Habitat for Humanity of Guatemala will be with us at Pine Street Church on Sunday, May 31! 

You're invited to join us for coffee and conversation with the Executive Director of Habitat Guatemala, Luis Samayoa, and the Director of Donor Relations, Steven Cook.

When: 8:45-9:45 
Where: Parlor on the main floor of Pine Street Church. 
What: Luis and Steven are traveling through the western United States to meet with their partners here, and you are part of this through our church's support of Flatirons Habitat! Please share with others who might also be interested in learning more about Habitat in Central America, and Global Village trips. 
Questions? Contact Catherine Ballance: cballance@flatironshabitat.org 

Check out the press release below from Yale ISM!  Our Pastor Bob Ballance along with music leaders David L'Hommedieu and Ryan Connell are looking forward to their trip this June!

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The Yale Institute of Sacred Music is pleased to announce that Pine Street Church is among seven congregations from all over the U.S. selected to attend the ISM Congregations Project Summer Seminar in June, 2015. Each congregation is working on a project related to the theme From Generation to Generation.

For the seminar, leadership teams from the congregations gather with ISM and guest faculty on the Yale campus for five days to form a diverse ecumenical community of ministers, musicians, scholars, and other church leaders. The curriculum is shaped by the theme and designed to support the congregations’ individual projects, which build on their particular strengths in worship, music, and the arts; to expand their capacity to serve the surrounding community; and to nurture ecumenical partnerships.

Pine Street Church in Boulder, CO is a congregation founded in 1872 that fully embraces the redeeming teachings of the Hebrew prophets, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul, while at the same time affirms the courageous leadership of those working for peace and justice outside the Christian tradition.

At the Yale seminar pastor Bob Ballance and music directors David L'Hommedieu and Ryan Connell will present their project Performing Before the Aeropagus, which builds on their experience with a nontraditional Good Friday concert series that in 2015 was based on Radiohead’s “Kid A.” More information about all the congregations and their projects is at ismcongregations.yale.edu/congregations.

The Yale Institute of Sacred Music is an interdisciplinary graduate center that educates leaders who foster, explore, and study engagement with the sacred through music, worship, and the arts in Christian communities, diverse religious traditions, and public life. The ISM Congregations Project website, with information about its faculty, the congregations, themes, and application procedures is at ismcongregations.yale.edu. 

Dan Torpy got some great shots of our Dedication Ceremony for the newly renovated Pine Street Commons on April 26.  The program opened with a SoFA teacher, Steve Uliana, singing "Simple Gifts" arr. Copland, and Larry Van Spriell named a number of special people who helped in so many ways throughout this enormous and visionary project.  Cathy Compton led a responsive reading:

Leader:  As we dedicate the newly renovated Pine Street Commons to a mission of community service and education, we reflect on God's will that we use our time, our talents, our financial gifts, and our actions to love our neighbors.  We are grateful for the people who have given all these things that we might celebrate a new center for creativity, learning and growth in Boulder.  
Response:  We thank all those who have breathed new life into this space.
Leader:  We give thanks for the builders, the architect, the design team and capital campaign committee who have invested themselves in the beauty, safety, endurance and utility of this space.
Response:  We are humbled by their artistry and expertise.
Leader:  We thank the former teachers who dedicated themselves to making this a space for learning.  Today we can close our eyes and imagine the many footprints belonging to these teachers and the students they inspired.  These impressions travel from these doors into our city, our state, and our world. 
Response:  May this building continue to help teachers and students find inspiration, wisdom, creativity, and understanding.
Leader:  We recognize the current teachers and students and give thanks for the promise they hold to create new pathways for love, laughter and joy. 
Response:  The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.  We celebrate the mysteries that lead us to explore, and the guidance we receive along the way.
Leader: We celebrate all the people who have given time, energy, and money out of generosity or sacrifice to make this dream a reality.
Response: May we all find ways to support the completion of this vision and this dream.  
All: May this building be a space for diverse people and ideas to thrive in acceptance and joy.

David and Emily L'Hommedieu performed the song "Forever Young" including the text:

May God bless and keep you always 
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others 
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars 
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy 
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation 
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful 
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.  


Pastor Bob Ballance, who has been the inspiration and vision behind this project, closed the program with a beautiful blessing, calling for Pine Street Commons to be a place for students to delight in learning and creativity.