September marks the beginning of the church year for Christians. This is a time to rally together, but more so a time of reflection on the hope for the church, and the call that we have as Christians to share God’s love and peace with the world. We will be thinking about our church and what we do at Pine Street. In particular I would like us to think about Pine Street’s mission statement and to look closely at Roman numeral III.
OUR MISSION AND VISION
all that we have for the love of Christ: going forth in service, caring for those in need, working for peace and justice, and taking the good news of God’s love into the world.
We believe that God is calling us to dream and see visions of a vibrant church engaged in vital ministry and mission. To that end, we envision a future in which Pine Street:
God calls us to be at the corner of Third and Pine Streets in Harrisburg to worship and build a unique community of faith. We welcome all people on any stage of their spiritual journey and encourage each other to explore joyfully and thoughtfully the power of God’s transforming love made real and visible in Jesus Christ. Every aspect of our common life is rooted in gratitude for what we have been given and we are compelled to share all that we have and are. We are called to risk
I. Worships God through diverse expressions of worship and music.
II. Practices hospitality and the nurturing of loving and caring fellowship.
III. Builds disciples who are committed to a journey of faith and who reach out to others.
IV. Develops and nurtures the gifts of its members for service and mission.
V. Extends God’s presence through our lives to our community and the world.
VI. Remains open to new vision and direction from God.
Mission Swap
By Carol Putt
Hey, Buddy! This year's mission trip to Jewell Ridge, VA was an outstanding success! Larry Pearce and I arrived in Jewell Ridge on Saturday, June 11, 2011 to a bountiful potluck of delicious food and many of the friends we have met and learned to love over these 20 years. In Sunday worship we were welcomed and sang in the choir. Then we enjoyed Reka and Claude Dye's Sunday family dinner in their home with all of our friends. The planning meeting
Adult Forums
This Month
August 7
Evangelism efforts in our presbytery
August 14
Report on 2011 mission trips to Sells, AZ
Jewell Ridge, VA Lithuania/Latvia
August 21
Mission fair of local organizations that Pine Street has supported in the last year
August 28
Introduction to becoming an Earth Care Congregation
Al forums are held in Fellowship Hall at 9:40 a.m.
Christmas Cookie Bazaar
By Cheryl Goode
Rally Day
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In looking at Roman numeral III we get the sense that to be disciples we need to learn, grow in our faith and be prepared to pass that faith on to others. We are able to do this by being in community, and through worship and study.
Pine Street’s Congregational Life Committee has brought many fellowship activities to help bring us together as a community. This is not all they do. We have a sub-committee, under the auspice of Congregational Life known as the Kitchen Committee. This committee consists of six people from the congregation. They are Audrey Bell, Marilyn Miller, Jo Dolbin, Ted Dolbin, Lydia Humphrey, and Carolyn Humphrey. This subcommittee oversees all aspects of the kitchen. During our meetings we have discussed ways to upkeep our kitchen and be good stewards doing it. With session approval, we have decided to hold a cookie bazaar. You will be able to come into Fellowship Hall and find a wide variety of cookies that can be purchased for only $6.00 per pound! We will also offer a selection of craft items that may provide you with a gift for that special someone. I know it seems almost impossible to be thinking about Christmas cookies and gifts in the heat of August, but it will be here before we can blink. Please mark your calendars for Saturday, December 3, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30p.m Bring a friend and join us for our first ever Christmas Cookie Bazaar.
At Pine Street we offer six different adult Sunday school classes, Ekklesia, Peg-A-Way, Koinania, Century, Discovery, and 101. We offer summer forums and special forums throughout the year.
Our model for Sunday school for children and youth this fall will look different. This year, for children and youth, the first thing we will be doing is eliminating classroom teaching. Everyone will come together in Fellowship Hall at 9:30 a.m. where Tom Clark-Jones will have the opportunity to rehearse the children’s choir until 9:55 a.m. During this time the teachers and high school students will be preparing the games and lesson. At 9:55 a.m., children in K–5th grade will break into KOALA style games for the next 20 minutes. Once the games are completed, there will be a 5-minute break for juice and snacks while the adults and high school students set up chairs and tables for each grade. The children then break into their grade level and everyone will be taught the exact same lesson with the difficulty of the material and the crafts adjusted to be age-appropriate for the grade level. The middle school students, who are too young to be leaders and too old to be taught by high school students will remain in a separate class (room 103). The pre-K students are too young for this model and will be in their own class (room 106).
On Rally Day, Sunday, September 11, 2011 we will come together as a community in Fellowship Hall at 9:40 a.m., this will include adults, children and youth. We will enjoy a continental breakfast, a short devotion and then a scavenger hunt through the church to see what we can learn about each class, the choir, and the library! Come join in this fellowship and continue your faith journey.
Swap
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congregation and us to bring 9 kids to the Lord that week. The 9 children raised their hands that they had prayed to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour when Malcolm said the prayer out loud for them. On Wednesday of that week, Susan Stecher, Stevi Sharp, Emma Sharp and her friend, Gwen Burns arrived to help. While they were there we went to the Pocahontas Coal Mine for a tour and ice cream at the Drugstore in W VA. Susan, Larry and I visited the former pastor of JRPC, Dick Stone and his wife Kitty and Kitty's sister and brother-in-law, Patty and Roy Baldwin for a picnic at Hungry Mother State Park. We also determined that replacing Dick and Kitty's roof could be a future mission project for Pine Street. We also determined that another future mission project could be cleaning out and preparing the old manse for sale. Stevi, Emma and Gwen cleaned, dusted, and spit-polished the church for the final program and picnic of the Bible School on Friday. That was an amazing production with over 100 people in attendance. As requested, we made the s'mores in the pavilion after the picnic and said goodbye to those who were not coming with us to Harrisburg the next day.
On Saturday Micki Smith, Marquetta
Richardson, Pam Smith, Brittney Smith, Alex and Lauren Sword, Chloe Brown, and Andrew Belcher climbed into a van and followed us back to Harrisburg where we set up residence in the Boyd Center (after I got the alarm turned off) for a week. We experienced worship and a potluck on Sunday and Betty and Arlo Rader allowed us to swim at their neighborhood pool that afternoon. Cherie and Joe Faiola fulfilled the kids' wish to get in their hot tub afterward. Monday morning we tried to help Peter Hollander with work in the church, but he had it all done by the time we got there. So the JR kids went on a scavenger hunt in Pine Street and, thanks to Cheryl Goode and me, learned things about our church that many of our congregation don't know. They were very impressed with our state capitol building and the tour of the city and riverfront. We played mini golf on City Island and rode the Pride of the Susquehanna. Our mission work at Mission Central consisted of putting together cleaning buckets and organizing pallets full of Easter and other holiday paraphernalia for distribution. We also had a tour of the facility and found a home for much of our excess possessions,
Session Notes
The Session does not meet in July or August. or Bible School was held and we had our work cut out for the rest of the week. We decorated the church with the Main Street for “Inside Out, Upside Down on Main Street” curriculum. Ken Ratcliffe brought his 5 grandchildren to the church the next day and Larry became the community playmate. His nights started out a little rough when he broke 2 cots trying to lie on them, but he needed the rest; so we got him a metal cot with metal springs which he did not break the rest of the week! Each day we visited our friends and found out how their lives were progressing since we saw them last. The first night of Bible School was a rousing success! Larry participated in the Teenage class which was the largest class in the school! Then he did double duty as "Chef Pierre Mon Frere" as I played "Heidi Claire" in the skits at the end of each evening session. We sang, ate snacks, made s'mores, created crafts, played games and participated in the biggest Bible School ever — 75 people. They attributed the success of this year's school to the daily potluck meals served before the sessions and our skits at the end of each night! The new pastor and his wife, Malcolm and Judy, worked with the
See Fun on page 6
Mark your calendars:
Report on youth mission trip to Pickens, WV
Sunday, July 31
Report on mission trips to Sells, AZ, Jewell Ridge, VA and Latvia/Lithuania
Sunday, August 14
9:40 a.m. Fellowship Hall
Mission Committee offers Creation Care to Pine Street Congregation
by Bonnie Peckham
Too often Creation Care is spoken of as an environmental or ecological movement. When this is done people miss out on what makes Creation Care a matter of faith. To frame our understanding of whom we are as people of God look to the Bible to see the deep relationship that exists among God, humans and the earth. In the Creation Stories of Genesis we see what might be described as the first job description for humans: ancient Israelites were to grow families and communities and to wisely manage the bounty of God's Earth household (Gen. 1:27-31; 2:15). As Christians we are taught that the land belongs to God, and we are called to care for it (Lev. 25:23). Healthy stewardship integrates knowledge of the natural world with economic and social systems that ensure the long-term sustainability of the whole of Creation, including the people within it. The beauty and diversity which God's Creation brings to our lives, leads us to greater appreciation of the grandeur of God (Psalm 104).
We are called to return creation's service to us with service of our own (Corinthians 15:22-45). Please join our Mission Committee at 9:40 on Sunday August 28 in Fellowship Hall as we discuss how we can become an earth care congregation.
Mission Trip to Latvia & Lithuania
Bob Capobianco, Estelle Hartranft and Pam Bauer are featured in a local newspaper article as they work on a mural during the June mission trip to Latvia & Lithuania.
Youth Mission Trip to Pickens, WV
Row: Sam Guenin, Ted Guenin, John Goode, Fred Young, Alex Lang, Rachel Bani
Front Row: Chelsea Hartman, Cheryl Goode, Paul Devey, Sean Devey, Lydia Black, Rebekah Anderson, Sarah Anderson
Back
By Elaine Strokoff
True Professionals Handle Emergency
July 3 is typically a “slow” day in the work place. This was NOT so at DDB the day before the July 4th holiday. I was on my way to talk to the DDB counselor that morning, when I spotted a young man in his mid-thirties sitting in front of the counselor’s office. The client looked pale and unsteady. His eyes were closed and he started to sway. The fellow was familiar to me, as I had seen him having lunch at DDB. As I watched him out of the corner of my eye, I wondered if he had been drinking or was on drugs. I did not know that he suffered from severe diabetes. I did not have time to ask when I heard the counselor call “sugar, we need some sugar here.” Within seconds, the young man had gone into a diabetic shock. Chris, Brenda, and a DDB client knew just what to do. It had happened before. I will not describe all that went on in the ensuing hour after the attack. I will simply say that I had the opportunity to watch some real professionals at work. Between Chris, Brenda, and a trusted DDB client, the man was cared for with competence and compassion for what seemed like an eternity before the ambulance arrived.
I will not get into the issues of why a man with severe diabetes was homeless, why he was not taking his shots, why he had not had any breakfast, why the ambulance crew knew him by name, etc. It’s all too complex to get into right now. Instead,I want to tell you how proud I was of the DDB staff and helper to do what was called for and needed in an emergency situation. Our small staff knows individual clients, they know their problems, their strong points, and their weaknesses.
At DDB, a client is more than a number on the calendar count. He or she is a real person with life and death issues.
What do you think. . .?
I see some unusual things in my business. Like today when I came to work and saw a package of three neatly wrapped “to go” boxes, sitting on the sidewalk in front of the soup kitchen. I thought it rather strange and a few scenarios ran through my mind. Did someone put them there for a few minutes while he ran an errand? Did a DDB client put them there before he came into the building? Did some stranger put them there thinking they would feed the homeless that way?
This is what I learned. My coworker on her way to work saw a well dressed young man hurriedly look around and then place the “take out” boxes against our building. She said he practically sprinted away. She, too, wondered what was going on. The boxes were still there when I arrived an hour later. Meanwhile, DDB clients had taken their unofficial seats on the ledge across the street from the kitchen. I asked them about the boxes and they said they had no idea what was in them; no one thought to check the contents. I thought that rather puzzling because I was curious to see what was in the boxes. I walked over and opened them and was rather surprised to see someone’s half-eaten breakfast. I suspect some well meaning person felt that a hungry person might enjoy his leftovers. What do you think? Was it a kind gesture? Was it a misguided gesture? Was it an offensive gesture? Go discuss!
News From Our Church Family
Bob McCutcheon was awarded a Melvin Jones Fellow Award by Lions Clubs International at the Charter Night celebration of the Lower Paxton Township Lions Club on June 28th. This is the highest award presented to a member by the Lions Club for service to his club and community.
Fun
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To my Pine Street family, I can't tell you how much I appreciated all of your love and support for me and my family throughout my deployment to Afghanistan. From the cards and packages sent overseas to the pats on the back for my mom in church, I always felt the steadfast warmth from my church family, and for that I am grateful. They say that there are no athiests in a foxhole, and I was lucky to know my church and its love well before my journey over the past year. Nevertheless, I was so touched by their gracious support and in that support I found light during darker, trying
I flew this flag in honor of our church family during a mission in Afghanistan. It represents our church's warm, loving family, shining brightly through darker skies.
With much appreciation, Ben Summers Capt. Ben Summers is deployed in Afghanistan. The flag referred to in this note is in the display case in the memorial
Births
June 30, 2011
Jonah Garman to Jennifer & Nathan Garman
Deaths
H. Dennis Filipovich
December 31, 1943 –July 7, 2011
Middle:
Bottom: Jewell Ridge kids
Carol Putt
which they will distribute to people all over the globe. Brenda and Chris put us to work at DDB cleaning, sorting, serving and cleaning up after the meal. The kids had an initial fear of homeless people until they actually interacted with them and showed them Christ's love. At the Joshua Farm we weeded, planted seeds, harvested crops for sale at the produce stand and said hello to Alex, Courtney and Eli Lang who came to shop there. We caught a t-shirt at the Senators baseball game, ate burgers and more at my home with some homemade ice cream, made more s'mores, and went to Hersheypark before the final potluck picnic at Negley Park which was greatly enhanced by Stevi, Emma and Jeff Sharp's hot dogs and sausages. Susan Stecher participated in many of our activities in Harrisburg during the week. The JR group and I packed reluctantly after a crazy, exhausting week of mission and fun. Saturday morning brought a tearful goodbye with a promise to see each other soon and schedule another return trip for next year.
All in all, both weeks were a resounding success and need to be an annual occurrence. Perhaps our young people and adults would like to be part of it next summer! Pictures of these experiences will be shown in McCormick Fellowship Hall in August as part of the adult forum on mission. Hope to see you there! Love, Carol
Pine Street Life (USPS 574-510) is published monthly by Pine Street Presbyterian Church, 310 North Third Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101. Periodicals Postage paid at Harrisburg, PA 17105.
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Below: Jewell Ridge mission trip swap
Top, Back row: Gwen Burns, Emma Sharp, Stevi Sharp, Larry Pearce
