the rev. megan hodgin, senior pastor the rev. jason white,...

JANUARY 2021 FIRST REFORMED CHURCH OF SCOTIA VOLUME 72, NUMBER 1

224 N. BALLSTON AVE, SCOTIA, NY 12302 1

THE MESSENGERThe Rev. Megan Hodgin, Senior Pastor The Rev. Jason White, Associate Pastor

F r o m t h e P a s t o r ’ s D e s k :Do you remember playing a role in the Christmas story at some point in your childhood? My earliest memory was playing a donkey, in my gray sweats complete with a sewn on tail and a headband with ears, all lovingly assembled by mom. Later I would play an angel with a gold garland halo, and once I even had the chance to play the coveted role of Mary.

This year, if I could choose a role in the Christmas story, I would choose to be one of the Magi. These three wise characters from the East remind us that the story doesn’t end on Christmas morning. Their journey begins a new chapter of discovery, as they follow the guidance of a star until they reach the child born in Bethlehem. The Magi also show us how our dreams can impact our reality. After presenting their gifts to the rosy-cheeked, toddling Messiah, they receive a warning in their dreams. They are told not to return the way they came, to skip the visit to King Herod whose intentions were less than pure. Trusting in this vision, they avoid the ruler of the land, despite the risk, and take a different path. Of course, this disrupts Herod’s plan to eliminate the child, and grants the child the opportunity to become a man. The very man who would heal the sick, give sight to the blind, correct the pious, demonstrate love for the forgotten, and save the world.

The wisdom of the Magi lies in their persistence. For months they follow a star, trusting that it is leading to something transformative. At the feet of a vulnerable babe, they kneel and bow in honor of the strength he will one day demonstrate. With only a dream to persuade them, they deny a corrupt King Herod the satisfaction of a report on their discoveries.

As we enter a new year, I pray that the chapter of discovery continues. God’s faithfulness has helped us endure a year unlike any we could have ever imagined, and even that is not the end of the story. I hope that this n e w y e a r p r o v i d e s opportunities to discover

something new about God’s love for us, about loving our neighbors, and about loving ourselves. I hope we will keep dreaming, daring to trust that God is at work and we do not have to accept things the way they are if the way they are is anything less than just, holy, and whole.

May 2021 be a year which we grow in our wisdom. May we continue to persist in the face of difficulty. May we follow the light of God, no matter how long the journey. May we bow in awe of Christ’s glory, even when it appears in unexpected forms. May we trust the dreams that give us glimpses of the plans God has for us for the world.

Grace & Peace,

~ Pastor Megan



Pastoral Needs: If you or someone you know in the church is hospitalized or has emergent needs, please let Pastor Megan or Pastor Jason know. We have a strong web of care here at First Reformed of Scotia, and it's important to us to know how we can support you as your church. It is far better to let us know multiple times, then for us to miss an opportunity to provide prayer and support. You may call the office at (518) 370-4751 or send email to [email protected].

Offering Envelopes: Boxes of offering envelopes for 2021 are here! Offering envelopes help us be systematic givers -- an important part of Christian life.

Please use your offering envelopes. They simplify the work of the Financial Secretary and our counters, and help your church insure that your giving is accurately recorded. If you do not have envelopes and would like them, call Church Administrator, Assistant Kristen Shave, (518) 370-4751.

Inside each box there are several different kinds of color-coded envelopes:• White: There are white envelopes for every Sunday of the year. Gifts offered in these

envelopes are used for the general operating and budgeted mission expenses of the church.

• Communion: This envelope appears each month to celebrate the Lord's Supper. Our Missions Council designates each of these offerings for some special mission.

• Mission of Month: Gifts offered in these are given to a specially designated Mission of the Month. Read about these Missions of the Month in every issue of The Messenger.

• Holiday: There are three of these: Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Gifts offered in these envelopes are used for some special mission or outreach. Read about what that will be in the bulletins or in The Messenger.

Cookie Walk Results: Our 4th Cookie Walk was held on Saturday, December 12, and even though we could not wander through the array of cookies to choose our favorites - the drive-thru format was well received! Over 260 pounds of delicious cookies were baked by members of our congregation, Trinity Presbyterian and the students in the culinary program at Schoharie BOCES.

Most of our sales were pre-orders, but the event day sales were sold out in 45 minutes! We raised over $2,100 with all proceeds going to the BackPack Program and extra food distributions. Thanks to all the bakers and volunteers.

Next year - we anticipate that we will need TWICE AS MANY COOKIES! So start thinking of what cookies you want to bake!!!

Wellness Winter Walk: The Health and Wellness Committee is sponsoring an afternoon of winter wandering on Saturday, January 23 at 1:00pm. Folks are invited to walk, cross-country ski, or snowshoe around the many paths and trails available at Indian Meadows Park, located on Droms Road in Glenville. Come join us for some mid-winter exercise in a wonderful outdoor environment.

Bible Study: The Renew Bible Study will resume using The Upper Room on Tuesday, January 12. We meet weekly from 12:00-1:00pm using the previous Wednesday’s discussion questions, which are at the end of the booklet. The first week we’ll use the January 6 questions. You can join either by Zoom or phone. Attendance is flexible since each week’s lesson is separate from the next. So if necessary it is fine to miss a week and then return the following week. There is no cost and the January-February Upper Room is available in a plastic box outside the Brink Hall doors. If you need the Zoom or phone information, contact Sunny Baldwin at [email protected]. Maybe 2021 is the time to explore and try something new!



New Year Deacon’s Fund

February SiCM

March Summer Lunch Scotia

Easter Regional Food Bank5 Local Pantries

May Scotia HS Food Pantry

June Things of My Very Own

August Fowler Ministries

September Habitat for Humanity

October Concerned for the Hungry

November Joan Nicole Prince Home

Thanksgiving YWCA

December JJ TenClay

Christmas Eve Regional Food Bank5 Local Pantries

From Pastor Jason’s Desk: With the wonderful news of Christmas, there is always a road that leads away, or back to where we started. From the shininess of Christmas we will wander back into the everyday of life. We have sung the carols of Christmas, but will we depart this season glorifying God? Will we settle for this ordinary world instead of believing that this ordinary world can be remade into the light and life of Christ? How can the promises of Christmas (angels rejoicing, shepherds worshipping, Mary holding all of this in her heart) be trusted and revealed in a world of oppression, commercialism, and the present fear and exhaustion of a lingering pandemic? The 2020 Christmas Eve service was different from others. I watched it in my fairly ordinary dining room. I came out thinking, perhaps the baby Jesus is born where people need him most, in the ordinary places... It is in the ordinary that we can see the extraordinary, and if anything or anyone is extraordinary, it is God becoming human. Maybe there was a positive of not being able to gather at church this past Christmas season. Maybe we're called to a lowly stable to provide warmth and comfort for a young couple about to give birth. Maybe we're called to the pastures where downtrodden shepherds finally receive some good news to share. We're called to where the ordinary comes alive, where transformation of darkness to light is abundant. In a year filled with time spent in the ordinary places of our homes, perhaps that is exactly where Christ meets us. As we near the end of the Christmas season, the promise of Christmas through Jesus Christ remains in us as we move onward. The ordinary has become extraordinary, and we're called to live into that blessing.

Our January Mission of the Month & Communion Offering: Our Deacons’ Fund - which enables us to respond to local emergency needs as they arise. At the close of each year we use the balance of the Deacons’ Fund for the Christmas appeals of our local mission partners. The Deacons’ Fund also enables our pastors and Board of Deacons to respond to the emergency needs of people connected to our congregation.

Contribute to our Mission of the Month either by using your specially marked envelope in your box of offering envelopes or writing “Deacon’s Fund” on the memo line of your check to First Reformed Church.

January Deacon’s Fund

February Bethesda House

March Fowler Ministries

April Community Lunch

May Backpack Program

June SG Food Pantry

July Classis Student Care

August Fowler Ministries

September Scotia Relief

October Samaritan Care Fund

November City Mission

December JJ TenClay

2021 Missions of the Month: 2021 Special & Holiday Offerings:



Health & Wellness Note: Now that cold and flu season is also prominent along with the pandemic, it leaves one wondering how to tell everything apart. This is an understandable chart that can help you decide whether or not you need to seek medical attention.

BackPack Program Update: Who could have known that, when our congregation began the backpack program four years ago by committing to 30 backpacks at a cost of $5,490, it would grow into the food distribution program of this past year. We are currently packing 77 bags of food each week, have distributed 72 boxes of food and turkeys at Thanksgiving, and more recently 60 boxes of food, 15 pounds of chicken, with fresh fruits and vegetables before the Christmas holidays.

We were in a unique position to be able to provide food to SG families throughout the spring and summer when children were not in school receiving free breakfasts and lunches. During this time, we distributed over 1,300 boxes containing almost 60,000 pounds of nutritional food. All this could not have been done without the support of our congregation and the community, as well as a group of dedicated volunteers. With your help and donations from community organizations, we were able to raise over $25,000.

In addition to food, families had reached out asking if help was available as they struggled to plan for Christmas for their children. As a congregation, you responded generously and, with a substantial grant from the Deacon's Fund along with individual contributions, we were able to meet this need as identified by the social workers at each school. In addition, Betsy Homer coordinated the adoption of two families in the Glen Worden district, generously funded by members of Thomas Corners Fire Department and Women's Auxiliary.

We know that the need will continue into the new year. Words cannot convey how sincerely grateful these families are.

Above all, continue to wear a mask and social distance to stay healthy in 2021!



Kids Hope USA News Life Together is Life at its Best: Happy New Year! As we look forward to the grace a new year may bring and fresh beginnings, we may reflect on our relationships –with family, friends and colleagues at work. Many of the principles and practices applied to Kids Hope USA mentoring can also apply to our day to day relationships… even if many of those interactions are mostly digital at this time. What makes a Kids Hope USA relationship unique? With special thanks to Dr. Brad Schwall, KHUSA Child and Family Consultant, here are three keys to healthy, caring ways to communicate with thoughts that can benefit us in all relationships.

Unconditional Positive Acceptance When children and people in our lives deal with setbacks and struggles, they may choose to give up or act out. Many folks both young and old have experienced conflict whether it be with teachers, peers, other adults and/or family members. They may withdraw and try to divert attention from themselves. We are there to love the children we usually mentor regardless of their past or behavior. We can be there to love our family and friends regardless of their struggles and behaviors resulting from setbacks, conflicting information and health challenges in 2020.

Attention Our attention is the simplest gift we can give our mentees and/or the people around us. This can be done even when masked! With the attention we give listening and affirming, we communicate: “I am here for you.” “I understand you.” “I care.” At the present time, Kids Hope mentors are doing a terrific job sending letters, printed games, cards and stickers to their mentees at Sacandaga Elementary

School, letting them know they are thinking of them and still giving them attention, even when they cannot see each other in person.

Christ-like Love 1 Corinthians 13 gives us a view of Christ’s love for us that we are to imitate in our love for others. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Mentoring takes patience. Relationships take patience. Mentoring means focusing on our child, not ourselves. Mentoring means protecting, showing trust, giving hope, persevering, being

consistent, and never failing. Many, if not most of these same t h e m e s c a n a p p l y t o o u r relationships! There is a tendency to want to feel a sense of accomplishment from our efforts. The outcomes of our relationships may not be tangible, but they are lasting. The benefits may not be visible to us now. It is the

relationship that is the accomplishment. The KHUSA mentoring relationship is a unique relationship that is child-focused, unconditional, and Christ-like. Even when there are struggles and challenges, love never fails. Love gives hope. This is something we can all hold on to as we navigate new beginnings and look forward to the day when we can use our gifts to return to mentoring children. In the meantime, the principles of Unconditional Positive Acceptance, Attention and Christ-like Love can go a very long way towards enriching the relationships with the people we do see and ‘hear’ on a regular basis. May we all look forward to 2021 with these thoughts in mind!

Drive-Thru Bethlehem THANKS: A HUGE thank you to all that helped with our Drive-Through Bethlehem event! It was truly a bright star in the midst of this pandemic. We have received countless messages of appreciation and praise, and have heard of so many people that attended from the greater community. It's truly a blessing that we were able to add joy to this Christmas Season.A special thank you to: Rev. Jason White, Rev. Megan Hodgin, Sarah Stygles, Kristen Shave, Lynn Makrin, Claudia Garrison, Diana Ackner, Members of the Beauchemin Family, Jerry and Tina Haldeman, Members of the Makrin Family, Members of the Faulker Family, Members of the Bull Family, Vika Falcon, Members of the Penn Family, Members of the Stryjek Family, Members of the Torelli Family, Members of the Trbovich Family, Joe Bodden, & Bob and Sunny Baldwin and all of our narrators. And let's not forget our llama friends, from Nimbus, Have Llama Will Travel!



Upcoming Event - Cocoa & Crafts: Join us on Saturday, January 9 at 10:00am for another fun fellowship opportunity. Cocoa & Crafts! Grab yourself a steamy cup of hot chocolate (coffee, or tea), your favorite craft or hobby, and hop onto our Zoom link to share in the fun. We will be spending time and sharing space with one another is a spirit of fellowship and fun. Let’s chat about our hobbies, our hopes for the New Year, all while working on our favorite little past-times. Email Sarah at [email protected], for the zoom link.

Sunday School: With the New Year we are going to try a bit of a new approach to Sunday School. Until it is safe to gather in person, I’d like to start offering a once-a-month, Zoom Class. It's been too long since I’ve seen all of your smiling faces! If there is interest we can meet more often, but knowing that pandemic fatigue is a real thing, I don’t want to add too much too quickly. For now let’s try to meet every 3rd Sunday of the month. For January that date will be Sunday, January 17 @ 11:00am. This should give your families enough time to experience worship virtually, and then meet me on Zoom! Please email me, to let me know you plan on attending! Here is the link to join: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75502724910?pwd=NEVwelV3Z3RNN0JxWk4yejBFc0tpUT09

Fun fact: 11:00am on Sundays is also the same time as our Virtual Coffee Hour, it could be fun for the whole family to attend the Coffee Hours on the other Sundays we don’t have a zoom class. Keep the family fellowship flowing!

On Facebook, I will continue to share mindfulness tips on Mondays, and fun activities & crafts on Wednesdays. The nice folks at Illustrated Ministries are also going to be lifting the copyright constraints on a few week’s worth of materials, and therefore you’ll find I will be able to email & post a bit more than usual for all of us to enjoy!

So much to look forward to in the New Year! If you have any ideas of Sunday School activities, or Family Ministry Fellowship events, you’d like to see offered, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Peace be with you, in the space you are in,Sarah StyglesFamily Ministry [email protected]

Sound Quality in Online Worship: The issues experienced recently with the sound quality in the online worship videos has been unexpected, and frustrating for all of us. Working directly with Sound Solutions, Pastor Jason and I are continuing to address those issues, though we’ve had mixed results.

I’d like you all to know that this is absolutely a top priority for us, and that we’ll continue to make adjustments and improvements in the most effective and budget-friendly way possible.

Church Accompanist Search Update: Hello everyone, by the time this Messenger is sent out, the job opening for our new church accompanist will have been posted! Postings will include our church website and facebook page, so please feel free to share to individuals and groups that you think will guide us to the right new partner in worship.

Auditions will be scheduled as applications are received, and all proceedings will be conducted in a manner that’s safe for the search committee members, as well as the candidates. The members of the search committee are: Sunny Baldwin, Brad Day, John Hoffman, Barbara Nelson, Wayne Penn, Pastor Jason, and myself.

We are looking forward to this process, and ask for your support and prayers to guide us.Thank you very much,Barret

Family Ministry Corner

mailto:[email protected]://us04web.zoom.us/j/75502724910?pwd=NEVwelV3Z3RNN0JxWk4yejBFc0tpUT09mailto:[email protected]



Jim Light 1Kevin Beauchemin 2Jane Corby 2John DeBrita 3June Coryer 5Bradford Faubion 5Chelsea Wentworth 5Jacob Crisci 6Jessica Crisci 6Mary Lynne Davidson 6Naomi Faulkner 6Chris Grumbling 9

Laura Willoughby 9Heather Landry 10Barret Germain 12Brittney Schaefer 12Alexandra Bicknell 13Connor Kilgallen 16Sunny Baldwin 17Tom Lansing 18Benton North 18Sue Pitts 18David Gonyea 20Dick Haight 20

Bob Grumbling 21Lucy Trbovich 22Bradley Coryer 23Carol Haight 24Cindy Taft 25Claudia Garrison 26Duane VanPatten, Jr. 26Tom Bodden 28Rebecca Penn 28Jim Davidson 30Joseph Gibson 30

Joe and Cathy Deamer 1Wayne and Susan Penn 15Bub and Janet Bekkering 21Mike and Susan Torelli 22Kirk and Linda Willoughby 30

Please note: We list the birthdays and anniversaries of our church’s local active membersand friends. If we missed yours, please call the church office, (518) 370-4751.

Thank you.



First Reformed Church of Scotia224 N. Ballston AvenueScotia, NY 12302(518) 370-4751

Address Service Requested

From the Pastor’s Desk:Pastoral Needs: If you or someone you know in the church is hospitalized or has emergent needs, please let Pastor Megan or Pastor Jason know. We have a strong web of care here at First Reformed of Scotia, and it's important to us to know how we can support you as your church. It is far better to let us know multiple times, then for us to miss an opportunity to provide prayer and support. You may call the office at (518) 370-4751 or send email to [email protected] Bethlehem THANKS: A HUGE thank you to all that helped with our Drive-Through Bethlehem event! It was truly a bright star in the midst of this pandemic. We have received countless messages of appreciation and praise, and have heard of so many people that attended from the greater community. It's truly a blessing that we were able to add joy to this Christmas Season.Church Accompanist Search Update: Hello everyone, by the time this Messenger is sent out, the job opening for our new church accompanist will have been posted! Postings will include our church website and facebook page, so please feel free to share to individuals and groups that you think will guide us to the right new partner in worship.

the rev. megan hodgin, senior pastor the rev. jason white,...

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