LAMPLIGHTER

April 2015

WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Revelation will be hosting a

Prom/Sweet 16 dress sale on Saturday,

April 18 from 10am-4pm. Please

donate any gently worn gowns and

accessories (dressy bags, jewelry,

etc.) to this fundraiser which will help

fund the senior youth group summer

mission trip.

Donations can go entirely to the youth

group or can be split 50/50 with the

person donating items. Items can be

dropped off in the parlor until April

17. Please indicate if you would like to

donate the item fully or would like to

share the 50/50 profit with Revelation.

Please share with friends/relatives

(email and facebook are a great way to

reach a large number of people) who

may be interested in donating or

shopping. Contact Lisa Carlen @ (631)

428-2837 with any questions.

Join us April 18 at 6:30pm for a

Chinese Auction and Family Bingo

Night, an evening of fellowship and

fun! Please consider donating any new

or like-new items, such as household

items, movies, toys, etc. We will put

baskets together that will be auctioned

off.

Senior Youth Group

Defensive Driving Course at WRCC

Saturday, April 25, 2015

9am – 3pm

$35.00/person

For registration call

Douglas Carlen

(631) 428-2841

A portion of the proceeds will go

towards Revelation Youth Ministry.

Thank you!

Religious Services

Teen Rec. Night

Grades 6-12 Saturday, April 25 7-10pm

CONTEMPORARY

WORSHIP SERVICE

FRIDAY, APRIL 3 AT

7PM

Maundy Thursday – April 6 at

6:30pm, Maundy Thursday dinner

followed by a short communion

service and feet washing.

Please join us for our sunrise service

at 7:00am followed by breakfast, or

for our 10:30am service. There is no

9:00 service.

Mark Your Calendars for Sunday, May 3

Annual meeting and potluck

luncheon, immediately following 10:30am service.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his

promise, as some understand slowness.

Instead he is patient with you, not wanting

anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. - 2 Peter 3:9

Last month I wrote about the importance

of waiting for God. God tells us to seek

him and promises to answer but he doesn't

usually do this when we want him to. This

means that having a relationship with God,

which Jesus came to give us, often

requires waiting. The last month has

forced us to do a lot of waiting. Waiting

for the sun to shine. Waiting for the

temperature to warm up for more than a

day. Waiting for the snow to go away. Lots

of waiting. The weather has given us quite

a lesson in waiting. Spring is right around

the corner. That's what we keep telling

ourselves. But the winter just won't go away; so we wait...

The real problem with waiting for the

weather to change, of course, is that there's

nothing we can actually do about it. All we

can do is wait. No matter how frustrated

we get when we hear there's snow in the

forecast (by the way, there's snow in the

forecast), there's nothing we can do to

speed up spring or to hurry winter away.

This forces us to do what is sometimes

called passive waiting. It's the kind of

waiting where there's nothing to do but

wait and maybe hope.

We sometimes approach our relationship

with God in the same way. We want to

know him better, to see him answer our

prayers, to see his power in our lives, and

so we wait. But we wait for God the same

way we wait for spring: passively. But the

kind of waiting God calls us to is actually

something different. After all, God tells us

to seek him, call on him, pray to him,

search his word and sing his praises.

But he tells us to do all of this as we

are waiting. God calls us to an active

waiting.

A Word from Pastor TJ

TJ God and the weather are different in

some important ways. The weather doesn't hear us, care about us, or respond

to our concerns. It has no compassion on

our snow-shoveling or cabin fever. God is

different. He hears us, cares about us, has

compassion on us, and crucially, he

answers us. This doesn't mean that we

won't have to wait, but it does mean he will

answer us in meaningful ways while we

wait. Consider the example of the Apostle

Paul. Paul explains in Romans 1 that he

longed to go to Rome to preach to the

church there, but was prevented from

doing this. For years God made Paul wait

to go to Rome but while he waited Paul

kept seeking God and following him. The

result was astonishing. God did amazing

things in Paul's life. He used Paul to

establish many churches and to build the

faith of billions. It was during this waiting,

after all, that Paul wrote the letters that make up much of the New Testament.

Paul had to wait, but he didn't stop seeking

the Lord while he did and neither should

we. You see, another way God is different

from the weather is that we have a reliable

source of information about him. We can

turn to his word and know that we will see

him there. We can learn more about who

God is and what he is like by reading what he has told us about himself.

Start this week by reading a chapter or two

each day from Psalms. This is a collection

of prayers by people like us, people

waiting for God to answer. See if God

doesn't teach you more about who he is as

you read them. Then, follow their example

and pray. Bring your struggles and

impatience to God because he listens and

he will answer. It might not be when we

want, but he is faithful to his promises and if we seek him we will find him.

and that he will answer.. And if we seek

him we will find him.

Lamplighter

Wednesday Fellowship

A display of knit and crocheted

sweaters by the Wednesday

Fellowship ladies are on display in the

auditorium. They will be included in

baby kits given to Church World

Services to help families in need with

newborns.

Items needed to complete the kits are

written on teddy bears. Please choose a

teddy bear and leave the item in the

box, or make a financial donation in the

can by Sunday, April 19.

Thank you for your support.

God bless,

WRCC Wednesday Fellowship Group

April Birthdays

3 Kerstin Turner

4 Judy Black

7 Janice Elliott

10 Kimberly

Giacalone

Diane Loffredo

15 Roy Marlow

16 Edward Elliott

17 Diane Barraud

18 Ralph DeLucia

19 Joe Nocerino

20 Lisa Carlen

21 Jim Klein

22 Gregory Efimetz

Rachel Sofranek

23 Jack Guthy

Juliana Schmidt

Janet Carignan

Brittany Carlen

25 Doris Allen

26 Peter Last

30 Kathy Rowehl

Hello Wading River Church

Congregation!

GENESIS, the church’s new youth

group for children in Grades 3 through

8, is growing quickly and doing great

things. We have been holding one

event per month and are looking to

expand to include more meetings and

events - with the ultimate goal of

reaching the unchurched youth of our

local communities.

We would like to take this opportunity

to thank everyone who have supported

our youth and their events, which

includes the ‘Penguin Splash’,

Christmas caroling and most recently

our collection of items for the town of

Brookhaven’s ‘Totes for Tots’

program.

GENESIS is continuing to plan

activities and fellowship for our youth.

Here are some things we’re working

on:

- Planning a trip to ‘Sky Zone’ -

tentatively for Saturday, April 11

- Hosting a Mother’s Day breakfast

after the 10:30 service on May 10

- Organizing a one-day bus trip in

December to the SIGHT and

SOUND Theater in Lancaster, PA

to see their production of “Miracle

of Christmas”

More information and the latest

updates can be found in the weekly

bulletin, GENESIS Facebook page and

in the auditorium.

Thank you again for your continued

support and encouragement of our

youth and for participating in our

events. If you’re in Grades 3 through 8

and haven’t been part of God’s plan for

the youth of our church, sign up now

and join the fun and spiritual growth!

GENESIS

Camp Berea 2015

Revelation took another trip to New

Hampshire for an adventurous

weekend at Camp Berea from February

27th to March 1st. This year’s theme

was “Upside Down”. Through ministry

and our speaker, Danny Ray, we

learned that things which appear to be

backwards to humans may be the right

way to GOD. When GOD sent us King

Jesus, he was sent as a helpless baby

rather that a strong ruler. When HE

chose to spread the word of Jesus’

birth, it was started at the bottom of the

social class (sheep herders and tax

collectors) rather than the top. There

are many examples in the bible of how

things seem to be done “upside down”

or “backwards”, but it just may be the

way humans think that is backwards.

Many of the students strengthened their

relationships with each other, formed

new bonds with fellow Christians and

renewed or discovered their faith in

God. The worship band, Atta Boy, led

the praise music all weekend long.

The group participated in the many

“free time” activities that Camp Berea

offers. They challenged themselves to

become a human swing, flying about

50 feet in the air, played paintball, went

snow-tubing, participated in group

competitions and took a walk out on

the frozen lake.

Both the students and leaders came

away with a renewed spiritual feeling

and felt energized to spread the word of

God and share His love and grace to

others.

Revelation

The Women’s Guild welcomed spring

with their “Garden Getaway” Faith Lift

on March 14th. Although the weather

outside was a little rainy and chilly, the

temperature inside was full of warmth

and friendship. If you were in church

over that weekend, you got to see the

‘flowers’ that decorated the parlor and

auditorium. It truly looked like a

colorful spring garden. The amazing

participants were able to explore the

‘Seasons of Life’, learn how ‘God is

Making Us Beautiful’, ‘Walk with

God’, explore ‘Caring for those in a

Season of Need’, strengthen our faith

in ‘the Difficult Seasons of Life’ and

find ‘Joy in Every Season’. Many,

many thanks to our childcare

providers, chefs and tech support; as

well as those who lead each session –

it was a wonderful celebration of a

‘Garden Getaway – where women

walk with God’.

Looking ahead, please mark your

calendars for our next meeting on April

20, 2015 at 7:00. We will be learning

about Church World Services and all

their programs and assembling the

layette kits that are donated by the

congregation. In May we will be

‘Celebrating Moms’ at our May 11th

meeting – more details on that meeting

to come.

Although the temperature is still a little

chilly – spring is here! Take a walk

with God and enjoy the beauty of the

season! “I love the Lord because he

hears my voice and my prayer for

mercy. Because he bends down to

listen, I will pray as long as I have

breath! … And so I walk in the Lord’s

presence as I live here on earth!”

Psalm 116:1-2, 9

Women’s Guild

Spring has officially arrived, with what

is hopefully the last snowstorm of the

season. Soon the grass will be green,

the trees will begin to bud and the

flowers will be blossoming. Praise God

for re-birth!

As the Deacons plan for the events of

Holy Week; Maundy Thursday

communion dinner, a Contemporary

Worship service on Good Friday and

Easter Morning Worship services, we

are reminded of the incredible gift of

salvation that came with Jesus’ death

on the cross. We pray that we never

take it lightly or take it for granted.

As the Deacons continue to work with

Pastors TJ and Craig to discern and

provide for the spiritual needs of the

church members, we remain prayerful

and hopeful. Life is sometimes

overwhelming. Hope comes from fully

trusting God and his plan for each of

our lives. One important component of

hope is trusting God in all things, big

and small.

In A Praying Life by Paul Miller he

states, ‘But if you take Jesus’ words

seriously – “Whatever you ask in my

name, this I will do” (John 14:13) – it

opens the door to the possibility of real

change and hope.‘ But we also know

that prayers are not always answered in

the way we want them to be or when

we want them to be. Prayer is our

communication with God, God wants

to do something bigger than simply

answering our prayers. As Miller states

“The act of praying draws God into my

life and begins to change me, the pray-

er in subtle ways”. Our prayers do not

sit in isolation from the rest of our

lives, they are intricately interwoven.

Below is an excerpt where Miller talks

about the desert of unanswered prayers.

Thriving in the Desert

God takes everyone he loves

through a desert. It is his cure for

our wandering hearts, restlessly

searching for a new Eden. Here’s

how it works.

The first thing that happens is we

slowly give up the fight. Our wills

are broken by the reality of our

circumstances. The things that

brought us life gradually die. Our

idols die for lack of food. The still

dry air of the desert brings the sense

of helplessness that is so crucial to

the spirit of prayer. You come face-

to-face with your inability to live, to

have joy, to do anything of lasting

worth. Life is crushing you.

Suffering burns away the false

selves created by cynicism or pride

or lust. You stop caring about what

others think of you. The desert is

God’s best hope for the creation of

an authentic self. Desert life

sanctifies you. ….The desert life

becomes a window to the heart of

God. He finally gets your attention

because he is the only game in town.

As the Deacons continue to pray for

each other, for the leadership of the

church and for members of the

congregation, one of our prayers is that

we become a prayerful body of Christ

where even walking in the desert

becomes something we can appreciate

and be thankful for.

Blessings and hope to all of you.

In His Service,

The Deacons

Deacon’s Corner

Pillars of Christian Congregationalism: Inclusivity

The Rev. Dr. Craig C. Malbon, UCC Last month we discussed how

Congregationalism operates, what is

called “polity”. We highlighted that

Congregational polity sees all

members the same, none is greater than

another, all are precious children of

God through Jesus Christ our Lord and

Savior. The Gospels and Letters of

Paul inform us that we as Christians do

not have spiritual rulers who “lord it

over them [us]” [Matt. 20:25], but

rather we have one Almighty God, in

triunity (Creator, Redeemer, &

Sustainer). Our church has no bishops,

cardinals, canons, or such; we have

pastors and church people who serve

our flock as a church family.

This month we will discuss one of the

central pillars of the Christian church:

inclusivity. Since early times dating

back to Jesus’ own words as retold in

the Gospels we are encouraged to

embrace all of our fellow children of

God. This tenet is commonly referred

to as “radical inclusivity.” It is radical

in this sense, much like Jesus’ ministry

was considered “radical,” making the

first last and the last first. Let’s think a

bit about how the Apostle Paul refers

to our need for radical inclusivity. It is

not just accepting, but rather

embracing all who come to worship

Almighty God through the Son of Man.

Paul speaks of God's righteous

judgment and admonishes us not to

judge, but accept others. In his letter to

the Romans 2 Paul states, “1 Therefore

you have no excuse, O man, every one

of you who judges. For in passing

judgment on another you condemn

yourself, because you, the judge,

practice the very same things. 2 We

know that the judgment of God rightly

falls on those who practice such things.

3 Do you suppose, O man—you who

judge those who practice such things

and yet do them yourself—that you will

escape the judgment of God? [Romans

2:1-3 (ESV)]

Many of us have enjoyed sermons by

long-time member Bruce Miller that

touch upon the pillars of Christianity.

His favored lead in is, “there is a man

standing in the parking lot of the church

who asks…” One central question we

may be challenged with by this man in

the parking lot is “who” is welcomed

into your church? In our mind’s ear we

can hear Jesus telling us [Matt 18:3-4],

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and

become like little children, you will

never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, whoever takes the lowly

position of this child is the greatest in

the kingdom of heaven.” In our hearts

we immediately might answer the

stranger and say “all of God’s children

are welcome here!”. Many pastors

who belong to the United Church of

Christ (founded as a historic

continuation of the General Council of

Congregational Christian Churches

under the influence of New England

Puritanism) begin their welcoming this

way, “No matter who you are, or where

you are on life’s journey, you are

welcome here!” I have used this

welcome myself when in the pulpit.

The motto of their seal (see above) is

“THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE”.

The ministry of Jesus was characterized

by radical inclusivity, e.g., all people,

sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and

those living on the margins of life itself

were His flock. Recall in John 4 that

Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman.

She was a foreigner from a despised

religious group who not really talks, but

argues with Jesus. She is a remarkable

woman who comes to voice (women

had no voice as a matter of practice in

those days) and one may wonder why

Jesus would “waste his time on a

Samaritan woman?” Her story unfolds

in John 4, she becomes a faithful

follower and apostle of Jesus, preaching

among her people! Wow, that’s a win!

Continued on Back

Embedded in the teachings of Jesus,

Page 2

Pillars of Christian Congregationalism: Inclusivity

Embedded in the teachings of Jesus,

time after time, is such radical

inclusivity as well as the good advice

that we should embrace our fellow

children of God without judgment or

may find ourselves being judged by

others. In Galatians 6, Paul both

informs and warns us not to be

judgmental, “Brothers, if anyone is

caught in any transgression, you who

are spiritual should restore him in a

spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on

yourself, lest you too be tempted.” We

should periodically ask of ourselves if

we are too ready to “cast the first

stone”, while keeping in mind that

Jesus tells a crowd to “Let him who is

without sin among you be the first to

throw a stone….” [John 8:7]. We have

so much to offer each other, whether

long-time members of the

congregation or “strangers at the door”.

By practicing inclusivity we are right

with the teachings of Jesus, even when

for us to do so may stretch our hearts

and mindsets.

When you think a little deeper about it,

a Congregational church should be the

last place for judgmental behavior,

since we are all equal in the eyes of the

Lord and all the children of God, i.e.,

one no better than another, all precious.

In many professions, a good example

being medicine, judging applicants and

potential new members to the

profession is properly termed

“credentialing.” Credentialing is a

process of establishing the

“qualifications” of a professional, assessing fitness, background, and

legitimacy. Credit card approval and

bank loan approvals follow a similar

process to find the healthiest and most

creditworthy applicants. But recall the

words of Jesus in Mark 2:17, “On

hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is

not the healthy who need a doctor, but

the sick. I have not come to call the

righteous, but sinners’." His advice to

us, all sinners, is not to go about

“credentialing” each other, but rather

to accept and embrace with gladness all

who come to worship the Lord with us.

There is wellspring of goodness in your

heart when you know that you truly are

worshipping with children of God, all

of us children of God.

So if you happen to see Bruce Miller’s

“stranger in the parking lot”, try to

recall the ministry and teachings of He

who gave His very life to expiate our

sins and to afford us His righteousness

before God. First, recall that once

maybe recently or longer ago than you

might want to admit, you too (that is we

all) were strangers to the Wading River

Congregational Church! Second, as

you approach that stranger standing in

the parking lot, reach out your hand in

Christian love and welcoming. Don’t

try to “credential” the stranger, but

rather follow the lead of Jesus. If the

stranger asks if he/she is welcome here,

you already have an excellent

“canned” response, “Brother/sister, no

matter who you are, or where you are

on life’s journey, you are welcome

here!” Oh, also try a tender warm smile

to go with that handshake and a hosted

welcome to the sanctuary of our church

by the duck pond.

With love and blessings to you all at

Eastertide,

Pastor Craig

By Kerstin Turner

Broken egg jokes aside, have you ever

questioned why Easter is such a big

deal? Or wondered why it's so

important that people wake up at

sunrise just to stand outside (in the

chilly early morning April air) and

worship? Truly....is Easter all it's

cracked up to be? Each year Christians

celebrate the death and resurrection of

our Savior, Jesus. For the 40 days

leading up to Easter, especially the

week prior (commonly referred to as

Holy week) there are numerous

worship service opportunities to

celebrate Easter. But why?

What makes the season special and

significant is that there is both tragedy

(death) and victory (resurrection). To

understand hope, you have to first

recognize despair. If Easter ended at

Christ's death, what a disappointing

end to a beautiful story that was

centuries in the making. Just imagine if

you watched the first three Lord of the

Rings movies and at the end of Return

of The King, Aragorn is nowhere to be

found and all the hobbits, the elf and

the dwarf just shrug their shoulders and

go home. What a letdown! What a

disappointment! The denouement of

the trilogy is to crown the king, and he's

gone – what a bummer!

But much like the victory of Aragorn

being crowned King and hope is

restored – Christ overcame death and

our hope is restored. Son of God,

sacrificed for the redemption of the

world. For Wading River

Congregational Church. For you. He

conquered death to give you hope when

you are disappointed – when your life

just seems “not all it's cracked up to

be”. When you hit disappointment,

remember that it is not the end of the

story – there is victory, there is a

resurrection.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of

the gospel I preached to you, which you

received, in which you stand, and by

which you are being saved, if you hold

fast to the word I preached to you—

unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first

importance what I also received: that

Christ died for our sins in accordance

with the Scriptures, that he was buried,

that he was raised on the third day in

accordance with the Scriptures. – 1

Corinthians 15:1-4

Easter – All it's cracked up to be...

Update!

“Cool News from the

Trustees!” You may have noticed the sanctuary

received air conditioning units during

the winter. Not that we really needed

anymore cold air this winter, but it is

the best time of the year to get reduced

installation prices.

In fact, we were able to install air

conditioning to the nursery and thrift

store rooms as well. All within our

allotted approved amount from our last

annual meeting.

Keepin’ it cool,

Greg Efimetz (Trustee Chair)

Wading River

Congregational

Church

2057 North Country Road

Wading River, NY 11792

Phone:

631.929.8849

Fax:

631.929.8849

We’re on the Web!

See us at:

www.wrcongchurch.org

WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

2057 N Country Road

Wading River, NY 11792

April 2015

Deacons: deacons@wadingriverchurch.org Joe Baier (Chair) Tom Flaim Julie Lutz Finn Maruitzen Joe Nocerino Rosemarie Schulz

Trustees: trustees@wadingriverchurch.org Peter Akras Dottie Davis Carole Eibs Greg Efimetz (Chair) John Flynn Jack Guthy Frank Lehman Andrew Tumilowicz Walt Vogel

Treasurer: Asst. Treasurer: Loretta Klein Lana O’Toole Clerk: Asst. Clerk Lauren Agnew Kerstin Turner

Women’s Guild: Nancy Bosseckert, President Kerstin Turner, Vice-President Carol Bangel, Treasurer Lynette DeLucia, Recording Secretary Ann Otten, Corresponding Secretary

Men’s Fellowship: Frank Lehman, President Peter Akras, Secretary/Treasurer

Sunday School: Dina Jones, Co-Superintendent Kathy Wilson, Co-Superintendent Kathy Rowehl, Secretary-Treasurer

Outreach Coordinator: Nancy Bosseckert

Organists: Diane Hanwick Jean Elliott Choir Director: Doris Allen

Food Pantry: Carolyn Baier Joe Baier Craig Baier

TJ Turner, Pastor – pastortj@wadingriverchurch.org The Rev. Dr. Craig C. Malbon, UCC, Associate Pastor-

Revdrcraig@gmail.com

Ralph DeLucia, Sexton – ralphd@wadingriverchurch.org Kathy Rowehl, Children’s Ministries Coordinator – kathyr@wadingriverchurch.org

Donna Rassner, Administrative Assistant/Bookkeeper – donnar@wadingriverchurch.org