Greetings from your 2021 Consistory!

In January we were blessed to welcome our incoming members to Consistory, in a

wonderful (albeit a bit different) service presided over by the Reverend Abby Norton

-Levering. While the circumstances of this beautiful and meaningful liturgy were

certainly unique, the purpose and intent of the Consistory has remained the same.

Our Consistory dates back to at least 1790, and today consist of six elders and six

deacons working to act as representatives for you, our beloved Congregation. It is

inevitable that over time and circumstances church leadership changes. While the

names of the Consistory members may change each year, as new members step

into (or return to) the position of church leadership, be assured that each of us feels

that God has led us to this role at NRC.

If the past several months has taught us anything, it is that none of us can predict

what this next year will hold for any of us. While recent events at NRC may have us all

feeling shocked and confused, they should also serve to remind us that our church

has successfully endured for centuries in Niskayuna. These difficult circumstances will

pass, and we can look to our longevity for assurance that our congregation’s

character, perseverance, and fervent prayer will see us through this.

One thing we can say with certainty, is that all of us on Consistory promise to lead

and support you with love, compassion and as much grace and wisdom as the Lord

will provide.

May the peace of Christ be with you all, and may the Holy Spirit inspire us to be kind

and humble in the months ahead.

Elders Deacons

Deborah Bennett Lizbeth Amorelli

Dug Jackson Roger Greenwood

Adrean Krieg Scott Haefner

Janel Mirel Leo Lichtig

Suzi OBrien Rick Mizenko

Ron Ricard Maureen Rizzi

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12).

Niskayuna Reformed Church February 2021

Birthdays

2 Michael Cerone

3 Valentina Gonzalez

3 Lauren Van Buren

5 Joanne Goodwin

7 Mel Burger

8 Mary Counsell

8 Nick Persons

9 Suzan Tuttle

10 Charles Goddard

12 Alan Connelly

12 Glenn Kreig

13 Joseph Cook

14 Barbara Kamm

15 Joan Unright

17 Jennifer Hall

20 Benjamin

Groudine

20 Tom Henery

21 Deborah Bennett

22 Jill Ennis

22 George

Buhrmaster

22 Donna Stewart

23 Nina Doss

26 Buddy Wyman

28 Hannah Kreig

28 Keith Munro

28 Jack

Faddegon

Anniversaries

Ralph & Lori

Lembo 11th

Tom & Donna Nappi 19th

Niskayuna Senior Center

We continue to be available to help our Seniors. Our bus/delivery service is for

Niskayuna residents for grocery shopping, pharmacy, post office runs or

delivery of masks. You can reach Matt, our bus driver, at 518-495-6202.

You are always welcome to reach out to us at the office, 518-372-4969 as well.

We continue to offer our Gershon’s lunch program Tues. and Thurs. with drive-

thru pick-up. In some instances, residents can have lunch delivered. Menus are

online at https://www.niskayuna.org/ – senior news – news & annoucements, or

you can call us to have the menu emailed or mailed directly. Continue to look

for our newsletter, workout classes on Zoom or our facebook page. All offer op-

portunities to keep your mind and body active.

Stay healthy and active until we see you again!

Women’s Fellowship Group (WFG)

The WFG will be meeting on Wednesday, February 10, at 2:00 pm, via zoom.

Women’s Book Group (WBG)

The WBG will meet on Saturday, February 13th at 10 am, via zoom.

Please contact Trudy Lehner with questions and login information for BOTH

groups at 518-346-8952 or tflehner@aol.com. All are welcome to join!

Thank you for the $400 anonymous donation that was mailed into the church.

We appreciate your support!

Mission and Service Committee

February Mission of the Month:

Our February Mission of the Month will

benefit The Schenectady City Mission. The

City Mission exists to meet the needs of

the hungry and homeless in our

community. The Mission’s goal is to

provide “not only HELP for today, but

HOPE for tomorrow”! In 2020 the City

Mission provided 28,485 nights of shelter,

188,916 meals, 1,200 weekend backpack

meals, free clothing , free medical clinics,

as well as community wide picnics. Your

generosity is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Looking ahead: March —

Salvation Army Soup Kitchen Expenses

Communion Collections

December: Guiding Eyes For the Blind

Collected $405, Donated $450

January: Wildwood Programs: $135

Once again, we appreciate the

generosity of our congregation.

For prior contributions, we have received

Thank You notes from the following

organizations:

• SiCM

• SiCM Urban Garden

Special Note: Our Communion

Collections run for the entire month. You

may mail your donation to the church. All

checks should be made payable to NRC

and specify on the memo line the name

of the organization that you wish to

support.

Did you know that you can make Mission

of the Month Collections through the

Church’s website? There is now a

dedicated Mission donation selection for

the Pay Pal contributions.

SICM Emergency Food Pantry

We are still collecting disposable adult

and child sized face masks. For the

months of January through March SiCM is

continuing the CAN You Help Food Drive

will be collecting Canned There are

collection boxes in the education building

for donations. Please see the section on

the next page for more information!

The Food Pantry is now accepting

volunteers - call the pantry at 518-346-

4445 for more information.

Monetary donations are also welcome

and can often purchase more food per

dollar than we often realize. There is a

green collection box in the narthex.

Every donation impacts lives.

2020 Volunteer Opportunities

Schenectady City Mission-

Currently the volunteer opportunities for

serving dinner are on hold due to Covid-

19 restrictions. But there are still ways you

can get involved.

Please see the following to learn more:

https://citymission.com/get-involved/

Salvation Army Soup Kitchen–

2021 dates pending. Dates are

determined on a month-to-month basis

UPCOMING M & SC Events

Brooks BBQ 2021

April 21st and August 18th

Next Meeting:

February 8, 2021 @ 6pm

All are welcome

Please remember the needy, the hungry

and the poor.

SICM Canned Good Drive

“CAN” YOU HELP? SiCM’s newest

campaign for collecting all types of

canned food to replenish their Food

Pantry throughout the upcoming

Winter. NRC will have two blue bins in

Education Building for this purpose.

This drive will run till March 31, 2021.

The Education Building will be open

Monday-Friday, after 1:30 pm, for you

to drop off your canned goods.

Additionally, their food pantry has been remodeled to make it more modern

and safer during these COVID-19 times, including plexiglass barriers and

development of a “call in” system and delivery options. No walk-in service is

operating at this time. Consider taking a tour or volunteering. View their

website at us or contact their office 518-346-4445.

“Souper” Bowl Fundraiser

Due to our current health issues, this familiar event, well supported in the past

by our congregants, will have a different form. Instead of Sunday school

students manning tables at coffee hour , with canisters in hand, our church will

have an opportunity to donate via PayPal. There will be a drop down option

labeled Souper Bowl Fundraiser under "one time contribution" (see image

below) for your convenience. Donations will be collected through February

21, 2021. Thank you for your continued support of SiCM’s goal to fight hunger.

Prayer Chain

Did you know NRC has a prayer chain that goes out

when someone needs prayers? If you would like to be

added to the prayer chain so you are notified when

someone needs prayers or if you are in need of prayers,

please let Ellen know. You can email Ellen at

office@niskayunareformed.org and she will distribute your

prayer request to NRC’s “Prayers” List. If you wish to

remain anonymous, please indicate that too.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Please see the note from Janel & Jeff Mirel about their daughter, Alexandra:

I wanted to share with you and the congregation how proud we are of our daughter,

Alexandra Mirel, a 3rd grader at All Saints Catholic Academy here in Albany.

As we all know, times are difficult and the world has been turned upside down, even

something as simple as school

fundraising has had to be

thought out and considered.

We knew Alex was not going to

be able to partake in typical

door-to-door fundraisers this

year.

So, we gave her that task of

being creative and responsible.

Alex on her own, devised a plan

to have a can & bottle drive in

our neighborhood.

She wrote a letter to neighbors

requesting donations. She has

collected cans and bottles now

for the last three months. She has

gone out every Thursday to

gather recyclables and put

them in our garage until she

could take them to the recycling

Center on Colvin Ave in Albany

by our home.

Alexandra has now collected

over 3,500 cans for All Saints

Catholic Academy.

Due to her persistence and diligence, Alexandra has raised over $180 dollars, a nickel

at a time!

We are thrilled with her efforts and dedication and know others would be as well.

Blessings

Janel & Jeff Mirel

Alexandra will be featured in the Evangelist in next month's issue!

Great job, Alexandra!

Membership Committee Notice

Directions to access the

Members’ Directory on the

Niskayuna Reformed Church

Website

Step 1 – www.niskayunareformed.org

Step 2 – Once in the website, scroll all the way to the bottom. In the gray area,

look at Quick Links (second column). The last thing on the bottom of the list is

Members area. Click on that.

Step 3 – It will ask you to login. You should use your username or email and

Password. If you don’t have your password, hit “lost password” and it will in-

struct you to get a new one.

Step 4 – Now that you are signed in, it will say Members. In red, you will find

Members directory; click on that.

Step 4A. If nothing opens, right click on the Member Area icon and choose the

first option – Open Link in a New Tab

Step 5 – Either a box will come up that says password, OR you might get a PDF

icon that shows up at the bottom left of the screen which is labeled 73946564

church…pdf. Click on that, then it will ask for the password

Enter Password – DO NOT USE YOUR PERSONAL PASSWORD – Everyone needs to

type the following in either the box or the pdf: password

Once you type the word password, hit Submit and the directory will come up.

The directory is for members only which is why it is secured.

If you have any questions, please call the Church Office and someone will get back to you.

Monday, February 1 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 4 pm-Violin (102) Tuesday, February 2 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 7 pm-Boy Scouts (FH) Wednesday, February 3 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 10 am-Mid-week Coffee Hour 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) Thursday, February 4 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 4 pm-Violin (102) Friday, February 5 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 7 pm-AA Saturday, February 6 No events Sunday, February 7 Mission-Schenectady City Mis-sion 9:30 am-Worship Service (S) 10:45 am-Coffee Hour 11 am-Sunday School Monday, February 8 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 4 pm-Violin (102) Tuesday, February 9 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 7 pm-Boy Scouts (FH) Wednesday, February 10 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 10 am-Mid-week Coffee Hour 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 2 pm-WFG 7 pm-Consistory 7 pm-Bells (S) Thursday, February 11 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 4 pm-Violin (102)

Friday, February 12 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 7 pm-AA Saturday, February 13 8 am-Blood Drive (FH) 10 am-WBG Sunday, February 14 9:30 am-Worship Service (S) 10:45 am-Coffee Hour 11 am-Sunday School Monday, February 15 Winter Break 7:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 4 pm-Violin (102) Tuesday, February 16 Winter Break 7:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 7 pm-Boy Scouts (FH) Wednesday, February 17 Winter Break 7:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 10 am-Mid-week Coffee Hour 7 pm-Bells (S) Thursday, February 18 Winter Break 7:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 4 pm-Violin (102) Friday, February 19 Winter Break 7:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 7 pm-AA Saturday, February 20 No events Sunday, February 21 9:30 am-Worship Service (S) 10:45 am-Coffee Hour 11 am-Sunday School Monday, February 22 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 4 pm-Violin (102) Tuesday, February 23 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 7 pm-Boy Scouts (FH) Wednesday, February 24

9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 10 am-Mid-week Coffee Hour 7 pm-Bells (S) Thursday, February 25 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 4 pm-Violin (102) Friday, February 26 9:15-12:00 pm-NS (101) 1:30-5:30 pm-TSL (FH/104) 7 pm-AA Saturday, February 27 No events Sunday, February 28 9:30 am-Worship Service (S) 10:45 am-Coffee Hour 11 am-Sunday School Please Note: When no room is included after an event, it will take place on Zoom Sunday Service is available online too. Contact the church office if you have not been re-ceiving the online information and wish to join us remotely. CCC- Congregational Care CM- City Mission H & A- History & Archives M & SC-Mission & Service WFG-Women’s Fellowship Group WBG-Women’s Book Group

February 2021