Dear friends on the journey,

What an amazing experience to share our re-affirmation of the baptismal covenant together last Sunday! Surely the Spirit of our God is in this place. We are, indeed, every one of us, God’s Beloved Child, in whom God is well pleased. Amen.

As we prepare to worship again this Sunday, the love of God expressed in human relationship becomes the focus of our reflection. Rev. Scott Clark, who is serving as legal counsel in the church court case brought against Rev. Janie Spahr for performing same-sex marriages, will preach “A Healing Sabbath,” in which he will remind us of the response of Jesus to the immediate pastoral needs of God’s people in his midst (Mark 3:1-6). How might the witness of Jesus inspire us in the full scope of our mission of justice and peace in the name of Christ to all whom God places in our care? While Scott will point to the issue of same-sex marriage in his sermon, he will also urge us to consider the broad scope of care, concern, and conviction that must be ours as the people of God who follow Jesus today.

Scott will also join us as our guest leader for our adult education class at 9:30am and will be available for further conversation in our coffee hour after worship. Please make every effort to welcome him “home” to Madison Square and to speak with him about your questions and concerns for his ministry with Janie’s trial. I know he will be delighted to meet each one of you.

And may you know the deep peace that passes understanding as we continue our journey together in the weeks to come.

Blessings,
Gusti

Mark your calendars:

Saturday, Jan. 21 – Workshops on Same-Sex Marriage and the Church at Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church. 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Lunch provided

Jan 22--Ordination/Installation of church officers

Jan 29--Annual Congregation Meeting and Chili Cookoff

Congratulations
Kaitlynn Pearilee Rose Rasco born to parents Krista Welch-Rasco and Jason Rasco on 1/17/2012 at 1:16pm at 5lbs 15oz and 18inches long.


Movie Night
Join us for movie night this Tuesday 1/24. We will meet at the Bijou Theatre to view The Artist. Currently the Bijou is showing a movie starting at 7:30PM. If the time changes, I will send out an update.

Call me if you need additional information: Mary West 512-426-7583.

Chili Cook-off

Chili Cook-Off Potluck Sunday 1/29, following church and Congregational Meeting

Please bring side dishes such as: tamales, beans, salads, cornbread, queso and chips

If you have a favorite chili recipe, please cook it for the Potluck and enter it in the Chili tasting contest. Prizes will be awarded for the best tasting meat-based chili and the best tasting vegetable chili. Email a completed entry form to Vi Berbiglia violetaberbiglia@hotmail.com prior to 1/29.

Ready, Willing and Enable
Attend Ready, Willing, Enable's Date For A Change Charity Auction featuring an impressive array of hors d'oeuvres, drinks, music, an enormous silent auction, and a live auction during which you can bid on date packages to be enjoyed with a friend, family member, or that special someone. Packages include a weekend stay in New York City, a personal chef service and more. The fun starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, February 11 at R-E-M Gallery (219 Park Ave.). Discounted tickets and details available online at www.dateforachange.org. Proceeds to benefit children with disabilities. See Edwin Blanton if you have any questions.

Help needed on Eagle Scout Project for MSPC
Hi, my name is Coleman Oxford. I will be doing landscaping to the front of the Madison Square church for my Eagle Scout Project. I would like to ask any individual who is willing to, to donate their time, money or supplies.

If you choose to donate your time, then that would mean helping me out on the actual days of the landscaping, which will be the 25th and 26th of February. The rain out days will be the 3rd and 4th of March. The donated money will help me buy the plants and other needed tools to complete my project. I will be needing $410 to complete the project. Any money left over will be given to the church. If you are willing to donate a needed tool, please label it with your name, address and phone number so that when I am finished using your tool I can return it to you. One item that is greatly needed is a truck with a flat bed in order to carry mulch.

I will be at church in my uniform the 22nd of January and the 29th of January to pick up any donations of money or tools and sign up volunteers for the project. If you wish to donate more than 1 item listed above (example: you wish to donate money and time) that is also fine. Here are the tools that need to be donated:

If you wish to contact me here are my numbers: Home phone(210)826-8824,Email: dloxyz@Hotmail.com. Thank You. Coleman Oxford

WHEN YOU USE THE MICROPHONE
When you use any of the microphones, please just stand and begin speaking with the mike about six inches from your mouth. PLEASE do not tap or blow into the mike, or ask "Can you hear me?" or "Is this on?" PLEASE trust the sound person and just begin speaking.

If you are using the fixed mikes, or the portable face mikes, please just stand and begin speaking.

If you are part of the congregation and a mike is handed to you, it is for the benefit of the hard of hearing and so everyone can hear in the back and in the balcony. Please wait for the mike if you want to make an announcement or ask a questiion from the congregation.

Please trust the sound person who is doing the best she/he can, Thanks.
CHAPLAIN [LTC] JAMES C. BERBIGLIA,USA,Ret.

Interim Director of Christian Education
Please welcome Susan Shaw-Meadow as the Interim Director of Christian Education! Susan will be working with Madison Square through this interim period to support the Christian Education Committee in coordinating and envisioning future programming for children and youth. Susan has a long history with Madison Square and has served in this capacity with other churches throughout San Antonio. She is settling into the office and may be reached at 226-6254, ext 25.

MSPC Potluck Chili Cook-Off Entry Form

(email to violetaberbiglia@hotmail.com)

 Name_____________________________________________________________

Email address_______________________________________________

 Recipe (Include the name and ingredients/directions for your recipe)

 Instructions for participating in the cook-off

 1. Prepare at least 12 servings prior to the potluck
  2. Prepare a small container of your chili for judging
  3. Serve your chili at the Potluck 1/29 (following church and the congregational  meeting)
  4. Display copies of your chili recipe on the table where you serve the chili

Habitat for Humanity
Attention cooks, carpenters and community-minded congregants! On Saturday, February 25, Madison Square will be the lead church on Day 2 of this years Presbyterian Habitat for Humanity House. We need to provide food for approximately 30 and provide the majority of the volunteer builders.

Call Gin Courtney 210-362-8860 to be a part of this amazing day!

Film Viewing

You are invited to a film viewing on Sunday, January 22 at 12:30 after worship at Northwood Presbyterian Church
related to mission activities.

58: THE FILM

WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED. WILL WE DO EVERYTHING IT TAKES?

FILM SYNOPSIS: 58: The Film is the inspiring true story of the global Church in action. Witness bravery and determined faith in a journey from the slums of Kenya to the streets of New York. Confront the brutality of extreme poverty and meet those who live out the True Fast of Isaiah 58 and create stunning new possibilities for the future.

Travel from the sun-scorched plains of rural Ethiopia to British shopping centers, from Brazilian ganglands and the enslaving quarries of India to western churches, businesses and conferences.

58: invites audiences to discover the incredible work of God through His people in our hurting world. Meet ordinary people, hear their stories, and see their struggles and their victories as 58: shows the relentlessly loving God at work through His Church bringing hope to the darkest challenges of our day. Experience eye-opening reasons to lift our expectations of the future.

Experience 58: this October on television, online, on DVD, and at screening events throughout the U.S.

Visit the film website at: WWW.LIVE58.ORG/THEFILM for more details.

Workshops on Marriage and the Church

at Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church

(1101 W Woodlawn Ave # 101, San Antonio, TX 78201)

January 21, 2012, 9am – 3pm

(Lunch provided, donation welcomed)

Please RSVP to msqpcsa@gmail.com

While the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has repealed its prohibition on glbt ordination, we have yet to move forward with a full embrace of same-sex marriage. The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr has performed same-sex marriages in states where this is legal, but her actions have evoked disciplinary charges through the church court system, culminating in a national church court trial that will take place in San Antonio on February 17th.

In preparation for the February trial, the January 21st series of workshops, led by Janie and her legal team, will educate the public about:

• What it means to be “on trial” in the Presbyterian church (the layers of prosecution and appeals; how it compares with the secular court system; what the consequences of a “conviction” might be)
• The history of the church performing marriages that are sanctioned by the state
• Theological and Biblical support for same-sex marriage
• Pastoral care issues involved in counseling same-sex couples regarding marriage
• How to connect movements across denominations in support of same-sex marriage
• Telling our personal stories
• How to talk about same-sex marriage among people with differing opinions

About the Workshop Leaders:

Jane Adams Spahr was ordained to the ministry in 1974 and has served churches in Pennsylvania and California. She has worked on behalf of greater inclusiveness for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people since 1980 and is a veteran of the church court disciplinary response to her ministry. Now retired, Janie continues to “person the issue” of glbt justice and to counsel both same gender and opposite gender couples in their marriage preparations.

Scott Clark is Interim Associate Dean of Student Life and Chaplain at San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California. Scott was ordained as an openly gay man under the new rules of the Presbyterian Church. Prior to his ordination, Scott served as an attorney. He now works on the legal team for Janie’s defense.

Sara Taylor pursued a Masters of Divinity at the Pacific School of Religion, where her interest in issues of social justice flourished. Because of the church’s discriminatory policies against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) ordination, after seminary Sara pursued a career in law with a specialty in employment and labor cases. Sara has defended several Presbyterian ministers brought up on disciplinary charges for marrying same-gender couples in this denomination and is serving as co-counsel in the present case against Janie.

A group of pastors and members from Beacon Hill, Madison Square,

and University Presbyterian Churches in San Antonio are hosting these workshops.

ALL are welcome!