April 2008 Newsletter

The Parish Visitor

The First Reformed Church of Fishkill

April 2008

Dear Friends,

When most of you read this, I will be in Newark, Ohio, attending the wedding of my nephew Samuel. The wedding I almost missed because I never got the invitation! I only found out about the wedding when Aunt Vera mentioned it in my birthday card, followed by a call that evening from my sister – wondering why she hadn’t heard from me about attending the wedding. It seems that a number of invitations never reached their destinations. So, it will be very interesting as to who is there, who is not, and who will not even know what they are missing!

It’s a lot like church. As the saying goes, “50% of the job is just showing up!” It’s always exciting to see people arrive for worship on Sunday, and to see all who come to the Saturday Lenten play, those who participate in a weekday Bible Study, serve in the Food Pantry, clean the sanctuary, take out the recycling, change the light bulbs, send out birthday cards, balance budgets, teach our children, polish brass, offer up prayers, send reminders, make coffee, serve as a greeter, bake a cake, sing with joy, fix computers, take photos, change diapers, deliver flowers, and much, much more.

There are so many wonderful opportunities that we have as the Church to serve one another and the community. And I don’t want anyone to miss out! So just in case you misplaced your invitation, or it got lost in the mail, or you didn’t even know there was a celebration going on, this is your official invitation to participate fully in ministry of Jesus Christ here at First Reformed Church of Fishkill.. And if there is someone you know who didn’t get this invitation, please let them know what they are missing!

My thanks to all for being a part of this wonderful faith community and sharing so graciously all the gifts that God has given you.

With love and gratitude,

APRIL CALENDAR

6	Sunday School 9 am Worship 10 am - Communion Chime Choir 11:30 am	17	Choir 7 pm
7-13	Calvin’s Cleaners Team 4	20	Sunday School 9 am Worship 10 am Chime Choir 11:30 am
8	Bible Study 7:30 pm	21-27	Calvin’s Cleaners Team 1
9	Bible Study 10 am	22	Bible Study 7:30 pm
10	Choir	23	Bible Study 10 am Women of the Church 11:30*
12	Women’s Spring Conference 8:15 am* Spring Cleanup*	24	Choir 7 pm
13	Sunday School 9 am Worship 10 am Chime Choir 11:30 am	27	Sunday School 9 am Worship 10 am Chime Choir 11:30 am
14-20	Calvin’s Cleaners Team 5	28-5/4	Calvin’s Cleaners Team 2
15	Consistory 7:15 pm	29	Bible Study 7:30 pm
16	Bible Study 10 am	30	Bible Study 10 am Craft Group 10 am*

*see this Parish Visitor for more information

CALVIN’S CLEANERS

Team 1 – Jay Wright

Team 2 – Worship

Team 3 – Tom Schmidt

Team 4 – Linda Baron

Team 5 – MaryLou Aronow

Anyone taking photographs of church activities and events please give copies to Victor Chao (preferably saved on a disc) so that we might use them in any publications

There will be a Spring Clean-up Saturday April 12th with April 19th as our rain date.

If you have any questions talk to Rich Lanni or Ray VanVoorhis

SAVE THE DATE! Our church’s Fourth Annual Golf Outing will be held on Monday, Sept. 22 at McCann Golf Course in Poughkeepsie, followed by dinner at Christo’s.

Coffee Hour Hosts

For April and May 2008:

Please note that the first name listed each Sunday should contact the other hosts regarding food share and as a reminder of the date. If you are not available on the assigned date, it is your responsibility to find a substitute or trade dates, put the change on the list in the Education Building, and advise the office for the Sunday bulletin. You may notice that you are being asked to serve at coffee hour more often. With the wonderful attendance each Sunday, we are putting four families on board instead of three. Thank you to everyone for being so gracious.

April May

6 Dachenhausen, Crawford, Kayson, Rygiel 4 Corwin, Baron, Campbell, Fellin

13 Schmidt, Flayter, Badowski, Twohig 11 Mother’s Day Brunch

20 Smith, H. Hansen, Rush, Wright 18 D. Hansen, Lanni, Harty, Hawkins

27 B. VanVoorhis, R & J VanVoorhis, 25 Covell, Hoffman, Lane, Merritt

Van Geldern, Moseman

Notes from March Consistory Meeting

Ø Deacon Celeste Rudberg led devotions titled “Who Am I?” She tied together her family genealogy and how God makes us, knows us, and loves us. Isaiah 43:1 and Psalm 139.

Ø Treasurers Operating Report for February shows revenues totaling $21,476.14 and expenses totaling $16,708.61

Ø A workshop for all elders will be held Saturday, May 3^rd.

Ø Ed Hawkins will preach and celebrate communion on April 6^th while Pastor Gloria is at her nephew’s wedding in Ohio.

Ø Children’s Community Service Open House was a great success

Ø We will join Hopewell and Poughkeepsie Reformed Churches in presenting to New Hackensack Reformed Church a replica of Rev. Isaac Rysdyk’s gravestone, for their 250^th Anniversary. Rev. Rysdyk served all four churches and is buried in the New Hackensack Cemetery.

Ø New guidelines for the Investment Committee were approved for the Consistory Handbook.

Ø Next Consistory meeting is April 15th, at 7:15pm.

Our former pastor, Rev. Dr. John D. Elliott is ending his ministry at the Greenville Community Church in Scarsdale on Sunday, May 18. He will preach that day at their worship service at 10 am. A Coffee Hour will follow the service. You are invited to attend. There will also be a dinner at the Scarsdale Golf Club on May 17 at 6 pm at a cost of $95 per person. The reservation deadline is May 1. The church will present to Jack and Ruth a book of letters and notes from members and friends. They are also presenting a farewell gift. If you would like to contribute to the gift, make a reservation, or send a note, please send it to Richard Laudenbach, 36 Manchester Road, Eastchester NY 10709 by May 1. Further information is on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall.

The Everything Sale will be held Saturday May 17, from 9AM to 3PM. Help will be needed for setup on 5/15 and 5/16, the day of the sale, and cleanup after wards.
Your donations of usable attic treasures, small household items, toys, books, cds, etc., baked goods and clean usable clothing (please no shoes) are appreciated. A sign up sheet and schedule for donation drop-off will be posted in early May.
Tell your friends, come enjoy the sale and have a great lunch.
Please forward any suggestions to John Twohig, at 831-5694, or email at twigman52@hotmail.com.

Calling all Elders!

Our Reformed theology states that “once an elder, always an elder.” There are elders ordained and installed to serve on the current consistory, but all those who have been ordained to the office of elder are part of what is called the “great consistory.” Great consistory is defined in our Book of Church Order as consisting, “of all confessing members of that church who have served it, or are serving it, as elders and deacons on its consistory.”

In The Ministry of the Elder, Rev. Robert White writes, “Elders shall assist the minister/s in the task of visitation….A graceful ministry of visitation is needed even more in today’s secular society.”

To help us to faithfully carry out our ministry, all elders are invited to a

Visitation and Communion Workshop,

Saturday, May 3, 2008

9am – 12:30pm.

More details and information will be made available shortly. Until then, please contact Pastor Gloria with any questions and RSVP to the church office.

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Church Family Vacation Bible School

“Joy Week”

August 4, 6, & 8 5:30 – 8:30 PM

What’s all this JOY about? Well, it’s a new approach to Vacation Bible School (VBS).

Since the number of participating children in our church programs is low, and we’ve questioned what happens to all the VBS craft projects we invest so much time and money into preparing, we’ve decided to take a new approach to VBS. Last summer over fifty adults in the church generously contributed time, talent and resources to the “Galilee by the Sea” program – that was amazing! So, we’re inviting EVERYONE in the church to participate in this year’s program. All the children of the church are invited - ages 4 to 94! It’s a multi-generational approach to VBS. Invite your grandchildren and neighborhood children to join us. Why not share the fun with everyone?!

Our theme is based on JOYFULLY carrying out Jesus’ commandments to love God, love others, and love ourselves. (Matt 22: 37 -40) We will eat together, play together, sing and learn together, and work together to complete several outreach activities within our community.

We’re still in the planning stage, but our tentative evening schedule will be:

5:30 – 6:30 light supper & play time

6:30 – 7:15 songs and a Bible story presented with some drama

7:15 – 8:30 Outreach Activities – which may be carried on throughout the week

Please reserve August 4, 6, & 8 for this exciting, new VBS. Think about what part of the program you’d especially like to participate in and share your thoughts with members of the education committee. If you don’t like to drive in the evening, we’ll joyfully provide transportation.

Watch for details and sign-up opportunities in the June and July Parish Visitors.

The Christian Education Committee

Jayne Hoffman, Chair

Bonnie Chao, JoAnn Supan, Thea Schallenberg, Jan Utter

Women of the Church

The Spring Conference of the Reformed Church Women of the Hudson Valley will be held at the Rhinebeck Reformed Church on Saturday, April 12. The speaker will be Sandee Clark, an RCA Christian Educator who has walked the Appalachian Trail. She will speak on "Baggage, Check In." Registration will be at 9:15 AM, Continental Breakfast at 9:30, and the program at 10:15. The cost will be $6.00. Reservations are needed by Sunday April 6. Please sign up in the entry to the Fellowship Hall if you plan to attend. We will car pool from the DuBois House Parking lot at 8:15. Please talk to Dorrie Hansen or Liz Alexander if you have any questions.

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The Women's meeting will be a trip to Stonecroft Gardens in Cold Spring on April 23. We will meet at the DuBois House at 11:30 to carpool. Bring a lunch. The entrance fee is $5.00. Hopefully the spring bulbs will at the height of their bloom. Pray for a sunny day.

The Craft Group will meet on Wed. the 30th at 10:00 A.M. in the
DuBois House. We will be working on angels. All ideas are welcome.

Save the date! Mark your Calendar! Spread the News!

The kickoff of The Warwick Center's 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION will begin with the Women's Auxiliary Open House on October 27 & 28, 2008. The speakers will be Rev. Jim and Barbara Neevel. The song leader will be Lorraine Nelson-Wolf, Organist/Chancel Choir Director at the Hopewell Reformed Church.

The Fishkill Food Pantry is seeking donations in response to the Feinstein Foundation 11^th Annual Million Dollar Challenge. The Alan Shawn Feinstein Foundation in Rhode Island will divide $1 million among non-profit agencies throughout the nation helping to fight hunger. Each participating agency will get their share of the $1 million equal to their proportion of the total amount raised during March and April. Please consider supporting this challenge by contributing to our church’s own mission project, The Fishkill Food Pantry, particularly during the month of April.

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Kairos: A Consort of Singers

Dr/ Edward Lundergan. Artistic Director

presents

Petite Messe Solennelle, by Gioachino Rossini

Sunday, April 6, 2008, 4:00 pm

Friends Meeting House

249 Hooker Avenue

Poughkeepsie

Admission: $12 general admission; $8 students & seniors

Thank you….

Dear Friends,

Thank you, thank you, thank you - for the wonderful birthday celebration at our Easter Coffee hour. The food was delicious, the cake yummy, the fragrance of the spring flowers fills my home, and all the birthday greetings blessed me.

As many of you know, this is the only time in my lifetime that my birthday will fall on Easter. It was a powerful and humbling reminder that the life I live is truly a gift from our Risen Lord Jesus Christ.

With prayers and thankfulness,

Pastor Gloria

BSA Troop 65 and Crew 65, both chartered by the First Reformed Church, held a food drive on March 8, 2008 in from of Wal-Mart in Fishkill. The members of the Troop and Crew took two hour shifts in hopes of filling the shopping cart with non-perishable food items. Despite the rain that lasted all day, the Scouts collected over $700 in food donations for the Fishkill Food Pantry. THANK YOU, SCOUTS!

Thank you to all who have been generously giving to hygiene and school kits for our Lenten Project. In the May Parish Visitor you will find the total that we have given, after all is done and delivered. Now, we have one more request. We must send $2.00 per kit along with the kits to Church World Service. If you were unable to participate (or even if you did) and would like to make a monetary donation, please see Celeste Rudberg or any of the other Deacons (Kathy Campbell, John Twohig, JoAnn Supan, MaryLou Aronow).

Letter from Jack and Susannah Dabney, our Missionaries in Albania

(edited) March 1, 2008

Dear Intercessors, Partners and friends,

Our friend Behar is a taxi driver who lives in our neighborhood. Recently he said that he is now a believer. He has begun to attend our Bible Family meeting. In a recent meeting I said something about journaling prayers. A few days later he asked me, “When you pray do you have to write your prayers?” No, I replied, why do you ask? At Bible Family you talked about writing prayers, he said. “I am without education”. I explained that prayer can be our speaking plainly to the Lord, either aloud or silently in our hearts. He was relieved to learn that prayer is something that he can do.

While not comfortable writing, Behar can read some things. He loves to read the sport’s page. Recently we gave him a copy of the new, Albanian, Inter-confessional translation of the New Testament. He reads and says that he understands and enjoys this New Testament. He brings his copy to Bible Family.

There are about thirty Torchbearer Bible schools around the world and one in Erseke, Albania. They also have wonderful camping programs (check the Torchbearer web site and click Albania). The pastor who was scheduled to come from the states to teach a week for them was forced to cancel and they asked me to teach.We discussed possible topics and we created a course on Spiritual Growth. In addition to me and Susannah, they could also accommodate Behar. Behar is a retired truck driver but had not been to Ersekë for years. He was eager to go.

Ersekë is located in the south east of Albania near the Greek border. A small city of 8000, Ersekë is at a higher altitude than any other city in the Balkans. This Bible school is closely tied to one of Ersekë’s two evangelical churches. There is also an Albanian Orthodox Church, and there are Muslims.

The acting principal of the Bible school, Eric Gundy, has been in Ersekë with his wife Kathy and their two children for eight years. He was ordained by PCUSA to be a missionary in Albania. The house parents at the Bible school for this year are Fred and Margie Stock. Fred is 78 years old and they are retired PCUSA missionaries to Pakistan. After this year at Torchbearers, the Stocks plan to return to Pakistan. The Stocks have five children and fifteen grand children. All five of their children are missionaries somewhere in the world. We loved getting to know this faithful, amazing, gentle couple.

We started our week on Sunday evening at a worship service where I shared my experience of coming to faith in Christ. Then I taught fifteen hours over the next five days. During the week, Behar attended nearly all of my lectures. He had many conversations with staff and students during the week. He also read an Albanian translation of David Wilkerson’s book The Cross and the Switchblade. He was very impressed with the observable character of the students and staff of the Bible school.

The day after my last three lectures, the students left in four teams, each to do a week of outreach in one of four different Albanian cities. The teams are being hosted and their outreach is being coordinated by a local church in each respective city.

Behar, Susannah and I arrived back in Tirana on Friday evening. I saw Behar on Saturday before we went to church. He shared with me some of the particulars of a discussion which he had had with his wife on Friday when he returned from Ersekë. Susannah and I had noticed that the Lord is changing Behar. Essentially, he shared comments which his wife had made regarding positive behavioral changes she sees in him. She believes that he is becoming a better man; better for family, better for his wife and she wants him to spend more time at church, more time with Christians in general and in particular more time with us. We are thankful for our good friend and that he has professed his faith in Jesus Christ. We are thankful for his joy in Christ and for his observable growth in the faith.

We gave each student complimentary copies of The Message of the New Testament by F.F Bruce, A Short History of the Early Church by Harry Boer, and Kiss Your Church by Richard Little. We also left copies of these books for the library, plus library copies of The Kingdom of God by John Bright and an abridged edition of Calvin’s Institutes edited by Osborne and Lane. We told the students that these books were gifts from the Reformed Church in America and our Partners, to the Church in Albania.

Thank you for your prayers, support and partnership in ministry here in Albania.

Grace and peace to you,

Jack and Susannah Dabney in Albania

Prayer Requests:

1. That the Holy Spirit empower the witness to Jesus of the Ersekë Bible school students during their outreach this week.

2. For healing of our daughter Sarah who was diagnosed with spinal meningitis last week. She is at home and on IV antibiotics. This was serious and frightening, but thanks be to God, she is much improved now. She, her daughter Elizabeth and Susannah have planned a short term mission among the Roma children and at Mother Teresa Hospital later this month.

3. For God’s blessing on my New Testament Survey course which begins at the Evangelical Theological College on Wednesday 5 March and runs through 12 May.

4. For healing grace for Craig Lyle and Coit DuBose – both of whom were diagnosed with cancer.

Croatia Update

Kosovo independence Part II: Albanian pride

By Rev. Eric Titus