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
In "Peacemaking: The Believers' Calling," published by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has affirmed that recognizing and building up God's peace 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 congregational life and mission.
Please join us October 6 as we celebrate World Communion Sunday with Christians around the world. During the service, we will receive the Peacemaking Offering, praying for that day when all God's people will dwell in peace! This is an annual offering, but rarely has the need for peacemaking been so visible and personal to us as it is now.
25% of the Offering will go to our New York City Presbytery's peacemaking efforts; another 50% supports our General Assembly peacemaking work. These funds will support programs that address issues and concerns such as racial reconciliation, ethnic conflict and interfaith dialogue on local, national and international levels. The remaining 25% of the Offering will be designated by the Session of MAPC.
The envelope provided in this issue of UPDATE may be mailed to the Church, or we encourage you to bring it to worship on World Communion Sunday, October 6.
J.C. Austin and his wife, Tammy, spent a year living in and traveling through the countries of eastern and southern Africa. Throughout their travels, they made a point of traveling independently and using local transportation whenever possible: trains, minibus taxis, the back of private pick-up trucks, and "chicken buses" (named for the live chickens that frequently accompany the human riders). As a result, they were able to get to places away from the tourist hubs and spend time in the "real" Africa, with a few hair-raising adventures along the way! At last February's Seniors' Ministries presentation J.C. ran out of time long before he ran out of stories. On Monday, October 7, from 3 till 4:30 pm J.C. will share more of his insights and experiences. Come hear about what it is like to gate-crash a Zulu wedding feast, be threatened by baboons, jackals and others of God's creatures, and take the unorthodox measures required for traveling in Africa.
Please let Margaret Williamson know if you and any guests will be attending, so that we may have plenty of coffee and cookies. You can reach Margaret at 212/288-8920, ext. 271.
A reception will follow at 8 pm
John Weaver's October 6 Organ Recital will include some unusual selections as well as some works from the standard repertoire. Among the unusual offerings will be two movements of a 7-movement suite called Ceremonies by Jennifer Higdon. This work was commissioned by the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists to mark the chapter's 100th birthday. Dr. Weaver played the world premiere at St. Mark's Episcopal Church on June 3 of this year and played the work again at the gathering event of the AGO National Convention at the Roman Catholic Cathedral on July 1. The entire piece is a half-hour long and employs a brass quintet for the opening and closing movements. The portions to be heard next Sunday are the 2nd and 3rd movements: Meditation (organ alone) and Fanfare (organ and French horn). Our member Barbara Oldham will be the horn player. Marianne Weaver, our flutist in residence, will play two concert works from the French composers Johannes Donjon (1830-1912) and Georges Hüe (1858-1948). The recital will open with a very short piece called Fanfara para Orgãu by Brazilian composer Furio Franceschini, the work with which Dr. Weaver opened his recital in São Paulo last November.
Three traditional masterpieces will complete the program: Bach's brilliant Prelude and Fugue in D Major, César Franck's Choral in B Minor and the Sonata on the 94th Psalm by Julius Reubke (1834-1858).
The recital will begin at 4 pm, and the doors will be opened at 3:30. No tickets are required, but a suggested donation of $10 ($8 for seniors and students) will be gratefully received at the door. The proceeds will benefit the St. Andrew Music Society. Brochures describing the society's 25 concerts for the season are now available.
Information on the entire Keyboard Series
The following is a letter to Dawn Ravella, Director of Outreach Ministries.
Dear Dawn,
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as a volunteer for the homeless sleep-over on Monday evening. I volunteered almost two decades ago in another church's effort to accommodate homeless men on a scale that closely resembled our Trial Program.
One of our guests related how the program the Friends offer downtown didn't have volunteer staffing one recent evening. He relatively cheerfully described how that caused him to spend an evening outdoors in the rain. Programs such as ours can fill a gap in the social services "safety net," which leaves much to be desired as it presently operates. And, certainly, the compassion and genuine interest we are able to convey was reflected in expressions of hope from guests (as they awaited pick-up by the bus in the morning) that our program will continue to offer an alternative for them from time to time.
Our program seemed to me to be structured with sensible regard for both the dignity of our guests as well as cleanliness and safety for those in our faith community who would like to help but who may be a little put off by questions of communicable disease that have been raised in the press. One emphasis we might stress to potential volunteers is the considerable health (both mental and physical) screening provided by the Neighborhood Coalition Drop-In Center (for which we provided some funding, as I understand it).
The "due diligence" we performed then and continue to perform as we monitor the success of the Coalition program might provide a comfort level as our potential volunteers size up what small common-sense risks there might be in giving time to this well-thought-out, modest offer of material assistance to some very earnest dislocated citizens.
Any questions about my experience or thoughts, please feel free to call me at my office.
Sincerely,
Clyde M. Roberts, Jr.
(co-sponsored by the Coalition for the Homeless, Interfaith Advocates on Homelessness and Housing and the MAPC Outreach Committee)
A record high 15,000 homeless kids now sleep each night in New York City shelters (children represent 43 percent of the homeless shelter population). Children and their families are the fastest growing segment of NYC's homeless population. Homelessness costs more than housing. $36,000 per year is the cost of shelter for a homeless family whereas $12,500 per year is the cost of supportive housing and $8,900 per year for rental assistance for a family.
New York City's children deserve a place to call home! You are invited to attend the NY Kids Need Housing! Forum on October 20 at 2 pm at Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, 351 East 74th St., New York (between 1st and 2nd Aves.). RSVP Jan Hus Presbyterian Church at 212-288-6743. For more information about this forum or to learn more about the NY Kids Need Housing Campaign, please contact Walter Rodriguez at the Coalition for the Homeless, 212-964-5900 x 173.
Would you like to make new MAPC friends while pouring coffee or tea once a month at the Hospitality Hour after the 11:15 worship service? Or, perhaps you would like to circulate with a platter of baked goodies?
The Hospitality Hour is now under the care of the Deacons (instead of the Worship Committee), and we would like to involve more people, men and women.
If you would like to be part of the corps, or if you have suggestions, please speak to Nancy Ost, moderator of the Deacons, Vera Gordon, coordinator of this service for the Deacons, or Judith Shedden, co-coordinator of this service. We can accommodate your schedule, even if it is erratic. And you get to mingle and meet new people.
Also, see: