"A Good Enough Lent" Small Groups

There will be multiple ways to engage our Lenten devotions this year! Devotional reflection emails will be published on Mondays (sign up here) and there will be Sunday and midweek small groups based on a selection of Kate Bowler's Good Enough devotions.

 

Join the midweek time of devotion and discussion on Zoom

Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m.

March 9 through April 13

“GOOD ENOUGH” SMALL GROUPS

WEDNESDAYS ON ZOOM at 8:00 p.m. | SUNDAYS 9:30 a.m.

A 6-week Lenten study engaging the world as it is -- beautiful, meaningful, difficult, and challenging. This intergenerational adult group is offered beginning March 6, 2022 during the Sunday school hour before church at 10:30 a.m. or Wednesday evenings at 8:00 p.m. on Zoom. Books will be available but you can order your own copy of Good Enough if you would like to follow along on your own throughout the week.

CONTACT: Jordyn Pritchard

Lent Sermon Series: Doin' Church

Exploring Joy During Lent

This year, even as we acknowledge Jesus’ strength in suffering, integrity in persevering, and dignity in death, I propose we embrace a companion theology of delight.

Let’s remember that Jesus came that we might know joy, we might know abundance, and that we might become, resolute people of joyful purpose through God’s grace.

Though Jesus wasn’t born that we might develop denominational superiority or efficiency, those of us who have evolved into Presbyterians have sought to be faithful and consistent. In that, we have established Six Great Ends of the Church. We will engage those statements over Lent. We will see how each speaks to God’s purpose and how we become the people of God’s purpose and live into the promised joy and abundance.  

The title of the Lenten Series is Doin’ Church. Years ago here at Second Church we imagined what it would look like if we were to stop coming to church and concentrate on being the church. Right now, the world is in such a state of flux, yet as was, is, and shall be, God is with us.

The intention was that we should all stop just going to church and discover together the great joy of being church. This year I propose that we take the next step together and do church.

Let’s take this time to position ourselves for God’s grace and God’s purpose. Let’s come to know the purpose and joy that is ours –

Let’s Do Church!

- Pastor Cress

SERMON SERIES: DOIN‘ CHURCH

Discovering the great joy of doing church together.

“TELLIN’ IT”

FIRST WEEK OF LENT

We have a story to tell and good news to share – not for the edification, enjoyment or diversion of the world, but for the reclamation and restoration of all God’s created.

“A PLACE WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME”

SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Those who gather in response to this wonderful news are to be sheltered, nurtured, and should enjoy the fellowship of the Holy Spirit of God in and through each other. We prove our faith not by the rules we keep, but by the love we give to God’s people, i.e. everybody.

“ORTHODOX WORSHIP”

THIRD WEEK OF LENT

There is a right way to worship and it is through orthodoxy – “ortho” meaning right, and “doxia” meaning praise. In the years of the Reformation, one of the fathers of this denomination, John Calvin, looked around and realized that there were many groups who would call themselves Christian, so how was one to know? He came up with this: the true church is where the word of God is rightly preached, and the sacraments administered according to Christ’s institution.

“IZNESS”

FOURTH WEEK OF LENT

God’s truth is real, identifiable, defensible, liberating and it must be preserved.

“DOIN’ JUSTICE”

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT

The people of God are to promote Social Justice – caring for, equipping, and loving all of God’s people. We are down with dynamic, biblical social justice that leads to the dignity and worth of all and loving God’s own as Jesus commanded. 

“TELL AND SHOW”

PALM SUNDAY

We are to bring what is and how it can be, in line with how it’s supposed to be – to exhibit the kin-dom, the realm realized on earth as it is in Jesus.

This Lenten season we will be exploring joy through sermon and study.

Rev. Darwin will lead us through the Six Great Ends of the Church as we explore the great joy of doing church together in our sermon series Doin' Church.

A Lenten devotional reflection will be published on Mondays (make sure you join the email list) and there will be small group times for devotion and discussion throughout the week based on a selection of Kate Bowler's Good Enough devotions. Find out more about the devotional study groups here.

You can now get text messages through Remind for important dates, group get-togethers, schedule changes, and other announcements. To sign up simply text the corresponding code below to 81010.

  • Church Announcements: @2pcchurch

  • Youth Group: @2pc-youth

  • Children: @2pckids

A Good Enough Lent: Sunday School

“A Good Enough Lent” Small Group Options During the Sunday School Hour

This year during Lent we will be exploring joy through sermon and study.

A Lenten devotional reflection will be published on Mondays (make sure you join the email list) and there will be small group times for devotion and discussion throughout the week based on a selection of Kate Bowler's Good Enough devotions. Books will be available for small groups but you can order your own copy of Good Enough if you would like to follow along on your own throughout the week.

"A Good Enough Lent" devotion and discussion studies based on a selection of Kate Bowler's devotions beginning March 6, 2022.

  • Middle and high schoolers are invited to meet upstairs in the conference room with Jordyn

  • Adults will continue to meet downstairs in the yellow room led by Sue and Aled

  • There will also be a midweek time of devotion and discussion Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. on Zoom

DEVOTION & DISCUSSION FOR ADULTS

“A GOOD ENOUGH LENT”

SUNDAYS 9:30 a.m. | YELLOW CLASSROOM DOWNSTAIRS

A 6-week Lenten study engaging the world as it is -- beautiful, meaningful, difficult, and challenging. This intergenerational group of adults meets in the yellow classroom downstairs during the Sunday school hour before church at 10:30 a.m.

Led by Sue Henderson and Aled Pritchard

 

CHILDREN will still meet at 9:30 a.m. with Mrs. Robbie and Mr. Ken during Lent downstairs in the kindergarten hall.

THE NURSERY is located downstairs at the end of the kindergarten hall. Nursery workers and volunteers are here bright and early to welcome your children into the nursery 10 minutes before Sunday school until 10 minutes after the church service.

Please email Ken to volunteer in the nursery.

 

YOUTH DONUTS & DEVOTIONS

“A GOOD ENOUGH LENT” for YOUTH

SUNDAYS 9:30 a.m. | UPSTAIRS IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM

A 6-week Lenten study engaging the world as it is -- beautiful, meaningful, difficult, and challenging. Middle and high schoolers will meet with Jordyn in the conference room upstairs for this Bible study.

CONTACT: Jordyn Pritchard

 

CHILDREN'S CHAPEL

After the Children's Sermon during church, children are invited to the education building for a time of fun and faith formation to learn songs, Bible basics, and how worship is a continuous response to God’s grace.

You can now get text messages through Remind for important dates, group get-togethers, schedule changes, and other announcements. To sign up simply text the corresponding code below to 81010.

  • Church Announcements: @2pcchurch

  • Youth Group: @2pc-youth

  • Children: @2pckids

2022 Sunday School Opportunities

SUNDAY SCHOOL

Sunday School will return on February 13! The 2022 return of Sunday school classes was postponed due to the COVID surge but we’re excited for the return of extended time for spiritual growth and fellowship on Sundays.

Join us at 9:30 a.m. All are welcome. Adults and children 3 years+ need to wear a mask for now in accordance with CDC guidelines and local recommendations. Please do not attend in-person groups or events if you are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms, are aware of an exposure, or have been asked by a school or other institution to quarantine or isolate.

Find out more about midweek bible study groups here and events and announcements here.

And sign up for text updates through Remind below, make sure you’re receiving the Friday “Snapshot” emails or your Sunday bulletin to keep up with what’s going on at Second. We would love to have you involved in continued discipleship and fellowship opportunities here at Second.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES FOR ADULTS

The Present Word Class

MEETS WEEKLY IN THE YELLOW CLASSROOM

This renewed group is welcoming new members in the continued  study of “The Present Word" with Sue Henderson and other leaders. Each quarter the curriculum focuses on a different theme and set of books of the Bible as a way to study the Bible over a six-year period. This group meets in the yellow classroom downstairs.

CONTACT: Sue Henderson

Upstairs Class

TBA

Everyone is welcome in The Present Word class.

CONTACT: Aled Pritchard

THE NURSERY is located downstairs at the end of the kindergarten hall. Nursery workers and volunteers are here bright and early to welcome your children into the nursery 10 minutes before Sunday school until 10 minutes after the church service.

Please email Ken to volunteer in the nursery.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH

Children | Downstairs

Children meet with Mrs. Robbie in the back right classroom to learn about the Bible through activities and story-based lessons.

Youth Group | Youth Room

The 7th-12th graders will meet with Ken in the Youth Room for a time of Bible study focused on "the good life" and what it means to be a follower of Christ.

CONTACT: Ken Carrington

CHILDREN'S CHAPEL

After the Children's Sermon during church, children 6th grade and under are invited to the education building for a time of fun and faith formation to learn songs, Bible basics, and how worship is a continuous response to God’s grace.

You can now get text messages through Remind for important dates, group get-togethers, schedule changes, and other announcements. To sign up simply text the corresponding code below to 81010.

  • Church Announcements: @2pcchurch

  • Youth Group: @2pc-youth

  • Children: @2pckids

Sunday School and Children's Ministry Update

SUNDAY SCHOOL

We had been expecting to resume Sunday school this week after a Christmas break, but considering the current COVID surge that's being fueled by delta and omicron, the Christian Education Committee has decided to not yet resume children’s Sunday school offerings or nursery during the 9:30 hour and the adult classes will not yet be meeting either. 

The current COVID surge is expected to spike in the next couple of weeks, so we hope to resume full Sunday school offerings soon, but after local rates of transmission have diminished. We pray that everyone stays safe and healthy in the meantime. 

Children will still be invited forward during the service and can go for children’s chapel, which will be spaced or outdoors as weather permits, but there will be no children’s choir practice for now. There will be no Sunday school classes, but we will keep you updated. Please get in touch with Sue Henderson to get on the downstairs adult Sunday school class email list.

Children are invited into the 10:30 a.m. worship service and nursery will be available for the church service. Staff and nursery workers are all fully vaccinated, have received a booster shot and/or have tested negative this week. We are grateful for the space, resources, and the temperate climate so that we can offer safe opportunities to meet right now. All adults and children over the age of 3 need to wear a face mask while in public spaces even if fully vaccinated against COVID-19. While this variant appears to be less life-threatening than previous strains, it is affecting people of all ages at an alarming rate. 

Please worship from home if you are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms, are aware of an exposure, or have been asked by a school or other institution to quarantine or isolate.

See you Sunday for worship, in person or online.


On behalf of the Christian Education Committee,

Aled Pritchard
Head of CE Committee

Edited to update change in adult Sunday school class offerings: Sunday School classes will resume as of February 13, 2022.

You can sign up to receive text messages through Remind for important dates, group get-togethers, schedule changes, and other announcements. To sign up, simply text the corresponding code below to 81010.

  • Church Announcements: @2pcchurch

  • Youth Group: @2pc-youth

  • Children: @2pckids

2021 Sunday School Opportunities!

SUNDAY SCHOOL

We are excited to announce that renewed Sunday School opportunities will return to Second Pres for the 2021-2022 academic year! Join us for Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. beginning September 19, 2021.

Adults and children 3 years+ are required to wear a mask in accordance with CDC and local recommendations. Please do not attend in-person groups or events if you are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms, are aware of an exposure, or have been asked by a school or other institution to quarantine or isolate. Church staff, Sunday school teachers, and nursery workers are fully vaccinated and will be following CDC guidelines.

Find out more about midweek bible study groups here and events and announcements here.

And sign up for text updates through Remind below, make sure you’re receiving the Friday “Snapshot” emails or your Sunday bulletin to keep up with what’s going on at Second. We would love to have you involved in continued discipleship and fellowship opportunities here at Second.

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SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES FOR ADULTS

Young Professionals & Adults Class

You're invited to join a group of adults upstairs in the conference room on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. to explore the wonders and complexities of being Christian in the world today. This group is discussion-led and self-directed, touching on topics such as practical theology, bible basics, and current issues.

CONTACT: Amy King, Aled Pritchard

The Present Word Class

This renewed group is welcoming new members in the continued  study of “The Present Word" with Sue Henderson and other leaders. Each quarter the curriculum focuses on a different theme and set of books of the Bible as a way to study the Bible over a six-year period. This quarter's focus is "Justice and the Prophets." This group meets in the downstairs classroom.

CONTACT: Sue Henderson

THE NURSERY is located downstairs at the end of the kindergarten hall. Nursery workers and volunteers are here bright and early to welcome your children into the nursery 10 minutes before Sunday school or church.

Please email Ken to volunteer in the nursery.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH

Pre-K, K & 1st grade | Downstairs

Children through 1st grade will meet with Mrs. Robbie in the back right classroom to learn about stories in the Bible through coloring, songs, and story-based lessons.

2nd - 6th grade children | Blue Room upstairs

Through Bible stories and activities, 2nd-6th graders will learn to love like God this semester with May Lebby up in the blue room at the top of the stairs between the youth room and conference room.

Youth Group | Youth Room

The 7th-12th graders will meet with Ken/Domonique in the Youth Room for a time of Bible study focused on "the good life" and what it means to be a follower of Christ.

CONTACT: Ken Carrington

CHILDREN'S CHAPEL | After the Children's Sermon during church, children 6th grade and under are invited next door for a time of fun and faith formation to learn songs, basics of the faith, and how worship is a continuous response to God’s grace.

You can now get text messages through Remind for important dates, group get-togethers, schedule changes, and other announcements. To sign up simply text the corresponding code below to 81010.

  • Church Announcements: @2pcchurch

  • Youth Group: @2pc-youth

  • Children: @2pckids

Kick Off Sunday

Meeting people at their point of need on Sunday mornings with renewed Sunday School opportunities for everyone

Meeting people at their point of need on Sunday mornings with renewed Sunday School opportunities for everyone

Please join us early on Sunday, September 15th for Kick Off Sunday as we kick off the academic year with new discipleship and fellowship opportunities- at new times!

BEGINNING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th

Breakfast at 9:00 a.m. - Everyone is welcome for a light breakfast in the Fellowship Hall

Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. - Classes for all ages in the Education Building

Worship at 10:30 a.m. - Join us for worship in the Sanctuary

Please contact Sarah with any Sunday School questions.

Easter Sunday

Dear Friends in Christ –

George Burns and Gracie Allen were entertainment royalty. They started in vaudeville, transitioned to radio, and then to TV. Burns played the straight man with the gravelly voice (10 to 15 El Producto cigars a day will do it!) to Gracie’s winsome comedy. His parents were Orthodox Jews and she was a staunch Irish Catholic girl.

Gracie would die decades before George. The story goes that after her death, George went to sort through her papers and on top of everything in her desk he found an envelope addressed to him.

He opened it, and found this, "George, never place a period where God places a comma.” Perhaps you’ve heard this before.

George Burns died at 100 attributing his longevity to the El Productos. But that phrase "never place a period where God places a comma" has lived on with new resonance. I think this is something to keep in mind as we celebrate Jesus’ rising this Sunday.

There were some who prayed, those who feared, most who assumed the story was done – just another would-be-prophet, wanna-be-Messiah shown to be delusional and dead. But this time was different. What some thought to be a period was actually a comma as certain women found an empty tomb and a messenger delivering the obvious. "He’s gone. He told you where to find him." You see, Jesus obviously had things to do!

Men and women, so do we. This Sunday let’s embrace the reality that death is deposed! New life beckons in Jesus Christ! We’ll worship together in the Sanctuary. Remember, invite your friends, your neighbors, those who you long to see and even those you’d rather not. Let’s come together to worship the risen Christ!

In great anticipation -

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Palm Sunday

Dear Friends in Christ –

Imagine this: first century, you’re on your way to Passover.

You’ve saved up for the temple tax. You’ve arranged for your work, property, home to be cared for…

You approach the temple. You hear a ruckus. Crowds in Jerusalem – the population is swollen. You hear screams. Then you see goats and cattle stampeding…towards you. You hold your loved ones close. You can’t believe this could be coming from the temple! You place your family back out of harm’s way, but you continue and you see people running, the money changers, the keepers of the livestock. The temple is a mess. Coins on the floor. How will you pay the temple tax? So how will you be forgiven?

And then you hear: There’s a prophet inside who speaks of the temple as if it belongs to him. He’s tearing the place up! And taking on the temple authorities? Who is this?

It's Jesus.  He’s cleaning house.

Men and women, I hope you’ve been cleaning house, discarding everything that would keep you from his side. These times demand the people of God to be suited up and ready!

In great anticipation -

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Fourth Sunday of Lent

Dear Friends in Christ –

Some of you have heard the story of how my wife Rebecca and I met.

It was at a party that she would never have attended except to get away from a South Carolina farmer that had come to New York to save her from the city. But thank heavens she didn’t want to be saved from the city and attended this party that included actors and actresses all living on no budget and coming together for a little wine and cheese and to practice sight reading polyphony and madrigala. (I know)

I came late to the party myself. I waited until the Super Bowl was over. I walked in and was immediately captivated by the new girl – dressed in black, braid, and serious black shoes. 

When a break in the evening came, I sat near her and opened the conversation with, “I like your pumps.” Eighteen months later we were married. Shoes have always resonated with me.

Then there were beach shoes, then baby shoes, now horse riding boots, boxing shoes and daughters beginning to wear serious black shoes. Shoes matter. Because they take you places, different places. But there is one pair that fits all who will dare to wear them. God’s shoes of peace allow God’s people – all of God’s people to stand firm to stand together to withstand the wiles and attacks of the enemy. 

Sunday morning we prepare to slip on, strap up, pull on, lace up, tie on the shoes of God’s peace. And together we’ll lift the shield of faith. 

In great anticipation -

 

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Third Sunday of Lent

Dear Friends in Christ –

 I just got word from ‘away’ at school that there’s a new favorite song –When Did Your Heart Go Missing?

Easy for me to comment from my ‘mature’ perch that it’s maudlin, predictable, bad music and poor performance, but truth is, it isn’t.
It’s just heartfelt young love gone away.

Sometimes I lift my head from the keyboard, turn my gaze from the screen, put down the phone and wonder the same thing – When did your/our/his/her/my/the heart go missing? What happened to the passion, the compassion, the grace, the empathy of our nation and our community?

We continue this Sunday clothing ourselves in God. Yes, our discussion emanates from first century Roman Legionaire’s armor. That’s something the oppressed Jewish community would have much too vivid a recognition of, so they understand when Paul co-opts the image. Paul appropriates it to demonstrate God’s protection and our opportunity and need to suit up!

The Breastplate of Righteousness protects the very seat of our lives—our hearts. This Sunday gird our loins and stand firm in the righteousness of God our Savior!

In great anticipation -

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Second Sunday of Lent

Dear Friends in Christ –

The core of something may be defined as the central, most important part. Last week I gave an overview of Ephesians 6:10-19. The Apostle Paul makes it very clear that he feels the battle for the human soul– I would even say for the soul of humanity– is being waged on a cosmic scale. Not was waged, nor may be waged, but is being waged even in this moment. Can one doubt as each day we’re confronted with the real necessity of discerning what is real and what is fake?

In the aftermath of the shootings in Parkland, Florida, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School vented their grief and outrage as they mourned their friends and teachers. They called for change and within hours a YouTube video appeared claiming that these weren’t students at all, but actors. The video was a fabrication.

Where are we to find our compass to navigate these waters?

Paul lists the pieces of armor in the order a Roman soldier would put them on for battle:

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm, therefore, and having girded your loins with truth...”   

This is where we start– the core, central, most important part– God’s truth revealed in Jesus “so that you (we) will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, stand firm.”

I hope to see you in worship -

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First Sunday of Lent

Dear Friends in Christ –

Words fail as yet another mass shooting claims the lives of innocents. Woe to us if we become inured, accustomed, accepting of continuing carnage. Yes, we will grieve with those who grieve.  We will pray. We will search our hearts and question the resolve of ours and others as well as the children quite rightly state, “We are children, you are the adults...” Implicit in that statement is a plea that surely there is something that can be done, so that more and more children and teachers’ and sisters’ and brothers’ lives aren’t snuffed in fits of rage or madness.

Just because we don’t know the answer now, does not mean that there isn’t one.

As people of the Word and of faith, we look to and lean into scripture.  It is neither our calling nor our task to be absent nor silent as violence becomes commonplace. Should we not speak we become complicit.

This Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent, we begin a series of sermons on Ephesians 6:10-19 – The Armor of God. In a different time one might have regarded this passage as archaic – “hopelessly first century, male-oriented, warrior mentality, apocalyptic hyperbole.” But in these times attention must be paid. Until we celebrate the victory of Christ’s resurrection, we will walk with him putting on the armor as it is offered.

This Sunday we fasten the Belt of Truth. Yours? Mine? The only one that matters – God’s Truth.

See you in worship -

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