As the season of giving back approaches, we at Old Pine Community Center hope that we can count on you for support. The Center has made great strides to become a unique environment that is caring, warm, and puts the welfare of our community before all other concerns. The Center has been a part of the fabric of our community for more than 30 years and we ask you to help us continue.

In 2009, we will begin various projects to give Old Pine Community Center a facelift so that we can attract more people to the resources that lie within the Center. We will continue to develop our Adult Education Program, which serves 25 adults, by purchasing resources such as books and computers to support tutors as they help learners achieve their educational goals.

The After School Program serves 40 children and continues to grow. Your support will enable us to provide enrichment, tutoring and mentoring for the children and continue the program’s quality of care and commitment to the children of our community.

David and I are deeply grateful for the wonderful party last Saturday evening. So many of you braved the rain and joined us for a fun party. We enjoyed each and every conversation - the laughter, the memories, the tears. How perfect for Old Pine to come together for a party! The beautiful photograph of the churchyard will hang in my study and bring to my mind so many marvelous memories - not only of picnics in that churchyard, and burials in the memorial garden - also of the conversations, the worship experiences, the parties and fun, the poignant comments from our children, the visits, the laughter - most of all the extraordinary relationship I’ve shared with you these last several years. Amazing what a photo can evoke! The two books - one of Philadelphia and one of Washington, D.C. - will help us look back with fondness and look forward with anticipation.

Thank-you, too, for the many cards and sentiments, along with the personal gifts you showered upon us. David and I spent time Sunday evening reading each card and opening each gift. It was a very rich time for us.

And, thank you for the wonderful final worship service we shared together. The choir was magnificent - as we’ve come to expect . . . The prayers were from the heart. The laughter and tears signified the depth to which you allow the Spirit to work in your lives.

And the shingle . . . It’s not easy to explain this quirky tradition of Old Pine - started by my predecessor, Bill Pindar - of giving a roof shingle to those who have made significant contribution to the life of Old Pine. Somehow, this tradition fits for our community, still. The shingle, too, will hang in my study, and I’ll take great delight in explaining what it is and what it signifies.

Thank you - for the community of faith you are. You have inspired me, challenged me, forgiven me, and helped me to grow. You have received, graciously, the gifts I offered you. Indeed, we had a good run together. God has been at work in and through the Old Pine community and I know that God has great things in store for you in the coming months and years. I encourage you to listen, to believe, and to trust as you follow.

Blessings,

Debbie

Peter Kline is a senior M.Div. student at Princeton Theological Seminary and will be preaching that day. He and his wife, Megan (also an M.Div. senior at Princeton), are from Houston, TX. They both received God’s call into ministry in high school and came to Princeton together to prepare. Peter received a bachelor’s degree in Theology from Wheaton College, IL, and after graduating from Princeton in May, he plans on pursuing Ph.D. studies in Theology.

The Younger Children this month will begin to concentrate more on Jesus, asking themselves “Who is God’s Son?” Whether the answer is a baby or my friend, the road to Bethlehem will reveal itself. For the children in grades 1 and 2, the question of the month switches from “What does the Bible teach me?” to “What does God teach me?”. Stories and lessons of forgiveness, love, joy and peace light the way to a deepening understanding of God. And the children in grades 3 and 4 will soon start to talk about the mysterious Holy Spirit, playing games and doing fun activities that celebrate how God’s Spirit comforts and strengthens us and brings us together to form the Church.

Advent begins on the final Sunday of November. On that day we will have our first All Kids Bonus Day and rejoice that Advent is a time for us to prepare the way for God’s Kingdom. It should be an exciting day to end an exciting month. If you want to help out with Sunday School, please contact Bill Searight (bill@oldpine.org). If you want to view our schedule, visit http://www.oldpine.org/the-church/sundayschool/.

See you in Sunday School!

Woven throughout these memories is the Spirit of God - always blowing new life into the Old Pine congregation, always calling us forward to follow. Old Pine is a congregation that follows the Spirit’s leading and responds to the Spirit’s prodding. You venture into new mission opportunities, you expand in education, you explore in worship - all the while, following the Spirit.

God’s Spirit is now leading you to a new place - unknown for now and unrevealed. Trust the Spirit - remember how the Spirit has led you in the past and trust the Spirit to lead you now. There are great opportunities and adventures waiting for you - opportunities to share the wealth of your resources with those who need them - adventures in deepening the strength and vitality of this community of faith.

You are a special community. God has done great things here, and will continue to do great things here. Thank you for the opportunity to walk with you these last 14 years. It has been an honor and a privilege. You have received the gifts I offer, challenged me to grow, forgiven me when I stumbled and together we have rejoiced in the good work God has done in and through us. “My” ministry is really a misnomer - it is “our” ministry.

May God continue to bless you with faith, courage, and joy. “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

 
We’re home now. . .

The internet connection at the PDA camp went down for a day or two so we couldn’t finish the blog for the last day or so.  When the connection was restored the schedule didn’t permit time to write in the blog. 

We did as much dry wall work as possible at Terry’s house - mostly we took out poorly installed drywall screws and set them correctly.  Harriett was a taping queen and drywall mud was flung on the walls skillfully, carefully, and everywhere possible.  We wanted to acccomplish as much as we could.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tom worked to install a new faucet and sprayer (like the sprayer in the OPCC kitchen) in the kitchen at the PDA camp.  He pulled it all apart, only to find that the current faucet had been installed with leftover pieces - so all the water piping needed to be replaced - not just the faucet.  Sigh.

Rod worked at Kitty’s house, installing a water heater, finishing up some plumbing work and installing the correct, water and mildew resistant drywall in one of the bathrooms.  He discovered he did not have all the parts needed to install the water heater - he was missing the pan that sits underneath the water heater - and the plumbing work needed more than he could provide.  Sigh.

Debbie and Heidi also worked with Kitty - moving dirt from the front of her yard to the back of her yard, so she can spread it along the side yard and underneath the house, and spreading it around her septic tank.  When they arrived at Kitty’s first thing in the morning, to unload those couple sheets of drywall that Rod was going to install, Debbie, Heidi and Rod met Kitty and Henrietta.  Henrietta (we later learned) is Kitty’s mother and is 83 years old.  She was shoveling the dirt, placing it underneath the house.  That was when Debbie and Heidi decided they could shovel the dirt.  Henrietta still teaches, full-time, at Head Start.  She has a class of three-year olds.  The Director of the program asked her to stay on, after Katrina, because “these little ones need a grandmother.”  Kitty agreed and is still there.  Today’s three-year-olds would have been infants during Katrina, and the younger ones have been born post-Katrina.  The next generation has begun.

On Thursday we quit work a bit early and went into New Orleans for a Katrina driving tour, developed by a member of the PDA staff, dinner, and, of course, beneigts at Cafe du Monde.

We had a wonderful week.  Thank you for sharing it with us, through this blog.  We return to Philadelphia having helped a few people take a few more steps toward being back in their homes.  And we return as changed people.  We will look at disasters and poverty and hleping out a bit differently now.  I hope we’ll be more willing to lend a helping hand, understanding that even a little bit helps.  Little bits added all together make a huge difference.

The floor is finished! Yea! A tedious puzzle project, replacing a section of laminate flooring after a leak was frustratingly slow. With perseverance, patience, and more than a little frustration – the project is finally finished. It’s not often that a work team gets to see a project through to completion. It was a special moment. At the end, before they left, Mary asked to have a prayer with the team. It was more than a special moment – it was a holy moment.

The drywall team got to work – some installing, some setting screws that a previous group of volunteers had installed. It’s frustrating when you need to correct someone else’s mistakes – until you remember that someone had to correct your mistakes after the first drywall you installed. . .

We all download the pictures we’ve taken during the day – to one computer. Then we gather around and watch a slide show – remembering the day together. It was hot today, and the work was hard. We were all tired at the end of the day. Ah, but as I write, a game of “Catch Phrase” is organizing. I have a feeling the energy level is on the rise!