February 2015
From the Pastor:
“The Courage to Ask”
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and
saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other;
for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (from Luke 18)
***
I grew up in a Baptist church. It was what is sometimes referred to as
a “high” Baptist church—its architecture owed more to the Gothic
tradition of England’s great cathedrals than to the austere white steeples
of New England village greens. My childhood church boasted a sanctuary
that seated two thousand, magnificent stained-glass windows, intricate
woodwork, and an organ whose lowest notes vibrated in your marrow
and shook your sternum as much as the high notes threatened to sing
that lovely stained-glass right out of its leaded moorings. It is the only
place from my childhood that, at a visit years later, actually seemed
larger, more astounding, more beautiful than it had in my memories.
But this sanctuary was, mind you, still a Baptist church. There were
three dead giveaways. One was the fact that, behind the lush red velvet
curtain of the altar and below an enormous empty cross, lay the baptismal pool—the waist-deep, stepdown tank where baptisms of adult believers by immersion were performed, including my own in the
spring of 1991.
The second giveaway that this forbiddingly noble structure of wood, stone, glass, and music was
Baptist (and therefore heir to the Puritan ascetic spirit) was the fact that the wooden pews had no
cushions. None. “The people,” as a matriarch of the church once said, “bring their own built-in
cushions.” And that was that.
The third clear indication that this highest-of-high-church sanctuaries was, in fact, really the home of
an American Baptist congregation was the fact that, in this church, people sat in the pew to pray, as we
usually do here at Harrisena. There were no built-in fold-out kneelers, no cushions upholstered or
embroidered by the women of the church. When one prayed in this sanctuary, one prayed with head
bowed, hands folded quietly in the lap, sitting bolt upright in those beautiful, unyielding, bare wooden
pews.
Along with those bare pews, sitting with head bowed to pray was a product of our Puritan roots, a
reaction against what were by some considered to be the vain complexities of the Latin Mass and the
Anglican holy supper. We sat to pray largely because it was considered simpler, and therefore more
holy, than kneeling.
***
The point of this reflection on my well-beloved Baptist roots is not to privilege one posture of prayer
over another. Over the last thousand years in the Christian church alone, folks have used at least five
different basic postures to pray. (continued on page 6)
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Special Dates in February
Sun., Feb. 1 – Super Bowl Sub Sale, 11-1
Thurs., Feb. 12, noon – Time Out for Women
Sun., Feb. 15 – Transfiguration Sunday
Mon., Feb. 16 – Presidents’ Day Holiday
Tues., Feb. 17, 6:30 PM – Committees and Council Mtg.
(special date and earlier time this month)
Wed., Feb. 18, 6:30 PM – Ash Wednesday Worship
Sun., Feb. 22 – 1st Sunday in Lent
Sun., Mar. 1 – Youth Fellowship Chili Lunch and Takeout
Event, Robinson Hall, after worship
Welcome to Our New Members!
On Sunday, January 4, 2015, we welcomed into membership three individuals: our pastor, Leah
Grace Goodwin; her husband, Kevin Keith Baxter; and our choir director, Daniel Charles Donovan. We’re
glad to make them “official” at Harrisena Community Church!
Are you considering membership or baptism? Would you like to explore the next step in your
spiritual journey and discipleship with Jesus Christ? Do you have questions that you’d like to “bounce
off” of someone? Rev. Goodwin is always honored to walk with you as you discern God’s unique call in
your life. Contact her at [email protected] or 792-1902.
Fellowship Committee
At our last monthly meeting, our committee discussed plans for the Fellowship Night on January 31.
It has been planned to be a “bring your own pizza” night, with an option to ask other members to share
a pizza or expenses. The fellowship committee provided beverages, salad, and dessert. Reconnection,
sharing, and fun were the intent of the event. We coordinated with the Membership Committee on
ideas for games.
The participation by different members for coffee fellowship has been a challenge. Last year, a
motion was made to have other committees sign up to offer coffee fellowship for one week a year, as
the same people have frequently provided this vital part of our ministry. This motion had gone by the
wayside but is now is being reinstated. Let’s be proactive in asking someone to help you do coffee
fellowship and make it a fun experience! Members of the Fellowship Committee would love to assist you
and get you acquainted with the kitchen, so always feel welcome to ask us for guidance or assistance.
We will be purchasing two or three pump carafes to keep coffee made before the service fresh,
allowing people to host coffee fellowship and still participate in worship and hear the sermon without
disrupting the service. This way, the first round of beverages will be available, while others can be
prepared after the service. Set-up for coffee hour usually can be done Saturday or early Sunday.
The Fellowship Committee: Nancy Wilder, Lynda Scurlock, Shelley Durkee, Judy Sullivan,
and Hal Payne
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Christian Education
All children, young and old, can be powerful messengers of God’s word. We began a new unit with
the children in January titled Called by God. The purpose of the lessons is to help our children recognize
and affirm that very thought: They are powerful messengers of God’s words. To enable the children to
understand that strength within themselves, we began by discussing basic questions.
 How can I show God’s love?
 What do people mean when they talk about God “calling” them? Does God really need me too?
 What does it mean to be “an example” to others?
 How can we bless other people in our lives?
 What qualities do they have that would help them deliver the word of God?
Finding answers to these and other questions helps the children develop an understanding that they
too are called to be teachers and healers like Jesus. Be on the lookout for random acts of kindness! The
children are learning that the very simplest actions or words can bring joy to someone else and spread
God’s love. What a wonderful foundation to build upon as the children grow!
Thank you for blessing us with the presence of your children each week. They make us smile!
Your Christian Ed Staff
Missions Committee
Our January giving encompasses international, regional, and local programs. To satisfy our global
initiative, we have made a donation to Doctors Without Borders. Recently this group has supplied
trained manpower to combat the Ebola outbreak. Missions also supports the Regional Food Bank to
offer basic necessities to those who are most needy. Locally, we have given to Open Door's Code Blue
Program as well as Family Services. As always, we thank you for your generous support.
Phyllis Straut, Lynn Gauger, Marian Philo, Deanna Payne, Linda Hudon
Commandment #11
During the seventeenth century, an archbishop traveling through Scotland met theologian Samuel
Rutherford but kept his identity secret. Rutherford invited the man to stay with him. When Mrs.
Rutherford gathered the servants on Saturday to prepare for worship the next day, the guest
joined in and was asked a basic question: “How many commandments are there?”
When the guest replied, “Eleven,” Mrs. Rutherford said, “What a shame it is for you, a man with
gray hairs, in a Christian country, not to know how many commandments there are!”
The next morning, Rev. Rutherford went out in the woods to pray and heard his guest doing
likewise. When he discovered the archbishop’s identity, Rutherford invited him to preach that morning.
The archbishop’s topic? The eleventh commandment, based on Jesus’ words in John 13:34 – “A new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another” (ESV).
NewsletterNewsletter, “Content” page, February 2015
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Reflections: Why Did He Do It?
He, of course, being God. I was struggling with the first chapter of the book I am writing. This
chapter, called God’s Dream, could just as easily be called “God's Nightmare,” but I try and stay with the
positive!
I was stuck, and what do you do when you are stuck? You call your pastor.
I fired off an email to Leah that said, “Leah, why did God do it? Why did He create the universe?” I
did not have long to wait for a reply. “Maybe because God is love and it is the nature of love to create.”
Bravo, I thought. I agree. That has to be the right answer.
Madeleine L'Engle, one of my favorite writers, was dealing with the same question in her wonderful
book The Irrational Season and had come to the same conclusion. Then she made the “mistake” of
putting the question to her children. With the wisdom of innocence, they turned it around:
“Why is there anything?
Well, God made something out of nothing.
Why? Didn't he like nothing?
Well, God is love, and it is the nature of love to create.
Could he have created anything he wanted to?
Of course, he's God.
Do you like what he created?
Yes, yes I do.
Battlefields and slums and insane asylums?
Well, he didn't create those.
Who did?
We did.
Who's we? I didn't create them.
Mankind did. And you're part of mankind, and so am I.
But God created mankind?
Yes.
Why did he create mankind if mankind was going to create battlefields and slums and insane
asylums?
I don't suppose that's what he created man for.
What did he create him for, then?
Well, it's the nature of love to create....”
Sometimes I feel sorry for God. How many times has he done this? Why are we so arrogant as to
think that our Big Bang was the only Big Bang? After all, our universe is barely thirteen and a half billion
years old. In a universe that has no beginning and no end, there may have been fifty or two hundred big
bangs. How many humankinds have there been, each one self-destructing with wars and slums and
insane asylums? Will God, whose love-nature is to create, ever give up? Is this what it means to love
without condition?
Yes, yes it is. God still calls us to love as he does, without condition, despite what I see in the
world—its Isms, its terrorism, its Auschwitz and terrible wars. And here in our Harrisena Community
Church, I see magnificent acts of love and reaching out going on all the time. I am one of the little
people, and I know I can love now and then without condition. I must admit I have a tough, if not
impossible, time loving my enemies. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to forgive persons who have
hurt me. But God, because it is his nature to love without condition, says, “Hang in there, Clayton, we
will do it together.” Leah is right. Because it is the nature of God to create, God is not done with us yet!
Clayton Burgess
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Minnie Bidwell’s Historical Harrisena Notes
In June 1931, a Boy Scout troop under the leadership of B. Cedric Aldrich held a service at the grave
of Moses Harris, Jr. Rev. Edmund Twitchell took part in that service and became interested in conducting
worship services in the chapel. Mr. Twitchell was minister of the Larger Parish Mission of the Glens Falls
Presbyterian Church. At that time, he was holding services at the Bay Road, Oneida, and West Mountain
churches. Many people from Harrisena were anxious to have services at the church there. So the
building was once more opened for worship. That made four churches for Mr. Twitchell to minister to,
but he gladly did it.
Mrs. Charles Allen (Edna) loaned her organ. Mr. Twitchell both preached and played the organ. At
each service, Mrs. Twitchell told a “Children’s Story” which was much enjoyed by adults as well as the
young.
Again, keeping the church clean was the women’s responsibility.
A Family Night Supper was to be held each month. To make this possible, the men built a small
cupboard with a wide shelf in front of it in the northwest corner of the basement. A picnic style table
with board seats on either side was built along the north wall. People donated a few dishes, two dish
pans, kitchen utensils, a few old chairs, and we were all set. Oh yes, someone gave a two-burner
kerosene stove—it smoked some and smelled more—but we could make coffee and tea on it. Water
was the big question. Charles Allen solved that problem. For each supper, he drew 40-quart milk cans of
water up a stone boat. (This he continued to do for years, until we had a well drilled.)
On Family Nights, the women would gather in the early afternoon, bringing food and their place
settings. Then the work began. Old sheets and pillowcases were torn into 3” strips and rolled into
bandages for missions. These had to be rolled firmly—with edges even. After “chores,” the men would
come for the supper and about an hour of visiting. A nickel collection was taken for coffee, etc.
As the weather got colder, a kerosene space heater was placed near the south wall. But when
winter came, the meetings were adjourned to homes. Then we stayed a bit later—helping the hostess
put her house back in order while the men played cards.
But it was back to church at the first sign of spring. During the time the church had been closed,
mice had eaten holes in the rugs. So everyone collected old woolen clothes, drapes, worn out blankets,
etc. and had the Olson Rug Company make a runner for the aisle and an 8x12 rug for the chancel. Again,
chicken pie suppers supplied the money.
Also during the winter months, worship services were held in homes on Sunday evenings, many
times followed by a cup of coffee and a piece of cake.
Sunday collections were used to buy fuel, some went to missions, and on special occasions a gift
went to the Twitchells. During Mr. Twitchell’s ministry, the interior of the church was painted and
electricity was installed, with help from the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Louis Hyde of Glens Falls gave the
light fixtures.
Mr. Twitchell continued the services until his death in 1944. (More of Minnie’s history next month)
5
“From the Pastor,” continued from page 1
Each one of these postures has its own unique meaning and purpose, its own particular beauty. But
however a person chooses to pray, deep desire is speaking, the desire to come before and connect with
God. A person’s choice of prayer posture probably says something about their vision of the divine nature
and their sense of relationship with the Lord—but present in every one of these postures is the sense
that the person using it comes, seeking intimate communion, before the great mystery of God.
In one parable from the gospel of Luke, Jesus puts before us two individuals whose approach to
prayer is about as different as their respective stations in life.
First of all, we have the Pharisee. He is, at first glance, “the uppity one.” This particular Pharisee is
the annoying stock character whose prayer consists in extolling his own virtues and asserting his
superiority over—and his separation from—many of the people with whom he shares the temple. His
prayer is an accounting of his virtues—not a prayer, even, so much as a progress report to God. This
parable is meant to address those guilty of three things: spiritual pride, idolatry (because they trust in
themselves, rather than God, for righteousness), and contempt for fellow humans. The Pharisee seems
to be a champion example of all three foibles.
Then, of course, there is the tax collector. He is the one, apparently, who gets it right. He displays
the appropriate humility before God; he asks God’s help in re-forming his soul and does not depend on
himself for his own righteousness. And he prays from the perspective of his own brokenness and not at
the expense of others.
Hmm. So the Pharisee, like all Pharisees, is an arrogant jerk, and the tax collector is the one who
knows how to pray as he ought, right? And meanwhile, we should all be humble like the tax collector,
that great princely soul (again, hmm). And so we have the neat and tidy interpretation of this parable—
that we ought not to be so sure of our own righteousness before God, and we most certainly shouldn’t
waste our prayer time extolling our own virtues at the expense of others. End of story.
Not quite.
First of all, the hero and the villain of this parable are not quite so clearcut as it would seem. Let’s
put to rest right now any stereotypes about who, exactly, the Pharisees were. The Pharisees were not
awful people, not superficial neighbor-hating hyper-pious legalistic zealots who typified everything
wrong with Judaism in Jesus’ time. To the contrary. The Pharisees were actually, in many ways, the
enlightened liberals of their day. They did not read scripture literally; they believed in critical
engagement with and modernization of ancient religious laws; they were quite involved in justice issues.
The Pharisees, as Sarah Dylan points out, “longed for what Christians long for: God’s will done on earth
as it is in heaven.”1 The Pharisees were profoundly interested in the creation of a heaven from
humanity. Pharisees were neither perfect nor always tolerant, (but, of course, very few people today are
perfect or always tolerant, either).
The tax collector, meanwhile, would have been the pariah of his community. Tax collectors were
usually Israelites who worked for the Roman government. They worked on commission, which basically
meant that they had a certain amount of taxes they were required to collect from their fellow Jew—any
profit they made had to be added onto these taxes as cream to be skimmed off the top before handing
over the money to the government. Tax collectors were considered the worst kind of traitor, because
they made their livelihood at the expense of their own oppressed people.
The plot thickens. The Pharisee is not the stock villain—in fact, he far more aptly represents a wellliked, upstanding citizen—and the tax collector is no angel. What else is at stake here, if not simply the
virtue of humility before God?
Courage. Trust. (continued on next page)
1
Sarah Dylan, lectionary blog from www.sarahlaughed.net
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If the way someone stands, sits, lies, or kneels in prayer says something about how they think of
God, then the words a person chooses to pray with say a whole lot about what they think of God.
Nowhere is this more starkly put than in this parable.
You might have noticed that this particular upstanding citizen, this Pharisee, is both a taker of
pot shots and a fast talker. “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers,
or even like this tax collector,” he says. But beneath his arrogance, behind the list of virtues and the
supercilious snobbery, is defensiveness; he is building a stone wall out of righteous works and social
superiority. And beneath his defensiveness is fear. The downside to “trusting in oneself” to be righteous
is that, while it allows a person to claim credit for one’s own goodness, it also carries an awfully heavy
load of responsibility for one’s sin. And so the Pharisee’s prayer is not only a laundry list of virtues but a
bulwark—a fortress that protects him from the very God to whom he prays, a God who, from the
Pharisee’s view, is more scorekeeper than lover. If his prayer is any indication, there is no mercy or love
to be had from this man’s God—and so he does not even ask.
Frederick Buechner has something to say about the paradox of God’s fierce love.
Romantic love is blind to everything except what is loveable and lovely, but God’s love,
Christ’s love, sees us with terrible clarity and sees us whole. Christ’s love so wishes our
joy that it is ruthless against everything in us that diminishes our joy…The justice and
mercy of [God] are ultimately one.2
The tax collector, considered neither loveable nor lovely in his society, is brave enough, or maybe
just broken enough, to bank on this possibility. Being at the bottom rung of the social and religious
ladder, he does not really have the option of pride, as the Pharisee does. The tax collector has only his
hope that God will indeed “see him with terrible clarity,” “see him whole,” and respond with love. He
asks for mercy, a mercy totally beyond his or anyone else’s understanding or accounting, and through
the very act of asking he is able to receive it. He asks for mercy, and he goes home “justified”—which
means, at its heart, that he goes home at peace with God, with the depths of his soul opened to the
Lord. Brendan Byrne puts it thus bluntly: “Two people came up to God’s house to pray. Only one really
found the hospitality that was there all along.”3
We can pray any which way – we can sit, stand, kneel, lie face down on the floor or belly-up to
watch the stars spin through the sky at night, we can pray as we brush our teeth or wash the dishes—
but however and whenever we choose to lift ourselves up to the Lord, let us have the trust in him to ask
for mercy, that he might make us anew.
I pray for you (and you can pray for me, if you would!), that in this Lenten season of introspection, as
winter turns slowly to spring, you will know the courage and peace born of God’s love for you—the love
so evident in the very fact of your existence. I invite you to ask God for whatever you need, and to find
the hospitality that our creator and sustainer waits so eagerly, always eagerly, to offer to us.
And I welcome you to join us at Harrisena for both worship and our upcoming events, as we glory in
God’s extravagant love and do our best to express that love to everyone we meet!
2
3
Buechner, Frederick. Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC, 2nd ed. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.
Byrne, Brendan. The Hospitality of God: A Reading of the Gospel of Luke.
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February Birthdays
1 – Robert Bonet, Courtney Casey, Josh Alger, Barbara Howe; 2 – Sherry Davies, Linda Richardson,
Lynda Scurlock; 3 – Dorothy Burt, Joe Blair, Sr., Dominick Riccio; 4 – Dan Blanchard;
5 – Maxine Einzig, James Ferris, Charles Ackner, Melissa Riccio; 6 – Doug Baird, Jeremy Cartier,
Stephen Jabaut, Torrie Smith, Marilyn Somerville, Beth Robertson; 7 – Judy Cornicelli, Amy
Christopher, Gavin Herrick; 8 – Billie Harding, Sean Rist; 9 – Erin Frasier, John Matthews, Skip
Robertson, Karen Mele; 10 – Eloise Duggal, Art Norton, Brian Lee; 12 – Vanessa Barton; 13 – Adam
Gray, Carol Brake, Emily Wilson; 14 – Brett McArthur, Janis Stotler, Emily Kobel; 15 – Annie Barry;
16 – Lynne Lerish, David Gealt; 17 – Helga Stutz-Miller; 18 – Philip Nadig, Betty Barton, Linda Brown,
Cindy Huber, Ashley Meade; 19 – Shirley Harney; 21 – David Farbaniec, Sean Kobel;
22- David Helffrich, Donnean Thrall; 23 – Rebecca Brake; 25 – Nicholas Baird, Thomas Mele,
Tim McAuley, Jean Meyer, Bridget Resse; 27 – Andrea Lipinski, Jennifer Aust-Moon, Jodi Loonan,
Victor Urrico, Amber Wise; 28 – Courtney Wendell
February 2015
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1 Communion,
Super Bowl
Sub Sale
2 7- Adult
Study
3
4 7:30 – Senior
Choir; AA
5
6
7
8 Worship 9:30 HYF-6 PM
9 7- Adult
Study
10
11 7:30 - AA
Sr. Choir
12 12 - Time
Out for
Women
13 EARLY
Newsletter
Deadline
14 Valentine’s
Day
15 Worship 9:30
HYF - 6 PM
16 President’s
18 6:30 - Ash
Wed. Worship
7:30 - AA Sr.
Choir
19
20
21
7 – Adult
Study
17
6:30 Committees
7:30 COUNCIL
22 Worship 9:30 HYF - 6
PM
23
24
25
7:30- AA Sr.
Choir
26
27
28
Day-office
closed
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Long-Term Prayer Requests, February 2015
Please remember the following members and friends who need our prayers of love and encouragement.
In Facilities
Ben & Marj Bardin – The Home of the Good Shepherd, Wilton
Grace Clough – Seacoast Nursing Center, MA
Sharon Davies – The Stanton
Claire Fraser – Fort Hudson Nursing Home
Esther Frederick – The Terrace, Queensbury
Ann Healy – Fort Hudson Nursing Home
Ed Hooker – The Terrace, Queensbury
Jane Lis – Eastern Star Campus, Oriskany
Maddison McCane – Rehabilitation at Albany Medical Center
Elizabeth Moore – Nursing Home
Elaine Stark – Old Orchard Nursing Home
Dave Thrun – Veterans Home
At Home
Celine & Bob Boulé – Daughter/Son-in-law of Brandy & Wally Madon
Christine Burke – Member of Harrisena
Paul Butler – Friend of Jeanette Hunt
Lee Ann Clark – Daughter of Murial Clark
Diane DeMass- Friend of Suzanne Cartier
Kathleen Dumont – Niece of Brandy Madon
Ingrid Engelhard – Friend of Debbie Shahay
Adam Frontera – Friend of Diane Matthews
Douglas Hughes – Friend of Cathers family
Fabiola Jabaut – Mother of Steve Jabaut
Howard Krantz – Friend of Diane Matthews
Carmen LeFebvre – Friend of Peg McArthur
Joshua Louk – Nephew of Diane Matthews
Nicole MacDermid – Member of Harrisena
Rachael & Tim McCane – Grandchildren of Bob & Phyllis Straut
Larry Norton – Friend of Kathy Allen
Oscar Olson – Great-nephew of Kathy Allen
Michael Scheidegger – Friend of Eric Goe
Sharon Sturdevant – Daughter of Marilyn Somerville
John Walker – Member of Harrisena
Deaths in the Harrisena Family
Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families and friends of the following people
who died this past month:
Richard Clapper, son-in-law of Muriel Clark; Corey Day, friend of Daniel Donovan; Stephen Roethke,
brother of Lynn Bishop; Charles & Nola Falcone, close friends of the Goodwin family; Mildred Painter,
mother of George Painter; and Carrie Clifford, dear friend of the Ferrie family.
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Members and Friends in the Military
Please also remember the veterans from previous wars
who continue to suffer from PTSD and other injuries of mind and body.
Ryan Barrett (Pilot), nephew of Gigi Barrett—Afghanistan
Alexis Best (Army), stateside
Andrew Bigelow (Army), son of Karen Bigelow—serving stateside
Aaron Clark (Army/Spcl Forces)—serving in Afghanistan
Chelsea Craig—serving in Iraq & Afghanistan
Derek Dumas—stateside
Gary Hogan (USAF)
Walter Howard (USMC) – serving stateside
Joseph Hubbard (Army) – stateside
Christopher Maille (AFRES), son of Peter Christian- serving in Spain
Maxwell Marshall (Army) - serving in Afghanistan.
Wes McQueen, nephew of Dodi/Rev. Robinson- serving in Afghanistan
Tony Mitchell (USAF) - serving in Afghanistan.
Chris Moore (USN), friend of Beck family- serving stateside
Brandon Payne (Army), Payne family- serving stateside
Todd Payne (Army), Payne family- serving stateside
Wesley Payne (USMC), Payne family- serving stateside
James Pearson (USAF)
Phillip Riccio (Army), son of Phyllis Riccio, stateside
Steven Shepski, relative of Sue/Peter Cartier—serving in the Middle East
Dominick Simione II (Army), friend of Russ Smith- serving in Afghanistan
Russell Smith (USNG)
Kelly Thompson (US Health Svc)
Daniel Urband (USAF), grandson of Alice Urband—serving stateside
Mark Wilson (Army Spcl Forces/Reserves), husband of Andrea—serving stateside
James Zito (USNG), friend of Beck family—serving stateside
Will Morgan is home safely from the military!
Please update the status of anyone you know on this list as soon as information is available.
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Our church shield, designed by Todd Matthews