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
Remember to bring your completed pledge card to worship on Sunday, November 17 for Pledge Dedication Sunday. Our pledges to support MAPC will be received and dedicated as part of the worship services, and a Festive Coffee Hour with a harvest theme will follow the 11:15 am service. Please make a special effort to be present and a part of this new celebration in our congregation's life!
Even as we dedicate our pledges for the coming year, there is still time to make a difference in 2002! In the past year, we have expanded our ministry to young adults through the 20/30s group. We have increased our outreach to senior adults through our Senior Lunch program. We have hired a new Director of Outreach Ministries, Dawn Ravella. We have called a new Associate Pastor for Congregational Life, the Rev. Beverly Bartlett. In these and so many other ways, we are about the business of fulfilling our mission to bring more and more people into the transforming presence of Jesus Christ. Truly, this church is doing extraordinary ministry in challenging times; we are reaching out and stepping forward when many other churches in this city are cutting down and stepping back.
Given that, we are asking you to do two things. First, complete your 2002 pledge as soon as you can. Doing so will make sure that we end this year in the way we started it: in the confidence that we have the resources we need to accomplish the ministry goals we have set for 2002. Second, consider making a special gift in 2002 beyond your pledge. In this difficult economy, some of our members who pledged have lost their jobs and are not be able to fulfill their entire commitment. An extra gift from you at this time will ensure that together we are able to finish what we started and continue to be effective and compassionate ministers of Christ's love. There is plenty of work yet to be done; please be as generous as you can!
Final Concert of the Series featuring artists from The Mannes College of Music
On Saturday, December 14, from noon to about 2 pm, MAPC will again host its annual Angel Tree Christmas party in the Parish Hall. For those of you who have not previously had the opportunity to be involved in this event, it is a time of fun and celebration with children of an incarcerated parent as well as for those youngsters who participate in our Leap program. At the party, our guests and volunteers will join in making crafts, singing carols and hearing the Christmas story. Each child invited to the event, whether or not they are able to attend, will receive two gifts (one toy or book and one article of clothing) in the name of their parent in prison. In addition, MAPC provides gifts for another 75 children to the Gethsemane Church in Brooklyn, which our Outreach program has also long supported.
There are a number of ways you can help bring a special Christmas to these children:
Please call Dawn Ravella, our Outreach Mission Director, as soon as possible if you can help with any of these tasks. Finally, we can all contribute to the 338 gifts needed for these children this year, by picking up an "angel", listing their name, age and gift item (toy or clothing), in the church lobby on November 17 and the subsequent two Sundays. Gifts should be wrapped and returned by Sunday, December 8. Give yourself this gift of giving this Christmas.
On Sunday, November 24 at 4 pm a very exciting and beautiful concert will take place in our sanctuary as the St. Andrew Chorale, Orchestra and Soloists present a concert of the favorite masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach. We will have a full Baroque festival orchestra of flute, oboes, oboe da caccia, bassoon, trumpets, timpani, organ, strings and continuo. The program will be divided into three sections containing the following works.
Soloists will be Elizabeth Pruett and Nada Radakovich, Sopranos; Desirée Baxter, Alto; and John Trout, Baritone. John Weaver will conduct. The doors will open at 3:30 pm and the suggested donation is $15 ($10 for seniors and students).
Worship is the center of MAPC's congregational life, and Communion is at the heart of our Sunday worship services. With the institution of weekly Communion in February of this year come new opportunities to assist in the preparation of the elements (bread and wine/juice), setting up the Communion table, and cleaning up after services. Volunteers are needed for both the 9 am and 11:15 am services.
Anyone interested should contact Curtis Field, Chair of the Worship Committee (212) 362-6736, or Dr. Anderson at the church.
November 28, 10:30 am at
St. James' Church
(Madison Avenue at 71st Street)
The Rev. Dr. Fred R. Anderson preaching
From a Word in Action delivered by Alice I. Porter
during the worship services on October 27, 2002.
This morning I would like to share with you a few words about my faith and the church. Faith to me is saying "yes" to God, to trust Him, and to live for Him. It is knowing God as my Father, my Creator and my Redeemer. I know that he loves us steadfastly, unconditionally and eternally and that he showers us with blessings of grace and mercy.
I look to God for refuge, strength and guidance, and I ask His forgiveness when I falter. Faith has come through hearing and learning more and more about God's word. Faith creates the desire within us to express joyfully our love to God and to give him thanks for his presence everywhere and always-in good times and in bad. When I am down, he always lifts me up. Faith is central to my life. So it's not surprising that I do love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my mind.
Every journey of faith has a starting point. Mine began when my parents enrolled me in the church Cradle Roll 86 years ago. My faith was born at home. My parents nourished, disciplined and loved us beyond all bounds. We had grace at meals and prayers at bedtime, and our family worshiped together every Sunday, always sitting in the third row of the sanctuary. From those early days to this, wherever I have lived, church has been a significant part of my life. I have found MAPC to be a genuine caring community of faith. Besides its uplifting worship service, MAPC provides superb Christian Education. It conducts meaningful Mission Outreach programs for the homeless and the needy in New York City, and also supports a project in Malawi, Africa. All of these projects are an expression of Christian faith and love through the church.
Another special dimension of Christian faith occurs when we serve as volunteers. (I am currently volunteering in the Hood Library.) Volunteers can and do make a difference in the lives of others. What better way to advance God's work than to give of our time and talents?
MAPC looks to each of us to pledge and to give support for its ministries in the year ahead. We are being asked to take a leap of faith as we prayerfully consider and decide what we can do. God has given us an abundant life with many blessings. May we not be generous in supporting MAPC, The Household of God, on Madison Avenue at 73rd Street? May we, with apostle Paul, declare: "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." Why not? Let it be so!
Who doesn't have a "Wish List"? Books are often high on such lists. Fortunately, the Hood Library may be able to help in time for Christmas. Sunday, November 24, 2002 is the library's annual book sale. And what a sale it will be! Where? In the Church House Lobby. When? Before, during and after Coffee Hour.
You will find most of the books are just like new. Among them are Coffee Table books. Others will be fiction, history, poetry, biography and others on facets of spiritual life. You will be impressed with the selection. There will be no limit on how many you choose. Librarians will be able to assist you.
You will be pleased to know that funds from the wish-book sales enable the Hood Library to add to its collection every month. What a happy thought!
This year, Yorkville Common Pantry will feed over 4,000 hungry people. As part of YCP's Harvest Food Drive, we are collecting canned goods: yams, gravy, vegetables, cranberry sauce and stuffing. Please drop off your contributions by November 20 in the narthex on Sunday or with the receptionist. In addition, YCP needs to raise money to purchase 500 turkeys. The organization that has donated these in the past is no longer able to do so. YCP is hoping to raise a minimum of $375 from each sponsoring organization-enough to purchase 25 turkeys. The money will be collected on November 17. Please leave your contribution (no cash please) in the collection plate and note YCP on the check or send it to the MAPC business office.
If you would like to lend your hands to YCP's work, there are several volunteer opportunities, including the Soup Kitchen at St. Francis De Sales Church (135 East 96th Street) Mon., Wed., Fri., 4:15-5:45 pm and Pantry Programs at YCP (8 East 109th Street): Pre-pack: Wed. 10 am-2 pm, Fri. 3-5 pm, Sat. 9-11 am, Distribution: Thurs 10 am-3 pm, Sat 10:30 am-2 pm. A complete listing of YCP volunteer opportunities is posted on the bulletin board by the elevators in the Church House. Any questions, please call Dawn Ravella (288-8920, x 240).
Please join us for the Seniors' Ministries Christmas luncheon on December 9, 2002. In addition to food and fellowship, John Weaver will lead us in singing carols and Beverly Bartlett will do a dramatic reading of a Christmas story. Reservations are required, and the cost of the luncheon is $5.00. In addition, please bring a can of yams, gravy, vegetables or a box of stuffing for the Yorkville Common Pantry to help those in our upper Eastside neighborhood who are struggling to feed themselves and their families. To make reservations, please call Margaret Williamson by Monday December 2 at (212) 288-8920, ext. 271.
The Congregational Nurture Committee will once again host a January fellowship dinner designed to conquer the winter blues. Songbird Questa Anderson will enthrall us again with an evening of her favorite Broadway songs. Mark your calendars now for Friday evening, January 17, 2003! Reservation information will be sent out in December. If you missed Questa two years ago, here's proof that there are second chances in life! Join us for food, fellowship and entertainment to warm body and soul!
The holidays are now upon us, an exciting but ominous thought! Christmas lists seem to get longer and longer each year, shopping more and more of a formidable task. The easy way? Stop in at the MAPC Thrift Shop any Wednesday between 1 and 4:30. A very pleasant little shop on the 2nd floor of the Church House, the Thrift Shop is a veritable department store in miniature. In it there are attractive gifts for everyone - even some for a four-legged friend! Christmas has suddenly become do-able!
Bill Logan, the Urban Arborist, has designed the L-shaped garden around the church tower to be "biblically correct."
Along the Madison Avenue side we have the Burning Bush, Dictamnus albus. In Mt. Horeb's climate, the burning bush gives off an aromatic, inflammable hydrocarbon, which, if ignited, will produce a puff of flame that leaves the bush unscathed. On Lenox Hill the only flame we will see will be the plant's leaves turning red in the fall.
The three tall bushes at the corner are Star Magnolias, Magnolia stellata. Next Easter, they will produce a flower bearing the shape of a cross.
Along the 73rd Street side of the tower are blue hollies of the meservae family and ivy. The holly was important to mid-winter celebrations of the Romans and the Druids and was co-opted by the early church for its Christmas celebrations. Next month we will sing about the holly and the ivy.
— Dick Iverson, Chair
Building and Grounds Committee
Today New York City is experiencing its most acute housing shortage in over 50 years. While the record number of homeless families offers a particularly vivid manifestation of the crisis, the housing shortage also affects the city in many other less visible, but equally damaging, ways. Indeed, the magnitude of the present housing shortage threatens New York's economic recovery and its future growth as a world business and cultural center.
The Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church has joined the Housing First! coalition of more than 200 community, business, civic, labor and religious organizations committed to expanding and preserving the city's supply of affordable housing. Our goal is a ten-year, $10 billion capital investment plan that would create at least 100,000 new housing units and preserve more than 85,000 more.
New York's current housing shortage has been decades in the making. The city's aging housing stock; the high costs of land, labor and materials; and other factors all hinder the housing market's ability to meet the city's growing population. Housing First! has also proposed an array of administrative, zoning and regulatory reforms that would help make housing development in New York City less expensive and less time-consuming. But as in all markets, the housing New York needs will not occur without public investment. Over the last eight years, however, New York's public investment in housing has been steadily reduced, sowing the seeds of our present crisis. Housing First! seeks to increase this crucial public investment to levels that once again reflect the immense need for affordable housing in New York City. Such a commitment would not only help return thousands of homeless families and individuals to stable lives in permanent housing, it would revive neighborhoods and spur private investment in safer, more vibrant communities. Seniors and others on fixed income would enjoy increased stability. It would allow the people who make New York work-firefighters, police officers, nurses, teachers, office workers and others-to live in the communities they serve. Finally, a substantial public investment in housing will ensure that New York continues to attract and retain the talented workforce essential to its status as a world-class economic and cultural center.
Housing First! needs your support in this critical campaign to provide affordable housing for all New Yorkers. You can access the web site at www.housingfirst.net to learn more about the campaign and what you can do to help. In particular, you can send an e-mail to Mayor Bloomberg (which you can send from the site), calling on him to support the Housing First! plan. And you can participate in the December 5 rally to call on all of our public leaders to make the necessary investment in affordable housing.
Date: Thursday, December 5 at Noon
Location: City Hall Park
Directions: Take the 4/5/6 subway to "Brooklyn Bridge" or the N/R to
"City Hall."
Yorkville Common Panty ("YCP"), a food pantry service supported by MAPC, is seeking volunteers to provide administrative assistance in its office, 8 East 109th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue. Volunteers are needed for clerical assistance and data entry. Schedules can be flexible and tailored to the volunteer's availability, Monday-Friday, between the hours of 10 am and 5 pm. If interested, please call Iris Patterson at YCP (212) 410-2264 or e-mail her at Ipatterson@ycp.org.
Also, see: