What’s Happening

Join the ASPC Outreach Committee for a spring trip to Mill Creek Farm www.millcreekurbanfarm.org, on Saturday, May 19, 10 am – 1 pm. Mill Creek Farm is an urban farm in West Philadelphia committed to producing and distributing fresh food and providing educational opportunities to the community. The farm values the neighborhood in which they farm, experiential education, the environment, community and collaboration, urban food production without the use of chemicals, and equity and justice.

Our trip to the farm on May 19 will consist of a one-hour interactive tour of the farm and facilities where our group will explore many aspects of urban farming, including growing practices, composting, food access, fruit trees, bee-keeping, recycling of salvaged materials, solar electricity, and a found object mosaic. After the tour, we will participate in a two-hour workday on the farm. Anyone can volunteer, it’s a great hands-on learning opportunity, and Mill Creek Farm can really use our help! To sign up, please contact Sandi Richards srichards1011@gmail.com or Jim Ballengee jballengee@penncharter.com.

On Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 7:30 PM, David Eicher, editor of the new Presbyterian Hymnal, will lead a hymn sing using wonderful hymns from the new hymnal.

David Eicher is a Presbyterian elder and a longtime member of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM). Prior to coming to the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, David was the organist and handbell director of the First Presbyterian Church in Mishawaka, Indiana, and the interim executive director of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. Eicher was president of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada until July 2008. David was editor of Holy Is the Lord: Music for Lord’s Day Worship, published by Geneva Press.

We ask you to invite your family and friends to join us as we learn more about the new hymnal and unite with a mighty voice singing songs of praise to God!

Many people view Easter as one day, an event in time when the church celebrates the resurrection of Christ. Like Lent and Advent, Easter is not limited to one day, but it is a season. We have journeyed through these past forty days of Lent, a quiet reflection on the fragility of our own humanity and the recognition that God does not leave us alone in these moments but is present in the shadow places. The Easter season moves us from Lent to the most glorious time for the church. It is in this season made up of 50 days that we celebrate God’s grace given to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Easter season is a time for watching and listening for those things within us and in the world that have died and come to life again. If the joy of Easter seems absent in our lives it is a season to let ourselves be held tightly by our church community, allowing them to walk with us, until Easter becomes a reality in our individual world. As was true for Lent, there are resources to deepen our experience of the Easter season. The PCUSA website provides daily readings and can be found at http://gamc.pcusa.org/devotion.

The Essence of Joy Choir, from Penn State University, under the direction of Dr. Tony Leach, sang at Arch Street on Sunday March 25, 2012, in the morning worship. Their musical gifts will provide blessed us with an inspiring worship experience.

Background of Essence of Joy Choir

Essence of Joy is one of twelve choral ensembles in the Penn State University School of Music. Organized in November, 1991, the choir performs sacred and secular music from the African/African American traditions. Annual campus events include Fall and Spring concerts, A Celebration of African American Spirituals (February) and Our Gift In Song (December). The choir involves undergraduate and graduate students from many academic programs at Penn State.

Essence has performed throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland as well as New York City, NY, Washington, DC, Atlanta, GA, Macomb, MS, Memphis, TN, Columbus, OH, Dayton, OH and Chicago, Illinois. Special musical presentations by Essence have occurred for The Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, The Eastern Division of The Music Educators National Conference, The Eastern Division of the American Choral Directors Association  and The American Choral Directors Association national conventions in Chicago, IL.and New York City. Essence presented its first European Tour in June, 2001 with performances in Kracow, Poland and Prague, Czech Republic.

The choir has released five compact disc recordings, ‘The Soul of Essence and The Spirit of Essence which features settings of African American spirituals and traditional and contemporary gospel recorded between 1996 – 1998. ‘Essence Live’ was  released in February, 2000 and features campus performances from April, 1998 through October, 1999. ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ and Our Gift in Song are special projects that commemorate the tenth anniversary of the choir and were released in December, 2002.

 Open House Play Days are Friday mornings from 9-11 a.m. Start your day at Arch Street Preschool. Children get to play in the new classrooms while adults enjoy a morning coffee and visit. Children must be accompanied by a caregiver. Feel free to stop in for a little or stay a while. Bring a friend!

Holy week is the final days of Lent, where we as a community will remember and meditate on the final days of Christ’s earthly ministry.

  Palm Sunday, April 1^st Worship at 10:45am

  Maundy Thursday, April 5^th, 7:00pm

  Good Friday Service, April 6^th, 12:10pm

  Easter Sunday, April 8^th Worship at 10:45am

John Galloway recently retired after 41 years in the ministry, but for the past two+ years John has served as a  part of the Arch Street Presbyterian  Church’s Administrative Commission.  John and others on the “AC” together with the ASPC session are entrusted with guiding ASPC into the future God has prepared for us.   His latest calling was as head of staff at the Wayne Presbyterian Church in suburban Philadelphia.  Prior to that he served the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, the First Presbyterian Church in York, PA, the Ogden Presbyterian Church just outside Rochester,NY and was the assistant pastor for youth in the First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich, Connecticut.  John is a 1963 graduate of Princeton University and a 1966 graduate of Princeton Theological seminary.  He currently serves on the seminary’s Board of Trustees and is its secretary.

He is the author of three books, the most recent of which is Ministry Loves Company published by Westminster/John Knox Press.

In 2003 his wife of 37 years succumbed to ALS.  In 2005 he and Nancy Maloney, widowed some years before, were married in the sanctuary of the Wayne Presbyterian Church.  John’s three children and six grandchildren are joined by Nancy’s one daughter and two grandsons in the task of keeping the “Reverend” young without wearing him out.

What does this church do? How is the money spent? What is the vision?

All these things and more will enliven this year’s congregational meeting.

Please put this Sunday on your calendar now and plan to join us for a delicious brunch and a lively informative meeting where we will review the ministry of the church last year and look toward the future that God is revealing for Arch Street Presbyterian Church. If you are able to prepare a dish to bring, please contact AnneMarie@archstreetpres.org or  sign-up after worship.

Fat Tuesday is the Tuesday before the first day of Lent. Traditionally it has been treated as a time to have a last hurrah—to enjoy life before a time of repentance and self-denial. Arch Street Presbyterian Church understands Lent in a very different way. Lent is a journey that allows us a time as a community to contemplate the realities of God and all God has done for us.  Rather than spend Fat Tuesday feeling as if it is our last moment to live fully for a season, we choose to rejoice in the excitement and anticipation of what the Lenten journey has to offer. Will O’Brien will share his faith story and his work at Project H.O.M.E. over dinner and discussion. All are invited to this unique Fat Tuesday celebration to enjoy pancakes, have a time of introspection and enjoy community with one another. Childcare will be provided. If you have any questions or would like to help in preparing pancakes please contact Jen at jenniferashbaugh@yahoo.com.