We Did It! CPC Wins Souper Bowl Collection

Thanks to Rob's abundant efforts, CPC more than survived a last minute surge by Middle Island and won the SouperBowl 2012 food collection competition. We'll receive the trophy on April 12th at the Presbytery Meeting in Roosevelt.

Here's the final standings.


Here are some pictures from Shirley Yang as they delivered all the food to the Long Island Council of Churches Food Pantry in Freeport.

2012 Lenten Study - God's Abundant Table

Nassau Joint Ministries presents God's Abundant Table, a Lenten journey of food, community and worship across five stand-alone sessions. Topics include God's abundance, hospitality, the link between justice and food, spiritual food and giving thanks. Sessions begin with a simple dinner at 6:45 followed by a study and then closing with worship.

Dates & Locations:
February 28 - Massapequa
Presbyterian Community Church
150 Pittsburgh Street

March 6 - Garden City
The Presbyterian Church
91 Chester Avenue

March 13 - Malverne
Community Presbyterian Church
12 Nottingham Road

March 20 - Freeport
First Presbyterian Church
178 South Ocean Avenue

March 27 - Baldwin
First Presbyterian Church
717 Saint Luke's Place

Today's Souper Bowl Shopping Hint

Thanks to Don Neugebauer for catching the great deals on canned goods at Target. Campbells Condensed Soup four packs are $2.25 each. Goya tomato sauce is $.47 each. I was able to get 42 food items - soup, rice, beans and tomato sauce - for $25.

Souper Bowl Challenge

The Souper Bowl is a national collection for the hungry held on Super Bowl Sunday. Founded by the pastor of a Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, tens of thousands of churches, schools and youth organizations participate. For a full history go to the Souper Bowl web site.

The Souper Bowl Challenge began in 2011 when Middle Island Presbyterian Church challenged other congregations in the Presbytery of Long Island to a food collection contest during the month of February. The goal: collect as many food items as possible. The congregation that collected the most per member would win. That first year Malverne & Merrick accepted the challenge. Merrick won. In 2012 two other congregations: Yaphank and Bellmore have joined in the fun.

Current Souper Bowl standings as of February 19. Graph is of cans/member.

Congregational God Sightings 2011 & Prayers for 2012

Each year at Community Presbyterian's annual meeting we collect God Sightings from the previous year and prayer for the congregation in the year to come. Slightly condensed, these are this year's God Sightings and Prayers.

God Sightings for 2011
Our contributions to local missions
The way the congregation held together spiritually and financially through a year of economic distress
Church on the Road (2)
The three sages in the Christmas Pageant (1)
The energy brought by new members (4)
Craft Fair (4)
Lenten series on prayer
Advent/Christmas activities
Working together on the boiler (7)
Near balance of the budget
Our pastor (3)
Health of family & friends
Having God to guide my life
Thrift Shop ladies
Fellowship activities (2)
My baptism
Meeting and overcoming obstacles
Everyone who helps keep the congregation going
Use of Elders for preaching
Increased number of children in church
Growing partnerships with other congregations on youth ministry

Prayers for 2012
That we continue our good deeds and spread our love (2)
Growth of Little Blessings Preschool (4)
Membership growth(12)
Spiritual growth (2)
Meet the church budget (3)
Continue participation of young families
Continued blessing of the Lord's love
Growth in wisdom & generosity
Build up Sunday School (2)
Continue on as a congregation
Become a more vibrant, exciting pathway to a close relationship with God

Confirmation Art

Church history was the topic of last Tuesday's confirmation class. While Pastor Pam tried to cover 2,000 years in an hour and a half, the kids took to drawing the history on large sheets taped to the walls. Check out the video to see their unique take.

Allyce's paper.



Everyone Else's (Including Brittany)

Annual Meeting Sunday

CPC had its 98th annual meeting on Sunday and we shared reports, reviewed the church finances, elected officers and lifted up congregational priorities. We also collected congregational God sightings from 2011 and prayers for 2012. Those will be posted as soon as we get them typed up.

Got your own God sightings from 2011 and prayers for 2012? Leave them in the comments.

Need a copy of the Annual Report? Contact the church office.

Our congregational priorities for 2012 are:
- Increase number of congregation & community dinners
- Better care of our oldest members
- Continued focus on meeting the financial needs of the congregation.

Read Pastor Fritz's State of the Church address laying out the above priorities.

Congratulations and thank you to our new class of elders:
- Lorne Birch
- June Englese
- Shel Basch

And to our new class of Deacons:
- Dorothy Grace
- Lori Basch
- Shirley Yang
- Kayla Hospodka

Bowery Mission Women's Center Gifts

As our Christmas service project, we collected gifts for the women at The Bowery Mission Women's Center at Heartsease Home. As usual everyone was generous - we almost completely filled the back of Milan's truck - and as you can see from these pictures the women at the Women's Center were thrilled. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Buy From Women for Women

This year our church wide mission project is to buy gifts for the women at The Bowery Mission Women's Center, a program on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that provides shelter, support, counseling and job training for women in crisis. Click here for the complete list of suggested gifts. (Note: the list is on page 2)

Wouldn't it be neat if you could double your impact by buying your gift for The Bowery Mission Women's Center from other programs that serve to empower women? The cool thing is you can - and you might very well save money by doing so. Here are some links to places you can shop.

Serrv - One of the largest outlets for fair trade crafts, the majority of Serrv's handicrafts are made by women through dozens of programs around the world that serve to educate and economically empower women, and through them, their communities.

Soup of Success - Soups, desserts & greeting cards by homeless women in Elkhart, IN

Women's Initiative Network - Foods stuffs & Jewelry by domestic violence survivors in Wichita, KS

Poverello Prints - amazing cards and artwork by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi

Women of the Cloud Forest - jewelry & embroidered bags from Costa Rica

Tutwiler Quilters - quilted bags and place mats from the Mississippi Delta

Women's Bean Project - soup mixes from Denver, CO

We Give Thanks

Last Sunday at CPC we renewed our Thanksgiving Banner, pinning leaves with our own prayers of Thanksgiving up on the large cloth banner reading "Thank you."

Here are some of the prayers of thanks that were offered. Add your own Prayer of Thanksgiving to the comments, or add it to the banner in church next time you are there.

• Family and church
• My family
• Guiding and protecting us through a difficult year
• A new addition to the family
• A loving, wonderful wife
• Every breath I take
• Family, good friends, good health
• Life, family, church
• Food, water, shelter
• Good health & Pastor Fritz's leadership
• For God keeping us strong in tough times and blessing us in good times
• Shepherds who take care of the sheep
• Love of children
• Wife, family & friends - for health & peace in their lives
• A loving family who is there when I need them
• Love, family, health
• The opportunities I have been luckily enough to be given
• Strength and good health to continue caring for my mother-in-law
• Mommy, Papa, Daddy
• That God puts up with me
• Family, friendship, patience, health, happiness
• My little boys & family
• The warm friendship found at CPC
• Amazing family & friends
• Wonderful family
• Health & family
• Church & family
• Wife, daughter, future son-in-law & church
• Wife who picks me up from the train station at 11:30 pm
• Healthy family
  

The Annotated Guide to Advent/Christmas at CPC

Every place has its traditions, and some are a little peculiar, so I thought I'd explain a little about what we do at CPC to keep our spirits focused on Christ during this season.

Download the entire Advent/Christmas schedule

The Advent Wreath - A devotional tool used to focus on the light that Christ brings into our lives during Christmas. Consists of four candles (either pink or purple) symbolizing the weeks leading up to Christmas and a white center candle symbolizing Christ. On Sundays during worship, starting November 27, we will light one candle each week. Then on Christmas Eve we will light the inner white candle. Many of us also have advent wreaths in our homes and light them daily during a meal or during private devotions. The church distributes a daily Advent devotional to help focus us on Christ's coming.

Poinsettias - members and friends of the congregation contribute to decorating the sanctuary by buying poinsettias in honor or remembrance of those they love. Those who desire to take their poinsettias home after the Christmas Eve service pay a premium of $12. Those who leave their poinsettias behind to decorate the sanctuary through the Christmas season pay $6. Those who are feeling generous or forgetful pay $12 and leave their poinsettia behind.

Advent Kickoff Potluck (Sunday, Nov. 27 @ 6:00) - a low key dinner to get the Christmas season started right.

Lighting of Malverne (Saturday, Dec. 3 from 5-9) - Malverne's Christmas festival. We have a table out on Hempstead Avenue (which is closed) and give away free cookies and hot cider while inviting everyone to join us for the Christmas season (and beyond).

Cookie Walk (Sunday, Dec. 11 after church) - an annual fundraiser for the Presbyterian Women. In the old days they would bake cookies and sell them to the congregation. Now everyone in the congregation bakes cookies and then buys their cookies back.

The Christmas Tree (Decorated on Dec. 11 during worship) - The sanctuary Christmas Tree is communally decorated with generations of ornaments made by church school children and others.

Caroling (Sunday, Dec. 11 @ 3:30) - We gather for a simple dinner of soup, bread and hot dogs before careening around town to sing carols at the homes of our shut ins and others. We than return to the church for a relaxing evening of hot coco, cookies and conversation in the church lounge.

Christmas Eve Services (Dec. 24, 4:00 & 11:00) - The so called "family service," the 4:oo service makes a special effort to include the congregation's children in telling the Christmas story. It also includes special music, Pastor Fritz's Christmas sermon and communion. The 4:00 service tends to run a little longer than an ordinary Sunday service. The 11:00 service is a low key service of lessons and carols. Members of the congregation read a series of scriptures beginning with Genesis that illuminate the coming of Jesus. Between readings the congregation sings carols or special music is offered. There is no sermon. The service ends shortly after 12:00 am on Christmas morning.

Download the entire Advent/Christmas schedule

Church Fair 2011

Many thanks to everyone who helped with this year's church fair and dinner - and a special thanks to those who came and spent money. The fair raised over $5,200 for the church.

Check out the slide show.

Church Fair this Weekend

Saturday, 10 - 3, Dinner at 6:00. Dinner is $12.

Fresh Vegetables • Mary’s Crafts • Fair Trade Crafts from around the world • Baked Goods • Baskets & More Baskets • Quilt Raffle • Hand made Children’s Clothes • Sausage Lady • Children’s craft project • Pork Dinner

Check out the quilt


Here's the flier. Click for a printable PDF.

Letter to Congregation Re: New Boiler & Year End Finances

October 28, 2011

To the congregation:

After worship last Sunday, the Finance Committee presented an update on congregational finances and presented initial estimates for the cost of replacing the church hall boiler, which cracked two weeks ago.

As for the congregation’s finances, our income is up slightly due to the preschool but a 60% rise in the cost of oil in addition to staff pay raises have caused expenses to increase as well. Congregational giving has also been slightly weaker than in previous years. Taken together, this leaves us with a projected $6,000 deficit for 2011.

The boiler is expected to cost approximately $20,000 to replace, an amount that includes asbestos removal, disposal of the old boiler, purchasing the new boiler, installation and other expenses associated with a possible conversion to natural gas.

The good news is that a new boiler will considerably lower our energy use. This plus the growing preschool bodes well for the congregation’s long-term financial picture.

At this time, however, we need everybody to dig a little deeper and challenge themselves to both help balance this year’s budget and raise the funds necessary for the new boiler. By the end of the meeting last Sunday, we had already received four pledges toward the new boiler exceeding $6,500. We also received lesser commitments toward helping balance the operating budget.

Community Presbyterian is our spiritual home. It is where we gather to praise God, to raise our children in the faith, to fellowship together, to pray for each other and the world and to serve our neighbors. Enclosed with this letter is a simple form asking you to do your part to help move the congregation over the hump. If you could prayerfully consider how much you are able to give, both toward the boiler and the projected deficit, and then fill out the form, it would be of great help. Completed forms can be put into the offering plate or given to Nancy Stalb.

Thank you

Lorne Birch

Clerk

Download Pledge Form

In Memoriam - Church Hall Boiler

On Sunday we offered our thanks to God for the life and service of the church hall boiler. For 81 years, first as a coal boiler and then as an oil fired boiler, it provided heat for scout troops and AA meetings, community theatrical productions and talent shows, the thrift shop and fellowship club dinners, church fairs and coffee hours.

Over the years, the boiler tank began to rust away with age, developing leaks and then sealing the leaks over with rust. Over the years, congregational leaders also questioned the boiler's efficiency, wondering about changes but then balking at the cost of replacement.

At its September 2011 meeting, the Session questioned once again whether, with rising oil prices we could continue affording to operate the church hall boiler. They appointed a team to begin reviewing options. And then when our Sexton John Wolfe test fired the boiler, water began running out the bottom as quickly as it went in the top. The boiler had finally rusted through.

For years, when we felt we could not afford to replace it, the good Lord kept our boiler going. And then, when we were wondering whether we could afford to run it, the boiler died. Our God watches over us in all ways.

The church is currently soliciting bids for all aspects of the boiler replacement process. We expect it will cost in the vicinity of $20,000 once costs related to a possible conversion to gas are factored in.

Fall Youth Schedule

This is the fall schedule for Nassau Joint Youth activities

Sunday, Oct. 2 - Courageous Movie Screening - Roosevelt Field theater, 3:30, followed by pizza and discussion at Garden City Presbyterian Church

Sunday, Oct. 16 - Crop Walk, Baldwin Park, 1:00 - Special fake geo caching activity & lunch

November 11-12 - Retreat @ Holmes Camp

Sunday, Dec. 4 - Out of the Box Worship, 5:00 pm, Massapequa

What's Going On with Sunday School

We've gotten a slow start with Sunday School this year, but have finally figured everything out. Here's what's going to happen:

Classes:
- Toddler/Pre-K - Head Teacher Laura Eisenlau
- Elementary - Head Teacher Gloria Olson
- Middle School + - Head Teacher Mary Hallam

Schedule:
11:00 - 11:15 - General Gathering w/ story presented by youth and music.
11:15-12:00 - Separate classes. (Toddler class with be shorter)

Bill Lee's 9-11 Fountain

Bill Lee built an incredible pool and fountain on the church lawn for our outdoor service on 9-11. Check out the pictures below.

Special 9-11 Service

All are welcome to attend this special service of remembrance for those who died on 9-11 and of prayer for ourselves and our world. The service will include both corporate prayer and time for individual reflection. Communion will be served and one-on-one healing prayer will be offered.

Church survives Irene

The church survived the brunt of Hurricane Irene in fine shape. A plexiglass window covering was destroyed by the wind, but other than that there was no damage.

The church's main phone line - 599-3220 - is out as is the preschool phone.

The manse yard suffered some tree damage and lost an old Hydrangea bush. The manse has been without power since Sunday morning.