We need each other. We even need those we don't like or don't understand. With Christ's help, we are at our best when we are together; we are strongest when we are one.
Spotlights!
Reception for the Rev. Dr. J. Richard Szeremany, February 7
Please join us for a reception following the 11:00 service for a reception to celebrate and honor the Rev. Dr. J. Richard Szeremany, who is retiring on February 15 after service for more than 15 years as Director of Worship, Music and the Arts. Dr. Szeremany will preach at the 11 am worship service. Following Worship, everyone will have an opportunity to extend their thanks and well-wishes to Dr. Szeremany and his wife and Muriel at a special reception in the Social Hall. This celebration will feature tributes to Richard from friends and colleagues, including surprise musical numbers. (Photo at right, undated; Dr. Szeremany with the original Aeolian-Skinner organ console before its reconstruction.)
Mardi Gras party, February 6, 4:30
Carnival fun and frolic are coming your way! Come for dinner with our kids-friendly menu (served promptly at 5:15 pm) as well as some tasty Caribbean treats. Evening includes activities for the whole family! And what could be more Caribbean than you dressed in your most colorful outfit showing off your warm weather Caribbean island wardrobe? RSVP to Norma, (412) 441-3800, x11.
February Reaching Out
Read the February Reaching Out newsletter on the web. Rev. Bush’s pastoral message is included in this Flash (see below.)
with Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
- Contemporaries: For the Beauty of the Earth, led by Katherine Hackney. A spiritual foundation for creation, exploring current topics pertaining to global warming and other issues affecting our future. Second floor parlor.
- Journey with Scripture: Isa. 6:1-8, (9-13); Ps. 138; 1 Cor. 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11.
- Parenting Circle: We continue reading Jan Johnson’s Growing Compassionate Kids: Helping Kids See Beyond Their Backyard. Anyone interested in parenting is welcome to join us. Books available in class. First floor, Harambe Room.
Seekers: Part 1, “Christian Theology and Undoing Violence,” led by the Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Peters. (Note schedule change). From bullying, domestic violence, and child abuse, to reckless or illegal use of guns, suicidal bombings, and acts of war, violence harms communities as well as individuals. Join us as Rev. Peters considers the usefulness of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideas about non-violence as a strategy for addressing violence and its harmful effects. Peters is the Henry L. Hillman Professor of Urban Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and founding Director of the Metro-Urban Institute. Second floor, room 234.
Additional worship, classes, and prayer opportunities during the week
Wednesday Connections: Join the Revs. Bush and Schoenewolf in the second floor parlor for an adult bible study, discussing this week’s bible scripture: Luke 5:1-11.- Taizé prayer service: Every Wednesday, 7:00 pm in the Chapel. Childcare available from 6:45 pm to 8:15 pm. February 3 Taizé service will be followed at 8:15 with a class “Getting to know Taizé.”
- Labyrinth Prayer Walk: Wednesday February 3, 10:00 am - 9:00 pm, and Monday, February 8, 10 am - 3pm. In the Social Hall.
- Centering Prayer: Tuesdays, 7:00 pm. Room 250.
Youth and Young Adults
- Club One Sixteen, February 3: “Faith and Hope.” Come enjoy free Hope Academy classes!
- 3:30 - 4:00: Snacks and homework help.
- 4:30 - 6:00: Free Hope Academy classes for different ages.
- 6:00 - 6:30: Dinner; junior and senior high groups in ground floor suites; families in the first floor McKelvey Room.
- 6:30 - 8:00: Bible study for junior and senior high groups, ground floor suites.
- Youth basketball: February 6, 5 - 8pm for young men, grades 9–12. ELPC gym.
- Young adults “First Sundays at ELPC,” Sunday February 7, 5pm. Join us in the Second Floor Parlor for “Movie Night.” Bring a snack to share.
- Young adults fellowship opportunity, Downtown: Young adults who work in the Downtown area are invited to gather for a new “Once-A-Month-Lunch” co-hosted by Glenshaw Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh.
the Rev. Kay Balderose for details.
ELPC weekly news highlights
Mission opportunity: February 6
ELPC’s Neighbors Mission Committee is sponsoring a Saturday work day. No special skills needed, all ages welcomed! We will partner with Open Hand Ministries to install windows and do interior work at a home rehab in Garfield. For more info: Becky Gloninger (412) 913-6070 or the Rev. Patrice Fowler-Searcy (412) 441-3800 x30.
“Watercolors”: New Directions, Charting a Course by Sue Schneider
Sue Schneider’s “Watercolors” offers new paintings that explore abstract ideas, melding organic and geometric forms. Birds, quilt patterns, and calligraphic lines show up as influences in several paintings. Sue is a member of the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society and Fiberarts Guild. The exhibit opens on Saturday, February 6, at 3:30 pm, in Room 234 and in the Second Floor Parlor. Greeting cards will also be available for sale, with a portion of proceeds to support the arts exhibition program and the Organ Fund. For more information, please
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“Love and All That Jazz,” February 13, benefits Hope Academy
Coming up on February 13, 2010, is our red-hot “Love and All That Jazz” show, Hope Academy’s annual benefit performance, held at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Performers this year include spoken word artist Vanessa German, Flamenco music and dance, our own “Voices of Hope” choir, and more. This year we are celebrating Hope Academy’s tenth anniversary, and honoring our founding director, the Rev. Dr. J. Richard Szeremany. Adult tickets are $10 at the door. Children and youth 18 and under are free. Click to view the event poster (PDF, ~364K). Hope to see you there!
Get ready for spring with exercise classes!
A healthy body can help support a healthy spiritual life. Give yourself a gift that keeps on giving! Come to our low-cost / no-cost exercise classes:
- JourneyDance with Yamuna: This class is held on the second Friday of every month from 7:00 - 9:00 pm.
- Tai Chi: Tuesday mornings, 10:00 - 11:00 am, and Tuesday evenings 6:00 - 7:00 pm.
- Yoga with Yamuna. Thursday evenings from 7:15 - 8:45 pm, in the Sewing Room.
- Zumba: Thursdays from 6:00 - 7:00 pm.
RSVP and questions to Amanda Nolan, (412) 441-3800 x34.
ELPC in the Community
East End Cooperative Ministries (EECM) Men’s Shelter
During the month of February, the Deacons are collecting deodorant and adult male socks for EECM’s Men's Shelter. Donations may be left in the hallway baskets. Thank you for your support!
East End Cooperative Ministries (EECM) Food Pantry
The EECM Food Pantry provides food for individuals and families facing hunger in Pittsburgh. February’s “Food of the Month” is macaroni and cheese.
Haiti Fund Raiser at Khalil’s Restaurant
Khalil’s Restaurant, 4757 Baum Blvd, is sponsoring a Haiti relief fundraiser on Friday, February 7. Minimum donation $20 at the door, with food, music, dancing, and more. Hear the Rev. Michelle Wahila, Associate Minister at Third Presbyterian Church, plus entertainment to include Indian Dancing, Spanish Flamenco, Middle Eastern Belly Dancers, and more. For more information, call (412) 683-4757.
Pastoral Message, February 2010
by The Rev. Dr. Randall K. Bush
This month we enter once more into the season of Lent. It is an important time—a chance to stop and reflect on both the fragility and preciousness of life. Officially it is the time when we remember how the story of Jesus Christ includes a harsh crucifixion and burial in a borrowed tomb. Yet it also is the time when we reflect on our own mortality, how we are born into this world and one day will leave it again. In considering the brevity of life, we remind ourselves not to take its daily miracles and opportunities for granted.
As we take stock of our life during the season of Lent, there are big questions we might be brave enough to ask ourselves: In the end, is it all worth it? Does my brief existence make any difference in the grand scheme of things? What exactly is the meaning of life? Those are important questions; however, they’re also questions we cannot answer ourselves. If you sat alone on the top of a snowcapped mountain pondering those deep questions, you would not come up with any satisfying answers for two reasons.
First, we do not fully exist in isolation from others. Sure, we can do things on our own and take pleasure in solitary walks and lifestyles, but we were not created to be autonomous, isolated creatures. We have been made for relationships—for friendship and conversation, for community and intimacy, for shared experiences and social interaction. We can see an image of ourselves in a mirror, but we can only truly see “ourselves” when we are reflected back from another person’s pair of eyes. If you want to know whether “it’s all worth it” and what your place is “in the grand scheme of things,” talk it over with someone else. In that shared conversation (and others like it) you will have the best chance of coming up with an answer that rings true deep inside you.
Second, we (human beings) are not the only players in the game of life. At the very least, we are surrounded by a vibrant ecosystem of plants, animals, microscopic life forms and natural elements, all of which have to be included in our “meaning of life” calculations. Over/above/through it all, there is God, the creator of life. The story of God-in-Christ, that is at the heart of Lent, offers the best framework for grappling with the big questions of life.
When the famed Catholic priest and author Henri Nouwen grieved over the death of his mother, he wrote a very personal letter to his own father (which has since been published under the title Letter of Consolation). It well summarizes the hope and comfort inherent in the season of Lent, both in the honest reflection on the death of Christ and the comforting promise of Easter resurrection. I’ll close with Nouwen’s words:
“If the God who revealed life to us, and whose only desire is to bring us to life, loved us so much that [God] wanted to experience with us the total absurdity of death, then—yes, there must be hope. There must be something more than death. There must be a promise that is not fulfilled in our short existence in this world. Leaving behind the ones you love, the flowers and the trees, the mountains and the oceans, the beauty of art and music, and all the exuberant gifts of life cannot be just the destruction and cruel end of all things. Indeed we have to wait for the third day.”
Randy Bush
News from East Liberty Presbyterian Church
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