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LAMPLIGHTER
April 2015
WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Revelation will be hosting a
Prom/Sweet 16 dress sale on Saturday,
April 18 from 10am-4pm. Please
donate any gently worn gowns and
accessories (dressy bags, jewelry,
etc.) to this fundraiser which will help
fund the senior youth group summer
mission trip.
Donations can go entirely to the youth
group or can be split 50/50 with the
person donating items. Items can be
dropped off in the parlor until April
17. Please indicate if you would like to
donate the item fully or would like to
share the 50/50 profit with Revelation.
Please share with friends/relatives
(email and facebook are a great way to
reach a large number of people) who
may be interested in donating or
shopping. Contact Lisa Carlen @ (631)
428-2837 with any questions.
Join us April 18 at 6:30pm for a
Chinese Auction and Family Bingo
Night, an evening of fellowship and
fun! Please consider donating any new
or like-new items, such as household
items, movies, toys, etc. We will put
baskets together that will be auctioned
off.
Senior Youth Group
Defensive Driving Course at WRCC
Saturday, April 25, 2015
9am – 3pm
$35.00/person
For registration call
Douglas Carlen
(631) 428-2841
A portion of the proceeds will go
towards Revelation Youth Ministry.
Thank you!
Religious Services
Teen Rec. Night
Grades 6-12 Saturday, April 25 7-10pm
CONTEMPORARY
WORSHIP SERVICE
FRIDAY, APRIL 3 AT
7PM
Maundy Thursday – April 6 at
6:30pm, Maundy Thursday dinner
followed by a short communion
service and feet washing.
Please join us for our sunrise service
at 7:00am followed by breakfast, or
for our 10:30am service. There is no
9:00 service.
Mark Your Calendars for Sunday, May 3
Annual meeting and potluck
luncheon, immediately following 10:30am service.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his
promise, as some understand slowness.
Instead he is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. - 2 Peter 3:9
Last month I wrote about the importance
of waiting for God. God tells us to seek
him and promises to answer but he doesn't
usually do this when we want him to. This
means that having a relationship with God,
which Jesus came to give us, often
requires waiting. The last month has
forced us to do a lot of waiting. Waiting
for the sun to shine. Waiting for the
temperature to warm up for more than a
day. Waiting for the snow to go away. Lots
of waiting. The weather has given us quite
a lesson in waiting. Spring is right around
the corner. That's what we keep telling
ourselves. But the winter just won't go away; so we wait...
The real problem with waiting for the
weather to change, of course, is that there's
nothing we can actually do about it. All we
can do is wait. No matter how frustrated
we get when we hear there's snow in the
forecast (by the way, there's snow in the
forecast), there's nothing we can do to
speed up spring or to hurry winter away.
This forces us to do what is sometimes
called passive waiting. It's the kind of
waiting where there's nothing to do but
wait and maybe hope.
We sometimes approach our relationship
with God in the same way. We want to
know him better, to see him answer our
prayers, to see his power in our lives, and
so we wait. But we wait for God the same
way we wait for spring: passively. But the
kind of waiting God calls us to is actually
something different. After all, God tells us
to seek him, call on him, pray to him,
search his word and sing his praises.
But he tells us to do all of this as we
are waiting. God calls us to an active
waiting.
A Word from Pastor TJ
TJ God and the weather are different in
some important ways. The weather doesn't hear us, care about us, or respond
to our concerns. It has no compassion on
our snow-shoveling or cabin fever. God is
different. He hears us, cares about us, has
compassion on us, and crucially, he
answers us. This doesn't mean that we
won't have to wait, but it does mean he will
answer us in meaningful ways while we
wait. Consider the example of the Apostle
Paul. Paul explains in Romans 1 that he
longed to go to Rome to preach to the
church there, but was prevented from
doing this. For years God made Paul wait
to go to Rome but while he waited Paul
kept seeking God and following him. The
result was astonishing. God did amazing
things in Paul's life. He used Paul to
establish many churches and to build the
faith of billions. It was during this waiting,
after all, that Paul wrote the letters that make up much of the New Testament.
Paul had to wait, but he didn't stop seeking
the Lord while he did and neither should
we. You see, another way God is different
from the weather is that we have a reliable
source of information about him. We can
turn to his word and know that we will see
him there. We can learn more about who
God is and what he is like by reading what he has told us about himself.
Start this week by reading a chapter or two
each day from Psalms. This is a collection
of prayers by people like us, people
waiting for God to answer. See if God
doesn't teach you more about who he is as
you read them. Then, follow their example
and pray. Bring your struggles and
impatience to God because he listens and
he will answer. It might not be when we
want, but he is faithful to his promises and if we seek him we will find him.
and that he will answer.. And if we seek
him we will find him.
Lamplighter
Wednesday Fellowship
A display of knit and crocheted
sweaters by the Wednesday
Fellowship ladies are on display in the
auditorium. They will be included in
baby kits given to Church World
Services to help families in need with
newborns.
Items needed to complete the kits are
written on teddy bears. Please choose a
teddy bear and leave the item in the
box, or make a financial donation in the
can by Sunday, April 19.
Thank you for your support.
God bless,
WRCC Wednesday Fellowship Group
April Birthdays
3 Kerstin Turner
4 Judy Black
7 Janice Elliott
10 Kimberly
Giacalone
Diane Loffredo
15 Roy Marlow
16 Edward Elliott
17 Diane Barraud
18 Ralph DeLucia
19 Joe Nocerino
20 Lisa Carlen
21 Jim Klein
22 Gregory Efimetz
Rachel Sofranek
23 Jack Guthy
Juliana Schmidt
Janet Carignan
Brittany Carlen
25 Doris Allen
26 Peter Last
30 Kathy Rowehl
Hello Wading River Church
Congregation!
GENESIS, the church’s new youth
group for children in Grades 3 through
8, is growing quickly and doing great
things. We have been holding one
event per month and are looking to
expand to include more meetings and
events - with the ultimate goal of
reaching the unchurched youth of our
local communities.
We would like to take this opportunity
to thank everyone who have supported
our youth and their events, which
includes the ‘Penguin Splash’,
Christmas caroling and most recently
our collection of items for the town of
Brookhaven’s ‘Totes for Tots’
program.
GENESIS is continuing to plan
activities and fellowship for our youth.
Here are some things we’re working
on:
- Planning a trip to ‘Sky Zone’ -
tentatively for Saturday, April 11
- Hosting a Mother’s Day breakfast
after the 10:30 service on May 10
- Organizing a one-day bus trip in
December to the SIGHT and
SOUND Theater in Lancaster, PA
to see their production of “Miracle
of Christmas”
More information and the latest
updates can be found in the weekly
bulletin, GENESIS Facebook page and
in the auditorium.
Thank you again for your continued
support and encouragement of our
youth and for participating in our
events. If you’re in Grades 3 through 8
and haven’t been part of God’s plan for
the youth of our church, sign up now
and join the fun and spiritual growth!
GENESIS
Camp Berea 2015
Revelation took another trip to New
Hampshire for an adventurous
weekend at Camp Berea from February
27th to March 1st. This year’s theme
was “Upside Down”. Through ministry
and our speaker, Danny Ray, we
learned that things which appear to be
backwards to humans may be the right
way to GOD. When GOD sent us King
Jesus, he was sent as a helpless baby
rather that a strong ruler. When HE
chose to spread the word of Jesus’
birth, it was started at the bottom of the
social class (sheep herders and tax
collectors) rather than the top. There
are many examples in the bible of how
things seem to be done “upside down”
or “backwards”, but it just may be the
way humans think that is backwards.
Many of the students strengthened their
relationships with each other, formed
new bonds with fellow Christians and
renewed or discovered their faith in
God. The worship band, Atta Boy, led
the praise music all weekend long.
The group participated in the many
“free time” activities that Camp Berea
offers. They challenged themselves to
become a human swing, flying about
50 feet in the air, played paintball, went
snow-tubing, participated in group
competitions and took a walk out on
the frozen lake.
Both the students and leaders came
away with a renewed spiritual feeling
and felt energized to spread the word of
God and share His love and grace to
others.
Revelation
The Women’s Guild welcomed spring
with their “Garden Getaway” Faith Lift
on March 14th. Although the weather
outside was a little rainy and chilly, the
temperature inside was full of warmth
and friendship. If you were in church
over that weekend, you got to see the
‘flowers’ that decorated the parlor and
auditorium. It truly looked like a
colorful spring garden. The amazing
participants were able to explore the
‘Seasons of Life’, learn how ‘God is
Making Us Beautiful’, ‘Walk with
God’, explore ‘Caring for those in a
Season of Need’, strengthen our faith
in ‘the Difficult Seasons of Life’ and
find ‘Joy in Every Season’. Many,
many thanks to our childcare
providers, chefs and tech support; as
well as those who lead each session –
it was a wonderful celebration of a
‘Garden Getaway – where women
walk with God’.
Looking ahead, please mark your
calendars for our next meeting on April
20, 2015 at 7:00. We will be learning
about Church World Services and all
their programs and assembling the
layette kits that are donated by the
congregation. In May we will be
‘Celebrating Moms’ at our May 11th
meeting – more details on that meeting
to come.
Although the temperature is still a little
chilly – spring is here! Take a walk
with God and enjoy the beauty of the
season! “I love the Lord because he
hears my voice and my prayer for
mercy. Because he bends down to
listen, I will pray as long as I have
breath! … And so I walk in the Lord’s
presence as I live here on earth!”
Psalm 116:1-2, 9
Women’s Guild
Spring has officially arrived, with what
is hopefully the last snowstorm of the
season. Soon the grass will be green,
the trees will begin to bud and the
flowers will be blossoming. Praise God
for re-birth!
As the Deacons plan for the events of
Holy Week; Maundy Thursday
communion dinner, a Contemporary
Worship service on Good Friday and
Easter Morning Worship services, we
are reminded of the incredible gift of
salvation that came with Jesus’ death
on the cross. We pray that we never
take it lightly or take it for granted.
As the Deacons continue to work with
Pastors TJ and Craig to discern and
provide for the spiritual needs of the
church members, we remain prayerful
and hopeful. Life is sometimes
overwhelming. Hope comes from fully
trusting God and his plan for each of
our lives. One important component of
hope is trusting God in all things, big
and small.
In A Praying Life by Paul Miller he
states, ‘But if you take Jesus’ words
seriously – “Whatever you ask in my
name, this I will do” (John 14:13) – it
opens the door to the possibility of real
change and hope.‘ But we also know
that prayers are not always answered in
the way we want them to be or when
we want them to be. Prayer is our
communication with God, God wants
to do something bigger than simply
answering our prayers. As Miller states
“The act of praying draws God into my
life and begins to change me, the pray-
er in subtle ways”. Our prayers do not
sit in isolation from the rest of our
lives, they are intricately interwoven.
Below is an excerpt where Miller talks
about the desert of unanswered prayers.
Thriving in the Desert
God takes everyone he loves
through a desert. It is his cure for
our wandering hearts, restlessly
searching for a new Eden. Here’s
how it works.
The first thing that happens is we
slowly give up the fight. Our wills
are broken by the reality of our
circumstances. The things that
brought us life gradually die. Our
idols die for lack of food. The still
dry air of the desert brings the sense
of helplessness that is so crucial to
the spirit of prayer. You come face-
to-face with your inability to live, to
have joy, to do anything of lasting
worth. Life is crushing you.
Suffering burns away the false
selves created by cynicism or pride
or lust. You stop caring about what
others think of you. The desert is
God’s best hope for the creation of
an authentic self. Desert life
sanctifies you. ….The desert life
becomes a window to the heart of
God. He finally gets your attention
because he is the only game in town.
As the Deacons continue to pray for
each other, for the leadership of the
church and for members of the
congregation, one of our prayers is that
we become a prayerful body of Christ
where even walking in the desert
becomes something we can appreciate
and be thankful for.
Blessings and hope to all of you.
In His Service,
The Deacons
Deacon’s Corner
Pillars of Christian Congregationalism: Inclusivity
The Rev. Dr. Craig C. Malbon, UCC Last month we discussed how
Congregationalism operates, what is
called “polity”. We highlighted that
Congregational polity sees all
members the same, none is greater than
another, all are precious children of
God through Jesus Christ our Lord and
Savior. The Gospels and Letters of
Paul inform us that we as Christians do
not have spiritual rulers who “lord it
over them [us]” [Matt. 20:25], but
rather we have one Almighty God, in
triunity (Creator, Redeemer, &
Sustainer). Our church has no bishops,
cardinals, canons, or such; we have
pastors and church people who serve
our flock as a church family.
This month we will discuss one of the
central pillars of the Christian church:
inclusivity. Since early times dating
back to Jesus’ own words as retold in
the Gospels we are encouraged to
embrace all of our fellow children of
God. This tenet is commonly referred
to as “radical inclusivity.” It is radical
in this sense, much like Jesus’ ministry
was considered “radical,” making the
first last and the last first. Let’s think a
bit about how the Apostle Paul refers
to our need for radical inclusivity. It is
not just accepting, but rather
embracing all who come to worship
Almighty God through the Son of Man.
Paul speaks of God's righteous
judgment and admonishes us not to
judge, but accept others. In his letter to
the Romans 2 Paul states, “1 Therefore
you have no excuse, O man, every one
of you who judges. For in passing
judgment on another you condemn
yourself, because you, the judge,
practice the very same things. 2 We
know that the judgment of God rightly
falls on those who practice such things.
3 Do you suppose, O man—you who
judge those who practice such things
and yet do them yourself—that you will
escape the judgment of God? [Romans
2:1-3 (ESV)]
Many of us have enjoyed sermons by
long-time member Bruce Miller that
touch upon the pillars of Christianity.
His favored lead in is, “there is a man
standing in the parking lot of the church
who asks…” One central question we
may be challenged with by this man in
the parking lot is “who” is welcomed
into your church? In our mind’s ear we
can hear Jesus telling us [Matt 18:3-4],
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and
become like little children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever takes the lowly
position of this child is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven.” In our hearts
we immediately might answer the
stranger and say “all of God’s children
are welcome here!”. Many pastors
who belong to the United Church of
Christ (founded as a historic
continuation of the General Council of
Congregational Christian Churches
under the influence of New England
Puritanism) begin their welcoming this
way, “No matter who you are, or where
you are on life’s journey, you are
welcome here!” I have used this
welcome myself when in the pulpit.
The motto of their seal (see above) is
“THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE”.
The ministry of Jesus was characterized
by radical inclusivity, e.g., all people,
sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and
those living on the margins of life itself
were His flock. Recall in John 4 that
Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman.
She was a foreigner from a despised
religious group who not really talks, but
argues with Jesus. She is a remarkable
woman who comes to voice (women
had no voice as a matter of practice in
those days) and one may wonder why
Jesus would “waste his time on a
Samaritan woman?” Her story unfolds
in John 4, she becomes a faithful
follower and apostle of Jesus, preaching
among her people! Wow, that’s a win!
Continued on Back
Embedded in the teachings of Jesus,
Page 2
Pillars of Christian Congregationalism: Inclusivity
Embedded in the teachings of Jesus,
time after time, is such radical
inclusivity as well as the good advice
that we should embrace our fellow
children of God without judgment or
may find ourselves being judged by
others. In Galatians 6, Paul both
informs and warns us not to be
judgmental, “Brothers, if anyone is
caught in any transgression, you who
are spiritual should restore him in a
spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on
yourself, lest you too be tempted.” We
should periodically ask of ourselves if
we are too ready to “cast the first
stone”, while keeping in mind that
Jesus tells a crowd to “Let him who is
without sin among you be the first to
throw a stone….” [John 8:7]. We have
so much to offer each other, whether
long-time members of the
congregation or “strangers at the door”.
By practicing inclusivity we are right
with the teachings of Jesus, even when
for us to do so may stretch our hearts
and mindsets.
When you think a little deeper about it,
a Congregational church should be the
last place for judgmental behavior,
since we are all equal in the eyes of the
Lord and all the children of God, i.e.,
one no better than another, all precious.
In many professions, a good example
being medicine, judging applicants and
potential new members to the
profession is properly termed
“credentialing.” Credentialing is a
process of establishing the
“qualifications” of a professional, assessing fitness, background, and
legitimacy. Credit card approval and
bank loan approvals follow a similar
process to find the healthiest and most
creditworthy applicants. But recall the
words of Jesus in Mark 2:17, “On
hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is
not the healthy who need a doctor, but
the sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners’." His advice to
us, all sinners, is not to go about
“credentialing” each other, but rather
to accept and embrace with gladness all
who come to worship the Lord with us.
There is wellspring of goodness in your
heart when you know that you truly are
worshipping with children of God, all
of us children of God.
So if you happen to see Bruce Miller’s
“stranger in the parking lot”, try to
recall the ministry and teachings of He
who gave His very life to expiate our
sins and to afford us His righteousness
before God. First, recall that once
maybe recently or longer ago than you
might want to admit, you too (that is we
all) were strangers to the Wading River
Congregational Church! Second, as
you approach that stranger standing in
the parking lot, reach out your hand in
Christian love and welcoming. Don’t
try to “credential” the stranger, but
rather follow the lead of Jesus. If the
stranger asks if he/she is welcome here,
you already have an excellent
“canned” response, “Brother/sister, no
matter who you are, or where you are
on life’s journey, you are welcome
here!” Oh, also try a tender warm smile
to go with that handshake and a hosted
welcome to the sanctuary of our church
by the duck pond.
With love and blessings to you all at
Eastertide,
Pastor Craig
By Kerstin Turner
Broken egg jokes aside, have you ever
questioned why Easter is such a big
deal? Or wondered why it's so
important that people wake up at
sunrise just to stand outside (in the
chilly early morning April air) and
worship? Truly....is Easter all it's
cracked up to be? Each year Christians
celebrate the death and resurrection of
our Savior, Jesus. For the 40 days
leading up to Easter, especially the
week prior (commonly referred to as
Holy week) there are numerous
worship service opportunities to
celebrate Easter. But why?
What makes the season special and
significant is that there is both tragedy
(death) and victory (resurrection). To
understand hope, you have to first
recognize despair. If Easter ended at
Christ's death, what a disappointing
end to a beautiful story that was
centuries in the making. Just imagine if
you watched the first three Lord of the
Rings movies and at the end of Return
of The King, Aragorn is nowhere to be
found and all the hobbits, the elf and
the dwarf just shrug their shoulders and
go home. What a letdown! What a
disappointment! The denouement of
the trilogy is to crown the king, and he's
gone – what a bummer!
But much like the victory of Aragorn
being crowned King and hope is
restored – Christ overcame death and
our hope is restored. Son of God,
sacrificed for the redemption of the
world. For Wading River
Congregational Church. For you. He
conquered death to give you hope when
you are disappointed – when your life
just seems “not all it's cracked up to
be”. When you hit disappointment,
remember that it is not the end of the
story – there is victory, there is a
resurrection.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of
the gospel I preached to you, which you
received, in which you stand, and by
which you are being saved, if you hold
fast to the word I preached to you—
unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first
importance what I also received: that
Christ died for our sins in accordance
with the Scriptures, that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day in
accordance with the Scriptures. – 1
Corinthians 15:1-4
Easter – All it's cracked up to be...
Update!
“Cool News from the
Trustees!” You may have noticed the sanctuary
received air conditioning units during
the winter. Not that we really needed
anymore cold air this winter, but it is
the best time of the year to get reduced
installation prices.
In fact, we were able to install air
conditioning to the nursery and thrift
store rooms as well. All within our
allotted approved amount from our last
annual meeting.
Keepin’ it cool,
Greg Efimetz (Trustee Chair)
Wading River
Congregational
Church
2057 North Country Road
Wading River, NY 11792
Phone:
631.929.8849
Fax:
631.929.8849
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
www.wrcongchurch.org
WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
2057 N Country Road
Wading River, NY 11792
April 2015
Deacons: [email protected] Joe Baier (Chair) Tom Flaim Julie Lutz Finn Maruitzen Joe Nocerino Rosemarie Schulz
Trustees: [email protected] Peter Akras Dottie Davis Carole Eibs Greg Efimetz (Chair) John Flynn Jack Guthy Frank Lehman Andrew Tumilowicz Walt Vogel
Treasurer: Asst. Treasurer: Loretta Klein Lana O’Toole Clerk: Asst. Clerk Lauren Agnew Kerstin Turner
Women’s Guild: Nancy Bosseckert, President Kerstin Turner, Vice-President Carol Bangel, Treasurer Lynette DeLucia, Recording Secretary Ann Otten, Corresponding Secretary
Men’s Fellowship: Frank Lehman, President Peter Akras, Secretary/Treasurer
Sunday School: Dina Jones, Co-Superintendent Kathy Wilson, Co-Superintendent Kathy Rowehl, Secretary-Treasurer
Outreach Coordinator: Nancy Bosseckert
Organists: Diane Hanwick Jean Elliott Choir Director: Doris Allen
Food Pantry: Carolyn Baier Joe Baier Craig Baier
TJ Turner, Pastor – [email protected] The Rev. Dr. Craig C. Malbon, UCC, Associate Pastor-
Ralph DeLucia, Sexton – [email protected] Kathy Rowehl, Children’s Ministries Coordinator – [email protected]
Donna Rassner, Administrative Assistant/Bookkeeper – [email protected]