Ethel’s surprise party here at the church on June 9 when she turned 80.
The choir sang, several instruments played, and poems were read.
I think the pictures capture some of the spirit.
{ 0 comments }
From the category archives:
Events
Since we all liked the Honor Roll breakfast so much, the Women’s Guild has decided to hold another one next year on Mar 5th! At our meeting on May 16th, the women talked about how exciting the breakfast was and what we all learned from it, through Lisanne Finston’s presentation. The Warwick Retreat will focus on a movie with the kids and the adults in order to learn more about the food industry and the over-processing of food. The movies Food, Inc. and Supersize Me are quite explicit and extremely interesting.
The Women’s Guild, though, also felt that there are other topics that we, as a congregation, are dealing with and so we are planning two Friday night movie events: Jul 16th and Aug 6th. The plan is to have a potluck dinner and to watch a movie together. An announcement will come later of exact times and locations.
If you are able to host either of these events, please see Erie.
Looking Ahead for the Women of our church:
Please save the dates of Sep 24th and 25th for our annual retreat. We are looking to go away overnight this time. Details will follow in the next newsletter.
The Advent Breakfast is scheduled for Dec 4th. Pastor Susan has been asked to write another skit about the birth of Jesus, this time from Joseph’s point of view.
Finally: the prayer shawls are still being made. Moreover, we have some ready that can be given away. If you know someone who could benefit of getting a prayer shawl, please see Erie.
{ 0 comments }
Mothers Day is a special holiday for US Americans. It’s a day for Moms to spend time with their kids and maybe even get some special treatment. Let’s face it, all year long, mothers work hard doing things for their families.
That’s why at the First Reformed Church it has become our tradition to start Mother’s Day off with a breakfast prepared and served by the men. Jim Hance, Rod Gray, John Coakley and Gary Bernhofer provided the food items for the breakfast. Those already mentioned, along with Ben Berman and Pastor Hartmut, helped with the set-up, did the serving and helped clean up afterwards.
The main menu item was an egg/sausage and cheddar cheese casserole. The recipe was one given to Lauren and I many years ago by Christine Delhagan. The men also served a vegetarian version of the recipe . Other items included on the menu were: cake, fresh orange juice and fruit salad. I guess the guys are getting pretty good with putting together a meal because things went very smoothly and everyone seemed satisfied. (Maybe I shouldn’t make this public as we may be asked to help out more often in the kitchen!)
A free will offering was taken and the proceeds were credited to the Worship and Music Committee.
(Editor’s Note: Thanks, Gentlemen! The meal was delicious!!)
{ 0 comments }
By Pastor Hartmut and Erie Beemsterboer
We are certainly not an ethnic church. Neither are we characterized by a particular ethnic majority, nor do we deem this theologically desirable. Mainstream America is a very diverse place. However, this does not mean that we shall neglect our ethnic roots.
On May 1st, when much of the international world celebrated Labor Day, we swam against the stream by celebrating a belated Queen’s Day at the Van Wickle House on the shore of the Delaware-Raritan Canal in Somerset.
In the Netherlands, Queen’s Day is held on Apr 30th, but in many places the celebrations start on the evening before with flea markets, as a celebration of the birthday of the Queen Mother, Princess Juliana. For us, May 1st was an opportunity for everybody to be Dutch for a day. We could browse the stalls that had various items for sale; we could listen to traditional Street organ music and Jazz music. Lunch was available, where rolls with cheese where a main part of the menu of course. What would a Dutch lunch be without some nice cheese!
It was a little less royal at the Van Wickle House, but here, too, we had special guests. Symen Van Wickle and his wife Geradina, who built the house in 1722, were reenacted by Rev. John DeVelder and his wife, Linda, and gave a lively presentation. Rev. Dr. John Coakley gave a presentation about the Rev. John Livingston, and Dr. Firth Fabend gave us lasting insights into the lives of Dutch women in New Jersey at the time
of the American Revolution by reading from her novel, Land So Fair. In addition, the Van Wickle Dancers, mainly consisting of members from our church, gave two nice performances and invited people from the general public to take part in it. Look at the pictures and see how Dutch we can be! What the pictures don’t show is that we all participated in a new dance this time, and we got so many nice comments about that. And Mother Nature seems to be willing to give us nice weather for Queen’s Day, so it was a hot day again. That is the main reason why you might see some hats not being worn, but if you ever want to see the costumes up close, just ask Erie or Ellen.
{ 0 comments }
Sunday, Jun 27 — Outdoor Worship Service at 10:30 a.m. followed by Potluck Lunch Congregational Meeting regarding the budget
Saturday, Jul 10 — Rod’s Grille Night at 6:00 p.m.
Friday, Jul 30 – Sunday, Aug 1 — WARWICK CAMPING RETREAT
Sunday, Aug 8 — Special Worship at 10:00 am, including a Testimonial to Marie Washington for her many years of Christian Service
Aug 23 – 27 — Vacation Bible School Week for children between the ages of 3 – 13! This is a combined event with the four collegiate Reformed Churches. This year Highland Park Reformed Church is hosting it.
Sunday, Aug 29 – at 10:00 a.m. – Collegiate Churches Outdoor Worship at the Van Wickle House including potluck picnic.
{ 0 comments }
It is about 10 years now since Julius Fekete first set foot into our church. Soon afterwards, Julius became the personification of a great tradition that was last carried on by Ray Clark. This is the tradition of having a master craftsman in our midst, who knows the buildings and grounds better than most of us, and who is willing to spend countless hours with the sometimes tricky questions of maintenance and repair.
One of the first of Julius’ projects was the building of a large mail box by the entrance door on 9 Bayard Street. Until then, mail delivered through the slot used to land on the floor. Sometimes, we lost a piece, and sometimes two. The new mailbox changed all that.
Another project was the replacing of the wardrobe in Fellowship Hall. Without much ado, the frail old pieces ended in one of our many dumpsters, and Julius built us new ones. Later, you could see him lead a small team of volunteers rebuilding the walls of the pantry in the sexton’s house.
Then there was the plan for the new church library. Julius built the large windowsill, the conference table in the center, and the media center at the entrance to the room. He also built all the shelving in the room. Later, Julius built shelves and a wardrobe for the choir robes in the Robing Room.
Julius also organized much of our outside work when he coordinated the lawn mowing of our volunteers. And always, always, he has been seen with the wooden toolbox he stationed here at the church in order to fix this or that. Broken locks, chancel furniture, the frame for an air conditioning unit — you name it, Julius has done it all.
His efforts were crowned when he helped to get our preservation project underway. In order to expedite consistory discussions, he appeared at one of the meetings with a foam board filled with pictures that showed the extent to which our buildings had fallen into disrepair. As we all know, he came not a day too early.
Shortly thereafter, we found ourselves forced to replace the roof on the education building and to shore up its tower. Thanks to Julius, we had at least the structures in place to cope with these emergencies: Margaret Westfield as architect under contract, and a contractor and subcontractor to carry out the work without delay.
Now, Julius has passed on the baton — maybe not for all the particular projects, but for the chair personage of the Preservation Team. Caryn Aran is the new leader on board, and we welcome her with open arms.
When we finished the women’s bathroom, one could see Julius and Caryn work side by side — Elijah passing on his mantle to Elisha; you remember the story from 2 Kings 2.
We will recognize Julius’ service to the church and the passing of the baton to Caryn with a special coffee hour on Fathers’ Day, Jun 20th, after worship service. Please help us to make this a special day.
{ 0 comments }
