In April we will gather again in the Randolph Room on Wednesday, April 20th at noon. Please bring ideas for our meetings in May and June. Oh, and don’t forget your lunch!

Years ago of course, one could have been justified in finding my observations somewhat tacky. The Advent season was just not meant to instill warm and positive feelings in us. Theologically, the entire theme of penance and preparation for eternal life comes to mind.

But our times have changed. For us as Protestant Christians, penance and eternal life make only sense when viewed through the lens of God’s unconditional love and the grace of His forgiveness. This, however, is something we seem to lose more and more in our society. Instead, civil life reflects a lot of anger, of “Know-it-all” and “You-owe-me”. And more often than not entire groups — like our city administration here in New Brunswick — find themselves under attack from high-handed individuals. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, the retiring general secretary of our denomination, said recently about the necessity for change “in the rancorous, spiteful nature of public and political discourse.”

Now look again at the picture of the Christmas party of our seniors, the “Free Spirits”. I believe there is quite a message expressed around that table. Thank God for our seniors!

Before our luncheon, Jane showed us a clip from the movie she had been in. You didn’t know that we have a true Hollywood actress in our midst? Well, we do: Mrs. Parker. In her 20′s, she toured with an all- female jazz band. One of their gigs was being filmed in a Hollywood movie. She appears twice quite prominently, playing her saxophone. More importantly, we really had a wonderful time and decided that we would like to have a similar luncheon for December. That means there will not be a Free Spirits meeting in November. So, mark your calendars for December 15th.

We will discuss over the next few weeks where we will meet. This will be our Christmas Carol Singing. Ben Berman plans to accompany us.

Altogether more than 40 people went through the entire gamut of health screenings. Since so many people came to take advantage of this free service, it is safe to say that this kind of outreach is exactly what our community now needs from us. Churches are places where people come to be healed spiritually; why should we also not help them take care of their bodies?

The Invitation and Outreach Committee is owed much credit for organizing this event. Tab Chukunta, from St. Peter’s University Hospital and a member of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, is an inspiring and spirited leader who makes these interactions between hospitals and worship houses possible.

I hope that we have a lasting relationship in the works so that we can continually provide these services for the community for many years.

Please join us at our next gathering on October 20th at noon. Don’t forget to bring your lunch. We always have much to talk about and share. Please know that anyone over 65 years of age is welcome, along with your friends!

Please plan to stay for a speech from a health care worker from St. Peter’s University Hospital, which will be followed by FREE health screenings. This will begin at 1:00 pm

For our June meeting on the 30th, we plan to go to a restaurant as a final close for the season. The details will be determined and we will announce it at worship.

Please know that everyone over the glorious age of 65 is welcome to come along — friends included!

For our May meeting, we decided to do another visit. So on May26th, bring your brown bag lunch to First Reformed Church. We will eat at noon, and then head out in two cars to Johnson Park and the East Jersey Olde Towne Village. Hopefully the weather will be nice for us.

If you are not familiar with East Jersey Olde Towne, let me share with you the following: it features the largest collection of original, reconstructed and replicated 18th and 19th century structures, which “represent the vernacular architecture typical of farm and merchant communities of central New Jersey”. Structures include the New Brunswick Barracks (Visitors Center), Runyon House, Six Mile Run House, Vanderveer House, Indian Queen Tavern, Fitzrandolph House (Storytellers Cottage), and the Smalleytown Schoolhouse.

Again, anyone — even your friends — who are over the age of 65 are welcome to come along.

We are going to gather again on April 21st at noon. We are hoping to have Margaret Coakley as a guest, to lead us through some appropriate exercises.

Wear comfortable clothing and bring your lunch. We’ll eat after our ‘work out’. Our Free Spirit group is made up of folks over the age of 65. We enjoy gathering, discussing, sharing meal time with one another. Bring a friend too, if you would like!

Also unusual was that their bodies (faces, legs, hands, etc.) were covered with Arabic calligraphy painted on with henna. Once again, the artist used various techniques and methods to present the women in her photos in a feminist Muslim way. This exhibition goes until Jun 6th and is well worth the visit.

For March, we have planned to enjoy our annual Blarney Day celebration. All Free Spirits are invited to bring lunches on Mar 17th at noon. Pastor Susan will provide something green for dessert. Please bring stories or jokes to share with all.

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.

In January, we plan to meet in the Randolph Room for our brown bag lunch on Wednesday, the 20th at noon. We have invited our Choir Director, Ben Berman to lead us in some songs and instrumental music. It should be a lot of fun. Hope the weather is good for that day so many of you can come.

Here is a short description of the exhibition, for you all. “The Foundation’s Annual Festival of Trees features Christmas trees and has represented as many as sixteen countries, all trimmed by members of local ethnic community groups and the international Sister Cities of New Brunswick. The trees feature handmade decorations and showcase traditions unique to each country, allowing others in our cultural community to share their traditions.

In September, let’s gather for lunch at noon on September 16th. Bring any ideas for short excursions or other activities with you, which we could do together.

Any members over 65 years of age (or even your friends) are welcome to participate in the FRC Free Spirit group.

In May, we are hoping to go down to the Princeton Sculpture Museum. Pastor Susan is going to find out the details and will inform the group as to the date and time for us meeting there. Most likely, we will go on May 20th and eat lunch at the café, which is located there.

The accompanying pictures give a true sense of our table talk that day:
“God and the world, and Pastor Susan holding up the specials.” Yet it is true, if there is one group in our church that tries to be informed about everything, from the Sunday School curriculum to the seriousness of brick-and-mortar, it is our Seniors’ Club. A church within the church, they hardly allow any item to escape their attention, and many of their reflections have had an impact on the ministry of our church. Thank you, Free Spirits, for yet another year of faithful caring for God’s church!

Our next gathering will be May 28th at noon. We decided to have lunch at the Hopewell Valley Bistro & Inn which is located right on Route 518. Hopewell is a lovely town and the bistro has a nice veranda, offering a wide variety of salads, sandwiches and entrees – all at affordable prices. If you want to arrange transportation, please call Pastor Susan. She will be leaving the Church office around 11:30 a.m. Hope to have you come along with us!!

Just be ready for some fun and good laughter! Don’t forget to bring your lunch!