Pine Street Pine Street Presbyterian Church
VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 5
The Heart of Stephen Ministry by Courtney Lang
I often find myself contemplating those moments in Jesus’ life when he must have felt acutely human. In his final hours in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus feels overwhelming sorrow and grief as he anticipates his path to the cross. He asks his disciples to sit and keep watch with him, but they are unable to stay awake beside him, even for one hour. Amidst his immense suffering, Jesus is well aware that the disciples cannot take his burden from him; he cries out to God in that grief. Yet, he longs for human presence, companionship, and the listening ear of his disciples to help ease his suffering.
responsibilities, could never perfectly address all of the caring needs at Pine Street. It is at such times that the pastors will refer individuals to a Stephen Minister; other times, individuals refer themselves. The Stephen Minister provides a consistent, caring presence, meeting with his or her care receiver once per week for approximately one hour. These sessions occur at a mutually agreeable location and the core purpose is for the Stephen Minister to serve as a trained listener to allow the care receiver a safe, confidential space to talk, reflect, process, be listened to, and as desired, pray or discuss scripture Herein lies the premise of Stephen or spiritual resources. Sometimes Ministry: to provide distinctively this caring relationship lasts for a few Christian care through the ministries months; often, it spans longer term. of presence, companionship and listening to individuals in the midst Stephen Ministry was founded of loss, hardship, and transition. Our in 1975 and now has over 11,000 pastors alone, with their multifaceted See Stephen on page 4
MAPS Closes Season With Two Events in May by Tom Clark-Jones
May is an especially rich month musically at Pine Street Church this year. There are two events that will bring you inspiration and pleasure as you listen to great music in the wonderful space of the Pine Street sanctuary. On Friday evening, May 10 at 7:30pm, the Chamber Singers will present Choral Evensong for Ascension. The Feast of the Ascension occurs forty days after Easter and actually falls on May 9, but we will celebrate on May 10. The Prelude for the service will be the opening See MAPS on page 2
MAY 1, 2013
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Session Notes. . . . . . . . . . . 2 Trustee Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . 3 DDB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 May Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . 7 May Scripture. . . . . . . . . . . . 8
May At A Glance Bagels & Belief . . . . . . . . May 5 Interfaith Prayer Service.May 6 MAPS Evensong. . . . . . . May 10 MAPS Vivaldi. . . . . . . . . . May 31
PSL Deadline Articles, photos and items of interest for the June, 2013 issue of Pine Street Life are due by May 15, 2013. Please e-mail to Sue Black at BL3COL@aol.com