Absecon Presbyterian Church |
The Presby Post
April 9, 2010
Our guest speaker this Sunday is Bill Southrey, President/CEO of the Atlantic City Rescue Mission. He will be speaking from Colossians 1.
Dorothy Ryon will be filling in at the organ for Tom Sooy.
Come on out and give them a big APC welcome!
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Sunday is our Cents-Ability offering. Please use the containers at the entrances to the sanctuary for your donations.
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Our spring work day is tomorrow from 9-12. Bring your rakes, gloves, Windex and come on out to help get the church facilities ready for the new season!
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Volunteers are needed for the Sunday Breakfast Club. If you can help set up, cook or clean up please sign up in the vestibule!
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The Deacons are looking for two folding shopping carts on wheels for the ladies in the School Street houses (one for each house). See Carol Thomas if you have one you would like to donate.
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Sign-ups begin Sunday for portrait sittings for our new picture directory. These will continue through May 9. An Olan Mills photographer and a portrait consultant will be here on the dates listed below. Check your calendars now and sign up early to get a convenient time for your sitting! Any questions on sign-ups can be directed to Kris Jenoriki.
Friday, May 21 – 2:00-9:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 22 – 9:30 a.m.-5:20 p.m.
Tuesday, June 8 – 2:00-9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 9 – 2:00-9:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 24 – 2:00-9:30 p.m.
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Please remember in prayer ~
Our Ireland Travelers
Eddie Haldeman
Frank Loeb – procedure on Wednesday
Jim Morris – admitted to Shore Memorial
Jack Cobb & Kendal McBrearty – to wed in our church April 17
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Peace Be With You...It Already Is! – Read John 20:19-31
Theologian Karl Barth once remarked that to say the old line from the creed, "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church" does not mean that we believe in the church. It means rather to believe that God is present and at work in the church, that "in this assembly, the work of the Holy Spirit takes place. ... We do not believe in the Church: but we do believe that in this congregation the work of the Holy Spirit becomes an event."
Barth's words rang true for me some years ago, when I was invited by a church in a nearby town to be the worship leader at a special evening communion service. The church staff had planned this service to be educational as well as worshipful. The idea was that, first, the congregation would gather in the sanctuary and I would give a brief talk about the meanings of the Lord's Supper. Then, we would go into the fellowship hall and be seated around tables for the service itself.
At each table there would be the flour and other ingredients to form the dough for the communion loaves. The plan called for each table to prepare a loaf and, while the loaves baked in the ovens of the church kitchen, the people at each table were to engage in various exercises designed to get them talking about their experiences in the faith.
It was a good idea, but like many well-planned events, things looked better on the drawing board than they turned out in reality. There were problems. Children at many tables began to play in the baking ingredients, and white clouds of flour floated around the room coating everybody and everything. There were delays in the kitchen, and the communion bread baked with agonizing slowness. Some of the tables ran out of things to say; children grew weary and fussy; the room was filled with commotion and restlessness. The planners had dreamed of an event of excitement, innovation, peak learning, and moving worship. What happened was noise, exhaustion, and people making the best of a difficult situation. In other words, despite the rosy plans, it was the real church worshipping down there in the church basement.
Finally, the service ended, and, with no little relief, I was able to pronounce the benediction. "The peace of Christ be with you all," I said, and just as I did, a child's voice from somewhere in the room called out strong and true, "It already is."
Just that -- "It already is" -- but with those words the service was transformed into an event of joy and holy mystery. That small voice captured what the Gospel of John is trying to say. In the midst of a church that can claim nothing for itself, a church of noise, confusion, weariness, and even fear, the risen Christ comes to give peace. The peace of Christ be with you? Because the risen Christ comes to inhabit our empty places, then, as the child said, "It already is," and the church with nothing becomes the church with everything.
Thomas G. Long, Whispering The Lyrics, CSS Publishing
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This Week in Our Church . . .
Sunday Cents-Ability Offering
8:45 Breakfast
9:30 Sunday School & Worship
10:45 Refreshments
11:00 Worship & A2J
Lions & Lambs “Pennies for Pins” Bowling
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday Ireland Travelers Return
Thursday
7:00 Chancel Choir Rehearsal
Friday
Saturday
9:30 Worship Committee
2:30 Wedding of Kendal McBrearty & Jack Cobb
208 New Jersey Avenue
Absecon, New Jersey 08201