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Sun Sep 7, 2008 |
Recent Events
REVEREND RICHARD RICE TO SERVE AS INTERIM PASTOR
Bishop Jeremiah Park has appointed the Rev. Richard Jordon Rice as the interim pastor at PAUMC. Pastor Richard met with the Staff Parish Committee this past Thursday night and was accepted by our committee to serve in this capacity.
Pastor Richard has had a long career as a pastor in the New York Conference and served as a part-time Pastoral Assistant at Park Avenue, while Pastor Bill was on sabbatical. Most recently, Rev. Rice served as the Long Island East District Superintendent. After retiring from the United Methodist City Society as Associate Executive Director in 1999, Pastor Richard has served three churches as an interim. Prior to his work with the City Society, Reverend Rice was the Metropolitan District Superintendent of the New York Annual Conference. He served churches in Newburgh, Brooklyn, Stony Brook, Westhampton Beach, and Gaylordsville, Connecticut. Pastor Richard will serve among us until the Cabinet appoints a new Senior Pastor, who will begin on July 1, 2009. We will welcome Pastor Richard and his wife, Nancy, back to PAUMC on Sunday, September 7.
FAREWELL TO PASTOR BILL
On Sunday, August 10th, Pastor Bill preached his final sermon at PAUMC. We held a celebration of his ministry at PAUMC with a special fellowship time that followed the 11AM Service and also after Space for Grace. There will be a Farewell Party celebrating Pastor Bill and Judy’s nine plus years at PAUMC on September, 20th from 4-7 PM.
WELCOME! OUR NEW UNION SEMINARY INTERN
Ann Adkinson is thrilled to be the Union Theological Seminary intern at PAUMC for the coming year. She has begun the candidacy process for ordination as an elder in the UMC and will be at PAUMC during her second seminary year.
Baptized at St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Toronto, Ontario, Ann grew up in Cottage Grove, Minnesota and was confirmed in the ELCA. The Spirit really caught her about 12 years later in New York City, at the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist (SPSA), where she began attending in 1999 and formally joined the UMC in early 2003. At SPSA, Ann was an active lay member, singing in the choir, counting Sunday offering, helping redesign the website, and serving on the Church Council as Chair of the Theatre Advisory Committee for the West End Theatre. She also represented SPSA at two Reconciling Ministries Network convocations and is a member of MIND (Methodists in New Directions.) Both RMN and MIND are groups working for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons in the life of the UMC. Most recently, Ann was a lay member of the 2008 New York Annual Conference.
Ann graduated from Hofstra University with a BFA in Theatre and lived in Chicago for four years before making the move back east to New York City. She worked dual careers as an actor and executive assistant for financial companies before receiving the call to ministry. Ann is happy to be involved with Space for Grace, Sunday School, and the adult Bible study.
MISSION TRIPS TO MIDWEST FLOOD AREA
MISSION TRIPS TO IOWA
New York Annual Conference will be sponsoring three mission trips to Marion, Iowa in the wake of the recent floods. The cost is $550.00 and includes all travel, food, and lodging. Teams will stay in a local United Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa.
The dates of the trips are: Sept. 13th-19th Oct. 11th-17th
For more information, please contact:
Hadley Levat
Assistant to Joseph Ewoodzie
Mission Office at NYAC
Direct telephone: (914) 615-2226
Direct e-mail: hlevat@nyac.com
SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER
The Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter is a program that our church has supported in a number of ways since its beginning. PAUMC was one of the founding organizations of this program 25 years ago. Currently, New York City has decided to stop funding the center which provides drop in services for the homeless who wander our streets here in the neighborhood. It is the only center in our area and has a daily capacity to assist 83 persons. Please help us Save the Center!
On the information table, in the church, are flyers and sample letters to send to our political representatives.
NCS has provided services to 27,907 daily visits annually. 21,291 Shelter beds. Meals for 47,476. Showers 6,099.
If the shelter closes, we will see more homeless people on our streets and will not have any place in the neighborhood to encourage them to go to for help.
Please help save the center by sending a letter.
PAUMC MIDDLE SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
August – no activity
September 14th – Picnic in Central Park.
October 26th – Lisa Ingram’s art show at Chashama Gallery.
* A note to parents and guardians; we will always need at least 3 adults to participate. Please volunteer when you can to make these activities possible for the kids. Also, permission slips are required for those kids who do not have parents going with them.
**To volunteer or ask questions, please contact Lisa Ingram at (917) 705-4486. Thanks for your help.
PAUMC’S DISCIPLESHIP OPPORTUNITIES
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: Saturday, August 9th is our next build date; we can send 5 volunteers. Arthur Chang will serve as the team leader for that day.
Please contact Michelle Impey (impeymichelle@yahoo.com) to volunteer or for more information about volunteer opportunities.
MAKING PAUMC EVEN GREENER: Remember: Please turn off lights when you leave a meeting and sign up to receive the PAUMC newsletter via e-mail!
The Outreach Committee invites you to join the conversation as we create an even "Greener" PAUMC! You can join the effort by e-mailing your ideas and interest in greening the church to
Darlene Williams at: dmw2nyc@gmail.com,
Mereani Vakasisikakala at: vakasisikakala@un.org, or
Pastor Jessica at: pastorjessica@parkavemethodist.org.
SATURDAY COMMUNITY LUNCH PROGRAM: All are welcome to join us Saturday, September 6th, 2008 as we prepare and serve a meal to our neighbors. Volunteers meet at Park Avenue Christian Church at 1010 Park Avenue (at 85th Street) to prepare and/or serve: cooking begins at 11AM and servers are needed at 1:30 PM. We’ll serve the meal at 2PM and be done 3:30PM. If you have “food handling certification,” or for more information, please email Lisa Smith (lisa_erin_smith@hotmail.com) or contact Pastor Jessica (e-mail: pastorjessica@parkavemethodist.org; phone: 212-427-5421).
YORKVILLE COMMON PANTRY: Items for the month of August: Binders, Pencils, Pens, Markers, Packs of Paper, Backpacks. Please place your donations in the basket at the back of the sanctuary. The Yorkville Common Pantry (YCP) is the largest, nonsectarian, neighborhood-based provider of emergency food in New York City. YCP provides 1,250,000 meals annually to all who come seeking relief from hunger.
For information about volunteering at YCP, please visit http://ycp.org/index.php/content/C5/.
THE BRUNCH CLUB - Fall Calendar of Events
The Brunch Club is a group of young and young-at-heart adults who gather for fellowship, community service, and worship. All are welcome to meet us at Coffee Hour after the 11AM worship service to join us for brunch at a nearby restaurant. To receive announcements about upcoming events, please join the Park Avenue UMC Brunch Club web group at: http://groups.google.com/group/paumc-bc?hl=en
Fall Retreat will be November 7-9 at Camp Olmstead’s Kirkwood House. The cost will be $154 per person (double occupancy, an additional $15 for single). This includes meals from dinner Friday evening through lunch Sunday.
For additional information, contact Pastor Jessica at: pastorjessica@parkavemethodist.org.