This week at Old South Haven Churdh

March 28, 2019

TONIGHT! 6:30 pm at Islamic Association of Long Island

If you wish to carpool meet at the church at 5:45 pm, Please let Pastor Karen know if you are planning on going.

Dear BBB (Building Bridges Brookhaven) Friends,
The following announcement is sent in support of our Muslim neighbors in Selden. Here's the notice, hope you can make it: The Three Village Clergy Association had planned for its annual spring community event to be a program held at the Islamic Association of Long Island (IALI), the mosque in Selden, on the evening of March 28th. Now, as many of us are struggling with the horrific tragedy in the mosques in New Zealand, a member of the IALI and the rabbi from Temple Isaiah have suggested that we go ahead with the original program and precede it with a demonstration of solidarity with the Islamic community. This is the invitation they have sent: We ask that you join us at 6:30 p.m. and form a ring around the mosque as a symbol of solidarity following the tragic shootings at the New Zealand mosques. As a community, we will meet at the entrance of the IALI building and then form a ring around the building before entering. At the outset of the planned program, we will have a brief prayer and moment of silence. And this is the announcement for the planned program: The Three Village Interfaith Clergy Association invites the community to a conversation on"Belief and Truth from a Multi-faith Perspective: Finding Unity in Diversity," Thursday, March 28,Islamic Association of Long Island
10 Park Hill Dr., Selden, NY 11784, Refreshments will be served.

Tom Lyon, BBB co-founder

Members and Friends-

Last Sunday we had the opportunity to listen to Elder John Hile (Deer Park) tell us about the work the El Salvador Partnership is doing with villagers to ensure that they have clean potable water year-round. He also shared with us how recent drought conditions have destroyed 90% of the crops the villagers depend on to buy staples like salt and oil. Your offering in support of the Partnership's ministry was a generous one and we will be sending on $528 in support of their work. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Putting a face to ministry and telling stories of the work being done makes a real difference. Here is another story from the Presbyterian Foundation's Stewardship Newsletter:

"One church that I have been working with saw the benefit of telling stories. Through a strategic planning process, church leaders determined that they needed to have a bigger connection to their community. Instead of always planning events at their facility for others to attend, they decided to find things in the community that they could attend. Church members started participating regularly in a community dinner. Over time, those attending had the opportunity to share things that were going on at the church. One of the ministries they shared with those attending the community dinner was the after school program they hosted for children who would arrive home after school to an empty house."

One day, a check for $100,000 showed up at the church office for the after school program. When the pastor reached out to the donor, she learned that the donor heard a member talk about the program at one of the community dinners. The donor was so moved by the program and the fact that members were an active part of their local community that he sent in the check.

Now $100,000 dollar checks aren't and everyday occurrence. But I do know this, the Good News of the Gospel travels on the words we speak, the stories we tell and the work we do in the name of God who called us into being.

In Christ, Pastor Karen

Thank-you

To my Friends at OSH Church—Thank you, thank you, thank you! For the most beautiful flower arrangement and the card which cheered me. Also reminded me of how much I miss you all. Sorry it's been so long but this is the first time I'm writing at all since my fall. I've been so shaky.

Karen comes every week and gives me the news of what is going on. I wish I could be a part of the "Plumb Line" meetings. Sounds interesting. Every Sunday in my mind I worship with you—in prayer, and song and scripture reading. God bless you all.

In Christian love from Peggy

This week's Lenten Wednesday soup and reflection will be held at St. Joseph the Worker Roman Catholic Church (510 Naragansett Ave., East, Patchogue) at 6:30 pm. The reflection time will begin at 7:15. Our collective mission in this season is our local food pantries. Please bring shelf-stable milk for the food pantry.

The 2019 Per Capita Assessment is $38.05 per member of Old South Haven. It is broken down as follows: $8.95 to the General Assembly, $4.10 to the Synod of the Northeast and $25.00 to the Presbytery of Long Island. Per Capita is – "the tie that binds" –annual support that unites the entire church in the ongoing and essential work that guides the Office of the General Assembly, the life of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and benefits every congregation and every mid-council ministry. Old South Haven remits the full per capita assessment. You can help free funds for other purposes here at Old South Haven by paying your individual per capita. Mark checks or envelopes for 'per capita."

Schedule

Sunday, March 31        10:00 am        Worship

                                Fellowship after Worship

                                Choir Practice after Worship

Tuesday, April 2        1:00 pm        Lunch Bunch in Church Gallery

Wednesday, April 3        6:30 pm        Lenten Wednesday Soup and Reflection at St. Joseph

Thursday, April 4        8:30 am        Clergy Cluster at Royal Oak Diner

Sunday, April 7            10:00 am        Worship /Communion

                                Fellowship after Worship

                                Choir Practice after Worship

                    12:30 pm        Plumb Line Team

Tuesday, April 9        1:00 pm        Presbytery Meeting at Sweet Hollow

This week at Old South Haven Churdh

March 21, 2019

Dear Members and Friends—

Sunday morning, we will welcome Elder John Hile from the El Salvador Partnership of the Presbytery of Long Island to our service. He will be sharing some of the work the Partnership has been doing over the last few years. In addition, with the approval of your Session we will be collecting a special offering for a current project. In a letter to all members and churches of the Presbytery the Partnership Pastoral Team described the need for food staples and asked each of us to help make a difference.

Food relief assistance is needed at this time as the drought has ruined everyone's crops. Rural Salvadorans live off of the corn and red beans they harvest. This past summer, on average families lost 90% of their crops. If you need help imagining a loss of 90% of your available food, then close your eyes. Picture your cupboards, pantry and fridge after you have shopped for the coming week. Odds are you had enough money to pay for those groceries and the store where you shopped has a ridiculous amount of food from which to choose. Now imagine 90% of that food gone. Picture that. And you have no resources to replace what was lose. And you need to feed your family for a whole week on what remains on those shelves. Now imagine this will be your year. You have children who need to be fed. And you have, pretty much, nothing to offer.

This is why the Partnership is asking for your help. $35 will provide a good-sized basket of food staples about what it would cost for a fast food meal for a family of four. There will be offering envelopes in the bulletins this Sunday. Please give as you are able and know that your gift will make a real difference in someone's life.

In Christ, Pastor Karen

The Session held its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, March 18. The committee structure was rearranged to hopefully better suit our activities and responsibilities of the Elders. The following areas were set up: Worship, Stewardship, Education, Outreach, Mission

(Peace and Justice), Property and Finance, and Personnel. In addition,

a quarterly planning meeting was set up to which anyone interested in life of the church is welcome to attend. The first of these meetings will be held on Sunday, April 7 following Fellowship. In other action it was noted that a third company has been contacted for an estimate on repairing the bell. Three trees are to be donated and, with Eric's assistance, planted on the property this spring. May 25th was set as the date for the next church fair. And, dates for the Pastor's vacation this summer were approved.

The final PLUMB LINE POTLUCK AND CONVERSATION will be held this Sunday evening at 5 pm. Even if you haven't been able to attend the first two please make an effort to join us for this discussion. Your input is important to us. Please bring a dish to share. The Deacons are providing beverages and desert.

This week's Lenten Wednesday soup and reflection will be held here at Bellport United Methodist Church (185 S. Country Rd, Bellport) at 6:30 pm. The reflection time will begin at 7:15. Our collective mission in this season is our local food pantries. Please bring a non-perishable snack item, such as granola bars or nuts.

Schedule

Sunday, March 24        10:00 am        Worship

                                Sunday School

                                Fellowship after Worship

                                Choir Practice after Worship

                    5:00 pm        Plumb Line Potluck/Conversation

Tuesday, March 25        12:00 pm        Project Regeneration at Sweet Hollow

Wednesday, March 2    6:30 pm    Lenten Soup/Reflection at Bellport Methodist        

Sunday, March 31        10:00 am        Worship

                                Fellowship after Worship

                                Choir Practice after Worship

This week at Old South Haven Churdh

April 13, 2018

Members and Friends:

This week I'd like to share with you selections from one of the "Minutes for Mission" for the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering this year.

"Here is the big question: What is 'the church?'. . .Think about this: As the wider culture becomes less traditionally religious, the church—something we share as a congregation and individually dear in our hearts—becomes less understood, or misunderstood, by many. Like it or not, it is a fact.

And as hard as it is to admit, sometimes we too fall into the trap of reducing 'the church' to the buildings where people gather on Sunday morning. . . .Many of us learned in our childhoods that 'the church' is the people –its you and me. "here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors, see all the people.". . .this rhyme is a useful reminder that the church isn't a building. . .I think we might unlock something else in that simple rhyme. . .As we sit inside the building today, we need to open the doors and se ALL the people outside the doors: people whose home have been washed away by hurricanes and floods, people trapped in systems of injustice and oppression, people who will go to bed tonight hungry or without a roof over their heads.

. . .The church's identity is defined by opening its doors and joining with the most vulnerable of God's children in the world. . .The church's identity reflects the call of Isaiah to become repairers of the breach. It is through One Great Hour of Sharing that Presbyterians together open our doors to become the church with all the people we see.

In Christ,

Pastor Karen

SAVE THE DATES: The final PLUMB LINE POTLUCK AND CONVERSATION will be on Sunday, March 24th at 5 pm.

This week's Lenten Wednesday soup and reflection will be held here at Christ Episcopal Church (64 South Country Road, Bellport) at 6:30 pm. The reflection time will begin at 7:15. Our collective mission in this season is our local food pantries. Please bring a non-perishable lunch item, such as peanut butter, jelly or canned tuna.

Schedule

Sunday, March 17    10:00 am    Worship

                        Fellowship after Worship

                        Choir Practice after Worship

                        Plumb Line Team

Wednesday, March 20    6:30 pm    Lenten Wednesday Soup and Reflection at Christ Episcopal

Sunday, March 24    10 am    Worship

                        Sunday School

                        Fellowship after Worship

                        Choir Practice after Worship

                5 pm        Plumb Line Potluck/ Conversation

This week at Old South Haven Churdh

March 7, 2019 - Calendar Correction

Schedule

Sunday, March 10        10:00 am        Worship/ Ordination and Installation   

                                Sunday School   

                                Fellowship after Worship

                                Choir Practice after Worship

                                Plumb Line Team

Wednesday, March 13    6:30 pm    Lenten Wednesday Soup and Reflection at OSH

           

Sunday, March 17        10 am        Worship, Kirsty Dickson-Maret preaching

                                Fellowship after Worship

                                Choir Practice after Worship

This week at Old South Haven Churdh

March 7, 2019

Sunday, March 10th – Wear Blue – It is PDA Blue T-shirt Sunday

Members and Friends –

We began the season of Lent last night with a moving joint service at Mary Immaculate Roman Catholic Church. It was the first of our Lenten Wednesday gatherings which will take us to our sister churches in the Bellport Clergy Group. Next week, March 13, we will be the host church for the first soup and reflection evening. (See calendar below for times.)

For many Protestants the celebration of Lent is not something we grew up with. This morning I chanced on an article in the Presbyterian Outlook where author Leslie Scanlon spoke to Jennifer Lord (professor of homiletics at Austin Theological Seminary) about its place in the history of the church and for Protestants. I thought I would share with you her key points:   

    Lent is connected to the way in which our celebration of Easter developed. Scholars believe that the early church celebrated the resurrection on a weekly

    basis. It was not until the Council of Nicea (325 AD)that Easter became an annual celebration with the date tied to Passover. The forty days of Lent became

    a time of preparation for adult baptism.

   

    A mistranslation that traces back to the Middle Ages turned a word that meant "paschal mystery" into "passion" with an emphasis on the suffering

    of Christ. Returning the word to its original meaning provided and opening for Protestants to observe Lent as a time for renewal of discipleship and

    exploring life in Christ.

I hope that each one of us will find time for reflection on our own faith journey, time to wait upon God, and renew our faith this Lenten season.

In Christ,

Pastor Karen

One Great Hour of Sharing—Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

PDA is the emergency and refugee program of the PC(USA). Here are some numbers that show you where the Blue Shirts are and have been. In the first half of 2017 20 countries received aid and support after catastrophic events. 28 states after natural and human-caused disasters. A budget of $10.4 million has been established for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. There have been 50 deployments of 132 National Response Teams totaling more than 1000 days in the field. And that is just part of the story. One-third of the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering goes to support the work of the PDA. To see more go to www.pcusa.org/oghs for an interactive world map.

SAVE THE DATES: The final PLUMB LINE POTLUCK AND CONVERSATION will be on Sunday, March 24th at 5 pm.

This week's Lenten Wednesday soup and reflection will be held here at Old South Haven in the Gallery at 6:30 pm. The reflection time will begin at 7:15. Our collective mission in this season is our local food pantries. Please bring a non-perishable breakfast item, such as cereal or shelf table milk.

The 2019 Per Capita Assessment is $38.05 per member of Old South Haven. It is broken down as follows: $8.95 to the General Assembly, $4.10 to the Synod of the Northeast and $25.00 to the Presbytery of Long Island. Per Capita is – "the tie that binds" –annual support that unites the entire church in the ongoing and essential work that guides the Office of the General Assembly, the life of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and benefits every congregation and every mid-council ministry. Old South Haven remits the full per capita assessment. You can help free funds for other purposes here at Old South Haven by paying your individual per capita. Mark checks or envelopes for 'per capita."

Schedule

Sunday, March 10        10:00 am        Worship/ Ordination and Installation   

                                Sunday School   

                                Fellowship after Worship

                                Choir Practice after Worship

                                Plumb Line Team

Wednesday, March 13    6:30 pm    Lenten Wednesday Soup and Reflection at OSH

           

Sunday, March 10        10 am        Worship

                                Sunday School

                                Fellowship after Worship

                                Choir Practice after Worship

This week at Old South Haven Churdh

Joint Ash Wednesday Service

Tonight

7:30 pm

At

Mary Immaculate Catholic Church

16 Browns Lane, Bellport

Please bring a non-perishable breakfast item for our local food pantries

Participating Churches

St. James Episcopal, Old South Haven Presbyterian

Bellport United Methodist, Christ Episcopal,

St. Joseph the Worker, and Mary Immaculate