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.

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

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

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

Upcoming worship opportunities

I'll be preaching in a number of different churches over the next few weeks.

July 25, 2010. 9:00 AM at the Crooked Creek Presbyterian Church.
and 10:15 AM at the Appleby Manor Presbyterian Church

August 1, 2010. 9:30 AM at the Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church

August 8, 2010. 9:30 AM at the Jacksonville Presbyterian Church
and 11:15 AM at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church

August 15, 2010, 10:00 AM at the Boiling Springs Presbyterian Church

August 22, 2010, 10:00 AM at the Cross Roads Community Presbyterian Church

File under : Presbyterian, worship

Fire, Beatles, and worship

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.





When I came home from work on Friday I could see that something strange was happening in the playground near the parking lot. When I checked it out I could see that smoke was rising from a number of wood chips around the swings. Strong winds with shifting directions were making the individual chips glow.

I had not seen something like this before. The coals were scattered over an area, but possibly had been ignited at the same time. I had seen lightning activity in another part of the sky as I drove home, but these separate glowing coals had totally unburned areas between them.

Fortunately, within about twnety minutes of my taking these pictures the whole area was drenched by a heavy rain.



I went to see the performance of the Cast of Beatlemania at the Greensburg Community Days. These guys do a good show that brings back a lot of memories.



Sunday it was my privilege to be the guest preacher at the Apollo United Presbyterian Church. They are a very friendly congregation, and give a warm welcome to visitors.



I was fascinated by seeing this stained glass window depicting Christ knocking on the closed door, with the window rotated open to let cool air (and light) into the room. There's a sermon illustration in there somewhere.

File under : Apollo, Greensburg, Lower Burrell, art, music, wierd, worship

Happy Pentecost

This morning it was my pleasure to be able to be the guest preacher for Pentecost at two churches in Ford City. I started the morning at the Crooked Creek Presbyterian Church.



Then I went on to the Appleby Manor Memorial Presbyterian Church.



Following the service at Appleby Manor they had a special reception to celebrate Pentecost. There was a nice turnout, and a lot of refreshments, including a special cake.

File under : Pentecost, Presbyterian, food, worship

Some pictures from my life

On May 1 I went to the "Building Block Blitz" in Macy's Court of the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills. Ten teams of young people competed to build houses out of building blocks, the trademark name for which is not being used. The young people were way ahead of us. A number of them were thinking about green architecture and sustainability, but we did not even have a category for judging them on those criteria. The young people did this to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity of Allegheny Valley.



On Wednesday evening I went geocaching in Riverview Park in Tarentum with a few others. We found two well-hidden nano caches. There are no spoilers in the photo above. I just included it because it is a pretty park.



On May 8 I went to the CD release party for Nadina's Cube's CD "Shipwrecked: from birmingham to jericho with no prozac." What an adventure getting into downtown Pittsburgh - couldn't find a place to park. Lots of visibly empty, well-lit parking garages with signs out front saying the garage was full, and not an open parking meter for blocks around. Eventually found a place to leave my car.

The release party was happening in SPACE on Liberty Ave. I've been waiting a number of years to get a copy of this CD. Good stuff.



There was a neat exhibit at SPACE called "Rock, Paper, Scissors" featuring art in a wide range of media from a large number of artists. I gravitated to the piece above. Maybe it reminded me of people to whom I must relate from time to time. Or maybe I recognized something of myself in it. Or maybe it just dominated that corner of the room.

Yeah, that's it. It was big and filled that corner of the room.



This morning I was the guest preacher at two churches where I had never preached before. I've driven past the Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church, pictured above, a number of times when driving from my apartment in Lower Burrell to Cooperstown New York. Now it is a place I've been, with people I've met, rather than just a place I pass.



The Concord Presbyterian Church is the second place I preached this morning. Usually I am pretty successful in determining the location of the churches where I will go for the first time. I blew it when I was programming the location for this one into my nüvi. My nüvi would have taken me a few miles further down the road, but I noticed the sign as I drove past this church. If I hadn't turned back to check the sign I would have been late for church.

File under : Allegheny Valley, Frazer, Habitat, Pittsburgh Mills, Presbyterian Church, Tarentum, art, music, worship

The month of May

I have an interesting month ahead. I understand that May is Mental Health Month and National Stroke Awareness Month, among other special observances.

My own activities will include the following:

May 1, 12:30 PM: Building Block Blitz, in Macy's Court of the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills. I'll be there taking pictures of children building houses with Legos™ to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity of Allegheny Valley.

May 2, 11:00 AM: I'll preach at the Pine Run Presbyterian Church in Apollo.

May 9, 9:30 AM: I'll preach at the Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church in Templeton. At 11:00 AM I'll preach at the Concord Presbyterian Church in Dayton.

May 16, 11:00 AM: I'll preach at the First Presbyterian Church of Avonmore.

May 23, 9:15 AM: I'll preach at the Crooked Creek Presbyterian Church in Ford City. At 11:00 AM I'll preach at the Appleby Manor Presbyterian Church also in Ford City.

May 30, 10:45 AM: I'll preach at the Apollo United Presbyterian Church.

File under : Allegheny Valley, Apollo, Habitat, PCUSA, Presbyterian, worship

Upcoming work

After a long period of being unemployed, I can finally say that I will start a new full-time job on Monday. I will work for the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches as the coordinator for the Self-Sufficiency Program. Today's Valley News Dispatch had an article about the program. I just spent three and a half hours today following the current coordinator, and I know that I will be on a steep learning curve.

When I was the pastor of a church and frequently had to deal with people who came to the church door looking for various kinds of help I was glad I could rely on the expertise of the staff at AVAC. Now I will be in a different role, but still trying to help people in need.

In addition to this new full-time job, I will continue supply preaching in various churches. My preaching schedule during February will be as follows.

February 7, 10:30 AM, at the West Glade Run Presbyterian Church in Kittanning.

February 14, 11:15 AM, at the Tunnelton Presbyterian Church.

February 21, 9:30 AM, at the Jacksonville Presbyterian Church in Kent, and 11:15 AM at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in Lewisville.

February 28, 11:15 AM, at the Tunnelton Presbyterian Church.

File under : AVAC, Allegheny Valley, Kittanning, Presbyterian Church, worship

Summer preaching schedule starting to fill in

My preaching schedule for the summer is starting to fill in. The dates booked so far are:

• May 17, First Presbyterian Church of Gibsonia
• June 14, Harmony United Presbyterian Church, Belle Vernon
• July 26, Northmont United Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh

I can hear you saying it now; those churches have taken all the good dates. But if you act now, you might still be able to book me for a Sunday this summer at a church near you.

File under : worship

Good Friday at TUPCNK

Last night I attended the memorable and meaningful Good Friday service at the United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington. The service was organized by the youth group, included leaders of all ages, and was well-attended by a broad spectrum of people from the church.

When I arrived at the church I immediately saw yellow police tape blocking off the entrance to the church. It was an eye-catching reminder that something special was supposed to happen, and that it wasn't going to start in the sanctuary. Posters directed anyone who hadn't heard about the starting place for the service to go around back of the church.

In back of the church a crowd was milling around on the patio, some warming their hands over a fire. Others were sitting inside the fellowship hall with a view of the activity that was going to take place outside.

We sang a praise song from newsprint being held out of upper windows overlooking the courtyard. Then the drama began.

Young people in the crowd were asking questions. Checking whether anyone had heard about Jesus, and what had happened to him.

An unmarked police car drove up, lights flashing. Judas (played by Colin Yuckman, the pastor) identified Jesus (played by one of the young people)to the officer. The officer arrested Jesus, who went along peacefully. Meanwhile the crowd made comments about how it was about time somebody did something about Jesus.

Some people in the crowd recognized Peter as one people standing around the fire. Peter denied he knew Jesus when challenged by the crowd and the police officer; after the third denial he ran off.

Then we all moved inside to the fellowship hall where scripture was read and we sang more hymns. We were invited to complete a statement on a piece of paper: "I denied Jesus when I ..." The unsigned sheets were collected and pinned to a wall. Kathy Davis spoke to us about our denials and our forgiveness.

We turned our chairs to the side and Colin Yuckman offered a dramatic first-person monologue portraying Judas as he defended his choices and contemplated what he had done and was about to do.

We then moved ourselves upstairs to the vestibule where we joined in a litany posted on newsprint on the walls, committing ourselves to follow Jesus.

After singing another praise song we proceeded into the back of the sanctuary, where we watched Pilate conduct the trial of Jesus. At the conclusion of the trial we moved to the front of the sanctuary where we watched the crucifixion.

The young people did a great job in organizing this service. I am sure that everyone walked away from the experience with insights to ponder.

File under : Good Friday, New Kensington, United Presbyterian Church, drama, worship

Pittsburgh Presbytery meeting at Parkwood

Yesterday Pittsburgh Presbytery met at the Parkwood United Presbyterian Church. There were 116 ministers and 98 elders representing 60 churches present.

We began the meeting with a worship service in which we sang from five different Advent hymns (with a single verse from three of the hymns). I had in the back of my mind that R. Bryan Lassinger would be playing the organ, and it was a special joy to me to hear him playing throughout the service. It was also a pleasant surprise to notice that there is a church in Pittsburgh Presbytery that uses the Revised Standard Version as its pew Bible. Hallelujah!

During the service, Robert Anderson, our interim pastor to the presbytery, invited a number of people to come forward and tell about where they had seen God working. This was an important kind of sharing at any meeting, but especially appropriate during Advent when we are encouraged to be watchful.

Jay Lewis, the Stated Clerk, introduced a committee that is reviewing the booklet of proposed amendments to the Book of Order and of proposed ecumenical statements. The committee is developing a process for the Presbytery to discuss and vote on these matters.

During the meeting the presbytery adopted a 2009 budget that is shy of $3 million, and we approved the proper changes in the terms of call for the ministers on the presbytery staff.

We also took a variety of actions to elect or appoint individuals to positions within the presbytery, and to approve calls to pastors. We commissioned David Van Diercksen to serve as the U.S. Coordinator of Puentes de Cristo, a border ministry in Reynosa, Mexico. We granted honorable retirement to Johnnie Monroe, and celebrated his ministry. We approved the oral parts of trial for Thomas Hall.

During the meeting the Presbytery declined (by a vote of 54-120) to approve a resolution on examination process proposed by the session of the Bellefield church.

All in all, I thought it was a good meeting.

File under : Advent, Parkwood United Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh Presbytery, music, vocation, worship

The window quiz

There is a worship and the arts group at The United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington. Last week they introduced their new art installation of displays in each of the eight windows in the sanctuary. The overall title of the project is "Give Thanks for Our Legacy of Faith."

The last Sunday bulletin invited the church members to match the themes with the windows. The themes are:

A. Three Churches Become One
B. Missionary Women
C. Youth Learning and Doing
D. African Connections
E. Children in our Midst
F. Emerging Ministries
G. Celebrate the Saints
H. A Future Legacy

Here are the eight window displays going clockwise from the front of the sanctuary.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Can you match them all up?

Drag your mouse on the next line to see my educated guesses.

Possibly the right matches: A-5; B-4; C-3; D-2; E-6; F-7; G-8; H-1

File under : New Kensington, United Presbyterian Church, art, worship