Fellowship & Outreach

The Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow is a vibrant and active church.  It has many activities, both service and fellowship-oriented, that appeal to a wide variety of interests.  These are open to church members and friends as well as all those in the Huntington, NY area who would like to attend.  We have many once a year events such as the Annual Fall Barbeque, the Fall Harvest Fair and the Spring Children’s Worship Celebration.  However, there are also groups that meet on a more regular basis providing spiritual, service and/or simple sustenance to its members.  Groups featured on this page include:

Please scroll down or click on the item above to discover more about those that interest you.

Bible Study is an important aspect to any Christian life.  Providing spiritual food and interesting discussion, the Bible Studies at the Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow in Melville are bi-annual ventures held during Lent and prior to Advent.  Led by Pastor Rebecca, these groups have been oriented in different ways, from studying a specific book of the Bible, such as the gospel of Mark to learning to put “Christ” back in Christmas through a discernment process that involved evaluating our normal Advent season feelings of being overwhelmed and how through our investment in the true meaning of Christmas, we might take some of the societal and commercially-driven burden off.  Our next study will begin in the fall 2010.

The Book Discussion Group began in January 2004 in order to talk about The Da Vinci Code, which was at the top of the Best Seller List and on everyone’s lips.  After that first lively discussion, the group didn’t want to stop!  Thus, a group was born that has covered volumes from the ridiculous to the sublime.  In the ensuing years, we’ve discussed fiction novels such as Christopher Moore’s Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Anne Rice’s Christ the Lord, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and William P. Young’s The Shack.  We’ve also tackled non-fiction books such as Steven Prothero’s Religious Literacy, Anne Lamott’s Plan B: More Thoughts on Faith, and Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea.  The latter motivated the group to donate to Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute not just once, but many times and educated not only them, but filtered into the Sunday School and their commitment to education of children across the globe.  Call the church or check the calendar to discover what’s book is next on our reading agenda.

The “Church Brunch” meets throughout the year on the second Tuesday of the month, always from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  Topics are various, from the educational to the inspirational.  Recent themes have included the PC(USA)-developed DVD “Steadfast Hope” which detailed the peacemaking work that various Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders are doing in Israel/Palestine, a program on South Africa led by Joan and Jim Sommermeyer detailing their recent trip, “Laughter is the Best Medicine” with shorts from Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, and “Having Your Affairs in Order” (health proxies, power of attorney, wills, life-care planning, etc.).  All are welcome to join us any second Tuesday for food, fellowship, program and discussion of these and many other topics.

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Enjoying Cheery Pie	February Church Brunch	Teddy & Jeannette
The Walters & Wansors

The Prayer Shawl Knitting Ministry meets every third Thursday of the month from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow Parlor.  The group meets to knit and/or crochet together, but also to share updates on what’s going on in the world of Prayer Shawl Ministry as well as to pray over and bless the shawls that are completed.  The group has knit, blessed and given away over 200 shawls.  These shawls have been given to members and friends of the Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow during times of joy and celebration such as the birth of a child.  They have been given in times of need of comfort such as pre- or post-surgery.  Shawls have also been gifted to places such as the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for soldiers returning from Iraq, and to both the Suffolk County and the Nassau County Coalitions Against Domestic Violence.  The Prayer Shawl Knitting Ministry group made an “Oddball Shawl” made out of the odds and ends of all the shawls that have been knit so far; this shawl has been blessed and remains in Pastor Rebecca’s office to provide comfort to those who need it during times of prayer and counseling there.
Additionally, the Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow co-sponsored a Prayer Shawl Ministry Retreat in the Fall 2005 with leaders Janet Bristow and Vicki Galo, the originators of Prayer Shawl Ministry in this area.  For more information about Prayer Shawl Ministry, a wonderful website is www.shawlministry

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Admiring a scraf	Meeting	Offering
Carol's scraf	Knitting	Knitting
Shawls for blessing