TABLE OF CONTENTS
From the Executive Director:
THE FUTURE OF UNITY
As I write this column, I am about to leave for the National Workshop on Christian Unity in San Jose. I often find that it takes me a while to digest what I learn at events such as this. This week I find myself reflecting on an exciting presentation at last year’s NWCU in New Orleans, my first visit to that marvelous, doomed city.
Three young adults, Andrew Boyd, Melanie Gibbons, and Whitney Walton (with some help from Jason Renken), shared ideas on “Developing a Generation of Younger Ecumenical Leaders.” This is an important topic for everyone who wants to see Christians work together to reduce human suffering and create greater interfaith understanding, since someone needs to carry on this work after we old goats are gone, but I also believe that much of what they had to say applies to nurturing leadership in congregations, faith based organizations, and other not-for-profits.
In some respects, Generation X (the one after the Baby Boom) and Generation Y (the one after X), are like Boomers in ways that create challenges for communities of faith: they tend to be believers rather than belongers and they distrust institutions, both of which make it difficult to sustain either a congregation or a Council of Churches, particularly since they perceive the ecumenical movement itself, according to A. J. Boyd, as “a club of old guys that excludes them.” Raised in an ecumenical age, they do not generally recognize that there still are barriers to Christian unity. Christian unity is more appealing than ecumenism; social issues are more exciting than theology. The problem is that they may want churches, synagogues, and other institutions to deal with important issues but are less likely to serve on any committee that plans action.
In certain ways, though, these young adults are different from those that went before them. This can make if difficult for Boomers such as myself to understand them, but they also bring unique opportunities to the ecumenical movement. Whitney Walton observed that:
They passionately define themselves as “Christian” or “spiritual” rather than “Baptist/Catholic/Presbyterian” and “religious.”
They are even more likely than Boomers to move from one denomination to another, or to join an independent congregation.
They are far more likely than any previous generation to relate to more than one congregation at a time, rather than belonging exclusively to one flock.
They are encountering new challenges themselves in interdenominational or interfaith marriage and child rearing, and they are eager to get help in navigating these unfamiliar waters.
How can your congregation or organization engage Gen X and Gen Y?
- In the first place we should not limit ourselves to those who wear funny collars. Andrew Boyd believes that future ecumenical leaders may be religious workers with extensive training and even seminary degrees who are not ordained. In both the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, there is a burgeoning “lay” deaconate. In many Catholic dioceses, 90% of the seminarians do not intend (or are not permitted to) become priests and 90% of the church leaders are not clergy. In the LICC, many of our best committee members are lay people.
- We should address issues of interfaith/interdenominational dating, marriage, and parenting, the gut issues of ecumenicity for many young adults. The Long Island Multi-Faith Forum is doing this, by the way, on June 3 in Hicksville.
- We need to be on-line. Not owning a computer does not make you a bad person, but if your organization has no presence on the Internet, the gig is up. “If you can’t Google it,” Whitney Walton explained, “it doesn’t exist.” Web sites, chat rooms, and listservs are all essential — and youth and young adults are often glad to help launch these. In my last parish I recruited an elementary school student and a retiree to set up and run the church’s Web site: they did a great job together. The LICC does pretty well with email (let us know at licchemp@aol.com if you want to be added to our list) and our Web site is terrific (www.ncccusa.org/ecmin/licc), but we still need to find a chat room host. And the Multi-Faith Forum needs a webmeister, too.
- We must “keep our eyes on the prize.” The purpose of this organization and that of many other religious organizations is to work together to alleviate human suffering, to help us live joyfully the way Jesus wants us to live, and nudge our society closer to the Beloved Community that God longs for us to embrace. If we want a new generation to feel passionate about this work, we need to show them our own passion for these things.
Shalom/Salaam/Shanti/Pax,
Tom
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A WORD OR TWO OF THANKS
Sara Weiss, Director of Development
SPECIAL THANKS to the Nassau County Bar Association's WE CARE Advisory Board for a gift of $10,000 to support our Freeport Emergency Food Center.
We also thank the following institutions for their generous support during the month of April and for the blessings these gifts bestow upon our needy clients:
| Congregational Church of Manhasset | $500 unrestricted |
| Deamoak’s Planning Services, Ltd. | $1,000 Annual Meeting Sponsor |
| New York Yearly Mtg., Religious Society of Friends | $1,250 Women at the Well |
| Riverhead Building Supply | $1,000 Annual Meeting Sponsor |
| Roslyn Presbyterian Church | $1,000 unrestricted |
| Town of Southampton | $8,000 Riverhead |
| United Methodist Church of Bellmore | $513 emergency food |
| United Way of Long Island | $1,491 monthly allocation |
| Individual/Most Urgent Need | $500 Prescription assistance |
| We also thank the many institutions and individuals who gave less. Collectively, all of you are essential to us in sustaining our ministry to serve Long Islanders in need.
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Most Urgent Need
This month’s most urgent need is for baby formula and larger sized Pampers for the Riverhead office. Although the East End economy had been predicted to improve, it has not bounced back as well as expected. Among our clients, women outnumber men 2:1. Many of these women are single mothers with young children. As anyone who has bought baby formula or plastic diapers knows, they are very expensive and little ones go through them rapidly.
Although we have adequate donations for newborn-size Pampers, we urgently need donations of larger sizes of Pampers for older infants and toddlers. We also need baby formula for infants. A donation of $500 would buy a two-month supply of infant formula, and a donation of $250 would pay for the cost of diapers for three and one-half months.
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.
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LICC receives $10,000 from Nassau County Bar Assn.
The WE CARE Advisory Board, Nassau County Bar Association’s charitable arm, gave a $10,000 grant to the Long Island Council of Churches’ (LICC) emergency food programs. The LICC operates an emergency food center located at 450 North Main Street in Freeport, and also distributes emergency food from its administrative headquarters located at 1644 Denton Green, corner of Washington Street and Fulton Avenue, in Hempstead.
Freeport Emergency Food Center manager Barbara Harrison reports that in addition to the regular clients we serve who are the working poor with chronic food and other essential social service needs, she is now seeing new categories of vulnerable clients. They include single young pregnant women, recently released inmates who are trying to re-integrate into their communities, and an increasing number of seniors who are coming to us for food assistance.
Over half the young pregnant women are Spanish-speaking. They are typically single mothers with other young children and no husband to help support the family. The recently released inmates who require our food assistance are struggling to re-integrate into their communities. They often lack jobs and marketable job skills, making it difficult for them to be self-sustaining. For many years the number of seniors seeking our assistance through our Suffolk location was five times more than in Nassau. “We are now seeing an alarming rise in the number of seniors coming to our Nassau locations,” said executive director Rev. Tom Goodhue. “They all have Medicare but cannot afford their prescriptions or cannot figure out their Medicare Drug Benefits.”
“This important gift from the Nassau County Bar Association will increase our ability to reach the most vulnerable and forgotten populations of Nassau County,” Ms. Harrison said. She added that although many clients first come to us for food assistance, client intake quickly reveals multiple needs such as housing, transportation, and medical prescriptions. Ms. Harrison is also developing new nutritional education programs for clients, particularly for young mothers and seniors with serious nutritional problems.
Alric Kennedy, director of community resources, noted, “Although we face great challenges in fulfilling the needs of our clients, donations such as the Nassau County Bar Association’s sustain our resolve to remain steadfast in carrying out our mission to serve Long Islanders in need.”
The LICC unites diverse Christians to work together to improve living conditions on Long Island and to promote understanding and cooperation between Christians and non-Christians. Through partnerships with nearly 800 congregations and more than 40 public and private health and social service agencies the LICC provides emergency food, housing, medical assistance, transportation assistance, chaplaincy services in the jails, disaster relief, advocacy and education for a wide range of social issues including affordable housing, adequate health care, the environment, social, racial and gender equality, anti-poverty and anti-bias programs, prison reform, substance abuse and domestic violence programs.
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IDEAS YOU CAN USE:
PENTECOST/FOUNDERS’ DAY
Many churches annually celebrate the founding of their congregation, and nearly all Christians commemorate Pentecost (June 4) as the “birthday of the church,” the day the Holy Spirit turned cowering disciples into brave witnesses. These celebrations are often pretty boring, though, and may fuel misunderstanding through sins of omission and sins of commission:
- Preachers often recall how Jesus differed from other rabbis but too seldom say that he lived and died a Jew.
- Methodist clergy like to tell how John & Charles Wesley criticized their fellow Anglicans for not reaching out to poor and working class people, but they too rarely remind their flocks that they remained priests of the Church of England or that John Wesley and Barbara Heck (founder of the first American Methodist society) opposed both the Revolutionary War and the break with the C of E.
Here are some ways to spice up your sermon, Sunday School lesson, or fellowship group devotions for Founders Day or Pentecost:
- Remind your church that Pentecost was a Jewish festival. These polyglot disciples gathered in Jerusalem because they were observant Jews.
- Tell how other denominations nurtured your founders. United Methodists, for example, might note how Anglicanism nurtured the Wesleys, how the Church of England gave them a profound appreciation for the Eucharist or how Methodist innovations, such as small group meetings and a methodical approach to discipleship and mission, grew out of the Anglican’s Oxford Movement.
- Tell what your denomination lost when it broke with its predecessors: how Christians descended into dualism and an unhealthy mind-body split when we broke away from Judaism, how Protestants forgot most of the women of the Bible when we rejected the veneration of saints, and how Methodists nearly stopped practicing the Lord's Supper when we decided we could do without priests.
Who knows? You might end up with the most interesting church anniversary in years.
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A Litany from the World Council of Churches
The 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, the most theologically, denominationally, and ethnically diverse gathering in the organization’s history, was held recently in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The delegates chose to present their Message in the form of a prayer. While a bit long for use in regular weekly worship, it could easily be broken into several parts:
Prayer of common confession:
God of grace,
together we turn to you in prayer, for it is you who unite us:
you are the one God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - in whom we believe,
you alone empower us for good,
you send us out across the earth in mission and service in the name of Christ.
We confess before you and all people:
We have been unworthy servants.
We have misused and abused the creation.
We have wounded one another by divisions everywhere.
We have often failed to take decisive action against environmental destruction,
poverty, racism, caste-ism, war and genocide.
We are not only victims but also perpetrators of violence.
In all this, we have fallen short as disciples of Jesus Christ
who in his incarnation came to save us and teach us how to love.
Forgive us, God, and teach us to forgive one another.
A prayer litany:
God, hear the cries of all creation,
the cries of the waters, the air, the land and all living things;
the cries of all who are exploited, marginalized, abused and victimized,
all who are dispossessed and silenced, their humanity ignored,
all who suffer from any form of disease, from war
and from the crimes of the arrogant who hide from the truth,
distort memory and deny the possibility of reconciliation.
God, guide all in seats of authority towards decisions of moral integrity.
God, in your grace, transform the world.
We give thanks for your blessings and signs of hope that are already present in the world,
in people of all ages and in those who have gone before us in faith;
in movements to overcome violence in all its forms, not just for a decade but for always;
in the deep and open dialogues that have begun both within our own churches and with those of other faiths in the search for mutual understanding and respect;
in all those working together for justice and peace -
both in exceptional circumstances and every day.
We thank you for the good news of Jesus Christ, and the assurance of resurrection.
God, in your grace, transform the world.
Prayer for Pentecost Sunday or the season of Pentecost:
By the power and guidance of your Holy Spirit, O God,
may our prayers never be empty words
but an urgent response to your living Word -
in nonviolent direct action for positive change,
in bold, clear, specific acts of solidarity, liberation, healing and compassion,
readily sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
Open our hearts to love and to see that all people are made in your image,
to care for creation and affirm life in all its wondrous diversity.
Transform us in the offering of ourselves so that we may be your partners in transformation
to strive for the full, visible unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ,
to become neighbours to all,
as we await with eager longing the full revelation of your rule
in the coming of a new heaven and a new earth.
God, in your grace, transform the world.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
More on the World Council of Churches Assembly can be found at www.wcc-assembly.info.
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WORTH QUOTING
“The Da Vinci Code”
“The important thing to remember is that, despite the more recent suggestions of Dan Brown that his novel is based on fact and the refusal of Ron Howard, the movie producer, to show a disclaimer that this movie is a work of fiction, it is just that. . . .
“I have a challenge to anyone who has read, or will see, `The DaVinci Code.’ Presuming that the movie will last about two hours, I challenge you to spend that same amount of time reading the Gospels.”
--Bishop Emil Wcela, The Long Island Catholic May 10, 2006
Health Care for All
“Even one person being uninsured is one too many. It’s a matter of justice.”
--Bishop Howard Hubbard
Observing the Sabbath
“My Dad told me something when I first started working. `Take a day off every week, son,’ he said. `Rest. And you will discover that you get more done than if you work seven days straight.’ You know what? I’ve been working forty years, and I have discovered (miracle of miracles!) that my Dad was right. There hasn’t been a single exception to the rule. Not one.
“Only recently have I begun to realize why. It is because humankind may be made for the other six days, but the seventh day was made expressly for us.
“Try it. You’ll like it. And by the way, God said He would like it, too.”
--the Rev. David Sapp, Lord’s Day Alliance, www.ldausa.org.
The Jesus I Believe In
“The Jesus I believe in was born of the most humble beginnings and raised in poverty. Throughout his life, Jesus was concerned with the poor, the powerless, and the oppressed. He was the friend of sinners, of the undesirables, and of the outcasts. Ridiculed, scorned, betrayed, condemned and crucified, his life was defined by suffering.
“The Jesus I believe in honored the victims, the sufferers, and the soul. In America today we honor the victorious, the successful, and the body.”
--Todd Huffman, MD, CommonDreams.org, published in Zion’s Herald March/April 2006
Religion & Equality
“To be a member of a religious community can also mean and precisely does mean for so many of us, equal rights.”
--Rabbi Benjamin David, Temple Sinai of Roslyn Heights, Newsday April 26, 2006
Being a Father
“I’m a believer in the need for professional satisfaction. But if forced to choose, I want to be a successful father.”
--Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, USA Weekend April 28-30, 2006
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WORTH READING (OR LISTENING):
Bruce Feiler, Where God Was Born
“Is religion tearing us apart?” Bruce Feiler asks. “Or can it bring us together?” As with his earlier books “Walking the Bible” and “Abraham,” Feiler plunges into the territory that we may have heard about in Sunday School yet may not understand at all. “Where God Was Born” (published last fall by HarperCollins and recently released as a CD audiobook) re-introduces us to “the second half of the Hebrew Bible.”
Feiler’s method is simple yet powerful: he sets out to read both historical and prophetic books in their geographic settings outside the Holy Land. The journey through perilous parts of modern Iraq and Iran is exciting and revealing. Who knew that there are half a million archeological sites in Iran yet to be excavated? Who has pondered the irony that Nehemiah reestablished the Law of Moses in Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile but could not comply with it himself, since being a eunuch made him a sexual outcaste?
As Iraq descends into chaos and our nation risks war with Iran, Feiler seeks Jewish, Christian, and Muslim partners for interfaith dialogue about our shared sacred stories. Finding members of some of these communities is hard in itself. Our invasion of Bagdad, we learn, drove out a tiny Jewish community that Saddam Hussein could not. Iraqi Christians who were protected under his dictatorship now are imperiled by civil war.
Remarkably, Feiler finds people willing to pool their insights into religious literature in the midst of a misbegotten conflict. Equally amazing, he finds a thriving Jewish community in Tehran and many Nestorian Christians. The biblical religions borrowed widely from each other at their birth, Feiler observes, they recognized their commonalities, and they were willing to coexist peacefully. He thus offers a rare vision of how God might unite the followers of different faiths, an important message for our time.
Feiler hopes to encourage interfaith dialogue in America, too. “Abraham” prompted thousands of study groups across the land. His Web site (www.brucefeiler.com) offers a free reader’s guide to this book, a discussion guide to Jonah, and “an interfaith companion.” These could provide a solid basis for some wonderful conversations.
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WORTH WATCHING:
“Walking the Bible” & “Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason”
“WALKING THE BIBLE” Saturday, June 3 at 3 p.m. on WLIW/21 - Storyteller Bruce Feiler travels 10,000 miles across 10 countries on three continents to re-create the journey documented in his best-selling book, Walking the Bible. One of the world’s leading biblical archaeologists accompanies Feiler, giving life to Scripture passages in their original settings. Feiler and his expedition team retrace Joseph’s path to Egypt in “A Coat of Many Colors: The Israelites in Egypt” (3 pm); and follow the Israelites’ 40-year trek in “Toward the Promised Land: Forty Years in the Desert” (4:30 pm). Parts two and three of the three-part series (part one airs Thursday, May 25 at 9 pm).
“BILL MOYERS ON FAITH & REASON” Thursdays at 10 p.m. on WLIW/21 - Seven one-hour episodes, beginning June 29 - The incomparable journalist Bill Moyers returns to television with an important question: Are fear and violence the inevitable consequence of clashing beliefs or is a more tolerant world possible? In the tradition of his landmark conversations with Joseph Campbell on the “Power of Myth,” Huston Smith on “The Wisdom of Faith” and Mortimer Adler on “Six Great Ideas,” Moyers sits down with leading writers — among them Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Mary Gordon, Martin Amis, and Richard Rodriguez — to explore new ways of thinking about some of the most persistent questions facing us today.
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Multi-Faith Forum Program Offered in Bellmore
Many congregations have found creative ways to use the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum in educational programs for children, youth, confirmation classes, adults, and the general community. While the Forum typically sends a panel of several speakers to address an audience together, you should feel free to suggest other formats suited to your local needs. Bellmore Presbyterian Church, for example, is hosting a series of the LIMFF’s “Building Bridges” speakers on four Tuesday evenings, May 23 to June 13, from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. The church is located at 2740 Martin Ave. at Bellmore Rd., a few blocks north of Sunrise Highway. All are invited! The speakers are:
- May 23 Kausar Zaman (Islam)
- May 30 Vito Benenati (Bahai Faith)
- June 6 Cheryl Bennett (Christian) & the LIMFF video “Faiths of Long Island”
- June 13 Narinder Kapoor (Hindu)
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Aids Interfaith Long Island Colloquium June 15
A special AILI Colloquium will be held on June 15 at 9:30 am at The Presbytery Center, 50 Hauppauge Road, Commack. The movie, "A Closer Walk" will be shown, and there will be a guest presenter following the film. A light breakfast will be served. Please pre-register for this event by June 12, as seating is limited.
Call Laura at 631-286-0525 to confirm your attendance.
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Community of Faith against Domestic Violence:
CELEBRATING SURVIVORS LUNCHEON - Monday, June 19
Speaker: Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice "Breaking Legal Barriers"
Monday, June 19, noon to 3:00, Woodbury Country Club, 884 Jericho Turnpike
$20 ($30 at the door). Make checks out to COFTFDV & send to:
Chris Veech, 11 Yates Avenue, Commack, NY 11725.
For further info, call Chris at 631-499-1680 or Fran at 631-427-6526.
If you wish to sponsor one or more survivors, instead of or in addition to attending, send a check with a note to that effect.
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DID YOU KNOW?
Since 1995, nearly 9,000 Long Islanders have received low-interest rate mortgages through SONYMA. Now, homes priced up to $429,610 can qualify for subsidized SONYMA loans. More information on this expanded SONYMA eligibility, including its higher income limits, can be found at www.senatordeanskelos.org/press_archive_story.asp?id=13552.
To learn about all the affordable housing programs offered by New York State, please visit www.nyhomes.org.
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NEEDED/OFFERED
Needed:
- Food—and a Vacuum Cleaner:
- Our Riverhead Emergency Food Center (407 Osborne Ave., 631-727-2210) needs spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, and jelly. These can be dropped off Monday through Friday (the best time would be 9:30 to 4:30—call if you want to swing by earlier or later) or brought to any LICC meeting—and all non-perishable food is always welcome. We also need a vacuum cleaner, either canister or upright.
- Our Freeport Emergency Food Center (450 North Main Street) particularly needs donations of Enfamil, canned corn, tuna, fruit, soup, milk, coffee, tea, and condiments such as salad dressing and barbecue sauce. We also need paper towels, bathroom tissue, personal toiletries, and a computer desk or workstation. If you can help, please call Alric Kennedy at 516-565-0290 or call Barbara Harrison at 516-868-4989.
- LICC Chat Room Host & Multi-Faith Webmaster:
- Would you be willing to set up a chat room for the LICC and host it?
- Would you like to be the webmaster for the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum?
To volunteer for either of these, please contact Tom Goodhue (licchemp@aol.com).
Offered:
- Help with Energy Bills:
- United Way of Long Island has been so successful in raising funds this year for Project Warmth, with more than $700,000 donated or pledged, that they have been able to extend once more the deadline for applying for assistance with energy bills. The LICC is one of the agencies that processes applications for this help. Those in Nassau should call our Hempstead office at 516-565-0290 to learn if they may be eligible. Those in Suffolk should call our Riverhead office at 631-727-2210. Applications will be received until sometime in June.
- Guest Speakers:
- As you may have read previously in our newsletter, the Nassau Bar Association offers an extensive list of speakers to congregations and other organizations, and they are ready to address a wide variety of legal topics. Caryle Katz reports that they have an unusual addition to their list of available speakers: one of their attorneys, Sue Slavin, recently returned from a mission trip to Morton, Mississippi, where she spent several weeks with Franciscan nuns working to serve the impoverished residents of that very small town—a fine example of pro bono service at its best. She would be happy to talk about why she went and what she learned there. One of the Franciscan nuns from Morton will be visiting her on Long Island sometime around June 28 to July 5 and might be happy to join her in a speaking engagement. For further information, contact Caryle Katz a the Bar Association: ckatz@nassaubar.org.
- New Candles for Old Ones:
- The Rev. John Hill, pastor of Hillside United Methodist Church, will melt down any and all old, used, cracked, broken, faded candles and give away new ones created from the recycled wax. You can drop these off at his church (2801 Hillside Ave. in New Hyde Park/516-741-5148), give them to his wife Emily at the Long Island West UMC District office (265 Asbury Ave. in Westbury/516-333-9868), or bring them to the registration area of the UMC Annual Conference on Wednesday, June 7, in the Student Center at Hofstra University.
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GIVE BLOOD-- SAVE A LIFE!
Long Island Blood Services Blood Drives in June
Nassau:
6/5/06 Resurrection Lutheran Church, 420 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, 3:30-9:00
6/10/06 Bethpage Assembly of God, 362 Stewart Avenue, noon-4:00
6/12/06 Congregational Church of Manhasset, 1845 Northern Blvd., 3:00-8:30
6/28/06 United Methodist Church, 130 W. Old Country Road, Hicksville, 3:00-8:30
Suffolk:
6/3/06 Bethany Presbyterian, 425 Maplewood Rd., Huntington Station, 11:00-4:30
6/4/06 St. Patrick Episcopal Church, 305 Carll's Path, Deer Park, 10:00-2:00
6/6/06 St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 106 Vernon Valley Rd., East Northport, 3:00-7:00
6/6/06 New Life Community Church, 380 Lakeland Ave., Sayville, 4:00-9:30
6/12/06 Hope Lutheran Church, 46 Dare Rd., Selden, 3:30-9:00
6/12/06 Three Village Church, 322 Route 25A, East Setauket, 3:00-8:30
6/14/06 Grace Gospel Church, 214 Falcon Ave., Patchogue, 3:30-7:30
6/15/06 Christ Lutheran Church, 189 Burr Rd., East Northport, 3:15-7:15
6/15/06 St. Johns Lutheran Church, 48 Greene Ave., Sayville, 3:30-9:00
6/25/06 United Methodist Church, 792 Hawkins Ave., Lake Grove, 3:30-9:00
6/28/06 First Presbyterian Church, 330 Main Street, Northport, 3:15-8:45
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SCHEDULE A CONVENIENT APPOINTMENT, PLEASE CALL 1-800-933-BLOOD (2566)
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ADVERTISING IN THE PRELUDE
Each month, 2700 copies of our newsletter The Prelude are mailed to both the clergy leaders and lay leaders of 1350 faith organizations. Filled with timely articles, news briefs, updates and notices affecting Long Island’s communities and churches and the wider world, The Prelude is a must read for all who would “work together to improve living on Long Island and promote interfaith understanding and cooperation”
The LICC accepts paid advertising...both sponsorship ads, display ads and simple listings (classifieds). Advertising in The Prelude is a great way to reach clergy, lay leaders, and volunteers in Long Island’s congregations. To receive a “media kit” with advertising rates, copy requirements, and copy deadlines, please call 516-565-0290 or email licchemp@aol.com. Congregations that join the LICC and groups that join the Friends of the LICC receive a free classified ad in thanks for paying their annual dues!
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Advertisements:
JOB OPENING
Director of Religious Education: The Congregational Church of Huntington, United Church of Christ, is searching for an enthusiastic self-starter who loves children to guide the church school and family programming for this church. This is a 12 hour/week, 10-month/year position that begins in late August 2006. Theological training is optional, but educational experience and a strong faith perspective are essential. For information contact the Rev. Mark Bigelow, 631-423-4004. This is a progressive Protestant church that hires without regard to race, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation. The church is located at 30 Washington Drive, Centerport, NY.
“Aging Isn’t a Four Letter Word”
On Friday, June 2, at the Middle Country Library, Centereach, a panel will discuss the perception of aging in different aspects of life, how it has changed over the past few decades, and what we can do to project a more realistic, positive perception of aging. Sponsored by: Middle Country Library, Merrill Lynch, and Intergenerational Strategies. Info: 631 585-9393/Adult Reference Desk.
CANCER SURVIVOR PRAYER VIGIL IN NEW HYDE PARK June 3
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in New Hyde Park will host a Prayer Vigil in commemoration of National Cancer Survivor Day on Saturday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m.
The Church is located at 600 New Hyde Park Road in New Hyde Park (North of Jericho Turnpike and South of Hillside Avenue) and all are invited. For additional information, call 516-354-6956 or e-mail Gloriadei.NHP@Verizon.net.
Jesus Alive Benefit Concert for Lighthouse Mission June 3
Bayport United Methodist Church, 482 Middle Road, 7 p.m.
A freewill offering will be received. Please bring non-perishable food for the hungry.
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The Long Island Council of Churches is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. The Long Island Council of Churches unites diverse Christians to work together in ministry with the poor and to promote interfaith understanding. All donations are tax-deductible and much appreciated.
The Rev. Thomas W. 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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