rev. vicky l. eastland 2 brookville road church brookville...
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Brookville Church
N E W S L E T T E R
REV. VICKY L. EASTLANDPastor of Congregational [email protected]
2 BROOKVILLE ROADBROOKVILLE, NY 11545
[email protected]/BrookvilleChurchwww.BrookvilleChurch.org
Where the doors are always open!March 2014
Lent - why 40 days?
Lent is a 40-day season in the church calendar year that runs from Ash Wednesday and continues for six weeks. You may be asking why Lent lasts 40 days. The gospels depict the Holy Spirit leading Jesus into the wilderness to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. This was how Jesus prepared for his formal ministry. We know that part of that preparation for Jesus included temptation.
An old cartoon had the two characters looking at each other with a caption below them saying, “How come opportunity knocks only once, but temptation beats the door down everyday?”
Before Jesus was even dry from his baptism he was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted. Jesus’ faith was put to the test. When we come from our own mountaintop experiences we often find our faith under fire. Jesus was led to the place of testing by the Holy Spirit, but it is important to note that satan was the tempter. God uses our trials and temptations to refine our character and strengthen our faith.
Lent’s 40 days signify that this is a period of preparation, reflection, growth and change; a time when we ready our hearts to remember Jesus’ suffering and death.
Jesus underwent great temptation and stood up under it, by relying on Scripture and resisting the devil and staying focused on the ministry set before him. We can have the strength to do this too, but our desire and our own will usually play the biggest role.
Some people give up something for Lent. The long-standing practice of denying ourselves something during Lent is a way for us to better understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Each time we long for the thing we have given up, we are reminded of what Jesus gave up for us. Even the beginning of Jesus’ ministry was a sacrifice for he gave up food for 40 days to prepare his heart to do the will of God.
May God bless you as you prepare, reflect, grow and change this Lenten season,
Rev. Vicky
Dear Members of the Brookville Church Family,
For the past several years we have asked each member of the church to consider paying his or her share of the item in our budget called “Classis Assessment”.
What is the classis assessment?The assessment is a per capita levy made annually, upon each church in the Reformed Church in America, which is used to carry out the administrative work of the denomination. This includes the administrative work of the General Synod, The Regional Synod of New York, and the Classis of Nassau/Suffolk. The assessment is based on the figure that the church reports as “Active” members. The total assessment for our church this year is $4,643.10. The amount per church member is $103.18. If each of us pays this amount, it will be a big help toward meeting our own local budget. Enclosed with this newsletter is a form on which you may indicate the amount which you would like to enclose for the confirmed members of your family. (For those who are receiving the newsletter via email, please print and cut out the form below to mail in with your payment.)
Please return it to the church office at your earliest convenience.
Checks should be made out to theBrookville Reformed Church.
Thank you for your consideration.
Rev. Vicky L. Eastland, on behalf of the Consistory.
Classis Assessment 2014
Classis Assessment 2014Please send to the Church Office at: The Brookville Church2 Brookville Road, Brookville, NY 11545
Enclosed please find $___________ to pay the Classis Assessment for the communicant members of our family listed below, at $103.18 per member.
Signature:________________________________
MEMBERS:_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
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The Way ~ Movie Study
Written/Directed/Produced By: Emilio EstevezStarring: Martin Sheen, Emilio’s real-life Father
Movie Study: Thursdays, beginning March 6 - April 10
Where: Home of Revs. James and Vicky Eastland 171 Glen Ave. Sea Cliff, 516-676-1276
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. Week 1 - 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. ~ movie viewing
Why: To explore the spiritual themes in this inspirational story about family, friends and the challenges we face while navigating this ever-changing world in which we live.
Who: Any adult looking for connection with others and wanting deeper meaning in their life.
To sign up, please contact Rev. Vicky.
Synopsis:Tom is an irascible American doctor who comes to France to deal with the tragic loss of his son. He decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage “The Way of St. James” to honor his son’s desire to finish the journey. What Tom doesn’t plan on is the profound impact this trip will have on him. Through unexpected and amusing experiences along “The Way,” Tom discovers that “life is about the journey.”
LENT: A Time to Surrender
A Retreat Day at Glen Cove Mansion
200 Dosoris LaneGlen Cove, NY 11542
Saturday, March 29, 20149:00 am ~ 2:30 pm
Cost $55 for program, morning coffee, snacks, lunch and take away activities for further exploration. For more
information and to sign up please contact Lesley Mazzotta at [email protected] or
917-623-4554.
Choir News by Carol Goglia, Minister of Music
The Adult Choir is getting ready to rehearse for Holy Week performances. We are looking for anyone interested in having fun while learning music to join us on Wednesday evenings at 7:30, starting on March 12. If you are interested in singing, please contact me at [email protected].
A new play for our youth! Starting in April, our youth will begin rehearsing a new play entitled 'The Bridge'. I am excited to get started on this project. Children under grade 5 will be performing the first act and those from grade 5 and up will be performing the second act. I am looking for ALL of our youth to be involved. Please contact me if you are interested at [email protected],
I am always seeking people to join our choir. If you like to sing and would like to come on a Sunday morning at 9:00 to rehearse and sing during the service with us, please do that! All are welcome!
Easter SundayApril 20
Remember to order your Easter lilies or hyacinths
by April 8th.
Order form is enclosed or call the office at 626-0414.
Daylight Savings Time
begins on Sunday, March 9th. Remember to turn your
clocks ahead one hour.
Toiletries for Women’s Shelter“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in
prison and you visited me.” ~ Matthew 25:35-36
Through Sunday, April 13, the ecumenical Joint Women’s Ministry will be collecting donations to make toiletry bags for the women's homeless shelter at Church on the Hill,
Flushing, Queens (RCA).You can contribute in three ways:
1) Donate travel size body lotion.2) Make a financial donation to purchase these items. Please
make checks payable to Community Reformed Church. 3) Purchase $5 gift cards to Dunkin' Donuts for the women
to buy breakfast.(cash or check, or gift card can be given to Rev. Vicky Eastland or
Martha Worsham)
We hope to create 150 bags that will be given out each week to the women at the shelter.
It is a lovely way to offer some comfort and joy to women who have very little in their lives, so please be generous!
ReflectionsReflections
When the Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon, went to Florida he was looking for the fabled Fountain of Youth because he wanted to live longer to protect his property and position in Puerto Rico. Of course he never found anything but did establish Spanish control along the coast of Florida. A year ago my brother decided to buy a house in a Florida retirement community. They looked for over eight months and made the purchase this January. Allen has agreed that it really is a marvelous place and, get this, they feel just like the time they bought their first home years ago—excited, happy and even a bit giddy. So maybe Ponce de Leon found a paradise with the added effect of a fountain of youth.
I have an esteemed friend who is a former member of the Brookville Church and retired to North Carolina years ago. He has recently made plans for himself, his new bride and a large part of his family to travel in June to Italy where their 400 year old family home is located in the foothills of the Alps. While there they will celebrate his 90th birthday. He related to me that his father-in-law threw a party for him fifty years ago – 45 guests with lots of food and singing plus consuming 85 bottles of wine from their own vineyards. He has grown to love the house and the area. He was not a child when he first vacationed there and is too old to move there, but his plans to return are made because of the tug at his heartstrings.
When I was a cadet the months of January and February were called Gloom Period because of the prevailing winter darkness and weather. It was a time we just stoically “waited it out” knowing that March brought spring like weather even before March 21st. Now I can say that these months are no longer gloomy for me. Like my friend’s plans for Italy, I am looking into the future to consider what to do or where to go. The seed companies have their own plans and have prepared for NOW. There have been three seed catalogs in the recent mail which have stirred my interest just like the longer warmer days stir the sap to raise in the Sugar Maple trees. So this week I paused and looked at the snow covered area that will be the garden someday…yes someday.
None of our children have moved to Vermont or Florida but they still have fond memories of good times there. And all four of them have made numerous vacation trips to Florida, some with their children, to renew those memories.
Last May some of my classmates began planning an August reunion on the Alabama shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Hardly any of us have been in that area so the committee has done a bang-up job of scheduling things to do to entice and entertain us there. A classmate living in Los Angeles has told Nancy that he would be in Alabama (in his wheelchair) and expects to see her. How can I not make plans to go there - still six months away? Now that our children are grown Nancy and I do not have the problem that BJ and Martha and the rest have—how to make the children have a meaningful, safe and memorable summer vacation. Summer time is nice enough right here on Long Island so we did not travel to destination places – our home and our cottage on a Northport beach were more than sufficient for a vacation. Now, mostly out of habit, we still hang around here and make our plans for the fall. This September we are going back to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, which I wrote about last year.
If any of you readers want to share your 2014 plans with me I will find a way to weave them into the June Newsletter. E-mail [email protected] or tell me at church.
Branch Worsham
End Word: College is the longest vacation you will ever have. If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. ~ Woody Allen
Your kids invariably want to move where they had their vacations when they were young. ~ Jim Harris
Growth and Development Written by Kris Baggelaar, Chair
Paul wrote, “So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap at harvest. So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially those who belong to our family in the faith.” — Galatians 6:9, 10 (GNT)
A newly created Growth and Development Team has been released by the Brookville Church consistory to put together a plan to shore up our foundation; renew our vitality; promote our initiatives; and expand our base by drawing in and nurturing new members. Leading by example we can demonstrate—rather than merely profess— our faith and attract area families through our efforts to spread and do God’s work. All else to which we aspire is dependent upon developing community and strengthening our base, and follows from there. As the Christian component of a tri-faith initiative, for example, the well-being of Brookville Church is vital to all faith communities that call our campus home.
G&D’s primary objective, which is to strengthen the core of Brookville Church and nurture the concept of family (building in-house relationships and helping Brookville Church members in need), comprises the “reach in” part of our agenda.
The other part is “reach out,” building bridges/relationships beyond our church doors and helping others.
These two objectives form the basis of a 3-fold broader strategy, to:
1. Nurture the Brookville Church family/promote Brookville Church as a Christian house of worship in the Reformed tradition, “where the doors are always open;”
2. Support/promote a tri-faith initiative; and
3. Invite and provide a haven for the disenfranchised in our area, i.e. a place of acceptance, love, belonging, and healing for all God’s children; offering “sanctuary” by welcoming marginalized people into a place of safety and nurture.
G&D will be brainstorming activities/events to determine if they are: 1) manageable; 2) fit well with the overall vision/direction of our church (as best it has been defined thus far); and, 3) include other faith communities. When this task is completed, a list will be drafted and presented to the entire congregation.
Here’s where we need your help. In order to offer viable activities/events, we need to know how our proposals will be received, i.e. we need your feedback in order to schedule activities/events that we know will be well attended. A list of proposed activities/events will be included in the Sunday worship bulletin and possibly the monthly newsletter, and also posted on Facebook.
Our Youth Group, already in action, understands the important role they play in attracting families with young children. In the words of Lisa Lebenns: “I’ve always thought that families with young children are where we need to put effort. BRC needs that next generation. I know families are out there; we just need to provide a reason for them to come.” After recognizing consistently low attendance each Sunday, our youth independently came up with a list of ten proposals for breathing new life into our church community. In acknowledgment of their initiative and enthusiasm, G&D has committed itself to working closely with our Education Team to implement the many creative ideas generated by our young members. An energetic, active Youth Group will draw in other area children—who will want to join in on the fun and experience the gratification of its many achievements—and with these children come their parents. It is the Law of Attraction. Ask, believe, and receive.
Your interest, enthusiasm, and participation are key to our efforts; please, let us hear from you.
“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” — Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)
Team Members: Lisa Denison, Steve Gawley, Lisa Lebenns, Valerie Ritacco, Marcia Stadler and Joan Vivian
Sunday School Corner By Martha Worsham
At the beginning of the year (2014), I asked the kids for ideas for outreach projects. I thought it might be a hard task to motivate them, but was pleasantly surprised to see the enthusiasm the kids demonstrated. BRC is their church and they’re proud to be part of it. The goal is one project per month and so far we’re on schedule: In January we made empanadas and distributed them to the day laborers on a very cold Monday morning; in February we made Valentine Cards and we were going to make cookies to give to some of our homebound members, but the
weather played a trick o n us and we couldn’t make the cookies together. We were still able to distribute the cards and some goodies, and the recipients have noted how pleased they were for the visits and attention.
March project: Sunday March 23rd at 10 a.m. – we will make loom and friendship bracelets and start a fund raising project for an orphanage in South America – I’m still working on the details of the place where these funds and bracelets will be distributed. I hope to see all the Sunday School kids on the 23rd – bring a friend and spread the word!!!!!!
Rachel Worsham, Lorita Carey, Samantha Melendez and Sarah Worsham
Lorita Carey