Pastor’s Column
April 18, 2024
My dear church family,
It’s spring! The leaves are bursting out on the tree branches, the flowers and blossoming bushes are colorful, and First Presbyterian Church is buzzing with excitement over worship, outreach and mission activities.
This Sunday our worship service will feature Earth Day references. God has gifted us with a magnificent place to live. We will hear the beautiful poetry of Psalm 104, as the psalmist declares the glory of God in the creation. We’ll also read from Genesis 1 and 2. Have you ever noticed that there are two different accounts of how God created humans? Hmm…
The following week, 4/28, we will celebrate Mr. Rogers and his ministry! This will be a perfect day to bring your children and grandchildren as we’ll have a few little surprises during the service that they might recognize. In fact, let me encourage you to wear a cardigan sweater and a pair of sneakers that day! You can see here what will be adorning my feet.
Did you know that Mr. Rogers was actually “The Rev. Dr. Fred (Mister) Rogers?” He was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament by the Presbytery of Pittsburgh in 1963. He spent his entire ministerial career in children’s programming, including 30 years producing “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” on PBS.
You may want to watch a commencement address he gave at Dartmouth in 2002. The graduates who were in the audience probably grew up watching Mr. Rogers on TV. I found it very interesting to hear and watch how the Mr. Rogers who spoke to children was very much the same person who spoke to the adults at the graduation. You can see the 16-minute film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=907yEkALaAY
There are many entries on YouTube featuring Mr. Rogers. You may also want to watch the documentary about Mr. Rogers called, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and/or the emotionally powerful movie starring Tom Hanks called, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”
Are you planning to attend Alameda’s Spring Shindig, happening this Saturday at Alameda Point? FPCA will have a booth, giving out water in plant-based compostable container, “A cup of cold water in His name.” We will also offer prayers, “Lucy style,” for 5 Cents a session! The Membership Committee is looking forward to offering God’s comfort, physically and spiritually, to many of the visitors at the event. Please contact me if you would like to help staff the booth with me between 12 noon and 3:00 on Saturday.
Our amazing FPCA facility is abuzz Monday through Friday with the 100 children and their teachers who spend up to eleven hours here each day. Many Saturdays there are activities including Scouts, Yoga, Men’s and Women’s Breakfast (this Saturday in fact!) and others. In May, there will be two Saturday events which will reach into our larger Alameda/Oakland community for the benefit of children and teens. On 5/18 the Prison Ministries will host a luncheon in Helland Hall for representatives of local churches. They will introduce the Angel Tree program to these guests and invite them to sponsor children this Christmas. FPCA has a long history of purchasing and delivering gifts to children on behalf of their incarcerated parents. We are honored to be able to host this event and pray that more children will be benefitted as a result.
On May 25, a group of teenagers who live in foster care and their adult mentors will take over the kitchen and Helland Hall to prepare and serve a lunch for each other. The young people will learn food preparation and serving skills as well as have the opportunity to “hang out” in a safe and supervised space. The teens are in a program sponsored by Cal called SOAR for Youth. You may read more about it here: https://www.soarforyouth.org/
Many thanks to the Mission Committee for sponsoring these events, to Session for approving the use of FPCA, and to Bruce Johnson for bringing SOAR to us!
May I say that I am continually amazed at all that our “Small but Mighty” FPCA congregation accomplishes in the name of Jesus Christ. I am so honored to be your pastor.
With gratitude,
Pastor Cindy