Preaching Schedule Lent and Holy Week 2013

This Lent and Holy Week I will be preaching on a number of the Sundays and holidays.

February 13, 2013, Ash Wednesday, 7:00 PM at the NuValley Presbyterian Church in Rural Valley.

February 17, 2013, First Sunday in Lent, 11:00 AM, at the Presbyterian Church of Goheenville.

February 24, 2013, Second Sunday in Lent, 9:00 AM at the Plumcreek Presbyterian Church in Willett. and at 10:30 AM at the Washington Presbyterian Church in Home.

March 3, 2013, Third Sunday in Lent, 11:00 AM at the Presbyterian Church of Goheenville.

March 10, 2013, Fourth Sunday in Lent, available.

March 17, 2013, Fifth Sunday in Lent, 9:30 AM, at the NuValley Presbyterian Church in Rural Valley.

March 24, 2013, Palm Sunday, 9:00 AM at the Atwood Presbyterian Church in Rural Valley, and at 11:00 AM at the Plumville Presbyterian Church.

March 28, 2013, Maundy Thursday, 7:00 PM at the NuValley Presbyterian Church in Rural Valley.

March 31, 2013, Easter Sunday, 9:00 AM at the Atwood Presbyterian Church in Rural Valley, and at 11:00 AM at the Plumville Presbyterian Church.

My Preacing Schedule for July

I've received my preaching assignments for July.  I am scheduled to preach a total of seven times at three congregations, each of which I have visited previously.

July 8, 9:30 AM at the Saltsburg Presbyterian Church, and then 11:00 AM at the Tunnelton Presbyterian Church.

July 15, 11:00 AM at the Tunnelton Presbyterian Church.

July 22, 9:30 AM at the Saltsburg Presbyterian Church, and then 11:00 AM at the Tunnelton Presbyterian Church.

July 29, 10:00 AM at the Apollo United Presbyterian Church.

By the way, I've been maintaining a map showing the locations of local congregations I have visited, sometimes to preach, sometimes for worship for a special occasion, sometimes for a meeting.  (I wait until I actually visit the church before adding it to this map to be sure that I have marked the correct location.) If you don't know where any of these congregations are located, my map might help you.

Preaching schedule for June

In June I will be preaching every Sunday.  I will preach for the first time at the Saltsburg Presbyterian Church, but will be returning to churches familiar to me on the other three Sundays.

June 3, 2012 at 10 AM at the Boiling Springs Presbyterian Church, Spring Church, PA.  This will be a service of Holy Communion.

June 10, 2012 at 11 AM at the Tunnelton Presbyterian Church.

June 17, 2012 at 9:30 AM at the Saltsburg Presbyterian Church.

June 24, 2012 at 10 AM at the United Presbyterian Church of Homer City.

Preaching schedule for May

During May I will be preaching every Sunday, visiting six different congregations, with three being visited for the first time.

May 6, 2012, 11:00 AM at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, in a service that will include Holy Communion.

May 13, 2012, 9:30 AM at the Jacksonville Presbyterian Church in Kent, PA; and then at 11:00 AM at the Crete Presbyterian Church in Indiana, PA.

May 20, 2012, 9:30 AM at the Rochester Mills Presbyterian Church; and then at 11:00 AM at the Gilgal Presbyterian Church in Marion Center.

May 27, 2012 at 11:00 AM at the United Presbyterian Church of Homer City.

A Christian Art question

This Sunday I will be preaching at the First Presbyterian Church of East Brady.  The last time I was there I noticed the many stained glass windows; the picture above is of one window in a prominent location at the front of the sanctuary.

It is in a style that I have seen when classical paintings were translated into the medium of stained glass.  I have not been able to find out what the original painting was.

It would be easy to assume that the picture is of Mary and Jesus, but usually the art chosen for use in a church sanctuary would be of a scene from the Bible.  If this is a scene from the Bible, which one is it?  I'm not saying that this was not intended to be a picture of Mary and Jesus, but I can't really tell.

My best alternate guess is that this is an interpretive depiction of Proverbs 1:8, "Do not reject your mother's teaching."

Does anybody have any solid information about this picture? I'm interested in hearing what you think or know.

File under: art, Bible, Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of East Brady, religion

Places I'll Be

Over the next six weeks, these are some of the places where I can be found.

Saturday, March 24, 2012 12:30-3:30. Building Block Blitz in Macy's Court at the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills. Fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity of Allegheny Valley.

Sunday, March 25, 2012 10:30. First Presbyterian Church of East Brady, where I'll be the guest preacher.

Palm Sunday, April 1, 2012, 11:00 AM. First Presbyterian Church of Avonmore, where I'll be the guest preacher.

Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012, 11:00 AM. First Presbyterian Church of Avonmore, where I'll preach be the guest preacher.

Sunday, April 22, 2012, 11:00 AM. at the United Presbyterian Church of Homer City, where I'll be the guest preacher.

Sunday, April 29, 2012, 10:30 AM, First Presbyterian Church of East Brady, where I'll be the guest preacher.

File under:  Allegheny Valley, Avonmore, fundraiser, East Brady, Easter, Habitat, Homer City, Palm Sunday, Pittsburgh Mills, Tarentum, worship

Updated February schedule

Because of a change in the needs of two congregations, I will be free for preaching on February 26. My remaining preaching dates for February are as follows:

January 29, 2012, at 10:30 AM, at the First Presbyterian Church of East Brady.

February 5, 2012, at 11:00 AM, at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in Lewisville.

February 12, 2012, at 10:00 AM, at the United Presbyterian Church in Homer City.

February 19, 2012, at 11:00 AM, at the Dayton Glade Run Presbyterian Church.

Five Sundays ahead

I am booked to preach the next five Sundays:

January 29, 2012, at 10:30 AM, at the First Presbyterian Church of East Brady.

February 5, 2012, at 11:00 AM, at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in Lewisville.

February 12, 2012, at 10:00 AM, at the United Presbyterian Church in Homer City.

February 19, 2012, at 11:00 AM, at the Dayton Glade Run Presbyterian Church.

February 26, 2012, at 9:00 AM, at the Atwood Presbyterian Church in Rural Valley, and at 11:00 AM at the Plumville Presbyterian Church.

I believe these will be my first times preaching in East Brady, Homer City, Dayton Glade Run, and Plumville.

Preaching in December

I'll be preaching three times this month.

December 4 at 11:00 AM at the Tunnelton Presbyterian Church.

December 25 at 9:00 AM at the Plum Creek Presbyterian Church, in Creekside, PA.

December 25 at 10:30 AM at the Washington Presbyterian Church, in Home, PA.

Two trips across the river

In the last fortnight I've made a couple of trips that were significant to me back across the Allegheny River from where I live in Lower Burrell.

On Sunday, June 19 I went to Brackenridge to officiate at the wedding of Brian Waters and Heather Basista.

It was a beautiful day in the park along First Avenue. On the heels of a long spell of rain, we were able to complete the service without anyone getting drenched.

The couple had decided to include a ceremony I had never seen before. Similar in concept to the unity candle, the couple poured two colors of sand into a common vessel.

The following Saturday, June 25, I went into Tarentum because I had heard about a Mission Fair and Strawberry Festival that was going to happen at the Central Presbyterian Church of Tarentum. I crossed the bridge early and walked around Tarentum for a while. A friend recognized me while we crossed a street going in opposite directions. "Five days away from heroin," he announced with a smile.

I gave him a thumbs up and said, "Keep it up." What a difficult journey people face when fighting addictions. It can be a very long journey that one has to start over many times.

I decided to use some of my free time to relax in Riverview Park for a little while. I sat at a bench and looked across the river.  Water is such a significant symbol of God's activity for me, representing cleansing, healing, renewal, freedom, and also destruction.

Over at Central Presbyterian Church I found a flurry of activity, and I appreciated the opportunity to chat with many old friends. The Clothing Closet had changed its hours for this event, and many people were checking out the clothing that was available. A number of organizations had representatives at tables: The Allegheny Valley Association of Churches, the Alle-Kiski Hope Center, the Highlands Family Center, Tarentum History and Landmarks, Central Quilters, to name just a few. There was an a la carte lunch, and the dessert was cake and strawberries and ice cream. The whole event was to support mission, generating funds that would not stay in the small congregation.

My next four preaching engagements

Three of my next four preaching engagements will take me to congregations that I will visit for the first time.

Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 8:30 and 11:00 AM at the Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church in Murrysville.

Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 11:00 AM at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in Lewisville.

Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 7:30 PM at the Atwood Presbyterian Church.

Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 11:00 AM at the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Clarksburg.

I am looking forward to visiting the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church again, and to visiting the Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church, the Atwood Presbyterian Church, and the Trinity Presbyterian Church for the first time.

File under : Clarksburg, Ebenezer, PCUSA, Presbyterian Church, Trinity, worship

Map of some churches in the area

For a few years I have been assembling a map on Google Maps to record and share the locations of area churches I have visited. I created this map because, as a transplant to Western Pennsylvania, my early experience was that any journey far from home was almost certain to cause me to get lost at least once.

When I started using a Garmin nüvi to get around, I continued to use Google Maps in satellite view to identify the precise location of churches I planned to visit, and sometimes I would remember to update this map after I actually visited the place.

A few months ago, disaster struck when the GPX file in which I had been recording the locations of churches got corrupted while I was updating it to my nüvi. (Yes, I know - when adding data to a file it is always a good idea to keep a backup copy.) Fortunately, I had remembered to put some of what I had learned on this map as I originally researched the information for my nüvi. As I rebuild my GPX file, I will continue to update this map.

I've also learned over recent years that the internet lacks information about the locations of many rural churches. Sometimes the only address on the internet is a P.O. Box or the location of the manse, or the home address of a church officer who receives the church's mail. If it will help someone else, I'd like to share my map of these places of worship with others.

I don't vouch for the completeness of this map. I do vouch for the fact that I have been to each of these churches, and that they are at the locations represented on the map. (If you see any errors, please let me know.)


View Churches around Tarentum in a larger map

File under : Alle-Kiski Valley, Allegheny Valley, Kiskiminetas Presbytery, Pittsburgh Presbytery, Redstone Presbytery, Tarentum, church, map

Preaching in January 2011

In January I will have a full month of guest preaching, with commitments made for each of the five Sundays.

January 2, 2011, 11 AM at the Presbyterian Church of Goheenville, Templeton, PA.

January 9, 2011, 9:30 AM at the NuValley Presbyterian Church, Rural Valley, PA.

January 16, 2011, 8:15 and 10:45 AM at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, Greensburg, PA.

January 23. 2011, 10:45 AM at the Worthington Presbyterian Church, Worthington, PA.

January 30, 2011, 10:45 at the Apollo United Presbyterian Church, Apollo, PA.

Some of these are churches where I have preached before, but there is always something new. This will be my first time at the Presbyterian Church of Goheenville, but I have been past it a number of times. This church is along the route I normally follow when I make the long drive from Lower Burrell to visit my parents and siblings in Cooperstown, New York. I pass it during the first hour of my journey up, and it is one of the landmarks that tells me I am getting close to home on the return trip. I am probably not the only preacher whose attention is drawn to houses of worship when on long trips. I usually find myself wondering about how the congregations that use those buildings reach out to their communities. I am looking forward to the first time that I actually will stop in Goheenville.

When I saw that I was going to preach at NuValley Presbyterian Church, I did a double-take. My printed 2009 directory for Kiskiminetas Presbytery does not list that church. Then I learned that this is a new congregation formed from the merger of two congregations that had done many things together over the years. In fact, just last January I preached for both of the congregations that went into the merger. At each church I had conversations with leaders of the two congregations in which they told me about their upcoming decision on merger. They felt trepidation about whether they could get the merger to happen, but it was clear to the leaders on both sides that the merger was something that had arisen out of the shared lives and ministries of the two congregations. I am looking forward to January 9 when I will guest preach for the first time at the NuValley Church, barely five months into its existence and service as one congregation.

I have not preached at the Westminster Presbyterian Church before, but that was where I met with a team from the Committee on Ministry of Redstone Presbytery about being put on their pulpit supply list. This will be an interesting and full morning of two services, with an informal service with Communion early, and then a traditional service later.

I believe this will be my second time at the Worthington Presbyterian Church. I preached there at the beginning of this month for a service of Communion. They have many friendly people and a lovely, intimate worship space with the Table in the center.

I have preached a few times at the Apollo church, and look forward to being back with their friendly people and fascinating architecture.

File under : Apollo, Greensburg, PCUSA, Presbyterian Church, worship

Sights, sounds, tastes, feelings at the end of November

This is just a description of random observations from yesterday.

When I woke in the morning I was hearing gunshots in the distance from various directions. It was the first day of rifle season for hunting deer and my apartment was on the top of a hill overlooking the Allegheny valley, so I often hear sounds that come from a distance. I remembered that the previous day in worship at Puckety Presbyterian Church one of the prayer requests was for the hunters. Ever since I moved to Western Pennsylvania, it has been my consistent experience that someone makes this prayer request in church on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. So the day started with sounds that reminded me to pray.

Part of my day involved making a hospital visit at the Alle-Kiski Medical Center. Before I made it in the door I was amazed at the beautiful clouds in the sky. Truly the heavens declare God's handiwork!





When I stopped for lunch in the hospital cafeteria, I was surprised to hear the sounds of accordion playing in the dining room. A musician was there playing for the entertainment of the volunteers, staff, and visitors. He only played a few polkas, but people sitting at the table closest to him were making requests, and he clearly knew a lot of music. The cafeteria was offering kielbasa, pierogies, potato pancakes, and halushki. It must have been in honor of some Polish holiday. I found on the internet that November 29 is a celebration called Andrzejki (St. Andrew's Eve); I was not sure if the day was special for that or if it was a remembrance of the November uprising in 1830. Whatever was the occasion for this Polish theme, it made for a memorable and tasty lunch.

I went back to Puckety Church in the afternoon to do some cleaning out of my office. On Sunday I had not noticed the creche set out in front of the church.



I took home from the office the few items I had brought at the start of the month: my preaching robe and the selection of stoles I had planned to use for the month. As I folded them up I recognized that I was going through another transition in my life. Even though I was only going to be at Puckety for a short time, it had been significant to me to have a place to hang my robe, where it would be ready for me on Sunday morning. Of course, I still have a place to hang my robe in my closet at home, but there is a different feeling when one has a regular workplace where a few personal tools and items can remain for when they are needed. I was reminded of how many offices, cubicles, or lockers have been vacated by so many people affected by the downturn in the economy. So many people have been going through these transitions. God is leading us somewhere.

Sunday was the last of the series of four Sundays where I had preached at Puckety, and a number of people had kind words to say about how I had been helpful during the month. The congregation is definitely is looking forward to the arrival of Rev. Kirk Orr this week. This will be a good Advent season for them, and I am glad if I was able to do anything to help them prepare for it.

For those who are interested in where they will be able to hear me preach in December, I have been booked for two Sundays next month. This Sunday, December 5, I will be at the Worthington Presbyterian Church. And then Christmas Eve, I will lead the service at the Calvin United Presbyterian Church in Scottdale.

File under : AKMC, Advent, PCUSA, Puckety Presbyterian Church, food, music, pictures, prayer

An Anti-Bullying Message From the NOH8 Campaign

My work in November

During the month of November I am working at the Puckety Presbyterian Church here in Lower Burrell. The congregation recently elected the Rev. Kirk Orr as pastor, and I will be providing pastoral care services before he moves up here and starts.

In addition to preaching every Sunday in November and doing some pastoral visitation, I will moderate one meeting of the church's session.

From the pastor's study I look across the church parking lot to the Burrell High School.



It feels good to be back into a weekly work schedule connected to a congregation. In supply preaching my responsibilities have been limited to preparing a sermon and leading worship.

File under : Lower Burrell, Presbyterian Church, worship

Storm approaching

This picture was taken minutes before heavy rains and winds arrived.

File under : Lower Burrell, picture

Adult Sunday School class - developments in the PCUSA

A gap developed in my supply preaching schedule, so the United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington (the congregation where I worship when not out preaching somewhere) invited me to do a two-session adult class on polity changes in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The class will be held in fellowship hall at 9:30 AM on Sunday September 19 and 26.

There are so many things that came out of the 219th General Assembly, including seventeen different proposed amendments to the church constitution. The congregation has done some creative things with the arts in worship, so I will probably want to speak at least briefly about the opening worship service at the Assembly. The congregation has an active youth program, so I probably will also want to say something about the contributions of the Young Adult Advisory Delegates to the Assembly.

Each of the seventeen proposed amendments is about something important to the life of the church. Three of the proposed amendments are going to be getting a lot of attention, so I will probably use my limited class time to open conversations about them in the class. (Of course, I wouldn't be myself if I didn't believe that at least one of the apparently innocuous proposals was a bad idea. I may have to sit on those thoughts and save them for a rainy day - or for debate in presbytery.)

On September 19 we'll discuss the implications of adding the Belhar Confession to our Book of Confessions, and then turn to a discussion of amendment 10-A (the one about ordination standards).

On September 26 we'll look at the Revised Form of Government, and discuss the implications of the paradigm shift envisioned in this major amendment to our Form of Government. If there is time, we may be able to have a discussion of some of the other proposed amendments.

If you'll be in the area on either of those Sundays, please join us.

File under : GA219, New Kensington, PCUSA, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), nFOG, polity, rFOG

A day in the life of a Self-Sufficiency Services Coordinator

Yesterday was a good day, so I thought I would use it to give some examples of the kinds of things I've been doing since February in my job at the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches as a Self-Sufficiency Services Coordinator. My job is one of those rather directly created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and its goal has been to help people affected by the downturn in the economy get back to self-sufficiency.

The first half of the day revolved around the audit of my program's files by the monitor from Allegheny County. This was the third of the quarterly reviews in which I have participated, having come into this position four months into its program year. These audits are an important part of being accountable for the services we provided. I was pleased that this review went well.

In the remainder of the day, I saw two clients when they came in for the food bank, I played phone tag with two other clients and succeeded in connecting with one of them, and met another client off-site.

The off-site meeting was with an unemployed man who I transported to the Alle-Kiski Career Link in New Kensington for help with his resume and to refer him to the Pennsylvania Way to Work Program.

One of the clients I met at my office is starting classes at a local university next week, after having taken some required classes through the summer at the New Kensington campus of Westmoreland County Community College. Two of my clients are finishing a course at the University of Pittsburgh Manufacturing Assistance Center this week; they each just received certifications in machining that should make them more employable. I am really happy for them about their accomplishments.

One of the clients I saw talked with me about getting some help for a family member, and we identified some steps that can be taken now.

This was a good day. I did not have quite as many frustrations with tracking people down as I do sometimes, and I was able to celebrate some significant steps forward.

File under : ARRA, AVAC

The promise seen from afar

I am not accustomed to seeing stained glass depictions of Moses. This past Sunday I preached at the Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church, and the window shown above was in the center of the chancel. (I think this is the first time in my life that I have seen a stained glass of Moses in a Presbyterian Church.) I find that I am still reflecting on it days later.

The story it depicts, of Moses on Mt. Nebo (Deuteronomy 34:1-5), is a story about denial and promise. Moses is allowed to see the promised land, but is reminded that he will not enter it with the people. It's not really news to him. In Deuteronomy 32:48-52, God commanded Moses to go up Mt. Nebo, described what he would see, and reminded Moses that he was not going to enter the land because he had broken faith with God earlier in his life.

How had Moses broken faith? Moses was denied entrance to the promised land because in Numbers 20:1-13, in the story of the miracle of bringing forth water from the rock, Moses and Aaron had not trusted God. It hardly seems fair to me. Moses and Aaron were in a bad spot, they turned to God, they sort of followed God's directions (although not in the bold way they were commanded), and the miracle happened anyhow. No harm, no foul? Not according to this story. And because of it God decided that neither Moses nor Aaron would lead the people into the promised land.

Even after Moses was obedient to God the rest of his life in leading the people of Israel in the wilderness, God held to the decision that Moses would not lead the people into the promised land.

So on Mt Nebo, God allows Moses to see the vast expanse of the promised land, and reminds him that he is not going there. But the focus in this part of the story is on the promise, and Moses is not just someone being denied entry, but he is the witness of the promise given.

One of the striking features of this story is that Moses has no lines. Moses has spoken through most of the previous 33 chapters. But here his role is merely to witness God's promise and then die. His personal feelings about the whole thing are not revealed, which seems unusual to me given the many times when a reader of Moses' story is shown how Moses felt about his experiences. His angers, his fears, his love for the people have been described in so many other events in the story; but here there is no clue what Moses is feeling. Is he disappointed that he won't actually enter the land? Is he content with knowing that the people will enter? It is not reasonable to conclude that a man whose vigor is not abated would have no feelings about the situation. He must have feelings, but they are not revealed.

The concealment of Moses' feelings is an invitation for readers like me to project onto Moses the feelings that we imagine we would have in his place.

I suspect Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. may have made some reasonable guesses in his final address/sermon in which he alluded to the story of Moses on Mt. Nebo:

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!

File under : art, faith, hope