Minister’s Letter — October 2005

If you read last month’s Newsletter, you will recall along with my long essay “The Minister’s Vision,” I also emphasized the importance of music in our congregational life. I don’t know if you have been moved as much as I by the music presented to us in our Sunday services since we have resumed them this September, but I have to say, I have certainly been impressed and inspired.

So I feel even more strongly that I would like our music program to expand and include as many as possible. Our women’s choral group, Spirits in Harmony, is extraordinary, and when they are not singing as a group, the members sing solo or as a duet. Erika Schenker, who we are most fortunate to have as our pianist, plays for all the presentations. But I know we have other talented musicians amongst us and I want to encourage you to share your musical gift with us. Greg Kullberg, Susan Wright, Iris Dayer and Dick Joseph have played and sung on several occasions and will continue to do so. But I hope others will also come forward to sing, play instruments or even offer to lead a Fellowship Choir! Or a men’s choral group! Now wouldn’t that be something!

As I wrote in “Music as a Means of Grace,” I will welcome music of all genre as long as it calms the mind, touches the heart, and connects us to our human story.

Interested? Want to contribute or help? If so, contact Betsy Turner, 914 271 0714.

On another matter, I encourage you to respond to the recent announcement about volunteering for our Lunchtime Meal Program. Without everyone’s participation, as wonderful as our intentions may be to minister to the community, the program will not run. So please respond as soon as possible. It would be indeed be helpful, if by the end of October, we had every month for the rest of year assigned to someone. There are a lot of groups in our Fellowship— Community Circles, committees, men and women’s groups, book groups and others. So the goal should be easily met.

And finally, FYI, I think it’s important that you know that eleven of our young people have signed up for OWL (Our Whole Lives) and met for the first time with their teachers, Eddy and Clare Fried and Kathy Herron, last Sunday for 4 hours. The group will be meeting for the entire year on Sunday mornings, and as many of you know, OWL is an outstanding educational program on sexuality. We are extremely fortunate to have such qualified and committed teachers particularly at a time when sexuality, hyper-linked as it is in our technological age, has also become such a charged and some would say chaotic issue. I look forward to hearing about the OWL group’s insights and experiences in the spring when they will be presented at one of our Sunday services.

See you at the Fellowship,
Jim Covington