THE
EPISTLE
Volume 15 Issue 5
We had a snowless March, early warm
weather, then cold, rain and sun. Today is
sunny and the temperature by the end of
the day will be 80. Tomorrow we will have
our first chicken bar-b-q of the season
and a week from Monday is Memorial
Day. Summer is on the way!
In the life of the church summer is an
interesting time. As the weather gets
warmer and the sun shines more, there is
a tendency to take advantage of the
opportunities for recreation and be out of
town or out in the woods or at the lake on
the weekends. This means that the
Sunday gathering for worship is smaller
MAY 27, 2010
than during the rest of the year. The
choir takes a two month sabbatical.
Christian education classes take a
break and there is a more laid back
feeling to Sundays.
We reflect this change of pace in a
number of ways on Sundays. We
simplify our worship space for the
months of July and August. The brass
candle sticks and candelabra are
removed. The candelabra
stay out for the summer and the brass
candle sticks on the Lord’s Table are
replaced with wooden or pottery ones.
Communion ware moves from silver to
pottery.
This is the “Green Season” (the time
after Pentecost) which stretches all the
way to the beginning of Advent. Green
is a restful color and so we want our
worship space to reflect this, as we
seek to draw closer to God.
Our liturgy for the summer will also
reflect this simplicity. We will begin with
a familiar festive hymn and greeting and
then move directly to the children’s
message, the prayer of the day and the
word. While we order our worship by the
2 THE EPISTLE

church year and follow the common

lectionary, summer time gives us a bit
more flexibility. Are there topics or issues
or questions that you would like
addressed in the sermon? If so, I would
love to hear from you. Just speak to me,
or e-mail me your suggestions. On the
Sundays we celebrate Holy Communion
we will have only one communion station
and the communion liturgy will be
simplified. We will also use various
“statements of faith” other than the
Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds.
Summer time gives us an opportunity to
enjoy “special music” while the choir is on
vacation. We always look forward to this
special time. If you would like to
participate in worship by singing, or
playing an instrument, please contact our
choir director Sarah Frook and let he
know.
The care of visitors is very important
during the summer months as this is the
time that people often visit churches.
Make sure that if you see someone you
don’t know that you greet them warmly
and invite them to remain for fellowship
time. Many of us travel during the summer
months and so we will offer at each
summer service a blessing for travelers.
I hope that you will enjoy a wonderful
and refreshing summer. Enjoy your family
and friends, but remember that we
continue to gather for the most important
thing that Christians do and that is to
worship God in spirit and in truth.
Your pastor,

June 6: Confirmation Sunday
I Kings 17:17-24
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17
June 13: Graduate Recognition
Sunday
Our high school seniors will help to lead
worship. Amy Hamill will preach.
June 20
Isaiah 65:1-9
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39
June 27
I Kings 19:15-16, 19-21
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62
ADULT EDUCATION
Bill and Joanne Cala to speak
During Adult Ed Sunday, May 23
William Cala is the president of Joining
Hearts and Hands, Ltd., a non-profit
organization working to fight AIDS and
poverty in Kenya. Along with his wife
Joanne, Joining Hearts and Hands is
rebuilding schools and providing
scholarships for secondary school students
in villages in the Lake Victoria area of
Kisumu. Prior to his involvement in Africa,
Dr. Cala was the superintendent of the
Fairport Central School District in Fairport,
New York, a suburb of Rochester.

SUNDAY WORSHIP
BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
SUNDAY WORSHIP DURING UPDATES
JUNE
3 THE EPISTLE
COUNCIL EVENT
PLANNED!!
The Rummage Sale is
coming! The Rummage
Sale is coming! Mark your calendars and
clean out your closets for this bi-annual
fundraiser scheduled for September 30,
October 1, 2, 2010. Volunteers are needed to
head this great event and help sorting and
pricing sale items. Contact Crista Deniz (388-
5952 or denizca@frontiernet.net) if you are
willing to help.
THE ELDERS ARE ASKING---
HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
I am a pottery Communion plate – 15” in
diameter with a brown mottled shiny glaze
and the words “This do in Remembrance of
Me” etched around my outer rim. I went
missing around the beginning of February –
right before Ash Wednesday. I’m not where
I’m supposed to be- either in the Elders closet
or the Altar closet- and I’m not in the kitchen
cupboards or the utility closet either. If you
know where I am, would you please report my
whereabouts to either Pastor Cedarleaf or
Elders Chair Toni Thompson? Thanks!!!
BOARD OF FAMILY MINISTRY
Sponsors
Graduation Sunday on June 13th
Join us on Sunday, June 13 to recognize
our six high school graduates. As a
congregation you have supported them
throughout their years at this church. Now
please help us as we celebrate their
achievements and pray for their new
endeavors. The graduates are Becky Allen,
Lydia Gruber, Amy Hamill, Kevin Jones,
Mitch Meraw, and Marshall Strong.
The Board of Family Ministry is hosting a
special coffee hour in honor of our
graduates.
EVENING CIRCLE
Evening Circle’s last meeting of the year
will be Monday, June 14, with our annual
picnic. Location is Cathy Steffen’s house.
Starting time is 6:30pm. Please bring a dish
to pass and your place setting. A heartfelt
thanks to Norma Harrington and Carol
Moran for their
willingness to be the chairpersons for next
year evening circle. Thank you so very
much. Norma and Carol are asking that you
bring ideas for programs for the year 2010
to 2011. Ideas and thoughts will be shared at
the picnic. See you there!!
ENDOWMENT
I heard on the radio a few minutes ago that
May is “National Make a Will Month.”
While I consider that a little hokey, I wanted
to remind members of our congregation to
consider leaving a legacy to your church via
your will.
Whether creating a new will, or revising
your current will, we hope you will consider
a donation to the First Congregational
Church Endowment Fund.
Nancy Keith
4 THE EPISTLE
Chair, Endowment Committee
MISSIONS CORNER
Missions held its final meeting of the 2009-10
year last week and paid tribute to Dee Jackson,
Beth Maybee and Gary Maybee for their
contributions to Missions during their terms. Dee
Jackson served as our treasurer, Beth Maybee as
our secretary and Gary as our communications
coordinator. We also reviewed our
accomplishments during the past year and realized
that we had moved forward on many fronts. We
had established liaisons to all the organizations we
sponsor, developed guidelines for giving,
enhanced communications to the congregation,
sponsored Lenten community service projects, and
maintained a host of ongoing activities including
Community Dinners, Hillside Christmas Gift
Giving, Perinton Food Shelf donations,
Community Christmas Baskets, Habitat For
Humanity (see more about HH below), and helped
out monthly at the
Salem Nutrition
Center.
At the meeting
we also decided to
take on a new
challenge by
helping out the
Salvation Army as it already is looking forward to
the Christmas Season. It will shortly be sponsoring
its Christmas in July program in which we have
agreed to participate. Stay tuned for more news
about this endeavor.
Each month we also spotlight one of our
sponsored organizations. Randy Clark is this
month’s contributing writer and liaison to Habitat
For Humanity. Many of you are probably familiar
with Rochester’s Flower City Habitat For
Humanity which is part of a world wide effort.
Habitat For Humanity (HH) is a non-profit
ecumenical Christian housing organization
building simple, decent, affordable housing in
partnership with people in need. HH has built over
350,000 homes around the world, providing more
than 1.75 million people in 3,000 communities
with safe, decent affordable shelter.
The Ecumenical Ministries of Perinton sponsors
Perinton Contregations Habitat For Humaniity.
We are one of several faith-based groups in
Monroe County which raises funds and recruits
volunteers to build homes for Flower City
Habitat, a non-denominational Christian
housing ministry welcoming people of all faiths
to help eliminate substandard and poverty
housing in Rochester. Flower City Habitat has
built or renovated more than 150 homes in
Monroe County and is one of the largest
affiliates for HH International in the
northeastern United States.
The Perinton Congregations Habitat has built
four houses since 1998. The most recent house
was built in 2008. 114 volunteers worked 45
days to complete Perinton Habitat’s portion of
the work on the house. The goal is to build the
next house in 2011. Each ranch style house cost
approximately $120,000 to build of which the
Perinton Congregations donates $65,000. If you
would like to help out with this next house,
contact Randy Clark for more information.
In closing out this year, I would be remiss if I
did not thank the entire congregation for all of
your heartfelt generosity to make our church’s
missions so successful. This generosity came
despite some dire economic times, not to
mention the financial needs of a new church
roof. I would also like to thank all the members
of the Board of Missions for their time and
effort in making our year so successful. We say
a sad good bye to Dee Jackson, Beth Maybee
and Gary Maybee and also extend a warm
welcome to new members, Whetherly
Gharzzouzi, Eileen Slocum and Melissa
Tieslink. It has been my pleasure to have served
as Chairperson, and we look forward to another
year of missions accomplished.
Ted Avgerinos, Chairperson
FAMILY NEWS
Mission Trip Update
This summer 5 adults and 16 students will be
headed back to Hurricane, WV to attend the
sixth annual Reach mission trip. In preparation
5 THE EPISTLE
there will be a MANDATORY meeting on
Sunday, June 13 following coffee hour. This
meeting is for students and parents. The
participants will be receiving important
information regarding transportation, packing,
contact information, etc. Please notify Karen
Hamill if you are absolutely unable to attend in
order to schedule another meeting time.
Church school classes will be on summer
break from May 30 – September 5. Classes
will resume on September 12. Nursery care
will be offered all summer. Children’s
Chapel will also be offered all summer
except May 30, July 4, and September 5.

CALLING ALL GRADUATES!

If you are graduating
from high school or
college, we would like
to include your
announcement in the
church’s newsletter
and bulletin. Please
Fairport Canal Days are June 4-6. As in past submit your name,
years, the mission trip participants will be using where you are
the church parking lot for Canal Days parking. graduating from and a
This is our biggest fund raiser of the year. brief description of what your future plans are.
There is a sign up sheet for working at Canal Please turn your write-ups into the church office
Days parking on the youth group bulletin board. by June 7, 2010.
Reach participants and their parents are
encouraged to sign up and work. Call Brian Sherry
with any questions.

Confirmation Sunday is June 6

COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTEER
Please join us in welcoming and OPPORTUNITIES
congratulating Sarah Hoover and Brianna
Sherry as they are
confirmed on June PEACEMAKERS
6, 2010. They have
studied hard and Peacemakers is a summer experience for
completed several children born before December 1, 2006 or
volunteer projects not yet in kindergarten. It is a mixed-age
this past year. Both developmental program of summer fun and
girls will also be play for urban and suburban children with
attending the Reach Workcamp Mission Trip an emphasis on peacemaking skills. Class
for the third year this summer. size is limited to 18 children per session.
There are two 2-week sessions:
Monday to Friday 9:00-11:30 am
Session 1: July 12-23
Session 2: July 26-August 6
6 THE EPISTLE
Sessions take place at the Perinton Nursery
School which is located in the Mountain Rise
United Church of Christ, 2 Mountain Rise,
Fairport.
Interested: Contact Suzanne Gangemi at 223-
2433
Peacemakers is sponsored by Mountain Rise
United Church of Christ
Interested in an Interfaith League of
Co-Ed Softball?
Bethlehem Lutheran Church is exploring the
possibility of getting one going. If you are
interested, please contact Jim Flanagan at 223-
2129 or Jim.Flanagan@kraft.com.
CHURCH WOMEN UNITED
Event: Church Women United's June Program
and Picnic In The Park
"Human Rights and Wrongs for Women"
featuring speaker Julia Day, Regional Director of
NYS Division of Human Rights
Date/Time: Friday, June 4, 2010, 9:30am to
12:30 pm Picnic lunch provided.
Place: Brighton Town Park, Carmen Clark
Lodge , 777 Westfall Road
SAFE JOURNEY
It's United Way Pledge Time again! Please
designate Safe Journey, United Way donor
designation #2326, on your employee pledge card
this year and your gift will support an outreach
ministry of our church that is helping women
and children break the cycle of domestic
violence.
Safe Journey is holding a Women's Wellness
Event and "friend-raiser" at The Pitcher of
Health, 672 Pittsford-Victor Road, Bushnell's
Basin on Thursday, May 27th from 7-8:30pm.
Please join us for an inspirational evening
celebrating women's health and healing and
learn more about Safe Journey too. This fun and
relaxing event will feature guest speakers
discussing meditation and bodywork, nutritional
supplement and cosmetic product demos, lite
refreshments, raffle prizes (featuring jewelry
and personal care/pampering products), and
more. Bring a friend and get one free raffle
ticket. Great fun for a great cause! RSVPs
appreciated.Call 425-1580. If you have any
questions, please feel free to contact me. There
is no fee for attendance. Thanks in advance for
your assistance!
Alli O'Malley, Executive Director
585.425.1580, www.safejourney.org
Volunteers Needed At Advent
House
Advent House in Perinton is a hospice-type
home for people with a terminal prognosis of
three months or less, who for various reasons,
cannot be cared for at home. It is an alternative
to a hospital or nursing home. We provide a
peaceful and caring atmosphere where a
Resident and their loved ones may spend their
last days together. Our support of the surviving
family continues for at least thirteen months.
There is a warm welcome for volunteers at
Advent House; without them we simply could
not operate. We hope you will consider joining
us. Please review the various opportunities:
7 THE EPISTLE
Resident Care -- Two volunteers per shift
care for our Residents as you would a sick friend
or loved one at home; giving total physical and
emotional care. We provide full training with
backup support at all times.
Time commitment - one 4 hour shift- weekly or
every other week; minimum one shift per month.
(Overnight shifts are 8 hours)
Bereavement -- Our Resident care-givers
"follow" close family members for at least thirteen
months after the death of their loved one.
Housekeeping -- Presently we have Our Christian sympathy is extended to
housekeepers, but we do need substitutes for when William Cobb and his family with the
they are on vacations. passing of his wife,
Property--general maintenance, snow Barbara Cobb. She
shoveling, lawn cleanup, outside maintenance, etc.
Fundraising - Our GARAGE SALE is
died on May 14,
coming up (August 27 and 28), and we will 2010 at the Fairport
especially be needing strong help for Baptist Home. A
furniture hauling from May through memorial service
August (trucks are needed too). We also will be held for her
need sorters, carriers and generally
energetic people for the pre-sale weeks. on May 28, 2010 at 2
PM at our church.
Thank you for your interest in Advent House. Barbara was a long-time member of the
Please or call us at 223-6112 visit our website First Congregational Church, joining in
(theadventhouse.org) if you are interested in 1937.
becoming a volunteer.

OUR CHURCH FAMILY

REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS
Congratulations to Barbara Eaton, Perinton Park Manor
newlyweds, Krista
LaVeck and Jay Charlotte Jackson, Fairport Baptist Home
Blanchard who were
married at our church on Les Warren, Fairport Baptist Home
May 1st. Pastor John
Cedearleaf officiated.

NEXT EPISTLE’S
WELCOME TO THE NEW ARRIVAL!
Grace Emmeline Preston was born on May 2,
2010. She was welcomed by her happy
parents, Kathy and Chad Preston, and her
proud big brother, Evan. She is also the
granddaughter of Carole Preston.
8 THE EPISTLE