TABLE OF CONTENTS
WHY ARE YOU GETTING THIS NEWSLETTER?
This issue of the “Prelude” is being mailed to many priests, rabbis, and imams who do not normally receive it because we want to let everyone know that our new directory of Long Island churches and synagogues is ready. Many people find this an indispensable tool for ecumenical and interfaith work—and may even be useful in contacting people within their own denomination. This directory is the most complete one we have ever published, with hundreds of new listings for independent churches and denominations such as the Disciples of Christ and the Church of South India that were not included previously. It also includes listings of bishops and other denominational executives for Long Island, chaplains and campus ministers, and the contact people for local ecumenical and interfaith organizations.
We are mailing this directory, with our thanks, to our major donors and to our member churches: if your congregation has not received one yet, this may be a sign that you need to do the paperwork to join! We also will be selling it for $50 to other not-for-profits and to some businesses that have a legitimate need to find local clergy (funeral homes and hospitals, for example) for $100. Since we wish to preserve the privacy of our supporters, we will not print the home telephone numbers of clergy (unless that is the number you prefer to be listed) or sell our database to telemarketers. If you would like a copy of the directory and have not received one, contact Sara Weiss at 516-565-0290, ext. 207 or saraweiss@optonline.net.
If you enjoy this newsletter and would like to receive it regularly, either via email or snail-mail, please contact Neka Wilson at 516-565-0290, ext. 201.
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From Our Executive Director:
GIVE BEFORE YOU GO
Suze Ormand, the personal finance guru, recommends that you write a check to your favorite charity before you pay any other bills each month. If you put off your giving until the end of the month or the end of the year, she observes, you are likely to feel guilty or broke until you make that contribution. Being generous up-front, she says, has a way of reassuring you that you really can survive on your income and help those who are less fortunate.
The Bible similarly urges us to give God the “first fruits” of the harvest, not the left-overs, and nearly every faith community believes that the Almighty wants us to show compassion for the poor. (We compiled quotations from the Multi-Faith Forum on this theme in our March newsletter.) It is good, of course, to make a pledge to your congregation or to the LICC and to pay it on Dec. 31, but it is even better to contribute faithfully throughout the year. This is one reason that the LICC has moved its annual appeal from year-end to the spring: we want to encourage you to share your “first fruits” with people in need. Some people have found modern equivalents of celebrating the beginning of the harvest: they pay their pledge automatically via their computer or ask their employers to send part of each paycheck to the United Way or an agency such as the LICC.
Many congregations remind their members that the bills keep coming all summer, even if you are away on vacation. This is doubly true of the LICC and charities that minister with the poor. Not only do donations of money tend to slow down during the summer, but so do collections of food for our emergency pantries. In addition, Long Islanders in need often find summer to be the cruelest season, the time when emergency shelters are closed and landlords in many communities evict year-round tenants to make room for more lucrative summer rentals. We particularly need your donations during the summer months, and so does every soup kitchen and synagogue.
Here are some ways you can help:
- Go to your kitchen and clean out all the food that you are never going to eat. Most of us have cans and jars of stuff that will go to waste but could feed someone in need.
- Organize a food drive in conjunction with Vacation Bible School or some other special event this summer. This is a great way for kids to learn how good it feels to live faithfully.
- Share the bounty of your backyard garden with a local soup kitchen.
- Give before you go on vacation.
- Last but not least, remember that St. Paul assures us that God “loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7): Smile as you make your gift.
Shalom/Salaam/Shanti/Pax,
Tom
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DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT - Sara Weiss, Director
A WORD OF THANKS
We are grateful to the following for their faithful support:
| Church World Service | $857.50 social services |
| Church World Service | $1,268.74 social services |
| Bethany Congregational Church | $500 where needed most |
| Congregational Church of Manhasset | $500 where needed most |
| Deamoak’s Planning Services, Ltd. | $1,000 Annual Meeting co-sponsor |
| JPMorgan Chase Foundation | $1,000 matching gift |
New York Yearly Meeting
(Religious Society of Friends) | $1,000 Women at the Well |
| Riverhead Building Supply | $1,000 Annual Meeting co-sponsor |
| Suffolk County Youth Bureau | $1,275 Emergency Food Riverhead |
| United Way of Long Island | $1,491 monthly allocation |
We’re also grateful to the institutions that gave less, and to the individuals who also gave but who have asked us not to publish their names.
Matching Gifts
Do any of you work for a company that gives matching gifts? If so, please call Sara to let her know. Typically, your company has a form they ask you to complete and send to the Long Island Council of Churches along with your gift that qualifies for matching support. We then submit the form directly to the company to receive the matching gift. You can double or even triple your gifts by giving to the Long Island Council of Churches through your company’s matching gifts program. If you need help, please call Sara for assistance.
Most Urgent Need
This month’s most urgent need is for eyeglasses for the working poor we serve through our Riverhead office. We have numerous requests for eyeglass assistance from people who can’t see without them but can’t afford to buy them. About a third are migrant workers. We had to turn away 15 people who came for help within the last few months because we didn’t have the funds. $1,500 would allow us to help all 15.
Memorial/Tribute Gifts
A great way to remember a loved one, whether deceased or living, is to give a memorial or tribute gift in his/her name. In your letter accompanying such a gift, please tell us who the gift is in memory of or in tribute to, and who is giving the gift. We will send a thank you letter to the contributor and to the family of the loved one in accordance with your instructions. Please send your contribution to the LICC: Attention: Sara Weiss. If you have questions, call Sara for further information at 516-565-0290.
You can now contribute to the Long Island Council of Churches using your credit card. Please call the Hempstead office at 516-565-0290.
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IDEAS YOU CAN USE:
Ecumenical Study of Mary
This fall a report will be issued from the Catholic-Episcopalian dialogue on Mary. This would be a great time for ecumenical conversation in your community, not necessarily limited to Episcopalians and Catholics, on how we understand and honor the mother of Jesus. Even “low-church” Protestants pay homage to her in Advent and might benefit from such a study. A new book by Jaroslav Pelikan, David Flusser, and Justin Lang OFM, “Mary: Images of the Mother of Jesus in Jewish and Christian Perspective” (Fortress Press, 2005) would be an excellent resource for such a study group. You might also invite Orthodox Christians and Muslims, who have their own distinctive traditions about Mary, which are little known among Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, to speak to your group.
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WORTH QUOTING
“Hope is hearing the melody of the future.
Faith is dancing to that melody today.”
--Rick Augsburger, Church World Service, at the April CWS seminar in Melville
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WORTH READING:
“Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith” by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott’s new book is even more unconventional, brutally honest, and hilariously funny than any of her previous work, including “Traveling Mercies,” her best-selling collection of earlier religious reflections. She is a unique combination of divergent attitudes: a born-again Christian who opposes the invasion of Iraq and supports gay marriage, a 12-stepper who writes optimistic novels such as “Blue Shoe” and “Crooked Little Heart,” but goes to church “with my usual mix of joy and profound anxiety about life.”
Lamott is just as candid in this book about her struggles to grow and mature in faith as she was about the ups and downs of single parenthood in “Operating Instructions.” Much of her earlier writing chronicled the skirmishes she fought in her battle with addiction, so she is intimately aware of human imperfection. She is clearly one liberal who has little quarrel with the doctrine of sin.
With genuine Christian humility, she tells us how she felt called to start a Sunday school at her Presbyterian Church in Marin City, California, with absolutely no idea what she is doing. Not taking herself too seriously, she muddles through to success in Christian education. Lamott likewise preaches one Sunday—and then fights with her son over his homework.
Achieving sobriety has also taught her, though, something about God’s forgiveness and forbearance. Jesus, she reassures us, knows that we make important changes “barely, poorly, slowly. And still, he raises his fist in triumph.”
The biggest challenge she faces is trying to love a president whom she loathes. Lamott knows that Jesus wants her to love her enemies, but she finds it difficult to apply this principle to partisan politics. “I wondered if I could love my president as Jesus or Dr. King would, without having to want to have him over for lunch…. Jesus ate with sinners—but, of course, they ended up killing him.”
Lamott credits her pastor with the insight that led to spiritual breakthrough: “When someone is acting butt-ugly,” Pastor Veronica insists, “God loves them just the same as God loves the innocent. They are still just as loved by God.” Lamott, stunned by this sermon, asks her fellow parishioners to pray for her as she wrestles with her political rage.
Theologians might say that in fully accepting unmerited grace, we are able to accept our fellow human beings, Lamott expresses her change of heart more eloquently: “I felt a shift inside, the conviction that love was having its way with me, softening me, changing my cold stone heart.”
In a time of bitter division between liberals and conservatives, between blue states and red states, this wisdom may be her greatest gift to her readers.
--twg
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Amnesty International’s Weekend of Faith in Action on the Death Penalty
Friday, October 21-Sunday, October 23, 2005
The NWFA encourages communities of faith to open a dialogue about the justice of the death penalty. The weekend is organized at the local grassroots level throughout the country, combining two important approaches to social justice: grassroots human rights activism and faith-based community action. Participation in the NWFA takes many forms and is based on the needs and size of your community or group. Reach out and initiate an open dialogue with members of your community! To register online, visit http://www.amnestyusa.org/faithinaction/signup.html.
For more information, please visit the AIUSA website www.amnestyusa.org/faithinaction/
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DID YOU KNOW?
- We now take plastic! You can now use your credit card to pay for our new directory of LI churches & synagogues or “Faiths of Long Island,” the LI Multi-Faith Forum’s new video, or to make donations to the LICC or the LIMFF. Just fax (516-565-0291) or phone (516-565-0290) the appropriate information.
- $1 billion for relief and development: Church World Service, the ecumenical agency made up of 36 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations, has provided more than $1 billion in disaster assistance and development, responding to 40 to 50 disasters each year. Only one in ten of these disasters receives much media coverage. After the December 26 tsunami hit Indonesia, CWS immediately shipped 150,000 Gift of the Heart kits to Banda Aceh alone and has 115 staff people working in Indonesia, staying for the long haul.
- The housing crisis is now so bad on Long Island that young adults are leaving our region at five times the national average.
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NEEDED/OFFERED
Offered:
- Workshop on “Racial Sobriety”:
- A rescheduled workshop on “A Journey to Racial Sobriety,” part of our yearlong examination of conscience on racism, will be led by the Rev. Clarence Williams on Friday, June 10, at St. Joseph’s in Babylon (39 North Carll Ave.) from 8:30 to 5:00. The cost is $10, which includes lunch and a light breakfast.
- New videos in the LICC Lending Library at the Presbytery Center in Commack:
- "Conversations on Homosexuality and Unity”—an excellent video and study guide developed by the Commission on Christian Unity & Interfaith Concerns of the United Methodist Church.
- “Sugihara”—the story of a brave Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, reviewed in the May “Prelude” (at www.ncccusa.org/ecmin/licc.)
- “The Last Letter”—Frederick Wiseman’s first fiction film, a drama about the Holocaust
- “A Hidden Life: The Story of the Sisters of Mercy” about Episcopal nuns in New York
- Cardiac Program for African American Women:
- Kathy Jablonski, the Director of Performance Improvement/Regulatory Compliance with the Visiting Nurse Service and Hospice of Suffolk and a graduate student at Stony Brook University, would like to provide a Cardiac Program for Women in a predominately African-American Church. The program will present risk factors for Cardiac Disease, lifestyle health-related behavior changes, and both typical and atypical signs and symptoms of Cardiac Disease. She would like to present this program in September and it will be free of charge. Please call her at 631-930-9305 if you are interested.
- Free Paint for Non-Profits:
- Each year, millions of gallons of paint remain unused or unsold by our nation's retailers as a result of mis-tinting or discontinuance of a product. The paint is of first quality and in full containers (quarts, gallons and fives). The paint consists of varying colors, which could be intermixed to create larger batches of a single color. The National Council on Paint Disposition (a not-for-profit environmental organization) is compiling a list of not-for-profit organizations that are interested in receiving the free paint. There is no charge to participate in this program and no requirement to take in quantities more than you can use. To get into the program simply email marvgoodman@comcast.net or call 732.309.2022 with the following information: Name of organization, address, telephone number, contact person, email address, fax number.
- High Speed Duplicating Machine:
- Union United Methodist Church in East Northport has a Risograph GR3770 that makes 100 copies a minute and has a color cartridge. They have replaced it with a newer machine but it still works great. They would be glad to give it to someone who will take over the last 24 months of lease payments. If you are interested, contact Pastor Tom Theilmann at 631-261-1303 or pastortomt@optonline.net.
- Classroom space:
- St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sea Cliff has 5 classrooms available for an early childhood education program. The classrooms are clean, well lighted, and conform to Village and County codes for partial-day children’s programs. Call 516-676-4222 Tuesday-Friday 9-3 or email jluttrel@optonline.net.
- RELIGION & ETHICS study series:
- Beginning Wednesday, June 1, 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. and running every other Wednesday at Incarnation Lutheran Church on Montauk Highway at Hayground Road, Bridgehampton. Call (631) 537-1187 or email pastorvita@fnol.net.
- SUNDAY AFTERNOON LECTURES on Biblical Foundations:
- Dr. Richard Bartel will lecture at Incarnation Lutheran Church on Montauk Highway at Hayground Road between Watermill and Bridgehampton
- Sunday, June 5 at 3 pm: “BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS OF REVOLUTION IN AMERICA AND BRITAIN: The Geneva Bible versus the King James Bible and the Balance of Love, Power, and Justice.”
- Sunday, July 3 at 3 pm: “BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SLAVERY AND RACISM IN AMERICA: Noah’s Curse and the Pentateuch in the North and the South.” For further info, call (631) 537-1187 or email pastorvita@fnol.net.
Needed:
- Child Advocates:
- Education & Assistance Corporation (EAC) is seeking caring individuals to advocate for foster children. EAC runs a program called CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates. The Long Island Court Appointed Special Advocate Program provides the court with trained volunteers who investigate, monitor and report to the court on the status of individual children in foster care. Assigned by a Family Court Judge, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers represent "the best interests of a child" and work to ensure that children receive the services they need with a goal of achieving a permanent home for the children to whom they are assigned. This year’s spring training for EAC’s Family Court Advocate Program will be six mid-morning sessions during the dates of May 31, 2005 through June 9, 2005. Please call Andrea at (516) 564-7835 x128 for information.
- Fair Housing Testers:
- Long Island Housing Services is seeking testers who ascertain whether or not homes and apartments in Nassau & Suffolk are being offered without prejudice to people of all races, faiths, etc. They need adults who have reliable transportation and no felony or fraud convictions. Training will be provided on June 18 in Hauppauge. A stipend of $13 an hour plus travel expenses will be paid to the testers. To volunteer, call 631-467-5111, ext. 318 or 516-292-0400, ext. 318.
- Advice on church furniture:
- Southold UMC is looking to purchase several new couches and love seats for a meeting room. Has your congregation recently purchased furniture? If so, would you be willing to tell them where you made the purchase, what choices you made, and how it has turned out, so that they can gain from your experience? Please call Pastor Lorraine De Armitt at 631-765-3449 or email sdearmitt@aol.com.
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JOB OPENINGS
- CAMPUS MINISTRY DIRECTOR:
- Long Island United Campus Ministries, a consortium of mainline Protestant denominations conducting and coordinating campus ministry programs on Long Island, is seeking a part-time Executive Director beginning August 1 to supervise regional campus ministry staffs on Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties), approximately 20 hours per week. A detailed job description is available at www.liucm.org. The Executive Director may be ordained or lay. Qualifications include a bachelor's degree; experience in or knowledge of contemporary practices in campus ministry; knowledge of denominational and judicatory policies and procedures for funding ministries in higher education, and an ecumenical and inclusive philosophy of campus ministry. The salary is $22,000, negotiable. Interested candidates should reply by June1 to the Rev. Timothy Riss, Smithtown United Methodist Church, 230 East Main Street, Smithtown 11787, with a statement of interest and qualifications and/or a resume.
- PROTESTANT CHAPLAIN at Stony Brook University:
- 13-14 hours per week, August 15 - May 15, $15,000 per year, beginning August 15. The Board of Directors seeks an ordained person with theological training at the Master's level, who is academically minded, creative, organized, committed to dialogue with other traditions, and enjoys working in consort with churches and individuals to develop and grow the ministry on campus. Deadline for application is July 31. Please contact the Rev. Lynda Bates-Stepe (Setauket United Methodist Church, 160 Main Street, Setauket 11733/631-941-4167/ sumcny@aol.com), or the Rev. William Edwards (26 Washington Ave., Setauket 11733/631-751-1220/ ewedwards@mindspring.com), or the Rev. Molly Blythe Teichert (Box 397, Port Jefferson 11777/ Revmjb@aol.com).
- PART-TIME CUSTODIAN/SEXTON Flexible Hours:
- Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (600 New Hyde Park Road, New Hyde Park) is seeking a dependable, courteous individual to work as part-time church Custodian/Sexton and to do light repair work and maintenance as needed. Requires ability to use cleaning equipment including floor washers, buffers, and polishers. Knowledge of plumbing, electrical & floor care a plus. This person will also be responsible for set-up of tables and chairs for Sunday school and special events. High school diploma or GED required; prior janitorial experience preferred. Applicant must be extremely reliable and must submit to drug testing and background check. Must be flexible, have good communication skills, and be able to work with minimal guidance and supervision. Must be able to lift 50lbs. Flexible afternoon/evening hours, approximately 20 hours per week - Monday through Thursday and Saturday mornings. Call the church office on 516-354-6956 for additional information.
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NEED A GUEST PREACHER?
- Our Executive Director, the Rev. Tom Goodhue, is still available some Sundays this fall for guest preaching. You can reach him at tomgoodhue@optonline.net or 516-565-0290, ext. 206.
- Alric Kennedy, our Director of Community Resources, also does some guest speaking and preaching. You can reach him at 516-565-0290, ext. 204.
- 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 seeks to avoid incarceration. You can reach her at 516-764-8728.
- Our chaplain Nancy Schaffer is not available on Sundays but 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. 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.
- Dr. Eugene Purvis, a Conference Evangelist for the AME Zion Church and a member of our Public Issues Committee, is available for guest preaching. He can be reached at 516-623-0716.
- 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) 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.
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Health Care Resources:
BLOOD PRESSURE SCREENING
St. Paul said that your body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit.” Some congregations have found that an easy way to encourage parishioners to take care of their temples is to offer blood pressure checks before and/or after worship. Nurses or EMTs typically take the readings during coffee hour in the fellowship hall. In some churches, the volunteers who do this keep a card file of recent readings, so that any sudden drops or spikes in blood pressure will be obvious. Here are some local parishes that have done this. They’d be glad to tell you what their experience has been.
Rev. Sean Murry
The Community Church, UCC
36 Church St., Syosset
516-921-2240
Loretta Stelter
St. Patrick’s Church
630 New York Ave., Huntington
631-673-5378
Elizabeth Wittish, SFO
Saints Philip & James Church
One Carow Place, St. James
631-584-5454
St. David's Lutheran Church
20 Clark Blvd, Massapequa Park
516-799-7832
John M Clark ,CSW
St. Peter's Parish Social Ministry
1327 Port Washington Blvd.
Port Washington
516-883-0365
Fran Leek
St. Hugh of Lincoln
21 E 9th St., Huntington Station
631-271-8986
Rev. Elizabeth Aurand
Incarnation Lutheran Church
411 Bayview Ave., Cedarhurst
516-295-5323
Fr. John Klingel
St. Andrew's Orthodox Church
1095 Carll's Straight Path, Dix Hills
631-586-1611
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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
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