84th Precinct Appreciation

Sunday February 22 was the 15th (or 16th, depending on the source you believe) appreciation Sunday for the local Brooklyn Heights 84th Precinct of the NYPD.  We had a great turnout of uniformed officers, and a few local politicians even participated in the worship service.

Lily sang, Connor greeted/ushered, and many others helped with setup, cooking, cleanup, or in worship.

I (Mark) was helping greet and usher for most of the service, so I didn't get too many pictures, but here are the few I did.

2009-02-22 Police Appreciation

You'll notice all the various arrangements of mini M&M candies.  That was Lily's work after worship and during the luncheon.  From the right angle, you can see that they were a bouquet of little flowers with (mostly) yellow candies in the center.

A good time was had, and plentiful amounts of food were consumed.  Many beaming officers said a sincere "Thank You" on their way out - it was nice.

More Retreat Photos

Did I mention before that there was sledding and a toboggan?  The field in front of the Phoenix house made for a good place for snowy fun!

Winter Retreat 2009

Click the photo to see the full album...

(Thanks to Eddie and Elizabeth's Dad for all these great photos!)

Interested in Public Policy?

From the Presbytery of New York City's Youth Coordinator:

Please send to students you know who may want to participate in this enlightening educational opportunity.

For young people w/interest in Public Policy... "Pages are needed to serve in President's Obama's Administration." [ed. which I don't get, because the Pages are in Congress not the White House - but close enough for government work, right?]

Pages must be 16 years old with 3.0 GPA

http://pageprogram.house.gov

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...