MISSION STATEMENT As followers of Jesus Christ, we rejoice in Gods plan for a just, loving,

and peaceful world, and we commit ourselves to making it a reality for all people everywhere.

Palm Sunday with procession,

March 29 at 11:00 a.m.
Maundy Thursday,
April 2 at 7 p.m.
Good Friday,
April 3 at 7:00 p.m.
Mozarts Requiem
Easter Sunday,
April 5 Morning Service
at 9 a.m.
Easter Worship Service
at 11 a.m.

This Lent and Easter season at

Rutgers we are reading the Song of
Songs, also known as the Song of
Solomon or The Canticles. It is
beautiful, sometimes sublime,
sometimes almost racy erotic poetry.
(If you have never heard of it and
are interested, the Song of Songs
can be found in Christian Bibles
close to the center of the volume,
after Psalms, Proverbs, and
Ecclesiastes and before Isaiah and
Jeremiah.)
Of course the Song of Songs is
not a normal Lent and Easter
biblical reading for Christian
churches. Traditional conservative
Jews and Christians have always had
a problem with this book. It was
one of the last books to be included
in the Hebrew Bible and it
happened only after extensive
rabbinical discussion. The Ancient
Synagogue and Early Church
accepted this beautiful book only
after they desexed it by twisting it
with a forceful allegorical
interpretation where the groom
became God (or Christ for the
Christians) and the bride was
supposed to represent the people of
Israel (or the Church).
In reaction to this emasculating
allegorical interpretation, modern
theology went all the way in the
opposite direction. Modern
approach of the twentieth century
used an uninhibited fleshy reading
and re-asserted and lifted up its
erotic and at times XXX rated
content. Most recent scholarship
influenced by feminist as well as
LGBT theology attempts to balance
these older approaches and reach
beyond them for some beautiful

Lent 2015

and powerful insights enriching our

love, life and faith. In this
postmodern interpretation, the
Song of Songs presents us with a
fresh worldview as seen by Ancient
Near Eastern love. This world view
might be old but it is also
surprisingly timeless - the love
perceives world in a gender
inclusive and balanced manner as
both lovers are given almost equal
prominence. This love's worldview
is also color (or race) blind or even
better, actively attracted by the
different and the other. Considering
its intimate genre it also draws a
surprisingly broad geographic circle.
The love's worldview also has an
intense interest in nature, in
flowers, trees and animals both
domestic and wild. Ancient love
was clearly informed and interested
in what we would now call the
environment and ecology and the
anti-consumerism movement.
Ancient love was also realistic, it
was exposed to prejudice, bullying,
persecution, violence and abuse by
the rich and powerful, and it
protested and found the strength
and means to fight back and to
survive or come back.
Thus the Song of Songs is
beautiful erotic love poetry but also
deals with race, gender, geography,
environment, and abuse and
prejudice from the perspective of
the biocentric worldview of love,
offering deep insights,
transformation and encouragement.
That is why we are reading these
radical love songs during this Lent
and Easter.

LENT 2015

Page 2

February was quite a time for the Rutgers kids! For the
past month, Sunday School has been celebrating Black
History Month with a series on important Black figures of
past and present. Each week, weve read a Bible passage
teaching us a specific lesson and then learned about a
person whose life and teachings embodied the lesson from
the text. For our first week, we learned about Biblical
forgiveness and how 6 year old Ruby Bridges was able to
forgive angry protestors as she became one of the first
black children to integrate a white school. Our second
week taught us about Jesus healing ministry and about how
Dr. Charles Drew used his work to bring us together with
healing blood banks. For Evolution Sunday, we learned
how the Bible teaches us that we are connected to all living
things through God and how scientists like Neil deGrasse
Tyson teach us that we are also connected to all living
things through DNA. Our final week dealt with Jesus
asking before healing Bartimaeus and how JamaicanChinese poet/activist Staceyann Chin and her young
daughter reinforce this notion of permission and consent.
Whether its the Word of God or the People of God, we
certainly learned some valuable lessons and history this past
month!

February also had some fun! Our S.K.A.T.E. youth

braved the freezing temperatures and headed down to see
The Blue Man Group perform. A mix of music,
performance art, and interactive theatre, the show was a hit
with our church teens. Although our poncho section
seats had us prepared to dodge flying food and paint
splatter, the only thing we were hit with was a painting
created during the show (S.K.A.T.E. leader Kim Hodges
graciously donated the painting to the church-check it out
in the Daniel Russell Room!). After such excitement, we
are looking forward to some fellowship and spiritual
reflection with our annual March retreat.

Scouts at Rutgers have been active over the past

several months. You saw them in the service on Scout
Sunday, and they helped to cook and serve the Shrove
Tuesday pancake dinner. All of this while camping and
working on advancement. As you can see from the
attached picture, the Girl Scouts held their first awards
ceremony where each of the girls received recognition

for the many activities they have participated in. The

picture from Boy Scouts shows the group that attended
the annual ski trip -- cold but lots of fun. I know there
isn't a picture for Cubs, but they're working on their
Pinewood Derby cars now, so I'm sure we'll see
something from them soon.

LENT 2015

The musical New Year here at Rutgers continues to

radiate warmth even in our very coldest of days. The choir
presented their 2nd VALENTINES DAY CABARET with
much success on February 13th. The evening began with
fellowship as our guests brought their dinners and joined us
on the 5th floor for an evening of beautiful music. We
enjoyed solos, duets, dances and ensemble singing which
included music from some of our favorite Broadway
musicals.
As we observed Black History month, we are thankful
to the choir and all of our soloists whose beautiful voices
brought so many moving spirituals to us. A very special
thank you to Faith, Theresa, Beverly, Janara, Laura,
Oswaldo, Harry, Calvin and Michael.
On Friday, March 27th at 7 p.m. our tenor section
leader, David Kelso, will perform a Solo Cabaret. You are

Page 3

encouraged to bring your own refreshments and join us on

the 5th floor in a special evening to benefit the Mens
Shelter here at Rutgers.
Throughout the Lenten Season, the music will reflect
some of the most sublime music from Gregorian Chant to
the 21st Century. On Good Friday, April 3rd, the Rutgers
Choir will again present a major choral work interspersed
with meditations. This year the choir will present Mozarts
Requiem accompanied by a string ensemble. The service
begins at 7 p.m. On Easter Sunday we plan to have a
wonderful brass quartet to add to our joyful Easter
celebration at 11 a.m.
We hope to have you join us please bring a friend or
two!!!

LENT 2015

Page 4

Launching the Rutgers Church CSA

We are excited to announce that Rutgers Presbyterian
Church will be launching a CSA (community supported
agriculture site.)
A neighborhood CSA is a way to create a relationship
with a farm and to receive a weekly assortment of produce
directly from the farmer. Because there is no middleman, the
full purchase price goes directly to the farm and the advance
capital allows the farmer to purchase seeds, hire labor, and
start farming without relying on high interest loans.
Members purchase their CSA share in March. Once a
week from June until October (on Wednesday afternoons
from 4:30 7:30 pm), the CSA farmer will deliver the shares
of produce to the vestibule of Rutgers Church for pick-up by
member/owners. Shares usually include 7-10 types of
vegetables, and vary by season with more in the summer.
These photos illustrate a typical full share for a
week. The number and variety of vegetables will vary,
depending on our farmers output that week. A full share
costs about $550 for the full season of 22 weeks ($25 per
week). The Rutgers Church CSA will offer half-shares for
smaller households; these will cost about $12.50 per week.
Our CSA will help support small local farms and farmers
who take care of their land by growing food in ways that take
care of the soil. Our CSA will provide you with fresh
vegetables, and cut down on the number of miles your food
travels from the farm to your plate. Our CSA will work with
the nonprofit organization Just Food, and help support their
various food justice initiatives. CSA groups are run by
members, who volunteer a few hours of time during the
season to help with distribution and help build a community
around our shared work. We hope to plan an annual field
trip when member/owners can visit our farm.
At this time, we need to begin compiling contact
information for those who have an interest in participating in
the Rutgers Church CSA. Please visit our CSA website,
www.rutgerscsa.wordpress.com, click on the tab
Registration, and provide your contact info so that we
contact you when shares become available for
purchase. Filling out the Registration form does not obligate
you to buy shares, only to receive information when shares
are available in March.
We invite you to become apart of our CSA and spread
the word to friends and family. Thank you!
Gretchen Engler, Mike Fonseca, Dave Mammen,
Juliet Pritner, Valerie Spiller, Joy Wyatt

Sample Spring Share - Lettuce, radishes, garlic

scapes, sugar snap peas, broccoli, kale, collard
greens

Sample Summer Share - Zucchini, kale, purple

carrots, red onions, parsley, cucumbers,
jalapenos, napa cabbage, green beans,
cauliflower

Sample Early Fall Share - Tomatoes, leeks,

potatoes, radishes, swiss chard, squash, garlic,
mint

Sample Fall Share - Carrots, escarole, parsley,

red lettuce, leeks, butternut squash,
hot peppers, potatoes, sweet pepper

LENT 2015

Weve been delighted to welcome new and familiar

faces to play, learn, and grow in our facility during this
very cold and snowy season!
Children in Ready, Set, Go have been expanding
their building skills in a unit on New York City, creating
structures with everything from blocks to marshmallows
and toothpicks. Once Upon an Artist continues to be a
wellspring of beautiful art work; recent projects include
the creation of Van Gogh Boxes. Children in our
Mandarin program are preparing to show us what
theyve learned at our Chinese New Year Party, where
well celebrate the Year of the Goat. The party takes
place on Friday, February 27, 6-7:30pm, and includes
craft projects, performances, and as always, lots and lots
of dumplings! The Sing N Dance class for 3 to 5 year
-olds is a hit, featuring talented young singers learning
such favorites as Do Re Mi.
So far in 2015 weve hosted two free parenting
workshops, one on identifying whether or not your
child has speech or language delays, and our third
annual appearance by public school expert Clara
Hemphill on the process of applying to public prekindergarten programs. Look for more workshops in
the coming months.
Our outreach work with children from the Bronx
Early Learning Center resumes in March. Children from
BELC will travel to Rutgers by bus to create in our art
studio and to act out scenes from classics and
contemporary childrens stories.

Good Friday, April 3rd at 7:00pm

Friday, March 27th at 7:00pm

Page 5

Weve also been pleased with the success of our Yoga

for a Healthy Back class series for adults, led by Lynn
Crimando on Monday evenings at 6pm. On March 7 at
10am, Lynn will lead a free workshop on Mindful Eating,
where participants will learn ways to boost the satiety of
foods they eat and how to nurture their bodies in a
conscious and loving way. In addition to tools for more
mindful eating, participants will learn a physical practice to
promote good digestion, and meditation techniques to build
awareness of emotional roadblocks to a healthy relationship
with food. The free workshop will launch a series of six
classes on yoga for mindful eating. Please contact me at
jmoore@rutgerschurch.org or 212-877-8227, x212 if youd
like to attend this workshop or need more information
about Lynns next series of classes.
Were excited to expand outreach work to adults in
need, with an ongoing book and magazine drive for people
living at two VOA veterans residences: the Commonwealth
Veterans Residence in the Bronx, and the East 119 th Street
Veterans Residence in East Harlem. These residences
provide supportive housing to formerly homeless veterans.
Beginning Sunday, March 1, youre invited to drop off
new or gently used hardcover and paperback books from a
wide range of categoriesnonfiction, biography, mysteries,
thrillers, and science fiction; recent magazines in excellent
condition; and DVDs. A collection box will be placed in the
vestibule of the sanctuary entrance on 73rd Street. This book
drive will be ongoing.

LENT 2015

Page 6

Rutgers Presbyterian Church is bumping up its online presence

There are now several different ways to find out about what is going on at 236 West 73rd!! Please helps us spread the word to your online
network.. Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, Share our posts.
Below is a quick and easy tutorial on how to Share, Like and Follow :-)
www.facebook.com/rutgerschurch
1. To find us on Facebook enter the above link or, if you already have an account, in the search box from your Facebook homepage type Rutgers Presbyterian Church and we will pop up with our new Logo. Go to our page
and the first thing you can do is click the Like button. Liking our page or our posts is an easy way to let
people know you enjoy it without leaving a comment.
2. Next, if you see an event or any post that you find interesting simply click the Share button at the bottom of
that post and it will post to your timeline where your Facebook friends can see it. You even have the option to
add a personal message.
3. If you need to set up a free Facebook account:
A. Open the Facebook homepage. You can only create one Facebook account per email address.
B. Enter in your information. On the Facebook homepage, enter in your first name, last name, email
address, password, birthday, and gender. You must use your real name for your account. Nicknames are
allowed as long as they are a variation on your real name (Jim instead of James, for example).
C. Click the "Sign Up" button. If all of your information is correct, you will be sent a verification email to
the address you provided.
@rutgerschurchny
With Twitter you can do fun things like follow us or retweet our posts which is similar to sharing in Facebook.
1.
2.
3.

4.

To find us on Twitter, if you already have an account, in the search box type Rutgers Presbyterian Church and we
will pop up with our new logo. Go to our page and the first thing you can do is click Follow . Following
someone means you will see their tweets in your personal timeline.
Next if you see a tweet that you want to share with your followers you can retweet it in two simple steps. At the
bottom of the post you see this symbol
Click this symbol, then click retweet and now your followers will see
the post.
If you need to set up a free Twitter account:
A. Open the Twitter homepage www.twitter.com
B. Click Join the conversation
C. Create a Username and Password. Add your email address
D. Start Connecting!!

March 1st
March 6th
March 12th
March 14th
March 16th
March 17th
March 25th
March 27th
March 28th

Gretchen Engler
Doris Bryant
Mary Birchard
Kim Hodges
Ian Smith
Ethel Knight
Alice Hudson
DeYan Jervis-McCarthy
Carole Banninger
Ulla Farmer
Chris Jones
Jeremiah Rosario

April 1st Hayden Coudal-Jones

April 2nd Nicole Byrns
Lily Santiago
Trey Santiago
April 4th Mary Beth Coudal
April 5th Massimo Maglione
April 10th William Kaufman
Joan Keener
April 14th Bob Shelton
April 16th Gladys Morris
April 17th Jennifer Finn

May 10th
May 19th
May 20th
May 21st
May 22nd
May 30th
May 31st

Juliet Pritner
Bill Bailey
Anthony DAngelo
Nora Lidell
Douglas Grace
Elinor Bowles
Cynthia Gale

LENT 2015

Page 7

March 2015
Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

1
12:45
Menu pour
enfants

2
6:00
Girl Scouts
Every Monday

3
11:00 a.m.

4
3:00 p.m.
Worship Committee
6:30 p.m.
Lenten Lectures
Wednesdays
March 4, 11, 18

5
6:00 p.m.
Meal Program
7:00 p.m.
Movie Series
Every Thursday

6
7:30 p.m.
Womens
Spirituality Group
Every other
Friday
SKATE Retreat
through Saturday
afternoon

7
10:00am
Mindful Eating
Seminar &
Luncheon
6:00 p.m.
AA Meeting
Every Saturday

Also on Sundays
9:30

Choir Rehearsal

10:45

Infant & Child Care

11:00

Worship Service

11:15

Sunday School

12:15p

Coffee Hour

12:30

Choir Rehearsal

Support Group
for Unemployed
persons.
Every Tuesday
12:15 p.m.
Al-Anon
Every Tuesday

6:00 p.m.
Mens Overnight Shelter
Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

8
12:30
Membership
Committee
Meeting
Daylight
Saving time

9
6:00 p.m.
Yoga for a Healthy
Back
Every Monday thru
May 18

10
6:00 p.m.
Session Meeting

11
5:30 p.m.
AA Meeting
Every
Wednesday

12
5:00 p.m.
Peace & Social
Justice Meeting
7:00 p.m.
Giving Network
Meeting

13

14
10:00am
Presbyterian
Women Spring
Gala

15

16
7:00 p.m.
Giving Network
meeting

17
6:00 p.m.
Scouts meeting
Every Tuesday

18
6:30 p.m.
Lenten Lectures
(last session)

19
5:30p.m.
Christian
Education
Meeting

20

21

22
12:45
Menu pour
enfants

23
6:00 pm
Scouts Council District Round-table

24

25

27
7:00 p.m.
David Kelso
Cabaret

28

3
7:00 p.m.
Good Friday
Mozart
Requiem

10

11

Preaching Schedule
26

March 2___4th Sunday in Lent; David Prince preaching

March 9___5th Sunday in Lent; Cynthia Campbell preaching

March 16___Palm Sunday; David Prince preaching

29
11:00 a.m.
Palm Sunday
service

30

March 23___ Easter Sunday; David Prince preaching

31
1
2
6:00March
p.m. 30___ 3:00
p.m. of Easter; Phil7:00
p.m.
2nd Sunday
Gates
preaching
Presbyterian
Worship Committee
Maundy
Senior Services
Thursday
Meeting

6
7
8
9
5
6:00 pm
5:00 p.m.
9:00 a.m.
Scouts Council Peace & Social
Morning Easter
District Round-table
Justice Meeting
Service
9:30 a.m.
Easter Breakfast
11:00 a.m.
Easter Worship
Community Programs Summer Semester begins June 1-July 30th.
Service

Registration has begun!

13

14

15

16

Preaching Schedule

Rev. Andrew Stehlik

Palm Sunday, March 22
Easter Sunday, March 29
March 1, 15
Rev. George Williamson
March 8
6

236 West 73rd Street

New York, NY 10023
(212) 877-8227
www.rutgerschurch.org
www.facebook.com/rutgerschurch
@rutgerschurchny

February 25 - Archeology - Ancient and modern history of

Ugaritthe North Syrian city destroyed by combination of
climate change, change of technology, and uncontrollable
waves of violent migrants, abandoned and lost for the next
3 thousand years.
March 4 - Society - Multicultural and multilingual maritime
metropolis and commercial hub - "New York City" of the
Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. City kingdom with extensive royal bureaucracy and powerful merchant plutocracy.
March 11 - Mythology - The oldest known extensive religious literature written in the alphabetic (cuneiform) scrip
and in language which is an older relative of the biblical
Hebrew.
March 18 - Polytheism - Polytheistic version of the oldest
Hebrew religion, gods, goddesses, temples, sacrifices,
divination, astrology, healing charms, music and hymns...