The Messenger

St. Mark's United Methodist Church
200 Hempstead Avenue
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
Dr. Roger Dick Johns, Minister
Carolyn Moon, Editor

Volume 47, Number 2, February 2005

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal;
but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

-Matthew 6:19-21

Table of Contents

• If Only I Were a Goose ...
• From David's Desk
• Tsunami Disaster Relief
• Where is God in This Tragedy?
• A Letter from Bishop Park
• The 5 Finger Prayer
• UMW News
• New York Conference Events
• Blood Drive at St. Mark's
• Lay Leadership Training
• Personals
  

Since Pastor Johns is having surgery on his shoulder right now, I decided to print a story from the Internet in place of his message. Although it takes place on Christmas Eve, we can just call it a winter’s tale.

If Only I Were a Goose ...

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays, like Christmas. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.

One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left, and he stayed home.

A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening.

Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window.

In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly.

A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to rest and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.

But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. He went into the house and came out with some bread, He broke it up, and made a breadcrumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.

He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.

Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn and one by one the other geese followed it to safety.

He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!" Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"

Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese--blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us.

That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized. As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come.

He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: "Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get mankind out of the storm!"

--Author unknown

From David's Desk...

Sisters and Brothers,

Church, we have a problem…

I’ve been crunching some numbers. By my count, there are 461 churches in the New York Annual Conference (which covers all the United Methodist churches in southern New York State, western Connecticut, New York City, and all of Long Island.) As of 2003, there were 129,696 members on the books for our Conference, with average Sunday Worship attendance at 34,828 people. Do you know what that means? It means that the average Methodist church in our area has 281 people on the rolls, and only about 75 people attend worship in their local Methodist church on the average Sunday! Now, I can count about six churches in Rockville Centre. Although they may, admittedly, have more than one congregation, if we just take the basic six churches and assume the same thing is happening in their churches (even though St. Agnes is markedly larger,) that would mean that only about 450 Christians are worshipping in Rockville Centre every week… How many people do we have living here again?

Now, I don’t believe that how many people your church has is a reflection of the action of the Holy Spirit in that community, but I think the numbers can tell us when something is wrong. The early church faced the same problem of numbers. As you might recall, after Jesus’ ascension, there were just a few disciples and the apostles. Yet Peter, in his first sermon following Pentecost, converts three thousand people. (Acts 2:41) Furthermore, Acts tells us that “...day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47) Their Church was booming!

What was so attractive to those people that eludes us so easily today? In the past, Christians in this country have relied too heavily on our being the majority religion. Even today, some remnants of Christendom can be seen in our secular culture and laws. However, such cultural overflows into secularism are becoming few in number, and we as Christians cannot count on people to know the old hymns, traditions, stories, or even what it is that Christians believe. Instead, we can only expect that most non-Christians will see us either as “what my parents or grandparents believed in” (at best) or as people “who don’t practice the love they preach” (at worst.) Sisters and Brothers, this is — as they say in sports — a rebuilding year.

If we are rebuilding, then we must start with the basics. What is a “Christian?” A Christian is a follower of the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. While this is hardly “pure and simple,” it is something for which each Christian is responsible—for themselves and others who claim the name “Christian.” Each of us is responsible, if we truly believe what we call ourselves, to figure out what being “Christian” means, through study of the Bible, prayer, and conversation with great minds (or souls) of the past and present. I’m glad that our Confirmands are now working on this in earnest. Finally (though there is no end to this process!) we must be Christian in our speech and our actions. If you need a good place to start looking, why not start with the description of the early Church? Take a look at Acts 2:42-47. One thing is very clear in that passage: they were in close relationship with God and with other believers. We should be that blessed!

Notice the difference in this passage from the present reality of the Church. If you’re unsure how much relationship you are missing in Church on Sunday, ask yourself this question about your local congregation: What is the one person or thing in each person’s life that makes them the happiest? Perhaps more importantly, what person or thing causes them the greatest pain? What is most important to them? Do you even know their birthdays without running to this month’s edition of The Messenger? As a pastor, I make it a point to try and figure out what makes people tick, but as I think it over, I can probably only answer those questions for a few people. Do you know who those people are? It isn’t the ones who I sit on committee after committee with. I may understand their motivations, but I couldn’t tell you what’s truly important to them. No, the only people I can honestly begin to say that I know are those that I meet through visitation and who share of themselves through times of fellowship. Keep in mind, when I say “fellowship,” I mean engaging in discussion (or silence!) with people over personal, real-life issues: How does my faith relate to losing my job or a loved one? In what ways can I help people through my work? Why won’t my child listen to me anymore? What if my spouse and I can’t work it out this time?

Well, I don’t expect that we will ever know the answers to these questions, but if we don’t know that one of our brothers or sisters in Christ is asking one of these questions, can we truly say that we know them? In point of fact, it is more important that person knows that you know, than actually knowing the answer. One thing I am learning through my time as a chaplain is just how much being present in another person’s life can bring God sailing through the front doors of their heart.

Furthermore, I don’t expect that you will ever know every person in the congregation. You see, when each of us starts knowing others in the congregation, it shows. You understand small congregations like I do: when something gets out, everyone knows about it. You may never really know John Doe, but someone else in your congregation will, and you will know several other John Does… Before long, word will spread about this little church that everyone who goes there truly knows everyone else, making others want to come, and… day by day the Lord will add to our number those who are being saved….!

So here it is, my solution for all of us who have no time already. As a pastor, something in me cringes at what I am about to say: Get off of the committees; the church will find a way to survive. Whew! Okay, now my retraction: don’t get off of all of them, but be conscious of how you spend your time. We need to spend more time together, nurturing people in our local churches and beyond through the interaction of individuals, small groups, and outreach activities. If each of us spent one-third of the time we do now in meetings, and two-thirds of that time actually being in relationship with God and other people, can you imagine the change? We might actually have a chance to know each other, AND we would be fulfilling Christ’s charge to spread the Gospel. We would meet the needs of ourselves and others by knowing and being known, loving and being loved. Isn’t that, after all is said and done, all that any of us truly desires anyway?

Your Brother in Christ,
David Czeisel,Assistant Pastor

TSUNAMI DISASTER RELIEF

UMCOR is delivering “love in action” on behalf of United Methodists

Here are some ways you can continue to be there:

• $12.00 will provide a health kit for a child.
• $100.00 will underwrite relief items such as cooking utensils, sleeping mats, blankets, and tarps for a family.
• $1,000.00 will invest in long-term reconstruction—buy roofing, shingles, and other building materials to restore a family’s house.

As is its practice in all projects UMCOR seeks to work with key partners such as local religious leaders. This ensures a holistic and integrated response, true to Christ’s mandate to serve heart, mind, spirit, and body. Please consider a generous gift.

Remember, 100% of your donation goes to the designated relief project.

HOW TO GIVE:

Your contributions to South Asia Emergency, UMCOR Advance #274305 will help continue to deliver relief to affected areas. Write the # and name of the project on your offering envelope and in the memo line of your check.

• by Offering: For local church and Annual Conference credit, put your gift in the offering plate on Sunday. Make out your check to St. Mark’s and designate it as above.
• by Check: Make your check to UMCOR and sent to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115.
• by Credit Card: Call toll-free (800) 554-8583.
• On-line: Go to www.methodistrelief.org and scroll down to and click on Donate Online Now and follow the on screen instructions.

Where is God in This Tragedy?

NCC Interfaith Relations Director Shanta Premawardhana and Faithful America.org Director Vince Isner are on their way back to the United States after visiting earthquake and tsunami-ravaged sites in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. They spent the last two weeks listening to stories of loss and survival, passing bodies on the roadside, standing beside mass graves, worshiping with local Christians and observing relief efforts. Now they return to the question they asked before they left and struggled with throughout the trip: Where is God in this tragedy? Their reflections cap a Weblog rich with photos and stories that include exploration of what it means to be a good neighbor in the context of tragedy, what’s the right way to help the orphans, and whether it is appropriate to link evangelism and aid. Go to www.faithfulamerica.blogspot.com.

A letter from Bishop Park:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Healer of Brokenness.

We are inundated with the images of an indescribable disaster of historic proportion and of the death and destruction caused by the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia. We are told that to date approximately 150,000 (now up to 212,000) people have lost their lives, and millions have been dislocated by the tsunami. People who have toured the area commonly say that they have never seen anything like it in describing the desolation the tsunami left behind. In the vast area, which includes numerous countries in Southeast Asia and Africa, many towns and villages were simply wiped off the face of the earth, literally changing the geography in many areas.

In light of this natural disaster, unprecedented in our time, the big question we all have to answer as individuals and as a church is what we can do about it. We may not have all the answers to the needs of the people who are directly affected by the tragedy, or to the economic, sociological, even political impact it created, or to theological questions that people raise. But we can do something positive and helpful that can make a difference in the lives of people. This is the time, and we are the people to be responsive to the urgent call to “come and help us.”

It is my prayer that the people of The United Methodist Church are most responsive. Yes, even in the midst of tragedy of cosmic proportions, we are the people of faith, hope, and love, who courageously give witness to: “Yes, God is love, and God still cares.”

As an individual and as a church of Jesus Christ, please do whatever you can, the most you can, in the best way you can to reach out to the victims of tsunami. You may offer your gift in and through the United Methodist Committee on Relief, which I can proudly say is one of the best relief agencies in the world.

Please know that I am deeply grateful for your witness for such a time as this. My prayers are with you as you continue to offer yourselves on behalf of and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Healer and Hope of the broken world.

In His name,
Jeremiah J. Park

The 5 Finger Prayer

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for your loved ones is, as C.S. Lewis once said, a “sweet duty.
   
   
2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.
   
   
3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God’s guidance.
   
   
4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. Pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.
   
   
5. And lastly comes our little finger, the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, “The least shall be greatest among you.” Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

- from the Internet, forwarded by June Clark

UMW News

What is better on a blustery winter day than a steaming bowl of hearty soup? Soup Sales have started every other Sunday in January, February and March. The dates are Jan 30, Feb. 13, 27, and March 13. Don’t miss out at the Fellowship Hour following the worship service. Proceeds from the soup sales will go to UMCOR to help the tsunami victims.

March 13 is also the date of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner. For those who are not corned beef lovers there will be beef stew available. The cost for adults is $12 and children $6. If you are not able to stay to eat, there will be take-out available. Invite your friends! Please call Diana for reservations, or watch the bulletins for reservation forms.

The next BIG event in March is David and Jen’s wedding. Don’t forget that we as a Church are preparing the food for the reception. We are going to need many volunteers to help on Friday, March 18 and of course on their wedding day, March 19. So please keep those dates open!!!!

March 20 is the date for the annual Palm Sunday Bake Sale. We need volunteers to bake holiday goodies. Support the UMW by buying some extra-special baked goods for your holiday meal.

New York Conference Events

Camp Epworth Winter Festival

February 12, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Like the idea of a day with your family and friends on the beautiful 125 acre winter playground that is Camp Epworth? We have groomed cross country ski trails, a sledding hill, a skating pond and warming house. Don’t have your own skis? Not a problem. You may rent them at the camp. The cost is a mere $5 to park and $10 for adults over age 12. Children are free! Help make your lunch. Bring a can of your favorite soup and we’ll do the rest! For further information, e-mail Ann Pearson at apearson@nyac.com.

Children’s Ministries Workshops

Children’s Ministries Coordinator Lorrie Landry is planning two fun workshops for everyone working with children:

• Let’s Talk Lent — Saturday, February 12—Lent is really early this year!
  
  
• Celebrating Children’s Day — Saturday, March 12. To help you jazz up your end of the church year celebration.

To register, e-mail smitchell@nyac.com.

Cambodia Mission Trip 2005

Are you interested in a mission trip to Cambodia? The New York Annual Conference will be sending a team February 20 through March 4, 2005. For more information, see www.nyac.com/CambodiaMissionTrip.pdf.

UM Men’s Annual Bishop’s Luncheon

Saturday, March 19, 12:00 noon
Mamaroneck UMC
546 East Boston Post Rd.
Mamaroneck, NY

For directions visit www.gbgm-umc.org/NYAC_UMM and click on “Annual NYAC Bishop’s Luncheon”. Meet with men from across this conference.

Biblical Storytelling

Nationally recognized Biblical Storyteller Dennis Dewey will conduct a workshop on Saturday, March 12, at the Poughkeepsie UMC. Sponsored by the Delaware Hudson Lay Speaking Committee, this event is open to anyone interested in the Practical Art and Spiritual Discipline of Biblical Storytelling. For more information, see www.nyac.com/StoryTellerFlyer.pdf.

Blood Drive at St. Mark’s

Monday, February 7, 2005
4:30 to 8:30 PM

Long Island Blood Services needs you to donate blood so that they can reach their goal of 2000 pints daily, which is needed to serve patients in our area hospitals.

Call the church office for more information, to schedule a time to donate, or volunteer to help.

Annual District Lay Leadership Training Day

Saturday, February 12
8 AM to 3:30 PM
Hanson Place Central UMC
144 St. Felix St., Brooklyn 11217
718-783-0908
13 workshops—$12

Personals

The Office Grapevine

A new floor has been put down by James downstairs in the lower level of the church. It looks incredible.

We welcome Izzy aboard as he becomes part of St. Mark’s maintenance team. He and James have been cleaning up a storm.

Bruce Montgomery has now retired after many years of service. We wish him well!

Pastor Johns had a shoulder replacement on January 19. Our prayers are with him and Pastor Louise for his recovery.

David Czeisel will soon be tying the knot of Holy Matrimony in March with the love of his life, Jennifer Chicano. I understand she was very surprised at her shower. May God bless them!

Carolyn & Sung returned from a wonderful vacation in Peru. Be sure to stop and ask them about it.

Ruth Wirth celebrated her birthday in the City with her son. Happy Birthday!

The Johns family had a gathering for Christmas—Michele, Christopher and Barbara celebrated the Lord’s Birth at the parsonage, much to the delight of Pastor Johns and Pastor Louise.

Memorials

In memory of John Vaughan
          Richard & Sallyann Presti
          Cristina & Benjamin Yaptangco Jr.
          Phyllis & Randall Rado
          Walter & Helga Loher
          Jan & John McDonough
          Patricia & David Reiley
          Francine Polimeni
          Myrna M. Leon
          Janet Mann Boger
          Robert & Carol Whyte
          Jane & Bill Ringham
          Richard & Paula Weir
          Rosemarie & Peter Stein

In memory of Faith Laursen
          Linda Toscano

In memory of Mary Marsden
          Rosemarie Stein (Music Fund)

Thank You

The Carolers came by candlelight
To sing Christmas songs with great delight
Bearing gifts of cookies so good and so sweet
To help our joyous holidays to greet
Thanks to those who baked and who sang to bring us good cheer
For a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
- Nan Varney

Congratulations to …

• June Clark who has a new knee.
• Pastor Johns who has a new shoulder.

We pray that these will serve you well and for a long time!

Sub Organist/Choir Director

It has been a pleasure to have Ginnie Pike occasionally substituting for our Music Director, Don Marsden, when he has to be away. Ginnie grew up in St. Mark’s and was very active in the youth group. Now she is an accomplished organist and choir director. But she is not currently working regularly as such, because she is devoting time to her first love—composing. She is currently working on an opera! It is good to have you with us occasionally, Ginnie.

Happy Birthday in February to ....