Montclair Presbyterian Church

This past Good Friday (March 29), at 7:00 pm, the MPC Choir presented 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 was 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 were particularly fine this year. The choir had been rehearsing and living with this astonishing music for the past two months, and it was a wonderful experience to share it with you at the end of our communal Lenten journey.

Audio Files

• Requiem (Introitus)
• Dies Irae
• Tuba Mirum
• Rex Tremendae
• Recordare
• Confutatis
• Lacrymosa
• Domine Jesu
• Benedictus
• Agnus Dei
• Ave Verum Corpus (closing music, also composed by Mozart)

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk

Learn more about the Requiem

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

W.A. Mozart

A selection from the Mozart Requiem, performed on March 29th, 2013
Montclair Presbyterian Church Choir
Montclair Chamber Orchestra
Soloists Rita Lilly, Clifton Massey, Ed Betts, and Tom Hart
Kim Rankin, Conductor

Podcast (music-samples): Play in new window | Download

On Sunday, March 10th, we are pleased to welcome back Lisa Larges as our Guest Preacher!  Lisa is one of the brightest, talented and passionate preachers in the Presbyterian Church (USA).  Someone described Lisa as a mix between Tina Fey and Mother Teresa.  Is that possible?  Come and join us for our Sunday Celebration and find out! 

Tuesday, February 4th at 7:30pm, New York Times bestselling author Kelly Corrigan will be at MPC discussing her new book “Glitter and Glue”. This latest work, an examination of the many facets of the mother-daughter relationship, “is every bit as tough and funny as it is nostalgic and searching” (Elizabeth Gilbert). We hope you will join us for a what is sure to be a wonderful evening of insight and humor.

From the hardcover edition:

When Kelly Corrigan was in high school, her mother neatly summarized the family dynamic as “Your father’s the glitter but I’m the glue.” This meant nothing to Kelly, who left childhood sure that her mom—with her inviolable commandments and proud stoicism—would be nothing more than background chatter for the rest of Kelly’s life, which she was carefully orienting toward adventure. After college, armed with a backpack, her personal mission statement, and a wad of traveler’s checks, she took off for Australia to see things and do things and Become Interesting.

But it didn’t turn out the way she pictured it. In a matter of months, her fanny pack full of savings had dwindled and she realized she needed a job. That’s how Kelly met John Tanner, a newly widowed father of two looking for a live-in nanny. They chatted for an hour, discussed timing and pay, and a week later, Kelly moved in. And there, in that house in a suburb north of Sydney, her mother’s voice was suddenly everywhere, nudging and advising, cautioning and directing, escorting her through a terrain as foreign as any she had ever trekked. Every day she spent with the Tanner kids was a day spent reconsidering her relationship with her mother, turning it over in her hands like a shell, straining to hear whatever messages might be trapped in its spiral.

This is a book about the difference between travel and life experience, stepping out and stepping up, fathers and mothers. But mostly it’s about who you admire and why, and how that changes over time.

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.

Come One, Come All, to the Town Hall Meeting from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm on Sunday, November 4th. The purpose of the Town Hall Meeting is to engage in honest dialogue about the proposed changes in the By-Laws. The changes include whether or not membership is required to serve on the Nominating Committee, whether to reduce the size of the Session from 15 to 12 and whether to reduce the size of the Nominating Committee from 8 to 6. There are many strong feelings about what it means to be a member and what it means to be a friend of the family. The task force responsible for planning the Town Hall meeting hopes to provide you with some information, the opportunity to hear some personal stories and some time for dialogue with each other. This meeting will not include any voting as it is for dialogue only. Please be sure to bring your lunch and something to drink and we will eat as we talk. Childcare is provided – please rsvp to Katie Morrison if you want to utilize childcare.

ADDITIONAL DAY ADDED FOR PHOTO DIRECTORY PICTURES:  We are still missing many of the MPC Family.  We have been able to add another day for those that were not able to make it last week.  The new day will be next Sunday, November 11^th. They will start taking photos at 11:00 am and will finish at 7:00 pm.  Please contact the office to make an appointment.  They will be taking the photos in the Family Room.  We have price sheets for anyone who would like to purchase additional photos but no purchase is required. You will receive your pictures in time to use them as Christmas gifts.  For those who do purchase additional photos there are discounts available and you can get them when you arrive for your appointment.  You will receive a $5.00 off coupon if you bring two cans of vegetables, soup or fruit (which will go to the Children’s Food Basket program here at MPC).  You will also receive a reminder email just before your appointment.  Be sure to open it because there is a $10 coupon that you can use, too.  Would you like to have a picture with your pet? Bring them.

JOIN US FOR JAZZ AND FAMILY SUNDAY! All ages will join together for Celebration and Communion on Sunday for…toe tapping. etc… Rev. Beth will do a short meditation and then lead us in writing our 6 Word Stories.
All are welcome – really!=

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Land Grabs, Food Sovereignty, Extractive Industry issues, Trade and Erosion of Sovereignty on every continent

It was a difficult day today. We paused for prayer, then moved with intensity into presentations covering a series of inter related issues dealing with the suffering of millions around the world.

Anuradha Mittal of the Oakland Institute set the tone with a powerful discussion of groundbreaking research her organization has done on Land Grab, a global phenomenon in which  the poor are forced off their lands to make way for environment-destroying industrial agriculture.

We then heard from a panel of global partners from Cameroon, Sri Lanka,, South India, Haiti, and El Salvador discussing how communities in their countries are affected by the impact of corporate greed, and what their networks, partnered with the Presbyterian Church have been able to do.

After lunch Manuel Perez Rocha from the Institute for Policy Studies, explained the complicated issues involved in the investor-state provisions of so-called Free Trade agreements. The policies have the effect of undermining the self-determination of whole nations.

Then Tutu Alicante of Equatorial Guinea Justice spoke about the depths of corruption and huge contrast in income. we learned that this small, West African nation has an oil-fed per capita income higher than France, yet 85% of the people liveon less than $1 per day.

Discussions were so intense that we ran out of time before we ran out of things to talk about. It was the kind of day that leaves you at once exhausted, angry, and yet inspired.

At the end of the day Hunter Farrell, Director for World Mission for the Presbyterian Church (USA) generously shared his thoughts about Joining Hands and Mission. View his comments below:

Abigail Heimach, intern with the Presbyterian Hunger Program offered her poem “Invisible Backpack” to attendees at the Together for Justice Conference.

Leading morning prayers Bryan MacFarland spoke to the myth of scarcity with the song: “Enough for Everyone”

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The Role and Response of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

A while back I was poking about online and came across a calculator that purported to reveal where my income stacks up compared to everyone else. I had done something similar a couple of times and I accept that the vast majority of people in the world do not do as well as I. So, with some confidence I plugged in an approximate of my annual income. Then came the words “Your income places you in the top 0.01 % of the worlds population. YOU ARE PART OF THE 1%.  No, no I must have misunderstood. I plugged in an approximation of my monthly income – maybe this is what they mean.  Now I am told “Your income is lower than 99% of the world’s population. YOU ARE AMONG THE POOREST OF THE POOR. Now I was totally confused. I know that I am far from the poorest. But I want to identify with the 99%, not the 1%. What a dilemma.

Today in our plenary session Hunter Farrell, Director of Mission for the Presbyterian Church (USA) told us that the denomination is the richest Christian denomination per capita in the world. Here are those words again– THIS MAKES US THE CHURCH OF THE 1%.

Hunter went on to say that when Presbyterian Missionaries first went to the Congo more that 100 years ago, within a few months they were advocating against the rubber trade. The impact of rubber plantations in the Congo upon the people and the environment motivated them to try to get Christians to withdraw their support for such enterprises. Today we are still engaged in such advocacy, calling for sustainable practices, an end to the exploitation of the environment and end to the exploitation of people.

But, here is the uncomfortable truth. Many of the executives of offending corporations attend Presbyterian Churches. What does this imply about how we live out the call of faith? How do we walk in faith with both the poor and the billionaire CEO?