What is Your Only Comfort?

Sermon for June 1, 2008

This morning's sermon from the Greenpoint Reformed Church is based on the text of Romans 8: 12-17. Ann Kansfield, preaching.

Sermon for May 25, 2008

This morning's sermon from the Greenpoint Reformed Church is based on the text of 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, and Matthew 6:24-34. Rev. Jennifer Aull, preaching.

Sermon for May 18, 2008

This morning's sermon from the Greenpoint Reformed Church is based on the texts of 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, and Matthew 28:16-20. Ann Kansfield is preaching.

Jose James Music Video Filmed at the Greenpoint Reformed Church

Jose James filmed his latest music video on location at the Greenpoint Reformed Church’s soup kitchen. The 4 minute video features many of the folks who eat with us regularly on Wednesdays. This is a really phenomenal piece of work. Congratulations to Jose James and to the production team at Brownswood for making this happen. And thank you for treating our soup kitchen patrons with such dignity and grace.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our building, the first shots are in the front yard.  The dinner shots are in our parlor (note the nice new lighting that we installed for the art gallery).  I'm especially fond of the final few dancing scenes which are in the church's basement.  All of those guys are friends from the neighborhood, and they look so happy dancing.

This is hilarious

While googling for something totally unrelated, I came up on this article from May 4, 1895:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=940CE6DE1039E033A25757C0A9639C94649ED7CF

CHURCH AGAINST CHURCH; The Armed Conselyea Stands 'Twixt the Two Bushwicks. OLD SAYS REFORMED HAS GHOSTS Whereat the Reformed Is Angered, and Its Pastor, the Rev. W.D. Perry, Will Preach on "The Haunted Church."

The disturbance of the bones of Charles Conselyea's brother from the family vault, where they had rested for the last twenty-five years, is fast becoming a cause of strife and bitterness between the congregations of the Old Bushwick Reformed Church and the Old Bushwick Church of Brooklyn.

Update on my parents

Thank you again for all of the care that you have shown to my family over the past week and a half.  It is such a comfort to know that so many people have been thinking about and praying for my parents and their recovery.  Last night, my father was released from the hospital and admitted to a sub-acute rehab center in Parsippany, NJ.  Most likely, he will stay there for a few weeks then transfer to an acute care facility closer to their home.  Thankfully, the clot in his leg is now gone. Dad has been able to get out of bed and stand for a few minutes, which will increase as he recuperates.

My mom is now at home and continues to be healing well.  She will see a hand specialist to ensure that her broken bones are healing correctly.  Feel free to contact either of my parents:

Norman Kansfield (CareOne at Morris rehab)
100 Mazdabrook Blvd.
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ 07054
(973) 739-9393 ext. 2021

Mary Kansfield (home)
28 Three Point Garden Rd.
East Stroudsburg, PA 18301
(570) 421-8151

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to respond personally to each of you who have emailed me with words of support and encouragement.  I hope that these group email updates will suffice.  Special thanks to who all who donated funds to support the Greenpoint Reformed Church food pantry.  Because of your generosity, we were able to purchase additional food from our wholeseller that should last to the end of the month.

And on a festive note, my brother John will graduate with a masters degree from Arizona State University later this week. Due to finals, he was unable to visit last week, but will fly in for a few days this coming Sunday.

Our whole family is so grateful for all of the blessings that we have experienced over the past 10 days - from the miracle of my parents having survived such an awful accident to the gift of friendship and support from people far and wide.  There is so much for which we give thanks.

Greenpoint Food Pantry in the News

A neighbor stopped in after church share with the congregation that our food pantry is featured in today's Nowy Dziennik, the national Polish newspaper. We were given a brief translation of the story, and a copy of the paper to hang in the parlor. This is at least the second, or perhaps the third, story about us in one of the Polish papers (there are at least three that come out in our neighborhood). It's definitely helping to spread the word that food is available for hungry folks. Hopefully, fewer people will go to bed hungry as a result.

Update on my parents

Thank you for all of your prayers, cards, calls and visits. It means so much to know that there are so many people who care for my parents. We feel doubly blessed - not only did my parents survive such an awful collision, they are also surrounded by a wonderful group of friends and family. God's grace is amazing!

Yesterday Dad's doctors discovered a blood clot in his leg. Usually, they would put him on blood thinners to remove the clot, but because of the accident he has lots of extra holes in his blood system so thinners are not an option at this time. Instead, they performed surgery last night around 11pm and installed a filter that will keep the clot from traveling in his lungs should it decide to move. Because of this, Dad will remain in Morristown Memorial Hospital at least until Sunday and most likely until Monday.

Mom continues to recuperate. She is still very sore, but able to walk. She'll see an orthopedic doctor next week to check on her hand which is healing with the help of a splint. We will be at the Hyatt in Morristown until dad is released.

Many of you have asked what you might be able to do to help during this time. Along with asking for your prayers, I have another request. Jen called me Wednesday to say that she returned home that afternoon to find a long line of people in front of the church waiting for our food pantry to open. While we've seen a steady increase in people needing food, this past week represented a huge spike in the number of people from our neighborhood who found themselves in need. We handed out 150 bags of groceries and fed 70 people at the soup kitchen. Sadly, the pantry had to close early because we ran out of food (this has never happened before).

This pantry is truly a loaves and fishes operation, and we have faith that God will provide. Nonetheless, I'm a little worried - the church has already depleted its budget for the pantry and it's only May. We need to raise $3000 to pay for an emergency purchase of groceries from our wholesaler so that we'll have food to give out for the coming month until we get our next shipment from the Food Bank. In lieu of flowers, my parents have asked that donations be made to the feeding ministry of the Greenpoint Reformed Church. You can donate online or send a check to the church: Greenpoint Reformed Church, 136 Milton St. Brooklyn, NY 11222

Thank you again for your prayers and support of my parents during this time. We are truly grateful for your caring and friendship.

Gosh I Love My Parents

On Sunday night my parents were in a dreadful car accident. We still do not know much about the actual event, although I did learn yesterday that they crashed head-on with a diesel tanker truck on a secondary two-lane highway. I do not know how it is possible that either of my parents survived the crash, except for God's grace and the fact they were wearing seatbelt and the airbags deployed. I am so grateful that they are alive and suffered such relatively minor injuries. My mom broke some ribs and her hand. She's quite bruised and battered, but she was released from the hospital late on Sunday.

Dad was driving and took the brunt of the crash impact. He was flown by helicopter to Morristown Memorial Hospital. He has some internal bruising and broke his leg in four places. Emergency surgery on his leg went well. One of the harder aspects of it was finding a rod long enough to match the length of his femur. it will be at least a few more days until Dad is released.

Yesterday I sent an email out to several friends of my parents, which has been disseminated to countless friends (and I'm sure a bunch of folks who don't even know us). Thank you all for the countless emails, telephone calls and visits. We are truly blessed with a wonderful and amazing group of friends. Your prayers are a tremendous comfort during this time.

I'll be adding updates here, and am making up a list of people who would like to receive additional updates.

Sermon for April 27, 2008

This morning's sermon at the Greenpoint Reformed Church is based on Psalm 66, Acts 17:22-31, and John 14:15-21. Pastor Ann Kansfield is preaching.