THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE 

Last Sunday was the final service at which Joseph Woo was our organist and pianist. He moved on to a different hospital for his second year of his medical residency program and that change precludes him from being able to commute to our church. While I join the chorus of those who will miss him ~ I choose not to lament his departure. His moving on reflects a good change for his medical career. Additionally, rather than wishing we could hold on to him for an even longer time; we have the option to be grateful for the time we shared with him in the first place. Replacing him will be difficult for many reasons; one of which is his talent and the other of which is that it is quite difficult to find viable candidates, even if working through (as we do) the American Guild of Organists (AGO). The AGO is also having a difficult time building a cadre of available organists at a time when fewer people are going to church (including organists) and fewer people are  interested in studying the pipe organ. Further complicating the process is the fact that most of the available organists prefer to work in Nassau County. Rest assured, however, we are diligently seeking a new organist.

Likewise, Malcolm Gilbert, our Interim Choir Director, has indicated that he is not a candidate for the permanent position. Malcolm stepped into the position under difficult circumstances. He did so out of his love for Christ and his love of the church. As many of you know, he was previously our Choir Director and had a long and successful tenure. He has done remarkable work with our dedicated choir that has not only hung-in-there in trying times, but has become increasingly better and better in the past few months. Malcolm, however, no longer lives in the area; has four children; a loving and talented girlfriend; a full time job in a school; and he sings in a choir as well. Malcolm has indicated that he will indeed stay with us as we search for his replacement. This is indeed a testimony to his love of you and our church.

Fortunately, the choir is on sabbatical in the summer and the organ is not used since we hold our worship service in the Reception Room where there is a fine piano, but no organ. This will give us a little time for our search.

I ask that you continue or commence with your prayers for our church in fulfilling our mission and ministry. We need more than music.  We need food to feed the poor. We need wisdom to guide our children. We need generosity to pay our expenses. We need help in putting the services and programs together. We need love to gird our efforts. And we need Christ to show us the best possible way forward amidst our options.

I find the era in which we presently find ourselves to be challenging, a bit confusing, somewhat amusing, very interesting and outrageously exciting. Let us proceed into a new and great chapter in the life of Christ's church.

Bless,

Pastor Dwight.

IN HONOR OF JOSEPH WOO, JR.

If you would like to offer a token of your appreciation for Joseph's talent and service during his tenure as organist and pianist, and be acknowledged in The Light for having done so ~ we are accepting financial contributions to the Organ Fund in his honor.  His last Sunday was June 21st.  Please send your check with "Organ Fund" written in the memo section to the Congregational Church of Patchogue, 95 East Main Street, Patchogue, NY  11772.  

FLOWER POWER

We have all been to funerals and read a request that begins, "In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to..." That tradition began many years ago in the belief that flowers fade and are discarded, but the impact of memorial gifts to charitable organizations last forever. We may also have noticed that there are sometimes flowers present despite the request.

At the cost of $25 or $35, flowers have been purchased for our church service virtually every week for years. That is a nice tradition. But that is also $25 or $35 a week that goes to a florist, not to the church, at a time when the expenses of running the church far exceed the money placed in the offering basket or contributed by other methods.

We are now presenting an option. In recognition of a $25 donation to the church ~ the name of the donor (unless anonymously given) and the name of the person or event that the donation is made in honor of ~ will be written in the church bulletin, mentioned during announcements, and published in The Light. Donations of flowers (either from your summer garden or purchased, as previously, from a florist) will continue to be accepted if that is your preference.

We had a long and fruitful discussion at the Church Council about creative ways to raise funds to support our mission and ministries and to maintain our very large and historic building. Many good ideas were put forth for the future and many reminders of good stewardship practices already in place (emailing The Light instead of incurring paper, photocopy and postage fees, etc.) were discussed, including this one. And now, the option to honor people and events by offering flowers or "in lieu of flowers" is yours.

May God grant you a peaceful and beautiful Summer,

Pastor Dwight.