News
We also have a news section dedicated to Youth Group News.
SPC Certified as an Earth Care Congregation by PC(USA)
This summer SPC has been honored with two awards that bear testimony to our commitment to Environmental Stewardship. On July 1, we were among the first churches in the country to be certified an Earth Care Congregation by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Environmental Ministries. This is a new initiative designed to recognize churches that make the commitment to take seriously God's charge to "till and keep" the garden. To qualify, we affirmed the integration of environmental practices and thinking in the fields of worship (liturgy and music that celebrate and respect God's creation, use of reusable or recycled materials), education (adult ed. classes, Environmental Fair), facilities management (improvements in energy use, recycling program, etc.), and outreach (Environmental Fair, projects supported with mission and outreach funds). For more details, visit www.pcusa.org/environment. Our challenge now is build on the successes of recent years and the Environmental Stewardship Task Force, chaired by Virginia Thompson, is eager for some additional members to support these efforts. Projects include planning another Enviro Fair, working on a service project to help one of our outreach partners become more energy efficient, planning classes for adults and children, and more. We welcome new ideas and thrive on seeing each person’s energies used effectively. Please be in touch with Virginia Thompson (members directory - requires login) or Jeff Darlin (SPC x.112 or spcfacilities@swarthmorepres.org) if you might be interested.
Noah's Ark Comes to Life in McCahan Hall
For many weeks our Children's Ministry team has been hard at work planning a summer project that might transform the drab corridor of our children's church school into colorful and welcoming place, and as you can see by the pictures below, the vision is now a reality. Spearheaded by our C.E. committee chair Doug McCullough and supported by a children's ministry committee that includes graphic artist Cherilyn Scanlon, this has been such an organized effort behind the scenes that in three short Sunday afternoons (possibly the hottest 3 Sundays of the summer!!) children and parents designed, painted, and applied colorful pairs of animals from land, sea, and air to the walls of this formerly dreary space. Boatloads of thanks to all who participated in this effort!
Mural in McCahan Hall
Report from Session - Please welcome Betsy Larsen to the SPC Staff!
The Personnel Committee has been quite busy this year addressing Eve Welden’s retirement. The candidate chosen to take Eve's place as Finance Manager was Jennifer Vincent. Jen assumed these duties at the beginning of June and the committee began in earnest to seek candidates for the Finance Coordinator position that became vacant when Jennifer was promoted. At this week's July meeting of Session Personnel reported that they had interviewed four applicants and had a recommendation.
We are pleased to report that Session unanimously approved the recommendation that Betsy Larsen be hired as our new Finance Coordinator. Betsy impressed the interviewers both with her abilities to handle the careful record keeping involved and with the interpersonal skills that will allow her to do so with confidentiality and grace. Betsy and her husband Randy joined SPC in May 2009. They and their two young sons, Evan(3) and Carter(7) live on Bryn Mawr Avenue in Swarthmore. We welcome Betsy to the SPC staff beginning the week of July 19. In her role as Finance Coordinator, Betsy will be the person who pays our bills, processes your offerings, acknowledges memorial gift contributions, and deals with a myriad of related details. On behalf of Session we extend to her a warm welcome and the full support of both the church staff and all church members. You will be able to reach Betsy through the church office at extension 120 or by email at spcoffice@swarthmorepres.org.
Ellen Kecskemethy Serving at General Assembly this summer!
Useful Links to GA News
It is not often that someone from SPC has served as a delegate at the national level of Presbyterian government, but with
a motivated and capable person like Ellen Kecskemethy pursuing the possibility, it can happen. In fact, it is happening!
In her words:
“In 2007, I attended the Presbyterian Youth Triennium. It proved to be an incredible experience, one that only whetted my
appetite for more delightful Presbyterian conferences. It was my experience with Triennium that led me (at John Weicher’s urging) to apply to be this year’s Young Adult Advisory Delegate for the Presbytery of Philadelphia to the Presbyterian General Assembly. Every presbytery in the country is allowed to send one YAAD to General Assembly (which this year is taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota). A YAAD serves to act as a voice for the younger generation of Presbyterians at General Assembly; this is not attendance at a youth conference. YAADs are full participants in the General Assembly meeting, responsible for becoming familiar with the business coming before it and taking part in the deliberations. They are seated with the presbytery commissioners in the plenary sessions, and are assigned to assembly committees. YAADs have voice in plenary sessions, and vote in their committees. Well, I applied early this year and was selected to be the 2010 YAAD for the Presbytery of Philadelphia. On July 1st, I will depart for Minneapolis for a 10-day, intensive, as-Presbyterian-as-you-can-get experience at the 219th General Assembly, hoping above all to represent my Presbytery and SPC well. I look forward to having a voice in the decisions of the Presbyterian Church as a whole and sharing my experience with my SPC family.”
You can read a little about Ellen's experience on the blog she has created:philadelphiayaad.wordpress.com.
Plans for an in-person report sometime this fall are also being made. The more official new can be found on the PC (USA) website devoted exclusively to GA: ga219.pcusa.org. There is a good summary by our recently elected new Moderator, Cynthia Bolbach and the Stated Clerk, Rev. Gradye Parsons, as well as useful links to FAQs on several main issues brought to GA
here: letter from Moderator and Clerk.
IHN Offers Food and Shelter to Local Families
June 13 - June 27
From June 13 through June 27 SPC members and friends had an opportunity to meet and host some extraordinary women and their children as the reassemble their lives. No sudden force of nature had ripped these people from their homes; these are the families living through the disaster we read about every time we see the unemployment numbers in the headlines. The slow weary news for most of them is that they can not pay rent, have lost their car, have little or no health insurance, food, or shelter. So for 2 weeks we fed and sheltered, listened and entertained, in the weeks following have prayed and hoped for these families. Many volunteers from SPC, Swarthmore United Methodist, friends of friends and the IHN Delco staff provided help.
And we rejoice in the accomplishments that we witnessed:
Brittany's interview: someone listened when she heard Brittany worry about how to look neat during here upcoming interview and the next day an ironing board & iron appeared! Having freshly ironed clothes helped give her the confidence she needed to get the job! Brittany is still with IHN saving her money to find a permanent place for her and her children.
Ashley's day care: finding day care for her lovely girls was big challenge for her and she did it! The helping hands that washed her children's clothes mid week made her proud of how good they looked the first day at the new day care.
April's recognition: her apology for not taking responsibility when she should have is an important first step.
Danielle's first steps: Danielle joined the program during SPC time of hosting - she works shifts at McDonald's, sometimes many late hours.
So after 14 delicious dinners, 14 warm summer days and nights (in church school classrooms that lack A/C), a barrel full of clean clothes delivered; 4 mothers and 8 children have made a little progress in a difficult world and under difficult situations.
Praise be to God!
Middle School Youth Spend a Week of Service and Fellowship in Atlanta, Georgia
June 27 - July 3
Visit the Mission Possible page for a slideshow!
At the end of June 8 SPC youth and 3 adult advisors traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to join forces with youth from 4 other churches that shared a common goal: reaching out to neighbors and getting to know some new friends. Emma Salsbury, a 2nd year veteran of this mission experience, reports: “What is one of the most fun trips that anyone in Middle School can go on over the summer? That’s easy: Mission Possible! Mission Possible is where kids can go to help others in need. From packaging pieces of rice for the hungry to weeding at a thrift store to delivering hot meals to hospice patients at their homes, God was with us, keeping us safe as well as those we were helping. But that’s not the best part about Mission Possible. The best part is meeting everyone from the four other churches that also came to continue God’s mission of helping others. In MP5, we did other fun things: we went to a pool, played in an amazing fountain, and even went to an Atlanta Braves game! Of course, that was all in Atlanta. Next year, Mission Possible 6 will be held here, right at our church. Even if we don’t know who we are helping, God knows, and He will always help us on our journey to help others.” Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
Celebrating 20 Years of Service to the Food Pantry at Chester Eastside Ministries
Thank You, Jane!
Most of the time you rush right past it on your way in or out of the sanctuary, over to fellowship or down the hall to choir or church school. But in the corner of your eye you can probably picture the display and accompanying bin that is often filled to overflowing with boxes, bags, and cans of food donated by church members to the food pantry at Chester Eastside Ministries.
Have you ever wondered what happens to this pile of groceries between Sundays? The answer is very simple - for the procedure has been the same for close to 20 years. In fact if you have paused there at the right time, you may have overheard longtime member Jane Fox stop the church secretary in her tracks to assure her that she will be here on Tuesday. Most Tuesday mornings since 1979 - ever since she retired from her full time job as a local librarian and started asking where she might be of help now that she “had a little time,” Jane has opened her trunk and come in to the church to collect our contributions. And every Friday morning - almost without exception - she has faithfully driven to CEM, where she unloads all that she picked up on Tuesday and then stays to distribute bags of food and chat with the recipients to whom these meager supplies are often a lifeline. On the holiday Fridays when even CEM is closed, she frets over whether there will be enough on the shelves for all who are waiting and hungry the following week. All told, there are generally 4 women who volunteer their Friday mornings in this capacity - Jane, Nancy Fritz (whom Jane convinced to “give it a try” about a decade ago), a woman from Wayne Pres., and a woman from Wallingford. Any one of them can tell you story after story of heartbreak, desperation, and the immeasurable value of serving. What the Hunger Task Force can tell you is that Jane is retiring again and we are grateful beyond measure for her years of service and the commitment they represent.
Broad Street Menders Serve Once a Month
For information, contact Barb Lappen (SPC directory - login required)
You may remember that several months ago we put out a plea for volunteers willing to apply their sewing skills to the mending needed at Broad Street Ministry. We are now delighted to report on the response. SPC is now home base for a group of
eight women who hop on the train in Swarthmore Thursday mornings at 9:08, journey to Suburban station in Philadelphia, and walk to the old Chambers Wylie Memorial Presbyterian Church where Broad Street Ministry is located. Once there, they set
up shop for the morning. The work is mending clothing for homeless people who have come to Broad Street Ministry for the “Breaking Bread” lunch held every Thursday at 11:30. They unpack sewing notions, an ironing board and iron, and donated sewing machines. The menders work across from the clothing closet so there is constant business swirling around them. In the two months since this began they have mended 59 items of clothing and served 39 people who have come seeking buttons, patches, rips repaired, zippers replaced, and pants shortened. You name it, they’ve probably repaired it! They are fast workers. By the time the “guests” have finished lunch, menders bring their repaired garment out to them. Their faces light up; their gratitude is effusive! At Broad Street Ministry every Thursday homeless men and women can get a haircut, receive mail, get advice about Social Security, pick up a new pair of already broken-in jeans, work on an art project, have a consult with a nurse and -now- get their clothes mended. Broad Street Menders are: Jean Black (from Lieper Presbyterian Church),
Sherry Carson, Dorothy Gelb, Margaret Hoch, Martha Huggins, Barb Lappen, Lauretta Sharrett, and Helga Wells. Jody Dagle is a “remote” mender who has put together sewing kits for us to give out to those who seem interested. We can always use
sewing notions — especially press-on patches — simply leave them in the church office at your convenience. And please talk to any of the menders if you want to know more or want to join in us. We work and travel in pairs and we will be needing more menders by August. Sewing skills required are minimal.
First SPC Environmental Fair held Saturday, April 24
Visit the Environmental Stewardship page for links to useful websites and a slideshow of the event.
Just after Earth Day, Swarthmore Presbyterian Church hosted an event designed to make it easier for Swarthmore and the larger community to fulfill this year's resolutions of going green. The Environmental Fair on Saturday, April 24 welcomed church and community members of all ages to attend speakers’ presentations, exhibits, and hands-on activities throughout the day. Scholars and experts discussed the theological aspects of sustainability, environmental policy and planning issues. Manufacturers and installers demonstrated new and effective green technology and offered individual consultations.
SPC has become a leader in sustainability among houses of worship over the past few years. SPC Facilities Manager Jeff Darlin spearheaded the effort to analyze the church’s physical plant and programs, with an eye toward reducing energy usage and economizing. Last year, the efforts were validated as SPC was recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of just four Energy Star congregations nationwide. Darlin and SPC Member Virginia Thompson, who works in the Office of Environmental Innovation at the EPA, coordinated the event.
SPC Named 2009 ENERGY STAR Congregations Award Winner!
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has named SPC as one of four winners of the 2009 ENERGY STAR Congregations Awards -- in fact the only Presbyterian church to be so named! From simple behavior changes like closing doors and using the "off" switch conscientiously to the constant additions of weatherstripping and improvements to insulation that we have seen recently to major projects like the replacement last fall of two steam boilers with energy-efficent steam radiators, our efforts - led by Facilities Manager, Jeff Darlin - have greatly reduced SPC's carbon footprint. Details on these efforts, as well as those of other winners, can be found on the Energy Star website.