The following is an archive of articles that have appeared on the TPPC News Web Page that may still be of interest.
Note: Links with the text "(PDF)" require the Adobe Reader to access the URL, which is available free from Adobe.
A message from our former Interim Pastor Patricia Barth appeared recently in our church newsletter; this link will take you to Pat's message.
TPPC wishes Pat the best of luck, and thanks her for everything she has done for us in her tenure here.
Here is the letter that session and I sent to the Washington Post in response to the harassment of CASA day labor centers by the Minutemen. Unfortunately it was never published.
Dear Editor,
The Session (board of directors) of the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church praises the excellent reporting, which recently appeared in the past two issues of The Washington Post Magazine, which provided an accurate portrayal of the plight of day laborers and the economic situation faced by some of our Latino and immigrant community. CASA of Maryland deserves praise for their longtime continued efforts to serve and empower the Latino community. We are proud to have helped start this fine organization and we continue to endorse them wholeheartedly. In the frightening climate of growing anti-immigrant sentiment, we support CASA's day-labor centers and condemn the current harassment of would-be workers and their employers.
What is needed is a comprehensive, humane, and just reform of our national immigration laws and policies. We believe that God calls us to welcome the stranger and to help those in need. Therefore, we are opposed to the bill recently passed by the House, HR 4437. This bill would make it a crime to provide health care, social services, and any other assistance to undocumented immigrants. If this bill were made law, our church members would be forced to risk criminal penalties by offering help to immigrants in need. We urge all concerned individuals and communities of faith to work to defeat this measure and others like it, and to create a national system of immigration that is fair to workers and those that support them, a policy which recognizes the tremendous contributions that immigrants make to this country.
In faith,
The Reverend Patricia Barth (Moderator of Session)
and the Session of Takoma Park Presbyterian Church
310 Tulip Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Reports on results from the Congregational Life Survey taken at TPPC on April 10th, along with results from a survey conducted by the Interim Steering Committee, are available on this website. Both of these surveys, conduct in the spring and summer of 2005, give results that are helpful in determining what type of church TPPC is, and where we are now as a congregation.
Women from all over the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic met June 9-12 at Massanetta Springs in Harrisonburg, Virginia, for the Presbyterian Women Synod Summer Gathering. The gathering theme, "For Everything There is a Season," was based on the 2005-06 Horizons Bible Study that will examine the liturgical calendar. Participants attended bible study, workshops and optional activities, worshipped together, and joyfully expressed their faith through music, dance and fellowship. On the final morning of the gathering, Elizabeth MacGregor of TPPC and Pat Garrett of Trinity (Herndon) Presbyterian Church were commissioned as participants in the Presbyterian Women Global Exchange to Brazil this October.
The Bible Study was led each morning by Dale Lindsay Morgan, pastor of Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara, California, and author of the 2004-05 Horizons Bible Study. With grace and humor, she inspired participants to think of new ways to celebrate the liturgical year and to view time. The mission speaker, Susan Ryan, coordinator of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, spoke passionately about the mission her office is able to carry out with the support of Presbyterians throughout the country. She expressed deep appreciation for the health kits that have been supplied and assured that they will be needed to shore up supplies in anticipation of this year's hurricane season. The keynote speaker, Kristen York Gerling, current moderator of the Churchwide Coordinating Team of Presbyterian Women, talked about women's leadership in the church.
Participants sampled workshops with topics ranging from the use of midrash in bible study, how to start a book group using titles found in church libraries, to developing a more meaningful prayer life. Optional activities included mimestry, Chrismon workshop and a nature hike. Musical ministry ranged from a harp choir to a bagpiper!
Next year's Synod Gathering will be held June 16-18 at the Hunt Valley Inn in Baltimore, Maryland. Sure to be on the agenda are Pat and Elizabeth discussing their experiences in Brazil. Mark your calendars now for a great event!
With deep gratitude for her service to TPPC over the last year, TPPC will say farewell to Rev. Hyman at the end of the year. Amitiyah came to TPPC earlier this year as a parttime interim pastor after the pastor position went from a single, fulltime position to a co-pastorate at Rev. Laura Collins' request. The plan was for Amitiyah to serve while the church sought a permanent, parttime co-pastor to share the job with Laura. Xhe parttime arrangement was a good fit with Amitiyah's other vocations as writer and actress. After Rev. Collins resigned, and after receiving the views of the congregation through a congregational survey and meeting, the Session made the decision to return to a full time pastoral position and seek a full time interim pastor. Amitiyah's part time contract runs until December 31, and we are hoping to have a full time interim on board as soon as possible after that. Her last Sunday will be December 26.
An Interim Pastor Search Committee has been hard at work for several weeks. They have already begun to receive applications. The position description for the interim position is on the church website should you wish to bring it to the attention of someone who you think might be interested.
Rev. Hyman leaves with our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for her service to us during a year of change and unanticipated developments.
At a meeting of the congregation of the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church on November 16, the following motion was passed after extensive discussion and some amendments:
"Moved that a position of co-pastor shall be created for the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church and that the terms of call for Pastor Laura Collins be changed from full time solo pastor to 1/3 time co-pastor as of January 1, 2004.
The salary and benefits for the 1/3 position will be as follows:
| Salary and Housing Allowance : | 18,108.33 |
| Professional Expenses: | 1,666.67 |
| SECA: | 1,385.29 |
with full pension and medical benefits as required by the denomination.
Following a period of evaluation by session with the input of the congregation, and before the formation of Pastoral Nominating Committee, the congregation will meet again to approve the position description for the permanent pastor position."
At their February Meeting, the TPPC Session voted that a banner be placed outside and in front of the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church saying "War is Not the Answer", as a statement of TPPC's opposition to the proposed war against Iraq. The banner is currently being displayed on the side of the current sign that faces Tulip Avenue. This vote was taken after studying selections from the Book of Order and Book of Confessions
At the same meeting, the TPPC Session decided that a prayer list would be established for relatives and friends of church members who are serving in the armed forces and have been deployed, or may soon be deployed, to the Middle East. These names will be included in our weekly bulletin for prayers during worship, and in the Church's April newsletter. There is also an effort to collect addresses for these service men and women, so that letters of support can be sent to them from congregation members.
If you know of people who are either part of your family (immediate, extended or chosen) or somehow connected to TPPC, please inform the church office (email : office@takomaparkpc.org) so that our whole faith community can hold these friends in our prayers.
In addition, a letter of support has been sent from the TPPC Session to several Presbyterian congregations within Iraq, letting them know that our prayers are with them and their congregants. We will hold these Christians in our prayers as well during this difficult time.
The Takoma Park Presbyterian Church Session approved a motion to purchase wind power as a sign of the church's commitment to providing cleaner energy to our community. A special offering was taken on Pentecost Sunday in 2003 to provide further funds for the support of non-polluting energy sources.
An article by Co-Pastor Laura Collins inviting other faith communities to join in this action can be accessed from this website.
The TPPC Session has chosen to take on a special environmental challenge as a congregation. Turn the Tide is a program of nine simple actions we can take individually and as a community, which will have a positive, measurable impact on the well being of God's creation. We will be asking members to sign up to take these steps at church over the coming weeks. Booklets will be provided describing the action steps and the direct effect they will have on the environment. Our personal and congregational efforts will save water, trees, and sea life, and will reduce climate-warming emissions, which will all be calculated so that we can see the results immediately.
This is a wonderful opportunity for us as a community of faith to make a difference for the health of our planet. If Noah could build the ark, surely we can take a few simple steps!
For more information you may go to http://www.newdream.org/turnthetide/faith.html, or sign up online on the Turn the Tide website. You may also contact the church office (301-270-5550 or office@takomaparkpc.org) to sign up.
The Session of TPPC recently voted to affirm and add our Amen to Stated Clerk Clif Kirkpatrick's statement dated April 5, 2002, addressing recent events in Israel and Palestine. Rev. Kirkpatrick's statement can be accessed from the Witherspoon Society website (www.witherspoonsociety.org/kirkpatrick_letter.htm).
On November 5, 2000, The Takoma Park Presbyterian Church honored the life and ministry of the Reverend Samson Khumalo during our All Saints Day worship service. Reverend Khumalo spent a great deal of time visiting our congregation during the early 1980s from his native South Africa, and was the founder of Diakonia, an ecumenical ministry based in Durban, South Africa, which works with local churches in community development, and in building a just and democratic South Africa. The TPPC Session has issued a proclamation praising the life and work of Reverend Samson Khumalo.
A statement was adopted by the Session of Takoma Park Presbyterian Church at its monthly meeting on Thursday August 3, 2000 in reaction to the recent actions of the Presbyterian Church (USA). This statement will be sent to our Presbytery Office and publicized in other ways, including articles in the Montgomery Gazette and the Washington Blade. Please feel free to distribute this statement to others; for more information, please contact the TPPC Church Office at 301-270-5550.
Webmaster : Brian C. Monsell