The Good News-Letter

The First Presbyterian Church of Washingtonville

February 2016

Ash Wednesday

Worship Service

February 10

6:15 PM Soup & Bread Dinner

7:30 PM Worship Service

Saturday, February 27

5:00 - 7:00 PM

First Presbyterian Church

Washingtonville

See Peggy Wright for details.

Come join us!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

First Presbyterian Church

of Washingtonville

Session Moderator

Anne Wood

Commissioned Ruling Elder

Clerk of Session

Deborah Chedister

The Session

Doris Dunn 2016

Nancy Popoloski 2016

Lois Dunikowski 2017

Nancy Bruscino 2018

Board of Deacons

Beth Cooke 2016

Beth Tyrrell 2017

Karen Lipton 2017

Mark Chedister 2018

Debbie Woodmansee 2018

*indicates second term

Office Manager

Cynthia Carey

30 Goshen Avenue

Washingtonville NY

845-496-3814

firstpres@frontiernet.net

Office Hours are:

Tuesday - Thursday

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

First Presbyterian Church www.fpcw.makeswebsites.com

Presbytery of Hudson River

www.hudrivpres.org

We have pastoral emergency coverage for our congregation. If you

know of a need for emergency care please call the church office

(496-3814) and leave a message if Cynthia is not there. Pastors

from area churches have volunteered to help us during our time of

transition.

We have a church officer checking the answering machine daily

when Cynthia is not working. Any questions, please contact Elder

Lois Dunikowski.

Washingtonville Wizards Weekend Food “WWWF”

The WWWF backpack program is currently serving

37 children in need. With the help of the Country

Kids Food Pantry and food donations from local

churches, the Catholic Daughters and individuals

we have been able to stock our shelves since we

began sending home backpacks of food on October

16th. We plan to send home a special supply of

food for families with participating children during

Thanksgiving Week. Walden Savings Bank and Moffat Library are

current community drop-off locations for food donations. Shirley

Mann from Bethany Presbyterian Church was permitted to place

WWWF donation canisters in four local businesses willing to support

the program: Catherine's Hair Design, Napoli's Family Restaurant,

T&M II Go and Betty's Country Kitchen. Blooming Grove United

Church of Christ has sponsored two children for the entire school

year. Please add Chef Boyardee microwaveable cups to your

shopping lists. This item is most needed at the present time.

Several members of our church and of the Catholic Daughters have

shown up every week to help pack food in the backpacks. The Taft

school community has been working with us in gathering food

donations, ensuring children take their backpacks of food home on

weekends and returning the empty backpacks on Mondays.

The Mission Ministry of FPCW is pleased to be the storage and packing

location for this program. We are also thrilled to be "building bridges"

with other local churches and within our community.

Our website is now fully functional: www.WWWFbackpackprogram.org

Please visit the website for more information and please consider

sponsoring a child.

With love and gratitude,

Lois and LouAnne, Mission Ministry co-chairs

Worship

The FPC Worship Ministry wishes you a blessed 2016! A heartfelt thank you to CRE Gaye

Hartwig for inspiring worship leadership throughout Advent and on Christmas Eve! We

had a lovely candlelight service with 65 in attendance. Our sanctuary looked beautiful

with our greens, pretty angel Christmas tree and breath-taking poinsettias. Many

thanks to Sue Hegmann for dressing up our big wreath with new lights and bringing the

bow “back to life.” Much appreciated!

Also, we are grateful to Mike Popoloski and his trusty assistant, LouAnne Blanchard for

painting over the peeling parts of our sanctuary ceiling. Words cannot express how

much improved things look!

A huge thank you to Mark Chedister and Beth Tyrrell of our No Strings Attached puppet

ministry for the wonderful Advent series!

On January 10th, we were so blessed to have Elder Lois Dunikowski lead our Communion

Service. Thank you Lois, for the giving of your time to take the presbytery training for

elders and for the very moving liturgy you chose. Lois will be leading communion again

when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper on February 14.

The following pastors will be guests in our pulpit for February:

February 7 - Sunday Sunday Rev. Glenn Henricksen

February 10 - Ash Wednesday at 7:30 PM Dr. David Jacobsen

February 14 - First Sunday in Lent Lynn Costa

February 21 - Second Sunday in Lent Lynn Costa

February 28 - Third Sunday in Lent Dr. David Jacobsen

Blessings, The FPC Worship Ministry

Church Office Hours

Effective immediately, the church office

hours will be:

Tuesday - Thursday

3:00 - 6:00 PM

Telephone messages will be checked

throughout the day.

7

14

21

28

1

8

15

22

29

2

9

16

23

3

10

17

24

4

11

18

25

5

12

19

26

6

13

20

27

S T T SM W F

7:00 PM Troop 416

Leadership Meeting

7:00 PM Session

7:00 PM Troop 416

8:00 AM A.A.

9:00 AM Bible Study

4:00 Girl Scout #503

7:00 PM Bible Study

P. Wright’s home

7:30 PM N.A.

7:00 Venture Crew

2:30-4:00 PM Girl

Scouts #493

11:00AM-1:00 PM

Girl Scout #592

2-6PM Scouts #16

4:00 PM N.A.

10:00 AM Worship,

Rev. Glenn

Henricksen

11:00 AM Annual

Congregational

Meeting

7:00 PM Troop 416

7:30 PM Ash

Wednesday Worship,

Dr. David Jacobsen

8:00 AM A.A.

9:00 AM Bible Study

4:00 Girl Scout #503

7:30 PM N.A.

7:00 Venture Crew

11:00AM-1:00 PM

Girl Scout #592

2-6PM Scouts #16

4:00 PM N.A.

10:00 AM Worship,

Lynn Costa, The

Lord’s Supper

8:00 AM A.A.

7:00 PM Troop 416

Summer Planning

7:00 PM Troop 416,

Court of Honor,

Sanctuary

8:00 AM A.A.

9:00 AM Bible Study

4:00 Girl Scout #503

7:30 PM N.A.

7:00 Venture Crew

2:30-4:00 PM Girl

Scouts #493

11:00AM-1:00 PM

Girl Scout #592

4:00 PM N.A.

10:00 AM Worship,

Lynn Costa

1-4PM Scouts #16

8:00 AM A.A.

7:00 PM Troop 416

8:00 AM A.A.

9:00 AM Bible Study

4:00 Girl Scout #503

7:30 PM N.A.

7:00 Venture Crew

5:00-7:00 PM

Spaghetti Dinner

4:00 PM N.A.

10:00 AM Worship,

Dr. David Jacobsen

8:00 AM A.A.

6:30 PM Boy

Scouts #16

F E B Sundays - 10:00 am Worship Service

11:00 am Coffee Hour Church Office Hours are:

Tuesday - Thursday, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 1 Samantha Santacroce

11 Mary Kate Paulus

12 Beth Cooke

13 Luke Bruscino

14 Richard Baroni

16 Helen Robinson

22 Suzanne Dunn

24 Bobbie Trager

27 Ray Fuentes

28 Erika Haub-Cabral

28 Irving Steenrod

Starting Upstream Read: Matthew 6:5-10

My home sits along a creek in a canyon in the shadow of a large mountain. During the spring

snowmelt and after heavy rains this stream swells and acts more like a river than a creek. People

have drowned in it. One day I traced the origin of the creek to its very source, a snowfield atop

the mountain. From there the melted snow begins the long journey down the mountain, joining

other rivulets to take shape as the creek below my house.

It occurs to me, thinking about prayer, that most of the time I get the direction wrong. I start

downstream with my own concerns and bring them to God. I inform God, as if God did not already

know. I plead with God, as if hoping to change God’s mind and overcome divine reluctance.

Instead, I should start upstream where the flow begins.

When we shift direction, we realize that God already cares about our concerns - a loved one’s

cancer, a broken family, a rebellious teenager - more than we do. Our Father knows what we

need (Matthew 6:8).

Grace, like water, descends to the lowest part. Streams of mercy flow. We begin with God and

ask what part we can play in His work on earth. With this new starting point for prayer, our

perceptions change. We look at nature and see the signature of the grand Artist. We look at

human beings and see individuals of eternal destiny made in God’s image. Thanksgiving and praise

surge up to Him as a natural response.

Dear Lord, I praise You for loving and caring for me so much.

What would I ever do without You?

Prayer channels God’s supply to our needs.

--Our Daily Bread

With blessings of love from the Nurture Ministry

INSIGHT: In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus deals with the burdensome teachings of the Pharisees

and in 6:1-18 with their hypocritical practices. They were showcasing how spiritually

pious they were through an ostensible display of their religious duties: charitable giving

(vv. 2-4), praying (vv. 5-15), and fasting (vv. 16-18). Jesus calls them to move away from

such showmanship and to pray in the privacy of their homes (v. 6). Desiring the praise of

others, they forfeited their reward from God (v. 5). Elsewhere, Jesus warned that those

who “for a show make lengthy prayers...will be punished most severely” (Mark 12:40).

Instead of babbling with pretentious empty words (Matthew 6:7), we are to pray with

simplicity and sincerity (vv. 9-13).

Savvy Soul Sisters of Syntax

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Most of us know or think we know who Ernest Hemingway was -- a brilliant writer full of

macho swagger, driven to take on huge feats of bravery and a pitcher or two of martinis --

before lunch. But beneath this man or myth, or some combination of the two, is another

Hemingway, one we’ve never seen before. Hadley Richardson, Hemingway’s first wife, is the

perfect person to reveal him to us -- and also to immerse us in the incredibly exciting and

volatile world of Jazz-age Paris.

The idea to write in Hadley’s voice came to me as I was reading Hemingway’s memoir, A

Moveable Feast, about his early years in Paris. In the final pages, he writes of Hadley, “I

wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her.” That line, and his portrayal of their marriage -- so

tender and poignant and steeped in regret -- inspired me to search out biographies of Hadley, and then to

research their brief and intense courtship and letters -- they wrote hundreds and hundreds of pages of

delicious pages to another!

I couldn’t help but fall in love with Hadley, and through her eyes, with the young Ernest Hemingway. He

was just twenty when they met, handsome and magnetic, passionate and sensitive and full of dreams. I was

surprised at how much I liked and admired him -- and before I knew it, I was entirely swept away by their

gripping love story.

I hope you will be as captivated by this remarkable couple as I am -- and by the fascinating world of Paris in

the 20’s, the fast-living, ardent and tremendously driven Lost Generation.

This is the book selected by the Savvy Soul Sisters of Syntax for February. Meeting date and time TBD.

15 Things You Should Give Up to be Happy!

- Give up your need to always be right.

- Give up your need for control.

- Give up on blame.

- Give up your self-defeating self-talk.

- Give up complaining.

- Give up the luxury of criticism.

- Give up your need to impress others.

- Give up your resistance to change.

- Give up on your fears.

- Give up your excuses.

- Give up the past.

- Give up attachment.

- Give up living your life to other people’s expectations.

Food Pantry - The food pantry welcomes all

donations. Needed for February will be: macaroni

& cheese, canned or bagged beans, canned fruit,

and pudding/Jell-O. Please add at least one of

these items to your shopping list. Donations can be

placed in the wicker basket outside Hazekamp Hall.

Coffee Hour Needs - Needs for the coffee hour are

as follows: small paper plates, juice, coffee and

tea. We can always use goodies (baked or store

bought). Thank you all for helping the Deacons

keep the kitchen stocked!

Prayer Shawl - The Deacons are so happy to have

this special ministry to help with their shepherding.

E Prayer Circle - Please contact Lois Dunikowski at

lbd9999@hvc.rr.com if you have any prayer

requests.

Emergency Use of the Church Building - If any

person in our church family is without power,

water, or heat, and needs to use the church as a

safe haven, please contact your deacon shepherd so

he or she can direct your need to the appropriate

ministry elder(s).

The Deacons are very happy to serve the members

of this congregation. Please let your deacon

shepherd know if he or she can help you in any way.

(There is a list posted on the bulletin board in the

Denniston Room if you are not sure who your

deacon shepherd is.)

• Sue Hegmann and Hanora Sullivan for their

leadership in Congregational Life for the lovely

Taste of Christmas.

• Sue Hegmann for her talented gifts she

brings in decorating the large bulletin board.

Morning Bible Study

Starting this month (February), the

morning bible study will be held on

Thursday mornings, 9:00 - 10:00 AM.

Come join us!

Youth Doing Mission Work

The Girl Scouts from Troop #503 does

an awesome job helping to pack food

for WWWF. They plan to continue

helping once a month for remainder of

school year.

Call Cynthia at 496-3814 or send an e-mail to firstpres@frontiernet.net

to share your news with our church family!

First Presbyterian Church

30 Goshen Avenue

Washingtonville NY 10992

Address Correction Requested

VISION STATEMENT

Together, we worship God through our

Study, Stewardship, Service, and Song.

Calendar of Prayer for our Congregations and Leadership

The endorsed calendar of prayer is a way for us to be

united. It’s an awesome responsibility and gift to pray

for one another. To make our offering on behalf of one

another. Each member congregation, staff member,

elected servant leader, ministry team, and mission

commitment of our Presbytery is represented:

Patterson PC, Calvary PC Newburgh, The Rev. Harold

Delhagen-Synod Transitional Leader, First Church

Mahopac, First Church Denton-New Hampton, The Rev.

Rhonda Kruse-connections and Change Presbyter,

Smithfield PC Amenia, United PC-Freedom Plains, The

Tony Point Center and its staff, Cornwall-on-Hudson PC,

and Elder Lori Hylton-Food Justice Advocate.

Newsletter articles for

the March 2016 issue

are due before

February 20!