Our Church Family

Music at UPC

Music is an important part of our coming together at United Presbyterian Church. We are excited to make music with every resource that we have, and to use a variety of styles — not all at once, but intermingled. What emerges is a vibrant worship service with music that includes everyone who wishes to participate.

With summertime upon us, the choirs will be taking a break until after Labor Day. We  invite instrumentalists and vocalists who’d like to share their gifts to talk with any  of our music leaders about providing special music for worship — you can call the church office, email music@upcbgm.org, or speak with them in person after worship.

Worship in the Summer Season

Ascension Sunday through mid-August

June 1 — Ascension Sunday, Acts 1:9–26

Luke begins the second scroll of his great work on the Acts of the Apostles in Jerusalem, when the disciples came back together in Jerusalem, received Christ’s blessing for continuing the work of the kingdom, and witnessed his departure. On this Ascension Sunday, we will hear what the disciples did after Jesus departed from them as they waited for the Holy Spirit and began to organize for their new life.

June 8 — Pentecost, Acts 2:1–41

Today we are celebrating Pentecost, which is the Greek word for “fiftieth”. It comes fifty days after Easter, and most years it falls at the same time as the Jewish festival of Shavuot. In Judaism, the holiday celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. In Christianity, it celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the community of disciples. God did not change the covenant relationship with the Jewish people but offered a new kind of covenant relationship to the rest of us, grounded in the knowledge of God’s love as shown in Jesus, and guided by the Holy Spirit. 

June 15 — Walk With Me, Isaiah 58:6–10

Many of the things we are involved in as a congregation are almost invisible on Sunday mornings, because we partner with other agencies to make them happen. The “Walk With Me” program, working with people returning from incarceration, is one of those things. We started the program with Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier and the Family Enrichment Network, and although we have a clothing closet for them in our building, they are housed at the Family Enrichment Network. This year we shared a case worker with Walk With Me, as Rozann Greco worked with our pantry guests on Wednesday afternoons.

June 22 — Covenants, Acts 3:1—4: 31

The first recorded act after the giving of the Holy Spirit is the healing of a lame man who is begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple in Jerusalem. There are echoes of Isaiah 35:5-6 in the man’s joyous response, which becomes the occasion for Peter’s second sermon. He tells the crowd of the faithfulness of God shown in Jesus and declares that this healing is one of the signs that God will continue to be faithful if the people will turn from their evil ways. This sets off a controversy with the religious leadership, who arrest Peter and John and then release them, ordering them to stop bearing witness to Jesus. They refuse the order, returning to the gathered disciples, and pray that God will empower them to continue speaking his word with boldness, to enable healing and miracles, and to do so in the name of Jesus. 

June 29 — Community, Authority, and Commitment, Acts 4:32—5:11

Luke then shows a beautiful and probably idealized picture of the earliest community of believers, who live together and share everything with each other. But the beautiful unity does not last, and soon people are withholding their wealth from the common purse. The Holy Spirit strikes down both the husband and wife who have lied not just to their fellow believers, but to God. The story concludes with “and great fear seized the whole church and all who heard these things.”

July 6 — Unexpected Allies, Acts 5:12–42

The disciples continue the work of preaching, exorcism and healing, and they become so popular that crowds of people clog the way to Solomon’s porch, and the temple authorities have the disciples arrested again, and summon the council to bring them to trial. When they arrive at the prison, they discover that the Spirit has freed them and they have returned to the temple and continued their work. They are re-arrested and brought before the council, but a teacher named Gamaliel intercedes, pointing out that punishing the disciples may cause rioting, so the council flogged them and let them go.

July 13 — Conflict and Resolution within the Community, Acts 6:1–7

As the new community of disciples grew and expanded, a culture clash arose. Those who were part of the ministry during Jesus’s earthly life (the Twelve) were Hebrews, Aramaic-speaking Jews from Judea and the Galilee. Many of the new believers were Hellenists—Greek-speaking Jews who came from the diaspora communities around the Roman Empire. The Hellenists felt that their needs were often overlooked in the sharing that was a hallmark of the community. So the Twelve gathered the whole community together, and instructed them to choose seven among them to see to the needs of the people, thus initiating what came to be known as the diaconal ministry (or deacons). This “hinge” story also serves to introduce us to Stephen, whose story will come next.

July 20 — The Story of Stephen, Acts 6:8—7:60

The disagreements about power and authority in the new community of faith escalated when some of the Hellenists were dissatisfied with Stephen’s ministry and took their complaints to the Jerusalem Council, charging him with breaking the Mosaic covenant. In a very long speech, Stephen retells the history of God’s faithfulness to beginning with Abraham and continuing through the Davidic kingdom. He reminds his hearers that God continues to bring about new understandings and new covenants as the people fall away and prove faithless. He then accuses the religious authorities of opposing the work of the Spirit by persecuting the prophets and rejecting Jesus. After he describes a vision of the heavens opened and Jesus as the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of God, the listeners of the council took Stephen out of the city and stoned him to death. He echoes the dying words of Jesus in commending his spirit to him, and asks forgiveness for those who are killing him. 

July 27 — The Samaritan Mission, Acts 8:1–24

In another brief hinge story, Luke introduces Saul as a persecutor of the church, and introduces Philip as a leader who rises to prominence when the community scatters beyond Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria. In Samaria, Philip heals many people and drives out many demons. The Jerusalem apostles send Peter and John to meet the new community. Included among the baptized is a man named Simon, who is identified as a sorcerer and who had already been healing people. Peter and John lay hands on the newly baptized, who immediately receive the Holy Spirit. Simon is excited to see the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and offers the apostles money if they will teach him how it’s done. Peter rebukes Simon and announces that the activity of the Spirit cannot be purchased, and Simon repents.

August 3 — The Road to Gaza, Acts 8:26–40

Philip is sent by an angel to the road to Gaza, where he meets an enslaved man, an eunuch who is from the court of the Candace in Ethiopia and has been in Jerusalem to worship. He is reading the prophet Isaiah, and Philip uses the text to teach him about Jesus. They see a pool of water by the road, and the man asks to be baptized. Philip is whisked away by the Spirit and is found next in Azotus. The text reflects the debates held in the early years of the church about authority and inclusion and who is worthy of grace, and still points the way to people of faith—we can teach and learn from each other, and God does not limit grace, but pours it out on all who seek it.

News from the Kitchen

by Sherry Conklin, Community Kitchen Coordinator

There is sad news that the Salvation Army Mission center on Washington Street has been closed by our mayor indefinitely. This mission served 100 to 200 people with 6 dinner meals a week, breakfast 5 days a week, hygiene and food pantry, and bread line. This creates a big hole for the food-insecure. Although they have been able to resume serving meals five days a week from a food truck located further down Main Street, they are served to-go with no sit-down option, so some individuals are finding their way to United Presbyterian for food. I made up emergency bags and box lunches to hand out when anyone asks. 

I am looking closely to see what the federal government financial cuts will be making to our missions. So far, the pantry and meals are not being affected much. I can no longer order some of the products that I used to, or products that our clients like the most. We are still able to provide each family with two meat choices (or one meat and a dozen eggs), dry milk, shelf-stable milk, vegetables, fruit, soups, pasta, cereal, canned meals, and snacks every week. In March there were 15 tractor trailers full of dairy and meat products that were destined to the Food Bank or the Southern Tier in Elmira — this is the food bank that I use to obtain about a thousand pounds of food per week. These trucks were halted by the USDA and the food was wasted. This food was originally funded by the Community Credit Corporation and amounted to 14% of the bonus TEFAP food and was valued at over $434,000. I continue to stock up to stay ahead of any new cuts when they come. In addition to the food I get from the Southern Tier, I am able to obtain about 500 pounds of food weekly from CHOW. Panera Bread in Johnson City donates 100–200 pounds of bread items per week.

I am looking for a volunteer to help in the pantry every Wednesday from 3 to 5. This would be to either serve clients of fill out intake forms. Anyone is welcome to come and volunteer to serve or clean up on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 7:00. If interested, please give me a call.