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
We are very grateful for the strong response of the congregation to the
Peacemaking Offering received on World Communion Sunday. This year’s
offering will go to Habitat for Humanity. By building simple, decent homes
with God’s people in need, we put our faith in God and love of our
neighbors into action.
Habitat for Humanity practices the “Theology of the Hammer,”
an idea coined by its co-founder, Millard Fuller. It dramatically uses the
image of the hammer to place on the hearts of people everywhere the idea
that poverty housing is socially, politically and religiously unacceptable.
The three great monotheistic religions of the world mandate that we do more
than just talk about faith and love. We must put faith and love into action.
Congregations see their ministry come alive when they reach out to help
others, and in New York City over 150 faith and religious institutions participate
in this program annually.
Each September, Habitat for Humanity International celebrates its partnerships
with faith institutions by organizing a week-long Building on Faith Blitz
Build, a time when thousands of congregations around the world simultaneously
put their faith into action and build homes with people in need. Habitat
for Humanity attempts to bring together a diverse group of people, faith
communities and other organizations to build houses and establish viable
communities. The Theology of the Hammer encourages us to acknowledge our
differences: political, religious, philosophical, theological and cultural,
while finding common ground in using a hammer to manifest God’s love.
The following is from Julian Schroeder’s Word in Action, given in worship services on Sunday, October 5, 2003.
Each Saturday morning from October through June, 12 to 15 children gather with volunteers from our congregation, at the Church of the Resurrection in East Harlem for two hours of reading and arts. Known as LEAP (Learning Enrichment Activities Program), the heart of the program is reading and creative arts, however, it also includes computers, puzzles, story telling and singing folk songs.
For many of our LEAP children, reading is a source of frustration and perhaps failure. At LEAP our goal is to share our love for reading so that our children can become involved with books, can experience some of their beauty and inspiration, and can perhaps see reading as a way to live imaginatively beyond what their school and home alone can provide. Last year, Hope read about Addie, a young girl, who with her mother and father escaped from slavery. Olivia became a more accomplished reader as she read the humorously illustrated series about Mac the rat and Tab the cat. Leo, with his love for animals, poured over Ranger Rick and wrote his own poems with quirky animal facts. Wesley explored volcanoes, earthquakes and eventually the solar system. And one of our boys, one who has really struggled with reading, in a moving breakthrough moment, came to me and read Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham.
In the second hour, in a way reminiscent of the feeding of the five thousand with a few loaves and fishes, Hilde, using basic artistic materials, instructs our children in making simple objects that they then embellish in a myriad of imaginative ways as only children can. Children and volunteers have come to love creative arts at LEAP.
Today, LEAP is about ten years old. Time prevents me from mentioning the many volunteers from this church that have made LEAP such a special program. Volunteers include teens in high school, young singles, computer specialists, educators, seniors and mothers and fathers with grown children who enjoy the young. We have a loyal core of children who come regularly. On most Saturdays, we do not have enough volunteers for the one-on-one attention that our children need. I would like each of you to think about making this your year at LEAP. To learn more about LEAP, please call the church and talk with Dawn Ravella. There is only one requirement for a LEAP volunteer, a heart open to the beauty and joy of Gods creation, our children.
The African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF USA) will be holding a benefit for its health development work in Africa at MAPC on Tuesday, October 28 at 7:30 pm in the Sanctuary. Tickets start at $75 and are tax-deductible. AMREF’s Director General Dr. Michael Smalley will be here from its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss its work in East and Southern Africa. Kenyan Marathon Runner Godfrey Kiprotich will talk about his work with AMREF in Kenya, and the Joan Stiles Trio will perform a jazz concert. AMREF is an organization staffed almost entirely by Africans (95% of its 500 staff) that seeks to improve health as a way to alleviate poverty. AMREF works on Africa’s most critical health issues: HIV/AIDS, malaria, family health, clean water and sanitation, training of health personnel and clinical outreach services. For tickets or more information, please contact MAPC member Lisa Meadowcroft, who is AMREF USA’s executive director, at (212) 768-2440 or amrefusa@amrefusa.org.
The Mid-Timers’ ministry is for everyone who falls between the 20s/30s
group and Seniors’ Ministries. 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 have reservations for only 15 people, so reserve
your spot now! Cost: depends on what you order! Menu items are $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 to arrange car pools among
participants.
To register for any of these events, please call Margaret Williamson at
the church at (212) 288-8920, ext. 271, or e-mail her at mew@mapc.com.
† A Memorial Service for Elder Catherine E. Malcolm will take place in the MAPC Sanctuary on Saturday, October 18 at 1 pm. All ordained Elders present will process. |
Our October Families with Young Children gathering will be held on Saturday, October 18, 10 am - noon. Weather permitting, we will be on the Roofgarden; otherwise, we will meet on the 5th floor. Families with children ages five and under are encouraged to attend (older siblings are also welcome!). This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know other families in the church as we talk, play and enjoy a light breakfast. Please let Margaret Williamson know if you will be attending. You can reach her at the church at (212) 288-8920, ext. 271, or e-mail her at mew@mapc.com.
Events scheduled for the 20s/30s group this Fall:
October
Sunday, October 19, 1 pm - Bible Class. Study of Jonah.
Saturday, October 25, 9 am - Hiking. TBD
Thursday, October 30, 6 pm - Shelter Dinner. Volunteers are needed to prepare
and serve dinner, and then clean up.
November
Sunday, November 2 and 16, 1 pm - Bible Class. We’ll begin our study
of Paul’s letters.
Saturday, November 8, 11 am - MOMA. We’ll spend some time at the Museum
of Modern Art in Queens.
Sunday, November 30, 10:45 am - Usher for 11:15 am service.
Sunday, November 30, 1 pm - Senior Lunch. Volunteers are needed to prepare
and serve lunch. We’re usually done by 3 pm.
December
Sunday, December 7 and 21, 1 pm
Saturday, December 13, 5 pm - Ice Skating at Wollman Rink, Central Park.
We’ll then have dinner at a local restaurant.
We are once again accepting books, hard cover as well as paper backs, for
use in the library and for sale on our cart and for our book sale in November.
Among our recent acquisitions are: Isaac Newton, James Gluck; Terror
in the Mind of God, Mark Juergensmayer; Confessions of a Hero-Worshipper,
Stephen J. Dubner; Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi and Grandmere,
A Personal History of Eleanor Roosevelt, David Roosevelt and many others.
We hope that you will come by and check us out.
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.
October 26 Issue: Deadline - Wed., October 15
November 9 Issue: Deadline - Wed., October 29
Kindly send text files to update@mapc.com
Sunday: 9 am and 11:15 am
Professional Child Care is provided from 8:30 am - 1 pm in the Nursery.
Daily Prayer: Monday through Friday at 12 noon
96.3 FM, WQXR Sundays at 8 am
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