CHELSEA COMMUNITY CHURCH

Spring 2017

A nondenominational Christian congregation

welcoming persons of all faiths

and of uncertain faith,

meeting in historic St. Peter's Church

346 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011

Sundays (except August) 12:00 p.m.



info@

(212) 886-5463

CHELSEA COMMUNITY CHURCH NEWSLETTER

March ¨C April ¨C May 2017

Special Services and Events (All dates Sundays, 12:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted):

April 9: Palm Sunday Speaker Rev. Dr. Peter Heltzel (Disciples of Christ) is an associate professor of theology

at New York Theological Seminary. He also ministered to seafarers at the Seamen¡¯s Church Institute in Newark

and worked at the Office of Social Witness of the Reformed Church in America. He is the author of Jesus and

Justice (Yale University Press, 2009) and the co-author of Faith-Rooted Organizing (Inter-Varsity Press, 2013).

He holds a Ph.D. degree in theology from Boston University. Special Music: Anthony Santelmo Jr.

April 13: Maundy Thursday ¨C 6:30 p.m. Call for location information (use phone number above).

April 16: Easter Festival Service Speaker Rev. Beth Perry (below, left) is

Chelsea Community Church¡¯s Pastoral Counselor. She is also an online church

consultant and trainer, and lead faculty for the

University of Phoenix. A pastor for more than 20

years, she was ordained in the United Methodist

Church and currently has Privilege of Call in the

United Church of Christ. She earned an M.Div.

degree at Princeton Theological Seminary. Special

Music: Arbender Robinson

(above, right); Jake Henry,

trumpeter (far right).

Potluck! After the service,

we¡¯ll have one of our

friendly (and delicious!)

potluck brunches ¨C to which all are welcome, whether

you bring a ¡°dish to pass¡± or not. There¡¯s always

enough food for us ¨C and the conversation is great!

(Photo by Lynn Ramsey from 2016¡¯s Easter brunch.)

Please come on Easter and stay for brunch if you can!

Easter Choir: Board member Jen Lynch wanted to know if we at Chelsea Community Church could make our

Easter ¡°Festival¡± service bigger and better, more like the Candlelight Carol Service. One idea was to have a choir

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A publication of Chelsea Community Church ? 2017. All rights reserved.

Chelsea Community Church Newsletter, Spring 2017

2

so I asked our musical director, Jeff Cubeta, if he would be interested in leading one. He was! So I sent out word

to past choir members to see if anyone would be interested in joining us and about 14 people said yes! If YOU are

interested in joining the choir please email info@.

There will be two rehearsals most likely in the church on the afternoon of Palm Sunday the week before and then

sometime during the week in between. -- Paul Bodden, Choir Coordinator

Pastoral Reflections ¨C Spring 2017

There¡¯s so much in my head right now, I barely know what to share with you! As I¡¯m writing CCC is planning a

new member Sunday ¨C there¡¯s a baptism approaching ¨C we¡¯ve recently remembered a much-loved member. Lent

will be arriving about the time you receive this newsletter and I¡¯ll be preaching on March 5th about a positive,

meditative way to celebrate this season that so often gets ignored or rejected! The Reading Group is going strong,

with powerful discussions about not only the gospel of Matthew and Bishop Spong¡¯s premise in Biblical Literalism,

but also about our own belief systems, traditions, and understandings ¨C and we¡¯re about to start a new book!

And then there¡¯s the world around us¡­ We¡¯ve recently had an Inauguration and a Women¡¯s March that impacted

not only our lives but the whole world! Did you know that according to photos on social media and eyewitness

accounts, eight women marched in Iraq, one woman marched in Guyana, nine in Laos, four in Micronesia, two in

Saudi Arabia? While many people are impressed by the three to five million marchers in the US, I¡¯m much more

impressed by these small groups of women who bravely stepped out on their own! Would we risk ourselves in

those small vulnerable groups ¨C or be that lone woman in Guyana?

Faith in Action: A group of CCC members and friends gathered on the night of the Inauguration to pray for peace

in our world and country, wisdom for our leaders, and our own discernment and courage to live out our faith.

Someone suggested another event to talk more about that, which happened on Sunday, February 19. At that time,

we shared a list of possible activities and decided to form Faith in Action, a monthly meeting to support each other

and share information. The next date is March 19, following Coffee Hour. For more information and a list of

possible activities, please contact Paul Bodden or Beth Perry.

Blessings!

Beth (photo on page 1: Easter speaker)

At the suggestion from a member of

our extended community, Rev. Beth

and I planned a prayer meeting for

the evening of the Inauguration on

January 20. About 15 people from

CCC, St. Peter¡¯s as well as family and

friends showed up at my house.

Together we did a meditative prayer

for the world, our nation, our

nation¡¯s leaders and citizens and for

ourselves. Later, we mingled and

talked over snacks, juice and wine. -Paul Bodden

Meditation on prayer from a prisoner who received our Christmas card

Signed ¡°In God¡¯s love, Ritchie,¡± this was included in a thank-you note from one of the some 150 prisoners who

received one of our Christmas cards, signed by up to seven of our participants.

Prayer recreates! Prayer redefines! Prayer reconnects!

Prayer hurts! Prayer reshapes! Prayer works!

Prayer heals! Prayer is real! Prayer saves!

A publication of Chelsea Community Church, ? 2017. All rights reserved.

Chelsea Community Church Newsletter, Spring 2017

Prayer answers! Prayer questions! Prayer resolves!

Prayer encourages and in certain situations, a prayer is all we got!

Pray always!

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Possible ¡°Membership Sunday¡±

The board has been discussing the possibility of holding a Membership Sunday service, perhaps on Palm Sunday or

at a later date, if anyone is interested in formal, ¡°written in the book¡± joining. There are two forms of membership,

regular and affiliate, where a person retains a membership in another church, and two forms of commitment

readings, one specifically Christian and one ¡°not so much.¡± If you are interested, please speak to Wayne

Kammerer; he¡¯ll show you the different readings.

Our 42nd Annual CCS ¨C and our special Christmas Day 2016 brunch ¨C in photos

CCS and audience (photo by Malcolm Ritter); Lynne Robinson serves a sit-down Christmas Day Sunday brunch. (photo by Corena Wong);

Larry Long again directs our choir in 2016.

News of Members and Friends

Sister Carol Perry Is Retiring

April 30 may be the last time Sister Carol Perry will be our guest speaker. She is retiring at the end of May as the

resident Bible scholar at Marble Collegiate Church and will no longer be in Manhattan on Sundays. Now 88 years

of age, she has taught Bible classes at Marble for 37 years, commuting from Kingston, NY.

Sister Carol first filled the pulpit at Chelsea Community Church on Sunday, January 19,

1992. She was soon asked back. Announcing her return on March 22, 1992, our newsletter

noted: ¡°Her power as a preacher drew high praise at her first time with us back in January.¡±

In the quarter century since, she has preached for us about twice annually. She was

originally recommended to us as a speaker by Virginia Pfeiffer who was familiar with her

work at Marble.

A member of the Sisters of St. Ursula for nearly 70 years, Sister Carol served on the faculty of John Coleman High

School in Hurley for many years. She was the principal at the time the current building was constructed and then

became head of the English Department, a post from which she retired some years ago. Beginning in 1980, she

combined teaching at Coleman with leading Bible study at Marble. She holds an M.A. in theology from St. Mary's

College in Notre Dame, Ind. and also studied at Regina Mundi in Rome, where she earned the equivalent of a

master's degree in theology. Sister Carol¡¯s plans for retirement include leadership roles at retreats and writing

another book, a follow-up to Waiting for Our Souls to Catch Up ( 2014). That book and Among Women (2016) both

published by Asahina & Wallace were read by our Reading Group. ¨C Hilda Regier

Thank you, Sister Carol Perry, for your speaking, writing, and friendship! ¨C Ed.

A publication of Chelsea Community Church, ? 2017. All rights reserved.

Chelsea Community Church Newsletter, Spring 2017

4

Jeff Cubeta wins a prestigious award!

On January 30, winners of the 32nd annual Bistro awards were announced, and

among the names was our Music Director, Jeff Cubeta. Jeff joins the list of other

Bistro Award recipients, including Christine Andreas, Carol Fredette, Ben Vereen,

Lainie Kazan, Kaye Ballard, Melissa Manchester, Dionne Warwick, Carol

Channing, Elaine Stritch, Liza Minnelli, Betty Buckley, Steve Ross, Barbara Cook,

and Bobby Short. The Bistro is one of the oldest awards in the cabaret/jazz field.

Jeff is being ¡°acknowledged for his contributions as Musical Director for a variety

of singers over several years; his piano accompaniment is lush and robust while at the same time exquisitely

precise, and his arrangements beautifully support the singers¡¯ vision." Congratulations, Jeff! The award ceremony

will be held on March 13 at Gotham Comedy Club. ¨C Mary Sheeran

Mary Sheeran has (for the moment) completed her novel about Hollywood blacklisting. Several agents requested

to see the manuscript at the recent Writer¡¯s Digest Conference held here in New York City.

We marched in three of the Women¡¯s Marches: Washington, DC, NYC and Naples, Florida!

NYC: Parishioner, E. Diane Nichols was among the millions of people who participated in The Women's March

on January 21. There were 648 marches around the world with a low estimate of

3.3 million and a high estimate of 4.6 million participating! Here she is with her

friend, Sharon Camacho and Jen, a fellow traveler, with her Alice Walker sign.

Other favorite signs spotted in New York and in Washington, D.C. were:

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Fact Checkers of the World, Unite!

We Shall Overcomb.

I know signs. I make the best signs. They¡¯re great. Everyone agrees.

Resistance is Fertile

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Czar.

Photo from Women¡¯s March in NYC: from the right: me, my mother, Edna

Ross, and her friend, Bonnie Yarry. My mother took me on my first march

when I was a babe in arms around 65 years ago. This time, I was holding

my 91-year-old mother¡¯s hand to make sure she didn¡¯t fall. ¨C Paul Bodden

Washington, DC: Two weeks after 11/9 I received a call from my friend

Pam in Chicago. She asked me if I had heard about the Million Women

March in Washington DC and if I had any ideas how she could participate. I

suggested she fly to New York and take a bus there with me. Pam told her

friend Marcia we were going; Marcia offered to sponsor us. I later found out that people of different ages,

professions and locations were responding to the march the same way. People in Washington DC, Maryland, and

Virginia were opening their homes to overnight protesters. People who couldn't go

were paying for others.

Everyone arrived in Washington DC in a peaceful and organized way. Residents

were expecting us and had put up signs with quotes from Martin Luther King

along the route to the march. The guards directing us to the starting point also

made us feel welcome. We were unaware of police presence during the march.

People had arrived from all over the USA with a wide range of concerns such as

the environment, women's rights, public education, immigration and freedom of

the press, etc. We took time to admire the different signs people were carrying. It

A publication of Chelsea Community Church, ? 2017. All rights reserved.

Chelsea Community Church Newsletter, Spring 2017

was inspiring to be part of a unified and peaceful expression of communal determination to maintain our

democratic freedoms.¨C Ginger Ray

Naples, Florida: ¡°Women are the Evolution in Revolution: It¡¯s Our Time¡±

pink sign. Lynn Ramsey and her cousin George and sister Kay marched

with 2,500 women, children and families in Naples, FL on Jan. 21. It was a

non-political event that stressed equal rights for women, including

reproductive rights, gender justice, and immigration reform. It was a joyful

event for a very good cause.

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¨C

Remembering Rick Carrier

Rick Carrier, long-time CCC member, passed away quietly at home in Chelsea on

December 12. He was 91. Rick was a WWII veteran, who landed on Normandy Beach on

D-Day and later discovered and helped liberate Buchenwald. He was a recipient of the

prestigious French Legion of Honor Award. In 1959 he wrote and produced a feature

motion picture entitled Strangers in the City, which has been shown on Turner Classic

Movies several times. He wrote four successful how-to books and founded a nonprofit

organization to raise awareness for the then-endangered bald eagle. With help from

Connecticut Governor Ella Grasso Rick persuaded President Reagan to declare June 20 as

Bald Eagle Day. To date it is still recognized by more than 47 states. Rick also worked

passionately on many initiatives to help preserve and create a clean environment by

reducing our dependency on fossil fuels.

Chelsea Now¡¯s extraordinary 2 1/2-page obituary included the headline: ¡°Soldier, Artist,

Conservationist: Rick Carrier, 91, Blazed Throught the 20th Century as a Renaissance Man¡±

In England, he became a T/5 Corporal Specialist in mines, booby traps, and explosives as he trained in amphibious

warfare. Following Normandy, Rick participated on the front lines of five major European battles, including the

Battle of the Bulge and the Remagen Bridge. On his 20th birthday, April 10, 1945, while scouting for military

supplies for Lt General George Patton¡¯s Third Army, he accidentally came upon the Nazi concentration camp at

Buchenwald. The following day, he was among hundreds of U.S. Army liberators who brought freedom to

thousands of prisoners.

After the war, Rick studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and at

Temple University in Philadelphia and worked as a graphic artist, writer, and

filmmaker. He moved to Greenwich Village, NYC, in 1953 with his wife,

Barbara and first son, Marc (who died in 1994). In the

late 60s his marriage ended, and he met his lifepartner, Lynn Ramsey.

Besides his own film mentioned above, Rick also

worked as a cameraman in Italy for Federico Fellini

(on ¡°8 1/2¡±) and Carlo Ponti (on ¡°Boccaccio ¡¯70.¡±)

In 2014 he received the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his heroism during the

war. Also in 2014, Rick's recounting of his WWII experiences at The Moth storytelling

venue in New York City resulted in a widely-shared podcast and a multi-city tour for The Moth. In January 2015 he

was invited to Hong Kong to lecture about Buchenwald by the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Center. He

spoke to 2,000 students while he was there.

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