the
Advent
M essenger 2018
Photo by Steve Lubetkin
Letter from the Pastor For all the generations that have prepared the way; for all the unseen hands that have made ready every space; for those who light the fires of welcome and who tend to every resting place, O God of every pilgrim, we bless you with our thanks. This prayer by Jan L. Richardson is from her Advent devotional book called Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas which celebrates Advent in art, poetry and prose as a season of hopeful anticipation. Based on biblical promises of God, Richardson notes how past generations have long pointed to God’s future arrival in full glory. We rejoice at this time "Advent invites us of year in the confident trust we have inherited from the generations who have gone before, and as pilgrims traveling toward a bright and simultaneously glorious future. Advent invites us simultaneously to look back with to look back with thanksgiving and to look forward with hope. thanksgiving and At BMPC this Advent season we are enjoying a unique opportunity to look forward to celebrate the past and future of our congregation through the This Time, This Place capital campaign. Our congregation’s coming 150th with hope." anniversary reminds us of all the generations that have prepared the way and all the unseen hands that have made ready every space that we currently use for worship, Christian nurture and mission. After several years of careful study and planning, our congregation’s leadership has determined that now is the time for us to prepare the way for future generations. Funds raised by this capital campaign will make our sacred spaces more accessible, more welcoming and better suited to our ministry needs. Church leaders have established two ambitious goals. The first is to raise $17.5 million to renovate and revitalize our church campus, expand opportunities for mission and enhance our building preservation fund. The second is to secure the commitment of every active church member, by either financial or prayerful support. Many church friends have already found a way to support the campaign by their financial commitment, by volunteering and by prayer. If you have not yet made your commitment, I invite you to help us to reach our goal of broad participation as an expression of our gratitude to pilgrims who have gone before and our hopeful anticipation of the future. Commitment Sunday is December 9, the day by which we hope that all church members will make a pledge or a gift to support This Time, This Place: The Campaign for Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Grace and Peace,
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Welcome to Our New Members
Melanie Albahary Newtown Square
Rob & Wendy Bailey Gladwyne
Bill & Margo Knasniewski Bryn Mawr
Elliot & Mary Jeanette Dee Wynnewood
Matt Noone & Nicole Bruno Noone Bryn Mawr
Abby Pottorff Bryn Mawr
Gene & Jeanie Fisk Newtown Square
Eileen Silvergleid Bryn Mawr Not pictured: Emily Bailey
Want to know more about BMPC? We invite you to get to know our community better by joining one of our Discover BMPC classes. Meet our pastors and learn about our denomination, Reformed tradition, and sense of Christian ministry. For more information, to register, or to inquire about joining our church on our next New Member Sunday, December 9, contact JaneWilber@bmpc.org.
Confirmation Class:
New, Improved, and Transformational By Courtenay Willcox, Confirmation coordinator
Building upon the structure provided by the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s new Big God Big Questions: Confirmation for a Growing Faith curriculum, we've designed a Confirmation program with a bigger footprint in our congregation. Our new classroom configuration establishes a small group dynamic, encouraging interpersonal conversation, relationship development, and tablecloth art. New discussion guides have been developed to ensure more meaningful and thought-provoking one-on-one conversations during monthly mentor meetings. The new curriculum includes bi-weekly videos that show Presbyterians and the communities they serve around the world in a way that illustrates the breadth of experiences that are possible within our church. The videos, viewed at home, give confirmands and their families the opportunity to further explore the four Confirmation questions, offer prompts that engage the whole family, and help develop a language around faith. Continued on next page 3 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
The confirmation year focuses on three areas of study: • Love God, Love Neighbor: The following questions grow out of this foundational proposition: Who is God and who is my neighbor? What does God look like? What does my neighbor look like? Does my neighbor look like I do? How do I know when God is present? How do I know when my neighbor needs me? Where do I see God moving in my life? Where does my life intersect with that of my neighbor? How do I know when I sin against God? How do I know when I sin against my neighbor? • Christian Practice: “Christian practices are not activities we do to make something spiritual happen in our lives. Nor are they duties we undertake to be obedient to God. Rather, they are patterns of communal action that create openings in our lives where the grace, mercy, and presence of God may be made known to us. They are places where the power of God is experienced. In the end, these are not ultimately our practices but forms of participation in the practice of God." • Four Big Questions: These are the questions asked of and answered by the Confirmands on their Confirmation day in May. Throughout the year, we focus on these questions in order to consider their implications for a life of faith. • Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? Answer: I do. • Who is my Lord and Savior? Answer: Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. • Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love? Answer: I will, with God’s help. • Will you devote yourself to the church’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers? Answer: I will. As a part of exploring the concept of Christian practice, the class engages in a different Christian practice every week in class, the Examen, reading scripture, a breath prayer and more. We are introducing a daylong retreat on Christian practice that will encourage youth to discover how different practices might be integrated into their lives. The retreat on Sunday, February 17 also includes a trip to Broad Street Ministry to worship. The confirmation process culminates in the Disciple Project, a month-long exploration of a Christian practice. Each Confirmand selects a faith practice to exercise for one month such as prayer, the Examen, a gratitude journal, hymnody, guided visualization, reading the Bible, meditation, generosity, hospitality, forgiveness, and more. The Disciple Project Expo is set up like a science fair in the gym and provides a wonderful opportunity for Elders, pastors, mentors, parents, and other members of the congregation to hear from our youth. This eighth-grade year is an occasion to consider what it means to love God and love neighbor, to explore faith questions and Christian practices, and to come to understand more about personal faith exploration. 4 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
Weekday School Students
Learn True Meaning of Christmas
There are many things that make the Weekday School Outreach is another element of the Christmas season special; one of the highlights each year is the Christmas for students. At “Light the Night” they enjoy bringing Pageant! Weekday School students learn the story of their families to school to drink hot chocolate, sing Jesus’ birth and the true meaning of Christmas as they carols, and light the Christmas tree. Additionally, rehearse each day leading up to the performance. children bring books to donate to “Reach Out and Read,” an organization that donates books to In addition to helping children grow socially, emotionally, physically, and academically, our students pediatrician offices in low-income neighborhoods to give to families who visit the practice. The Weekday also grow spiritually. Through weekly Bible stories School students learn that Christmas isn’t all about presented by the Rev. Rachel Pedersen, associate pastor “getting,” but also about “giving.” for Children and Family Ministry, Weekday School children learn Christian values. These values are This year’s pageant will be presented in the Sanctuary reinforced in the classroom as children learn to show on Monday, December 17 at 10:30 a.m. We invite you kindness and empathy toward one another. to come and celebrate with us.
Bring the whole family to our annual
Thanksgiving Breakfast Thursday, November 22, 8:30-11:30 a.m. in Congregational Hall
All prep and clean-up of “Pancakes for a Purpose” is done by Youth Ministry volunteers. Proceeds ($5 per person) support our youth mission projects and trips. 5 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
When each of us joined this congregation, we promised “to share in its worship and ministry, through our prayers and gifts, our study and service, and to fulfill our calling to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.” We are called once again to fulfill this promise in individual ways, and we are called to fulfill this promise together as a congregation. During this Advent season, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior together at BMPC, let us remember our many blessings as a congregation and respond to the call to be God’s people. Stewardship is the principal way our church is able to hire and retain our gifted pastors and staff, support mission projects near and far, and create and foster programs that deepen members’ connections to one another and our home here at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Our pledges allow our church leaders to create a budget that responds to the needs of the world as part of the body of Christ. We recognize that we are in a season of new and exciting initiatives with the This Time, This Place capital campaign. Our annual stewardship campaign supports ministries that can expand in our future renovated "During this Advent spaces. Accordingly, your stewardship gifts are lived out in the spaces that season, as we celebrate will be given new life by the capital campaign. the birth of our Savior Our 2019 stewardship campaign aims for wider congregational together at BMPC, participation as a major goal; we want everyone to feel connected to the work of BMPC. We ask you to support financially the work of BMPC in let us remember our and around the church. If you are unable to provide financial support, we many blessings as ask you to pray for the church. a congregation and The size of our gifts matter less than the act of giving. If you have never respond to the call to pledged, make this year your first. If you have committed financially in be God’s people. " the past, we thank you for your commitment and ask you to consider raising your pledge amount for 2019. The Stewardship Committee invites you, if you have not already done so, to place your pledge cards in the offering plate, pledge online or call the church office to make your pledge as an act of faithfulness as we dedicate our future gifts to God. Called as God’s people, please join us in making a pledge so that we may continue to learn and grow together and go out into the world to serve. On behalf of the committee,
Jean Reynolds 6 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
Supposed Realities: Solo Art Show of Richard J. Watson By Jean Wolf and Bonnie Atwood
Visual arts wall spaces will be brightened for the from start to finish; I witness the development holiday season with colorful, multi-dimensional art of most pieces as an observer of the emerging works of the gifted artist Richard J. Watson of Bryn experience, openly going with the energy that defines Mawr. The title Supposed Realities will resound when for me the direction that I will take toward the the viewer sees how he intertwines traditional art completion of the premise.” techniques with collage, photos, and found objects to Throughout this exhibit Watson posts points of express reality and imagination through imagery. clarity and personal reflections for the viewer. It is He writes, “As I have navigated through most all his “contention that every object that I find has some of the disciplines of history attached to it. I am usually drawing and painting in attracted to items no larger than all mediums, and come my hand to incorporate in a to embrace each on its scenario with other objects and own merits, I feel ‘at home’ photos. Together they form a new with the entire spectrum and common reality that suggests of materials available. From the classical training a unique and intriguing narrative of its own.” received as a Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Watson grew up in North Carolina, experienced New student, to the influences of modern contemporary York City in his teenage years, and received his art movements, it has always been the imagination as the training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. As catalyst that drives me toward new and challenging an accomplished artist, teacher, and musician, he also horizons where anything is conceivable.” became a political activist for social justice, a cause often Watson explains that many of his works “come reflected in his works. Watson’s art now hangs in special through me with an urgency to express an emotion collections of African American art in the United States that is indescribable. I rarely design my paintings and in churches and public and private collections.
Sunday, December 2 to Sunday, January 27
Rapture
The Guardian 7 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
Advent Harpsichord Recital Series By Edward Landin
Join us in the Sanctuary at noon on Tuesdays, December 4, 11, and 18 as Temple University harpsichord students (Kaishu Zhao and Qiao Chu) and their illustrious professor ( Joyce Lindorff) perform on BMPC’s Robert Hauptfuhrer memorial harpsichord. These 30-minute programs are sure to bring you some peace during the busy Advent season.
December 4: Kaishu Zhao December 11: Joyce Lindorff December 18: Qiao Chu
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Christmas Concert: O Wondrous Mystery By Jeffrey Brillhart
To usher in the Christmas season, the Sanctuary Choir, Bryn Mawr Chamber Singers, Youth Chorale, Children’s Choir, Singing for Life, and Brandywine Brass will offer a Christmas concert on Sunday, December 16 at 4:00 p.m. This concert is built around the text “O Magnum Mysterium” (“O Wondrous Mystery”) and celebrates the season through a series of seasonal readings accented by a broad array of festive music. Carillonneur Lisa Lonie will perform a carillon prelude at 3:30 p.m. A reception follows in the Ministries Center where guests may view an art exhibit by Richard J. Watson. Using the themes contained within the text of “O Magnum Mysterium” – Mystery, The Animals at the Manger, The Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ – our many musical ensembles will present works by Jennifer Higdon, Francis Poulenc, Morten Lauridsen, André Thomas, Melissa Dunphy, and more. Brandywine Brass will accompany the choirs and the congregation as they sing a variety of seasonal carols that will raise the spirits of all present. A free-will offering will be collected to help defray the expenses of the program. We are pleased that 25 percent of that offering will be used to support the work of “The Well,” a place where homeless women can gather to sleep, share dinner and breakfast together, and participate in special activities such as a “spa night” and an evening of foot care offered by community volunteers. The hope of this program, a team effort with ecumenical partners from Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches, is to build community and safety among the women.
Advent Gift Market
This year marks the 26th anniversary of the Advent Gift Market at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Throughout the years, the AGM has provided an easy opportunity for you to do your Christmas and holiday shopping in a very special way. By participating in this creative giving program, you can choose unique holiday gifts for family members, friends, co-workers, teachers, babysitters, and anyone else you wish to honor, while aiding persons in need locally, nationally, and globally. BMPC Councils and Committees have chosen many worthy projects which highlight the work that some of our current Mission Partners are doing. This year’s AGM features our 43-year commitment to addressing the issue of hunger in our community and around the world. Half the items in our catalog relate to food insecurity and the ministry of hospitality through shared meals together. With each donation ranging from $1 to $30, you will receive an insert card informing your family and friends that a gift has been given in his/her honor, along with a description of the charitable project you have chosen. This insert may be included in your own greeting card, or you may purchase cards especially produced for the AGM. This year’s cards include images from artist Patti Hallowell’s "Creche" and Walter Emerson Baum’s "Mouth of the River."
Join us at our opening Market Festival in Congregational Hall in the BMPC Ministries Center on Sunday, November 18 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., where representatives from the various committees and councils will be present to answer questions about the chosen mission projects. You may shop the Advent Gift Market on that opening Sunday, or in the Ministries Center Court any of the following Sundays of Advent after the 10:00 a.m. worship service, through Monday, December 24. Additionally, order forms may be mailed or dropped off at the church during the week for pickup in the Ministries Center the following Sunday. Orders for pickup also can be placed online at www.bmpc.org. We hope you will share in choosing among these gift offerings for your holiday giving. Little things can change our world for the better, and each project you support will help our neighbors in need. Let us celebrate God’s gift of His Son to us through these gifts of hope and new life.
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The Politics of Advent
Advent Adult Education with Dr. Joshua Yoder
Sundays, December 2-16, 11:15 a.m., Witherspoon Parlor Jesus of Nazareth was born into a very particular political moment as first-century Palestinian Jews were navigating the oversight of the Roman Empire as well as the leadership of the Herodian Kings of Judea. In their birth narratives, both Matthew and Luke portray the events of the gospels intersecting with the actions of people in power. Looking at how each gospel tells the story of Jesus’ birth, as well as our
traditional Advent season readings, we will explore the political background behind these narratives and how that concatenation of powers came about. Throughout, we will examine how these narratives reflect the early Christians’ understanding of their relationship to their social and political context. How should their relationship to the political powers of their world shape our politics today?
The Service of the Longest Night Thursday, December 20, 7:00 p.m., Sanctuary
Deep December. It is dark. And cold. And it can be lonely. For many it seems like an endless trek until the spring when green relieves the bleak uncertain days. The light can seem dim and a wizened shadow of itself. The night is endless. Yet the air is filled with a Christmas gaiety which for so many makes a mockery of the loneliness or emptiness or loss which fills every corner of their lives. So many hunger for the Light of the World to fill their hearts and lift their spirits. Emmanuel, they pray, be God with us. The Service of the Longest Night is so named because of its proximity to the winter solstice - the longest night of the year. But the name is also fitting because, despite the trappings of gifts, special meals and Christmas carols, the season can be darker than "normal" times of the year for those who struggle. The stresses and strains of trying to experience a time of celebration take their toll. Many people have trouble feeling "in the spirit" of things due to a recent (or anticipated) death of a family member or friend, the end of a marriage, the loss of work, or other trying change. It is for those of us who struggle that the birth of Christ may be most powerful. For us a Savior is born, to lift the burden from our shoulders, to wipe away the tears from our eyes. We are not alone, for Christ is with us. Come, O come, Emmanuel. Let us worship God.
For singles and couples over the age of 50
Prime Time Advent Party Sunday, December 2, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the home of Barbara Hauptfuhrer
Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, beverages, and caroling. Bring an unwrapped gift for an infant - 18 year old to benefit the Brighter Holidays Project of Turning Points for Children. Register by Nov. 28 with check ($15 per person) payable to BMPC, attn: Amy Bauer. 10 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
Join Presbyterian Women in Making Christmas Special for Children and Families Over the years, many children and families served by theVillage have received a bountiful Christmas in part through the generosity of BMPC members. Last year, through our Christmas Angel Project, church members helped many children and families including these: • Lilliana, a 13-year-old girl whose father works 15-hour days to support her. • Marvin, a 7-year-old boy whose mother lost her job due to his many hospitalizations for severe asthma. • Serena, a 5-year-old girl with special needs, with a father who abandoned the family, leaving her mother to raise three children on her own. • Jamal, an 8-year-old boy whose mother is struggling to support her family following the death of her husband. • Tanisha, a young mother whose only wish for the holidays to have her 8-year-old daughter “wake up on Christmas morning and find gifts from Santa.” Share the spirit of Christmas by adopting a family or sponsoring a child (five to eight gifts per child). Contact Betty Wu, 610-449-8059, bmpcangels@gmail.com, by Dec. 9; sign up at http://bit.ly/2018ChristmasAngels; or stop by the Angel Trees in the Ministries Center and Education Building.
Christmas Joy Offering
Collected in worship on December 23
By supporting the Board of Pensions (BOP), the Christmas Joy Offering honors the faithfulness of current and retired church workers and their families in need. Thanks in part to support from this Offering, church workers receive critical financial assistance to support them through life’s challenging circumstances. These generous actions bear witness to our faithful response to God’s charge to love one another as Christ commanded. The PC(USA), with its historic commitment to higher learning, has long promoted education and leadership development through the establishment and support of Presbyterian-related schools and colleges assisting communities of color. Our future church leaders of color can receive much-needed assistance while they discover and pursue their professional goals at these schools and colleges. Your gifts allow these ministries to sustain a tradition Presbyterians have carried out for nearly 140 years. To learn more about the Christmas Joy Offering, visit specialofferings.pcusa.org/christmasjoy. 11 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
Advent Workshop
Wee Christmas
Four children were comparing their ornaments. They were simple ornaments that followed a simple pattern: a manger made of two popsicle sticks, a paper star, and a baby Jesus made out of construction paper circles. Each one was entirely unique, each Jesus slightly different, each manger a little off center, but as they were talking they were describing the story. “How big do you think the star was?” “Do you think they left the hay in the manger?” “I wonder what Jesus’ blanket felt like?” December is a busy month; it is filled with programs and possibilities. It is so busy that sometimes we miss the opportunity to reflect on why this season is so special. Conversations, like the ones above, happen when we give the community time to be present with one another. On Sunday, December 2, following worship and Sunday School, families will gather in the gym to create ornaments, advent calendars, and more at our annual Advent Workshop. Surrounded by glitter, glue, stamps and crayons; we will take a holy pause at the start of the season. Our work together will create beautiful things, but more importantly they will create the space for conversations about the Christ Child, the Good News, and the Light that Shines. There are many opportunities to help either in preparation or on the day of the workshop; no craft skills are required! If you would like to help, please contact Mary Richards at MaryRichards@bmpc.org.
What was the very first Christmas like? Between an unprecedented census, a baby born in a barn, a group of shepherds, hosts of angels, some wandering magi, and a very suspicious king, there had to be drama and a little chaos. Each year we invite our youngest children, kindergarten and younger, to join in a raucous retelling of this story. On Tuesday, December 18 at 4:00 p.m., children will choose to be a shepherd, an angel, a sheep, a star, Mary, Joseph, one of the magi, an innkeeper, or someone else entirely! Costuming takes place in under a minute and by 4:30 the play is complete and everyone is enjoying cookies and fellowship. While the event moves quickly, the memory does not. Young children learn through play. By acting out the story, by drawing close to the manger, by following the star, that ancient story becomes their own… a lived experience of God’s love. For those of us in the congregation during this unique service, we will experience some of the chaos that must have been present back in Bethlehem, but we also have the privilege of receiving the Good News of the season proclaimed in lives, words, and actions of these little ones. All are invited to participate in the Wee Christmas Service at 4:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary on December 18. 12 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
Celtic Spirituality
with Dr. Patricia Danzon
Sundays, January 6-20, 2019, 11:15 a.m., Witherspoon Parlor
Celtic Spirituality originated in the early Christianity of the Celtic lands, yet it remains relevant today. The emphasis is on the goodness of creation, recognizing the immanent presence of God in the world; living in community, with hospitality to the stranger; expression of faith through art and music; and the practice of pilgrimage, both as an outward and an inner journey. In this course, we discuss the distinctive aspects of Celtic spirituality, its origins, evolution and lessons for our times. Our basic text is Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality by J. Philip Newell, and we also will draw on other materials. The course provides background for the Discovering Scotland tour in spring 2019 and is open to anyone interested in learning more about the inspiring Celtic tradition.
Presbyterian Women Spring Retreat
March 22-24, 2019, Pendle Hill Retreat Center, Wallingford, PA
The Rev. Nanette Sawyer
All women of the church are invited to join us for a weekend of fellowship, reflection, worship and study at the beautiful Pendle Hill, just a 20-minute drive from BMPC. Our retreat leader will be the Rev. Nanette Sawyer, Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Small Group Ministry at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago and author of the book Hospitality the Sacred Art: The Hidden Spiritual Power of Invitation and Welcome. We are expecting most people to spend the entire weekend at the retreat center, but there are pricing options for those who need to come and go during the weekend:
Single Occupant: $250 Double Occupant: $200 Commuter (includes six meals): $50 Registration begins December 1 and closes on January 31. For more information and to register, email MaryRichards@bmpc.org or call 610-525-2821.
Staff Singers Concert
A Benefit for the 2020 Israel and Jordan Tour Saturday, February 9, 2019, 7:00 p.m.
Admission: $50 per person Join us for a dessert extravaganza in Congregational Hall, followed by our talented staff singers in recital in the Sanctuary. 13 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
Eugene C. Bay Fund for Urban Ministry
Awards 2019-2020 Grants For 12 years BMPC has awarded significant grants as a part of our Eugene C. Bay Fund for Urban Ministry. This fund, established in honor of former pastor Gene Bay, seeks to
support local organizations that are especially involved in working to enhance the physical, spiritual, educational and emotional lives of children and communities in Philadelphia.
West Kensington Ministry - Building Bridges Mentoring Program Building Bridges is a mentoring program for youth who have difficulty attending and engaging in school. The program was designed to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline which has dramatically affected the West Kensington community. WKM will partner with local public schools to identify children between the ages of
10 and 16, who are at risk of entering the juvenile justice system. They will establish a yearlong commitment to one-on-one mentoring of children with a trained counselor. The program will be directed by the Rev. Adan Mairena in partnership with Dr. Patricia Campie, a principal researcher at the American Institute for Research.
The Freedom House - a partnership between TM Thomas and Aston Presbyterian Churches Freedom House, located next to TM Thomas’ facilities in Chester, will be restored and opened to the community as an ecclesial and cooperative effort to address joblessness, addiction, developmental needs, and racism with God-given resources entrusted to TMT and APC. Freedom House seeks to eliminate the high-school-to-prison-pipeline afflicting young black men by creating a construction skills program with job training, guidance and placement. Freedom House will support the most underserved population in Chester (for example, formerly incarcerated women with children) by building a rehab center via the construction skills program. The project will encourage both a predominantly white and
predominantly black Presbyterian congregation to worship, pray, and work together to create mission initiatives that harness the church’s gifts to address pressing needs in the community. In addition to the construction skills program, a theatre arts program with students from Chester and Aston will help sharpen students’ communication skills and their ability to advocate for themselves, their communities, and one another. Finally, the Freedom House will provide counseling and drug rehabilitation services to young women with children while simultaneously offering education, nurture, and support to their children through TMT’s preschool.
One Book One Church
“After Ten Years” Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Our Times Contemporary theologians and historians have conviction. Bonhoeffer, killed by the Nazis in 1945 begun to debate among themselves and in the public for his alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate sphere, whether or not we might be living in a Adolf Hitler, continues to stand as an example of “Bonhoeffer Moment,” as communities of Christians Christian witness in complicated times. ask questions about how to respond faithfully in the Our 2019 Lenten Adult Education programs will midst of changes in our culture and government that give us an opportunity to learn more about the often conflict with our Christian values. theology and politics of Dietrich Bonhoeffer German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer through a variety of presenters. We are especially became a voice, not just for the movement in delighted to welcome Dr. Victoria Barnett, a Germany in the Christian church to stand up to renowned Bonhoeffer scholar as well as director of the policies and practices of the Nazi Regime, but the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s a compelling advocate for the ways in which the Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust in grace of God requires us to live lives of courage and Washington, D.C. 14 MESSENGER | Advent/Christmas 2018
The Lutheran Settlement House - Jane Addams Place
Established in 1902, Lutheran Settlement House (LHS) is a non-profit, community-based organization, committed to serving vulnerable children, adults and families living in Philadelphia. The Jane Addams Place is an emergency shelter for families, with the capacity to provide housing for up to 70 children at one time. Families stay at the shelter an average of five and a half months and receive case management and other support services, providing shelter for over 475 individuals each year. To better serve youth at Jane Addams Place and address their complicated emotional and social needs, LHS will use a grant from the Bay Fund to increase staffing to effectively support and provide services to homeless
The Hospitality Center - Norristown Works
The Hospitality Center is a day shelter that serves people who are significantly under-resourced in the Norristown community. In 1992 an interfaith group of 24 clergy, along with 14 other community organizations, created the Hospitality Center to better meet the needs of the poor and homeless in the region. The Center serves approximately 1,000 individuals each year providing through breakfasts, showers, storage, travel assistance, mail services, and case management.
youth. They also will evaluate and expand their current after school and summer programming and provide trauma informed training to ensure that every staff person has some degree of training and preparation for working with youth who have experienced trauma. The Norristown Works program will assist 25 to 30 individuals to become economically self-sufficient in the first year of the program. Individuals will take part in intensive job readiness workshops including resume preparation, time management, budgeting, conflict management and the hidden rules of the work world. Each participant also will work with a one-on-one job coach for one year. Norristown Works is based on a similar program created in Cincinnati that has been duplicated successfully around the country.
In preparation for Dr. Barnett's class on Sunday, March 10, the Adult Education Committee invites the congregation to read her recent essay that accompanies Bonhoeffer’s own historic essay “After Ten Years,� described as a succinct and sober reflection and one of the best descriptions ever written about what happened to the German people under National Socialism.
Books will be available in the Book Center starting in December for $5.00 each.
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The Messenger Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church 625 Montgomery Avenue Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 610-525-2821 The Messenger (USPS #341840) Volume #121, Issue #1, is published quarterly by the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Periodical postage paid at Southeastern, Pennsylvania and additional offices. Postmaster: Send Address Changes To The Messenger Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church 625 Montgomery Avenue Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Christmas Eve Schedule 4:30 p.m. Family Service with Nativity Tableau 8:30 p.m. Candlelight Service with Communion and Meditation 11:00 p.m. Candlelight Service of Lessons & Carols with Meditation The Annual Youth Alumni Reunion will be held at 9:30 p.m. in Witherspoon Parlor.
Joy to the world. The Lord is Come!
Inclement Weather Policy If the church closes due to inclement weather and unsafe travel conditions, notice will be provided on our website, www.bmpc.org, and with a recorded message at the main church phone number: 610-525-2821. Decisions to cancel scheduled BMPC programs will be made by the person in charge of the ministry area. These decisions are distinct from decisions to close the BMPC offices. For information, contact the respective person in charge.
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