More from the Retreat

Linda's remembrances of the Retreat weekend (from the Church's weekly eNewsletter):

“Joshua Generation” 2^nd Annual Church-Wide Retreat. Thanks to all of you who organized and attended this past retreat. Special thanks to Chris, Emily, Linda, and Rev. Beth. All reports are that it was an awesome time for all. Here are some remembrances of the “winter weekend” from Linda:

 

* The hill below the Phoenix covered with parents and children laughing and yelling

* The Phoenix at 10 pm on Saturday with children laughing and screaming

* The quiet of the Phoenix after the children left to go to the bowling center

* Naya's concern about someone who had fallen off the sled and was "resting" -- "Are you OK?"    "Are you OK?"

* Ivy reminding us that a ghost in the basement didn't scare her

* The awe when the children saw turkey and deer

* Every radiator used to dry the snowpants, hats and gloves

* Jim and Chris comparing ghost stories

Emily and I feel that there was mostly the great feeling of connectedness, with conversations in the kitchen and around the table, with kids playing together, with kids and adults playing together, with kids and adults working together!   -- Linda

Winter Retreat 2009

This past weekend was the 2nd Annual "All Church Retreat".  I don't know what the actual count of participants was, but I do know that at dinner on Saturday we had 51 dinner plates counted out, and all but about 5 of them were used!

The retreat theme was "The Joshua Generation" and the tone-setting theme was based on a premise very close to a sermon preached by Rev. Beth's husband. I'll let you read (or listen) to it and find the connection to both America on the weekend of January 16-19, 2009 and to First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn at this time in our search for an installed Pastor.

The retreat was held at The Grail at Cornwall-on-Hudson in the lower Hudson valley.  Nature was on our side for some fun outdoor winter activities, and a fresh blanket of snow fell Saturday night for some fresh sledding on Sunday!

We overflowed the The Phoenix and sent (what turned out to be) the Holy Rollers bocce players next door to Jogues Retreat.  This was nice because the Carriage House was also a good location for the Confirmation class to meet Saturday evening.

The Confirmation Class met for 3 sessions; each morning there was a fire-side meditation lead by a member of the Many Mansions ministry; communal Hymn singing and prayers in the evening; Saturday afternoon a group visited the Nature Center; and there was GREAT food, sledding and tobogganing a' plenty!

Confirmation Class talked and learned about the Story of Joseph, Brokenness, and started getting to know Jesus a bit better, too.

More photos are on Facebook...

Would you make a TXT donation for Hunger?

Shamelessly lifted directly from http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/01/ill-text-for-fo.html at the suggestion of Rev. Beth and Lynn...

I'll Text for Food

Photo by Joi


No, I'm not talking about texting in your take out order.  I'm talking about No Kid Hungry Text Donation and Canned Food Campaign just launched by Share Our Strength.

Hunger is a serious issue in America, especially in these hard times.  Bloggers have helped raised awareness of this important issue.  Amy Sherman, who does the Cooking With Amy blog, participated in the Hunger Challenge along with several Bay Area food bloggers, including The Kitchn, Tablehopper, Alanna Kellogg, Blog Appetit and The Inadvertent Gardener who  documented their experiences of living on $21 a week (a typical Food Stamp allotment).

Tyson Foods has perfected a social media strategy that leverages blog comments for food donations as noted on the Fast Company blog,part of its innovative giving series.  They are currently running a comments for food donation campaign for New York City Food Pantries.

And now, we have a Text for Food, or rather Text Donations for Food Campaign from Share Our Strength.  President-elect Obama pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015 during his presidential campaign. He has also called for a national day of service on January 19, Martin Luther King Day.  In response, Share Our Strength is asking people to send a text donation and hold food drives to help feed those in need. Food pantries and food banks especially need foods rich in protein, such as peanut butter and canned tuna, chicken, and salmon. 

Between now and March 1, subscribers of all major wireless carriers can donate $5 to Share Our Strength by text messaging “SHARE” to 20222. AT&T will match donations up to $100,000. Share Our Strength is the leading national organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America.

So, why not organize a food drive in your neighborhood, organization, or social media meet up? Or write a blog post likeChris Brogan and start retweeting it!

If you're looking for more expert advice on how to plan and implement a mobile phone fundraising campaign, see Mobile Active's Mobile Phones in Fundraising Guide.

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Organ Recital II - Dec 14, 2008

Back on December 14th was a second Organ Recital, or in this case "come up to the organ loft for a sing-a-long of Christmas songs, learn about the organ, and please ... play with it!"  Once again, at least 2 non-members saw it on the street and came in!

If you weren't there, you missed a good time!  Wil really wants everyone to have the experience of making music on the Organ.  Ask him some time!

The (small) photo album is here.

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.