MADISON AVENUE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
921 Madison Avenue
(at East 73rd Street)
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212- 288-8920
Fax: 212-249-1466
(at East 73rd Street)
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212- 288-8920
Fax: 212-249-1466
God’s Covenant with creation is given as grace and peace. Peace is the wholeness and community in which human beings are meant to live. Although all people are sinners, God continually renews the Covenant through our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s peace heals, comforts, strengthens and frees.
Responding to this good news, the church goes into the world to point to and to become a part of God’s peacegiving. God’s peace is offered wherever there is brokenness – in individual lives, families, congregations, communities, nations and creation. In God’s Covenant, the world and the church experience wholeness, security and justice.
The General Assembly has affirmed in “Peacemaking: the Believers’ Calling” that God’s peacegiving in a broken and insecure world is central to the message of the gospel. Therefore, people of faith engage in peacemaking, not as a peripheral activity but as an integral part of their congregational life and mission.
We encourage you to bring your offering to worship on World Communion Sunday, October 5.
John Weaver will inaugurate the 2003-04 season of the St. Andrew Music Society
with his 34th annual organ recital. Dr. Weaver began his tenure at MAPC
in the fall of 1970. He retired this past May as Head of the Organ Department
at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia after serving in that position
since 1972. He became Chair of the Organ Department at the Juilliard School
in 1987 and has honorary doctorates from Westminster College and the Curtis
Institute.
His program this year opens with an ever-popular “war horse”
of the French organ repertoire, the Suite Gothique by Leon Boëllmann
(1862-1897). This will be followed by a work composed by Dr. Weaver in 1998,
Introduction and Fugue on St. Denio, commissioned by the choir
of the Garden Grove Community Church (also known as the Crystal Cathedral)
in honor of Fred Swann on the occasion of his retirement. It is based on
the familiar Welsh hymn, Immortal Invisible, God Only Wise.
Flutist Marianne Weaver will play a short work by the Brazilian composer
Amaral Vieira entitled Andante Misterioso. It is scored for flute
and organ and is dedicated to the Weavers. This will be its New York premiere
performance; the Weavers will also play it in a recital in São Paulo
in December with the composer present.
The centerpiece of the program will be Bach’s monumental Passacaglia
in C Minor. Two more Weaver pieces will follow: Prelude on Beach
Spring (1996) and Carillon (2003). The concluding work will
be César Franck’s Finale in B-flat, a seldom played
but brilliant and flamboyant toccata. As always for organ recitals, the
console will be moved to the top of the chancel steps for full visibility.
The suggested donation is $10 (Seniors and Students $8) with the proceeds
going to the St. Andrew Music Society.
Other Artists in the 2003 Keyboard Series |
October 12: Edwin Hymovitz, Piano |
Interested in learning more about the Christian faith in general, the Presbyterian
Church, or MAPC in particular? Have you been thinking about making MAPC
your church home?
These are all good reasons for attending our next Inquirers Seminar on Saturday,
October 4, when we will address all those questions and more. We will begin
gathering at 8:30 am for coffee and continental breakfast in the Phillips
Lounge next to Dana Chapel in the Church House. The Seminar itself begins
promptly at 9 am and concludes around 4 pm. Dress is casual, and lunch will
be provided. Professional child care is available but needs to be arranged
in advance by calling Mary Walling at the church office (288-8920, x241).
If you have questions or concerns in general, please call the Rev. J.C.
Austin at the church office (288-8920, x242). He will be pleased to speak
with you about the seminars or other questions you might have about membership
or the church. E-mail: jca@mapc.com.
There will be a luncheon on Sunday, October 5 from 12:45 to 2 pm in Room 509 for all LEAP volunteers. Anyone interested in participating in LEAP (Learning Enrichment Activities Program) is cordially invited. RSVP to Mary Walling at (212) 288-8920, ext. 241. (mlw@mapc.com)
I love this place. This place is full of the love of God and of our love
for Him. We have all felt it. It keeps us coming back Sunday after Sunday.
God-loving has been practiced here: gratitude given, thanksgiving sung,
peace prayed for–to Him from Whom all blessings flow. The space is
lovely, the music is beautiful, the hymns both melt us down and strengthen
our commitment, the sermons illuminate our way. There are stained glass,
flowers, ordained ministers. There is the Word and Sacrament. I have certainty
that God is worshiped here and I am so happy to be a part of that. But,
although the love of God is a “Sunday kind of love,” it is,
to quote Reverend Edee Fenimore, a downtown minister, “... not an
event but a necessity, in every moment of the ongoing now..”.
What a quiet thrill it is to discover that just a handful of us, getting
together in any room to share conversation about how we experience God in
our lives, can recreate Sanctuary...with our seeking, our histories, our
failings and our unique invitations to follow Christ, with our variety of
gifts, our caring support of one another and the most mind-blowing component
of the small group–Christ Himself. Where two or more are gathered
in His name . . ? Well, that’s what we are in small group ministry.
The hymn says “Our hearts the altar, and Thy love the flame.”
I love the voice of my pastor. I’ve been guided by it for years now,
but I love the voices of my fellow members, who model faith in their particular
challenge or joy and don’t realize how beautiful they are. It is in
these conversations that I get a glimpse of what God sees in us! A businessman
who reminds himself of the perspective from the Heavenly Realm when he gets
stressed out, a mother who thinks of the story of Hagar and Ishmael as a
blessing mantra when she worries about her children. And the big surprise
is to open one’s own mouth and discover the love of God coming out
of it!
Pastors always say “The Church is not a building...it’s us”
Small Group Ministry gives one an authentic experience of that. As the tiniest
strand of DNA proves the identity of the whole person, so the small group
of us is in integrity with the Body of Christ present in this congregation.
There are four small groups starting at MAPC in early October. “Companions
in Christ” is a 28-week spiritual formation group, consisting of 8
or 9 people including the leader. It will meet from October through May/June,
taking breaks for holidays and school vacations as needed. One group will
meet Thursdays from 7 to 9 pm, the other Mondays 10 to noon. If a smaller
time commitment appeals, you are invited to join one of the two short-term
small groups, which will use the Workbook of Living Prayer by Maxie Dunnam.
These will meet for seven weeks in October and November, one on Wednesday
evenings from 7 to 8:30, and the other on Sunday evenings from 6 to 7:30.
Small group members will commit to deepening their prayer and their listening
for the Spirit, reading a bit every day and keeping a personal journal of
their learning and questions, supporting one another in weekly meetings
and knowing that daily spiritual disciplines and weekly gatherings provide
holy ground for growing in faith. Please join in this exciting new ministry!
If you would like to participate in a small group, please contact Margaret
Williamson at the church. You can call her at (212) 288-8920, ext. 271,
or e-mail her at mew@mapc.com.
I’ll close my remarks by quoting David Read: “Sometimes, people
think that we are a group of people who claim that Once Upon a Time we were
Born Again, and we just want to tell people about it. Well, I rather think
that we are a people who, having glimpsed the Light of Christ, are helping
one another to be born again and again and again. Great are Thy mercies.
They’re new every morning!”
Parish RegisterDeaths Weddings (*MAPC Member) |
A guest from the Central Park Conservancy will join us for a presentation on one of our city’s greatest treasures and most beloved spaces. All MAPC and area seniors are invited to join us in the Parish Hall at 3 pm on October 6 to learn more about Central Park and enjoy fellowship and refreshments. Invite a friend and RSVP to Margaret Williamson at (212) 288-8920, ext. 271, or e-mail her at mew@mapc.com.
We have three events for Mid-Timers coming up in October and November:
October 24, 6 pm–Tour of the Egyptian galleries at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. After a guided tour we will eat at one of the museum’s
restaurants. Cost: $15 for the tour plus whatever you spend on dinner.
November 2, 1 pm–Brunch at Clove. We’ll meet in the church house lobby during coffee hour after the 11:15 am service, then walk to Clove on 80th street for brunch. We only have reservations for 15 people, so reserve your spot now! Cost: depends on what you order! Menu items are between $10 - $20.
November 21-23, Spiritual Autobiography Retreat at the Convent of St. Helena in Vails Gate, NY. Come get away and spend some time relaxing, reflecting, recreating, and sharing your story with other participants. In his book “The Story of Your Life,” Dan Wakefield refers to spiritual autobiography as “the pilgrimage to look for the source of one’s faith and see one’s experience in relation to that search.” Some of us began this pilgrimage last December during a special Wednesday evening Advent class on Spiritual Autobiography. During this past Lenten season the pastors of MAPC shared their own spiritual autobiographies in a Wednesday evening series. This retreat will give Mid-Timers the opportunity to reflect upon and share their spiritual autobiographies. The retreat will begin Friday evening and end in the early afternoon on Sunday. Beverly Bartlett, Associate Pastor for Congregational Life will be the facilitator. The cost is $125 per person, plus transportation. We will try and arrange car pools among participants.
To register for any of these events, please call Margaret Williamson at the church (212) 288-8920, ext. 271, or e-mail her at mew@mapc.com.
Be sure to listen to Dr. Anderson’s sermon and a portion of our Worship Service as MAPC begins its third year of broadcasts on 96.3 FM, WQXR, Sunday, October 5 at 8 am. |
Save the date of Saturday, October 25 to help with the New Amsterdam Boys Choir Walkathon. MAPC has given this talented group of young men a grant this year. The purpose of this event is to raise funds to help cover the choir’s out-of-town traveling expenses in the spring. The NABC is looking for adults to act as walkers, checkpoint sitters and–most important–sponsors to pledge. MAPC will be hosting this choir on Sunday, April 25, 2004 at 1 pm, so this is your chance to meet the choir before this happy event. For more information, please contact Anne Connor (212) 570-6684, Dawn Ravella (212) 288-8920 or James Backmon, Choir Director (212) 360-1931.
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