Lehigh Valley Source

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ALLENTOWN WEDNESDAY QUILTING GROUP

Since the 1950s, members of First Presbyterian Church of Allentown and volunteers from local churches have been meeting at First Presbyterian of Allentown to participate in a weekly quilting group. This group made of both men & women, dedicate a few hours each week to skillfully design, set and sew beautiful quilts.

Quilt tops, which are provided by clients looking to have a quilt produced, are sewn together made into a quilt and the money earned by the group is then donated to Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley and Habitat for Humanity.

The group also makes quilts, which are then donated to Allentown’s Sixth Street Shelter. Quilts are also available to purchase, with all proceeds going back to local community organizations.

If you have a quilt top and would like to schedule a quilting or if you’d like to inquire about purchasing a quilt, please contact First Presbyterian Church of Allentown at 610-395-3781.

First Presbyterian Church of Allentown members, Eleanor Hay (l) and Emma Rath (r), prepare squares for the quilters. Emma began working with the church’s quilting group in the early 1960s. Eleanor joined the group when she moved to the Lehigh Valley in 2005.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ALLENTOWN TO HOST THE 43rd INTERFAITH COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING SERVICE, WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 7:30 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church of Allentown will host the 43rd annual Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Service, Wednesday evening, November 25, 2009.

The following churches and synagogues, with members of their clergy and choirs, will participate in this year’s Thanksgiving Eve service of worship:

Cathedral Church of Saint Catharine of Siena – Rev. Eric Arnout, Congregation Keneseth Israel – Rabbi Dr. Robert B. Lennick & Cantor Ellen Sussman, Episcopal Church of the Mediator – Rev. Maria Tjeltveit, First Presbyterian Church of Allentown – Rev. Cynthia L. Simmons, St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church – Rev. Msgr. John P. Murphy, and Temple Beth El – Cantor Kevin Wartell.

An interfaith choir with singers from St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church, Cathedral Church of Saint Catharine of Siena, and First Presbyterian Church of Allentown will perform during the service. The choir will also accompany Cantors Ellen Sussman from Keneseth Israel and Kevin Wartell from Temple Beth El as they offer musical reflections sung in Hebrew.

First Presbyterian Church’s Adult Bell Choir will perform a selection with the interfaith choir and during the service prelude. The choir will perform under the direction of Laura Rabenold, choir director at First Presbyterian Church; the Adult Bell Choir will perform under the direction of Gloria Snyder, Director of Music Ministry at First Presbyterian Church and the church’s principal organist.

The first Thanksgiving service, the “Union Thanksgiving Service for Allentown West End”, was held in 1967 and organized by then Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Reverend John Stoner, who invited three Allentown congregations (The Cathedral Church of St. Catharine of Siena, Congregation Keneseth Israel, and Temple Beth El) to join together in celebration and worship.

Pastor Emeritus Stoner recently recounted how he felt a calling to invite Allentown congregations to celebrate Thanksgiving together after his own interaction with local clergy on the golf course and tennis courts, and in professional and social settings. He was compelled by the era of the 1960s ‐ the need to break down barriers and the fight against prejudices, and by his personal experiences of forming relationships with area pastors, priests and rabbis. He wanted to bring congregations together to build similar friendships and celebrate Thanksgiving without doctrine. That first service, which described by Mary Stoner, Pastor Stoner’s wife, as being “packed”, was hosted by First Presbyterian Church of Allentown.

The Community Thanksgiving Service has been hosted annually by one of the participating congregations and was held each year on Thanksgiving Day until 1996; since then, the service has been held on Thanksgiving Eve.

First Presbyterian Church of Allentown extends an invitation for the community to join us at this year’s 43rd Thanksgiving celebration. The service is open to the public, with doors opening at 7:00 p.m. for the 7:30 service. A free will offering will be taken to benefit the work of the Second Harvest Food Bank; canned and nonperishable food donations will be delivered to the Allentown Area Ecumenical Food Bank. For information regarding attending this service, please contact First Presbyterian Church of Allentown at 610/395‐3781. Contact: Laura Fleischer, Communications Coordinator 610/395‐3781 ext 17. laura.fleischer@fpcallentown.org

First Presbyterian Church of Allentown Will Present Mass of the Children by John Rutter

Allentown, PA.--First Presbyterian Church of Allentown will present “Mass of the Children”, by John Rutter,
at the 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services on Sunday, December 6.
This Advent musical offering will feature the Chancel Choir and Youth Choir Women with
soloist Grace Spruiell, soprano; Michael Bodnyk, baritone, orchestral ensemble and organ.
The Chancel Choir is under the direction of Laura C. Rabenold, with Gloria S. Snyder as organist.
Child care is available for both services. For additional information, please call the church office at 610‐395‐3781.

Origins of Biblical Monotheism Subject of Lafayette College Lecture

Easton, Pa. -- Mark S. Smith, Skirball Professor of Bible and professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University (NYU), will speak on “God and the Origins of Biblical Monotheism” at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, in the auditorium of Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, Lafayette College. The admission-free event is open to the public.

In his talk, Smith will demonstrate that, despite the common view that Israel was monotheistic, the worship of a single god developed in a particular historical and social context in the 6th or 7th century BCE. Early Israel actually had a pantheon of gods first conceived as a divine family, and that pantheon changed over time. The monotheistic model emerged as a reflection in the divine sphere of a remarkable new mode of social and political identification on the human plane. The power of this model resulted in collective amnesia: Israel forgot its polytheistic origins, barely reflected in the Bible as we know it.

Smith’s areas of interest and expertise include the history of Israelite and ancient Near Eastern religion, the representation of deities and divinity in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East from the Bronze Age to the Greco-Roman period, narrative literature of the Hebrew Bible and West Semitic texts, and Ugaritic literature and religion.

He is the author of “The Memoirs of God: History, Memory, and the Experience of God in Ancient Israel” (Fortress Press, 2004); “The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts” (Oxford University Press, 2001); and The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel” (Harper & Row, 1990), in addition to many other scholarly publications.

Smith is a two-time recipient of NYU’s Golden Dozen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and received the Frank Moore Cross Publications Award from the American Schools of Oriental Research, among other awards and accolades.

In addition to a Ph.D. from Yale, he earned three master’s degrees at Harvard Divinity School and one from Catholic University. He did his undergraduate work at Johns Hopkins.

The talk is sponsored by Lafayette’s department of religious studies through the support of the Lyman Coleman Fund.

The department also will bring Robert Segal, professor of religious studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, to campus to speak on “Hollywood Stars as Gods: Bringing Myth Back to the World” at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11, in Kirby Hall.

Calvary Baptist to Offer Free Community Program

Allentown, Pa. -- The public is invited to the free program “A Life Worth Living” at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays from Sept. 16 to Nov. 11, 2009, at Calvary Baptist Church, Allentown.

 

The program is a source of information for individuals interested in learning more about Christian living and is also relevant for the spiritual renewal of established Christians. The series will be shared in an ecumenical spirit that is respectful of the faith tradition of all participants.

 

The following topics will be covered: new heart, new purpose, new attitude, new responsibilities, new friendships, new confidence, new ambitions, new resources, and new generosity.

 

Each session will begin with dinner at 6 p.m. sharp. Small group discussion with questions and answers will follow each presentation.

 

The church is at 4601 W. Tilghman St.

 

Register by phoning 610-395-5441 or by e-mailing calvaryb@ptd.net.

 

 

Notre Dame Director to Speak at DeSales University

Center Valley, Pa. – John Staud, Ph.D., director of the Alliance for Catholic Education at Notre Dame University, will deliver the 2009 Anthony J. Ruggiero Lecture on Catholic Education at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, 2009, in the White Pavilion in the University Center on the Center Valley Campus of DeSales University.
 
Sponsored by the Salesian Center for Faith & Culture at DeSales, the event is free and open to the public and focuses on Catholic education. The title of this year’s lecture is “What Kind of a Tale Have We Fallen Into? The Future of Catholic Schools in the United States.”
 
“The message of this annual lecture continues to deepen the understanding of the cultural value of our system of Catholic education,” said Father Thomas Dailey, OSFS, director of the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture. “The national task force at Notre Dame reports on the great success of this American institution and highlights the challenges for Catholic schools as we move into the future. Dr. Staud’s insights will no doubt help us to appreciate the gift of Catholic education and point us in the direction of how to make this essential work even more successful in the changing socio-economic climate.”
 
Staud currently serves as senior director of pastoral formation and administration of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program. A two-year service program, ACE which seeks to sustain and strengthen Catholic schools through a growing number of initiatives, including providing college graduates the opportunity to serve as full-time teachers in under-resourced Catholic schools across the southern United States. It consists of three main academic programs: the Service Through Teaching Program, the Leadership Program, and the English as a New Language (ENL) Program.

In 1996, Staud came to Notre Dame to teach in the English department and joined the leadership team of the ACE program. He continues to teach courses in American literature and, during his time with ACE has focused especially on the recruitment, selection, placement, and formation of teachers in Catholic schools in more than 30 cities across the United States. A Fellow of the Institute for Educational Initiatives, Staud served as principal author of the final report of the Notre Dame Task Force on Catholic Education and is as a member of the core team charged with implementing the recommendations enumerated by the task force.

Staud earned undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and English at Notre Dame University, graduating in 1987 magna cum laude. He was awarded a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities and completed his doctorate in English in 1992 at the University of Michigan, where he specialized in American Literature. His scholarly activity has focused on the writings of Herman Melville, and prior to returning to Notre Dame, he taught British and American literature as an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago and at Jesuit high schools in Chicago (St. Ignatius) and Denver (Regis).
 
Originally established as The St. Leonie Aviat Lecture on Catholic Education, the series was renamed The Anthony Ruggiero Lecture on Catholic Education in 2005, to reflect the endowment provided by the Ruggiero family of Bethlehem.
 
Anthony “Tony” Ruggiero was a well-known and widely respected educator in the Bethlehem Area School District, where he worked for 32 years. He taught French and social studies at Liberty High School, prior to his appointment as assistant principal and then principal in the 1980s. He earned his master’s degree in education from Lehigh University and completed post-graduate work at Georgetown University. He was an adjunct faculty member, who taught the philosophy of education and helped supervise the student teacher program at DeSales University. He retired from public education in 1990. Upon his death in 1994, he bequeathed a significant gift to the university, which helped endow the lecture series.
 
Established in 2000, the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture promotes the interaction of faith and culture through academic initiatives that focus on the authentic integration of social concerns and gospel values. For more information, contact the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture at 610-282-1100, extension 1244, or SCFC@desales.edu.

DeSales University Students Begin 'Hero's Journey'

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — Twelve DeSales University students begin a year-long national leadership development when they attend a three-day retreat in late August as part of the 2009-2010 “Catholic Hero’s Journey” of the Salesian Leadership Institute (SLI). 

In its fourth year at DeSales, the program is sponsored by the Salesian Center for Faith and Culture and is made possible through a grant from the Ryan Family Foundation. The program was created in collaboration with the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI), in Exton, Pa., and has been customized for the University to incorporate various elements of Salesian spirituality.

During the retreat, students will be guided to discover their own special gifts and talents and learn how to apply those talents in ways that maximizes the impact of their efforts. Following the August retreat, students will then participate in 10 monthly meetings with fellow participants on the DeSales campus, part of the program’s support network with which they can share their experiences and challenges and motivate each other to achieve their goals.

All students participating in the SLI program will enter their junior year at DeSales in the fall. They are as follows: physician assistant majors Mary Kate Boylan of Doylestown, Pa., Elizabeth Wenck of Allentown, Pa., and Chase Schaeffer of West Lawn, Pa.; communications majors Kevin Enright and Laura Fehrle, both of Philadelphia; also from Philadelphia, Stephanie Chrzanowski, a nursing major; sport and exercise science majors Alex Brown of Nazareth, Pa., and Melissa Gilroy of Shohola, Pa.; Justin Campanelli of Langhorne, Pa., a marketing major; Megan Montchyk of Bellmawr, N.J.; and Elizabeth Valk of Birdsboro, Pa., an elementary education major.

The Salesian Center
Established in 2000, The Salesian Center for Faith and Culture’s mission is to promote the interaction of faith and culture, in a mutually beneficial engagement, through academic initiatives that focus on the authentic integration of social concerns and gospel values. The Salesian Center supports intellectual activity in research studies, dialogue events including public forums and lectures and partnership programs. For information about The Salesian Center for Faith and Culture, click on the Salesian Center icon on DeSales University's home page at  www.desales.edu or call 610-282-1100, extension 1244.

CLI
Founded in 1991, CLI is an organization of lay Catholics whose mission is to build Catholic leaders for today and tomorrow. It offers leadership-development programs for priests and seminarians; young adults and university students; and parish, diocesan, and apostolate staff. Since 1991, CLI has helped more than 7,000 Catholics reach their God-given potential as leaders and Christian witnesses in their family, workplace, community, and church. CLI is headquartered in Immaculate Conception Hall at St. Joseph-in-the-Hills, Malvern Retreat House, Malvern, Pa. For more information on CLI, call 610-251-3750 or visit the institute's Web site at http://www.catholicleaders.org/.