several of our wonderful office volunteers were able to join us as well.  It was a great day.

These are exciting times at PCMK.  Our new staff team is complete, we have launched the new website, a new logo and branding will be introduced October 19th, and last Sunday we welcomed 7 new members into our fellowship.  God has been good to PCMK!

Drop by the office when you can and introduce yourself to our new staff members.  And you too can be part of the team!  We need more regular and occasional volunteers to help answer phones and prepare mailings etc.  Call Cindy if you have a few hours to share during the week.

See you in church (the sanctuary or the office!)
Pastor Dale