May 2013 Agape Harvest -...

Agape Harvest

May 2013

Dear Friends, This past Christmas I received a Christmas card that really touched me. Pictured on the front of the card was a little church in the countryside, but what caught my attention was the bright light shining through every window. The church was alive and well, the lights were on! I kept that card in front of me right over the kitchen sink and it gave me great hope. Christ Jesus our Lord is the light of the world. He is the world's ultimate hope. His redeeming death on the cross is the divine plus s i gn , t r a ns f o r m in g negatives into positives. With arms outstretched, through our baptism into him, he forgives our sins and engrafts into his body, the Body of Christ, the Church.

Our life in Christ is not always easy, we struggle and fall, but his love is everlasting. He calls us to be his light in this world. W e g o t h r o u g h difficulties, but may we never forget our weakness is made perfect in his strength. The life of love, the life that seeks the will of God, the highest good for our lives and for others, is our calling in Him. Through all that we face, his light is always shining and we want that light to be shining through the windows and doors of every corner of our lives. Together, we enable that light to shine through our church. Together, offering our worship, our financial offerings and our great diversity of talents, we give glory to God. As God's grace

continues to work through our "clay pots", our mortal flesh, his light shines. As the generations before us have shared that light with us through the power of the Holy Spirit, may the fire of the Holy Spirit burn ever more brightly in our lives. May we give of our resources, time, talent, tithes and offerings that his light might shine brilliantly through our little church in the country.

With love, Pastor Carol

From Your Pastor: First United

Presbyterian Church

of Pine Plains

3039 Church Street,

P. O. Box 313,

Pine Plains, NY 12567

Tel: (518) 398-7117

All are welcome to

join us at our weekly

Sunday worship

service at 11:00 a.m.

Church School and

childcare are

available during the

worship service.

Join us for the

warmth of coffee

hours and fellowship

following most

weekly worship

services.

Pastor Carol’s office

hours are by

appointment. Please

call her at (518)

697-0025 (home),

(845) 235-3569

(cell) or (518) 398-

7117 (church office).

To know the love of Christ; to show the

love of Christ; and to grow in the love of

Christ.

A Letter From A Friend 2 Focus on Service 4 Nutrition Corner 6

Recent Events, Notices & Thanks 3 Upcoming Events 5 Prayer Requests 8

Inside this issue:

www.pineplainspresbyterianchurch.com

Agape Harvest May 2013

A letter from a friend…

What is your color?

What is your color?

I wonder if you have been enjoying

the brilliant, beautiful and diverse

colors which are beginning to appear

this time of year? The daffodils along

with the other harbingers of spring

are bursting forth in all their

grandeur. I sure have!

Although we are not blessed with an

azalea bush in our yard we do enjoy

those we encounter throughout the

community. The full and vibrant

white, pink and purple colors are a

delight to our visual senses as well as

the soul. They’re gorgeous to say the

least.

The unveiling of these colorful

flowers has me thinking about the

colors in our lives…have you ever

thought about the colors in our lives,

have you thought much about the

colors you most love? And do we

surround ourselves with these colors

on a regular basis? If not why not?

I have a friend who just loves a

certain color and hence she makes it a

point to surround herself with this

color in some way on a daily basis.

Consequently that color has come to

express who she is.

Too many of us have become afraid

of experimenting with color. Yet,

there are so many facets to each one

of us, just as there are so many facets

to a beautiful diamond, that each of

us should use “our colors” to express

who we are.

The English art critic, John Ruskin,

believed, “the purest and most

thoughtful minds are those which

love color most”. So let me offer

some suggestions for ways in which

we can…let our colors shine…this

Spring, in order to “show off” our

truly, God Blessed selves!

Take a creative excursion to a

paint store and look at their color

spectrum. What are the colors

that speak to your soul?

Surround yourself with these

colors in your home.

Go to a fabric store and find a

pattern that catches your eye. Buy

a yard of it and pin it on the wall

or drape it over the couch.

Brighten up your desk with

colored files, paper clips and note

pads.

Include bright or patterned

napkins when you pack your

lunch.

Display produce in brightly

colored bowls on your kitchen

counter so you can see all colors

of nature.

As Spring ‘Springs upon us’, may we

allow ourselves to be carried away

with colorful impulses. As Shirley

Conran once said, “if we don’t dare,

we are doomed to dullness”!

May the Lord Bless the season, and

us, which we are about to enjoy,

Amen.

The Church Mouse

NEWSLETTER E-MAIL MAILING LIST

In an effort to reduce costs of distributing the newsletter and preserving the environment, we will be

distributing the newsletter via e-mail instead of postal mail to those who are interested. If you would like to join

our e-mail mailing list, please send a note to Dyan Wapnick at [email protected] .


Recent Events, Notices & Thanks

WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION ANNUAL RUMMAGE SALE—April 26 & 27, 2013

The Presbyterian Women’s Association would like to thank everyone for their donations to our Annual Rummage and Food Sale.

Special thanks to all those who helped setting up, cleaning up and all the wonderful helping hands during the sale.

A 12-step fellowship for anyone seeking

freedom from drug and alcohol addiction.

Saturdays at 10.am.

First United Presbyterian Church

3039 Rt. 199

Pine Plains, NY

ONGOING DONATION

OPPORTUNITY

The Homeless Shelter in Poughkeepsie which

serves 60 people every night and Hillcrest

House is in great need of the following:

Used, in good condition:

Towels Sheets

Pillowcases Blankets

Dry Cereal—not in individual boxes is also

needed.

Donations can be left at the church marked

for Kathy Bartles, who will deliver them to

the shelter.

We were able to raise $1787.00, which would not be possible without the support of the many patrons who attended the sale. We look

forward to another successful event next year!


Focus on Service: Property Committee

The Property Committee is responsible for the repair and upkeep of the church and the manse. The

Committee relies on financial assistance from the Women’s Association and the congregation to fund

various projects.

In 2012, the Committee cleaned and organized the two car garage, including repairing and painting the overhead doors;

installed new faucets in the kitchen sink; sanded, refinished and repaired the Fellowship Hall outside doors; modified,

installed and painted two sets of Bilco doors (one for the church and one for the manse); installed a digital thermostat and

repaired the outside light at the rear entrance of the manse.

Upcoming projects for 2013 include the following:

Manse: install a new flu liner in the chimney; repair bedroom wall (chimney wall); work on attic fan system; apply a

final coat of paint to the Bilco door.

Church: upgrade the PA system; research lighting system in church and Fellowship Hall; research refinishing floors;

install shelving in the Women’s Association Room; install new outlets in the kitchen; repair and repaint kitchen

ceiling; apply a final coat of paint to Bilco door; seal blacktop on parking area; remove stumps and upgrade lawn.

As you can see, there’s a lot involved in keeping the church and manse functional, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. If

you can help with manpower, financial or in-kind donations towards any of these projects, or know of an additional project

which needs attention, please contact Bob Clinch.

LITURGIST SCHEDULE

Servants’ Calendar

SESSION : Next Session Meeting: May 7 @ 7:00 pm

Meetings: May 7, June 4

Session Members: Kathy Bartles, Ed Casazza, Scott Chase, Bob

Clinch, Doug Hart, Brendan Kilpatrick, Andy

Smith, and Dyan Wapnick.

Treasurer: Scott Chase

Clerk of Session: Kathy Bartles

Moderator: Pastor Carol Miller

DEACONS

Harriet A'Brial, John Bilski, Bob Couse, Marva Blackmar, Lynne Clinch, John Hart, Jim Jackson and Andy Williams.

May 5 John Hart

May 12 Doug Hart

May 19 Andy Smith

May 26 Linda Bartolomeo


Upcoming Events

Looking Ahead * Events, dates & times subject to change.

May 2013

Thurs. 02 Bible Study @ 7:00 pm

Thurs. 09 - Women’s Association Meeting @ 1:00 pm

- ***No Bible Study***

Tues. 14 - Christian Ed. Meeting @ 6:00 pm

- Session Meeting @ 7:00 pm

Thurs. 16 Conflict Resolution Training, 6—8 pm, led by

Gwen Higgins, FUPC

Mon. 20 Council of Churches Meeting @ 12:00 pm,

Presbyterian Church


Mon. 27 Memorial Day Chicken Barbeque


June 2013

Tue. 04 - Christian Ed. Meeting @ 6:00 pm

- Session Meeting @ 7:00 pm


Thurs. 13 - Women’s Association Meeting @ 1:00 pm

- Bible Study @ 7:00 pm

Mon. 17 Council of Churches Meeting @ 12:00 pm,

Presbyterian Church



MEMORIAL DAY CHICKEN BARBEQUE

Save the Date!! Our Annual Memorial Day Chicken

BBQ is on Monday, May 27.

This is a major fund raiser for our Church and we

would like to invite the participation of all our

members! We have chicken to grill, cole slaw, pasta

salad and baked beans to prepare, containers to fill,

watermelon to slice and boxes to fill before our guests

begin picking up at 11.30. Please try to save a few

hours of your time on Monday for fellowship and to

help with this massive undertaking.

Take Out Boxed Dinners $13.

Includes 1/2 chicken, Cole Slaw, Pasta

Salad, Baked Beans, Roll w/ Butter

and Watermelon.

Pick Up between 11.30 am and 1 pm.

To Reserve Tickets: Phone Shirley

MacPherson 398.1380 or email Jeanne

Valentine-Chase [email protected].

Nutrition Corner Lynne Clinch

Fruit as a Dessert Desserts complete the meal with a taste of sweet.

Let me be clear --- there is nothing wrong with

sweets. It becomes a problem when it’s over the

top and over eaten on a daily basis. It should not

become the entrée and should complement the

main dish. For instance a fish dish will stand up to

cake, pie or even cheesecake for dessert. Beef does

best with a lighter dessert like a gelatin dish, fruit or

sorbet/ice cream.

The anatomy of fruit as a dessert can be as simple or

complicated as we make it. Cut up fresh fruit is

pretty much a staple as a dessert. I had a small

dinner party for a few ladies when I was in Florida.

My meal was already planned and I worried about

dessert. I finally settled on freshly sliced

strawberries. It was light and refreshing. Taking it

up to the next level an example would be grilled

pound cake with warm amaretto bananas. This

dessert can be altered in several ways to take it from

the adult to the child version. Let me give you the

original recipe….

Warm Amaretto Bananas

with Grilled Pound Cake

Melt 4 tsp. butter in a heavy bottom fry pan.

Add 2 large bananas sliced

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. amaretto

1 tsp. lemon juice

4 slices pound cake (about 1 inch thick)

over low to medium heat until bananas are warmed

and sugar is “syrupy”. Take 4 slices of pound cake

and grill on both sides. Place on plates and spoon

the warm banana mixture on each slice. Add

whipped cream and serve.

Now to alter; leave out the amaretto altogether, or

maybe use crème de mente. Change the fruit to

strawberries, blueberries, peaches etc., you get the

picture. Flavor the whipped cream with strawberry

jelly or any other jelly or jam. Add ice cream to the

dish, use chocolate, caramel, hot fudge, or another

syrup to taste, make a puree of raspberry or

combination of other berries. If doing this then I’d

suggest you do not heat the fruit but use cold or

room temperature. Only grill the pound cake. I saw

one of the Food Network Chefs take ½ inch sliced

pound cake and use Nutella spread as sandwich

filling. Toast each side in buttered fry pan, cut in

half and use as a cookie with a dish of ice cream

with chocolate sauce drizzled on top.

Hope that gives you some ideas. If you come up

with others share and I’ll pass along.

Warm Pineapple Sundaes with Rum Sauce: Doesn’t

that sound good? That’s the second recipe I found

that was on the lighter side. Oh the possibilities!

Use ice cream, light ice cream, low fat ice cream or

frozen yogurt. Use rum or rum flavoring.

Obviously, pineapple can be changed to any other

fruit but the recipe as its written sounds like I need

to have it for dessert soon…..This calls for fresh

pineapple which can be bought already prepared or

do it yourself.

Warm Pineapple Sundaes with Rum Sauce

4 Pineapple spears (about 8 oz.) cut 4 inches long, 1

inch wide, ½ inch thick

½ cup brown sugar

¾ tsp. ground ginger

4 tsp. butter cut into small pieces

2 Tbsp. rum (or use pineapple juice)

Ice cream and gingersnap cookies (cookies are

optional)

Place pineapple spears in 1 quart baking dish. Mix

rum, sugar and ginger in small bowl. Pour over

pineapple and dot with the butter. Bake uncovered



in 425 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Put ice cream in

dessert dishes and pour pineapple and sauce over each

dish. This makes 2 servings but can easily be doubled

or tripled.

Let me know how you like it. If you have any fruit

recipes that are used as desserts send them on to me

([email protected]).

“Lord, make my loving a guard for them Day and night, Let never pathway be hard for them; Keep all bright! Let not harsh touch of a thorn for them Wound their ease- All of the pain I have borne for them Spare to these!” So I would pray for them Kneeling to God Night and day for them. “Lord, let the pain life must bring to them Make them strong, Keep their hearts white thought grief cling to them All life long, Let all the joys Thou dost keep from them At Thy will Give to them power to reap from them Courage still!” So I must ask for them, Leaving to God His own task for them.

Margaret Widdemer

Source: Rural New Yorker, Sept. 21, 1929

To all the super-human

wonder-women

who do it all

despite the odds,

have a

beautifully

blessed

Mother’s Day

with gratitude

and love.

Prayer Requests

Please remember the following people in your daily prayers:

Our Pastor, our congregation, all our children, our loved ones, the Hoysradt family, the Travis family and all of those who

have lost loved ones in the past year.

At home: George Frenzel (Dolores Dickinson’s brother), Phairah Dickinson, Brad and Eli Dickinson, Harriet A’Brial, Lisa

Bilski (John Bilski’s sister-in-law), Bridget and Zack McDonnell, Richard Valentine (Jeanne Valentine-Chase’s father), Lynn

Schlude (Linda Wendover’s sister), David Jones (Linda Wesley’s brother), Ann Cramer (Ruth Smith’s aunt), Scott, Kate, and

Ella (Cathy Fitzpatrick’s friends), Sheila Trombini (Erin Blackmar), Rev. Herbert and Evelyn Day (Nan Herow’s parents),

Brian Beckwith (Scott Chase), Dale Meccariello, Jerry Chestney, Doris Vater, Marge Freiberg (Kathy Bartles’ aunt), Fanny

Place, Martha Baldwin, Jasmine Quinn, Mary Beth (Dora Hage), Laura Clark, Lonnie Vater, Ryan Hawk (Dawn Robinson’s

son), Maryanne (Harriet A’Brial), Jessica (Jim Petrie), Lottye Kate (Barbara Gurbel’s great-granddaughter), Eleanor

Goldsmith, Carl Freiberg (Kathy Bartles’ father), Hunter (Linda Wendover’s nephew), Roanne MacPherson Farina, Kelly

(Jim Petrie), Jonathan Woodard (John Ladoceour’s grandson), Dave, Shannon and Jarrett Cookingham, Howard Fullerton

and Rev. Dan Fullerton, Rev. Nancy Thorton, Kay Phillips (Ruth Smith’s aunt), Lowell Woodcock (Linda Wendover’s

brother), Helen Cook (Amenia Church), the Manning family, Skipper Pilch, Kathy Fitzpatrick and the Wojack family.

At Livingston (Adventist Home): Bill Parliman

(2789 Route 9, Livingston, NY 12541)

At Sharon Health Care Center: Kathryn Mergendahl

(27 Hospital Hill Road, Sharon, CT 06069)

At Dutchess Care: Gail Smith

(186 Washington Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 )

In the military: Keith Jackson (Afghanistan), Garrett Cummings, Daniele

Casazza, Chris Riley (Afghanistan), Kyle Moskowitz, Brian Coons, Tyler Larsen -

Louise Coons’ great grandson, Elizabeth Cohn (Afghanistan), Sarah Anderson,

Matt Cade, Zach McDonnell, John Cort, Mark Hall, Ron Potter , Jacob Coons,

Danny Hoysradt (Afghanistan), Nathaniel Chase - Marge’s grandson (Bahrain)

and Brian Montross.

The prayer of a righteous man

is powerful and effective.

James 5:16

Pine Plains Food Locker : May

Monthly Drive Item: Ketchup/Mustard

Yellow Bag Items: Canned Vegetables, Soup, Ketchup, Mustard

Next issue: JUNE 2013

Submission deadline: May 22, 2013

Send submissions to: [email protected]

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