The Torch Volume 56, No. 3 March 2013 Holy Week at Tuckahoe Sunday, March 24 Palm Sunday 11:00 a.m. Worship with Processional of Children and Palms Thursday, March 28 Maundy Thursday 6:00 p.m. Covered Dish Supper 6:45 p.m. Maundy Thursday Worship & Communion Friday, March 29 Good Friday Noon Good Friday Service (in Memorial Garden, weather permitting), followed by light lunch in Duntreath Sunday, March 31 Easter Sunday 11:00 a.m. Easter Sunday Worship with Brass Quintet and Flowering the Cross FLOWERING THE CROSS In spite of its function as a brutal form of execution, the cross stands at the center of our faith as a symbol of life. There can be no Easter without Good Friday, no Resurrection without the Crucifixion. Indeed, the cross, rather than the empty tomb, has held the place of honor as the primary symbol of the Christian faith. A modern expression of this idea may be found in the custom of flowering the cross. Tuckahoe will celebrate the flowering of the cross on Easter morning during the Children’s Sermon. You are invited to bring fresh blooms from your gardens to help fill the cross with emblems of “new life”. In preparation for the Easter event, the cross will be placed in the sanctuary on Palm Sunday, draped in purple. On Maundy Thursday, at the close of our worship, the cross will be draped in black and a crown of thorns added. Then on Easter morning the cross will be adorned with greenery and flowers and lifted high in celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord. The monthly Newsletter of Tuckahoe Presbyterian Church 7000 Park Avenue Richmond, VA 23226 804-282-2860; www.tuckahoepres.org FROM THE PASTOR’S STUDY “THINKING OUR WAY TO THE CROSS” I had a New Testament professor who used to say provocative words about people wearing crosses as jewelry. The first time I heard Gordon Fee say this I was shocked. He said something like this: “Why do people wear little crosses as pendants on necklaces? If Jesus had been executed in an electric chair would we wear replicas of such a chair as jewelry or place symbolic chairs on the top of church steeples?” I think it is a little hard to picture this. The aesthetic appeal of a chair perched on a steeple is more than my imagination can grasp or appreciate. But his point is well taken. The cross has become a symbol and a work of art in western civi- lization. But originally it was a means of executing criminals. The cross of Calvary was the cruel means of putting Jesus to death. God’s Son suffered the excruciatingly painful death of crucifixion. We celebrate not the agony of our Lord’s pain and suffering but we do give thanks that “by his bruises we are healed,” that “he was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities” and “his life [was] an offering for sin,” and that “he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” All the above quoted phrases are excerpts from Isaiah 53. The latter chapters of Isaiah fea- ture four so-called “Servant Songs” that describe the suffering ministry of the Servant of Yahweh. The Church from its earliest days has identified this unnamed servant as Jesus the Christ. The four poems or songs are: 1) Isaiah 42:1-9 2) Isaiah 49:1-13 3) Isaiah 50:4-11 Inside this Issue: 4) Isaiah 52:13-15, 53:1-12 From the Pastor 2 During our Sunday mornings in March, I will preach Youth Ministries 3 from these songs alongside pertinent New Testament Children’s Ministries 4-6 passages in order to learn more about the ministry of Jesus the Savior. You may be startled to see how Food & Fellowship 7 Isaiah provides commentary on the Passion of Christ that we do not find in the New Testament. Mission & Outreach 8-9 Richard Haney Around the Church 10-13 Endowment Board Report 14 Easter Flower Order 15 Calendar 16 2 YOUTH MINISTRIES YOUTH GROUP CALENDAR March 3 6-8:00 p.m. Youth Sunday Prep March 9 TBA Youth Sunday Rehearsal (Saturday) March 10 Youth Sunday March 17 TBA Activity March 24 6-8:00 p.m. Worship Service March 31 Easter No Youth Group Talent Show & Auction to Benefit Youth Mission Work ~Coming April 14~ On Sunday, April 14th after worship, the Youth Group and Parent Council will hold our 3rd annual Tuckahoe Presbyterian Talent Show to benefit Youth Group Mission trips. The Youth will serve a fabulous brunch and all generations are encouraged to participate. An auction is being added this year. To date we have received donations from several of Tuckahoe’s Divisions for auction items to include extreme gift baskets! So get creative and put one together for the auction! Other ideas might include: use of your vacation home, football or basketball tickets, help with babysitting or yard work, etc. We will also have an auction preview during fellowship hours in early April. All ages are encouraged to “show off” their talents! See Sara Sommers after worship if you would like to sign up. Those of us who spent Presidents' Day weekend on retreat with 16 of TPC's senior highs would like to express our sincere appreciation to their parents for sharing these amazing, engaging, bright, funny, and spiritual young people with us! We would especially like to thank Anne Anderson and Anne Beane, who generously provided some homemade food for the weekend. Life at TPC is truly enriched by the involvement of its youth. Stay tuned to see and hear them in action on Youth Sunday, March 10th! Sincerely, Susan Galvin, Bob Lacy, Sarah Pugh. and Bill & Jackie Stallings 3 CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2013 How You Can Help Now 1. Take the outdoor signs to FastsSgns to have the date changed. 2. Volunteer to put the outdoor signs up during the week after Easter Sunday and take them down at the end of VBS week. 3. Volunteer to put up posters on the playground and take them down after VBS. 4. Volunteer to display or distribute flyers at your child’s preschool (if permitted) and/or display in businesses that allow it. 5. Tell your family, friends and neighbors. We would love to reach our maximum of 65 children in attendance! 6. Sign up at the display in Duntreath Hall to help either pre-week or during VBS. WHEN: JULY 15-19 AGES: 3 years old – rising 5th grade THEME: Everywhere Fun Fair – Where God’s World Comes Together! Celebrating Neighbors while Exploring Japan, Zimbabwe, the UK, Australia, and Mexico Registration forms will be available this month. HELP NEEDED NOW – See the display in Duntreath Hall and sign up to help! Contact Becky Loggins a.s.a.p. if you are willing and able to help! Email [email protected], Phone 201-0571 WHAT’S GOING ON WITH CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES Sunday, March 3 – First Sunday Children’s Church for age 4 through 1st grade in Room 201, following “Moments with the Children”. There the children will experience Godly Play story, scripture, and work of The Mystery of Easter. In Sunday School, pretzel-making and power prayer in Class of the Dove (2-3 yrs old) and Class of the Font (4 yrs old - kin- dergarten). Sunday, March 10 – 2nd Sunday Children’s Church (1st-3rd grades) with the Godly Play story, scripture, and work of The Mystery of Easter. Sunday, March 17- In Sunday School, palm cross-making in Class of the Scripture. Sunday, March 24, Passion/Palm Sunday- In Sunday School, Godly Play lesson with Class of the Flames. Class of the Scripture will distribute palm crosses to the congregation upon entering the sanctuary for worship. Easter Day, March 31- Alleluia, Christ is risen!!! 1st Sunday Children’s Church. Easter egg hunts following worship. The “Flowering the Cross”. 4 CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES WE KNOW ITS LENT WHEN... WE MAKE PRETZELS AND CROSSES The time of Lent is here, and the children in Sun- day School are focusing on prayer, what God expects of us, and Jesus’ ministry and last days on earth. The beau- tiful solemnity during this time of the Church Year with: our more serious and spiritually introspective worship; the way we are to look inward at our prayer life and at our relationship with Christ; the steps we take as we walk with Jesus to his death. These are all practices that will stir great emotion and can even change our lives. As a part of emphasizing our focus on prayer, the children in Sunday School will make –and eat – pretzels. This is a good Lenten food as pretzels are very plain and remind us of fasting. Pretzels have been made and eaten during Lent for over 1500 years. According to tradition, they were originally made by monks. Their shape sug- gests arms folded in prayer, which is an older posture of prayer than folded hands. People would cross their arms over their chest while they prayed. There are ways children – and people of all ages - can appropriately take part in the Lenten tradition of giving up something and taking on something as a discipline to help us become more loving people and help us grow closer to God. For example: Give up a favorite TV program to help with a household chore. Give up a snack or dessert and put the money it would have cost into the church offering plate. Give up a favorite toy for a day so that a little brother or sis- ter can play with it.