Montclair Presbyterian Church

For the Fourth Sunday of Easter with Rev. Beth preaching and a focus on Earth Day.  We will also receive new members.

Rev. Dr. Carol Miles earned the M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1991 and 2000, respectively. Carol has served in Presbyterian ministries for three decades. An abiding interest in theological education led Carol to teaching positions in Homiletics in the Southwest and the Midwest. This spring Carol is teaching as an adjunct professor at PLTS, the Lutheran seminary of the GTU. Since 1990, Carol has been in demand as a conference and retreat speaker throughout North America. She has appeared on the Chicago Sunday Evening Club (PBS), and been the featured preacher and worship leader at many teaching and learning events for pastors and congregations. She is a friend of Montclair Presbyterian Church, having preached here and taught several adult education classes.

On Good Friday (March 29), at 7:00 pm, the MPC Choir will present their spring major choral work: a performance of Mozart’s Requiem. This date was chosen as the best setting for Mozart’s heart-wrenching, soul-stirring musical response to the human realities of suffering and death. For this performance, the MPC Choir will be joined by singers from several other Bay Area choirs, including the Oakland Symphony Chorus, the UC Alumni Chorus, the Pacific Boychoir, and other area church choirs. Our orchestra and quartet of professional vocal soloists are particularly fine this year. The choir been rehearsing and living with this astonishing music for the past two months, and we look forward to sharing it with you at the end of our communal Lenten journey.

All are welcome to join us for this free performance.

Download the event poster
Download the event poster (two per page)

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk

Learn more about the Requiem

The Mozart Requiem (Wikipedia)
Read an English translation of the text

Our 2nd Annual Eco-Friendly Easter Egg Hunt for toddlers through 6th graders will be held following Celebration on Sunday, March 31st, accompanied by Jazz, strawberries, and sparkling cider. Easter morning is an excellent day to invite a neighbor or friend to visit MPC and if they have kids, we’d love to welcome them to participate in our youth group led egg hunt.

Please join us this Sunday following the Palm Sunday Celebration for a Youth Group catered pancake brunch, from 11:15 am- 12:30 pm. Donation cups will be on each table for receiving your free will offerings to help support the youth group summer mission trip, where we will learn about refugee and migrant experiences, serving with Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministry. Thank you in advance for planning to dine with us this Sunday in the Family Room.

On Tuesday, March 12th at 7pm, filmmaker and author Rebecca Miller will be at MPC discussing her new book Jacob’s Folly. This critically-acclaimed novel takes on a wide range of topics including faith, love, acting, and reincarnation. We hope you will join us for what is sure to be a fascinating evening.

Rebecca Miller’s previous works include the short-story collection Personal Velocity, and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, both of which she adapted for the screen. She lives in New York and Ireland with her family. Learn more at her website: rebecca-miller.com.

Parking will be available in the lot at nearby Thornhill Elementary School (see below); more parking info and directions info are available on MPC’s parking and directions page.

The book talk is co-sponsored by Great Good Place for Books in Montclair. You’ll have the option of purchasing the book from them right after the talk.

WOMEN: Join Us for the Spring Women’s Retreat, March 9, at First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley. Rev. Keenan Kelsey will lead us in reflection, connection and laughter based on Annie Lamott’s new book about prayer, HELP THANKS WOW. For more information contact Jan Stites, scribejes@aol.com or Jean Roggenkamp, jeankamp@pacbell.net. Cost is $35. Scholarships available. OPEN TO ALL WOMEN. A great way to get to know the women of MPC!

On Thursday, February 21st at 7pm, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills will be at MPC discussing his new book Why Priests? A Failed Tradition. In this latest work, Wills taps into years of study and reflection to raise some key questions about his Catholic faith: why do we have priests? How did the priesthood begin? Would Christianity be better off without them? We hope you will join us for what is sure to be a fascinating evening.

To whet your appetite, here’s a video of Garry Wills sparring with Stephen Colbert on a recent episode of The Colbert Report:

Parking will be available in the lot at nearby Thornhill Elementary School (see below); more parking info and directions info are available on MPC’s parking and directions page.

The book talk is co-sponsored by Great Good Place for Books in Montclair. You’ll have the option of purchasing the book from them right after the talk.

On Wednesday, February 13th, at 7:00 pm, we will gather for a reflective Ash Wednesday service in the Sanctuary. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of  Lent, a 40 day period of reflection and introspection. Lent is a time of turning away from all that harms our humanity and turning toward all that heals and makes us whole. The imposition of ashes will be offered to those who want a reminder of their frailty and mortality. Music will be interwoven throughout the service. All are invited.

Dr. Rebecca Parker will speak at MPC!  Rebecca Parker, who is the co-author of our class discussion book, A House for Hope, has agreed to come to MPC for an evening to talk with us about Progressive Christianity, what it is and why?  She will be here on Monday evening February 11 from 7:30 to 9 PM.  Rebecca is the first woman to be the permanent head of an accredited American theological school.  She serves as President of Starr King School for the Ministry, a part of the GTU in Berkeley.  Rebecca is an ordained Methodist minister and follows in a family tradition with three other Methodist ministers before her.  In addition to the books and articles she has authored she has been a frequent keynote speaker and a challenging teacher of many students.  Her concern “is not just in theology; it is in progressive faith as a way of life, a way of community and a way of social engagement”.  We have worked for several months to find an evening when Rebecca could be at MPC.  We are very pleased that she will now be able to talk with us about some very important questions for present day Protestantism—and the future!  If you have any questions, please contact Miles McKey at mmckey@lmi.net or phone 510-652-5854.