PARISH EVENTS
Due to our strict following of our NY Forward Covid19 Safety Plan, most events listed below will be conducted virtually on either Facebook Watch, our website or Zoom unless otherwise noted.
Pastor Dustin on Vacation
Pastor Dustin will be taking his annual post-Easter vacation from Monday, April 5th - Saturday, April 17th. If you are in need of emergency pastoral support, please contact Pastor Jonathan.
Peace Not Walls: Justice in Palestine & Israel
Continuing Sunday, April 18th at 8:45am
https://zoom.us/j/94311937514
In this weekly adult education course we will examine the history of the Palestine-Israel Conflict and efforts to develop a positive peace, where there is justice and systems and structures in place that build positive relationships and work to establish equity and support anti-racist policies. Grounded in concern for the dignity of all people, full respect for human rights, healing and reconciliation, and a theology of accompaniment, we will explore how Palestinians and Israelis, Jews, Christians, and Muslims may work together for peace with justice in what many call "the Holy Land."
1. "Israelis and Americans Both Are Asking, Whose Country Is This Anyway?"
2. Faith in the Face of Empire Chaps. 8-9 and Epilogue, pp. 93-130.
3. "Choosing Hope: Christian Leaders Speak about Realities this Advent" (59:04)
4. "The Inconvenient Truth about Israelis and Zionism's Founding Patrons: The Twentieth Century Story of Isra'el in Palestine: Quotations by Israelis and Prominent Zionists" pp. 1-53. Pay special attention to pp. 5-8 and 46-51.
5. Psalm 37: 10-11, Matthew 5:5.
National Ecumenical Advocacy Days
Sunday, April 18th - Wednesday, April 21st
Join Pastor Dustin, the people of Messiah and Christians across the country for Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2021 to advocate for climate justice! EAD 2021 is an opportunity to support the global movement centered on and led by the people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts due to historic racial and colonial inequities. Together, we will passionately advocate and reimagine a world that lives out the values of justice, equity and the beloved community. We continue to see how the historic reality of colonialism and structural racism has designed systems that live on today through environmental racism and a myriad of other injustices that grew out of the same evil roots. Throughout 2020, these systemic issues manifested themselves in the disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minorities who became sick with and died of COVID-19, as well as the continued extrajudicial killing of Black men and women. The Earth and its people are groaning. We are called to respond!
Around the world, we again bear witness to protests for racial justice, this time set amidst unprecedented climate-induced disasters, an economic crisis, and the deaths of more than one million people globally from the pandemic. For example, Amazonian indigenous communities face the existential threats of COVID-19, wildfires, and brutal mining operations. East Africans are affected by hunger and malnutrition due to the coronavirus restrictions and to crop failures from flooding and locusts. We have an opportunity to reflect on this moment as Christians. Together we can seek the balm to heal God’s Earth and all humanity. Addressing the history of colonialism and structural racism is key to achieving climate justice. Together, we will rise up with the climate justice movement against these systemic wrongs and respond in hope. Join us in 2021 as we gather virtually for worship, workshops and advocacy to “imagine God’s Earth and its people restored.”
While Ecumenical Advocacy Days usually takes place in Washington, DC, this year EAD is virtual due to COVID19 so it's even easier to get involved! The cost of the event is $25 per attendee if you register before April 1st and $35 thereafter. You can register at https://advocacydays.org/2021-imagine-gods-earth-people-restored. Please let Pastor Dustin know if you're interested in attending and if you need help paying for the registration cost!
Mass for the Third Sunday in Easter: "Wondering"
Sunday, April 18th at 10:00am
The gospel for the third Sunday of Easter is always one in which the risen Christ shares food with the disciples, meals that are the Easter template for the meal we share each Sunday. In today’s gospel, Jesus both shares the disciples’ food and shows them the meaning of his suffering, death, and resurrection through the scriptures, the two main elements of our Sunday worship. Pastor Dustin will preach and Pastor Jonathan will preside. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Easter for Kids: "Wondering"
Sunday, April 18th at 12:00pm
Today on Easter for Kids, Pastor Dustin, Ms. Betsy and Ms. Cheryl reflect on the wonder of the disciples when they share a meal with the resurrected Jesus in Luke 24:36b-48. This course is broadcast on Facebook Watch.
Community Confirmation Class: Hildegard von Bingen and 1st & 2nd Corinthians
Sunday, April 18th at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92815271554
All middle school aged children in our local community, their families and all who are interested are invited to join us for our weekly virtual Confirmation Class program! Nearly every Sunday evening we gather to watch a video, engage in a brief Bible study and have a conversation about how to make sense of the complicated world we're living in through the lens of the New Testament. This Sunday we'll discuss Paul's Letters to the Corinthians and discuss the story of Hildegard von Bingen. This is currently a Zoom only offering.
American Wilderness: A Sabbatical Journey through a Year of Pandemic
Tuesday, April 20th at 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/99215120770
After talking through it for a number of years, this past February as part of Messiah's broader staff restructuring our Congregation Council instituted a Sabbatical Policy, a program recommended for all Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastors serving for extended periods in their congregations. Sabbaticals are practiced primarily by clergy and those in teaching professions, and in a Lutheran context are usually a three month period of extended leave for "enhancing the mission of the congregation through rostered leader renewal, development, and growth" granted after a pastor's first seven years in a congregation and then every subsequent five years. As Pastor Dustin will conclude his seventh year at Messiah this July, we're already behind schedule but our Mutual Ministry Committee and Sabbatical Task Force is currently proposing his first sabbatical to take place between the Feast of the Pentecost (June 5th, 2022) to God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday (September 11th, 2022). The general idea is Pastor Dustin will journey by campervan throughout many of the places that mark the past "year in the wilderness" of COVID19 from the US Capitol to Minneapolis, the Navajo Reservation to Shishmaref, a tiny Inuit village off the coast of Alaska drowning amidst rising seas due to climate change, to reflect on how God has led America through the wilderness similarly to how God led the people of Israel through their Exodus journey. He'll spend time in many of the other wild places of America as well, especially some of its most notable national parks. Throughout the journey he'll post regular reflections and report back to the congregation more deeply about what he discovered upon his return. Here's the thing though... WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK! Pastor Dustin is applying for a grant to help fund this journey, but we need input from all sorts of members of the congregation to continue shaping what this sabbatical will be allow about. Join us for an evening of conversation on April 20th and a draft of our grant application will be available shortly!
Care & Concern Committee Meeting
Wednesday, April 21st at 1:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/91838754902
As one committee of our wider Fellowship Ministry Team, Care & Concern is all about making sure our members in need of care are regularly reached out to and supported in the midst of loss, health crises and more. This group also directs our growing mental health and addiction ministries as well as our soon to be developed Memorial Garden. Barb Hallett is our Committee Chair and the committee meets the first Wednesday of the month at 1:00pm. The link for today's meeting is: https://zoom.us/j/91838754902.
Community Meditation and Prayer
Thursday, April 22nd at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92437622756
From a Christian perspective, meditation is a powerful form of prayer that allows us to slow down our own minds and anxieties in order to hear how God might be speaking to us. Contemporary psychology, albeit using different words, agrees! Many studies have show meditation and other forms of regular mindfulness training can lead to lower stress, improved sleep and better focus, amongst other benefits. With these facts in mind, Pastor Dustin and Russell McDonald engaged in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction training this past fall in order to help lead a weekly virtual session of meditation and prayer for all in our local community. This is currently a Zoom only event, although we may begin broadcasting each session in the near future.
Mass for the Fourth Sunday in Easter: "Creation"
Sunday, April 25th at 10:00am
Depending on COVID19 positive test rates, our Worship & Music Committee, along with our Congregation Council, is currently contemplating the idea of celebrating our first in-person regular Sunday Mass in over a year outside on the Sunday closest to Earth Day. Pastor Dustin will preach and Pastor Jonathan will preside over a creation themed service. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Easter for Kids: "Creation"
Sunday, April 25th at 12:00pm
We don't know for sure, but we may be able to gather our young people together this Sunday for a walk outdoors to experience the beauty of God's creation! Stay tuned for more details!
Interfaith Earth Day Mitzvah
Sunday, April 25th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Historic Vale Cemetery
907 State Street in Schenectady, New York
Join the congregations of Schenectady Clergy Against Hate and Schenectady Community Ministries (SiCM) for an afternoon of interfaith service both honoring our ancestors and caring for creation by helping clean up the Historic Vale Cemetery! Building off the long tradition of an event organized by Nemeton of the Ways, faith communities from across greater Schenectady will work together to build unity, learn more about one another and give back to their community. The event will begin with a brief blessing at 1:00pm. Please come prepared with work gloves, yard tools, face masks and be willing to practice good social distancing.
Mass for the Fifth Sunday in Easter: "Beloved"
Sunday, May 2nd at 10:00am
This Sunday’s image of how the risen Christ shares his life with us is the image of the vine. Christ the vine and we the branches are alive in each other, in the mystery of mutual abiding described in the gospel and the first letter of John. Baptism makes us a part of Christ’s living and life-giving self and makes us alive with Christ’s life. As the vine brings food to the branches, Christ feeds us at his table. We are sent out to bear fruit for the life of the world. Pastor Jonathan will preach and Pastor Dustin will preside. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Schenectady Crop Walk
Sunday, May 2nd at 2:00pm
John Boyd Thacher Park
1 Hailes Cave Rd, Voorheesville, NY 12186
So here's the deal... Schenectady Community Ministries (SiCM) has a new Executive Director who is AWESOME, Rev. Amaury Tañón-Santos, super dedicated to pushing the organization forward in an interfaith, social justice oriented manner, something Messiah was THE central congregation in making happening shortly before the pandemic hit. We'll also have likely two of our young people serving as SiCM Summer Interns this year having a life changing experience helping folks in need. In short, it's a huge year to step up and give back to SiCM in a major way! That's why our incredible Honorary CROP Walk Chair this year, Randi Dunda-Martin, has leveled a significant challenge to our congregation... to raise $1000 through the CROP Walk to help fight against the challenges of disease, disaster, displacement and other concerns that leave people hungry both here in Schenectady through SiCM and around the world through Church World Service! And while Schenectady's overall CROP Walk is virtual again this year due to COVID, that doesn't mean we can't all gather together as a congregation on what's hopefully a beautiful spring day to go for a walk in Thacher Park and catch up with one another after such a difficult winter! Contribute today and join Messiah's virtual CROP Walk team at https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/team/messiah-lutheran!
Community Confirmation Class: The Lutheran Office for World Community and the Epistle to the Hebrews
Sunday, May 2nd at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92815271554
All middle school aged children in our local community, their families and all who are interested are invited to join us for our weekly virtual Confirmation Class program! Nearly every Sunday evening we gather to engage in a brief Bible study and have a conversation about how to make sense of the complicated world we're living in through the lens of the New Testament. This Sunday we'll discuss the Letter to the Hebrews and speak with Dennis Frado of the Lutheran Office for World Community on all the ways Lutherans are working at the United Nations to make our common planet a better place. This is currently a Zoom only offering.
Fellowship Ministry Team Meeting
Wednesday, May 5th at 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/99082870648
At Messiah many of us have somehow actually grown closer while physically apart... gosh, the Spirit is certainly at work! The purpose of the Fellowship Ministry Team is to provide opportunities for all of our members (and perspective members) of all ages to connect, hear one another's stories, and have fun! This group includes the Mighty Men of Messiah, Women of the ELCA (WELCA), Care & Concern, Young Adult Group, our Kitchen Committee, Over 55 Gang, our Welcome Committee for new and perspective members and our new Arts & Culture ministry. The ministry team meets quarterly. The link for this afternoon's meeting is: https://zoom.us/j/99082870648. In this meeting in particular we'll discuss what smaller group fellowship activities we can hold in-person within our New Your Forward COVID19 Safety Plan. Please join us!
Mass for the Sixth Sunday in Easter: "Friendship"
Sunday, May 9th at 10:00am
This Sunday’s image of the life the risen Christ shares with us is the image of friendship. We are called to serve others as Jesus came to serve; but for John’s gospel, the image of servanthood is too hierarchical, too distant, to capture the essence of life with Christ. Friendship captures the love, the joy, the deep mutuality of the relationship into which Christ invites us. The Greeks believed that true friends are willing to die for each other. This is the mutual love of Christian community commanded by Christ and enabled by the Spirit. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Easter for Kids: "Friendship"
Sunday, May 9th at 12:00pm
If conditions allow, we'll gather in our Parish Yard to reflect together on John 15:9-17's message of friendship and celebrate our friendship with one another with an activity that's social distance approved! Please wear your masks!
Community Confirmation Class: A Story of Faith with Dr. Merle Longwood and the Epistle to the Galatians
Sunday, May 9th at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92815271554
All middle school aged children in our local community, their families and all who are interested are invited to join us for our weekly virtual Confirmation Class program! Nearly every Sunday evening we gather to engage in a brief Bible study and have a conversation about how to make sense of the complicated world we're living in through the lens of the New Testament. This Sunday we'll discuss Paul's Letter to the Galatians and speak with Dr. Merle Longwood to hear his own story of how his faith has inspired him to work for justice. This is currently a Zoom only offering.
Faith Formation Ministry Team Meeting
Tuesday, May 11th at 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92199006383
Want to help guide how our congregation studies the ancient wisdom of Scripture, explores our connection God and creation and help our young people have a strong, ethical foundation? Join our Faith Formation Ministry Team! This group includes Adult Education, Children's Sunday School, Cradle Roll & Nursery, Youth and Outdoor Ministries! Help us teach folks of all ages how our faith calls us to teach that EVERYONE is created in God's image! The ministry team meets quarterly. The link for this night's meeting is: https://zoom.us/j/92199006383.
Mass for Ascension Sunday: "Rogation!"
Sunday, May 16th at 10:00am
This is the Sunday where we gather together to pray for all who are hungry, bless our harvest garden for the season ahead, and get our hands in the dirt! Pastor Dustin will preach and Pastor Jonathan will preside over a creation themed service. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Spring Service Day
Sunday, May 16th at 12:00pm
Gosh this is going to be a heavy lift and we're going to need everyone's help to not only clean up the property around Messiah Worship Center after another long winter, not only plant the beginnings of our annual Rev. Richard Rieger Memorial Harvest Garden, but clean up our Trinity Community Center as well! Everyone who is comfortable is invited to gather at Messiah before breaking out into teams to spend an afternoon together in service to our community! If you are interested in adopting a section of the garden, please contact Jean Jones at dodgerjones@yahoo.com with your preference of crops.
Community Confirmation Class: Creation Care with Greenfaith and the Book of Revelation
Sunday, May 23rd at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92815271554
All middle school aged children in our local community, their families and all who are interested are invited to join us for our weekly virtual Confirmation Class program! Nearly every Sunday evening we gather to engage in a brief Bible study and have a conversation about how to make sense of the complicated world we're living in through the lens of the New Testament. This Sunday we'll discuss the Book of Revelation and speak with a very special guest from Greenfaith on the connection between faith and caring for God's creation. This is currently a Zoom only offering.
Stewardship Ministry Team Meeting
Tuesday, June 8th at 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/93024204486
Our Stewardship Ministry Team is the group of committees at Messiah that allow us to support our four major program areas. Without being good stewards of our Budget & Finance, Communications, Personnel, Property & Grounds, Mission Support, Archives, Safe Church ministries and more, there's no way we could engage in all the life-changing ministries we do at Messiah. A particular focus of this conversation will be implementing all the major decisions made at our 2021 Annual Meeting of the Congregation regarding consolidation with the people of Trinity Reformed, the reinventing of that property into a community center and making our worship center fully accessible. The ministry team meets quarterly. The link for tonight's meeting is https://zoom.us/j/93024204486.
To view our complete parish calendar, click here.
Pastor Dustin on Vacation
Pastor Dustin will be taking his annual post-Easter vacation from Monday, April 5th - Saturday, April 17th. If you are in need of emergency pastoral support, please contact Pastor Jonathan.
Peace Not Walls: Justice in Palestine & Israel
Continuing Sunday, April 18th at 8:45am
https://zoom.us/j/94311937514
In this weekly adult education course we will examine the history of the Palestine-Israel Conflict and efforts to develop a positive peace, where there is justice and systems and structures in place that build positive relationships and work to establish equity and support anti-racist policies. Grounded in concern for the dignity of all people, full respect for human rights, healing and reconciliation, and a theology of accompaniment, we will explore how Palestinians and Israelis, Jews, Christians, and Muslims may work together for peace with justice in what many call "the Holy Land."
1. "Israelis and Americans Both Are Asking, Whose Country Is This Anyway?"
2. Faith in the Face of Empire Chaps. 8-9 and Epilogue, pp. 93-130.
3. "Choosing Hope: Christian Leaders Speak about Realities this Advent" (59:04)
4. "The Inconvenient Truth about Israelis and Zionism's Founding Patrons: The Twentieth Century Story of Isra'el in Palestine: Quotations by Israelis and Prominent Zionists" pp. 1-53. Pay special attention to pp. 5-8 and 46-51.
5. Psalm 37: 10-11, Matthew 5:5.
National Ecumenical Advocacy Days
Sunday, April 18th - Wednesday, April 21st
Join Pastor Dustin, the people of Messiah and Christians across the country for Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2021 to advocate for climate justice! EAD 2021 is an opportunity to support the global movement centered on and led by the people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts due to historic racial and colonial inequities. Together, we will passionately advocate and reimagine a world that lives out the values of justice, equity and the beloved community. We continue to see how the historic reality of colonialism and structural racism has designed systems that live on today through environmental racism and a myriad of other injustices that grew out of the same evil roots. Throughout 2020, these systemic issues manifested themselves in the disproportionate number of racial and ethnic minorities who became sick with and died of COVID-19, as well as the continued extrajudicial killing of Black men and women. The Earth and its people are groaning. We are called to respond!
Around the world, we again bear witness to protests for racial justice, this time set amidst unprecedented climate-induced disasters, an economic crisis, and the deaths of more than one million people globally from the pandemic. For example, Amazonian indigenous communities face the existential threats of COVID-19, wildfires, and brutal mining operations. East Africans are affected by hunger and malnutrition due to the coronavirus restrictions and to crop failures from flooding and locusts. We have an opportunity to reflect on this moment as Christians. Together we can seek the balm to heal God’s Earth and all humanity. Addressing the history of colonialism and structural racism is key to achieving climate justice. Together, we will rise up with the climate justice movement against these systemic wrongs and respond in hope. Join us in 2021 as we gather virtually for worship, workshops and advocacy to “imagine God’s Earth and its people restored.”
While Ecumenical Advocacy Days usually takes place in Washington, DC, this year EAD is virtual due to COVID19 so it's even easier to get involved! The cost of the event is $25 per attendee if you register before April 1st and $35 thereafter. You can register at https://advocacydays.org/2021-imagine-gods-earth-people-restored. Please let Pastor Dustin know if you're interested in attending and if you need help paying for the registration cost!
Mass for the Third Sunday in Easter: "Wondering"
Sunday, April 18th at 10:00am
The gospel for the third Sunday of Easter is always one in which the risen Christ shares food with the disciples, meals that are the Easter template for the meal we share each Sunday. In today’s gospel, Jesus both shares the disciples’ food and shows them the meaning of his suffering, death, and resurrection through the scriptures, the two main elements of our Sunday worship. Pastor Dustin will preach and Pastor Jonathan will preside. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Easter for Kids: "Wondering"
Sunday, April 18th at 12:00pm
Today on Easter for Kids, Pastor Dustin, Ms. Betsy and Ms. Cheryl reflect on the wonder of the disciples when they share a meal with the resurrected Jesus in Luke 24:36b-48. This course is broadcast on Facebook Watch.
Community Confirmation Class: Hildegard von Bingen and 1st & 2nd Corinthians
Sunday, April 18th at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92815271554
All middle school aged children in our local community, their families and all who are interested are invited to join us for our weekly virtual Confirmation Class program! Nearly every Sunday evening we gather to watch a video, engage in a brief Bible study and have a conversation about how to make sense of the complicated world we're living in through the lens of the New Testament. This Sunday we'll discuss Paul's Letters to the Corinthians and discuss the story of Hildegard von Bingen. This is currently a Zoom only offering.
American Wilderness: A Sabbatical Journey through a Year of Pandemic
Tuesday, April 20th at 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/99215120770
After talking through it for a number of years, this past February as part of Messiah's broader staff restructuring our Congregation Council instituted a Sabbatical Policy, a program recommended for all Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastors serving for extended periods in their congregations. Sabbaticals are practiced primarily by clergy and those in teaching professions, and in a Lutheran context are usually a three month period of extended leave for "enhancing the mission of the congregation through rostered leader renewal, development, and growth" granted after a pastor's first seven years in a congregation and then every subsequent five years. As Pastor Dustin will conclude his seventh year at Messiah this July, we're already behind schedule but our Mutual Ministry Committee and Sabbatical Task Force is currently proposing his first sabbatical to take place between the Feast of the Pentecost (June 5th, 2022) to God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday (September 11th, 2022). The general idea is Pastor Dustin will journey by campervan throughout many of the places that mark the past "year in the wilderness" of COVID19 from the US Capitol to Minneapolis, the Navajo Reservation to Shishmaref, a tiny Inuit village off the coast of Alaska drowning amidst rising seas due to climate change, to reflect on how God has led America through the wilderness similarly to how God led the people of Israel through their Exodus journey. He'll spend time in many of the other wild places of America as well, especially some of its most notable national parks. Throughout the journey he'll post regular reflections and report back to the congregation more deeply about what he discovered upon his return. Here's the thing though... WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK! Pastor Dustin is applying for a grant to help fund this journey, but we need input from all sorts of members of the congregation to continue shaping what this sabbatical will be allow about. Join us for an evening of conversation on April 20th and a draft of our grant application will be available shortly!
Care & Concern Committee Meeting
Wednesday, April 21st at 1:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/91838754902
As one committee of our wider Fellowship Ministry Team, Care & Concern is all about making sure our members in need of care are regularly reached out to and supported in the midst of loss, health crises and more. This group also directs our growing mental health and addiction ministries as well as our soon to be developed Memorial Garden. Barb Hallett is our Committee Chair and the committee meets the first Wednesday of the month at 1:00pm. The link for today's meeting is: https://zoom.us/j/91838754902.
Community Meditation and Prayer
Thursday, April 22nd at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92437622756
From a Christian perspective, meditation is a powerful form of prayer that allows us to slow down our own minds and anxieties in order to hear how God might be speaking to us. Contemporary psychology, albeit using different words, agrees! Many studies have show meditation and other forms of regular mindfulness training can lead to lower stress, improved sleep and better focus, amongst other benefits. With these facts in mind, Pastor Dustin and Russell McDonald engaged in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction training this past fall in order to help lead a weekly virtual session of meditation and prayer for all in our local community. This is currently a Zoom only event, although we may begin broadcasting each session in the near future.
Mass for the Fourth Sunday in Easter: "Creation"
Sunday, April 25th at 10:00am
Depending on COVID19 positive test rates, our Worship & Music Committee, along with our Congregation Council, is currently contemplating the idea of celebrating our first in-person regular Sunday Mass in over a year outside on the Sunday closest to Earth Day. Pastor Dustin will preach and Pastor Jonathan will preside over a creation themed service. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Easter for Kids: "Creation"
Sunday, April 25th at 12:00pm
We don't know for sure, but we may be able to gather our young people together this Sunday for a walk outdoors to experience the beauty of God's creation! Stay tuned for more details!
Interfaith Earth Day Mitzvah
Sunday, April 25th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Historic Vale Cemetery
907 State Street in Schenectady, New York
Join the congregations of Schenectady Clergy Against Hate and Schenectady Community Ministries (SiCM) for an afternoon of interfaith service both honoring our ancestors and caring for creation by helping clean up the Historic Vale Cemetery! Building off the long tradition of an event organized by Nemeton of the Ways, faith communities from across greater Schenectady will work together to build unity, learn more about one another and give back to their community. The event will begin with a brief blessing at 1:00pm. Please come prepared with work gloves, yard tools, face masks and be willing to practice good social distancing.
Mass for the Fifth Sunday in Easter: "Beloved"
Sunday, May 2nd at 10:00am
This Sunday’s image of how the risen Christ shares his life with us is the image of the vine. Christ the vine and we the branches are alive in each other, in the mystery of mutual abiding described in the gospel and the first letter of John. Baptism makes us a part of Christ’s living and life-giving self and makes us alive with Christ’s life. As the vine brings food to the branches, Christ feeds us at his table. We are sent out to bear fruit for the life of the world. Pastor Jonathan will preach and Pastor Dustin will preside. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Schenectady Crop Walk
Sunday, May 2nd at 2:00pm
John Boyd Thacher Park
1 Hailes Cave Rd, Voorheesville, NY 12186
So here's the deal... Schenectady Community Ministries (SiCM) has a new Executive Director who is AWESOME, Rev. Amaury Tañón-Santos, super dedicated to pushing the organization forward in an interfaith, social justice oriented manner, something Messiah was THE central congregation in making happening shortly before the pandemic hit. We'll also have likely two of our young people serving as SiCM Summer Interns this year having a life changing experience helping folks in need. In short, it's a huge year to step up and give back to SiCM in a major way! That's why our incredible Honorary CROP Walk Chair this year, Randi Dunda-Martin, has leveled a significant challenge to our congregation... to raise $1000 through the CROP Walk to help fight against the challenges of disease, disaster, displacement and other concerns that leave people hungry both here in Schenectady through SiCM and around the world through Church World Service! And while Schenectady's overall CROP Walk is virtual again this year due to COVID, that doesn't mean we can't all gather together as a congregation on what's hopefully a beautiful spring day to go for a walk in Thacher Park and catch up with one another after such a difficult winter! Contribute today and join Messiah's virtual CROP Walk team at https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/team/messiah-lutheran!
Community Confirmation Class: The Lutheran Office for World Community and the Epistle to the Hebrews
Sunday, May 2nd at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92815271554
All middle school aged children in our local community, their families and all who are interested are invited to join us for our weekly virtual Confirmation Class program! Nearly every Sunday evening we gather to engage in a brief Bible study and have a conversation about how to make sense of the complicated world we're living in through the lens of the New Testament. This Sunday we'll discuss the Letter to the Hebrews and speak with Dennis Frado of the Lutheran Office for World Community on all the ways Lutherans are working at the United Nations to make our common planet a better place. This is currently a Zoom only offering.
Fellowship Ministry Team Meeting
Wednesday, May 5th at 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/99082870648
At Messiah many of us have somehow actually grown closer while physically apart... gosh, the Spirit is certainly at work! The purpose of the Fellowship Ministry Team is to provide opportunities for all of our members (and perspective members) of all ages to connect, hear one another's stories, and have fun! This group includes the Mighty Men of Messiah, Women of the ELCA (WELCA), Care & Concern, Young Adult Group, our Kitchen Committee, Over 55 Gang, our Welcome Committee for new and perspective members and our new Arts & Culture ministry. The ministry team meets quarterly. The link for this afternoon's meeting is: https://zoom.us/j/99082870648. In this meeting in particular we'll discuss what smaller group fellowship activities we can hold in-person within our New Your Forward COVID19 Safety Plan. Please join us!
Mass for the Sixth Sunday in Easter: "Friendship"
Sunday, May 9th at 10:00am
This Sunday’s image of the life the risen Christ shares with us is the image of friendship. We are called to serve others as Jesus came to serve; but for John’s gospel, the image of servanthood is too hierarchical, too distant, to capture the essence of life with Christ. Friendship captures the love, the joy, the deep mutuality of the relationship into which Christ invites us. The Greeks believed that true friends are willing to die for each other. This is the mutual love of Christian community commanded by Christ and enabled by the Spirit. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Easter for Kids: "Friendship"
Sunday, May 9th at 12:00pm
If conditions allow, we'll gather in our Parish Yard to reflect together on John 15:9-17's message of friendship and celebrate our friendship with one another with an activity that's social distance approved! Please wear your masks!
Community Confirmation Class: A Story of Faith with Dr. Merle Longwood and the Epistle to the Galatians
Sunday, May 9th at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92815271554
All middle school aged children in our local community, their families and all who are interested are invited to join us for our weekly virtual Confirmation Class program! Nearly every Sunday evening we gather to engage in a brief Bible study and have a conversation about how to make sense of the complicated world we're living in through the lens of the New Testament. This Sunday we'll discuss Paul's Letter to the Galatians and speak with Dr. Merle Longwood to hear his own story of how his faith has inspired him to work for justice. This is currently a Zoom only offering.
Faith Formation Ministry Team Meeting
Tuesday, May 11th at 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92199006383
Want to help guide how our congregation studies the ancient wisdom of Scripture, explores our connection God and creation and help our young people have a strong, ethical foundation? Join our Faith Formation Ministry Team! This group includes Adult Education, Children's Sunday School, Cradle Roll & Nursery, Youth and Outdoor Ministries! Help us teach folks of all ages how our faith calls us to teach that EVERYONE is created in God's image! The ministry team meets quarterly. The link for this night's meeting is: https://zoom.us/j/92199006383.
Mass for Ascension Sunday: "Rogation!"
Sunday, May 16th at 10:00am
This is the Sunday where we gather together to pray for all who are hungry, bless our harvest garden for the season ahead, and get our hands in the dirt! Pastor Dustin will preach and Pastor Jonathan will preside over a creation themed service. The service will be broadcast both on the "Worship Online" section of our website and on Facebook Watch.
Spring Service Day
Sunday, May 16th at 12:00pm
Gosh this is going to be a heavy lift and we're going to need everyone's help to not only clean up the property around Messiah Worship Center after another long winter, not only plant the beginnings of our annual Rev. Richard Rieger Memorial Harvest Garden, but clean up our Trinity Community Center as well! Everyone who is comfortable is invited to gather at Messiah before breaking out into teams to spend an afternoon together in service to our community! If you are interested in adopting a section of the garden, please contact Jean Jones at dodgerjones@yahoo.com with your preference of crops.
Community Confirmation Class: Creation Care with Greenfaith and the Book of Revelation
Sunday, May 23rd at 6:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/92815271554
All middle school aged children in our local community, their families and all who are interested are invited to join us for our weekly virtual Confirmation Class program! Nearly every Sunday evening we gather to engage in a brief Bible study and have a conversation about how to make sense of the complicated world we're living in through the lens of the New Testament. This Sunday we'll discuss the Book of Revelation and speak with a very special guest from Greenfaith on the connection between faith and caring for God's creation. This is currently a Zoom only offering.
Stewardship Ministry Team Meeting
Tuesday, June 8th at 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/93024204486
Our Stewardship Ministry Team is the group of committees at Messiah that allow us to support our four major program areas. Without being good stewards of our Budget & Finance, Communications, Personnel, Property & Grounds, Mission Support, Archives, Safe Church ministries and more, there's no way we could engage in all the life-changing ministries we do at Messiah. A particular focus of this conversation will be implementing all the major decisions made at our 2021 Annual Meeting of the Congregation regarding consolidation with the people of Trinity Reformed, the reinventing of that property into a community center and making our worship center fully accessible. The ministry team meets quarterly. The link for tonight's meeting is https://zoom.us/j/93024204486.
To view our complete parish calendar, click here.