Church & Community News | September 4, 2025
- jessczerwin
- Sep 4
- 5 min read
FAITH AND ISSUES
On September 6, we will continue to reflect on The Great Search: Turning to Earth & Soul in the Quest for Healing & Home, by John Philip Newell, Chapter 3 (Seeking Presence: Martin Buber), pgs 51 – 69.
“Celtic wisdom is built on a strong bond with Earth. In the prophetic figures that Newell draws from, the Garden of Eden represents the inner garden of our souls and the outer garden of Earth, which are seen as essentially one. To live in relation to what is deepest in us is to live in relation to the ground from which we and all things have come. Where are we today, in relation to our true selves and the sacredness of Earth? And how are we to find our way home again?
This life-affirming, nourishing book contemplates these questions at a moment of great spiritual awakening, an era characterized by religious exile on a vast scale. We need a new sense of home spiritually, deeply rooted within ourselves and in our shared journey with each other and Earth.”
To join the discussion on Saturday, September 6, at 9:00 a.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 876 0561 2263
Join Us for Worship!
Join us this Sunday in worship as we welcome the Rev. Laurin McArthur as our Worship Leader. We also welcome back the Chancel Choir!
To join our Zoom meeting:
To join our Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/914901831?pwd=SHREMGxvUnFWM3h4OVNRRGxwTmxTUT09 Meeting ID: 914 901 831
Passcode: 202339
To help families who wish to attend, we do provide childcare. Please contact Henrietta Jordan at 518-576-2079 or via email at hbjordan@trailmarker.org for more information or to have her plan for providing care to your child.
Coffee Hour
We are in need of volunteers to sign up to provide coffee hour. Please sign up on the bulletin board near the kitchen.
Tuesday Morning Book Group
The Tuesday morning book group is continuing an exploration of poems of spirit. We’ll be looking at poems that engage with Christianity through the centuries from a wide variety of perspectives, and we’ll also be reading a range of poems from other spiritual traditions and lenses. This will be a fun and reflective way to think about the intersection between spirituality and poetry and an opportunity for us to ask how we can leverage the poetic tradition, which captures spiritual wisdom, experiences and questions, in our own practices and faith communities.
If you would like to join, please email Kate Robinson (krobinson49@gmail.com) to receive the reading. Weekly meetings are Tuesday at 9am in the Van Santvoord Room.
Community: Join us on Sunday, September 14 for our LAST session
With John Sampson's departure, our church stands at an exciting crossroads. Our church would like to connect to our wider community to hear what you might like to see in a future settled minister. Think of it as taking the pulse of our beloved community in an intimate setting. We want to truly listen, understand where we stand today, and dream about the vibrant future ahead.
Please join us for light refreshments, frank talk, and help us dream about our future.
Location: Keene Valley Congregational Church
Date: Sunday, September 14
Time: 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
All are invited!
Notes: Creation Justice Church
4 September 2025
KVCC was featured in a national report by Third Act Faith about our “Sun Day” activities planned for this month.
Keene Valley Congregational Church, NY
Located in a very rural area, Keene Valley Congregational Church (KVCC) is working with other community organizations in NY’s northern region to create a “Sun Month.” Scheduled activities include the 2nd Annual Sustainability and Energy Fair in Keene and Jay on September 6. On September 20, Third Act Upstate NY’s Sun Day Wool tapestry, which is traveling from Saranac Lake to Albany via e-bikes, EVs, canoes etc., will stop in Keene Valley. KVCC will celebrate Sun Day in its morning worship on September 21, and on Monday, September 22, the church will host a quiet, contemplative and celebratory event focused on the solar equinox. (We will light the church green!) The Sun Day Wool tapestry will be on display again on Saturday, September 27, at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake NY’s “Watts and Wheels” with energy exhibitors, an electric vehicle expo, and music. Thank you, Katharine Preston, Keene Valley Congregational Church, and all the folks in Upstate NY!
First up: Come join us at the Sustainability and Energy Fair in Jay on Saturday on September 6.
Next: Marcy Field 11;30 -12;30 on Saturday, September 20. If your car, truck, bike uses any solar power, join the welcome parade as the relay stops by. for the relay….! And bring electric tools: lawn mowers, chain saws, weed whackers….
Save the Date
Join us in celebrating the Fall Equinox on Monday, September 22, 2025 at 5:30 at the Keene Valley Congregational Church.
SEEKING COORDINATOR FOR SMALL SIMPLE RECEPTION
The Fall Equinox planning group is seeking your help to coordinate a simple reception that will follow our celebration on Monday, September 22 at 5:30pm. If you are able to assist us, please contact Pam Gothner, pgothner@gnmail.com or 518-578-6965. This is a great opportunity to join in the celebration of the Fall season!
Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 at 3:00pm
Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira raised the roof at the Grange with their performance in February 2024. A few weeks later, they went on to win the Canadian Folk Music Award for Best Traditional Album. With Jocelyn on fiddle and Ellen on cello, they fuse traditional and contemporary music styles to create a powerfully uplifting and soulful performance. Complemented with vocal harmonies and lively Canadian stepdancing, the trio bring life and fire into original tunes, and high-energy repertoire from North America, Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia.
For this tour, Jocelyn & Ellen are joined by exceptional guest guitarist, Everest Witman. Together, their instruments weave a rhythmic, textured sound with nuanced fiddle-cello-guitar interplay.
SPECIAL AFTERNOON SHOW!
Tickets at the door: $15 / under 18, free
The Grange Music Series is made possible, in part, by the Essex County Arts Council’s Cultural Assistance Program Grant with funding provided by Essex County.
WHITCOMB'S GALLERY - September 10 through October 25
Opening Reception on Wednesday, September 10, 5-7pm
Russ Hartung is an Adirondack landscape and wildlife photographer whose work has been featured in Adirondack Life and other regional magazines, as well as on National Geographic's website and the Adirondack Mountain Club’s annual calendar. His first book of Adirondack photography, Adirondack Solitude: Peace and Stillness in the Adirondack Wilderness, is being published this month. The book will be available at the Reception and throughout the show at Whitcomb’s.
GALLERY HOURS
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 11am-3pm
Come hang out, use the wi-fi, bring your lunch, work, read, etc.
The Gardens are a beautiful place to enjoy a picnic by the Boquet River.