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Greetings First Church Family and Friends,
The past two weeks have brought us male preachers from the Reformed tradition. The next two weeks will bring us female preachers in the Baptist tradition.
The first is my friend and colleague, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Dudley. Cheryl has quite a storied history, being a trailblazer in many of the roles she has held, including her current position as the Regional Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of New York.
Cheryl is a pastor's pastor. She looks out for ministers, cares about ministers, tends to ministers. This means you will also be in good hands this Sunday.
Thank you for welcoming my friend with warm and open hearts. She looks forward to seeing you this Sunday at 10:00 am!
You are loved,
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This week's guest preacher is Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley
The Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley is the Regional Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York (a network of 185 churches in the greater NYC area. Glad to call New York City home since 2006, she was raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and has served in ministry in Illinois and Pennsylvania before coming to New York. Dr. Dudley is currently active in a number of local, national and international boards and service organizations. Cheryl has a BA in Sociology degrees from Pomona College; MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a DMin from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL.
"In this era and in changing realities within churches, and decline and suspicion about many institutions, as the church we have an obligation to be faithful in fresh, consistent and surprising ways, even in our hard edged city. In the midst of the hard edges though, we can find people with soft hearts and open spirits and are hungry for God. All of us need to do our best to help satisfy their hunger."
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Sunday, August 19th
Nursery is open, 2nd floor at top of stairs
Choir Rehearsal
Sanctuary
10:00 AM
Worship in the Sanctuary
Following Worship
A time for Fellowship in the Peace Garden - Elliott Room (2nd floor) in case of inclement weather
Thursday, August 23rd
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Food Pantry
7:00pm
Stop Mass Incarceration
Forest Hills Presbyterian Church
70-35 112th Street, Forest Hills, NY 11375
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Congregation and Community News
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Below is a letter written my member, Erik Brogger, regarding the church's recent donation of clothing and work boots for EFWA Farm Workers.
Thank you and the members of First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn for contributing the clothing to the Half Hollow Camp. This was the largest distribution of brand new clothing that we have done in recent history and for Half Hollow camp in specific.
During the summer it is very difficult to communicate with the workers via telephone. Workers do not put their phone on because they are working 14 hour days and have not time to take a call and are too tired to talk when they are off from work so we go to the camps via trial and error based on past history of when we can reach them and when we can mobilize a crew to reach out to the workers. With a large amount of supplies it is better not to go to the camps with just one or two people but as a group so we decided to do the distribution after our July 15th 46th anniversary so that we could do both events successfully.
Our first attempt to distribute the clothing was on Sunday, July 22nd. We had volunteers coming as far away as Westchester to help pack each request and load them into two 75 lbs boxes – 5 volunteers in total. That first trip resulted in delivering four clothing requests. In years past we have found the largest amount of workers come in mid-afternoon before taking on a second job or taking care of personal needs on their one day off. That was the case for four of the workers. Although one four deliveries were made there were other things to talk to the workers about and it was the first visit for three of the five volunteers.
The second attempt we made was the following Sunday between 5 and 6:30 PM. We made one delivery on that day. I was busy assisting Cody with his medical needs. Cody, our WBC president and a founding organizer was hospitalized with an infection the day before - Saturday, July 28. Please prey for his recovery he still is in the hospital.
The photos I am sending are from the camp crew that we did on August 1st, which was our third and final attempt to distribute all the clothing to the camp. It was between 7:30 and 8 PM and although not all of the workers were back, we were able delegate the clothing requests to the members present to give to their roommate or sibling or friend. These photos were taken by Susan Wagner who has volunteered with us in the past. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of workers in their shirts and pants. They were tired, and the priority was to make sure that everyone received their requests.
The worker who organized the quests is Luis Garcia, seen in the picture with one boot on and one boot off. He is also the one who spoke last February. I think that all and all the workers are very happy about their gifts but also that there is a stronger sense that this organization is their organization, not just in times of need but all year round and that they have a role in the organization that continues even when they are working 16 hour days. This is important because when things go wrong during the 16 hour a day work season they able to reach out to us before all options for moving a bad situation into a good one have past.
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Stop Mass Incarceration
Join Us & Have Your Voice Heard
Interfaith Forum
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Forest Hills Presbyterian Church
70-35 112th Street, Forest Hills, NY 11375
[E, F, M, R trains to Forest Hills – 71st Street stop and then a short walk]
6:30 PM Doors Open 7:00 PM- Program/Discussion
At this Forum, we will discuss the moral imperative to closing Rikers Island Jails and reimagining a more humane approach to justice.
As a result of strong local advocacy by directly impacted people and communities, the work of the #CLOSErikers campaign, and a unanimous recommendation by the independent Lippmann Commission, the City has announced its intention to close the nine jails at Rikers Island and implement programs to reduce the overall jail population. They have proposed to move to a borough-based system with one facility per borough.
The Forum will include:
* A panel of faith leaders discussing the moral imperative of closing Rikers and ending race-based and wealth-based detention
* A presentation by a representative of The Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform (the Lipmann Commission) about their recommendations to close Rikers, reduce the jail population, and move to borough-based justice centers
* Open discussion with time for questions
ORGANIZED BY: JustLeadershipUSA and the Justice Ministries Committee, Presbytery of New York City
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 Summer Worship Schedule: Worship begins at 10:00 AM during the Summer and resumes at 11:00 AM on September 9th. The choir gathers Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM, and there is no Thursday rehearsal. If you have considered joining, Summer Choir is open to all.
The following weekly activities will be on hiatus for the summer:
- Adult Bible Study
- Sunday School
- Youth Choir
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INTERESTED IN VISITING CUBA?
First Church's White Rose Ministry is planning a mission trip to Cuba in 2019. Projected dates are May 8th (Wednesday) to May 19th (Sunday). The trip would include a visit to Havana followed by a flight (or bus trip) to Santiago and eventual departure home from Holguin. Our White Rose Ministry has established relationships with La Fernanda Presbyterian Church in Havana and the Lavastida Center in the Santiago area - programs at both are supported through our fundraising efforts here in Brooklyn.
White Rose Ministry will schedule an informational session in September for those who are interested or would like additional details about the mission trip. More to follow.
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Window restoration - Double Your Impact
We are seeking offerings specifically to restore one of our glorious, historic Tiffany windows - the fisherman window on the north side of the sanctuary. A generous anonymous donor has offered to match all gifts made for this purpose, so the donor is willing to cover up to half of the estimated $18,000 cost. This restoration will bring out the incomparable beauty of another of our windows, and is necessary to prevent possible permanent harm. Please note "window restoration" on any check or payment made for this purpose, and submit it with the offering or by sending it to the Church office. Contact Annie, Rev. Adriene, or Stewardship co-chairs Odette Perriel and David Jones for more information.
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On Thursday, August 16th, our Food Pantry served 126clients
with the help of 13 dedicated volunteers.
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Worship services are streamed live over the internet. We provide the worship bulletin on the website so that you can follow along. Tune in to worship at 10:00 AM Eastern time.
Missed a week, or want to hear a Sermon again? We have a podcast of Sermon audio (and video, when available). Click the "Sermon Podcast" icon, below, to subscribe.
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Like us. Follow us. See us. Hear us.
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Reminders and Looking Ahead
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Men's Fellowship Breakfast 7:30 am at Park Plaza Diner on 220 Cadman Plaza West is on summer break for the month of August. We will reconvene on Wednesday September 5 at 7:30AM
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This week's eNewsletter was edited by Christina Adorno; Photo credit to 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.
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