Batavia First Presbyterian

Le Roy First Presbyterian Church, at Main and Clay streets in Le Roy, is having a spaghetti dinner this afternoon from 4 to 6:30. Also going on now and continuing throughout the day is a sale with craft vendors, including the entire yard of the church decorated with metal art from Adam’s Welding and Fabrication. 

The First Presbyterian Church in Batavia held their annual pancake breakfast this morning. As usual the Easter Bunny hopped on by to greet the children and pose for pictures.

Brian took pictures and made prints for the parrents.

Randy was the chef for the pancake feast.

Ben, Tommy, Melissa and Chelsea enjoy the breakfast.

Peyton gets her face painted.

Addison and Lilly color eggs. 

Stella picks a duck to win a prize.

Eva, 3, gets an ink stamp applied to her arm this morning during the Easter Bunny Breakfast at the First Presbyterian Church in Batavia.

Children were served a pancake breakfast and could also get their face painted, color Easter eggs and visit with the Easter Bunny.

With Eva is her mother, LuAnn Henry. With Eva and the Easter Bunny in the photo below is her sister Lillian, 9.

Batavia's First Presbyterian Church will be alive with rousing holiday spirit when "Christmas with Vox, a Festival of Carols" comes around on Friday, Dec. 20.

"Vox Lumine," a professional chorus group made up of 25 members from all over Western and Central New York, is performing for the public free of charge at the church, at 300 E. Main St. in Batavia.

Ann Emmans, minister of music at First Presbyterian, says this is going to be "the church's gift to the community."

"We had ('Vox Lumine') at the church for a concert in May," Emmans said, "and it was delightful.  We thought, 'What would be more wonderful than to have them back for Christmas?' "

Costs are being covered by the church's memorial donation funds from the last few years.

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. and will probably run about an hour and a half, according to "Vox Lumine" first tenor Mark Ross.

A reception with Christmas cookies and punch will follow in the church's fellowship area.

The performance will feature 17 Christmas songs, including classics such as "Carol of the Bells" and "Joy to the World" and lesser know works, as well as pieces with different ethnic backgrounds (including Polish and Italian).

Emmans stressed that the music is "non-commercial" and has a "sacred character."

"It's more about the joy of the season," she said.

"(The Christmas season) is a time when people appreciate music even more than they normally do," Ross said, "because it's associated with the events of the holiday."

"Vox Lumine" was formed in March 2010 by founder and director Brandon Johnson, D.M.A, director of choral activities at Houghton College.

Ross, of Batavia, said they have done concerts as far east as Ithaca and as far west as Orchard Park.

Because members live in scattered locations (the member living at the farthest distance from Batavia is from Syracuse), Johnson sends the music to each of them individually. They will come together in two rehearsals between now and Dec. 20 to "meld" (in Emmans' words) what they have learned together. So each will quite literally bring his/her own voice to the performance.

A Houghton graduate, a member of First Presbyterian Church for 41 years and currently commissioned lay pastor at Stone Church Presbyterian in Bergen, Ross is very happy to be a part of the upcoming performance. It coincides with his retirement from New York Central Mutual Insurance, where he worked for 27 years as an insurance adjustor.

"It's a wonderful combination," he said with a smile on his face.

For more information, call the church at 343-0505 or e-mail Emmans at HEmmans@aol.com.

Pictured Emmans and Ross at the First Presbyterian Church sanctuary.

Top photo submitted by Mark Ross.

The First Presbyterian Church, 300 E. Main St., Batavia, is hosting a community clothing and household item giveaway Sunday and Monday.

Donations are still be accepted today. Organizers are looking for clean, gently used clothing and household items such as towels, bedding, curtains, tablecloths and throw rugs.

There's always a need for donations of clothing for infants, boys and girls, and for men and women, shoes, sneakers, purses and hats, plus winter clothing for children and adults.

Donations can be brought to the church today from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m.

Items that cannot be left include large items, furniture, appliances and similar items.

For those who need to receive such donations, the giveaway is from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday and from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday.

The Child Advocacy Center should have a new home by this summer.

The First Presbyterian Church has offered the center a rent-free space for the next three to five years at a house it owns on East Main Street, according to Undersheriff William Sheron.

The CAC provides children who have been sexually abused a safe place for assistance, counseling and interaction with law enforcement officials.

It operates under the auspice of Genesee Justice and the Sheriff's Office the county has been paying $1,200 a month in rent for its location on Bank Street.

The discussion about the move come up today during the county legislature's Public Service Committee meeting.

When Genesee Justice was threatened with funding cuts two years ago, it became apparent that the CAC needed to find a way to cut the rent expense.

In response, the Kiwanis Club of Batavia took up the cause of raising $150,000 to help the center get a location that it owned. So far more than $70,000 has been raised. The move to the house owned by the Presbyterian church would give supporters of the CAC more time to close the funding gap.

The Justice for Children Child Advocacy Center operates as a nonprofit organization and is supported by the county, donations and grants.

An in-kind contribution from the local Presbyterian Church would help the center fulfill matching grant requirements.

The house is located on East Main Street, between the Presbyterian church and the First Baptist Church.

The new location would give the CAC more space and be able to offer clients with different needs -- those there for counseling, say, and those for forensic interviews -- separate waiting spaces.

There is remodeling and repair work that needs to take place in the new facility and Sheron told the committee that there will likely be volunteers who do the work.

The only vote the committee took today was to approve a six-month lease on the Bank Street location, giving the CAC until June to prepare the new space.

First Presbyterian Church, 300 E. Main St., Batavia, is holding a special remembrance service at 6:30 p.m., Friday, to honor those who have passed in 2012 and also to pray for those touched by the recent tragedy in Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Pastor Roula Alkhouri holds a service annually for those who have lost loved ones during the year, but this year, there's greater sorrow for the nation following the massacre in Newtown, Conn.

"We are reminded once more that Christmas can be a painful time for some," Alkhouri said. "In the face of loss, we struggle to find joy in this season. For some this may be the first Christmas without a loved family member who has recently died."

Alkhouri said she is reaching out to pastors and congregations throughout the county to join in this year's service.

"This will be a quiet service of remembrance and hope," she said. "We will light candles for the loss of loved ones. We will also light special candles for the victims of violence of last Friday’s tragedy. We will hear through Scripture and music that God’s presence is (there) for those who struggle and mourn and how God’s Word offers us strength as a light shining into our brokenness."

Workers have been busy the past few days chiseling out the mortar between the bricks of the First Presbyterian Church on East Main Street, Batavia, in preparation for replacing the mortar.

The project is one of many being undertaken by the church as part of a $650,000 capital improvement project, according to Pastor Roula Alkhouri.

The money was raised during a fundraising drive this spring.

Projects include renovating the fellowship hall, asbestos removal from the basement, work on the foundation and repaving the parking lot, among several other projects to help preserve the building.

From left: Two unnamed memebers of the Batavia's First Presbyterian Church, Beth Stich and Judy Tomkinson.

 A plot of land on South Main St. Road will once again be the site for the second annual "God's Little Acre" planting project of Batavia's First Presbyterian Church.

Members will be growing a variety of crops throughout the summer and into the fall, including tomatoes -- regular, cherry, Roma and beef steak -- pumpkins, winter and summer squash, cucumbers, zucchini and corn. All products will be donated to community members in need (shut-ins, for example).

"We'll probably be out here a couple times a week," Stich said. "It'll be on an as-needed basis."

More pictures:

The land is owned by J.C. Riley, who has allowed First Presbyterian to use it for this project the past two years.

Volunteers are welcome to assist with planting, weeding, watering and harvesting. If you are interested in helping, please contact the church office at 343-0505.