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Calvary St. Andrew’s
P r e sb y t e r i a n P a r i s h ,
Rochester, New York
September, 2014
Volume
, Issue
CSA Welcomes Rev. Steven Allman September 1!
Inside this issue:
Financial Report
2
Christian Ed Corner
2
Mission and Mainte- 3
nance
New Pastor’s
message
3
Birthdays/Coffee Hr
4
Search Process
4
UPT Project
5
A schedule note:
Rev. Allman will officially
start at CSA and Laurelton on
Monday, September 1. He
will be with us for worship on
September 7, with Carl
Dellefave, Commissioned Lay
Pastor at Laurelton, as
preacher and worship leader.
Rev. Allman’s first Sunday
leading worship will be onSeptember 14.
On behalf of the Pastor Search Committee and CSA’s Council, we are pleased to
welcome Rev. Steven Allman , who will be
serving as shared Stated Supply Pastor for
Calvary St. Andrew’s and Laurelton United.
Rev. Allman is originally from Villanova, Pennsylvania, received his M. Div. from
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in May 2009,
and was ordained as a teaching elder in December 2011. Although for the last several
years he has served a small rural church in
West Virginia, first as lay supply and then as
part-time pastor since his ordination, Rev. Allman also has had extensive experience with
urban mission going back to his middle school
years when he was involved with his hometown
church's ministry to the homeless in Philadelphia. During seminary he was involved in mission
in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh,
did a 1 year internship in campus ministry,
and was co-chair of the seminary's Peace and
Justice Fellowship where among other things
he was involved in LGBT ministry; the summer
after graduation he worked in a ministry to
agricultural migrants in Poughkeepsie, New
York.
The search committee was impressed
with Rev. Allman's strong commitment to mission and outreach as well as his theological
background; he shared in his statement of
faith that "The church continues Christ's work
by making our struggle for justice and compassion an ongoing act of worship." We also
felt he had good flexibility, important to serving two churches in collaboration; because his
previous position was part-time, he also
worked part-time in a secular job and shared
that he would welcome being able to balance
two part-time church jobs. He seemed very
comfortable with getting to know the needs of
both congregations and adjusting for our differences while taking advantage of our similarities, such as writing one sermon but adapting it for the different congregations. He also
seemed comfortable with figuring out how to
divide his time fairly and efficiently between
the congregations.
The committee also was impressed
with Rev. Allman's commitment to youth and
pastoral care. He provided examples of reviving an after school program at an elementary school next door to the church as well as
visiting and getting to know all church members, not just those in crisis situations.
Rev. Allman's communications skills
also were good, and committee members described him as personable, likeable, and relatable, and we felt that he would relate well
to people in many different contexts and circumstances, for example he could comfortably
talk with both children and community leaders.
The sermons we heard were described as
thoughtfully based on scripture but also related to daily Christian life, and included personal stories as well as stories and quotes from
other sources. He welcomed the diversity of
congregation and mission at CSA, and assured
us that he was comfortable with using inclusive
language. In addition to his M. Div., Steve also
holds a BA & an MA in English and would like
to pursue a Master of Theology (Th. M.) degree. He also speaks Spanish.
—Beth Holliday for the Search Committee
(Read a message from Rev. Allman on p. 3, and
learn more about the search process on p. 5).
The Communicator
Page 2
A Grateful Heart
Nancy Lauterbach is home following
surgery at Highland Hospital. She
writes to her CSA family: "I wish to
thank all at church for their prayers,
cards, and well wishes. I take comfort
in knowing God will be with me on
this journey and I am being lifted up
on the prayers of many." We continue to keep Nancy and Robert in our
prayers as Nancy started her followup treatment the third week in August.
Carl Dellafave (left), CLP at
Laurelton, served as worship
leader and preacher twice during
the summer. He will also lead
worship on Sunday, September
7, the Sunday School kick-off
and Rev. Allman’s first Sunday at
CSA.
NOTE: The deadline for the October issue of
The Communicator is Sunday, September 21
CSA Financial Report
May, 2014
If you have any quesƟons, feel free to contact a member of the Finance CommiƩee on
Council. Copies of our annual budget are always available and presented to the congregaƟon in January at the Annual MeeƟng.
June, 2014
July, 2014
Christian Education Corner—Sunday School Kickoff
As fall approaches, we are excited to welcome our new pastor, Rev. Steve Allman. This special date, September 7, will
also be our Sunday School Kick-off. Church service and Sunday school will begin at 11:00am.
After church children, parents, friends and anyone in the congregation are invited to the Victor Apple Farm. Sandwiches/
drink will be served at church before we leave for the farm. Come join the fun! We can pick apples, take a wagon ride, visit the
bakery but most importantly enjoy fellowship and God’s precious farm produce.
Victor Apple Farm is located at 1640 State Road 444, Victor, NY 14564.The phone number is 585-924-3420. If you
would like additional information about the apple farm go online: www.thevictorapplefarm.com
Email Martha Cuthbert or call Angela Yost if you would like to come and/or need a ride.
Martha: marthacuthbert@ymail.com
Angela Yost: 953-1481
Page 3
Report on Mission and Maintenance
July was a very good month for the food cupboard for several reasons. We received pledges from 18 individuals in this year's United Way program for almost $5,000,
about $1,000 more than last year. Also, Grace Road Church donated food to the food
cupboard. On August 11th, Grace and Ken Epstein who live on Averill Ave donate over
$100 worth of food. Our friends at Webster Presbyterian Church donated $300 to be
used where it is most needed. Finally, we received notification of our Foodlink/HPNAP
grants to help offset the church utilities and purchase food. We received $2,853 which was
slightly less than the $3,100 for this year. However, the $4,000 grant to purchase food
was the same as last year.
Sally Wood Winslow helps distribute some
of the harvest from the Community
Garden on a recent Tuesday.
Work is continuing on the church renovation. Old School Painting is progressing
through the Sanctuary. It is a slow process as they have to remove decades of dust, and
scrap all the wood and plaster, before painting. They will paint the outside of the church
after the remaining insurance money is obtained from the insurance company when the ice/
water damage is repaired inside the church. The Mobile Pantry has been held outside on
the driveway. We had one rainout in July and another in August. We are hoping for more
nice weather on Tuesdays.
Topnotch tree service will trim the church trees in
August. At least $400 was given to the church get the work
done. The remaining $500 will be drawn from the food
cupboard as 80% of the trimming costs will aid the Food
cupboard/Foodlink community garden. If people want to
help offset the tree trimming expenses, please note on your
check, and the money will be put back into the food cupboard account.
A recent photo in the sanctuary shows
the scaffolding in place as well as the
blue that brightens up the ceiling.
Robert Lauterbach, Chair
Mission and Maintenance
A Message from our New Pastor
I'm excited to begin serving Calvary St. Andrew’s. The beginning of a new phase in a pastor’s ministry, or a church’s life, is a good me to reflect on what we do together, and why. I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself and think about what comes next as we begin our work together. Before coming to Rochester, I spent nearly five years serving a church in Arthurdale, WV. This was my first call, and while I enjoyed my me there, I'm also excited to be moving to a city. Philadelphia is my home town, and during three years of seminary in Pi sburgh, I saw some of the ways a church can help an urban community. My first five years in the parish have given me the chance to reflect on the rela onship between a church, its pastor, and its community. The church gathers to worship God, and to help others come to know God's love. The pastor helps as a guide and interpreter of Scripture, but the church works best when the congrega on contributes its me, talents, and ideas to doing God's work. So far, I've been impressed with the level of excitement I’ve seen from CSA; people seem to be ready to get involved. A colleague suggested that my beginning my ministry in Rochester on September 1 -- Labor Day -- can be taken as an invitaon to "have fun with Jesus." It reminded me that God's work doesn't have to be a chore. I hope that we can begin this new endeavor together joyfully, and see what God has in store. Calvary St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Parish
68 Ashland St., corner of Averill Avenue
Rochester, NY 14620
585.328-4950
www.calvarystandrews.org
Rev. Steven Allman, Pastor
September Birthday Blessings to...
12 Beth Holliday 15 Teisha Maldonado 19 Marjorie Robison; Conner (Trabert) Cerasuolo 20 Catherine Benjamin Music Program Revival?
Alison Clarke has begun an initiative to
revitalize the music program at CSA. Alan
Murray, music director at Laurelton, lives in the
South Wedge and is interested in being more
involved with us beyond just special occasions. To
start a fund to support a music director, Alison is
donating $500. If others are interested in being
part of this opportunity, contact Alison:
accompost@gmail.com, 244-2711
We hope to have more information in the
next issue of The Communicator.
24 Chris Mascaro, Joyce Parker 25 Richard Kurchyne 29 David Holliday September Coffee Hour
Sept. 7: Vera Mascaro Sept. 14: Alison Clarke, Mildred Anderson Sept. 21: Saundra Ehman, Ginny Dekin Sept. 28: open...volunteers? The Search Process: How was our new pastor chosen?
Rev. Allman was selected by a joint
search committee consisting of 5 members each
from CSA and Laurelton, assisted by Lauren
Vicker as search consultant. (Sue Porter also
originally was on the CSA committee before
family concerns required her to resign.)
The committee received a total of 8
applications, decided to interview 4 candidates by Skype, and asked 2 candidates to
interview a second time by Skype during which
interviews they were asked to preach for us on
a text we selected. We used Skype because
we had no budget to bring candidates to Rochester for an interview.
The committee developed nine factors
which we used to evaluate all the candidates,
using as our basis the combined list of competencies identified as most important in the two
congregations' Ministry Information Forms. (The
competencies identified by CSA members/
search committee in our MIF were Preaching
and Worship Leadership; Teacher; Communicator; Public Communicator; Culturally Proficient;
Strategy and Vision; Collaboration; Bridge
Builder; Flexibility.) The evaluation factors
identified by the joint search committee were:
*Background and training as a pastor
*Experience specifically with urban congregations
*Demonstrated flexibility that would allow the
applicant to balance service to both congregations
*Demonstrated commitment to mission and outreach to the community
*Accepts a liberal, more light theology and is
comfortable with diversity in the congregation
*Proven leader who is able to lead congregations toward new mission-centered ministry
*Excellent communicator who is comfortable with
written and oral communication and new media
technologies necessary to lead the congregation
*Proven successful worship leader and effective
preacher
*Has shown a sensitivity to pastoral care.
The Joint Search Committee faced
many challenges, but in the end we came together to recommend a pastor we felt would be
a good fit for both congregations, and we look
forward to welcoming him in September.
Beth Holliday for the CSA Search Committee