When thinking of the calendar year of the church, many of us anticipate spending much of 2010 with brick and mortar. We allocated six weeks between the end of February and the beginning of April to the reconstruction of the Women’s Bathroom. Later, in May, construction of Phase 1 of our Preservation project will begin: the steeple, the church roof, the church attic, and the soffit of the education building.
With so much physical work, it is necessary that we take care of our spiritual balance. The time of Lent offers itself for this, as it provides us with some great opportunity to find center in our worship life. As every year, we will begin Lent on Ash Wednesday, Feb 17th, at 7:30 p.m. with a collegiate worship service here at First Reformed Church. Folks from the Highland Park Reformed Church, Second Reformed Church, and the Suydam Street Reformed Church will join us for the occasion. Our organist and choir director, Ben Berman, has found great music for the combined choir.
Following the Ash Wednesday service, we will offer a special confessional liturgy during the beginning part of our Lenten Sunday worship services. This liturgy centers on the baptismal font and is based on words from Psalm 51. Each time, we will pour water into the font, reminding ourselves of the beginning of our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In doing so, we will adapt a format that comes to us from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
In addition to this special worship liturgy, we offer a Lenten Adult Education Class. It has the title, Living Your Faith in a Messed-up World, and comes to us from our sister denomination, the Christian Reformed Church. Each session will focus on a short film or interview that provides an exemplary insight into the relevance of the Reformed faith today. The sessions will be held on Friday nights at 8:00 p.m., beginning on Mar 19th. We are trying to hold these sessions in various homes rather than at church. If you would like to host a session, please call our church office (732-545-1005).
A Presbyterian Lenten liturgy and a Christian-Reformed adult education class — this also reflects where we are as the people of First Reformed Church: firmly embedded in our Reformed tradition and, yet, always eager to broaden our horizon and outlook.
May this year’s Lenten journey be meaningful to you!
Pastor Hartmut
Tagged as:
Ash Wednesday,
Christian Reformed Church,
lent,
Presbyterian Church
December and January were both very exciting months for music at First Reformed Church . The Advent season was filled with a beautiful variety of music ranging from a rendition of a Bach chorale setting played by John Coakley and the choir, to a romantic illustration of the meaning of Christ’s coming by Gabriel Fauré Cantique de Jean Racine. The adult choir and the bell choir also joined forces for the first time.
Christmas Eve was a magical worship service with a mighty choral presence and the delicate soloing of Lillian Kramer-Mills. The Beemsterboer family played beautifully their violins during Silent Night, and Hartmut Kramer-Mills accompanied us expertly during our Hiram Square Christmas Caroling event before the service.
On Jan 3rd, the Adult Choir led the worship service at the Reformed Church Home. Pastor Samir welcomed us into his house of worship and many, many people were touched by our music, our preaching, and especially Pastor Hartmut’s leadership of the hymns on his horn.
We are glad to welcome two recent new members to the Adult Choir: Allison Weaver and Heather Epstein. May the whole world sing in exultation, always glorifying God’s name.
In Matthew 25:40 it is written: “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me’.”
This is what happened at the Men’s Shelter. We cared about fifteen homeless men, heard some of their stories, encountered some of their pain and brokenness, and provided them with shelter for a week. There were many very cold and windy days where the temperature was low and the strong winds made it frigid outdoors. The men came in at 7:00 p.m. and left at 7:00 a.m. We did provide them with coffee, juice, fresh fruit, muffins, etc. so that when they left, it was not on an empty stomach. Some we have “known” for years and feel like we are even “catching up” with them; others are new faces with histories that would make you scratch your head.
None of this would have been possible without the volunteers who stayed the night. There were both men and women who kept watch, talked, read, watched DVDs, puzzeled, etc. And for the first time in several years, our volunteers from First Reformed Church covered each night. Highland Park Reformed Church sent two helpers for which we are very grateful.
Jim Hance was the “guy” in charge – our Shelter Boss. So he gets a special pat on the back. To all of the others, a THANK YOU does not seem to be enough. So here it is in multiples: Thank you! Thank you!! And Thank you!!!!
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men's shelter
In January, we had a small group gather in the Randolph Room for some lunch and singing with our dear Organist and Choir Director, Ben Berman. He accompanied us through some traditional goodies, as well as some from the global music hymnal, which the Adult Choir exclusively uses. Thanks so very much, Ben!
In February, we will be gathering a week later than usual because of Ash Wednesday worship service during the third week of the month. So please mark your calendars for Feb 24th. We will gather with our brown bag lunches at noon, then car pool over to the Zimmerli Museum and see what is on exhibit over there. We plan to arrive back to the church around 3:00 p.m. or thereabouts.
Ever heard of the saying, “Many hands make light work?” On Saturday, Jan 9th, we proved that it is true. With eleven people around one table, we cleaned three octaves of bells in 30 minutes! Thank you Allison, Susan, Liz, Norma, Ellen, Margaret, Ben, Irina, Sarah and Nicole.
Now that the bells are shiny again, we have started to work on two new music pieces. In addition, we are looking towards Easter for some more music.
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handbells
This month, the women had a gathering a church and then a field trip afterwards, but our plans for the spring are quite exciting. We hope that this offers a variety of events for each woman.
On Feb 6th, yes, the same day of the Chili Cook Off, a group of Rutgers volunteers will come to help us clean. We are planning to give the Fellowship Hall, nursery and breezeway a thorough clean up. Any hands that can come that day are more than welcome. Bring your bucket and sponges! Once again we will prove that many hands make light work. No need to worry about dinner that night, just come back and get a tasting of all the different chilies!
Also, keep Apr 24th open for a special brunch. That morning we hope to celebrate the hard work of Yvette Molina. She is a staff member of Elijah’s Promise and has done, and still does, a lot for House of Manna.
That same day we hope to raise funds by selling Raggedy Ann dolls, table runners, and other handiworks. If you would like to help with Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, please contact Ellen Hamilton. If you have other handmade crafts that you would like to donate to raise the project funds, please contact Erie.
After our planning session, most of us went to the bathroom together. Together?! Yes, we all went there to look and see what is needed for the renovations. Joan had a drawing of the new layout and we were looking to see where a changing table might fit, as well as other items. The plans for the renovations are coming together, although we still need about $4,000 to complete all the necessary changes.
Then it was time to get our coats on to go to the Hungarian Art Museum on Somerset Street. There we got a tour of the thirteen different Christmas trees on display, as well as the lace work and Hungarian costumes and folk art. It was very intriguing and we all learned a couple of things. For instance: in Denmark they still have real candles on their trees and burn them! Also, did you know where the red globed ornaments come from? The answer: most likely from the tradition of putting red apples as decorations on trees. Did you know that in Denmark St. Nicholaus’ sleigh is not pulled by a reindeer but rather by a goat? The lace that was displayed was just stunningly beautiful, so fine and intricate. And, being a folk dancer myself, it was just wonderful to see all the different costumes.
Next month we will have a “regular” meeting and read from our book, God Is in the HARD Stuff. Don’t worry if you do not have a copy of this book; you are welcome and can always participate. See you all on Feb 21st after worship!
Most of us have, in one way or another, heard about the ambitious reconstruction plans for our women’s bathroom. As big as this project is, it will also provide a great fellowship opportunity. We will meet old friends like Gary Delhagen. We will work side by side with the wonderful team of volunteers from the Colts Neck Reformed Church, their leader being Dotty Weidman. And we will enjoy great lunch breaks in between. Do you remember the resemblance to a colonial village two years ago, with women, children, men and dogs, all gathered around the tables in Fellowship Hall during mealtime?
For those of you who need some more planning, we provide the following calendar in this month’s newsletter.
Tagged as:
reconstruction,
volunteers
