The Church HeraldStony Brook Community Church (United Methodist), Stony Brook, New York

STONY BROOKCOMMUNITY CHURCH

216 Christian AvenueStony Brook, NY 11790

Chuck Van Houten, Pastor

Church Office Tel: (631) 751-0574

Church E-mail:stonybrookcommunitychurch@gmail.com

Pastor’s Study Tel: (631) 751-0659

Church Website:www.stonybrookcommunitychurch.org

NYAC VISION STATEMENTThe New York Annual Conference, through the grace of God, embodies a beloved

community of hope, building up a healthy Body of Christ, with heartwarmedUnited Methodists in mission for the transformation of the world.

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Newsletter Table of Contents

1......Pastor’s Letter2......Holy Week Schedule3......Lectionary / Church History4......April Calendar5......MYF News6......Church Council / Spring Musicale7......Hot Cross Buns Recipe8......PAC 20159.....Spring Musicale Photos10...Apple Festival Preparations11....What Happened on Palm Sunday?

Please send updates and information to Newsletter Editor, Bob Retnauer, at

bobretnauer@optimum.net

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples

and Peter, `He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him,just as he told you.' "(Mark 16:6-7)

“The Sure Thing”

How do you know when something is a sure thing? There are all sorts of situations in life in which we try to assess what is a good investment, what makes the most sense, or what can be reasonably consid-ered a sure thing. Do we base those decisions on market research? Or would we be more inclined to take the advise of a close friend who is a good source? Certainly as we saw a few years ago in the media frenzy around the Bernie Madoff trial, when we consider the financial advice that so many took

from him (even my beloved Mets!) we see what can happen when we trust the wrong people or listen to the world. And so, as Easter approaches with all the joy, all the cel-ebration, all the promises of hope, I wonder if we truly feel that celebration as some-thing that comes from a reliable source – something, or someone, whom we can trust.

Do we choose to trust two thousand years of Christian tradition in order to know that we are to rejoice greatly at the resurrection of our crucified Lord and savior? Do we trust the traditions of the church or our emotional response to this day as a result of our upbring-ing in the church, or what we have learned since becoming a part of the church? While all of these are important to our faith and our sense of who we are, we must never forget whose we are. We are God’s beloved creation and God’s children in a world that God created for us. We are the ones for whom Christ chose to suffer and die on the cross, all of us, every last human being. He spoke a word and the world was created. For He is the author of all life and was with God at the beginning (and is God), as the first verses of the Gospel of John tell us. What greater source of information than the author of all life? For it was Jesus himself who predicted his resurrection (Mark 8:31). It was Jesus who told his disciples and us that in three days time he would be raised to God’s glory (Mk 9:31).

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We see a reminder of that in the above scripture verse from the oldest existing canonical gospel – the Gospel of Mark. In that gospel it is joyfully declared: " You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, `He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "

Just as He told you! These words are joyously steadfast and true. Not simply because they come from Holy Scripture – God’s word – but also because they witness to a truth that Christ himself chose to share with his disciples and to the whole world in order that all would know of the goodness of God. God’s word and the teachings of Christ Jesus are utterly reliable. It is in that rock solid word of God that comes to us in the Christ that we can take solace in times of trial, comfort in times of tribulation, and joy in the reality of the resurrection of Christ for the world – for you. Christ was God’s sacrificial lamb offered up for the world, for you, and for me. He was and is the atonement of all, regard-less of who you are. And so I say to you in the rock solid, reliable word of God, Rejoice! Again, I say, Rejoice! These are the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:4. They are words that speak of Christ and his resurrection. And they are the words of the church – of your heart – this Easter season because of all that God has already done for you and for the world, in Christ Jesus.

I hope and pray that you will choose to rejoice greatly with all of God’s children this Easter - in God’s sure thing. Celebrate with the Christ this year and come to know Him who gave himself up for you freely. Get to know him through the church, through community, through listening to his steadfast word in your heart this year. Come to our Maundy Thursday com-memoration, for in doing so, he will rise even more meaningfully once again this Easter in our hearts, just as he told us. God bless you, and keep you in God’s steadfast love and joy that is Christ the risen King.

In God’s love, joy and gratitude,Pastor Chuck

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Holy Week Schedule

Maundy Thursday Service 7:30 p.m.Good Friday Interchurch Service 12 -3 p.m. (at Setauket Methodist Church)Children’s Easter Party (Sat., April 4) 10:30 a.m.Easter Sunrise Service 6:30 a.m. Easter Sunday Worship 10:00 a.m.

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LECTIONARY

April 02: Holy ThursdayI give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another (John 13:34, NRSV).Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 1 Corinthians 11:23-26John 13:1-17, 31b-35

April 03: Good FridayMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1, NRSV)Isaiah 52:13-53:12Psalm 22 Hebrews 10:16-25John 18:1-19:42

April 05: Easter Sunday“Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus (John 20:13-14, NRSV).Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 1 Corinthians 15:1-11John 20:1-18 orMark 16:1-8

April 12: Second Sunday of EasterJesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29, NRSV).Acts 4:32-35Psalm 133 1 John 1:1-2:2John 20:19-31

April 19: Third Sunday of EasterAnd he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are wit-nesses of these things” (Luke 24:48, NRSV).Acts 3:12-19Psalm 4 1 John 3:1-7Luke 24:36b-48

April 26: Fourth Sunday of Easter“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11, NRSV).Acts 4:5-12Psalm 23 1 John 3:16-24John 10:11-18

May 03: Fifth Sunday of Easter“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2, NRSV).Acts 8:26-40Psalm 22:25-31 1 John 4:7-21John 15:1-8

Stony Brook Community Church Historical Facts

Did you know?

Over the years, the current church has undergone many reno-vations. In 1909, the building was in great disrepair and so in anticipation of the celebration of 100 years of Methodism in Stony Brook, funds were raised and rebuilding began. As part of this restructuring, new windows were installed and dedicated by several church groups. You can see one of these windows facing the front of the church and presented by the Sunday school in 1911.

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CHURCH COUNCIL

Church Council met on March 17. The committee covered a variety of topics.The MYF will help coordinate the children’s Easter party. They have been involved with planning activities along with Ron and Kate and have created invitations for the children. There was discussion about developing space for the teenagers to meet.

The group talked about what to do about our non-perishable food collection since the Ministries at Coram is closed. It was suggested that the items be donated to Concern for Independent Living’s new food pantry. The MYF may be involved with food collection and delivery. New ways to involve the congregation were suggested.

The Holy Week schedule was reviewed. It was noted that the children’s party will begin at 10:30, the Maundy Thursday service will be held at 7:30, and the Good Friday service will be held at the Setauket Methodist Church.

The Performing Arts Camp will run from June 29 to July 24 with two extra performances this year on July 25 and 26. The structure for giving scholarships was refined, and a deadline of April 30 was set for early registration, scholarship requests, and donations from the congregation toward the scholarship fund.

Spring cleaning for the Community Room was set for Wednesday, March 25 at 3:30.

The May plant sale will be held once again by the United Methodist Women.

Sincere appreciation was expressed to those who were involved with planningand organizing the Ash Wednesday soup supper that SBCC hosted. There was aspecial note of thanks to Joan Wingerter for her involvement with the supper andher work with the choirs for the service.

SPRING MUSICALE

On Sunday, March 22, the audience at our spring concert was rewarded with outstanding, inspiring performances by Valerie Grehan, The Harbor Front Trio, and Glenn Baldwin and Friends of Jazz. Valerie sang five arias culminating with a dramatic rendition of Rossini's‘ “Una voce poco fa” from The Barber of Seville. Her voice and range sparkled in an unbelievable way. Phuc Phan's trio played a dif-ficult and rousing Beethoven Trio for cello, viola and violin and a Ravel Duo for cello and viola. Viola player, Ofir Tome, pulled a Bach "rabbit out of the hat" and played an impromptu Bach Prelude when he found out that March 21st was the 330th anniversary of Bach's birth (1685)! Friends of Jazz (keyboard, bass, drums, and vocals) performed witty versions of American Standards focusing on Spring. Glenn's group performed two of his original pieces, "My Paris" and "Change at Jamaica" which focused on his personal experiences.

Thank you to all the performers who donated their time and talent for our church. Our perfor-mance space presents a challenge, and much time was spent moving equipment and instruments in and out of the church, but they were willing to do it! Thanks also to our sponsors who made this performance possible and to all who came to hear this glorious music.

Many lingered for a lovely reception downstairs prepared by our Stony Brook Choir. Thank you to the choir for their support and help. If you missed this event, you missed an exceptional experience. Joan Wingerter

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

When I was growing up in the late 1950s, on the Saturday before Easter our church youth group would stay up all night making hot cross buns. We then would deliver them still warm to homes between the sunrise service and the main Easter morning services. This recipe was served at a recent SBCC Fellowship Hour and is based on the spice buns in Elizabeth David’s English Bread and Yeast Cookery. It is really quite easy: the number of ingredients is deceptive since many are just salt or spices.

• 3 ½ cups flour plus extra as needed (preferable unbleached all-purpose) • 1 ½ teaspoons dry yeast • 1 teaspoon salt • ½ teaspoon nutmeg • ½ teaspoon allspice • 1 teaspoon cinnamon • ½ teaspoon cloves • 1/3 cup brown sugar • 1 ¼ cup warm milk plus extra as needed • 2 eggs • 4 tablespoons soft butter • 2/3 cup currants, soaked in a fruit juice, liquor or brandy if desired • 1 more egg to brush on top

Butter icing if desired • 2 tablespoons butter • 1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar • 1 teaspoon vanilla • milk as needed to get the texture you want

Combine all the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs and combine with the milk; then stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Beat in the soft butter. Stir in the currants (drained if soaked). Knead gently, adding more milk or flour if needed to get a soft but shapeable dough. Let rise until light and fluffy; it should be at least twice its original volume and will probably take 2-3 hours.

Punch down and knead briefly. Shape into whatever size buns you wish (I tend to go for a bit smaller than egg size) and place not-quite-touching each other on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or aluminum foil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until again doubled in size. Beat the third egg and brush it on top of the buns to get a shiny look. Traditionally hot cross buns were not frosted with a cross; to be traditional cut a cross shape on the top of each risen bun and skip the icing.

Bake at 400’ for about 20 minutes depending upon size (for very large buns bake at 375’ for up to 35 minutes).

If using the icing: Let the buns cool completely. Then combine all the icing ingredients and beat until smooth, adding milk or confec-tioners sugar to get the consistency you like (Don’t pay too much attention to the amounts specified – I never measure for this icing so I’m just guessing on the measurements). For ease in making the lines make a cone out of parchment or two layers of wax paper stapled into a cone shape; spoon the icing into the cone, cut off the tip, and squeeze out the lines.

Liz Twiss

Do you have a special recipe that you’d be willing to share? Please send it to the church office with a sentence or twotelling us about it.

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PAC 2015 Appearing soon

in a church near you!

The eighth session of our Performing Arts Camp will open on June 29th, with, we strongly suspect, another stellar sold-out season. We have kids who have been coming every year since 2008! The kids’ loyalty to PAC is so strong that this year the

maximum age had to be lifted to satisfy campers who would otherwise have aged out. As always, Director Sherrill Jones (and everyone else involved in PAC) wants to make sure that no child is excluded due to an inability to pay. We already have some scholarship funds available due to the generosity of last summer’s Vintage European Sports Car Show. If you would like to contribute, please send a check to the office clearly marked “PAC scholarships.” This year in order to be fair to everyone, a firm deadline has been established for 1) the early bird tuition discount, 2) applications for scholarship aid, and 3) scholarship donations to be offered to this year’s campers (later donations are, of course, welcome but will be held for the 2016 camp season). The deadlines will enable the scholarship committee to know what funds are available and to distribute them to the kids who need them the most. If you know of a child or young adult who loves theater, music, dancing, acting, or just having fun, please encourage him or her to apply early. If you would like to help such a child have a wonderful summer, please consider sending in your contribution.

Recognize any of these kids from 2008? Some are still coming!

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Glenn Baldwin & Friends of Jazz

Spring Musicale 2015

The Harbor Front Trio

Valerie Grehan, Soprano

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Only 143 Days Left Before the Apple Festival!

OK, so maybe it’s a little early to start making pie crusts, but it’s definitely not too early to start thinking about how to make this the best Apple Festival ever. The first meeting of the organizing committee will take place on April 11 (the Saturday after Easter): all are welcome, but whether or not you wish to attend, please start brain-storming about what you’d like to see happen. Please tell your ideas to Kate Hausske, Pat Martin, Megan Murphy, Sue Murphy, or Donna Smith.

And, of course, save the afternoon of September 6th for pie making and the 12th for the festival itself!

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WHAT HAPPENED ON PALM SUNDAY?

What sort of day is Palm Sunday?What was it they saw in that figure riding up to the grand mount of the Temple on a working beast? Was his entry into Jerusalem a triumphant pro-cession? An act of political rebellion? A forgettable sideshow among the multitudes who made their way to the city for the week of Passover?

Palm Sunday, which looks back to that scene, is a significant liturgi-cal observance for Christian churches, but what is its significance? If it’s a celebration, it’s conducted in a minor key because it stands at the

Christian pilgrims take part in the Palm Sundayprocession in Jerusalem on April 1, 2012

beginning of the drama and suffering of Holy Week. And those palm leaves and fronds and branches that we wave as we sing and shout “Hosanna!” — for whom are we waving them?

Journey’s endOne last time, Jesus turns to the band of followers who had been with him from Galilee and tells them what to expect when they arrive in Jerusalem: arrest, sentencing, torture, death and at the end a surprising resurrection. The response of the disciples is unrecorded, but the next thing they ask reveals a shocking lack of comprehension, at least to us who live on this side of the Crucifixion. “Allow one of us to sit on your right and the other on your left,” James and John ask, “when you enter your glory” (Mark 10:37).

It has been this way for a while. No one can get their minds around what Jesus’ glory will look like or what the substance of his kingdom will be. So Jesus offers up another lesson on the importance of humility and service as an alternative to their misconceptions of greatness.

A humble entryIf Jesus is the one to restore King David’s throne, he chooses a strange mode of entry into the capital city. On a horse, he might be seen above the crowds. But there is no horse and no chariot — only a borrowed beast of burden that had never been broken.

Of course, discerning eyes might have seen this as a fulfillment of royal prophecy. Zechariah speaks of a king coming to Jerusalem “humble and riding on an ass, on a colt, the offspring of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). There is also the direction of approach. The Mount of Olives, just to the east of the Temple, is no ordinary hill. The book bearing Zechariah’s name concludes with a grand vision of Israel’s salvation coming from the same mountain with all sorts of earthshaking events (Chapter 14).

But you need eyes to see those things; and if you don’t, you just see a man with his band of starstruck stragglers work-ing his way to the city gates. If it’s a triumph, it’s not enough of one to overwhelm the city. As Francis Spufford describes the scene in his recent book, “Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense,” “the details are off-script somehow, from the donkey, to the way that only some of the friends seem to be shout-ing the slogans you’d expect, to the way that the man himself doesn’t have his face set in the shining megawatt mask of charisma.” But he is clearly headed to the Temple, and that in itself has implications.

The politics of the temple“Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem is an unmistakable political act,” notes theologian Stanley Hauerwas. “He has come to be acknowledged as king.” And though it seems foreign to people living with a notion of separation of church and state, “his going to the temple is perhaps even more significant than his triumphant entry.”

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Jesus doesn’t go to confront the titular “powers that be.” He goes instead to the Temple to look it over and then returns the next day, in Mark’s account, to cleanse it of those things that keep it from being “a house of prayer for all nations” (Mark 11:17). It’s this act that stirs the religious leaders to seek his death. Jesus has confronted them because “without true worship of God, there is no way to know what a true politics might be,” according to Hauerwas. Jesus is reclaiming the people’s identity, an identity that is determined by their connection to Israel’s God rather than to any other authority.

A Roman interestThe powers that be are interested, however. From the high tower of the Antonia Fortress overlooking the Temple plaza, Roman soldiers cast a wary eye on the procession. The Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate, was in town, up from the coastal city of Caesarea to supervise the Passover pilgrims in their multitudes.

It wasn’t the pretensions of religious teachers and zealots that concerned them; the Romans were relatively tolerant in that regard. It was the instability of the Jewish population that they feared, seemingly sparked by, as historian Justo González notes, “the least challenge to their faith.” In Jesus’ childhood, one of these periodic revolts led to the crucifixion of 2,000 Jews in Galilee. Some 35 years after his death, the whole Temple complex would be destroyed, and many more would die as the Romans crushed a major rebellion.

So they are watching Jesus’ entry and wondering what to make of it as well. How much of a disturbance will Jesus cause? How much will the Romans be asked to do by their Jewish puppet king, Herod Antipas, in whose citadel Pilate is encamp-ed? How much violent display will be required?

From the streetsThen there are the people in the streets, two and a half million of them, according to the estimate of the classical historian Josephus. From all over the known world, Jews had returned for the Passover celebration. Along with the people, there were tens of thousands of sheep awaiting the ritual sacrifice. The city couldn’t hold them all, and so many stayed outside the gates, in villages like Bethany where Jesus and the disciples lodged.

What hopes and fears did Jesus inspire in the people as he entered the city that day? All sorts of expectations swirled around him. He was a teacher, a healer, a prophet, a rabbi, and a challenger of the establishment. But some of them also recognized him as the fulfillment of the hopes for a new king, and so old royal praises found voice on their lips: “Hosan-na! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mark 11:9).

Speaking of JesusPerhaps we think we know how to speak of Jesus now, after the events of that week all played out. We know now, better than those who watched him that day, who he is and what his kingdom looks like. We assume this.

It’s very easy for us to cast Jesus into a role of our choosing, however. We still would like to see him come to champion our hopes and expectations and to disrupt and frustrate the designs of our enemies. Jesus leads us to the Temple, though, and points us to a God who upends all our notions of power and rule. Jesus’ kingdom operates with different priorities and to a different end. He is there among the people, teaching his followers the way of humility, offering sight to the blind, overturning tables, and removing every obstacle that would keep us from the living God. And if you can see the King in these actions, Palm Sunday has come.

ALEX JOYNER

Alex Joyner is Superintendent of the Eastern Shore District of The United Methodist church in the Vir-ginia Conference. He's the author of A Space for Peace in the Holy Land: Listening to Modern Israel & Palestine.