Christian Formation Winter/Spring 2013 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22: 37, 39
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Christian Formation The development of a mature Christian faith does not happen accidentally, that is, without intention and commitment. It is prompted by the Holy Spirit, nurtured through: contemplative practices (such as prayer, meditation, fasting and spiritual direction); communal practices (such as worship, Bible Study, small groups, and fellowship); and missional practices (such as service, advocacy, giving, showing hospitality) Over time, through these practices, the Holy Spirit guides us to become more like Jesus. Here at West Side, we are offering the following opportunities this fall to support your spiritual growth. If you have questions about any of this, please contact: Rev. Marc Oehler, 201-652-1966, ext. 18, or moehler@westside.org; or Carol Walton, 201-652-1966, ext. 11, or cwalton@westside.org The list of offerings continues to grow, so please check the weekly newsletter and website for updates. *Denotes childcare provided for pre-school children in the West Side Nursery. CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES Meetings scheduled by mutual agreement Group Spiritual Direction: If you are interested in learning about how to be more attentive and responsive to the Holy Spirit in a small group setting, please see Rev. Marc Oehler. Wednesdays 7:30 PM Through May 14, 2014 Contemplative Worship in the Pulsifer Chapel is a time of prayer, silence, simple music and quiet contemplation. 1st Wednesday: Wholeness Service; 2nd and 4th: Taizé; 3rd: Silent. (continued on page 4) 3
CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES (continued) Wednesdays in Lent Orientation: Sunday, March 2 11:30 AM in Room 303 Lenten Fasting Group: Join a group which will fast each Wednesday during Lent, donate money saved to fight hunger, and share their reflections with a virtual community. Throughout Lent On-line Lenten Devotional: Pastor Marc will share daily reflections during Lent on the West Side Lenten Devotional Facebook page. Please "like" the page or send an email to Marc (moehler@westside.org) so that you will receive the daily reflections. We encourage you to commit to your own, personal contemplative practices. We also weave them into many of our group offerings, such as devotionals, retreats, and book and Bible studies. Communal PRACTICES There are many opportunities to nourish your faith through worship, study and fellowship with members of this faith community. WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Sundays 8:45 AM Sundays 10:00 AM Sundays 6:00 PM Wednesdays 7:30 PM beginning October 2, 2013 Wednesday, March 5, 2014 Sunday, March 9, 2104 1st Sunday in Lent 10:00 AM *Communion Chapel Service: A 45-minute weekly service in the Pulsifer Chapel which includes Holy Communion. Sunday School available for Pre-K through 5th grade (excused from chapel) *Traditional Service: One Sunday each month is set aside for Family Worship, a service designed with children in mind. The Chancel Choir sings most Sundays, and the children s and youth choirs sing on most Family Worship Sundays. Sunday School is available for Pre-K through grade 7; children are excused following the Children s Message. Foundation: an informal and interactive contemporary worship experience for all ages. Music led by Steve DeMott. Come as you are, leave inspired! Contemplative Worship: See Contemplative Practices. Ash Wednesday Worship 7:30 PM with Imposition of Ashes The Peaceable Kingdom by Randall Thompson will be presented by the West Side Chamber Singers during the 10:00 AM service as West Side enters the season of Lent. 4
Sunday, April 13, 2014 Thursday, April 17, 2014 Friday, April 18, 2014 Saturday, April 19, 2014 5:00 PM Sunday, April 20, 2014 8:45 AM and 11:15 AM Palm/Passion Sunday Worship: 8:45 AM Chapel Communion 10:00 AM Family Worship, with Carol, Chapel, Covenant, John Knox and Chancel choirs singing 6:00 PM Foundation Maundy Thursday Worship 7:30 PM with Holy Communion, Senior High Choir singing Good Friday Worship Services: 1:00 PM Prayer Service, Chapel 8:00 PM Service of Tenebrae Chancel, Chapel, Covenant, John Knox Choirs and Senior High Choir trebles singing Holy Saturday Worship Service: Foundation Easter Worship in DePhillips Hall Easter Sunday Worship Services: Festival Worship with Chancel and Senior High Choirs singing No Chapel Service No Foundation Service (held Saturday instead) SMALL AND LARGE GROUP OPPORTUNTIES Sunday Morning Groups: Throughout the program year there are both ongoing and limited session adult groups which meet on Sunday mornings. The primary session is 9:00-9:50 AM (child care for preschool children and Sunday School for up to grade 5 provided). Times and locations are indicated, but occasionally there are changes, so please check the announcements and calendar for updates. Weekly 9:00 AM, Room 303 Weekly 9:00 AM, Room 308 Weekly 9:00 AM, West Side Room *The Relationship Series: Leaders: Randy and Sharon Ruger, Ray and Adriana Milazzo. What's So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey. In this small group series, award-winning author Philip Yancey offers intimate glimpses of God s life-changing grace. New members are welcome. *Faith and Life: Leader: Mark Babunovic. A weekly roundtable examining our faith in daily life. No preparation required. Come when you can. A new subject every week. Generally we listen to a 15 minute excerpt from On Being, an award-winning NPR weekly radio broadcast, and dive into our responses to it. Great community and great fun. You are welcome to join anytime. *Adult Bible Study: Leaders: Robert and Ani Chalemian. Study of the New Testament book of Revelation: The End...Is the Beginning. 5
SMALL AND LARGE GROUP OPPORTUNTIES (continued) Groups at Other Times: February 18-April 29 Tuesdays 7:30-8:30 AM, Room 303 January 15-March 12 Wednesdays 9:00-10:30 AM Saturday, March 1, May 3, June 7 6:00-9:00 PM Tuesday Book Study: Join Pastor Marc and a committed group of every Tuesday at 7:30AM in Room 303 and we will begin our next book, Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps by Richard Rohr. Wednesday Book Study: Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan #1 New York Times Bestseller Seeing I -to-i with Gareth Icenogle and John Ianacone. Come and participate in a thoughtful conversation about a controversial book. Copies of the book are through Carol Walton in the church office. *Adult Night Out provides an opportunity for adults to share fellowship at a member s home. At the same time: Kid s Club, child care, a snack, and activities provided for a nominal fee of $15 per child, maximum of $30 per family. Group Opportunities for Women: Tuesdays 10:00 AM 12:00 PM 1st and 3rd Wednesdays 6:00-7:30 PM OR 1st and 3rd Thursdays 10:00-11:30 AM April 4-6, 2014 Stony Point, NY Feisty Ladies: This group meets to work on a variety of projects, and to share a meal together. They do a lot of crocheting, knitting, including afghans, prayer shawls and baby blankets for West Side members and their families, as well as caps for newborns at Valley. Food for Your Soul: Rev. Liz Junod will lead an 8-session series on the book Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, beginning on March 5. Women s Spring Retreat: The spring retreat will be led by Rev. Liz Junod, and based on the book Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. Group Opportunities for Men: March 2, 2014 8:30 AM, DePhillips Hall Men s Breakfast: Speaker: Richard Ostling, whose background includes covering religion for The Associated Press, Time magazine, CBS Radio and PBS. Topic: The State of Religion in America. 6
April 25-27, 2014 Stony Point, NY Participants will have two options: 1) Friday, 6:00 PM Saturday, 4:00 PM (one night), or 2) Friday, 6:00 PM Sunday, 7:00 AM (two nights). The second option is for those who would like to have a deeper experience of solitude and community. MUSIC & DRAMA OPPORTUNTIES Men s Retreat: Led by Rev. Marc Oehler. Theme: Growth Investing, based on the teachings of Jesus and Paul, and drawing upon Richard Rohr's Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. Growth investing is a style of investment strategy where one invests in companies that exhibit signs of above-average growth, even if the share price appears expensive, there are short term risks, and other investors are staying away from it. There comes a point in each of our lives, typically after we've experienced some loss, failure, falling, wounding, where we are invited and challenged to invest in God's vision for life and our lives. Jesus describes this as the seed falling into the earth and dying in order to bear fruit or losing your life in order to find it. Rohr describes this as the shift from building a strong container to exploring the contents the container is meant to hold. Pastor Marc will explore with us the mysterious secrets awaiting those who invest less in life's containers and more in the contents those containers were meant to hold. Ongoing Sunday, March 9, 2014 4:00 PM Sunday, April 6, 2014 5th Sunday in Lent 4:00 PM Sunday, May 4, 2014 4:00 PM Sunday, May 18, 2014 4:00 PM Sunday, June 1, 2014 10:00 AM Service 3:00 PM Concert West Side s Choirs: Adults have the opportunity to sing in the Chancel and Oratorio choirs. See Music at West Side for details. West Side Concert Series: Anna Selest, piano: for more information, visit www.westsideconcerts.org. West Side Concert Series: West Side Oratorio Choir and Orchestra, under the direction of Joanne Harris Rodland, and joined by the North Jersey Home Schoolers Association Chorale, under the direction of Beth Prins, will be presenting a special Choral Masterworks program, featuring pieces by Bach, Brahms, Duruflé, Fauré, and Mendelssohn. West Side Concert Series: Palisades Virtuosi: for more information, visit www.westsideconcerts.org. Community Hymn Festival to benefit the John R. Rodland scholarship for church music. The featured organist is the winner of this year s scholarship competition. Celebratory Worship Service and An Afternoon of Music in Honor of Joanne Harris Rodland: Joanne Harris Rodland is retiring after 45 years as West Side s Minister of Music. The 10:00 AM service will feature the Chancel and Senior High Choirs supplemented by Alumni. Then there will be a special concert at 3:00 PM that day to conclude the festivities! 7
OTHER CONGREGATIONAL Opportunities Ongoing Prayer Ministry During Lent Prayer Requests: Members are invited to share prayer concerns on the yellow prayer pew cards. Prayer Circle: meets immediately after the postlude after the 10:00 AM service in the West Side Room. We gather to pray over the concerns shared in worship that Sunday. All are welcome to join us for this brief and meaningful opportunity. Cents-Ability Program: Program to heighten awareness of hunger and highlight simple things all of us can do to help. Families are asked to put two cents (or more) into their Cents-Ability container at each meal and to say a prayer together to end hunger. Pennies will be dedicated on Palm Sunday, April 13th during worship. MISSIONAL PRACTICES Ongoing West Side Food Ministry: Each Sunday, non-perishable food items may be brought to the bins located in the church vestibule. They are delivered to local food pantries. Week of April 27-May 4 and Week of May 25-June 1 Family Promise: West Side provides temporary housing for 1-3 families for one week. Volunteers will be needed to make meals and host evening and overnight shifts. March 23-29 (Waiting list only) March 22 Sunday, May 4 1:00-3:00 PM Mission Trip to Haiti: A group from West Side will travel to Free The Kids (formerly Hope House) in Haiti, Father Marc s school for orphaned or abandoned children, to provide medical, dental and construction services in early 2014. Watch for details! Eva s Kitchen: The Men's Ministry will be serving food at Eva's Kitchen in Paterson. Needed: 10 volunteers about 10:30-1:00 PM. Minimum age: 16. Questions? Contact Michael Holt (mjholt9@gmail.com or 201-389-6099) or Marc Oehler (moehler@westside.org or church, ext. 18). Contact Carol Walton (cwalton@westside.org or church, ext. 11) to sign up. Trip to Serve at Community Food Bank in Hillside. Ages 6 and up. The West Side Presbyterian Church Varian Fry Way, 6 South Monroe Street, Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450 Website: www.westside.org Phone: 201-652-1966 8