Newsletter Title
APRIL 2016
1 — Kids Club, 6 p.m.
Youth Group, 6:30 p.m.
2 — Supper Center, 12:30 p.m.
3 — Adult Christian Ed, 10 a.m.
Worship, 11 a.m.
5 — Church, 4 p.m.
Soup Kitchen, 4:30 p.m.
AA, 7:30 p.m.
Knitting Circle, 6:30 p.m.
6 — Men’s Group, 7:30 a.m.
Yoga, 6:30 p.m.
AA, 7 & 8:15 p.m.
Taizé, 7 p.m.
8 — Kids Club, 6 p.m.
9 — Supper Center, 12:30 p.m.
10 — Adult Christian Ed, 10 a.m.
Worship, 11 a.m.
Crime Victims Vigil. 2 p.m.
12 — Church, 4 p.m.
Soup Kitchen, 4:30 p.m.
AA, 7:30 p.m.
13 — Yoga, 6:30 p.m.
Taizé, 7 p.m.
AA, 7 & 8:15 p.m.
15 — Kids Club, 6 p.m.
Book Club, 7 p.m.
16 — Supper Center, 12:30 p.m.
17 — Intersections Sunday
Adult Christian Ed, 10 a.m.
Worship, 11 a.m.
Faith Forum, 12:30 p.m.
19 — Church, 4 p.m.
Soup Kitchen, 4:30 p.m.
AA, 7:30 p.m.
20 — Yoga, 6:30 p.m.
AA, 7 & 8:15 p.m.
Pub Theology, 8 p.m.
22 — Kids Club, 6 p.m.
23 — Saturday Center , 12:30 p.m.
24 — Adult Christian Ed., 10 a.m.
Worship, 11 a.m.
Talent Show, 12:30 p.m.
26 — Church, 4 p.m.
Soup Kitchen, 4:30 p.m.
AA, 7:30 p.m.
27 — Yoga, 6:30 p.m.
Taizé, 7 p.m.
AA, 7 & 8:15 p.m.
29 — Kid’s Club, 6 p.m.
30 — Supper Center, 12:30 p.m.
SHARING MORE THAN HISTORY:
A THANKSGIVING
PACK-A-THON
REFLECTION
Rev. Michael S. Bos
In 1628, a group of Dutch settlers held their first worship service in the loft of a mill on
the tip of Manhattan. Today, this congregation is known as The Collegiate Church and is
the oldest Protestant church in North America. West End Collegiate Church is one of
four Collegiate congregations in Manhattan that shares in this history. It is remarkable
that twenty-six years later a service was held in that same loft, resulting in the formation
of Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in North America. Even more remarkable is that these two congregations are now neighbors on the Upper West Side.
When we were contacted by Zachary Edinger and Barbara Reiss about the possibility of
joining the Thanksgiving Pack-a-Thon, it was this shared history that motivated us to say
“yes.” The idea of cooperating on this project resonated with so many of our members
that we quickly had to close registration, lest we have too many people. This is not a
problem we often encounter in congregational life!
What we discovered in the experience is that we share much more than history. We
learned that your congregation is committed to helping the most vulnerable around us.
We experienced an intergenerational emphasis where small children worked next to senior citizens. This made organizing the process a little messier but so much more meaningful. Most importantly, we joined together with people of faith who believe that together we can make a difference in our community. These things, together with your
hospitality, made the people of West End feel at home at Shearith Israel.
It is easy to live in religious silos, tend to the needs of our members, and gauge the
health of our congregations by the strength of our internal programs. But experiences
like the Pack-a-Thon remind us that we do not simply exist in a neighborhood; we exist
for our neighborhood. By joining together it turned our focus outward. We made friends
with people we normally pass by on the street, and we were able to do more for our community by cooperating with one another.
Our congregations share a rich history in New York City. My hope is that the rekindling
of our relationship continues to grow and become an impactful presence on the Upper
West Side and beyond.
Reprinted from Spring 2016 issue of The Bulletin—Congregation Shearith Israel.
m
The Joy of Mutual Belonging
Pub Theology
will meet at
The Dublin House
on April 20
at 8 PM
Jesus is the Question
There are 307
questions Jesus asked
and only 3 he
answered.
This month we’ll take
a look at these questions and responses. If
you want to prepare
you can purchase the
book, Jesus Is the
Question: The 307
Questions Jesus Asked
and the 3 He
Answered by Martin B.
Copenhaver
Each Tuesday the chapel is turned into a sanctuary where the economically challenged find hot food
and dignity. There are dedicated volunteers who serve faithfully as if they were serving Jesus himself
walking through our doors (I love our weekly volunteers!).
One Tuesday in March one of our Soup Kitchen Church attendees came up to me and handed me an
envelope. She said, “The eight of us pooled the resources we have together to give back to this
church. We love coming to church on Tuesday. We belong here. Thank you.” In the envelope was
$80 dollars.
I was so moved by this gesture. The joy of dignity and belonging moves us to give back to people
that give to us. That is the beauty of Christian community, the mutual offering of gifts for the joy of
the beloved community!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jes Kast-Keat
New Online Class
Follow us
on
Want to keep up with
what’s happening with
your WECC family?
Go to Facebook :
WestEndChurchNYC
and Twitter:
@WestEndChurchNY
It’s a great way to stay
connected to our
community.
New Faith on the Go Online Class! A Simple Path to a Deeper Spiritual Life – begins April 24. Yet
today, as we face more distraction, detours, and flat out change than ever before, we can find the
pursuit of the spiritual life more ominous than life-giving. Enter author, priest, and social activist
Becca Stevens. Through her work with Thistle Farms, helping abused women find deep meaning and
satisfaction, she has assembled a storehouse of practical wisdom and inspired insight. Reverend Becca
Stevens will be leading us. To sign up please email Pastor Jes at [email protected].
Pledge Campaign Update
As we near the end of our Pledge Campaign, we need your help to reach our goal. To date, we have
had one-hundred and five people commit $229,049 toward our goal of $255,000. We are very grateful
for the generosity you have shown WECC. As we look ahead, we ask that you consider how you can
financially support our growing ministry. Through our shared stewardship, we provide a place where
people can discover a flourishing faith, participate in a caring community, and commit to service that
changes lives. There are pledge forms in the back of the sanctuary and you can also pledge online at
westendchurch.org.
From Service to Justice from Ian Carr M cPherson
I am excited to announce that this
year’s Youth Service Trip will
take us to the nation’s capital,
Washington, D.C.! (And what an
exciting year to visit!) We will
leave the morning of Wednesday,
July 13, from the church and
arrive back to the church on
Sunday night, July 17. This year, I
am coordinating with Fort Washington’s
Associate
Minister
Bridget Kelso Anthony to put
together an independent program
of service and spiritual reflection.
We will be partnering with the
Church of the Saviour (CoS), the
same community through which I
did a year of voluntary service
before arriving in New York. We
will volunteer, worship, and reflect with various CoS ministries,
including DaySpring, their permaculture project and retreat center
(just outside the city in Maryland); The Potter’s House, their
coffee shop in Adams Morgan;
and Christ House, their clinic for
those experiencing homelessness.
Partnering with my friends in the
Church of the Saviour community
was a very intentional choice on
my part. My vision for our Youth
Group is one of engaged, spiritually-informed service and justiceseeking within our urban context.
In fact, I have started calling this
service trip a “vision trip” because
I want our middle and high school
youth to begin to reimagine our
world and envision new, creative
ways to engage in service and
justice that is informed by our
faith. We will be asking ourselves
the questions: What is it about my
faith tradition that calls me to
service? How does service inform
my faith? How can spirituallyinformed service transform the
world? Rather than a single entity,
the Church of the Saviour is a rich
community of congregations and
organizations (not unlike the
Collegiate Churches) that has
answered these questions in many
different ways within their
particular context. They have
rooted themselves firmly within
their
community—particularly
within the Adams Morgan
neighborhood
of
DC—and
listened to and partnered with
their neighbors to address the
needs of their community.
A quote by the indigenous
Australian artist and activist, Lilla
Watson, sits above a bulletin
board in the CoS voluntary
service house where I lived last
year: “If you have come here to
help me, you are wasting your
time. But if you have come
because your liberation is bound
up with mine, then let us work
together.” This call followed me
throughout the year as I served at
an education nonprofit in the CoS
community, and it continues to
challenge me as the Coordinator of Children and Youth Ministry here at West End. How can we
move beyond short-term mission
work and transition our focus
from service to justice? This is
the question we will wrestle with
together on this trip. But don’t
worry, we will have a lot of time
for a lot of fun together as well!
DC is beautiful in the summer,
and I look forward to taking advantage of the many monuments,
parks, and museums with our
youth.
Also, please mark your calendars
for our Annual Talent Show
Fundraiser on April 24, following
the service. I really appreciate
your continued support of our
Children and Youth Ministries
here at West End.
We raised $2605
in our Easter
offering for the
benevolence fund.
Thank you for your
generosity!
Annual Talent Show Fundraiser — Sunday, April 24, 12:30
We are looking for talent submissions from YOU! Can you sing? Can you dance?
Can you juggle? For those of you who would prefer to provide materials for the auction,
we are seeking baked goods, paintings or other artwork, a donated good or service
from your place of business, etc. You can sign-up on the sheet in the back of the sanctuary or
by letting Ian know ([email protected]).
Adult Christian Education
Sundays at 10:00 a.m., Room 6
Jocelyn Camp will lead the classes
MAKING CONNECTIONS — THREE POETS LOOK AT AMERICA:
Walt Whitman (19th Century)
Allen Ginsburg (20th Century)
Gregory Pardlo (21st Century)
April 3: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
One’s self I sing
There was a child went forth every day
A noiseless patient spider
April 10: Crossing Brook lyn Ferry...
April 17: Allen Ginsber g (1926-1997)
A Supermarket in California
Excerpts from Howl
April 24: Gr egor y Par dlo (1968- )….
Problema 3
Marginalia
Wishing Well
Materials available in back of sanctuary and in class.
Mark your calendars for the Annual Church Retreat at the Warwick Retreat Center June 18-19!
New financial and schedule adjustments to the Annual Church Retreat! In the
past couple of years, we’ve heard that a full weekend retreat has been difficult
for West Enders to get away for the entire time. We’ve altered the retreat to
leave early on Saturday morning and returning Sunday, late afternoon. ‘Hope
you can join us! $100 per person for a double, $200 for a single room, 18 and
under are free.
2016 Theme: The Seasons of Life and Faith.
Sign-up in back of Sanctuary
Knitting Circle ...
...will meet on Tuesday April 5 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Room 4.
All levels of knitting skills are welcomed—see Katherine Charapko
([email protected]), and/or Wendy Realmuto
for more information.
Spotlight on Tenors from Cynthia Powell
In our ongoing series “Meet the
Choir,” here are the Three
Tenors! Our tenor section is a
mighty triumvirate of exceptional
voices. We're pleased to introduce
them to you:
James Gedge—From the age of
seven,
immersed
himself in his Rochester,
Minnesota church choir,
which led to singing
at the Vatican for
Pope Paul, touring six European
countries, a Bachelor’s Music
degree from Lawrence University
and a Master of Science degree
from Queens College.
Now, James teaches choral music
and adaptive music to students
with special needs in Eastchester,
N.Y. He founded The Players
Club, a middle and high school
drama troupe, and has performed,
directed, and produced over 175
professional and amateur productions. James was an Equity Actor
and performed on Broadway, at
Radio City Music Hall, on national tours, at regional companies
and in dinner theatres across the
country.
James sang with the NYC Gay
Men’s Chorus and served as assistant director for eight seasons. He
sang tenor with the Marble Choir
and was a singing member and
Board President of the Empire
City Chorus (formerly the Gay
Gotham Chorus).
He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut on his 40th birthday, and sang and arranged music
for Melissa Rivers’ (Joan’s
daughter) wedding at the Plaza
Hotel. He was the wedding singer
for one of the Trump weddings at
Marble Collegiate!
James and his husband of 26
years (and Gracie, their yellow
Labrador) live on West End Avenue, and spend their summers in
the Pines community of Fire Island. He is delighted to sing with
the West End Choir.
Bradley J. King has advanced
degrees in voice and conducting
from the University
of North Texas and a
Bachelor's in Music
from DePauw University. Bradley has
performed many diverse roles, including
Anthony from Sweeney Todd,
and Colin from Le Devin du V illage. He has regularly participated in the Fall Island Vocal Seminar, Boston Early Music Festival
Young Artist Program, and Lied
Austria. Hailing from Media,
Pennsylvania, Bradley won the
Fritz Lockeman Award for Musical Expression, NATS State and
Regional Auditions, and the
James Toland Vocal Arts Competition. This is his first season with
the West End Choir, and we look
forward to many more.
Chris Lyons
has been in
the choir at
West
End
since 2010.
He studied at
the Eastman
School and
Boston Conservatory. He has
sung secular and sacred music all
over New York, from loft spaces
in Brooklyn to Carnegie Hall.
Performing roles in a wide array
from Hero in A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum, Larry in Burn This, and a
barking dog in an experimental
theater piece (where he was very
well received), he mostly goes
with what seems like the most fun
at any given moment. That includes singing at West End.
Next month, we’ll meet the bass
section. Until then, happy spring,
and may glorious music reign in
our hearts!
̶ See you in church
Cynthia Powell
APRIL SERMONS
We often live with artificial limits we
have placed on ourselves — or others
have placed on us. In this series we
learn how to move beyond these limits
to the life God created us to live.
BOOK CLUB
On Friday, April 15 we will discuss
Euphoria by Lily King.
April 3 - Part 1: Breaking Limits
April 10 - Part 2: Limited by Our Past
We will meet at 7 p.m. in Rooms 1 & 2.
For more information contact Kay at
[email protected]
or call 212-787-1285.
April 17- Intersections Sunday
April 24 - Part 3: Knowing Our Limits
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