
LEARNING
We are committed to helping others grow and develop holistically.
We also encourage learning at all ages.
One should never stop expanding their mind, no matter how much time goes by.
PASTORAL LETTER
May 2022
Dear friend,
Summer is a wonderful time to slow things down. It is a time to take a lazy stroll along the beach, or sprawl on a picnic blanket, or go for a boat ride on the Hudson River.
Slowing down, however, may prove challenging for many of us. We live in a society that marks success based on productivity and output. We live in a society where it is easy to become a prisoner of the urgent. While there is merit to the idea of staying focused and determined when it comes to having momentum and securing a goal, at what point is it okay to slow down and evaluate our progress? Or what is the theological underpinning for our movement in life?
I suppose that one of the reasons why we have been given the Sabbath is so we can learn to slow down. The Sabbath is presented to us as the fourth commandment out of The Ten Commandments in our Judeo-Christian, spiritual tradition.
The Sabbath was modeled by God in creation: God made the world in six days, and then God rested on the seventh day, and then God instructed the Hebrew people to keep the Sabbath holy.
The word “holy” could be translated “healthy”, and the word “Sabbath” comes from an old Babylonian root meaning, “Stop doing what you normally do!” Blessed and wise is he who follows, even in modern days, the implications of those words. “The Sabbath was made for man,” said Jesus in Mark 2:27.
If we are to live healthy, functional, productive, and sacred lives, we are called to slow down. Keeping the Sabbath is a good way to start.
There was a twelfth-century rabbi who said – and this is a beautiful statement – “I keep the Sabbath. God keeps me.” Isn’t that beautiful? I keep the Sabbath. God keeps me.
The Psalmist talks about being faithful to God, and God is always faithful to the ones who are faithful to God. I keep the Sabbath. God keeps me.
I hope that you take time this summer to slow down, keep the Sabbath, and grow into your fullness through rest, worship, and self-care.
Blessings,
Pastor Luis


















CHILDREN'S SUNDAY WORSHIP PROGRAM
During our Sunday morning worship services,
we have a short children's sermon,
after which the children proceed to Christian Ed.
Check out our YOUTH WORSHIP page
for online resources for our younger congregants!
































LECTURE SERIES
Led by Dr. Bruce Chilton of the Bard College
Sponsored by
the Rhinebeck Reformed Church and
the Jewish Federation of Dutchess of County
See our LECTURES page
for video lectures from Dr. Bruce Chilton!














CARING FOR CREATION
We strive to teach good environmental practices
through events and programs that lead to
more sustainable mindsets and lives.
Our mission is to help protect and cherish all that God has created.
SOLAR ELECTRICITY FOR THE CHURCH
Hallelujah, the church began lighting up with solar energy in March of 2020!
The Caring for Creation Committee was instrumental in signing up the church for Community Solar,
wherein we receive our electricity from solar panels
in a remote installation provided by the Nexamp Corporation.
This is achieved at no cost to the church, with the electricity provided as usual via Central Hudson.
Using solar panels to generate our electricity eliminates the need for Central Hudson to burn fossil fuel, which disperses carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - a contributor to climate change.
Signing up through the Community Solar program encourages companies to invest
in building more solar arrays which other homes and businesses could utilize.
What the church has done is a model of what our congregants could do as well for their homes.
You can contact me (send a message through the website) for general information on how to get started.
~ David Baldauf
SUMMARY OF AVERAGE SOLAR ENERGY BENEFITS
FOR THE CHURCH OVER A TWO-YEAR PERIOD
