|
Each month
we salute a member who has become vitally involved in God's Member
of the Month — May 2008 Mary Jo Keeble (far left in photo), May’s member of the month, has served during
her 23 years
at FAPC in
major leadership roles with Compass (30s/40s), as an elder, The seed was planted when Mary Jo was asked to create some items that showed off the church’s 200th anniversary logo to be sold at various bicentennial events. Mary Jo’s vision and passion for the task led her a little further, to create FAPC’s Bicentennial Store, which turned on the lights and was open for business in the hall behind the sanctuary by November. And to Mary Jo’s surprise, God took her ideas further and started connecting the congregation through more fellowship and creation of volunteer opportunities, while impacting the church body financially and psychologically. “God leads us to unexpected places and situations,” says Mary Jo, a Georgia native who moved to New York for a “year-long adventure” more than 20 years ago and has been a member of FAPC for more than a decade. “If you’d told me a year ago that I would have orchestrated and then implemented a gift shop at FAPC, I would have told you that you were out of your mind!" “Well, here I am and I absolutely love the opportunity to serve God in this way. It truly is a blessing for me and as it turns out, for the church! I look forward to volunteering on Sundays in the shop because it gives you the chance to interact with FAPC friends that we might otherwise not see at the service.” The shop, open each Sunday since its inception, has given back to FAPC in a big way, raising more than $19,000 at the time this issue went to print. In coming months, the shop’s products will also be available outside of FAPC via an online shop on the church’s Website. The Bicentennial Store project has also brought together church members who staff it and those who developed the various items for sale, including If you ask Mary Jo, who is the national sales manager for a women’s clothing company, about how volunteering has impacted her life and what God has taught her through her service, she apologizes for the cliché and says the same thing we often hear – we forget how much we receive in the act of giving. God’s plans for our small ideas can indeed be bigger than we expect. As God’s servants, we may also look at the story of the new Bicentennial Store and ponder whether we’re in a position to find our own service project and say “Yes – we are open for business.” Respectfully
submitted,
George O’Hanlon, undoubtedly among the most faithful members of the usher and greeter team, is February’s volunteer of the month. “Rain or shine, every Sunday, he’s there – and he's over 80,” said Jacky Radifera, the who leads the usher/greeter team. “He’s an ordinary man doing extraordinary work. Given his integral role in the usher and greeter ministry, he’s known as ‘King George’ among his friends – much like Homer, one name is enough.” Though some of Mr. O’Hanlon’s volunteer activities keep him out of the public eye, on Sundays, he stands sentinal near the back doors of the sanctuary before services begin. The role of an usher and greeter is more
complicated than it may first appear. Behind the
scenes, they attend to all the details, large and small – And it’s not just Sunday that you’ll find him serving
other members of FAPC. O’Hanlon has served on the
Board of Deacons, and has assisted in setting up and
helping out with the Women’s Club annual fair in the
Christian Education Center, as well as the
upstairs/downstairs preparations for the Meals on New members are asked to think about ways they
can get involved in service and in being served
(breathing in, as well as breathing out, God’s love), and Radifera says it’s not just his faithful attendance that makes him an excellent example of Christ’s call to serve. “I have been impressed on on the one hand by his personality, his humility, helpful nature and positive constructive approach to work and on the other hand, by his professional expertise,” Radifera said of O’Hanlon, a member of FAPC for about 10 years. “He is also a man of culture and education as well as high ideals. His capacity for hard work has set a good example to young people in our church.” Respectfully
submitted,
From the citrus groves of central Florida to the coffee farms of Guatemala, Debbie Mullins has
followed the call of Christ into
mission-related In the process, she has also led many fellow Christians in what she describes as a moral responsibility. “I feel very strongly that we are meant to serve A self-proclaimed “cradle Presbyterian,” Debbie says the seeds of her service commitment were sewn during her teenage years in Winter Haven, Florida – a town in the citrus groves between Orlando and Tampa. “In my growing-up years we had a pastor who really encouraged youth to be involved in mission and think pretty deeply about injustice in the world,” Debbie says. Those thoughts led to action when she and several other teenagers at her church started a day school on Saturdays for the children of migrant workers picking in the citrus groves. Debbie says the church parents helped talk to the workers to get them interested, but that she and her friends soon took over – providing games, arts and crafts, food and transportation for the children. After finishing college in Kentucky and graduate school back in Florida, Debbie moved to New York in 1979. She started looking for a church the way any reasonable person might. “Since I didn’t know my way around, I just looked in the yellow pages for Presbyterian churches,” Debbie says. “FAPC was the only one that listed its coordinates in the yellow book – 55th and Fifth – where I could find them.” Debbie says she expected, like many non-native New Yorkers, to leave the city after a few years. Nearly 30 years later, though, she has helped lead several outreach committees at Fifth Avenue and served five terms on the session. In 1996 she helped establish Fifth Avenue’s mission trip committee and became the group’s chair. The first several trips that she planned took Fifth Avenue volunteers to the fincas of Guatemala just after the end of the country’s civil war. Since 1996, the mission trip has led groups to volunteer in Africa, Korea, Jamaica, and Egypt, among other places. On a recent trip to India, Debbie and a group of Fifth Avenue volunteers worked with local villagers and visited a Fifth Avenue-supported project that taught job skills to people left without work when mining stopped abruptly in the Kolar Gold Fields several years ago. Debbie still is on the mission trip committee, though she is no longer its chair. She will be leading a trip to New Orleans in May, which is one of three Gulf Coast trips planned for the coming year. She says much of the work now being done on Gulf Coast trips involves working on the internal construction of homes – installing things like insulation, wallboard, and flooring – though she added that there are plenty of jobs for people less interested in the stress of manual labor. When Debbie is not busy this year in her research work at Schering-Plough, she also volunteers for a national low-income housing fund. “The church should not be passive in getting involved in public affairs,” Debbie says. “We should be beacons for the rest of the world.” Respectfully Submitted,
When Barbara Swarthout walked through the doors of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church one Sunday morning in 1982 at the invitation of a friend, she had no idea of the friendships, fellowship and faith journey that awaited her. After the visit, Barbara decided to come back. She dipped her toes in by taking some adult education classes, both for the biblical/theological grounding and to meet new people. She ultimately joined the church in 1984 and hasn’t looked back! Among her many endeavors, Barbara was an elder (Class of 2006), trustee (Class of 2001) and deacon (Class of 1993), as well as member of the associate
pastor nominating committee that recommended calls to Drs. Oscar McCloud and Greg Cootsona. She
co-chaired Project Angel Tree and participated in
mission and church-sponsored trips to Jamaica, Ghana, Japan and the Soviet Union (part of the National Council of Churches celebration of the Millennium of Christianity in the Soviet Union). She increased her volunteer efforts since retiring and currently serves as an elder commissioner to the NYC Presbytery, as Treasurer and chief computer person for the Women’s Association and as a money counter for the finance department. Barbara reflects, “When I moved to New York in August of 1957, I never expected to stay, remain single, continue working all those years or be so involved with a church. But that is how my life evolved, and here I am – look what God created!” She quotes a favorite line of Dr. Kirkland, FAPC’s senior pastor from 1962-1987, that aptly describes her feelings about the church – “You can’t go it alone in New York.” Barbara says, “This has proved true for me. I don’t have extended family and the church family has supported me in good times and bad, especially during unexpected health crises.” A native of Canandaigua, NY, Barbara moved to New York after earning a B.A. in history with honors from Swarthmore College to pursue a 40-plus year career in data processing, one of the few choices open to women on an equal basis with men at the time. She retired from Merrill Lynch Human Resources Information Systems in October 2000 shortly after becoming a member of ML’s Quarter Century Club. Barbara loves to crochet and each year donates several afghans, lap robes and baby blankets to the Joy of Christmas bazaar. She shares her apartment with her “girls” – Shadow and Nutmeg – whom she adopted from a cat shelter after retiring, and who continue to frustrate her because they don’t like each other and live in separate rooms! If you see Barbara in the halls of FAPC, say hello and let yourself be inspired and motivated by our volunteer of the month. Never stop thinking about what you can do to serve a world in need; for, like Barbara, you don’t know what God might have in store for you! Respectfully
submitted,
Growing up as the son of two ministers, Tim Eddy says the idea of service was ingrained in his mind. Now as an adult, Eddy’s volunteer work through FAPC has been an invaluable part of his journey with Christ. “I remember someone telling me around the time I joined the church, ‘Surround yourself with people of deep faith, and that is a way to help yourself along your own faith journey,’” he explains. “So often when Respectfully
submitted,
Proverbs 22:6 gives us the famous line, “[t]rain up a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not depart from it,” or in the words of Eugene Peterson’s translation, The Message, “[p]oint your kids in the right direction – when they’re old they won’t be lost.” Every Sunday, the Family Ministries group offers a plethora of programs for the children and families of FAPC and none of them could take place without the astounding dedication from impressive volunteers like Sunday School teacher Becky Barnes. Barnes is often the face of the 11:15 am Sunday School program, which is offered to three year olds through fifth graders during both worship services. When asked what an average Sunday in her household was like – which includes both Becky’s husband Ike and three year old son Zach – Becky responded, “there really are no average Sundays. “When I come to FAPC to teach, there is a certain routine that has been established: my son Zachary helps me to set up the classroom and prepare for the class, then we wait for the children to arrive.” Often this assistance that Zach provides is shortly after the 9:30 session, which he attends. Then Ike will take Zach home while Becky remains to teach at 11:15. Under the guidance of Becky and other volunteers, children learn and enjoy classic Biblical stories, liturgical themes, elements of reformed worship and Bible literacy. Depending on the Sunday, between 25 and 30 volunteers participate in making these programs run smoothly. Why does Becky care so much about this ministry? “I want to make a difference, and I believe that I can make a difference through the children. I also feel that, as a member of God’s church (and FAPC), it is my obligation to help the children know and understand God and God’s word.” Becky also explains that she not only gives, but that she receives so much back from teaching kids on Sunday mornings. “I enjoy being with the children and enjoy learning from them. They have so many stories to tell and are extremely perceptive at these young ages. In essence, I leave the class on Sundays with a new fulfillment and perspective on life.” Well Becky, you and all of our other incredible Sunday School teachers give our young students a new perspective on life through your dedication to the love of Christ and teaching God’s Word. We thank you for all of your work, devotion and for pointing all of our children in the right direction. Fifth Avenue Presbyterian also offers both a Kindership (newborns through two-year olds) and a youth program (Junior and Senior High). If you would like to get involved with one of these programs, please contact Director of Family Ministries Jacob Bolton at jbolton@fapc.org or 212.247.0490. Respectfully
submitted,
She was born in New York City and then raised for a while in Europe where her father wrote for newspapers. Maxine graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in England. After returning to the United States, Maxine worked in fundraising for such organizations as the American Cancer Society and Asthmatic Children’s Foundation and served as a volunteer at the Stage Door Canteen in New York. She has been a volunteer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for 30 years, and that length of service is due to the power of prayer – her mother had been diagnosed with colon cancer many years ago. “At that time I said to God, ‘if you cure my mother, I will work with cancer.’ My mother lived 35 more years. That is why I have volunteered so long at Memorial,” Maxine says. Later on, Maxine also faced the disease. “I am a breast cancer survivor. I am very proud of that. I work in the breast clinic at the center. When I work at the hospital, many people ask me why I volunteer. It is wonderful that I can say to a cancer person that my mother lived all those years through prayer. Answers to prayers have been my profound experiences.” During the past three years, Maxine says that it has been “my great pleasure to be the hostess in my home for the Small Group Ministry, which is run by David Liu. I serve dinner every Thursday, and it is followed by a Bible study session. It is a very wonderful experience and very dear to my heart. It is a great way to get to know people and the Bible,” she says. Maxine considers FAPC to be her family. She feels fortunate to have such a place as FAPC in her life. Maxine also has done a lot of volunteering for British organizations in the United States. For that work, she received the Medal of the British Empire from the Queen. Respectfully
submitted,
“I’ve always been a listener; I might be sitting on the subway or at a lunch counter, and people gravitate Stephen Ministers receive extensive training to
provide confidential “Stephen Ministers work through a process to help broken individuals become whole again,” Lillian says. “It might take two weeks, and it might take three years, but you work toward goals until the person signals that you should move on to something else,” Lillian says. In prayerful work toward those goals, Lillian says she feels blessed to be part of a healing process. “As a caregiver I cannot emphasize enough what a privilege and honor it is to sit and listen and serve as God’s presence,” she says. “Day by day, I know I’m not walking alone, but the Lord is walking with me and that’s what this relationship turns out to be. Stephen Ministers are the caregivers, but you know that God, the ultimate healer, is always there with you. It makes that circle complete.” Lillian first came to FAPC in 1995 after she strolled past the church during her lunch hour from a nearby office. She noticed an announcement for the Lenten series, and started attending. The welcoming feeling of the people and the church’s myriad programs and opportunities – especially for single people – kept her coming back. In 2000, she became a member, began training for Stephen Ministry, and eventually was elected to the Board of Deacons. Lillian’s commitment to service goes all the way back to childhood. Indeed, she keeps very busy with service in addition to Stephen Ministries. Lillian is also the facilitator for the weekly Midtown East Bible study group – active for the last five years. She’s served as an usher/greeter and new member angel, has attended CCS classes, been part of the Fifth Avenue Fellowship Club, and is chaplain for the steering committee. Outside of FAPC’s walls, she is on the Board of Directors for the Alumni Association at New York University, her alma mater. Lillian, who lives in Fort Lee, N.J., and works as a specialist for applications software for The TriZetto Group, a healthcare technology provider, says her “My devotions make me calm and focused and remind me that I’m going into the day on faith,” Lillian says. “I’ve started on my day and put my armor on; then I’m able to reach out to others.” Respectfully
submitted,
Respectfully
submitted,
Go
to top |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||