Church. Brookville. God Wears Skin NEWSLETTER

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1 Brookville Church NEWSLETTER REV. VICKY L. EASTLAND Pastor of Congregational Life 2 BROOKVILLE ROAD BROOKVILLE, NY Where the doors are always open! February 2014 God Wears Skin In 1995 Joan Osborne sang a song contemplating God being one of us. It hit the top 40 pop chart that same year, but was criticized by conservative Christians who felt strongly that it was disrespectful of the All-Powerful God with lyrics such as: What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us Just a stranger on the bus Trying to make His way home Is it possible for us to see God in the slob on the bus or the train instead of fearing the stranger because we think they are so radically different from us? Can we actually see the image of the Divine in that person who was made by the Creator to be just as much a reflection of God as you and I equally claim to be? In the gospel of Saint Luke chapter four, Jesus challenges the religious Nazarites to see beyond the needs of just their own to the strangers among them when he shares with them that Elijah helped a Sidon widow instead of an Israeli widow and that Elisha healed only a Syrian when there were many in Israel who had leprosy. Two great prophets of the time and yet they ministered to the stranger instead of their own kind. This was such an unpopular message to those in the synagogue that they tried to throw Jesus off a cliff. What we are doing on our campus is unique and a challenging calling - for we are attempting to reconcile centuries of animosity between religions and we are doing it just like Elijah and Elisha did, by touching one stranger at a time. We can t take on the world, but we can affect the world who has come to our doorstep. Did you know that there is more religious diversity in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world? You don t have to travel to Oman to meet a Muslim (although I d love it if you joined me in October when I go). To meet a Muslim all you have to do is stay awhile longer after our coffee hour and you will meet faithful Muslims who have come to this campus to study together. And we know well, especially on Long Island, that you don t have to travel to Israel to meet a Jew. Some Sundays all you have to do is turn to the neighbor in the pew behind you who is part of the Interfaith Community and has joined us for worship. The stranger, is at our doorstep, literally. All you have to do is extend a hand of fellowship to one and soon they are no longer a stranger, but rather a fellow sojourner on the equal quest for relationship with God. God is wearing skin all around us. God wears the flesh of those whom we may fear because they are so radically different from us we find it a challenge just to communicate because we don t even speak the same language. But there is one language we all speak. There is one language we all long to receive and that is the language of love. Can you see the image of God in the stranger? If you look hard enough, if you get past the differences, you just might encounter God in the flesh and actually begin to love that person just for who they are - a precious child of God. (Excerpts taken from Rev. Vicky s sermon delivered )

2 COMMON GROUNDS COFFEEHOUSE CULTURAL MUSIC SEARCH IS ON! Common Grounds is looking for performers for our April/May Coffeehouses! The vision for this year is to celebrate the cultures we all come from and I am hoping this will encourage those of us with music, poetry or dance that we know from our cultural backgrounds to come forward and share them with everyone. I have put out a call to all of our congregations, but if you know someone from your family or friends, please invite them to participate and give them the number and listed at the end of this article. The charities picked for this year focus on feeding the hungry on Long Island. Island Harvest and Long Island Cares are the two we are raising money for, as they address the needs of the hungry on Long Island. We are looking to raise both money and donations of food, so there will be a cover charge of one or two boxes/cans of non-perishable food at these gatherings. We will also have our refreshments and raffles for sale, and accept any and all donations of cash! We hope this event will start to take shape immediately it should be fun, and will help our fellow Long Islanders! Contact Lisa Denison by phone or via at ldenison@optonline.net Can t wait to hear from you! Sunday, Feb 16th - Don t Miss Out! On Feb. 16th at our regular 10 a.m. Worship Celebration, Elder Branch Worsham will be presenting a talk on the history of Brookville Reformed Church. Branch shared a short history at our 6 p.m. Christmas Eve Service and since this was met with such a positive response, along with disappointment from those who missed it, Branch has agreed to do an extended encore on the history of our church. This is a good day to invite your friends to join you! Elder Kris Baggelaar will be the liturgist (worship leader) for that day as Rev. Vicky and family will be on vacation in California. Rev. Vicky will be gone Feb If you have a pastoral need during that time, please contact Rev. Dr. Steven D. Pierce. He can be reached at The Community Reformed Church of Manhasset (516) For Dr. Pierce s other contact numbers, please call Brookville Church s office. Rev. Vicky will return on Sunday, Feb. 23rd. LENT: A Time to Surrender A Retreat Day at Glen Cove Mansion 200 Dosoris Lane Glen Cove, NY Saturday, March 29, :00 am ~ 2:30 pm Lent is a season of self-discovery, where we are given the time and space to become more vulnerable, more faithful and more full of hope. We journey together with Jesus as we make our hearts ready for his death and Resurrection. We learn to fully surrender to God and deepen our union with Christ. So what exactly does this mean? How do we welcome both the challenges and gifts of this mysterious season? What things do we embrace and what must we release? How does Lent help us re-commit to a baptismal spirituality so we can have new life? Join us for a special retreat day to explore this important, life giving topic. Rev. James Eastland, Rev. Steve Pierce and Spiritual Director Lesley Mazzotta will guide participants through Bible study, large group sharing, prayer meditation, writing activities and personal reflection. Cost $55 for program, morning coffee, snacks, lunch and take away activities for further exploration. For more information contact Lesley Mazzotta at lesleymazzotta@gmail.com or Name Address City State Zip Phone Cell Church Affiliation Please return this portion of the flyer ASAP to Lesley Mazzotta, Director of Spiritual Formation, Community Reformed Church, 90 Plandome Rd., Manhasset, NY 11030, with a check for $55 made payable to Community Reformed Church.

3 Youth Service Project - A Great Success! ~ Written by: Rev. Vicky Over 20 youth from Brookville Church and The Interfaith Community participated in an outreach project to day laborers in our area. First they gathered on Sunday, Jan. 19th to make Empanadas. They gathered in two shifts - 9 to noon and 12 to 2 p.m. None of the kids with the exception of the Worsham bunch had ever had an Empanada, so they sampled them after making over 50. For not even knowing what they were before making them, they did a fantastic job and the food turned out great! If you don t know, an Empanada is a Spanish stuffed pastry that is either baked or fried. The name comes from the Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanadas are made by folding dough around stuffing, which usually consists of a variety of meat and cheese. Before I could answer someone s question as to why we were making Empanadas as opposed to just going somewhere to buy donuts, one of the youth responded, Because Empanadas are like comfort food for those who will be eating them. I couldn t have said it better myself! Care packages of hand-knitted scarves and hats along with a variety of toiletries were also assembled. Included in each care package was a card in Spanish that provided contact information to The Workplace Project and Unity Housecleaners who help victims of harassment, wage theft and injuries on the job who are unable to advocate for themselves. The next morning the youth, along with their parents, arrived at the church before the sun touched the sky, around 5 a.m. We warmed the food, put breakfast/lunch sacks together and headed out in a caravan of cars to distribute the food and care packages to Day Laborers who were gathering in Westbury looking for jobs for the day. The recipients were grateful and showed t h e i r appreciation with big smiles as well as digging into the food a l m o s t immediately! The youth who made the effort to get up at what some consider an ungodly hour to catch these men before they were snatched up for the day on jobs, felt great pride in reaching out with not only gifts, but also with loving hearts in the name of God. Those receiving this love offering are so often forgotten and disregarded, but on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which several years ago was also deemed the National Day of Service, these Day Laborers felt the warmth of compassion and love extended to them by our youth. A special thanks goes to Martha and B.J. Worsham for their leadership along with Lori Monaco who coordinated the event with the interfaith families. Thank you to Rev. James who had a hot breakfast waiting for the participants when they returned. We also thank the parents and youth that participated. You all helped fulfill the Great Command that we are to love our neighbor as ourself. Way to go! Photos by Heidi Hunt.

4 Classis Assessment 2014 Dear Members of the Brookville Church Family, For the past several years we have asked each member of the church to consider paying his or her share of the item in our budget called Classis Assessment. What is the classis assessment? The assessment is a per capita levy made annually, upon each church in the Reformed Church in America, which is used to carry out the administrative work of the denomination. This includes the administrative work of the General Synod, The Regional Synod of New York, and the Classis of Nassau/Suffolk. The assessment is based on the figure that the church reports as Active members. The total assessment for our church this year is $4, The amount per church member is $ If each of us pays this amount, it will be a big help toward meeting our own local budget. Enclosed with this newsletter is a form on which you may indicate the amount which you would like to enclose for the confirmed members of your family. (For those who are receiving the newsletter via , please print and cut out the form below to mail in with your payment.) Please return it to the church office at your earliest convenience. Checks should be made out to the Brookville Reformed Church. Thank you for your consideration. Rev. Vicky L. Eastland, on behalf of the Consistory. # Classis Assessment 2014 Please send to the Church Office at: The Brookville Church 2 Brookville Road, Brookville, NY Enclosed please find $ to pay the Classis Assessment for the communicant members of our family listed below, at $ per member. Signature: MEMBERS: In Memory of Charlie Buchan Our congregation is saddened by the loss of Charles T. Buchan, age 90, of Glen Head, who passed peacefully on January 14, He was the beloved husband of the late Isabelle; the loving father of Leslie Marentis (Steven), and Cameron (Deborah); cherished grandfather of Alexander, Mitchell and Phillip; dear brother of David (Barbara) and brother-in-law of Edward Teddy Butt. Charlie graduated from Hicksville High School and of the Roosevelt Aviation School, Roosevelt Field. He was employed by Pan-American Airways for almost 40 years as one of the unit production managers in aircraft maintenance. His job, along with the crew he supervised, was to check every plane when it landed. Then he had to okay it to go out again. The crews he supervised described him as the best boss they ever had and that he excelled greatly at what he did. Turning a 747 around, getting it ready for its next flight required a lot of work. But Charlie was quoted as saying, It s not work. It s a labor of love. Retiring early from the declining Pan-Am, he later found a new home at Friends Academy, where he worked for over 15 years in the mailroom. He was well loved at Friends Academy by both teachers and students; playing Santa Claus every year, earning his own parking spot, and having a yearbook codedicated to him. He was so loved by the ladies who worked there that they were lovingly called: Charlie s Angels. All of this displayed Charlie s character and how well liked and respected he was. Charlie and Isabelle met at the Brookville Reformed Church as they both attended Sunday school and then youth group. They wed on June 2, 1951 in the Old Dutch Reformed Church, Oyster Bay (as our church was referred to then). The Rev. J. Stanley Addis officiated at the ceremony which was followed by a reception at the Pelican Club in Locust Valley. Isabelle and Charlie bought a house in Glen Cove (later moving to Glen Head) and raised two beautiful children. Charlie maintained a faithful presence in the church being an active member of the prayer team and serving on the Consistory, until the very end. He was known to train new elders in the ways of preparing and serving Communion, not out of necessity, but out of love and kindness. Charlie was a dedicated worker and always put everyone ahead of himself. He remained committed, faithful and long serving in all that he did. In addition, he had a great sense of humor and kidding nature. He loved and was loved by so many! He now joins his beloved wife of 61 years. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

5 Reflections Reflections Every day we are given opportunities, some of us see them and some are too busy to notice. ~ Rachel Birmingham I am not aware of that opportunity, was my answer in my senior year when the high school counselor suggested that West Point should be considered as a college to attend. The counselor knew I was one of the top students in my class and I was not aware of that until graduation week in May, which was the same time that I received an Appointment to the Academy. That was when awareness first became understanding. When I arrived at West Point I encountered really smart students and talented athletes who all seemed to excel without effort, abilities this small town Minnesota boy was not aware of. For four years the Academy took charge of us as the Administration, the Academic and the Tactics Departments wrote the script that we followed. What happened in the world we had left were things we would not be aware of until after Graduation Week. From then on awareness of events happening nearby and far away became meaningful as they entered life s realm. Awareness has many layers that have to be peeled away like a banana skin, revealing something that is new, useful and often delightful. Marriage, family, community, employment everything in its own time all contribute to helping strip away layers. Piece by piece, awareness will fill a lifetime of learning. I was thinking of this recently when confronted by the reality of the world of our grandchildren. Nancy was given a new smart phone for her birthday or Christmas or our anniversary (they all happen within thirteen days) and it was smarter than Nancy or me. So Sarah, a bright fourteen, came to the rescue. She understands modern devices and was aware she could help us. I am aware that Sarah has begun to see the world in a way neither of us can imagine; marvels that do not yet exist will enter her awareness in their own time. A poignant situation came to mind recently when the search for a missing autistic boy in Queens ended so sadly. Autism was another layer that has been peeled away in our home in a couple of ways. First there is Ben and the Denison family. We see them at church and church functions and have just a small understanding of the challenges. I never experienced anything about autism until we all did together getting to know about Ben. There must be others of you whose awareness has been heightened by Ben and his parents. The second boy is Rafael, who came with his parents to live in our cottage about five or six years ago. Our grandchildren have grown up observing how Rafael has not grown up. They have often all bounced on the trampoline together, but that is not quite right he bounces at the same time, but he is not with them. As the children grow up they will always have a better understanding of autism and its affect on families and individuals; they will intuitively know there is more than just the things seen. And I am aware that there are mysteries in life that have yet to be peeled away. Branch Worsham End Word: You don t have a soul, Doctor, you are a soul. You have a body, temporarily. ~ Walter M. Miller, Jr. In the book of life, the answers aren t in the back. ~ Charlie Brown Cut my pie into four pieces, I don t think I can eat eight. ~ Yogi Berra Missin Kissin? Perhaps your thrush Can t get through The underbrush try

6 The Sultanate of Oman 2014 Join Rev. Vicky and others from the Reformed Church in America for a ten-day trip, October 8 18, 2014, to the beautiful country of Oman. Hosted by the Al Amana Centre in Muscat, Oman, an RCA ministry where our newest mission partner, Rev. Justin Meyers, is the new Director of Education. The centre works internationally to foster understanding, acceptance, trust and peace between Muslims and Christians. The capital city, Muscat, will be our home as we immerse ourselves in the beauty of the land and its people, culture and lifestyle: attending seminars and lectures, visiting historic towns and a Bedouin campsite, exploring, shopping, dining, volunteering at a local charity, and taking a sunset coastline cruise. Join us for this once-in-a-lifetime journey as we open our hearts and minds to a magnificent country and people, shed our false stereotypes, and build deeper respect for Christian - Muslim relations. Should you have any questions or desire more information about this opportunity please contact Lesley Mazzotta, Director of Spiritual Formation at Community Reformed Church - Manhasset, at or lesleymazzotta@gmail.com The Way ~ Movie Study Written/Directed/Produced By: Emilio Estevez Starring: Martin Sheen, Emilio s real-life Father Movie Study: Thursdays, beginning March 6 - April 10 Where: Home of Revs. James and Vicky Eastland 171 Glen Ave. Sea Cliff, Time: 7:30-9:00 p.m. Week 1-7:00-9:30 p.m. ~ movie viewing Why: Who: To explore the spiritual themes in this inspirational story about family, friends and the challenges we face while navigating this ever-changing world in which we live. Any adult looking for connection with others and wanting deeper meaning in their life. To sign up, please contact Rev. Vicky. From their recent trip to Oman! This photo of Rev. Justin Meyers and his family was taken in front of the Protestant Church where we attended the worship service on Nov. 22, There was a band and a lot of praise music - an uplifting service! ~ Helen & Art Hessinger (former members of Brookville Church) Synopsis: Tom is an irascible American doctor who comes to France to deal with the tragic loss of his son. He decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage The Way of St. James to honor his son s desire to finish the journey. What Tom doesn t plan on is the profound impact this trip will have on him. Through unexpected and amusing experiences along The Way, Tom discovers that life is about the journey.