News for the Church, 5/6/22

Good Afternoon Church!

It’s a lovely sunny spring day and I hope you’re enjoying it! I’ve got tulips, hyacinths, violets, and the last of the daffies blooming in my yard. And there are marsh marigolds and wild leaks not too far away. What’s blooming in your neck of the woods? 

Here’s the news for the week: 

Two-Week Sunday Series on God, Gender, and Patriarchy 

Every once in a while, we have “teaching” Sundays where we explore a theological topic in depth during Sunday worship. This coming Sunday we’re going to kick off a two-week mini-series that looks at the topic of God, gender, and patriarchy. 

The topic emerged a few weeks ago, after a professor at SUNY Potsdam contacted me. He wondered if I’d come be part of a panel of local faith leaders that discusses the aforementioned subject for students on campus. He was asking at the prompting of students who were upset about a local campus group doing an event that praised patriarchy as “God’s way.” These students wondered if there’s an alternate way of understanding the relationship between God and patriarchy, besides believing that God ordained for men to be “over” women. 

Since students aren’t the only ones thinking about this topic, it makes sense that we take up the subject at church too. I hope you’ll join us for these special Sundays of theological inquiry! 

 May 12th– Gender and Religious Belief: A Conversation with Local Faith Leaders

If you’re interested in furthering your understanding on this topic, you’re also welcome to attend the event itself at SUNY Potsdam. On Thursday, May 12th, from 4-5:30 pm at Satterlee Hall, in Room 117, three local faith leaders will gather with students and guests to discuss the relationship between gender and religious belief. Pastor Hattie Taylor of the Potsdam United Methodist Church, Rev. James Galisinski of the Unitarian Universalist Church, and Rev. Katrina Hebb of the Potsdam Presbyterian Church will converse with students about the nature of God, the persistence of patriarchy in society, and the role of religion in patriarchy’s existence. 

If you’d like to attend, let me know and I will send you a parking pass for Satterlee Hall. 

Learn How to Sing Like a Professional with PIC, Online, May 10

 Join the Potsdam Interfaith Community online on Tuesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. for this one-hour, interactive program. Topics will include posture, breathing, vocal technique, artistic interpretation and more. Dr. Colleen Skull, assistant professor of voice at the Crane School of Music, and the students in her Vocal Pedagogy class will be providing us with the tools necessary to develop and improve our own singing technique and artistic communication. Here’s the zoom link: 

https://potsdam-edu.zoom.us/j/82192053926

Pastor Katrina to Take Study Leave 

I will be away at the end of May for study leave, taking a class on prayer and meditation. I will be gone Sunday, May 22nd and Sunday, May 29th. Rev. Rich Hinkle will be filling the pulpit those two Sundays. 

Difficult Conversation Lab

Results are in from the survey sent out about when to hold the Difficult Conversations Lab. It looks like the majority of people would like a 6-week class that runs from the beginning of June to mid-July. The class time that works best will be Wednesday afternoons. 

If you’d like to join us in learning how to function better in difficult conversations, there’s still time to sign up! Please email me and let me know if you’d like to participate. The cost will be $60 for the course, but we have scholarships available for anyone who would like one. 

Communion Coming June 6th 

We will be celebrating communion together in about a month and we need volunteers to help make it happen. If you’d like to participate in this special way, please contact me or Sharon Pickard. You do not need to be an elder or a deacon to help. It’s free and open to anyone who feels called to serve.

Covid Still Kicking Around

Friends, Covid is still a major thing in our neck of the woods. Many people are finding themselves sick and under the weather. If you haven’t heard from a friend in a while, it’s worth reaching out and asking how they’re doing. 

Let’s also be praying for our teachers and students right now. This remains a difficult time to learn and teach. 

In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul offered all sorts of wisdom to the early believers living in Galatia. In it he advises, 

“Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord’s command.

~Galatians 6:2

Friends, this is good news– as Christians, no one does anything alone. We can help friends and family get through life’s big and small obstacles, and they will do the same for us. 

Let’s lift each other us up,
Pastor Katrina