TABLE OF CONTENTS
From Our Executive Director:
WHAT MAKES US HUMAN?
Our species likes to see itself as being vastly superior to all others, but it has been harder and harder in my lifetime to cling to this belief. First, Jane Goodale and other scientists documented that apes, dolphins, and other species are able to use tools and use language, two skills that we used to think set Homo sapiens apart from all other animals. Then geneticists discovered that about 95% of our DNA is the same in chimpanzees, our nearest animal relatives. A few weeks ago, however, researchers have documented an enormous difference between them and us: we are altruistic. Put humans in an experiment where they can get food for both themselves and others, and everybody eats. Give apes the same choice, and they will gorge on bananas while letting other chimps go hungry.
Scientists have debated since Darwin whether our inclination to help others is the result of evolutionary selection, a Creator’s will for us, or a combination of both causes. The recent research does not answer this question, but what it does indicate is that helping those who are no kin to us is a key component of what makes us human.
Many charities, including the LICC, are worrying about whether Americans are suffering from “compassion fatigue” in the wake of so many tsunami, hurricane, and earthquake disasters in the past year, but it is worth celebrating that we do care about people near and far who are no relation to us—though DNA suggests that all of us share a common ancestry in Africa, or near Cush, as Genesis 2 puts it. It has been said that there is always a bit of heaven in a disaster area, and in the face of catastrophe we do act better than cute but hard-hearted chimps. We gather food to feed strangers. We give blood so that others may live. We give money to help neighbors unknown to us. Just in the past year, Christians and Muslims in Indonesia managed to overcome a civil war to work together after tidal waves struck and India and Pakistan are setting aside their conflict over Kashmir to aid people injured by earthquakes, terrorism, and border wars.
December is a traditional time for Christians (and many other people) to dig deeper to make charitable gifts to help the poor. You and I can choose today and every day to do what makes us truly human: we can help our neighbors.
Shalom/Salaam/Shanti/Pax
Tom
Return to top
A WORD OR TWO OF THANKS
Sara Weiss, Director of Development
We thank the following for their faithful support:
| A Board member | $1,000 where most needed |
| Another Board member | $500 where most needed |
| Congregational Church of Manhasset | $1,000 where most needed
$500 Women at the Well |
| Garden City Community Church | $2,000 emergency food |
| Garden City Community Church | $2,000 where most needed |
| St. John’s Lutheran Church, Bellmore | $1,000 where needed most |
| Long Island Cares, Inc. | $1,000 emergency food programs |
| JPMorgan Chase | $10,000 predatory lending education |
| Roslyn Presbyterian Church | $500 where most needed |
| The Presbytery of Long Island | $6,000 emergency food programs |
| United Way of Long Island | $1,491 monthly allocation |
We would like to thank an anonymous donor whose company donated two computers. We are also grateful to the institutions that gave less, and to the individuals who gave but have asked us not to publish their names.
You can now contribute to the Long Island Council of Churches using your Visa or MasterCard. Please call the Hempstead office at 516-565-0290 and our staff will assist you.
Most Urgent Need
This month’s most urgent need is for cash and in-kind contributions for our Christmas baskets and toys program. Every December we package and distribute more than 200 Christmas baskets and many toys to needy families in Nassau and Suffolk County. The typical recipient family is a single Mom household with three or four young children. They are desperately poor families living on public assistance, many of whom are in severe straits because they lost a job, had a serious medical problem but no insurance to pay for it, are on worker’s comp after a job-related injury so they can’t work, or they’re homeless because they couldn’t afford to pay their rent.
They have no resources with which to buy their children toys or other Christmas presents that our children and grandchildren take for granted. Like our children and grandchildren, their kids also long for gameboys, sneakers, play stations, jerseys, and other gifts their more well-off friends can afford but are way beyond reach for these families.
We urgently need cash gifts, new toys and other appropriate Christmas gift items for pre-teens and toys and other gifts for older children so we can help these families have a happy Christmas season. We also need Christmas wrapping paper suitable for gifts for children of all ages. Please send your contributions to the Long Island Council of Churches, 1644 Denton Green, Hempstead, NY 11550. If you are sending a check, please mark “Christmas toys/baskets.” If you wish to contribute toys and other in-kind gifts, please arrange to deliver them to our Hempstead office during regular business hours, Monday through Friday between 9:30 AM and 4:30 PM except on holidays.
Return to top
KATRINA EMERGENCY TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2005
The Hurricane Katrina disaster has become notorious for exposing the vulnerability and invisibility of those who live in poverty. Because they are invisible, they are also forgotten.
For more than 70 years the Long Island Council of Churches has helped poverty-stricken Long Islanders with emergency food, homeless prevention, utilities, prescription and transportation assistance, and other basic human needs. Although we are delighted that you are generously supporting Hurricane victims and evacuees, these massive donations have left us without the funds we need to continue assisting the poor in our own neighborhoods, so they have become invisible and forgotten once again. We depend on your donations to help the poor in our own Long Island communities.
The good news is, for the rest of 2005, the federal government will allow you to contribute to help Katrina evacuees while also helping us help the poor here at home. Through the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005, donors who make cash gifts to a charity by the end of 2005 may deduct an amount up to 100% of their adjusted gross income (AGI), double the normal limit of 50%. The government enacted this relief act in order to help charities such as ours whose contributions have fallen dramatically because of Hurricane Katrina. Deductions carried over from previous years may also be included.
This temporary provision offers a marvelous opportunity to give additional gifts to the Long Island Council of Churches. We will be grateful for your gifts and the blessings they will bring to the poorest and most vulnerable of our neighbors.
To contribute, please contact us at 516-565-0290 or mail us at:
Long Island Council of Churches
1644 Denton Green
Hempstead, NY 11550
Return to top
IDEAS YOU CAN USE:
A Religious Scavenger Hunt
The Boy Scouts' Theodore Roosevelt Council had an All Faith Weekend this fall. Some of the ideas they used might also be put to work in the youth group or confirmation class in your own congregation.
The Scouts invited the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum to send a Building Bridges panel and the Scouts had their own interfaith prayer service. The night before the Bridges presentation, they watched Faiths of Long Island, the LIMFF’s DVD produced by Michael Fairchild. The planning committee also designed a Scavenger Hunt, which followed the viewing of the DVD and used many clues from Faiths of Long Island to aid the Scouts in identifying what to bring back or to find answers from those who had them. The Scouts spent the next hour or so traversing the Schiff Scout Camp in Wading River in search of religious objects and information.
Faiths of Long Island was roundly applauded by both Scouts and Scout leaders, as was the Building Bridges presentation. One of the themes of the weekend, as evidenced by the patch issued to commemorate it, was the twelfth point of the Scout Law (“A Scout is reverent”) which explains: “he respects the beliefs of others in matters of custom and religion.”
HOW TO ORDER “FAITHS OF LONG ISLAND”:
The Long Island Multi-Faith Forum and Michael Fairchild Productions have created a half-hour video. It introduces the eleven faith communities on Long Island that belong to the Forum and promotes greater understanding among the people of our region. It is available in both DVD and VHS formats and is suitable for youth as well as adults. The suggested donation is $30, plus $5 for shipping and handling, but please remember to specify which format you wish. Checks and orders can be sent to the LICC, 1644 Denton Green, Hempstead, NY 11550. We can now accept MasterCard and VISA credit cards for payment for “Faiths of Long Island,” if you fax (516-565-0291) or phone (516-565-0290) the appropriate information.
Return to top
WORTH QUOTING
Eternity & Intelligent Design
“It is enough for me to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuating itself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe which we can dimly perceive, and try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in nature.”
--Albert Einstein, quoted in Zion’s Herald, September/October 2005
Stewardship
Dave Ramsey, an evangelical Christian whose radio show helps listeners to stop wallowing in self-pity, control their spending, and get out of debt, explains why he urges his followers to make regular donations to churches or other charities:
“One way to bust the pity party is to be a giver. Giving breaks loose the whining child within you.”
--Dave Ramsey, The New York Times Magazine October 30, 2005
Why Churches and Charities (including the LICC) Deserve Gifts for Maintenance
“My epiphany recently about all this, especially in my own church, is that the building and the staff are as much part of ‘Mission’ as all the giving that goes on. So much happens there that no one ever knows about. So much begins there that everyone knows about. Without it ‘Mission,’ as we know it, wouldn't happen.”
--Chris Veech, 1st Presbyterian Church of Smithtown
The Difference Between Theoretical Physics and Theology
“Scientists know that without experimental vindication their proposals are likely to wither…. Religious belief that the universe is the handiwork of an all-powerful being is not subject to refutation. This sort of reliance on faith may itself have an evolutionary basis. There has been talk of a "god gene": the idea of an early advantage in the struggle for survival for those endowed with a belief in a hidden patrimony that gives order, purpose and meaning to the universe we experience.”
--Lawrence M Krauss, New York Times November 8, 2005
Return to top
TV WORTH WATCHING:
“SISTERS: PORTRAIT OF A BENEDICTINE COMMUNITY” on PBS
Protestant Christians often find nuns both mysterious and intriguing. A new film offers a fascinating look at life within a vibrant Benedictine community whose members seek to remain faithful to ancient traditions while facing new challenges.
“Sisters: Portrait of a Benedictine Community” takes us inside the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, Minnesota, where women pursue a life of work, worship, and leisure activities that range from centering prayer to cheering the Minnesota Vikings.
Founded in 1892 from earlier Benedictine communities in Bavaria and Pennsylvania, St. Scholastica enjoys a stunningly beautiful setting overlooking Lake Superior. At its peak, there were more than 500 members here and many novices in training. Today they have fewer than 150 nuns and their average age is now nearly 80, as few young women seem drawn to this way of life.
As is true with mainline Protestant seminarians in recent years, many of the new Sisters and novices come to the Monastery in mid-life, after experiences such as marriage, child raising, and careers outside the church — all of which were once rare among new pastors and nuns. Like their predecessors, they are drawn to life in community and to the Benedictine commitment to service and social justice; unlike those who went before them, they enter with unprecedented skills and wisdom: one white haired novice, for example, still works as a chemist and a college professor.
Some of the Sisters worry about this new breed of nun. One elderly member fears, “This won’t be a Benedictine community.” Others embrace it. Another nun says, “A whole new world comes with each new woman.”
This film follows several Sisters, both elderly and middle-aged, as they work in ministries outside the monastery. One volunteers at a hospice that was originally founded by their order. A whole group of them serves hot meals to homeless at a Union Gospel Mission, an expression of both compassion for the poor and ecumenical cooperation. Three Sisters lead a counseling and spiritual renewal center.
The members of the order talk honestly about the joys and tensions of living in community rather than in nuclear families or in individual isolation. They also wrestle with what it means for St. Scholastica to “sponsor” a hospital or school that was once staffed almost entirely by Benedictines but now employs almost nothing but lay professionals.
“Sisters” shows us a group of women who are marching together into an uncertain future with spirit, humor, and great affection for one another. The film closes with a happy scene of them at play. Blowing bubbles in a tour boat, the Benedictines croon, “Oh, we don’t know what’s coming along, but we’re singing a song, side by side.”
“Sisters: Portrait of a Benedictine Community” premieres on PBS on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 10 p.m. on most other public television stations as part of the outstanding series “Independent Lens.” Remember to check local listings, though, since it airs on WNET/13, for example, a week later, on Tuesday, Dec. 27, at 10 p.m.
Return to top
MORE TV WORTH WATCHING:
“PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY” on PBS, “Joy to the World” on ABC
Many knitters and crocheters turned out recently for a “Prayer Shawl Ministry” workshop at 1st Presbyterian Church in Baldwin. Those who knit and crochet might want to catch the outstanding PBS newsmagazine “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly” the weekend of Friday, December 9, which will focus on the growing spiritual practice of knitting or crocheting prayers into shawls as a way to provide comfort and solace to the sick, the needy and the grieving. “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly” airs on WNET/13 Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. and Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
“Joy to the World,” a one-hour special produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and presented by the National Council of Chuches will air on many ABC stations on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It feaures holiday music from African American, Asian, Native American, Arab, and Latino Lutheran congregations across the nation, including Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in Brooklyn. Many stations will broadcast it at 11:30 p.m., but you will need to check your local listings for the time in your area
Return to top
WORTH READING: The Death of Innocents by Sister Helen Prejean
“The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions”
Random House, 2005, 304 pages, $25.95, ISBN 0-679-44056-9
In “Dead Man Walking” Prejean told how she accompanied two men to execution. It told an inspiring tale of how a brave nun tries to save the soul of a man on death row whom we know is guilty. Both the book and the movie with the same title that starred Susan Sarandon raised troubling questions for anyone who supports executions, but both men at least did the deeds for which they were convicted.
“The Death of Innocents” is even more poignant, even more heart-rending, because when she went with Dobie Gillis Williams and Joseph Roger O’Dell on their final steps, they were almost certainly not guilty.
Even the most hard-headed advocates of lethal injection want assurance that we are killing those who are guilty, and the Innocents Project has now used new DNA tests to establish beyond a shadow of doubt that something like 117 people on Death Row did not do the crimes of which they were accused. This also means that 117 guilty people got off Scot-free.
How could this happen? Doesn’t our legal system have safeguards to prevent this injustice? Prejean gives us a quick overview of “the machinery of death” that should disturb people on both sides of the capital punishment debate. Williams and O’Dell were poor and had abysmal legal defense. Williams’ IQ score was 65. O’Dell had no attorney. Reading what happened to them should horrify every American. As Prejean points out, the coroners correctly stated the cause of their deaths. They said “homicide.”
Return to top
WORLD AIDS DAY EVENTS on Dec. 1 and beyond
- The Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk will have a series of special events at the WYANDANCH PUBLIC LIBRARY (14 South 20th Street) from 10:00 to 4:00
- Free Give-away Items
- Art Display / Make a Memorial heart
- Refreshments / Entertainment
- Bring a 15x20in AIDS Quilt Patch
THE FOLLOWING SERVICES WILL BE PROVIDED:
- HIV Counseling and Testing
- LIPA (REAP)
- Health Screenings
- Family Development Services
- Substance Abuse Service
- and more …
For further information, contact Linda Ashby or David Kelly (631-968-8000).
- Nassau University Medical Center (2201 Hempstead Turnpike at Carman Avenue in East Meadow) will host a Candle Lighting Memorial Service at 2:00 in their auditorium, with music by the Westbury High School Gospel Choir. For further information, contact Fran McDermott at 516-572-5415.
- The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset will host a “Service of Remembrance and Hope” in their chapel at 7 p.m. with a reception afterwards.
- Zion Cathedral Church of God In Christ (312 Grand Ave. at Babylon Turnpike in Freeport) will have a World AIDS Day worship service from 7 PM to 9 PM, followed by refreshments.
Dr. Frank A. White, Speaker
Music Ministry by Zion’s Mass Choir
- On December 15, Jackson Memorial AME Zion Church (60 Peninsula Blvd. in Hempstead) will host a program sponsored by “On Common Ground: the AIDS Institute Faith Communities Project". A Closer Walk will be shown, followed by a panel presentation on the global AIDS crisis. To attend, you must pre-register with Ron Derway at 1-800-692-8528 between 8:00- 4:00, Monday - Friday, by December 12. Dinner will be provided.
Return to top
ADVENT CONCERT in Massapequa Park Dec. 5
The women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America of St. David's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Massapequa Park will present an evening of readings, carols, and song, featuring soprano, Elizabeth Cohen, on Monday evening, December 5th, at 8:00 P.M. She will be assisted by flutist Barbara Griffiths, and members of St. David's adult choir, Kyra Carbone, Carol Scheuer and Ingrid Traeg. The program will be accompanied by Nancy Szabo, Director of Music at St. David's.
The presentation will be given in the Nave of St. David's Church building at 20 Clark Blvd., Massapequa Park. This is a free concert and refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall following the performance. You are cordially invited to join us for the evening.
Return to top
“RELIGIOUS VOICES OF PEACE FROM THE HOLY LAND” Dec. 6
The next event in our ongoing series of interfaith dialogues on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that have been sponsored by the LI Council of Churches, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the American Jewish Committee, the LI Board of Rabbis, and the Islamic Center of Long Island will be “RELIGIOUS VOICES OF PEACE FROM THE HOLY LAND” on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Beth El in Great Neck (5 Old Mill Road).
Christian, Muslim and Jewish clergy will speak about their efforts for interfaith outreach in the Holy Land.
The program will include:
- A presentation by the three Christian, Jewish & Muslim clergy, the Rev. Samuel Fanous (and Anglican priest in Ramle), Sheikh Mithkal Natour (an educator from Jerusalem), and Rabbi Ronnen Lubith (an Orthodox educator at a kibbutz in the Carmel Mountains).
- Questions and Answers with the Abrahamic panel as well as three local religious leaders
- General discussion examining stereotypes and the development of models of dialogue and interreligious interaction.
- Follow-up dialogue on how to promote peace and security for all the peoples in the Holy Land.
The three clergy also will speak at kosher/hallal breakfast on Tuesday, Dec. 13, from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. at the American Jewish Committee, 165 East 56th Street in Manhattan.
To attend this breakfast, please RSVP by Dec. 5 to 212-891-1443.
Return to top
DID YOU KNOW?
- The Rev. Hank Lay, pastor of Parkway Community Church and a member of the LICC Board of Governors, was recently elected president of the Classis of Nassau & Suffolk for the Reformed Church in America.
- The Rev. Charles A. Coverdale, pastor of 1st Baptist Church in Riverhead and a former president of the LICC Board, was recently elected president of the Long Island Organizing Network.
- 25 students turned out for the first meeting of the Long Island Housing Partnership’s new Youth Council—and they have already put up their own Web site (LIHPYouthCouncil.com) to do advocacy and education about our region’s need for affordable housing. To paraphrase the Good Books, “and a youth shall lead them…”
Return to top
NEEDED/OFFERED
Needed:
- Partner Congregations for mental health counseling:
- The Foundation for Religion and Mental Health, an interfaith pastoral counseling and mental health service non-profit agency, is seeking to offer its counseling services in partnership with various congregations and community organizations. FRMH offers counseling on a sliding scale (and accepts a number of insurance plans) as well as providing a variety of workshops. Congregations are asked to participate by offering meeting space, placing notices in their bulletins and newsletters, distributing flyers and providing referrals. Please join us in promoting mental health through individual, couple, family and group counseling. Please call Ilene or Paul at 718-461-6393 for further information.
- Information on College Students:
- Long Island United Campus Ministry would like to put campus ministers in touch with college students from your family or congregation. The only way they can reach students you know is if someone from “back home” lets the ministers know how to find them. You can email the student’s name, college they are attending, campus phone number, and email address to kazybh@aol.com. The Rev. Kazy Hinds, the new Executive Minister of LIUCM and a campus minister at Suffolk Community College in Riverhead, has offered to forward this info to clergy on campuses off-Island, too!
Offered:
- Help for People Dealing with Cancer:
- CancerCare helps nearly 17,000 cancer patients and their loved ones in Nassau and Suffolk counties each year. CancerCare provides free professional support services to anyone affected by cancer: people with cancer, caregivers, children, loved ones, and the bereaved. CancerCare programs—including counseling, education, financial assistance and practical help—are provided by trained oncology social workers and are completely free of charge. To find out more about CancerCare's Long Island services call (516) 364-8130 or visit www.cancercare.org.
- Free Furniture:
- A houseful of furniture in good condition is available for the taking in Shoreham for any family in need. A complete queen-size bedroom set in dark Mediterranean wood and another full (double bed) bedroom set, plus a kitchen set, a crib, and another dresser are available now, and others will be ready soon. Contact Hugh at rthreesons@yahoo.com to arrange a time for you to pick it up.
- Electronic Organ:
- Bill Quackenbush has a Lowry Jamboree electronic organ in good working order, with many stops, effects, and rhythms that he would like to donate to any congregation that can use it. It needs to be picked up in St. James and is fairly heavy. Call 631-584-6635 if you are interested.
- Advice on Handicap Accessibility:
- Make the elevator or ramp look like something anyone might use. One church spent a bundle on a cage-like elevator that few people would ever admit they needed. I think this falls somewhere under the doctrine of sin.... Bay Shore United Methodist Church found that the ramp that got used the most by those with impaired movement was the one that the nursery school and Sunday School parents used for strollers, too, i.e., the one that had no stigma of disability attached to it. Rather than attaching a ramp beside the steps to the main entrance, it might be better to gracefully ramp the main entrance so that everyone uses the accessible option. If you want to see how this can be done beautifully at no great cost, visit Island Park United Methodist Church (364 Long Beach Road) to see what they did when they built a new building in 1983. If your church sponsors a Boy Scout troop, encourage Eagle candidates to organize the troop to build a ramp or renovate a bathroom for greater accessibility. Bay Shore UMC’s troop raised the money and built both a ramp and a new bathroom, which turned out to be difficult but wonderful Eagle projects. One Eagle, Tom Pers, not only built a beautiful ramp that probably could withstand a direct hit from a thermonuclear weapon (which seems to be what the Town code has in mind), but also ended up entering the priesthood.
- SILO (Self Initiated Living Options) in Medford (631-698-1310) has developed expertise in how to install inexpensive modular ramps in homes, an approach that might work well in many sanctuaries, also. They’d love to help you do this in your congregation.
Return to top
THE MILITARY & YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL RECORDS
In Section 9528 of the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, school districts are required to release high school student records to military recruiters or risk losing funding. They are also required to inform families of the "Opt Out" rights of their child's directory information through a single notice. Notification varies widely across districts.
In addition to the loss of ESEA funds, a district that denies a recruiter access to the requested information on students after 7/1/02, will be subject to specific interventions: a senior military officer will visit the district within 120 days; if not resolved, the Department of Defense must notify the State Governor within 60 days; those not resolved after 1 year are reported to Congress if the Secretary of Defense determines the district denies recruiting access to at least two of the armed forces. The expectation is that public officials will work with the district to resolve the problem.
The Department Of Defense has developed a national HS database to document recruiter access. Presently 95% of the nation's 22,000 secondary schools provide a degree of access to military recruiters that are consistent with current law.
To Opt Out a child, you must submit an Opt Out letter by "snail mail" to your School District Superintendent. Specify the following:
"As a parent, I am exercising the right to request that you do not turn over the name, address, telephone listing and school records to the Armed Services, Military Recruiters, or Military Schools of the following student: student name and school."
- DATE YOUR CORRESPONDENCE
- KEEP COPIES OF WHAT YOU SENT
- DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT TO BE SURE THEY HAVE OPTED YOUR CHILD OUT
(For more info, go to www.leavemychildalone.org)
Return to top
GUEST PREACHERS
- Our Executive Director, the Rev. Tom Goodhue, is available for guest preaching and speaking engagements. You can reach him at tomgoodhue@optonline.net or 516-565-0290, ext. 206.
- Alric Kennedy, our Director of Community Resources, also does guest speaking and preaching. You can reach him at 516-565-0290, ext. 204, or alrickennedy@optonline.net.
- The Rev. Lillian Frier Webb, an African Methodist Episcopal clergywoman, therapist, and LICC chaplain, is available occasionally for guest preaching and would be glad to tell congregations about our Women at the Well project that helps women avoid incarceration. You can reach her at 516-764-8728.
- Our chaplain Nancy Schaffer, ordained in the United Church of Christ, is available for guest preaching and would be glad to speak to church groups at other times about Women at the Well. She can be reached at 631-586-9667.
- The Rev. Barbara Hosmer, a clergywoman in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who has pastored ELCA, Presbyterian, and Episcopal congregations, is available for guest-preaching, supplying preaching, and interim pastorates. You can reach her at 516-355-0264 or barbarahosmer@aol.com.
- The Rev. Dick Ploth, a member of the LICC Board and the Presbytery of Long Island, is available for guest-preaching, supply-preaching, and interim pastorates. You can reach him at 631-734-2587 or lyndik@optonline.net.
- The Rev. Kathryn Hinds, Executive Minister of Long Island United Campus Ministry, is available for guest-preaching and would be happy to speak with church groups about campus ministry. She can be reached at kazybh@aol.com.
- Sue Terry is a graduate of New Brunswick Seminary and is a licensed preacher in the United Church of Christ (and can celebrate communion in Suffolk County). She can be reached at gterrys@aol.com or 631-751-1170.
- Jesse Glick and Kathy Burton from Church World Service, our partners in disaster response, would be glad to preach or speak about the work of CWS. Call 888-297-2767 or email jglick@churchworldservice.org.
- Tom Lyons, a member of Mt. Sinai Congregational Church (UCC) and the LICC’s Public Issues Committee who is active in the Heifer Project, would be happy to speak or preach in local churches. He can be contacted a 631-928-4317 or lyonheifer@aol.com.
- The Rev. Randall Broger, a member of the Presbytery of Long Island who trained in interim ministry at Princeton Seminary, is available for guest preaching, supply preaching, and interim pastorates. You can reach him at randallb1@usa.net or 631-589-2923.
- The Rev. Elsa Callender, a United Church of Christ clergywoman, is available for guest and supply preaching. You can reach her at 917-836-8524.
- Dr. Jud Newborn is available for speaking engagements on the White Rose Christian Anti-Nazi Resistance and the Holocaust's lessons for confronting terrorism today. Author of a book on the White Rose, Newborn asks, “Who exemplifies the White Rose today?" To receive his complete lecture flier, call 516-931-7796 or email jnewbo@aol.com.
- The Rev. Gary Gerth, a retired pastor living in Wantagh, is available for guest preaching. You can reach him at 516-785-8013.
Return to top
JOB OPENINGS
- Health Coverage Enroller:
- The Health and Welfare Council of Long Island seeks an energetic, motivated individual for the Facilitated Enroller position for the Child/Family Health Plus Program. Flexibility in work schedule and ability to travel throughout Long Island a must. Fluency in Spanish a plus. Complete benefits package. For more information, go to www.hwcli.com. Fax or email resume to Amy Carroll at 516-483-4794 or acarroll@hwcli.com.
- Food Pantry Manager:
- Hugh Watts is retiring as manager of our emergency food center in Freeport. The LICC is eagerly seeking applications for this part-time (20 hours a week) position, which requires overseeing staff and volunteers and preparing monthly reports. To apply or get further information, contact Alric Kennedy at 516-565-0290.
- Youth Ministry Director:
- Centerport United Methodist Church is seeking a caring, self-starter to lead our Youth Fellowship program. Successful candidate will work with youth ages 13-18 to develop and conduct a wide variety of educational, recreational and community service programs to guide and empower youth to be full participants and active leaders in the Church. Must be able to facilitate youth participation in community service projects. Position requires strong Christian faith; a degree and/or prior teaching experience with youth preferred. This is a year-round position with flexible, part-time hours. To apply or learn more about CUMC and the position, contact the office at 631-261-5222 or e-mail your resume to cumcsecy@optonline.net.
Return to top
GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE: DONATE BLOOD
COMMUNITY BLOOD DRIVES in DECEMBER
Long Island’s perennial blood shortage grows worse each year during December and January. If your congregation is having a blood drive, the LICC would be glad to help publicize it! Here are some collection dates.
| 12/4 | Unitarian Congregation at Shelter Rock | 48 Shelter Rock Rd | Manhasset | 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM | Barbara Dilsner |
| 12/5 | LICC Floral Park | United Methodist Church | Floral Park | 3:30 PM - 9:00 PM | Gaius Sikes |
| 12/11 | Full Gospel Church | 4101 Austin Blvd. | Island Park | 9:30 AM - 3:00 PM | Mike Catanzaro |
| 12/2 | Our Savior Lutheran Church | 140 Mark Tree Road | Centereach | 3:30 PM - 9:00 PM | William Kletecka |
| 12/18 | St. Patrick Episcopal Church Parish Center | 305 Carll's Path | Deer Park | 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM | Tom Carey |
| 12/20 | St. Pauls | 31 Rider Ave. | Patchogue | 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Christine Saas |
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SCHEDULE A CONVENIENT APPOINTMENT, PLEASE CALL 1-800-933-BLOOD (2566)
Return to top
The Long Island Council of Churches is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit. All gifts are deeply appreciated and are tax-deductible.
Tom Goodhue
Executive Director
Long Island Council of Churches
1644 Denton Green
Hempstead, NY 11550
voice: 516-565-0290, ext. 206
fax: 516-565-0291
email:licchemp@aol.com
Web: www.ncccusa.org/ecmin/licc
|
