The Presbyterian-New England Congregational Church

Church Family
February 2021

24 Circular Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
From the Pastor

Dear Friends,

The heart of all great religions is love – love for God, love for your neighbor and, what is often overlooked, love for one’s self. One might say that at the heart of all religions is love not towards anything in particular but as a state of being. That we live into being love – so that it exudes from our pores, cannot help but be shared, and is infectious to all we meet. That’s a tall order, of course, so first we might trying loving each other, loving ourselves and loving the Creator. But let’s be honest, if we do not love ourselves, it makes is very difficult to truly love others.

Ram Dass, spiritual guru of the 1960s and 1970s wrote the following:

“You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success – none of that matters. No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be here.”

In Christian language, we call this grace. It’s the idea that God loves us, no matter what and that we cannot do anything to earn it or deserve it. It is freely given, simply because we are God’s beloved. I invite us to ponder this free and beautiful gift of love that animates our universe and illuminates our lives. I invite us to consider how we might show love towards ourselves (When’s the last time you went to the dentist or ate your vegetables? See, it’s not all bubble baths and massages!) How might we show love towards our neighbors and towards our creator?

It’s February, friends, in the midst of a hard winter. Let’s spend these 28 days pondering how we can make manifest the love of God in our world. It’s already here. We just need to reach out (and reach in) and grab it.

Blessings,
Pastor Kate
Presbyterian-New England Congregational Church

Annual Meeting
Sunday, February 7th
12:15pm

The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss the finances of the church and finalize the 2020 budget. 
Morning Musings
Mondays at 8:30am

Join Pastor Kate Monday mornings at 8:30am (on Zoom, of course) to talk through the prior day’s sermon, socialize with folks, and enjoy being in community.
TedTalk
Wednesday, February 3
Thursday, February 18
6pm-7:30pm

Gather with church friends to watch a brief TedTalk via zoom with follow up discussion.
Theology Book Group 
1st and 3rd Tuesdays at 7pm

Our reading for winter into spring will be Christ in Crisis? by Jim Wallis.  Our initial discussion on February 2nd will focus on the Foreword, Introduction, Prologue, and Chap. 1. 
 
Copies of Christ in Crisis? are available at Northshire Bookstore (424 Broadway, Saratoga Springs).  Ask for the book for "PNECC Club" and you will receive a 20% discount.  For more information, or to join the email list for the Theology Book Group, contact Terry Diggory, 518-860-0262. 
Pre - Worship Coffee Hour
February 14th and 28th
9:30am-10:30am

Grab a cup of coffee (or even breakfast!) and log in to zoom to see your church friends! Purely social -- to bask in one another's beautiful company & catch up.


Meeting ID: 817 7781 7914
Passcode: COFFEE
Ash Wednesday Prayer Service
February 17th
6:30pm


    Passcode: 573515
Moving Forward Update 
Now that the holidays have passed, we are looking forward, with great hope, to better days as the first members of our church family begin to receive their COVID-19 vaccines. Things are evolving rapidly. The supply of vaccine doses is limited and finding an appointment requires patience and persistence. This link helps you to determine your eligibility and to make appointments at the state run sites. 

Some of our members are travelling as far as Plattsburgh, Potsdam, and Utica when they can find available appointments. If you have trouble with the website, you may also call the state hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829) to determine your eligibility and schedule an appointment. There are also private pharmacies that may have vaccines available for those over the age of 65 and for the front line workers who are currently eligible. 
 
The benchmark PNECC has set for considering a return to worship services in person is a low incidence of infection in our area with less than a 2% positivity rate (on a seven day running average). Things are currently improving with known cases going down and infection rates decreasing. We hope the trends continue. For Saratoga County, a low incidence rate would be about 23 cases. As of this writing, we have more than 4,000 active cases in our county and our current positivity rate is 6.7%, down from over 10%. Link to data from State and County Covid websites.
 
While the vaccines offer great hope, it will be a long process and we need to keep up the good work of staying at home as much as possible, maintaining at least 6’ of distance from others when we can’t stay home, mask-wearing, and handwashing. Even after receiving your vaccines, you will still need to continue masking and social distancing for some time. Keep an eye on the news for any new recommendations that health officials provide about masks or other prevention measures. 

We are called to love our neighbors. In these challenging times, maintaining a physical distance and following these precautions are the best ways that we can manifest this love.
 
Bible Study -- the Gospel of John -- continues weekly on Zoom. Wednesdays at 10am.
Meeting ID: 820 2789 1311
Passcode: 815019
We have put together a website page that contains all the necessary information regarding Covid-19. Please visit our Covid-19 page to see up to date information as we move forward together as a community.
You may pay your pledge by mail (PO Box 582, Saratoga Springs) or click the donate button on our website. Maybe now is the time to look up "bill pay" with your bank?