PASTOR'S PAGE
May/June, 2008
Dear Katsbaan Korners readers and all friends of Katsbaan church:
As I write, the world about us has turned green. Temperatures rise, people plant crops and gardens, and we all think of picnics and games and warm sunny afternoons. It is a good time to be alive.
Of course this seasonal change should be no surprise to anyone here - and yet we may often need reminding that in God’s creation there is always the potential for new life. At its recent Katsbaan meeting, the consistory pondered the economic difficulties faced by our congregation. It cannot be denied that we have not been growing in either numbers, or member participation in worship and congregational activities. In particular, our Ladies’ Aid - long the bulwark of sponsorship for congregational activities - experiences ever more difficulty in supplying the energy needs of the church, faced as it is with higher costs, fewer participants, and physical infirmity.
Sure, our church shows signs of age, and faces problems - don’t we all? At the same meeting, however, we saw any number of signs of new congregational life and vigor. The Sunday School reported the end of another successful year. The committee for the celebration of our congregation’s three hundredth anniversary is developing new and exciting ways for us to observe the year 2010. Our new organist Jesse Chandler is helping our longtime friend Judy Fiero to provide music at our worship. The idea of a Wednesday evening time of prayer and meditation is being revived. Our June penny social is in the works. Last year our steeple was restored, thanks to the effort of members and friends of the congregation; and now the restoration of our fine historical organ draws near completion. All this makes me think of the verse from Psalm 92 about the righteous who are planted in the house of the Lord: “Even in old age they still produce fruit: they are ever green and full of sap.” But look at all the signs of life.
And is that not what Christ is all about? New life in a fallen world? Renewal in the Spirit? Anything is possible at any age to those who are planted in the house of the Lord. The key to our life as a church is that we are not an end to ourselves. Our goal is not be our own survival, but our ministry to our Lord. If we are planted in the “house of the Lord,” Our Lord will use us in productive ways. Whether we are thirty, or three hundred, or one thousand years old, we will be “green and ever full of sap.”
Of course, were this church to close, Christ’s work would go on. But Katsbaan Reformed Church has a special ministry - a blend of tradition, history, and ministry to its community. What does it mean to you? What shape will that ministry take? Come by, and ask, and find out. Better yet, especially if you haven’t been to worship recently, come and take part - and help shape that ministry yourself, with whatever special gifts or interests you have to offer.
It is a wonderful time of year. Let us all enjoy this time of new green life, not only in the landscape, but in our congregation which has been part of it for almost three hundred years.
It is all about our Lord and giver of life.
Join us - this summer and any time. See you in church.
Love,
Pastor James Alley
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Reverend James C. Alley
James Alley came to the Kingston area in 1955, when he was 7 years old. His father was a doctor in Kingston.
Jim graduated from Kingston High School in 1965, Princeton University in 1969, and Brown University in 1971, graduating with an M.A. in Medieval European History.
He traveled and did construction work through South America and Alaska from 1972-1985, returning to our area in 1986. He was a Sunday School Teacher at the Fair Street Reformed Church in Kingston, and attended Princeton Theological Seminary from 1993-1996. He was ordained at the Fair Street Church in February of 1998 and has held various area ministries from then until 2003.
Jim is married. His wife, Joan, is a librarian in the Kingston School District. They have one son, Johnnie.
On October 16, 2005 Jim was officially installed as our Pastor.
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