Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
In two weeks we will celebrate Easter. Our thoughts and feelings will, hopefully, focus on Jesus Christ. For many people, this will be another Easter that will casually come and casually go. For some, this Easter will be a season of meditation, reflection, and appreciation.
If you ask young children what the most important church holiday is, most children are quick to answer, “Christmas.” And yes, the fact that Jesus was born is a big deal. His words and actions were amazing and inspiring, and provocative. But without the empty tomb on the third day, Jesus would have just been another minor prophet. Without the resurrection, the disciples would not have left home to preach God’s good news in lands far and wide, and to die as martyrs. Without the resurrection there would be no need for, and we would have, no church.
But the resurrection is hard for many to believe. Dead bodies don’t just up and walk around, asking for breakfast and appearing in locked rooms. What really happened that Sunday morning?
Theologian Marcus Borg argued that it doesn’t matter that we know exactly what happened. He says something clearly remarkable happened in the resurrection, whatever the mechanism. He also says it’s clear that the disciples experienced Jesus as alive in a concrete, transformative way. He wrote, “The central meaning of Easter is not about whether something happened to the corpse of Jesus. Its central meanings are that Jesus continues to be known and that he is Lord. The tomb couldn’t hold him. He’s loose in the world. He’s still here. He’s still recruiting for the kingdom of God.”
What do I believe? Something clearly happened that transformed a bunch of bumbling, dejected disciples into people of steady conviction willing to travel the world preaching good news, and to die for it if necessary. I just know that I have been transformed by the resurrection.
We don’t have to understand exactly how something works for it to have power and meaning in our lives. I don’t understand exactly how electricity works but I am glad that it does when I come home and flip a switch to get light. I also don’t know how my husband can still make my knees weak when he looks at me, but I am glad that he does. I don’t know exactly why I can be moved to tears listening to Alex play a song at church, but all of these experiences are very real for me. I don’t have to understand these things in order to be transformed by them.
The resurrection is the ultimate revelation of God in Jesus Christ. God loved us enough to take on human form to reach us and yet, that still did not work. And so God made the ultimate sacrifice for us. The resurrection shows us that God will look for us no matter how lost we become, that God will care for us when we are sick and suffering and offers us healing that goes far beyond the physical. God has high expectations for us, but an even higher capacity for forgiveness.
The resurrection isn’t so much something that we believe in, or don’t. The resurrection is something God invites us to come and see—in an empty tomb one Sunday morning and every day that the sun rises yet again to lighten our darkness. The resurrection helps us to live!
Yours in Christ,
Bonnie
Mondays and Tuesdays Bible Study
Come join us! We meet Mondays at noon (bring a lunch if you desire) or Tuesdays at 5:30. We are continuing with our studyby Rob Burkhart “On the Road to the Cross”. Each week is a different study.
Thursdays Needlework Group
The Needlework and the Quilters Groups meet on Thursdays at noon. Bring your lunch or come after you eat. Many of us have started to make hats and mittens for next Christmas or you can just bring your portable project to work on during the time and enjoy the company of others while you hem those pants.
April 8Pizza Making
The Sunday School children will meet at noon on Saturday, April 8 to make pizza to sell Sunday at coffee hour. This is a fund raiser for the students that they are supporting in Kenya. They will get to test the pizza for lunch and have other treats.
April 9Palm Sunday
The traditional Palm Sunday parade of palms will take place and Our One Great Hour of Sharing offering will be received on Palm Sunday. Contribution envelopes are on the pew racks. The Weeping Tree Cantata will be performed at 4:00 pm byan enlarged choir.
April 13Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Broadalbin at 7:00 pm and the choir will gather for practice at 6:15 pm.
April 14Good Friday
Good Friday service will be held at Mayfield Presbyterian Church at 7:00 pm with the First Presbyterian Church of Broadalbin and the First Presbyterian Church of Johnstown. Choir will gather at 6:15 pm to practice.
April 16Easter Sunday
Easter sunrise service will be held in the garden of the Mayfield Untied Methodist Church at 6:30 am. Breakfast will follow at the Mayfield United Methodist Church.
Our traditional celebration of Easter will take place at 10:30 a.m. There will be no Sunday School classes, but children are encouraged to attend church with their parents on this special day.
April 19 PW
The women of the church will meet on Wednesday, April 19 at 4:00 pm to discuss coming events. Note the change of time! This is so Rev. Bonnie may join us and still get home for the evening and we are hoping more women may be able to get out at this hour. The letter is “K”.
April 20Parkinson Group
Rev. Bonnie is leading a support group for people with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological diseases and their caregivers. Dr. Jennifer Durphy, a neurologist from Albany Medical Center, will speak this month on Thursday, April 20th in Fellowship Hall at 2:00.
April 22PW Spring Gathering
Presbyterian Women from the Albany Presbytery will be gathering at the Charlton Freehold Presbyterian Church in Ballston Lake on Saturday, April 22 at 11:30 am. They will have a program on “What Our Presbyterian Women’s Groups Do”. Contact Christine Dahl if you would like to go with her.
April 24Session Meeting
The Session will meet on Monday, April 24 at 6:30 pm. Please let Rev. Bonnie or Janis Frisch know if you have something to come before the Session.
April 27Rummage Sale Set-up
We will set up for the Rummage Sale at 9:00 am on Thursday, April 27th. We can use all the help we can get! Men welcome also!
April 28- 29 Rummage Sale
The Rummage Sale will be held on Friday, April 28 (7:00 to noon) and Saturday, April 29 (8:00 – noon). We will set up on Thursday morning at 9:00. Please do not bring rummage in until after April 16.
LOOKING AHEAD
May 6 CROP Hunger Walk
Our 6th Annual CROP Hunger Walk is scheduled for May 6th. There will be pledge forms at church on Sundays. See more under OUTREACH NOTES.
May 10 Mother-Daughter Banquet
Save Wednesday, May 10th, for PW’s Mother - Daughter Banquet. Bring a dish to pass and your table service. If you or anyone you know would like provide entertainment that evening speak to Chris Dahl.
May 23Rise Against Hunger
We will be working with the High School staff and students on Tuesday, May 23 at 3:30 pm to pack 10,000 meals in 90 minutes. Sign-up on the board in Fellowship Hall.
June 2 & 3 Annual Quilt Show
Our 22nd annual Quilt Show will take place on Fri., June 2, 4 to 8 and Sat., June 3 , 10-4. Friday Sue Pfau, quilt pattern designer and teacher, will present a trunk show at 6:30. Quilt registrations have been mailed to many local quilters. We also welcome quilts made by or received as gifts by church members and friends. We are looking for quilts in three categories: Large Quilts, Small Quilts, “I Love the Holidays” Challenge Quilts. Our Red and White raffle quilt: “Barn Dance Pinwheel” will be on display and tickets available for only $1. Call Nancy Frank (661-5328) or Mary Seaman (567-8341) for more information. (Quilt registration forms are available at church.)
June 17Golf Tournament
Save the date, Saturday, June 17, for our fifth annual golf tournament. Art Dahl has reserved the date but will need help. PLEASE call him (661-5800) and volunteer to help arrange for food, sponsors, prizes, advertising and reservations.
Summer WednesdaysPainting with Acrylics & Oils
Dates: Wednesdays July 12, 19, 26, August 2, 9, 16Time: 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Dick Foster will again be offering painting classes at our church this summer. There will be a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board. Come and learn from accomplished artist, Dick, as he explores and teaches how painting with acrylics and oils is different from painting with watercolors. There will be no charge for the lessons, however people will be responsible for the cost of their canvases and materials.
February 2018Guatemala
We are planning our next mission to Guatemala. The dates of the trip will be Saturday, February 17 to Sunday, February 25. We will be returning to the village of Pachaj to continue our relationship with the people of that village and to share ministry with them. We will again be doing a medical mission as well as a work project. If you are interested in going on this trip, please confirm with Pastor Bonnie as soon as possible so that we can get the best possible airline fares. The estimated cost of the trip will be approximately $2,500 per person and that will include airfare, food, hotels, transportation and mission. Further details will follow. For now, we need to know how many are interested in going.
SESSION NOTES
Rev. Bonnie will be qwqy April 27 – May 19. During this time Pastor Linda Martin will be covering for her. David Hasse will be preaching April 30, Lucy Harris will be preaching and doing communion on May 7 and Nancy and Sharon Brower will do Mother’s Day on May 14.
A pictorial church directory is going to be done this year by Life Touch. A tentative date of June 4 is set for them to be here to take pictures.
Following is a list of the church committees and their chairman. If you would like to be on one of these committees contact the chairman.
Building and Grounds Gary DiSanto-Rose
Christian Education Deb Hall
Finance Committee Nancy Frank
Food Pantry Crystal Hinkle
Fundraising Committee Deb Hall
Mission/Outreach Casey Warner
Nominating Casey Warner
Pastor Parish Colleen Ulrich
Scholarship Vicki Kucel
Worship Nancy Frank
WORSHIP NOTES
Several committee members and with much help from Jay and Evan Orth, the “living mural” is in place as a backdrop to Pastor Bonnie’s sermons about the Road to Emmaus through the Sundays of Lent. Next, we will work with Jay to have a special cross in place for our Good Friday service.
Sign-up for flowers (lilies as well as some colorful varieties) to be purchased as memorials or in honor of loved ones is in fellowship hall. This committee continues to work closely with Pastor Bonnie who is always filled with new ideas to make worship more meaningful. New members are always welcome! See Nancy Frank if interested.
MUSIC NOTES
For many years the Gloversville Council of Churches sponsored a Palm Sunday program of Lenten music presented by singers from different local churches in Fulton County and held in various churches. When the Council was no longer directly involved Bob Hallenbeck from St. John’s Episcopal, Ed Goodemote from Foothills Methodist and Malcolm Kogut organized the practices and chose the music.
With the death of Bob Hallenbeck last year many felt an urgency to carry on this tradition and service. Mayfield Presbyterian offered to host and organize the event. Instead of many Lenten anthems we have chosen a cantata, The Weeping Tree, composed by Joseph Martin who also composed our commissioned anthem at the time of the fire. Luke Horst has graciously agreed to conduct the chorus and Noel Wing will conduct the instrumentalists. Friends from many churches wil participate.
The program will be dedicated to the memory of Robert Hallenbeck. The cantata will be at 4pm on Palm Sunday, April 9. We hope you will attend.
CHURCH SCHOOL NOTES
The Sunday School children will be having a pizza making party at noon on Saturday April 8 to make pizza to sell at church on Sunday. This will be a fund raiser for the students that they are supporting in Kenya. They will also get to test the pizza for lunch.
Save the dates - Vacation Bible School will be June 26 - 30. We will need many leaders and helpers to make this year another successful VBS event.
CAMP FOWLER
Information for Camp Fowler is available for the coming camping season. Learn more about the camp by attending their Open House on May 27 from 10-4pm. It is an absolutely wonderful camp for the entire family, with programs for children throughout the summer. It is located in Speculator, NY...a short drive into the beautiful Adirondacks. Camp scholarships are available through our church...so please let Pastor Linda or a Session member know if your children are interested in at-tending camp. More information is available on their website:
www.campfowler.org
BUILDINGS & GROUNDS NOTES
The Buildings and Grounds Committeeis looking for new members. The new chairman of the committee is Gary DiSanto-Rose. His telephone number is 518-224-2081 if you would like to be on the committee or have any concern to bring before the committee. They have a meeting on Monday, April10 at 6:00 pm and will be planning a clean-up day soon.
OUTREACH NOTES
PARKINSON’S GROUP
As you all know, Pastor Bonnie has startd a Parkinson’s Group which meets the third Thursday of the month at 2:00. Bonnie has arranged for speakers from various specialties to come and speak to the group and answer their questions and concerns. These have included a speech therapist, yoga instructor who taught us how to do yoga while sitting in our chairs, a pharmacist and others.
The group also has meetings where we just have an informal get together and discuss the various concerns and problems. This has been helpful to the members as they realize that they all have similar concerns and anxieties and are not alone.
Most of the members and their caregivers subscribe to the magazine “Neurology Now,” which has many articles that hey also find helpful. If interested or know somebody who may be, please join us on the third Thursday of the month. This is open to members of the community.
FOOD PANTRY
Remember we are open on the first and third Tuesday from 12:30 to 3::00. Please sign up on the sign-up sheet in Fellowship Hall or call Crstal Hinkle at 661-6314. Also the third Sunday of the month (April 16th) is Food Sunday. We always need cereal, peanut butter and jelly and canned fruit and vegetables.
CROP Walk
Our seventh annual CROP Hunger Walk will be held on Sunday May 7th at 12:30 pm, registration at noon. We are again promoting a “RE-use your t-shirt” day and no new t-shirts will be distributed on walk day. We are asking folks to make healthy snacks for the walkers and asking the walkers to bring their own water bottles for the walk so we do not have to purchase water. Refreshments will be available after the walk. Our route will be the same as last year, around the elementary school track and back. You can find us on the internet by going to CROPHUNGERWALK.org and search for a walk or contact Janis Frisch, our on line consultant. .
CROP Hunger Walks began in 1969 and to many they are viewed as the “granddaddy of charity walks”.
The first walk was in Bismarck, North Dakota on October 17th, 1969, where over a thousand people participated and it raised $25,000 to help stop hunger. The first time it took the official name CROP Walk for the Hungry was 1970 in York County, Pennsylvania. From that point on thousands of walks take place nationwide. Currently well over 2,000 communities across the United States hold hunger walks each year!
Today CROP Hunger Walks are interfaith hunger education and fundraising events sponsored by Church World Service (CWS).
Crop Hunger Walks help to support the overall ministry of Church World Service and 25% of all funds raised stay within our community to assist with our own hunger-fighting efforts. Please mark your calendars for our very own Mayfield Presbyterian Church’s 7th Annual CROP Hunger Walk on Sunday, May 7th and join the thousands who participate in communities nationwide to support the mission to feed the hungry and help those in need!
RISE UP AGAINST HUNGER
Fundraising continues for Rise Up Against Hunger and we are looking forward to working with the Mayfield High School to pack 10,000 meals for distribution around the world. If you would like to participate, there is s sign-up sheet on the bulletin board. If you would like to donate, you can mail a check or drop change in the bucket on Sundays and watch us meet our goal. So far we have $400.00 – we need $1,200.00.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Happy Birthday to these members and friends:
Zachary Hatcher April 7
Linda Jacobs April 7
Brad Dutcher April 9
Carol Gardinier April 13
Marie DiSanto-Rose April 14
Mindy Fitzgerald April 22
Michelle Gifford April 26