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Kasimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition: White on White, 1918, oil on canvas, 31 1/4" x 31 1/4," the Museum of Modern Art, New York
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Dear friends,
Light lingers longer, even in this season of gray and cold. Hidden in the hard-packed earth, seeds are growing in their sleep. As Lenten weeks hasten on, a new beginning is being prepared, new ministry, new future. Please keep the Pastor Nominating Committee in prayer during their time of discernment. And whatever season of life you are in, change or anxiety, restlessness or joy, remember that all time belongs to God. And Easter will come.
Sunday's gospel text features a scary politician, some confused religious leaders, and a city in sore need of redemption. And Jesus. He's not ready for Jerusalem yet. But he laments over the city, "How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing." Feminist or not, you've got to admit that this is one of the great images for God.
We'll sing "Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty" and "Standing on the Promises." New elders will be ordained and installed. "The Lord bless you and keep you," we'll hear as we leave the church, to face whatever the week may bring, rightly orienting us to see the immense possibility of our days.
Faithfully,
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About the art:
White is a blank… a blank page. It's not even a color. It's all the colors together, which look like… well, like nothing. What could ever happen from white alone, from frozen silence? However, some artists, like the contemporary painter Robert Ryman, use nothing but white… except, if one looks closer, Ryman's whites nestle hidden, "fugitive colors" or make a "colorful," innovative use of materials. Ryman follows in the tradition of Kasimir Malevich, the Russian avant-garde painter, whose perfectly-square White on White (1918) at MoMA still scandalizes some viewers with its "nothingness." However, there's white, and there's white, as Malevich's painting demonstrates, for the "static" white ground contains a dynamic white, tilting into impulse or intention. Moreover, Malevich builds up the tilting white quadrilateral, and even the white ground, from tiny, miniaturist brushstokes that turn the white nothingness into a manual tenderness. If one looks carefully, one can also see the hand-drawn graphite underdrawing that defines the imperfect inner "square" and that further humanizes the apparently impersonal abstraction. A Russian like Malevich would certainly have known something about barren white tundras. However, Malevich also compared his paintings to a white-sand "desert," which nourishes the spirit with its cleansing nothingness, as it did the earliest Christian monks in third- and fourth-century Egypt. In confronting the desert's privations and temptations, Jesus also found the courage and focus his destiny demanded. It all depends on whether one has "eyes to see" beneath winter tundra and desert dryness to the new life waiting and beckoning below the surface. In his writings, Malevich adamantly asserted his desire to nourish the spirit with nothingness. For him, white blazed with the colors of hope. It also takes hope to see them. Where does hope come from? That's a Lenten question. (Rob Meadows-Rogers)
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Friday, February 19
6:30 PM
Women's Ministry Potluck
6:30 PM
Holy Mackerels Meeting
Sunday, February 21
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Sanctuary
10:00 AM
Adult Education (see information, below)
Thurman Room
11:00 AM
Sunday Worship: "Keeping out the chill (the importance of layering)"
Sermon preached by Rev. Nadine Hundertmark
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sunday School (K - 7th Grade)
12:15 PM - 12:30 PM
Fellowship for All
Elliott Room
12:30pm
First Talks Race
Monday, February 22
6:45 PM
Session Meeting
Thurman Room
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
Park Plaza Diner, Cadman Plaza West
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Adult Education - The Beatitudes: NOW
Elliot Room (see information, below)
Thursday, February 25
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Choir rehearsal
Sanctuary
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Congregation and Community News
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Sunday School in February: This February we will be learning about generosity and sharing. Our key Bible passage comes from Hebrews chapter 13, verses 1-3 and 9-19.
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Online Lenten Devotional: Out of the friendship and trust in the Women's Ministry comes this offering to one another and to the First Church congregation. We hope all who read it will know themselves accompanied on the Lenten journey. The Lenten Devotional can be found online at lentatfirst.tumblr.com A new reading will appear each day online, or you can choose to have the text of the reading sent to your email by clicking the 'Subscribe via Email' link at the top of that page.
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Focus on Hunger: The Mission and Social Action Committee has a goal to educate the entire congregation on the issues around food and hunger in our country and around the world, and why First Presbyterian is involved in alleviating the suffering associated with a lack of food. On Thursday, February 18, the Food Pantry served 91 clients with 20 volunteers.
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Food insecurity exists in every county in America. In 2011, 17.9 million households were food insecure.
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Adult Education
 FIRST talks RACE: a post-church chat. Sunday, February 21 at 12:30, Elliot Room
If you missed the dynamic and emotional Wednesday evening conversations, here is your chance to participate. FIRST talks RACE will have an encore-presentation on Sunday, February 21 directly after worship in the Elliot Room. We will ask difficult questions and listen to difficult answers on the subjects of race, racism, and privilege - and, what does this information mean for the ministry of First Church? Led by Eric Thomas.
Calendar listing
Sundays, February 21 & 28 Thurman Room, 10 AM
Isaiah in Lent - The Servant Songs and other texts of the prophet Isaiah provide a backdrop for discussion and refection as we journey with Jesus to the cross. Led by Eric Thomas.
Wednesday, February 24 Elliot Room 6:30 PM
The Beatitudes: NOW - Three Wednesday evenings in Lent, starting on February 10. Matthew's texts from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12) will be the subject of our reflection, in relation to contemporary issues of poverty, grief, race, persecution, and peacemaking. Who are the "blessed" today? Led by Eric Thomas.
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We received a request from David Carroll, former First Church member, who was married in this church some 20 years ago, to let the congregation know of the death of his wife Mia Michaux Carroll. The Rev. Dr. Paul Smith will preach at the memorial service to be held at the Riverside Church on Sunday, March 13 at 6:30 pm. All who knew David and Mia are warmly invited to attend.
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Connect to New York City Presbytery
Stay connected with the latest news and opportunities in and around the presbytery by subscribing to Happenings In & Around the Presbytery, the Presbytery's electronic newsletter. Click here and fill out the Contact Information Form to add your email address to the subscribers list. Once completed, return the form to the presbytery office or email it to Yzette Swavy-Lipton.
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Thank you from the Stewardship Committee!
Our 2016 Pledge campaign is nearing completion, and we want you give you a heartfelt thanks for the many pledges of support to FPC. We have a record number of new pledges this year, and have very nearly met our commitment goal. A few more pledges will push us over our goal and ensure the budget for the important year ahead. Thank you for the commitment and love and offerings you have given to our church.
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Worship services are streamed live over the Internet. On our website we provide the worship bulletin so that you can follow along. Tune in to worship at 11:00 AM Eastern time.
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Like us. Follow us. Visit us.
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Last Week at First Church
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Videos featuring some of the music from recent worship services are available on YouTube and on the Church's Facebook page. ("Like" us there, too!)
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Reminders and Looking Ahead
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After the Sermon
Each Sunday after worship, you are invited to discuss the sermon and other topics of interest in the Elliott Room after the service. This informal time is an opportunity to explore themes, ask questions, and/or share experiences relevant to the worship service and the practice of our faith. Led by Eric Thomas.
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The next Inquirers' Class will be held on Sunday, March 6, right after church, in the Thurman Room. New members will be welcomed by the Session before church on the following Sunday, March 13, and by the congregation during worship on March 13.
Find out what church membership means, what the Presbyterian Church is about, what First Church's unique mission is and how you can be part of it. Since only church members may vote on the candidate to become the new pastor of the church, whom the PNC will present to the congregation later this spring, now's a great time to join First Church.
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First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Social Action Committee
Criminal Justice Activities in concert with The Church of Gethsemane
A Presbyterian Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn, founded in 1986, which was created by and for formerly incarcerated men and women, their families, neighborhood people and people who are called into ministry with the poor. Reverend Diane Lacey is the pastor.
Overview of Project Connect – A successful, 25-year-old program of The Church of Gethsemane that connects men and women who are incarcerated to the Church of Gethsemane while they are still inside the prison system. Project Connect uses a four-pronged approach to join in ministry with people who are incarcerated and then helps in the transition back into the home and the community upon release. Minister Chibueze Okorie is the Project Connect Director.
Service Opportunities for FPC members with Gethsemane
- Preparing and Serving Lunch after Sunday worship service (typically 40 people)
- February 21 Criminal Justice Sunday
- March 6
- Making Prison Visits with Gethsemane staff to Project Connect members
- Sign up for orientation training
- Donating clothes, food and other items
- Can drop off at Gethsemane Mon-Thurs 10 AM - 4 PM
- Or contact Dave Ehlke for delivery
- Metrocards for job and job interviews
- Contributing words of encouragement in monthly group letters
- Administrative support for special projects
- Employment assistance for formerly incarcerated men & women
- Mental Health consultation ( if qualified)
- Housing assistance
- Project Connect Peer group participation & individual support
- Legal assistance, computer training, conduct seminars
- Volunteer Sunday afternoons as mentors- helping people with resumes, budgeting, organizing appointments and listening to needs & issues and praying with them.
Want to get involved?
For more information or to volunteer for any of the highlighted opportunities to serve, contact either
Jane Ehlke (email), Phone 781-572-6201 or
Dave Ehlke (email), Phone 617-512-5780
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This week's e-newsletter was edited by Dan Maguire. Photos by Jim Johnson.
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Online Donations: Set up a recurring gift to the church through a secure online account. To set up an account or to edit an existing gift, go to First Presbyterian Church's website.
Flower Donations. We welcome flower donations of $30 or more in memory or in honor of friends and loved ones. Call Annie Solages in the Church office at 718-624-3770 or see Barbara Cummings during fellowship hour on Sundays.
Appointments with Ministry Staff may be arranged by calling the Church at 718-624-3770, or via email.
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