Inside This Issue 1 Glory, Glory Hallelujah

1 Goings On

1 Wanted…

2 Glory, cont.

3 Souper Bowl

3 Ash Wednesday

3 Thank You Choir

3 Hear Ye, Hear Ye

3 Envelope Update

3 Birthdays/Anniversaries

3 Bayshore Celebrity

3 Prayer List

4 From the Pastor’s Desk

4 Gasparilla Parking

4 Fountain Dedication

4 Just Another Day on the Bayshore

5 Volunteer List

Tidings

Bayshore Presbyterian Church January 21, 2014

Glory, Glory Hallelujah! There is an amazing body of American sacred songs commonly called Negro spirituals. These songs express – both in their words and in the way they are performed musically – the deep religious feelings of the African-American people. They are an important part of the American cultural heritage, and are now recognized globally as anthems to liberty that can feed the deepest aspirations of the human soul.

The great majority of Negro spirituals are very old. In a lot of cases the tunes and rhythms are so ancient we can trace them back to Africa, the homeland of Black Americans who were brought to the United States long ago in slavery. The English words of the earliest known Negro spirituals are taken from passages of the Holy Bible, using scriptural themes to tell about the grief and trials of slaves, and to voice their hope for deliverance or rest. Later on, elements of the natural world as well as events from the communal and personal religious experiences of African-Americans provided more material for the texts of songs. The spirituals are a library of sorts. By studying them, it is possible to gain a wealth of information and insight into the historical, social, and religious development of African slaves and their descendants who have journeyed within the United States over the decades and centuries. Negro spirituals have had their home in cotton fields, work camps, churches, meeting rooms, and recital halls. They contributed to the birth of various types of popular music such as gospel, jazz and blues, to the financial support of Black colleges and other institutions, to the folk- lore of social struggles including the civil rights movement, and to the uplift of outstanding African-American musicians and singers worldwide. The opera community is historically linked to the promotion of such artists. Clearly, what gives Negro spiritual songs their power is the way in which they invite the human voice to add contour, rhythm, texture, melody, tempo, variation, and emotional depth to words. The African-American experience resonates within and all through them. They have been preserved over time, and developed/redeveloped both in a distinctive choral

Goings On…

This Sunday at Bayshore

9:30 am Sunday School 10:30 am Regular Worship Service

Did you know that there is “price on your head

Well, there is; $25.00 to be exact. That is the

per capita charge we are required to send to

Presbytery for each church member.

You can help the church with this “ransom” …

please consider making a special donation to

cover this expense. Just make a note on your

check or envelope.

choral form and in a characteristic style arranged for performance by the non-amplified solo voice with piano accompaniment. In the United States we cannot seem to get enough of Negro spirituals; contemporary composers, arrangers and vocalists continue to explore and enliven this unique genre. Almost all the first Africans who arrived in the New World were slaves. They came from several regions of the African West Coast. Their ways of living were described by slaves themselves, in some narratives. They had to work either in plantations or in town. Slavery was an important issue facing Churches, as slaves were allowed to meet for Christian services. Some Christian ministers, such as J. D. Long, wrote against slavery.

Rural slaves used to stay after the regular worship services, in churches or in plantation “praise houses”, for singing and dancing. But, slaveholders did not allow dancing and playing drums, as usual in Africa. They also had meetings at secret places (“camp meetings”, “bush meetings”), because they needed to meet one another and share their joys, pains and hopes. In rural meetings, thousands slaves were gathered and listened to itinerant preachers, and sang spirituals, for hours. In the late 1700s, they sang the precursors of spirituals, which were called “corn ditties”. So, in rural areas, spirituals were sung, mainly outside of churches. In cities, about 1850, the Protestant City-Revival Movement created a new song genre, which was popular; for revival meetings organized by this movement, temporary tents were erected in stadiums, where the attendants could sing. At church, hymns and psalms were sung during services. Some of them were transformed into songs of a typical African American form: they are "Dr. Watts”. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many Presbyterians sang the psalms set in poetic form by Isaac Watts; some sang only the psalms in worship. Watts’s psalm versifications are still found in every hymnal (for example, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” for part of Psalm 90 and “Joy to the World” for Psalm 98). African- American slaves sitting in the balconies loved many of those psalms, often speaking of their beloved “Dr. Watts”

who gave voice to their struggles. The lyrics of negro spirituals were tightly linked with the lives of their authors: slaves. While work songs dealt only with their daily life, spirituals were inspired by the message of Jesus Christ and his Good News (Gospel) of the Bible, “You can be saved”. They are different from hymns and psalms, because they were a way of sharing the hard condition of being a slave.

His novels also began to express a darkened worldview. In Bleak House, published in installments from 1852 to 1853, he

deals with the hypocrisy of British society. It was considered his most complex novel to date. Hard Times

(published in 1854) takes place in an industrial town at the peak of economic expansion. In it, Dickens focuses on the short- comings of employers as well as those who seek change. Also among Dickens’ darker novels is Little Dorrit, a fictional study of how human values come in conflict with the world’s brutality. Coming out of his “dark novel” period, in 1859 Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, a historical novel that takes place during the French Revolution. He published it in a periodical he founded, All the Year Round. His next novel, Great Expectations (1860-

1861),focuses on the protagonist’s lifelong journey of moral development. It is widely considered his greatest literary accomplishment. A few years later, Dickens produced Our Mutual Friend, a novel that analyzes the psychological impact of wealth on London society. In 1865, Dickens was in a train accident and never fully recovered. Despite his fragile condition, he continued to tour until 1870. On June 9, 1870, Dickens had a stroke and, at age 58, died at Gad’s Hill Place, his country home in Kent, England. He was buried in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey, with thousands of mourners gathering at the beloved author’s gravesite. Scottish satirical writer Thomas Carlyle described Dickens’ passing as “an event worldwide, a unique

In 1857, Rev. John Dixon Long wrote “Pictures of Slavery in Church and

State” which created a firestorm and led to disciplinary charges by the

Methodist Episcopal Church.

Many slaves in town and in plantations tried to run to a “free country”, that they called “my home” or “Sweet Canaan, the Promised Land”. This country was on the Northern side of Ohio River, that they called “Jordan”. Some negro spirituals refer to the Underground Railroad, an organization for helping slaves to run away. The Underground Railroad helped slaves to run to a “free country”. Spirituals helped the “conductors” communicate with those they were helping to escape. They had to walk at night, using hand lights and moonlight. When needed, they walked in water, so that dogs could not smell their tracks. “Wade in the Water” told slaves to get into the water to avoid being seen and make it through. The “Sweet Chariot” was the underground railroad itself. If a slave heard this song he would know he had to be ready to escape, a band of angels are coming to take him to freedom. The Underground Railroad (sweet chariot) is coming south (swing low) to take the slave to the north or freedom (carry me home). The publication of collections of spirituals in the 1860s started to arouse a broader interested in spirituals. In the 1870s, the creation of the Jubilee Singers, a chorus consisting of former slaves from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, sparked an international interest in the musical form. The group's extensive touring schedule in the United States and Europe included concert performances of spirituals that were very well received by audiences. While some African Americans at the time associated the spiritual tradition with slavery and were not enthusiastic about continuing it, the Fisk University Singers’ Performances persuaded many that it should be continued. Ensembles around the country started to emulate the Jubilee singers, giving birth to a concert hall tradition of performing this music that has remained strong to this day.

In 1865, barely six months after the end of the Civil War and just two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, three men — John Ogden, the Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, and the Reverend Edward P. Smith — established the Fisk School in Nashville. The first students ranged in age from seven to seventy, but shared common experiences of slavery and poverty — and an extraordinary thirst for learning. Fisk's world-famous Jubilee Singers originated as a group of traveling students who set out from Nashville on October 6, 1871, taking the entire contents of the University treasury with them for travel expenses, praying that through their music they could somehow raise enough money to keep open the doors of their debt-ridden school.

There’s a pretty little Of the birth and death of Jesus found in this lowly shell. If you examine closely, you’ll see that you find here Four nail holes and a fifth hole, made by a Roman’s spear. On one side the Easter lily, its center is the star That appeared unto the shepherds and led them from afar. The Christmas poinsettia etched on the other side Reminds us of his birthday, our happy Christmastide.

January Birthdays/Anniversaries

Birthdays

3 Marlene Smitson 5 Henk Alberts 22 Henry Gomez 24 Dick Guenther 25 Chris Elly

Anniversaries 25 Judith & Larry Lane

Each month we pray for members and friends. This month, please pray for:

Henk and Ans Alberts, Helen Allen, Rey and Josette Bulnes, Bob and Bobbi Chaffee, Ken, Allison and Sammy Cooley, Max and Margaret Dufeny, Harry and Ginny Ellis, Warren and Lona Elly, Henry Gomez

Name the Bayshore "Celebrity" She’s done it all! Having joined the church in 1982, she’s done every job there is, and continues to give tirelessly of her time and energy. Hint; show up on Saturday morning and she’ll probably be there. Answer next month Last Month's Answer: Margaret Dufeny

Tackle Hunger

Souper Bowl of Caring

Exactly 25 years ago, the Souper Bowl of Caring began with a simple prayer from a single youth group:

“Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl

football game, help us be mindful of those without a bowl of soup to eat.”

Since that day, more than $100 million has been raised for local charities across the country through Souper Bowl of Caring. It has become a powerful movement that is transforming the time around Super Bowl weekend into the nation’s largest celebration of giving and serving. On Sunday, February 1 you are invited to be a part of this movement that is sharing God’s love with those in need. Please give generously by place your dollar (s) into the soup pot on Super Bowl Sunday. Every dollar collected in our football helmets goes to support Beth-El Ministries.

Thank you, Carolyn & Choir

For the beautiful music on Sunday mornings,

For your dedication in attending rehearsals,

For inspiring us to lift our hearts,

minds and voices in singing praises

to our Lord,

Carolyn and Choir, we thank you!

Thank you, Carolyn & Choir

For the beautiful music on Sunday

mornings,

For your dedication in attending

rehearsals,

For inspiring us to lift our hearts,

minds and voices in singing

praises to our Lord,

Carolyn and Choir, we thank you!

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18 this year. Christians have observed this season of the church year since the fourth century. It’s traditionally a time of reflection, penitence and spiritual renewal before Easter. During Lent, some Christians give up something that hinders their relationship with God. Others do something extra for their spiritual growth or make a special sacrifice. The key is to make Lent a memorable season of sincere spiritual growth — a time that can set the tone for the rest of the year. Rice and beans are among the food items we collect for Beth-El Ministries. These two ingredients make a meal that is the staple diet in many parts of the world, especially for those 1.1 billion people who survive on $1/day. On Ash Wednesday, we here at Bayshore Presbyterian Church we will begin our Lenten journey at 5:30 with a simple meal of beans and rice – joining our brothers and sisters around the world and our community whose “go-to” diet is that simple and nutritious meal. At 6:30 we will adjourn to the sanctuary for a time of prayer and reflection and the imposition of ashes as we begin a memorable season of sincere spiritual growth.

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Hear Ye, Hear Ye

There will be a Congregational Meeting immediately following the Worship Service on Sunday, February 8th. The Annual Reports will be distributed at that time. Please plan to attend.

OK…Where are the offering envelopes?

We’ve decided to forgo the expense since

most offerings are given by check.

Simply note any special directions on

your check, or use an envelope from the

back of one of the chairs.

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If you enjoy hearing

professional artists provide

special music, please

consider a contribution to

our Special Music Fund.

Just Another Day on the Bayshore

Ust oreBayshore…

From the Pastor's Desk...

Dear Friends,

With grateful hearts, Ron and I want to say “Thank-

you” for the wonderful Christmas Whole Foods basket-full

of marvelous tasty goodies. We are still enjoying bounty

of that basket. Thank you all so much for thinking of us

(and our diet).

On another note – I am now your “officially installed”

pastor. What a wonderful worship service and celebration

on Sunday evening, January 11! Having Jerry Utt and

Laurel Nelson was an amazing and blessed gift. They have

been friends/sister & brother in Christ since we first met

at Columbia Seminary. Laurel and I were in a group that

met each week to pray together and Jerry and I often sat

beside each other in classes as well as partners in group

projects. We have met together every year since

graduation to study and pray and share our lives and I’m so

grateful that they came here to share in worship and

celebration.

However, as glad as I am at their presence – I am most

humbled by the participation of all those from this

congregation and this presbytery. What an amazing

worship service with a powerful sermon by Rev. David

Bonnema and an equally powerful charge to me by Rev.

John DeBevois. And congregation: Rev. John Fullerton,

moderator of the Presbytery of Tampa Bay gave you an

equally powerful charge. And I can’t not mention the

wonderful Carolyn Heagey and the choir who provided such

beautiful and joyous music. And then there is the Nurture

Committee who prepared a tasty and wonderful reception –

a time when everyone could gather and be the family of

God we have been called to be. Thank you to all who

brought food, prepared, hosted and (most importantly)

cleaned-up.

So, now it’s official. We’re looking toward Lent and

ultimately Easter – we have much to do – we have been

called to do and be God’s Family for this time and this

place. Let us discern together what God is calling us –

here in this old house on Bayshore Boulevard – to do, to be.

Giving thanks to God for God’s generous grace

and mercy and for new beginnings,

Kathy

Dear Friends,

BPC will host hundreds of people and cars Saturday Jan 24 and 31 for the Gasparilla parades! Boy Scout troop 53 and BPC are selling reserved parking. For the Children's parade the permit is $25 and for the Adult parade it is $35. The Tampa Police Dept works with BPC to allow permit holders to enter the closed streets around us to access our premier parking spots!

The church will remain locked for these events. If you want to purchase parking permits see Lona or contact the church office.

On February 15th , we will dedicate our community fountain. We’ll also remember and acknowledge Ira Spears’ tree and Linda Johnson’s Lilies.

Volunteer List

Jan 18 G. Knapp H. Allen M. Zitek B. Smith

Jan 25 . C. Venable K & S Cooley R. Muder

Feb 1 D. Pridgen C Knapp G. Knapp

K. Cooley B. Smith, K. Cooley, M. Dufeny, J. Bulnes

Feb 8 D. Guenther M. Hausman B. Smith

J. Bulnes

Feb 15 H. Ellis H. Allen M. Zitek

M. Dufeny

Feb 22 J. Bulnes K & S Cooley G. Huff

Mar 1 M. Zitek R & J Bulnes M. Hausman K. Morris, D Pridgen

Mar 8 K. Cooley M. Dufeny G. Huff

M. Zitek

Mar 15 A. Shaw H. Ellis B. Smith

D Guenther

Mar 22 C. Venable C. Knapp G. Knapp

A. Shaw

Mar 29 M. Dufeny R & J Bulnes D. McCarthy

April 5 Easter C. Venable D & D Guenther R. Muder B. Smith, G. Knapp, H. Allen, A. Shaw

Apr 12 K. Morris K & S Cooley G. & C. Knapp

Apr 19 H. Ellis A. Shaw M. Zitek

B. Smith

Apr 26 J Bulnes G. Huff B. Smith

K. Cooley

May 3 M. Zitek

M. Dufeny H. Ellis

G. Huff K. Cooley, D. Guenther

May 10 G. Knapp R & J Bulnes M. Hausman

May 17 D. Pridgen M. Hausman H. Allen

M. Zitek

May 24 K. Cooley D & D Guenther D. McCarthy

May 31 A. Shaw R & J Bulnes D. Guenther

Jun 7 C. Venable H. Allen A. Shaw

M. Dufeny C. Venable, D. Pridgen, K. Morris, G. Knapp

Jun 14 M. Dufeny K & S Cooley R. Muder

Jun 21 D. Guenther G. Knapp C. Knapp

M. Hausman

June 28 C. Venable G. Huff M. Hausman

J. Bulnes