Nurture

Mission Statement: The Nurture Ministry is the shepherd for all who would share in the life of our faith family at FPC. We nurture and support: Our congregation as they grow in spirit and share the love of Christ, our youth as they learn and grow, and our staff as they serve God and the congregation.

The Board of Deacons

Matthew 25: verses 35 and 40:

"For I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger, and you took me in.....Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it
to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.”

Deacons are called to follow Jesus Christ and obey His commandments to love God and to love one another. As an integral part of the Nurture Ministry, it is the mission of the Deacons to spiritually nurture and care for the congregation of First Presbyterian Church Washingtonville. To accomplish this, the Deacons: 

• Strengthen  personal connections in our faith family through our Deacon Shepherding program.
• Arrange for meals, rides and/or emergency childcare in times of need, such as illness, injury or family crisis through our Angels on Call program.
• Maintain contact to become aware of prayer needs;
• Encourage church members and friends to submit prayer needs and engage in daily prayer for others via our e-Prayer Circle;
• Create and mail “care packages” to our college students and family members away on military assignments;
• Support Mission Ministry projects.

 

The Savvy Soul Sisters of Syntax Book Club

The Savvy Soul Sisters of Syntax met about once a month in Hazekamp Hall bringing food to share and discussion questions for the book of the month. 
At all of our meetings we discussed a book selected for that month and shared food, fun and fellowship.

Books read in 2022:
Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

The book club took two field trips this past year. First, they went to the Bardavon Theater in Poughkeepsie to hear Amor Towles talk about his best-selling books. Second, they went to the movies to see the screen version of Where the Crawdads Sing.

Here is a sampling of the favorite books the group has read over the years:

Small Great Things by Jodi Piccoult
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Kitchen House: A Novel by Kathleen Grissom
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Orphan Train by Christina Baker 
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew -- Three women search for understanding by Oliver, Udilby & Warner
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Hundred-Foot Journey: A Novel by Richard Morais

 

 

Our book club has reviewed many books for The Times Herald Record including: The Shack, The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, A Violet Season by Kathy Leonard Czepiel, Unlimited Calling , Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver and Moloka'i by Brennert.

Over the years the book club has often gone to see the movies based on books we have read. Some of these movies were: Water for Elephants, Gone Girl, Hundred-Foot Journey, The Help,  Girl on the Train and The Glass Castle.


 

A book club field trip to see the movie Girl on a Train after they read the book.

Boy Scouts

First Presbyterian Church of Washingtonville is proud to have chartered Boy Scout Troop 416 for over 40 years. We also host Cub Scout Pack 4. The scouts provide invaluable support to our church, such as helping in the cleanup after the flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Leo in 2011. More recently Troop 416 helped with a much-needed cleanup of our backyard play area.  Additionally, we have benefited from a variety of Eagle Scout projects and provide our Sanctuary for the Eagle Court of Honor.

Girl Scouts

FPC also hosts Brownie Troop 493 and Girl Scout Troops 543, 600, 405, 543 and 503.

 Congregational Life
This committee is currently inactive.

However, a wonderful Chrismas party took place in Hazekamp Hall in early December. A delicious potluck luncheon was shared by the 15 persons in attendance. We played Name That Tune with Nancy P. supplying history and music of the Christmas Carols. This game was followed by a Yankee Gift Swap. A great time was had by all!

 

Find out more about any of our NURTURE programs
by contacting our church office at 845-496-3814!