Montclair Presbyterian Church

Join us for Celebration this Sunday at 10:00 a.m.  The Montclair Presbyterian MEN’S choir will be singing and Rev. Melinda will be preaching about the intersection of healing and gratitude.

Here’s a prayer for today:

“Let us pray to the One who holds us
in the hollow of His hands,
To the One who holds us in the curve of Her arms,
To the One whose flesh is the flesh of hills and
hummingbirds and angleworms,
Whose skin is the color of an old Black woman
and a young white man; and the color of the leopard
and the grizzly bear and the green grass snake,
Whose hair is like the aurora borealis, rainbows,
nebulae, waterfalls, and a spider’s web,
Whose eyes sometime shine like the Evening Star,
and then like fireflies, and then again like an open wound,
Whose touch is both the touch of life and the touch of death,
And whose name is everyone’s, but mostly mine.
And what shall we pray?
Let us say, ‘thank you.'”

Reverend Max Coots is the Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Canton, New York. © Max Coots.

This Sunday, October 6th, we will celebrate World Communion Sunday. If you would like to participate, you can bring a piece of fabric from a different country to help decorate the communion table. As we have done in the past, we will celebrate communion with breads of the world. Please sign up to bake and/or bring a bread from a particular country, culture, area, etc. Contact Talitha Phillips to let her know what you will bring so that we can coordinate and be ready to come early (9:45 AM).

 
We will also take a special offering on this day: The Peacemaking Offering. There will be special envelopes provided. 25% goes to local peacemaking efforts, and 75% to national and international efforts of the PC(USA). Please be generous as this money goes to very valuable ministries, from working against gun violence to stopping human trafficking. You can see more here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGRoFQIONS0.

Need a dose of joy and inspiration in your week? Join us for Sunday Celebration at 10:00 a.m. and hear Rev. Melinda’s take on Luke’s parable of the Rich Man and the poor man Lazarus in a sermon entitled, “Dip Your Finger in the Water”.  The Women of the MPC choir are singing and all are invited, welcomed, and celebrated!

MPC FALL KICK-OFF THIS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th: What Generation are you & how much do you know about it? Lunch begins at 11:30 am in the Family Room. Please bring a salad or main dish to serve 6 to 8 people. Optional food theme – something you liked as a young person. Help needed for set-up, serving & clean-up. Please contact Debbie Fallehy (debfal@sbcglobal.net) to volunteer or if you have questions.

REGISTRATION FOR FALL WOMEN’S RETREAT Opens Sunday, Sept. 8, and runs through September 22.  Join us October 11-13 to discover your spiritual “type” and the music that speaks to you, both secular and sacred.  Share discussion, art, music, play, meditation, forest hikes, amazing food, and fellowship with the women of MPC.  The cost is $275.  We do have scholarships available.  See Jan Stites or Jean Roggenkamp in the Family Room and sign up! All women are welcome.

This Sunday, September 8th we will welcome the Rev. Mary Lynn Tobin as guest preacher.  Mary Lynn will be leading the Montclair Women’s Retreat in October, so this is a great chance to meet her.  The choir will be back and we can look forward to a wonderful Sunday Celebration!  See you there at 10:00 a.m.!

The Personnel Committee is pleased to announce that the Rev. Dr. Melinda McLain will be our Temporary Supply Pastor, effective Tuesday, August 27, 2013. Melinda is no stranger to MPC. Melinda was the speaker for MPC Family Camp in 2012. She is a UCC minister who has served UCC, Presbyterian, and Congregational churches as an interim minister. She is also a musician, non-profit consultant, educator, and retreat leader. She has a B.A. in Music from Rice University, an M.Div. from SFTS, and a D.Min. from Drew University.

Melinda’s statement of faith begins with this sentence, “The future of the Church is jazz.” She concludes by saying, “Ministry happens in a myriad of mysterious ways. Some are planned and others improvised within the amazing solidarity of a community moving forward in a good jazz ‘groove’.” How perfect that Melinda’s first Sunday with Montclair Presbyterian Church is September 1 when the Barrelhouse Jazz Band will play! Join us on Labor Day Sunday to welcome Melinda to the MPC community!

THANK YOU & SEND OFF PARTY FOR REV. BETH

Saturday, August 24 4– 8 P.M. at MPC

A time to celebrate our 2 ½-plus years with Rev. Beth

Tributes, Gifts
Music
BBQ!
Chatting and Dancing
Laughing and Crying

And

SUNDAY CELEBRATION, AUGUST 25

5 P.M. at Montclair Presbyterian Church

Please join us for Rev. Beth’s final sermon
And Celebration service at MPC

To be followed by a BBQ dinner.

Join us this Sunday, July 28th, as we welcome The Rev. Keenan Kelsey as our Guest Preacher. Rev. Keenan Kelsey is recently retired after 14 years at Noe Valley Ministry, and service at Old First Presbyterian, and Church of the Roses before that. It will be wonderful to have her with us again. We will also commission the Youth for their Mission Trip and have a farewell luncheon for Rev. Katie Morrison during Coffee Hour in the Family Room.

Join us this Sunday, July 21st, as we welcome The Rev. Kathy Ray as our Guest Preacher. Kathy is no stranger to Montclair Presbyterian Church and it is always a treat to have her preaching with us. The MPC Choir will be singing and we will welcome home our participants from the 2013 Presbyterian Youth Triennium.