As part of fundraising for their mission trip to Chicago in June, the youth of Pine Street are presenting Italian Bistro Night complete with a spaghetti dinner, entertainment, and a silent auction on May 1 beginning at 4:30 p.m.
PSL deadline
• Articles for the May issue of Pine Street Life are due by April 15. They can be emailed to:
sstallsmith@pinestreet.org
Items being auctioned include original artwork, catered dinners, crafts, a weekend at a lake house, massages, jewelry, gift baskets, a week-long condo rental at the Hotel Casa Maya’s Imperial Fiesta Club in Cancun, Mexico, and a lot more!
The goal of the trip is to provide our youth with the opportunity to experience the realities of life in the inner city and the many facets of urban ministry, with the expectation that they will return with a new vision for how they can serve the Harrisburg community.
Looking ahead to May
• Silent Auction, May 1
• Kirkin’ of the Tartan, May 2
• Interfaith Service for the community, May 3
• Evensong for Ascension, May 14
• Officer Installation, May 23
• Memorial Day (Church and Boyd offices closed), May 31
The trip is begin handled
through CSM whose mission is to immerse youth in the inner city and transform their understanding of how their faith in Jesus Christ calls and equips them to reverse the trends of urban poverty. So mark you calendars for May 1.
Ticket are $10 each and are on sale at the Welcome Center
Silent Auction will begin at 4:30 p.m.
Spaghetti dinner at 5:30 p.m.
P INE STREET HOSTING INTERFAITH SERVICE
You can’t escape a basic fact of our world today – religious diversity is everywhere. Not only has the economy gone global, but so also have world religions.
There are over 1,200 Hindu families in Harrisburg served by the local Hindu temple. There are at least four mosques in the greater metro area. There are several synagogues and a Buddhist organization. And Christianity itself is not monolithic at all; it too is
characterized by theological difference as well as unity.
We are one country, but we are many in terms of religion. Diana Eck in her masterful work “Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras” asks: “Are we now at the beginning of an era that will see the bridging of civilizations, indeed a creative dialogue of civilizations? Or will
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Rev. Russell Sullivan Jr.
Vacation Bible School
Mark your calendars for June 14-18. We will be joining Faith United Church of Christ and Chapel Hill United Church of Christ for Vacation Bible School
this year. We will meet at Faith UCC on Drexel Hills Blvd. in New Cumberland for Bible school. You have likely heard the saying: “There is strength in numbers.” We will have great numbers of children and great Christian learning and fellowship!
More details to come next month.
S UMMER EDUCATION : THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
By Cheryl Goode and Russell Sullivan
There are many kinds of journeys. We journey to and from work. We journey to school or to a soccer game. We journey for vacations. We are a people constantly on the go! And still there is another kind of journey that is centered on faith. Christian education is a big component of our faith journeys.
Christian education helps form and shape us in our faith and Christian life through many programs: music, art, small bible study groups, worship and church school on Sunday mornings. During the summer we take on a more relaxed manner but still offer quality education. Children’s education this summer will include a combined class of grades preschool through fifth grade beginning at 9:40 a.m. June 20 in Room 108. They will be learning Old Testament stories.
Middle school and senior high youth may attend the adult forums (discussed below) or sign
PARSON
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the decades ahead be marked by rigid and rivalrous adherence to religious, cultural, and national identities?”
I would like to answer “yes” to the first question and “no” to the second. Eck fundamentally believes the critical question is whether we humans will come to understand and appreciate all of our religious diversity, while recognizing that we are all deeply
up to assist in teaching the elementary age students. If you are interested in teaching you may sign up at the Welcome Center or contact Cheryl Goode at 2389304 or cgoode@pinestreet.org.
Adult summer forums begin in McCormick Fellowship Hall at 9:40 a.m. on June 6. We have a variety of offerings this summer. Mark your calendar with these interesting courses:
June 6 and 13: “Reinhold Niebuhr: the President’s Theologian”, Dr. David True, Professor of Religion, Wilson College
June 20 and 27: “Mission Today” — Eric and Becky Hinderliter, Missionaries to Lithuania
July 4 and 11: “Christianity and the Religions: Interfaith Dialogue” -- Dr. Russell
related and dependent upon one another for our survival.
A journey to greater understanding can begin here in our very pluralistic backyard. We have the full range of religious expressions in our community, and finding ways to connect to people of other beliefs is a big step to bridging civilizations. To acknowledge and celebrate this great gift of diversity, Pine Street is hosting the Commonwealth Interfaith Prayer Service at 5:30 p.m. May 3 in our sanctuary.
Co-sponsored by the Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania and the
July 25: “A Novel Presentation: The Shack” — Dr. Lee Barrett, Professor of Theology, Lancaster Theological Seminary
Aug. 1 and 8: “The Presbyterian Pendulum: Seeing Providence in the Wild Diversity of the Church” — Dr. Mark Englund-Krieger, Executive Presbyter, the Presbytery of Carlisle
Aug. 15: “Eco-Ministry” — Pine Street’s Mission Committee
Aug. 22: “Report on 2010 Arizona Mission Trip” — The Mission Committee
Aug. 29: “Exploring a Latvia-Lithuania Mission Trip” — The Mission Committee
Sept. 5: “An Intergenerational Activity “
Keep on the journey of growing and learning this summer!
Pennsylvania Council of Churches, this event will feature prayers and fellowship with people from many religious traditions. Protestants, Catholics, Jews, B’Hai, Buddhists, Muslims, Unitarians, and others — all will gather to pray together in ways unique to their belief and practice. Following the service there will be a time for fellowship and food from many cultures in the Gathering Place.
Plan to attend, and sample our community’s religious diversity. The world will be a better place because of it!
PINE STREET LIFE (USPS 574-510) is published monthly by Pine Street Presbyterian Church, 310 North Third Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101.
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C HOIR HELPS RAISE SPIRITS A ND
MONEY FOR MISSION TRIP
Music at Pine Street is pleased to present another Broadway and Hollywood revue featuring the choir of Pine Street Church.
On three other occasions, we have presented music from the American Musical Theater and the great scores of Hollywood to an enthusiastic group. We hope to do the same again at 7:30 p.m. April 9.
The tickets will be on sale by the time you receive this Pine Street Life, and are limited to 120 persons. The cost is $25 and this includes the music, dessert and coffee, and a generous donation to the youth mission trip to Chicago
led by the Rev. Alex Lang. The youth who will be participating in the trip will be the servers for the evening.
The program will feature favorite songs from many decades of entertainment from both coasts. Among the selections are “Moon River,” “Let’s call the whole thing off,” “Over the rainbow,” “Give my regards to Broadway “and songs from “West Side Story.”
Many others are included with musical offerings from the choir, Chamber Singers, our soloists and a goodly number members whose talent you and make you realize why
Street Choir is such a wonderful organization.
Also featured the piano art of Gail Foster and a selection from cellist, Estelle Hartranft. Tom Clark-Jones is your host for the evening and will accompany at the piano.
M APS PRESENTS CURTIS ORGAN PROFESSOR
Music at Pine Street is pleased to announce the annual Great Artist Recital for 2010. This year’s concert features Alan Morrison, the recently appointed organ professor at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, at 7:30 p.m. April 23 in the Pine Street sanctuary.
Morrison stands in a line of distinguished organists to hold this chair at Curtis including the legendary Alexander McCurdy and Dr. John Weaver. Morrison is a graduate of Curtis and also the Juilliard School in New York. He is a serious organist and pianist of great distinction and has played both instruments in concert.
ALAN MORRISON
He is considered one of the finest accompanists working in America. In addition, he teaches at Curtis and at Westminster Choir College in Princeton. He is the college organist at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. Morrison has been a featured
soloist across North America and Europe for the past 15 years. His recitals have taken him to venues that include the great churches of New York, the National Cathedral in Washington as well as to Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas; the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the new Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
We invite you to join music lovers across central Pennsylvania who are sure to be at Pine Street for this concert. A suggested donation of $10 will be taken at the door. The South Street Garage will be open and free of charge for the event.
Voted to change the date of the Youth Mission Trip to Chicago, from July 31 through Aug. 7, 2010, as originally approved to June 26 through July 3, 2010.
Approved a recommendation from the Evangelism Committee to use $50,000 of the reallocated program money from the Capital Campaign, to fund an intense advertising/ marketing campaign for the period July 2010 to December 2010, under the supervision of the Communication Team.
Approved Pine Street Church to host the Commonwealth Interfaith Service of Prayer at 5:30 p.m. on May 3.
A new member class is in progress, the first to participate in the 12-week training program.
Stewardship had a successful year with the financial goal reached for 2010. Credit goes to the professional staff and committee members for organizing a positive, inspirational drive that resounded to the congregation.
C ALL TO GUIDE CHURCH ’ S YOUTH
W AS WORTH EXCRUCIATING WAIT
By Alexander Lang
It was about one year ago that the APNC called me to Pine Street. I cannot tell you how excited I was to have received that phone call from Gerald Miller. I shared with you all after my candidate sermon that, until Pine Street came knocking, I had reached a low point in my faith.
I saw my failure to procure a call as a reflection of my ability as a pastor rather than God wanting to me to be fit with the best church possible. Only in retrospect did I understand God’s plan and in the months since I have been at Pine Street, God’s plan has only become clearer to me.
You called me to this church for a number of reasons, but my primary focus was to revamp and build a youth group. I immediately split the youth into two groups — middle school (68th grade) and high school (912th grade).
Since this split, the youth groups have met on separate nights (high school on Sunday evening and middle school on Wednesday evening). We hired a worship leader for the youth, a freshman from Messiah, Jon Lampe. Jon is extremely talented and comes to every youth group, providing 15 minutes of worship time so the youth can prepare and focus for our lessons. To give you an idea of what we have been studying, for the last 12 weeks of 2009, I taught the high school about the Apostles Creed and the middle school learned about
the book of Genesis.
After Christmas we began a series with the high school called “Being Molded in the Image of God,” which deals with the ethics of the Bible and the middle school is learning 10 commandments and how Jesus changed those commandments in the New Testament.
The initial numbers for the high school have stayed very steady. We averaged about 10 people per week with our biggest nights bringing in around 14 youth. The middle school was a different story. The middle school was extremely small when we started in September. There were weeks where we had only 2 people attend. These were hard and tedious nights for me, Jon and all the advisors who assist with middle school. However, I put out a challenge to the youth: bring your friends to youth group. Slowly they began to meet that challenge and thanks to the dedication of a
few parents who drive all over the greater Harrisburg area picking up middle schoolers, our program has grown to more than 12 youth.
I cannot tell you how truly joyful I feel when a parent of a youth comes to me and tells me how much their child and their children’s friends love coming to youth group. They look forward to it every week and would not want to miss it for anything! God brought me to Pine Street because it is where I belong.
Every time I enter the building to lead a youth group, I am reminded of where I was and how far I have come thanks to God’s plan for my life. I love this community and I love serving you all. I am especially grateful that you have called me to be a shepherd to your youth. Thank you for calling me to this church and thank you for supporting my efforts to provide your children with the light of Christ!
APRIL SCRIPTURE
Friday, April 16
Exodus 16:23-26
Psalm 96
John 16:1-15
Saturday, April 17
Exodus 17:1-16
Psalm 92
John 16:16-33
Sunday, April 18
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
Sermon: The Rev. Russell Sullivanpreaching
Monday, April 19
Exodus 18:13-27
Psalm 97
Matthew (1:1-17) 3:1-6
Tuesday, April 20
Exodus 19:1-16
Psalm 98
Matthew 3:7-12
Wednesday, April 21
Exodus 19:16-25
Psalm 99
Matthew 3:13-17
Thursday, April 22
Exodus 20:1-21
Psalm 47
Matthew 4:1-11
Friday, April 23
Exodus 24:1-18
Psalm 96
Matthew 4:12-17
Saturday, April 24
Exodus 25:1-22
Psalm 92
Matthew 4:18-25
Sunday, April 25
Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30
Sermon: The Rev. Russell Sullivanpreaching Monday, April 26
Exodus 32:1-20
Psalm 97
Matthew 5:1-10
Tuesday, April 27
Exodus 32:21-34
Psalm 98
Matthew 5:11-16
Wednesday, April 28
Exodus 33:1-23
Psalm 99
Matthew 5:17-20
Thursday, April 29
Exodus 34:1-17
Psalm 47
Matthew 5:21-26
Friday, April 30
Exodus 34:18-25
Psalm 96
Matthew 5:27-37
April 17: Adopt-a-Highway. Signup in Gathering Place. Meet at 9 a.m. at the old Giant on Linglestown Road. Gloves, safety vests and trash bags will be provided. Bring your smile and be ready to give us about two hours of your time.
April 24: Rebuilding Together Sign-up in Gathering Place. Lunch and picnic dinner (5 p.m. at Fort Hunter) are provided by Rebuilding Together. We will be doing yard work and various
Downtown Daily
By Elaine Strokoff
Downtown Daily
Brad was one of the few locations that opened and operated as usual during February’s snow storms. The men, women and children who ate lunch there were most grateful. They must have known instinctively that the kitchen
would be open because the dining room was filled each day.
DDB clients wrote their thoughts in the soup kitchen’s guest book. These are their words:
“I was real glad you were open. I was grateful to have a meal in a bad time!”
“It was my meal of the day.”
“It was a blessing!”
“I was grateful to have a meal in a bad time!”
“We all were glad. Thanks for being open.”
“I was glad we had a place to feed the homeless for it was cold and nasty and the Daily Bread is a beautiful place. Thanks.”
O UR FINANCIAL PICTURE
items of repair work on a home of a single, disabled, low income woman in Carlisle. Participants should dress for manual work, bring gloves and wear old clothes. Bring tools for yard work if that’s what you would like to work on that day. We will probably meet for breakfast and ‘car train’ to the jobsite — further details will be provided nearer the work date.
Update on Epiphany offering collected in January – PSPC
“Everything was great!”
Downtown Daily Bread was able to function as usual thanks to the dedication of our devoted cooks. Our part-time cook, Blondie, walked to work so 97 clients could be served on Wednesday and Brenda made it to work for 100 clients on Thursday. We at Downtown Daily Bread are very proud of our record of never closing. Over the 13 years I have been involved with the kitchen, DDB has only been closed for one day. That was due to a blizzard in 1986. Open for 26 years, DDB continues to serve the hungry and homeless and homeless of Harrisburg. We all should be proud to be associated with “the kitchen that never closes.”
members rose to the call, again, giving over $1,000. This money will be sent to Louisville, KY, to be used in world mission.
Arizona mission trip was again a success. Sixteen missioners worked on four properties of the Presbyterian church on the Tohono O’odham reservation. The short version is that we replaced underground water lines, repaired a ceiling
where bees had built a hive, repaired some walls (inside and outside), painted, cleaned, repaired windows and doors, painted, caulked cracks in walls and around windows, painted, and painted!!! Several natives worked with us this year and we shared our faith and hope in Jesus in the process — this is what we hope for and this is why we keep going back.
Read John 21: 15-17. Jesus is with seven of the disciples after His resurrection. They had been fishing and had eaten breakfast. Repeatedly Jesus asked one or the other of them, “Do you love me?” Repeatedly they told Jesus they did. And each time, in one way or another Jesus told them, “Feed my sheep.” This was Jesus’ last encounter with his disciples — the message he leaves with them is “feed my sheep.”
One Great Hour of Sharing began more than 60 years ago, in response to the devastation of World War II. A Saturday evening nationwide broadcast asked Americans to give generously the next morning in their churches. More than 75,000 churches responded — churches of many denominations.
Now each denomination decides how their contributions will be dispersed. PC(USA) divides our contributions into three programs — Self-Development of People
(32 percent), Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (32 percent), and the Presbyterian Hunger Program (36 percent).
Four percent of the Presbyterian Hunger Program money is used for its work on homelessness and affordable housing. None of the One Great Hour of Sharing offering stays at Pine Street Church — it all goes to help those who have much less than any of us.
Please, actually read the bulletin inserts. These stories are about real people. People who none of us will probably ever meet. But they are God’s children, just like us. By chance many of them were born into poverty, into countries where there are no policies or infrastructure in place to provide for them. And they need us to reach out to them.
One Great Hour of Sharing continues to offer hope for those most hopeless. It works toward recovery and wholeness with those whose lives have been shattered
by disaster (as in Haiti recently). It stands with communities facing the slower crises of hunger, disease, unemployment, and environmental degradation that make them vulnerable even before disasters strike. In sharing resources with people in need around the world, we not only witness God’s love in action in their lives — we also feel it moving in our own lives.
We, as members of Pine Street Church, are Christ’s disciples in today’s world. And as such, we are ALL charged with ‘feeding His sheep’ to show our love for our Lord. This is done by giving of our time, talents, and money. YES, I’m again asking for money — not for Pine Street Church, but for God’s people in the world. Each one of us has so much more than any of the people this offering will help. Please give generously — again. God loves the cheerful giver!!! Thank you. And those who will receive the benefit of this offering thank you.
