Songs of Praise - Medieval

All summer in worship we're focusing on church music. We're also singing our hearts out. Last Sunday we focused on music composed during the middle ages, especially the poetry and chant that came out of the monasteries and entered popular song. Here is what we sang:

We started the service with a recording of the vocal historians Anonymous 4 singing the music of Hildegarde von Bingen, a saint, mystic, writer, composer and one of the most powerful women in Medieval Europe.

Two great monks dominated our singing: Saint Frances of Assisi (1200) and Bernard de Clairvaux (1100). Saint Bernard (no relation to the dog) wrote epic devotional poems. O Sacred Head Now Wounded consists of the final section on a poem meditating on Christ's body. Jesus Thou Joy of Loving Hearts is excerpted from a 42 stanza poem on Christ's love. Saint Francis wrote his Canticle of the Sun (All Creatures of our God and King) in a fit of inspiration while eating dinner. His Prayer of Saint Frances (Lord Make Us Servants of your Peace - link is a video) is one of the most enduring prayers ever written.

Our hymn of the day was the ancient Irish poem Be Thou My Vision (Gailic: Rob tu mo bhoile, a Comdi cride), set to the equally ancient Irish tune SLOAN.

We rounded out our singing with Come Down, O Love Divine, written by the Italian monk Bianco da Siena and, because it was July 4th, we threw in My Country Tis of Thee.

John of Salsbury Quote:

“See that what you sing with your mouth you believe in your heart, and that what you believe in your heart your obey in our works”

Pastor Fritz Quote:
Our inheritance is that of Christ. Christ is in us and Christ lives through us. What more do we need?

Songs of Praise - Early Church

All summer in worship we're focusing on church music. We're also singing our hearts out. Last Sunday we focused on music composed during the first centuries of the church, and with Delaney serving as cantor we also tried our hand at singing acappella, much as they did in the first centuries. Here is what we sang:

• Gloria Patri: We sing it every Sunday, but this week we paid particular attention, noting that it is derived from the first Christian hymn, the angels' song to the shepherds in Luke 2:14. We also sang the first few lines of John Weaver's Gloria in Excelsis, a musical setting of one of the church's oldest liturgies.
  
• Father we Praise Thee: A morning hymn by Gregory the Great, Pope around 600 AD, inventor of Gregorian Chant and one of the most influential musicians of the Western church.
• Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence: An ancient communion liturgy from Jerusalem and the Eastern Orthodox tradition. We usually sing it as an Advent carol.
• Lord Jesus Think on Me: Another ancient liturgy attributed to Synesius of Cyrene, who was Bishop of Ptolemais around 400 AD.
• Of the Father's Love Begotten: Written around 400 AD by the prominent Latin poet Aurelius Clemens Prudentius and set to a gorgeous plainsong melody.

Apostle Paul Quote:
“Be filled with the Spirit as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-19)

Pastor Fritz Quote:
The angelic song [Glory be to the highest and on earth peace to those whom God favors] holds forth as the only appropriate response to the inbreaking of God into our lives.

General Assembly round up

Okay. Fidelity and chastity has been dealt with. (See previous post.) What else did the General Assembly do that will have an effect on us at Community Presbyterian?

Over 1,000 pieces of business went before the GA. Some of it was routine. Some of it dealt with important matters, such as electing the moderator, publicly supporting a two state solution for Israel/Palestine or nailing down details regarding the use of restricted endowment funds by the denomination, that will have little bearing on our life together as a congregation.

In a few cases the assembly's inaction mattered more than their action. The Assembly voted down a fifth denominational offering in support of international mission (I think they should have replaced the Pentecost or Peacemaking offering with the mission offering; I think a mission offering would greatly benefited our congregations and our denomination.), they sent a major revision of the Book of Order back for continued discussion, and they overwhelmingly defeated a proposal to change the definition of marriage from "man & woman" to "two people."

If we choose to take it seriously, the one thing that could affect our congregation more than anything else is the denomination's new two-year evangelism emphasis called "Grow the Church Deep and Wide." This emphasis calls for all congregations to adopt a three-pronged approach to church growth - numerical growth, growth in Christian discipleship and growth in congregational diversity. It sounds wonderful, it may even sound like "that's what we've been doing all along" but to take it seriously would require us to redefine how we do church. To take it seriously would require us to:

1. Move beyond Sunday morning Christianity, engaging as a congregation in individual and group Bible studies, mission projects and outreach efforts so that we grow as Christians, deepen our faith and have more opportunities to invite our neighbors.
2. Actively evaluate our congregation's relationship with our neighborhood asking: who are our neighbors? how can we best communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them? how can we serve or minister to them? how can we welcome them into our community? And then make changes based on what we learn.
   
3. Experience the demographic changes around us as opportunities for ministry rather than reasons for fear and be willing to make changes in how we worship and fellowship to better include those who speak different languages or have different cultural backgrounds.
4. We would have to turn some of our congregational investment outward even though it feels like we don't even have enough resources to survive.

It is likely this call to growth and discipleship will be swallowed up in the debate over "fidelity and chastity." I think our congregation would be better served by ignoring the debate over "fidelity and chastity" and make "Grow the church deep and wide" our objective for the next two years.

More on Grow Deep and Wide
More on the General Assembly Meeting
Previous post on the "fidelity and chastity" debate
Previous post about the new moderator

The official summaries are not yet online. I'll post a link when they go up.

GA Proposal to delete "fidelity and chastity"

Note: The following represents my (Pastor Fritz's) personal views and not an official point of view of Community Presbyterian Church.

Last night the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to delete what had become known as the "fidelity and chastity" amendment in the church constitution and replace it with a requirement that clergy live in faithfulness to their ordination vows. (Read the official news article) The debate now moves to the Presbyteries who must ratify the change before it becomes official. This is the third time in the last ten years that the General Assembly has proposed deleting the "fidelity and chastity" amendment; the Presbyteries voted down the decision both previous times.

I find that the General Assembly's decision has left me with mixed thoughts and emotions. I was a seminary student serving an internship here in Long Island Presbytery when the amendment was first passed. At that time I felt that the amendment stated the obvious, was a useful line in the sand, would be impossible to enforce and that the debate over it on the floor of the Long Island Presbytery was one of the ugliest and most unChristian experiences I ever had.

Over the last ten years my thoughts on the matter have shifted and matured. I have studied the Bible intently and believe there is no way that scripture can be interpreted to deny the sinfulness of homosexual behavior. I have worked closely with many gay and lesbian ministers (yes, despite the ban there are plenty of gay and lesbian ministers), have come to value their gifts for ministry and believe the church is blessed by them. I have also come to believe that our focus on the sinfulness of homosexuality at the expense of issues such as economic injustice, peacemaking, human rights, evangelism and the sanctity of marriage and family - all of which scripture spends much more time considering - may itself be sinful.

I have also come to see the "fidelity and chastity" amendment as exposing our hypocrisy. Why is it that we ban practicing homosexuals from ordination yet don't even pause when divorced individuals seek ordination or clergy become divorced during their ministries, yet scripture is much more explicit about the sinfulness of divorce (and prohibits remarriage) than it is about homosexuality? Why is it that we never ask ministers or elders whether or not they tithe, or keep the sabbath?

My understanding is that younger generations have a much more ambivalent view of homosexuality than older generations, which means that ordination of homosexuals is probably inevitable. I also don't think that ordaining homosexuals will somehow kill the church. The homosexual clergy I have had the pleasure of ministering with have only built the church up - they have never torn it down; I also don't think the church of Jesus Christ is that easy to kill.

I do not, however, relish the debate that will come and the hurt and pain that will result no matter what the outcome. I also do not yet know how I will vote when this amendment reaches the floor of Presbytery. Should the revision pass, I will miss the line in the sand for Biblical truth and integrity. I will not, however, miss the hypocrisy that line has revealed.

These are just my thoughts - in no way Gospel truth. Have your own thoughts? Leave a comment.

For more on the General Assembly, check the next post.

Songs of Praise - Psalms

All summer we're talking about the history of church music during Sunday morning services. We're also singing our hearts out. Here is some of what we sang last Sunday:

• The Doxology: the words date back to Thomas Kens 1695 hymn: Awake, My Soul and With the Sun. The tune, OLD HUNDREDTH was written by John Calvin's friend Louis Bourgeois to accompany a setting of Psalm 134 in the Geneva Psalter (1551)
• This is the Day - a contemporary setting of Psalm 118 by Les Garrett
• All People That on Earth Do Dwell - a metrical setting of Psalm 100 by William Kethe which was linked to Louis Bourgeois' tune for 134, thus giving that tune the name OLD HUNDREDTH
• The King of Love My Shepherd Is - a metrical setting of Psalm 23 set to ST. COLUMBA, an old Irish tune. The tune is named for St. Columba, who brought Christianity to Ireland and was the first to report a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster. Henry Williams Baker, who paraphrased the Psalm was reported to have quoted the third verse on his death bed.
  
• Clap Your Hands - a contemporary setting of Psalm 41 by Handt Hanson and Paul Murakami

John Calvin Paraphrase
When we sing the Psalms, we sing the very words of God himself. Our words are God’s words, our breath God’s breath and through us God exalts his glory.

Pastor Fritz Sermon Quote
People may not have read the Bible, they may have never heard of Jesus Christ, but they knew God and they felt the call to worship, to sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, to come before him and rejoice.

PC(USA) Elects a New Moderator

Finally the PC(USA) has elected a blogger as the moderator - the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow. This guy spawns more web sites and blogs than kids (he has three kids.) More importantly to me is that as a new church development pastor he understands what it means to live as a "missional church" - the understanding that we are missionaries in our own communities, living out God's word in our daily lives and reaching those who have not experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ on their terms, not ours.

This excerpt from his acceptance speech underscores Bruce's missional philosophy:

If the church responds to these realities by stepping out in faith rather than clinging to survival, just imagine what our church could look like in this new day, this new world, this new time, this new opportunity to be Christ in the world.

• To be a church family that thrives more on the nature of our relationships than the number of dollars or members we report;
• To be a church family that is joined together by the covenantal bond of Christ rather than the contractual relationship of property or pension;
• To be a church family that sees God’s best in one another before being so sure of our human worst.
• To be a church family that cares more about being faithful than being right;

If we, the church, can embrace these ways of being and these ways of interacting, I have no doubt that we will be able to live into a future in which we are a vibrant and inspiring presence in the world.

We'll be hearing a lot more from Bruce over the next two years, but check him out on all these links:

Bruce's Moderator web site
Web Site of Mission Bay Community Church, the new church development Bruce pastors in San Francisco
Bruce's personal web site & blog
Bruce on YouTube
Bruce also has a face book page, for those of you who are members of that online community.

Food Drive a Great Success

Many thanks to everyone who came together to make our third annual Community Food Drive such a great success.  We knew that rising food prices were causing more people to rely on the Long Island Council of Churches Feeding Center to make it through each month.  We were afraid, however, that those same rising prices would limit our neighbors' generosity.  On Saturday morning, however, the food came pouring in from Malverne, Lynbrook, Valley Stream and elsewhere around southwest Nassau County.  

When each person selected some cans or boxes of pasta or baby food and put it out on their curb, they joined us in ministry and mission to our community.  Together we filled both a mini van and a pick-up truck to capacity with food.  Over the summer demand for food rises because kids no longer have access to free lunch.  Thanks to everyone who participated, the Feeding Center has a head start on the rush.  Thank you. 

Why We Care About Feeding Our Neighbors

The partnership between Community Presbyterian Church and the Long Island Council of Churches Food Pantry stretches back many years. Currently we collect a food offering on the third Sunday of each month, send teams of volunteers each Thursday and hold the annual Community Food Drive at the beginning of each summer. The early summer collection helps the food pantry meet increased summer demand at a time when donations drop off.

The imperative to feed the hungry and care for our neighbors who are poor runs throughout the Christian and Jewish scriptures. It is a basic ethic, a core value of Christianity. For me, that imperative is most clearly expressed in the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. The people are gathered, they are hungry, food is scarce and Jesus commands his disciples: "you give them something to eat." They were hungry, they had no food, they needed to be fed. There was no income check, no survey regarding who had eaten lunch or breakfast. Jesus just ordered the disciples to feed them. Their order is our order as well.

Hunger in our community is real. Just last week I received a call from a family in Lynbrook - the wife was disabled, the husband had just lost his job and they have four children. The Long Island Council of Churches has been seeing its client lists grow: elderly with high medical costs, those employed in low wage jobs, those squeezed by variable rate, sub prime mortgages, and lately those affected by high gas prices and increasing food costs. As a congregation most of us are blessed with food on our tables and enough income to buy extra groceries on occasion for our neighbors. We were honored to help the family in Lynbrook. We are honored to be one of the largest donors by congregation size to the food pantry.

So I hope you will join with us in following Jesus' mandate to "give them something to eat" by bringing some non-perishable food by the church (12 Nottingham Road, Malverne, NY) on Saturday, June 7 between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. And if you are reading this from afar, buy extra groceries and drop them off at your local food pantry or soup kitchen. And while you are there, find out about volunteering.

Get a map showing the church location

Memorial Day Parade

Many thanks to everyone who put on their new t-shirts and came out for the Malverne Memorial Day parade. Gail Wakefield personally thanked me that the church was marching. It was fun, but even Jasper was a bit tired by the end. Here are some pictures from Linda. For more of Linda's parade picts (mostly featuring James) go to her page on Snapfish.

Mike & Daniel lead the way

The ladies ride in style

Kate checks out James' ride

Banner Making!

We had a great morning on Saturday, May 10th at the Parish Resource Center working together to make a 75th Anniversary Banner to carry in the Memorial Day Parade.

Many thanks to Glory Polinsky and Mary Hallam for all the planning and Kate Polinsky, Dan Polisnky, Allyce Yang, Michael Yang, Laura Eisenlau, Karen Record, Don Neugebauer and Pastor Fritz for helping out. A huge thanks to Carla at the Parish Resource Center for all her assistance. Here are some pictures.

Cutting out Letters

Piecing it together

Done!

Mayor Issues Citation for 75th Anniversary

At the May 7th Malverne Village Board Meeting, Mayor Patricia McDonald presented Community Presbyterian Church with a citation in honor of our ongoing ministry in the community. Dee Ramp, Pastor Fritz and Don Neugebauer (who got blocked in this photo by John Smart, who was taking his own photo) accepted the citation on behalf of the church. Many thanks to Tony Sussman for arranging the citation and to Mayor McDonald. The full text of the citation is below:

WHEREAS in 1914, George E. Cornwell donated land on Nottingham Road and together the Cornwell and Rasweiler families built the first religious institution in our community, this non-denominational house of worship was named The First Church of Malverne. On April 25, 1933, the congregations of The First Church of Malverne and The Stuart Avenue Presbyterian Church of Malverne merged and The Community Presbyterian Church of Malverne was established under the religious leadership of Reverend Andrew Van Antwerpen; and

WHEREAS for the past 75 years, The Community Presbyterian Church of Malverne, its leaders and members spearheaded numerous programs and activities to benefit the community. In the early 1930's, the congregation realized the need for a meeting place where commmunity wide events and activities could be held. The Community Hall next to the Church was built specifically so that all residents of our village could gather as a community for plays, dinners and other activities. Religious leaders from Community Presbyterian Church were among the first to participate in the Thanksgiving Eve Ecumenical Service; and the first environmental and recycling group in our village was established by members of the congregation; and

WHEREAS today, The Community Presbyterian Church of Malverne continues to extend beyond its parishioners with outreach programs, providing support and help to improve the quality of life to varied groups and organizations. In partnership with the Long Island Council of Churches Pantry, the Commmunity Presbyterian Church is active in food drives; Community Counseling with low cost or free counseling and opening their doors to numerous local organizations.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT KNOWN, that the Board of Trustees being cognizant of the significant role played by the religious institutions within our community, does hereby wish to publicly acknowledge and express its esteem for many years of achievement and its continued message of peace, and

BE IT FURTHER KNOWN, that I, Patricia Ann McDonald, Mayor of the Incorporated Village of Malverne and all the residents of our community hereby express our heartfelt congratulations on this the 75th Anniversary, Community Presbyterian Church of Malverne.

Signed: Patricia Norris McDonald, Mayor

Now about that Tax Refund

Within the next few weeks many of us are going to get a special economic stimulus payment zapped into our bank accounts. As we focus on stewardship this year, some thoughts on what to do with this "bonus."

1. Tithe - We're called to give 10% off the top of all income to the work of God. That can be the church, a favorite charity, a mission project but at least 10% should go beyond you and your household to make a difference in the world.

2. Be a rebel - pay off debts - Every retailer out there is going to be clamboring for your refund. Many are offering special gift cards that give you money if you deposite your entire tax refund with them. Instead, use this money to get out of any financial holes you may be in. Make an extra house payment or car payment. Knock out some credit card debt.

3. Strengthen relationships - Difficult economic times can be trying on our marriages and our families. Use the stimulus payment to spend some extra time with a loved one, have a fun day with the entire family, or take a trip to visit with an old friend.

4. Give it all away - This economic downturn has hit many charities, especially ones funded largely by private donations, very hard at the same time that demand for services are increasing. As salaries and benefits are the largest expense of most charities, a generous donation of your stimulus payment could help somebody keep their job helping somebody else.

Anniversary Sunday - May 4th - 9:45 AM

A special worship service in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Community Presbyterian Church.

• All hymns will be from the 1895 hymnal, which was used by Community Presbyterian into the 1930's. Old favorites will include "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus," "Onward Christian Soldiers," and "In the Garden."
  
• Liturgy adapted from the 1940 prayer book as well as old bulletins from the archives of the Presbyterian Historical Society.
• Tribute to our longest active members – Dee Ramp, Warren Rasweiler, Kay Foernsler, Elaine Burns.
• Special anthem by the choir
  
• Congregational Photo - so wear your "Sunday Best"
• Special coffee hour
  

Thoughts on Rev. Jeremiah Wright

When soundbites of Jeremiah Wright's sermons first hit the national airwaves my first thought was that I was glad that nobody from Community Presbyterian was running for president. Enough soundbites from enough sermons could make any pastor seem to say anything.

I then realized that we in the white church were getting rare exposure to an aspect of our Christian tradition of which we are largely ignorant. We know no more about what goes on inside the churches of our African-American brothers and sisters than we know about what goes on in our local mosque. We also know little about what it is like to read the Bible from the bottom up, to see our struggles in the political struggles of the Exodus or in the persecution of both the Jewish and Christian communities by the Romans.

So while much of what Pastor Wright says is inflamatory to my ears, I have found that when I dig beneath the sound bites and read the entire transcripts of his sermons, I am forced to think, to see scripture from a different point of view and listen to voices far from my own. Underneath the soundbites is a sound, well thought out, theology - one different from my own and foreign to my way of thinking - but one that is a worthy of a respectful listen.

A good place to start is the transcript of Rev. Wright's recent National Press Club speech.
For more on Rev. Wright and his ministry, go to his church - Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Happy Anniversary CPC

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to celebrate CPC's 75th Anniversary on Friday afternoon. We ate cupcakes, sang "Happy Anniversary" and at Leonard's insistance took a picture. Here's the picture.

Post Your Joke Here

Why did the cannibal get sick after eating the missionary?
You can't keep a good man down!

The Origin of the Human Race

A little girl asked her mother: How did the human race appear? The mother answered: God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made.

Two days later she asks her father the same question. The father answered: Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race was developed.

The confused girl returns to her mother and says: Mom', how is it possible that you told me that the human race was created by God and Papa says they were developed from monkeys.
The mother answers: Well dear, it is very simple. I told you about the origin of my side of the family while your father told you about his side.

Got a joke? Click on comments and add it to the post!

Dr. Victor Rambo

This weekend Elisabeth and I are flying to Toledo, Ohio to celebrate Elisabeth's Grandfather, Dr. Victor Rambo's, induction into to Medical Missionary Hall of Fame.

From the flyleaf of Apostle of Sight: The story of Victor Rambo, surgeon to India's blind, by Dorothy Clark Wilson:

Dr. Rambo arrived in India in January, 1924, just months after completing his medical residency and marrying. When he came to India, Dr. Rambo found that millions lost their sight through infections brought on by lack of sanitation, by ignorance and by extreme poverty. He discovered that three-fourths of these blind are curable - and he set about tackling the Herculean task of restoring their sight with the vigor of a spiritual giant, the imagination of an impossible dreamer, and the courage of an incorrigible individualist.

Dr. Rambo inaugurated mobile eye clinics, mobile hospitals and he personally performed more than 40,000 cataract operations - in the process leaving a permanent imprint on the treatment of the blind in India.

The family knows a different side - the side that says saints are hard to live with - but we all stand amazed to witness what a person with a deep passion and commitment for Jesus Christ can achieve.

More:
The Story of Dr. Rambo and a blind elephant: From the Christian History Institute

Mungeli Hospital: The home base for much of Dr. Rambo's work and still a mission hospital of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in partnership with the Church of North India.

Easter Sunday

It may have been cold outside, but it was warm in our church. Thanks to everyone who made our Holy Week services so meaningful and our Easter service so joyful.
One of my friends and his family came for the first time and remarked that we all seemed so happy and friendly to all.

Holy Week Schedule

Easter morning is far more meaningful if you go through Holy Week with Jesus and his disciples. Get the whole story through these CPC services:

Maundy Thursday -- 4:00 pm (communion & foot washing)
Good Friday -- 7:30 pm (a reading of the Passion)

Then celebrate Resurrection Day:

Sunrise Service -- 7:30 am on the Valley Stream Village Green (in partnership with V.S. Presbyterian Church)
Easter Morning Celebration -- 9:45 am (communion, special music, rejoicing, and more)

For the Children:

Easter Egg Hunt -- After worship (OK, eggs and rabbits hearken back to the pagan fertility holiday Easter superseded, but it's fun!); Kids, please restrict your hunting to the area assigned to your age group. Older kids, leave the easy eggs for the little ones.

Holy Week Challenge

Read Matthew chapters 21:12 - 26:16. Some of Jesus' most challenging and provocative teaching was done during the four days between his entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) and his arrest (Maundy Thursday). Take a read and post your thoughts by clicking on the comment link below.