Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
-Luke 11:11-12
The connection between this verse and this month's article is nonexistent, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about Easter traditions and it's the only time Jesus mentions eggs.
There are a lot of claims put forth regarding where certain Resurrection Sunday traditions find their origins, and I'm sometimes surprised by how many lifelong church going Christians are unfamiliar with the religious significance of certain holiday symbols, so I thought I'd share two of them here.
Bunnies. You'll hear a lot of people insisting that bunnies come from being a symbol of this or that "fertility goddess" who had her celebration around the spring equinox. Most often this is attributed to Ostara, who is mentioned in precisely one document before the year 1000, and that document makes no mention of fertility or bunnies.
Rather, the origins of the bunny (more accurately, the Hare) as a Christian symbol can be traced all the way back to the ancient Greeks, who believed that hares were capable of reproducing without mating. This apparent natural example of virgin birth was adopted by early Christians as a symbol because of the obvious connection to their beliefs about how Jesus' conception came about. Since March 25 is the traditional date of Jesus' conception, and Easter tends to fall around that date, and rabbits tend to give birth in the spring, the traditions merged together over time. So that chocolate bunny you get in the store is, historically speaking, a symbol of Mary.
Interestingly, hares cannot actually reproduce without a mate, but several other animals including many species of lizard, snails, and in recent news Charlotte, a sting ray currently residing in an aquarium in Hendersonville, NC. Perhaps if Christianity were founded today, we could expect a visit from the Easter Ray.
Eggs. Again, the claim about eggs tends to be that they're a fertility symbol. And in other traditions they do serve that function.
However, early Christian egg-based iconography is usually a portrayal of a phoenix hatching from an egg. The mythical creature is of course associated with resurrection, and was used in relation to Pascha (the term we translate as "Easter" in English). The egg was also used as an early, rudimentary model for understanding the Trinity with the yolk, white, and shell representing the three persons of God.
As the tradition of Great Lent developed and evolved in Medieval Europe, Christians included eggs in the foods they abstained from in the weeks preceding Easter. There was even a custom in England of children going door to door on the Saturday before Lent to beg for people's last eggs to enjoy before the fast began. By the time Resurrection Sunday came around, most people's hens were in full spring lay, eggs abounded, and they became a traditional first food for breaking the Lenten fast, which led to decorating and hiding and all of the other fun trappings of the now-common egg hunt.
Happy spring, and I hope the Easter Ray brings you something good!
Blessings,
Pastor Shea
The next food pantry date for food pick up is Thursday April 25 from 9 to 11 and 1 pm for Food Sense pick up. Future dates for food pick up are Thursday May 23 and June 20. To qualify for the Hammond food pantry, you must live in the Brier Hill, Chippewa Bay, Hammond, Morristown, or Rossie areas and proof of residency such as a utility bill will be required. If possible, bring bags to put your food selections in. We also have boxes and containers available. For questions or information about the Hammond food pantry, contact Jennifer Gardner at 315 528 7303; for Emergency food assistance, contact Diane Ayotte at 315 775 3557. The coordinator for the Food Sense program, is Judy Hayes and she can be contacted at 315 528 9067.
Food Sense is a monthly food buying co-op for anyone who wants to stretch their grocery dollars. For $20.50, the Food Sense program provides a monthly box of staple grocery items at a discounted price. For March, the in person and online order date is Monday April 21. For the March selections and details go to foodsense.foodbankcny.org.
The Hammond food pantry is a not-for-profit organization and relies heavily on donations from our community. If you wish to donate, you can send a check made out to the Hammond food pantry or to Hammond Presbyterian church with Hammond food pantry on the memo line. Send it to PO Box 193, Hammond, NY 13646. Thank you to all who support this important work.
Our calendars informed us March 19 was the first day of Spring.
We who live in the North Country find this amusing because we know it is a time of transition and watch winter not giving up easily.
The following haiku by John Scarlett are to celebrate poetry month and share images of this transition.
fresh snow
many tiny paths
lead to our house
last patches of snow
here and there
my footprints
hidden by mist
father and son reminisce
across the evaporator
bending over
to pick up a piece
of sunshine
first grade fielder
right under the ball
ducks
as piercing
as peepers - the green
of new grass
geese honking
low overhead
First poet! First poet!
There is so much need for help in the world, how does someone narrow down which programs to support? For us the Marion Medical Mission Shallow Well program is an easy one to pick because it combines a great need, cost effectiveness, and a heart connection for us at Hammond Presbyterian Church. This project was introduced to us by Joan Hadlock. She believed in the needs it addresses and kept us connected to it for many years. In part we hope to keep our continued support to honor Joan as well as support a worthy, needed project.
In 1990 the program created 13 wells. Now more than 3,000 a year are built in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia or Mozambique. It costs $450 a well and we are hoping to support at least one well this year. If you wish to donate there will be envelopes marked shallow wells or you can mail donation checks with wells on the memo line to Hammond Presbyterian Church 215 St. Lawrence Ave. Hammond, NY 13646.
Immerse: Messiah Book Study starts April 7th- May 26th at 2pm. Youth Group Book Study at 5:30pm. For more information, please see Pastor Shea.
So the crowds were asking him, “What then should we do?” John answered them, “The person who has two tunics must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”
-Luke 3:10-11
On February 18, I was supposed to be responsible for our monthly "mission moment," where we highlight a mission focus for the coming month and invite you to make contributions toward that mission. My focus was to be the still-new Fuel Fund, which is an effort on the part of HPC to help defray heating costs for people in our community during north country winters. In a stroke of life-imitating-poetry, I was unable to do so due to our Sunday gathering being canceled as a result of north country winter weather.
Since establishing the fund at our annual meeting in 2023, we have yet to contribute to anybody's heating bills. We suspect this is due to a combination of people being unaware of the resource, and the irregular nature of this past winter. But if there's one thing I'm confident of after years spent managing assistance funds, it's that there's only a matter of time before people begin to access the resource and, once that happens, reaching the point where aid is going out faster than we can bring funds in.
Bitter cold is inevitable in this part of the world, and the cost of heating only seems to increase over the long term. At some point, there will be people who need assistance in with their heating costs, and we want to be well-positioned to assist them. If you have at any point been grateful for the comfort of a warm home this past winter, I invite you to consider enabling someone else to have that same comfort. Our mission focus for the month of March is the Fuel Fund. Will you help provide warmth to others in the cold days that are sure to come?
Blessings,
Pastor Shea
The next food pantry date for food pick up is Thursday March 28 from 9 to 11 and 1 pm for Food Sense pick up. Future dates for food pick up are Thursday April 25, May 23 and June 20. To qualify for the Hammond food pantry, you must live in the Brier Hill, Chippewa Bay, Hammond, Morristown, or Rossie areas and proof of residency such as a utility bill will be required. If possible bring bags to put your food selections in. We also have boxes and containers available. For questions or information about the Hammond food pantry, contact Jennifer Gardner at 315 528 7303; for Emergency food assistance, contact Diane Ayotte at 315 775 3557. The coordinator for the Food Sense program, is Judy Hayes and she can be contacted at 315 528 9067.
Food Sense is a monthly food buying co-op for anyone who wants to stretch their grocery dollars. For $20.50, the Food Sense program provides a monthly box of staple grocery items at a discounted price. For March, the in person and online order date is Monday March 18. For the March selections and details go to foodsense.foodbankcny.org.
The Hammond food pantry is a not-for-profit organization and relies heavily on donations from our community. If you wish to donate, you can send a check made out to the Hammond food pantry or to Hammond Presbyterian church with Hammond food pantry on the memo line. Send it to 217 Lawrence Ave., Hammond, NY 13646. Thank you to all who support this important work.
For 75 years One Great Hour of Sharing has provided an opportunity for our congregation to be a part of the single, largest way Presbyterians come together every year to work for some relief to many people who are in need. It is an example of how many small contributions can add up to make large differences. There are 3 parts to the program: Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self Development of People. If you would like to be a part of making a difference, donations can be made through envelopes available at church and put in the collection plate or by credit card online at pcusa.org/give-oghs
Easter Flowers and Memorials
For Easter anyone wishing to remember, and honor departed loved ones, please submit their names by March 24 to Tara or Liz Scarlett. Anyone wishing to donate money toward the purchase of Easter flowers to decorate the church sanctuary, please submit money or checks made out to Hammond Presbyterian church with Easter flowers in the memo to Tara.
Daylight Savings Begins on Sunday, March 10th. Don’t forget to SPRING your clocks FORWARD an hour so you’re not late for Sunday Service.
"His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’"
-Matthew 25:23
I've had reason to reflect on the parable of the talents multiple times this past year, and for two very different reasons.
At every funeral I lead, I include Matthew 25:23 in the readings, as an assurance that the person who is being remembered will be welcomed by God after finishing the work prepared for them in this life. In 2023 I conducted nine different funerals and graveside services, the first in April and the last in December, meaning for most of the year I didn't go more than a month without reflecting on someone's life, and God's promised embrace.
The phrasing in the parable of the talents is also something I often reflect on when considering what it means to be faithful stewards of and for the church. "You have been faithful with a few things" certainly feels like a worthwhile goal when trying to make diligent use of the resources of a small country church. Much of the work I did in 2023 was stewardship centric. The stewardship team and I have been slowly working to reimagine the way we present giving opportunities to the congregation; moving away from a single annual appeal that tries to encapsulate all we do, and toward an approach where one or two aspects are highlighted at any given time. At the same time, Finance and Session have been hard at work trying to reconfigure the church's small endowment to improve on the yields we see from our investments. And along with both of those things, I've had the privilege of meeting with several members about planned giving and how they want to remember the church in their estates. I hope to have more such conversations in the years to come.
Ultimately, while these two reasons are very different, I think they're much more connected than they appear at first blush. Experiencing loss and evaluating our finances are both areas that none of us is especially excited to do. Yet when we do, we often come away from both activities with an opportunity to assess our priorities, and to wonder what impact we are having on the world around us.
This annual meeting, as with every annual meeting, we will be reviewing our year's finances and approving a budget. We will also be receiving our annual necrology report. And along with those things, we will see multiple reports from various committee heads and church leaders recounting what 2023 looked like at Hammond Presbyterian Church.
Taken all together, this report invites us to reflect on our church's direction, on the legacy left by those who are no longer with us, and on the legacy we hope our actions will one day leave in turn. May this time of reflection enable us to say with confidence that we have been, are being, and will be faithful with that which we have been given.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rev. Dr. Shea Zellweger
The next Food Pantry date for food pick up is Thursday February 22 from 9 to 11 at the Hammond fire hall. To qualify you must live in the Brier Hill, Chippewa Bay, Hammond, Morristown or Rossie areas. The next dates for food pick up are March 28, April 25, May 23 and June 20. For questions or more information about the food pantry call Bob Gagnon at 315 323 7314, for emergency food assistance Diane Ayotte at 315 775 3557or for information about the Food Sense program call Judy Hays at 315 528 9067.
The Hammond Food Pantry is a not for profit organization and relies heavily on donations. Our community has been very supportive of our food pantry and we are grateful to all who have donated. If you wish to donate or continue to donate you can send a check made out to the Hammond Food Pantry or to Hammond Presbyterian church with Hammond Food Pantry on the memo line and send it to: Hammond Presbyterian Church PO Box 193 Hammond, NY13646.
KINDNESS
Within the last year we have experienced the loss of some very dear friends. To help me deal with grief, I often turn to poetry. The following poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye reminds me that out of loss, sorrow and loneliness, I can better appreciate kindness and choose to live a kinder life. The images in the poem are from a different culture, but the ideas are universal.
KINDNESS
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the windows forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you
how he too was someone who journeyed
through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then it goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.
Ash Wednesday Service will be held on February 14th at 7pm.
We would love to have you join us for a Sunday service or one of our events. Click below to plan your visit and learn more about what to expect when you come to Hammond Presbyterian Church Church.
“And Mary Said
‘My Soul exalts the Lord, and my Spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior.
Because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
Because he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
-Luke 1:46-48
There are a lot of movies out there which center around the idea of “the true meaning of Christmas,” and they all seem to disagree over what that true meaning is. In A Charlie Brown Christmas, it’s about setting aside your own self-interest and joining in the Angels’ song of praise. In Elf and Frosty and the Polar Express, it’s about preserving childlike belief in the magic of Christmas. In It’s a Wonderful Life and Die Hard, it’s about defeating forces of greed and finding satisfaction in your life and comfort in your family. In Rudolph it’s acceptance and perhaps also the importance of making one’s scheduled deliveries.
These are all great things, and certainly values worth celebrating. The world certainly needs fewer Hans Grubers and more Linus van Pelts.
But when we read the nativity stories found in the Gospels - as well as those in other ancient Christian texts - they don’t seem to share the same focus. Rather, they focus primarily on marveling at the idea that the God of the universe, who could have chosen to be born into any life, made the active choice to be made known among the poor and humble; to share in their lot; and to forever intertwin the story of the Divine with the story of the downtrodden.
I’m not going to make some bold declaration about “the true meaning of Christmas.” Christmas is just as much a cultural phenomenon as it is a religious one and doesn’t belong exclusively to any one group anymore. I am, however, going to suggest that we re-read the words of Mary, and let them inspire us to look for God’s hand at work in places where we would never expect it to be.
Christmas Blessings,
Pastor Shea
With many thanks for your generous donations, we are able to fund the following gifts for Heifer International, Presbyterian Missions and Food for the Poor: 4 sewing machines, 1 school supply, 2 100# rice and beans, 1 soccer ball, 2 flock of chicks, 3 share of sheep, pig or goat, 1 two burner propane stove, 3 farming tools, 1 feed a family of four, 1 share of heifer, 1 fruit tree. In addition, several plants were given to the sanctuary.
The list of donors follows:
In memory of the many departed loved ones especially John Scarlett, Rob Scarlett, Christopher Scarlett, Dorothy Bryant, Donna Chase, and Ann Root given by Elizabeth Scarlett
In memory of Alice and Robert Bickelhaupt, Dorothy and Robert Hunter, Maurice and Paul Young given by Gary and Marilyn Hunter
In honor of the Rev. David and Jo Serchak, Connie Wortman (In Memory of Pastor Cathy) and Tessa and Cole Zellweger family given by Doug and Joan Delosh
In memory of Fred, Lilian and Paul Saphier and Alice and Joseph Kaselow given by Evelyn Saphier
In memory of Malcolm and Roberta McGregor given by Jennifer McGregor
In memory of Milo and Eleanor Hollister, Grace and Lewis Paddock and Orphia Hollister given by Wayne and Lana Storie
In memory of Joan Hadlock given by Barbara Phillips
The next Hammond Food Pantry will be Thursday, January 25th, between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. All eligible clients are asked to stay in their cars and line up behind the Hammond Fire Hall. When it becomes their turn, they will come to the back door to register and the food will be brought out by the volunteers. The Food Sense program has no income guidelines and is held the same day, afternoon. Food Sense clients must order and pay for their orders ahead of time and come to pick up their orders at the Fire Hall. Food Pantry is supported by local contributions. Thank you to all who have contributed. If there are any questions about the Hammond Food Pantry or the Food Sense program, please contact Hammond Presbyterian Church at (315)324-5665
No one tells the oceans
Or the trees
Or the mountains that they’re too old.
They talk of how powerful,
How grounded,
How awesome they are.
Imagine if we thought the same way about
Ourselves as we got older.
Maybe we’d realize how spectacular we are.
When I returned from my week off, the most peaceful person the youth group knows informed me that the December newsletter was lacking a pastor's article and I needed to "get something written real quick." I suggested that since the members of the church handled service while I was away, they could also handle the pastor's article. She said they couldn't, but I disagree! Here is a pastor's article for you to write along with your friends, in the liturgical style of Mad Libs. Enjoy!
Blessings,
Pastor Shea
The next Hammond Food Pantry will be Thursday December 14. All eligible clients are asked to stay in their cars and line up behind the Hammond fire hall. When it becomes their turn, they will come to the back door to register and the food will be brought out by volunteers. We extend heart felt thanks to all who have donated to the food pantry. We hope to be able to provide Food Pantry families with gift cards for the holiday. Any donations are welcomed.
We will be collecting donations for various mission projects from Heifer International, Food for the Poor and Presbyterian Missions, in lieu of or in addition to poinsettias for the sanctuary. Some gift ideas and donation amounts are listed below. Thank you so much! Sewing Machine $50.00 Kitchen supplies $25.00 School Supplies 30.00 Fishing Net 15.00 10 Jerry (water) cans 25.00 Farming Tools 10.00 100 # Rice and Beans 40.00 Feed a Family of Four 25.00 Soccer Ball 10.00 Beehive 30.00 Flock of chicks 20.00 Sheep 120.00 Share of sheep, pig or Share of Heifer 50.00 Goat 10.00 Share of Alpaca 20.00 Two burner propane stove 20.00 Fruit tree 10.00 Please let me know your choices by Dec. 17th Checks should be made out to the church with Christmas Mission on the memo. If you wish to give honorary or memorial gifts or plants, please list names on the sheet. There will be more mission sheets at the back of the church and in the dining room.
HONORARY OR MEMORIAL NAMES TO BE
LISTED:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your Name: _________________________________________.
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