June 2025 Pastor's Letter
Pastor Dustin with our young people on Easter Sunday.
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When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
- Acts 2: 1-4 Dear siblings in faith, As we move from the Season of Easter to the Season of Pentecost this month, the time of the year we give thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit that enlivens and guides us forward in justice and joy, my goodness, is the Spirit at work here at Messiah more than ever! Last night I broke out into tears again when I arrived for a meeting at the Rotterdam Community Center. So many of our members and friends were working hard to support our neighbors amidst the greatest food affordability crisis since the Great Depression through our Bread of Life Food Pantry. Newcomers to Rotterdam knocked on the door for our LGBTQ+ Support Group. Our food pantry guests who recently graduated from our first Community Advocates Program cohort were upstairs in Friendship Hall joyfully planning our Second Annual Food and Poverty Speak Out for Wednesday, June 11th at 6:30pm. So many neighbors, many of whom would have otherwise never met each other, we together in community and solidarity strengthening our neighborhood. This coming October will mark ten years since the founding of the Bread of Life Food Pantry, and my goodness, with the help of the Holy Spirit, it is AMAZING to see how that small ministry in an old computer closet has grown into the Rotterdam Community Center we know today! This month will also see us taking the next major steps as a Spirit filled congregation to spin off RCC. Your Congregation Council (with Scott Heller in the helm as our awesome new President), has approved a final Spinoff Timeline and an RCC/ Messiah Memorandum of Understanding. Soon after those and other related documents are reviewed and approved by the RCC Board on June 2nd, we will make them available both digitally and in print for all members of our congregation to review. If you have questions, the best place to get those answered is our quarterly Stewardship Ministry Team Meeting on Tuesday, June 10th at 7:00pm. Then on Sunday, June 29th, after we celebrate Paul Bode's 80th Birthday at Coffee Hour, we'll sit down for a Special Meeting of the Congregation to discuss and approve these documents that will chart a course for an independent Rotterdam Community Center by the end of 2025. Thank you so much for all you do, and please pray for Chris DeTeso, Kimlee Marquise and all our amazing RCC and Messiah leaders, that they may be guided by Holy Spirit in the days and weeks to come! in hope, Pastor Dustin |
Schenectady County Food Access Survey
We’re proud to support the Schenectady County Food Council (SCFC) as they launch a community-wide survey on food access—and we’re asking for your help to spread the word!
This survey asks residents where they get their food, how far they travel, and what challenges they face when putting food on the table. Your feedback will directly inform the next version of the Schenectady County Food Action Plan—a guide for improving food access and security across our community.
📝 Takes just 5 minutes
📱 Mobile-friendly, available in English, Spanish & Arabic
📅 Survey is open now through September 1, 2025
👉 [Take the Survey Now – Survey Link]
Let’s help SCFC collect as many voices as possible. Your story matters! For questions, contact: [email protected]
This survey asks residents where they get their food, how far they travel, and what challenges they face when putting food on the table. Your feedback will directly inform the next version of the Schenectady County Food Action Plan—a guide for improving food access and security across our community.
📝 Takes just 5 minutes
📱 Mobile-friendly, available in English, Spanish & Arabic
📅 Survey is open now through September 1, 2025
👉 [Take the Survey Now – Survey Link]
Let’s help SCFC collect as many voices as possible. Your story matters! For questions, contact: [email protected]
David and Lore Ellis Landscaping Fund
David and Lore Ellis supported our Spirit filled congregation in many ways throughout their lives, but in particularly, they spent decades caring for our landscaping around Messiah and provided so many beautiful shrubs, bushes and flowers. In April 2025, our Congregation Council voted to create a new David and Lore Ellis Landscaping Fund in their honor. If you'd like to contribute, simply put "Landscaping Fund" in the memo line of a check, select "Landscaping Fund" on tithely or speak with Pastor Dustin.
Summer Vacation Week at Camp Calumet
From Sunday, August 3rd - Saturday August 9th a number of our young people are attending resident camp at Camp Calumet Lutheran in Freedom, New Hampshire and we are hoping more of our families and individuals are interested in joining us at Family Camp as well. Conference Center rooms are $115 per night while campsites are $40 per night. Calumet is on a beautiful three mile long lake in the foothills of the White Mountains that Pastor Dustin attended as a youth for many years. If you're interested in joining us at Calumet this summer, please RSVP on the narthex bulletin board by Sunday, June 8th.
Open Call for Art: New Messiah Narthex Gallery Launches!
We’re launching an exciting new space to showcase local art! The Messiah Narthex Gallery will feature 2D art, quilts, and wall sculptures, with exhibit openings during Coffeehouse Music Nights. We’re looking for artists from our congregation to show their work in June, August, or October. Interested? Email Stephanie Palazeke at [email protected] with your name and preferred month.
Pastor on Vacation
Pastor Dustin will be away from Monday, June 16th until Saturday, June 28th in the Pacific Northwest hiking with Rae. Pastor John Califano will provide emergency pastoral coverage during the time he is away. Please reach out to Heather Zimmer at 518.364.3216 if emergency pastoral support is needed and she will put you in contact with him.
Newsletter Articles Due
Let's continue supporting Heather by getting newsletter articles in on time. Please send all newsletter articles to Heather at [email protected] by the following dates for the upcoming month: June 23rd, July 28th and August 25th.
Office Hours for Heather and Pastor Dustin
As part of our efforts to "provide better internal communication" both Heather and Pastor Dustin will continue to hold expanded in-person office hours this spring Heather will be in person at Messiah on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30am - 2:00pm and (beginning in May) Fridays from 9:30am - 2:00pm. Pastor Dustin will be in person on Wednesdays at Messiah from 2:00pm - 4:00pm.
Leadership News
As you can see from looking at our current Committee Roster (digitally linked with a paper copies in the Parish Administrator's Office) there are SO MANY of our members (and some non-member friends!) who have signed up for one of our 24 committees and one of our 6 new volunteer lists.
There are now only 8 areas remaining where we are looking for new leaders:
Faith Formation Ministry Team (Chaired by Kelly Jordan)
Fellowship Ministry Team (Team Chair Needed)
Social Action Ministry Team (Chaired by Karen Keenan)
Stewardship Ministry Team (Team Chair Needed)
Worship & Music Ministry Team (Chaired by Heather Zimmer)
If you are interested in serving in one of these roles in the coming year, please speak with Mission Support Chair Ann Marie Gray!
After the second meeting of our new Congregation Council, we are happy to announce Scott Heller has been elected President through February 2026!
There are now only 8 areas remaining where we are looking for new leaders:
Faith Formation Ministry Team (Chaired by Kelly Jordan)
- All set!
Fellowship Ministry Team (Team Chair Needed)
- Lutheran Men in Mission Chair
- Young Adults Committee Chair & volunteers
Social Action Ministry Team (Chaired by Karen Keenan)
- Community Service Committee Chair
Stewardship Ministry Team (Team Chair Needed)
- Archives Committee Chair
- Property & Grounds Committee Chair & volunteers
- Publicity Committee Chair & volunteers
Worship & Music Ministry Team (Chaired by Heather Zimmer)
- All set!
If you are interested in serving in one of these roles in the coming year, please speak with Mission Support Chair Ann Marie Gray!
After the second meeting of our new Congregation Council, we are happy to announce Scott Heller has been elected President through February 2026!
Caring for Our Property and Grounds
While this has not yet been finalized by the Congregation Council, an interim plan has been developed to ensure the ongoing safety and improvement of Messiah's Faith Center and Parsonage. With the hiring and onboarding of René Dunda-Martin as the Rotterdam Community Center's Administrative Assistant, Heather Zimmer's hours doing scheduling at RCC will increasingly be redeployed to Messiah where she will manage a new ongoing work list (digitally linked here with a paper copy in the office). Whenever possible, these tasks will be completed by a volunteer, but if not, we will need to rely on an approved list of preferred vendors. If you would like to volunteer for one of the tasks on our work list, please let Heather know today! Many hands make light work, and many hands save us a whole lot of money too!
Furthermore, if you are aware of further maintenance or safety concerns, please fill out our Maintenance Request Form (digitally linked with a paper copy in the office).
Many thanks to Brian Maki and Steve Friebel who worked overtime to get our new accessible front doors ready by Easter Sunday and to FJ Colacino for getting us back on a regular schedule for pest control!
Furthermore, if you are aware of further maintenance or safety concerns, please fill out our Maintenance Request Form (digitally linked with a paper copy in the office).
Many thanks to Brian Maki and Steve Friebel who worked overtime to get our new accessible front doors ready by Easter Sunday and to FJ Colacino for getting us back on a regular schedule for pest control!
The Rev. Jonathan Vanderbeck Mental Health Fund
In June 2021 as part of our commitment to prioritize mental health as a congregation our Congregation Council voted to create the Rev. Jonathan Vanderbeck Mental Health Fund. This fund is designed "to support members in paying for necessary mental health care" and as of the end of December 2024 has $1,039 in contributions but has not yet been used. If you are someone struggling to pay for mental health care, please contact Pastor Dustin for a confidential conversation. If you are someone who would like to contribute to this fund, please visit our Donate & Volunteer page, click "Give" and select "Mental Health Fund" in tithely's "Give To" box.
Rotterdam Community Center Bottle & Can Collection!
Want to contribute to the growth of the Rotterdam Community Center as we work to knit community closer together here in beautiful Rotterdam, NY! One way you can support that important work is donating your bottles and cans to the Rotterdam Community Center's account Green Bottle Redemption Center! Located at 1809 Altamont Avenue, the redemption center is open Tuesday - Friday from 9a - 4p & Saturday from 9a - 2:30p! Thanks so much and please help us spread the word! We've already made hundreds of dollars in contributions to the Community Center through this fund since the beginning of the program.