Thank You to all who donated time, food, and energy to the Room for All Conference. The conference was attended by around 25 people. On Thursday we provided them with dinner; and on Friday we served a lunch donated by Metuchen Reformed Church. In all it was a successful event.

Our next event is the Mother’s Day breakfast. For the last couple of years we have had several kinds of breakfast dishes provided for everyone on Mother’s Day. This year the Women’s Guild will be the organizers of this event. If you want to help out by bringing some food please let Erie know by email (secretary@firstreformedchurch.net).

In June we will meet one more time before we take a break for the summer; the date will be announced. Oh, and one more thing: A spring clean-up day for the kitchen is to be set as well.

This year we have chosen Agnes Crespo, a music teacher in the New Brunswick school district. For years she has brought groups of her students to our Lunchtime Recitals, students she feels would benefit from a specific concert, sometimes it is because the performer plays the same instrument or another good reason to bring them. It must not be easy to do that since so many districts have trouble finding funding for field trips. But every year she comes walking with a group of students from the Livingston School to have these children experience some life music and a nice luncheon afterwards.

A sign up list will be posted for all to sign up to bring some breakfast items. We have some gifts for Agnes in the making to go with her Award. I hope that all of you can come and support us at the Award. The breakfast is open to all.

In February we will hold our Guild meeting on the second Sunday after worship, a Bible study is on the agenda.

Prayer shawls are still being made, either knitted or quilted. IF you have any material that you think can be used please let Erie know.

We are also in need of birthday cards for the residents of the Reformed Church Home. They really appreciate the token of attention, so if you have some cards that can be used, you can drop them off at church.

All in all around 65 women and 2 men enjoyed the home made treats and fellowship. I would like to thank all of you who donated time and or breakfast items. Without all your help we can not keep this tradition that is enjoyed by so many. Every year again I hear comments from the visitors that they are all looking forward to our breakfast as it gives them an opportunity for fellowship and reflection in this busy season.

On another note, one of the ministries of the Women’s Guild is card writing to the residents of the Reformed Church Home. Each resident received a Christmas card from us! Phew! That was a lot of writing!! We are now out of all Christmas and Birthday cards. Please see if you have any at home that you can donate for this.

Our Prayer Shawl ministry is still on-going. We accept both knitted and quilted shawls or lap-sized throws. I hope to bring another quilt to be tied during our next meeting. At that time we will also work on our plans for the Martha Award, planned for March 5th.

Our next meeting is January 15th, this is the THIRD Sunday as there are meetings planned after worship on the second Sunday. Every women of our congregation is welcome to attend!!!

The First Reformed Church of New Brunswick Women’s Guild invites all the women of your church or organization, including their friends, for our Annual Advent Breakfast. Saturday, December 3, 2011 from 9:00 am until 11:00 am. Babysitting will be provided!

There will be a continental style of breakfast offered, with juices and fruit. We will sing Advent carols, watch a skit about the coming of the Christ Child, and prepare our hearts spiritually for this delightful season of anticipation and hope.

Please R.S.V.P. by November 21, 2011 to:
First Reformed Church, 9 Bayard Street, New Brunswick
732 545 1005 or by email: secretary@firstreformedchurch.net

A breakfast featuring coffee cake, Dutch rusks and chocolate sprinkles (!) got the day off to a good start. Margaret Coakley led the group in a Bible study featuring the New Testament story of Priscilla and Aquilla. The travels of Paul and his association with this hospitable and faithful couple were the focus of thoughtful discussion.

Following a delicious lunch, time was also devoted to the construction of a lap quilt, designed and pieced together by Erie Beemsterboer, with several women helping to finish the quilt by securing the layers with large knotted stitches. Everyone in attendance that day returned to their homes nourished by good food and inspired friendship shared by all.

On September 17th, we will have a local retreat. Every other year we gather in the Fall at a place that is not too far away so many of us can come and have a nice day together.

Ellen has graciously offered her house on Sep 17th to have a mini-retreat. We will work on Quilted Prayer shawls. We tied a few last year at our retreat and the ones that we have given out have been very well received. If you have 100% cotton material that you would like to donate for this project, please see Erie.

Of course, we will have a Bible study at the retreat as well. More details will follow in the September newsletter.

On December 3rd, it is time again to celebrate with our friends from churches in the area to welcome the Advent season. This year our theme will be Shepherds.

On March 3, 2012, we will give out another Martha Award. A recipient has been named. We are working on having a key note speaker come to gives us a lesson about a topic that is in relationship between the background of the recipient and our church.

Apart from quilted prayer shawls, I still knit them as well. If you have some yarn that you don’t use anymore , let me know so that we can see if it can be turned into a prayer shawl.

The date for a May meeting was discussed but it seems that May is a very busy month for all of us, so in honor of Mother’s Day, we will not have a meeting at our church. Let’s all get together again in June and do something very special then. I will keep you updated on this. If you want to go to a nice meeting for women, I can recommend the Women Friendship Day from the Church Women United; their flier is included in this newsletter. I went to one of these a few years ago and had a really good time.

We are still sending birthday cards to the Reformed Church Home resident on a regular basis, if you have cards that are suitable for this, you may always bring them in. And if you have a spare half hour of time to write them for a specific month, let me know and I will get the cards and name list to you!

Currently, I have almost finished one prayer shawl and I am still working on another one. In the office, we only have one on hand at moment. If you have some yarn or cotton material that can be used for a shawl, let me know. I am happy to prepare another quilt for us to make into a shawl for someone who is in need of one. And that may be any kind of occasion!

Join us for our

Annual May Friendship Day Celebration
A Celebratory Service to lift up women of all ages and reflect on the impact they have had in all areas,
From Miriam to Joanna to Mary Magdalene, We move to honoring “key” women

When: Friday, May 6, 2011

Where: Somerset Presbyterian Church
100 John F. Kennedy (JFK) Boulevard

Telephone Number: 732-249-8674
Rev. Sharron Culley, Host Pastor

Time: 11: 30 A.M. “Bingo Ice Breaker”

Note: Please bring your “favorite Pot Luck Dish/Dessert”
and, your Pennies for the Fellowship of the Least Coin Project

- A clean fellowship hall and kitchen.
- A newly poured step outside by the playground.
- Progress in painting the walls of the rear stairwell in the Church House.
- A winter-cleaned cemetery.
- A reorganized Randolph Room after the winter-worship season.
- A leveled ground in the garbage corral.
- Safety plates over several light switches in the Randolph Room.
- Safety lids over electric boxes in the basement and in one of the organ chambers.
- A painted bathroom vanity and a painted closet door.

Do I need to list more? It was just incredible what we accomplished. But more than that: we had a Boy Scout troop led by Mary and Frank Eckert with us, thereby building bridges between the generations. We had the Property Committee work side-by-side with the Women’s Guild, thereby adding a fun competition to into the mix. And we had the feeling that, finally, spring had arrived, at least if judged by the fact that this was a tremendous spring clean-up.

So what was good about it? I guess all of the above. And so I can only say “Thank you” to all of us, who helped to make this happen.

Maria Betanzos, the honoree, was very touched by her award and the gifts that she received. She was grateful for her team, they made her a better worker and together they provide very meaningful and needed services for the community.

One of the things that we learned from the hotline call was that women don’t have to bring anything with them when they go to the safe house. Women Aware provides them with all the essentialsneeded, from toothpaste to clean clothing. During the breakfast, the supply of essentials also was talked about. We learned that they can always use extra supplies of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, tooth brushes and soap for clients. In addition, the safe house is in need of flashlights in case of emergencies.

In the past we have collected items for Church World Service and Elijah’s Promise, and this year we will collect for Women Aware. Please bring in any items you want to donate and put them in the basket with the label “Women Aware Supplies”. I will try to have it available in the back of sanctuary on Sundays and keep it safe in the office during the week.

The Martha Award event concluded with a keynote speech from Claudette Reid, coordinator for Office of Women’s Ministries of the RCA. First she asked us to talk with our neighbors about a (female) hero in our lives and to name her. After this she proceeded to tell us that there are many named and un-named heroines in the Bible. She talked about the unnamed women who gave her last food to Elijah, and only after that she got her promise from him. We learned a lot from her as well.

It was a very meaningful event, many of us learned various things, and I hope we can have another event next year! If you know a woman of the community whose talents and commitment to her job make her a remarkable blessing to those she serves and to her organization, in particular a woman whose work is generally “behind the scenes,” in other words, the outside world is not aware of her deep expression of her work; however the organization she serves would be at a great loss without her devotion— please let me know so we can start the planning.

Beside women from our church, we had guests from Pine Grove Nursery School, Six Mile Run Reformed Church, Highland Park Reformed Church, Second Reformed Church, Suydam Street Reformed Church and friends of these ladies. All in all, we had around 70 people in attendance, and we still missed some of our regular women. We enjoyed all the breakfast items that everybody so generously donated, the songs, and, of course, the play, which was written by Pastor Susan. This year she even went so far as to change her voice so that she could portray Joseph with a really low voice. During the skit you could hear a pin drop; everybody, even the children, where all paying attention!

A great big “Thank You”; to everybody who helped with this event, whether it was by reading a passage, running the dishwasher, or coming in on Friday to set up!

We will meet on Jan 9th for our regular meeting, a Bible study is in preparation. We will also talk more about the Martha Award and what we need to do to get this event set for Mar 5th more organized. Please come to this meeting, so we can get another worthwhile event planned.

We have a couple of prayer shawls ready to be given away, so if you know about somebody who could use a little boost, or who is celebrating a special event in his or her life — talk to Erie.

Saturday, Dec 4, 2010
from 9:00a.m. until 11:00a.m.

Babysitting will be provided!
There will be a continental style breakfast with juices and
fruit. We will sing Advent carols, watch a skit about the
coming of the Christ Child, and prepare our hearts spiritually
for this delightful season of anticipation and hope.

Please R.S.V.P. by November 22, 2010 to:
First Reformed Church, 9 Bayard Street, New Brunswick 732-545-1005
or by email: secretary@firstreformedchurch.net

The mission statements reads: “Women Aware is committed to a vision of a just society. Our mission is to end domestic violence in the lives of men, women, and children and to change societal attitudes and institutions that promote and condone violence, through public policy advocacy, education and programs and services that promote lives free of abuse. We are devoted to empowering women to live free from violence. We encourage victims to look clearly at their present situation and to make the changes necessary to build a strong foundation for healing, self-confidence and independence.”
In 2009, Women Aware helped over 6,000 women and children in Middlesex County to move beyond abuse. In collaboration with the Puerto Rican Action Board (PRAB) and with funding from the NJ Division on Women, we launched the “Esperanza Domestic Violence Project” to raise awareness about domestic violence in the Latina community. We began a pastoral counseling program for residents of the safe house and a homework club to provide educational support and assistance for the children in the PALS program. And, with the generous support of Robert Wood Johnson foundation, we have expanded the role of the Visiting Nurses services to include health education and medical screening for families in shelter. We have also made some infrastructure improvements bringing the 3rd floor of our administrative offices up to code and making the safety and security improvements needed for the PALS program. So on behalf of all victims of domestic violence and the advocates who assist them, please accept my heartfelt thanks for your support – yesterday, today and tomorrow.

More information about Women Aware can be found on their website womenaware.net. You will see that our church is mentioned on the website as one their sponsors. The Board of Deacons and the Women’s Guild support them every year with benevolence monies. The Martha Award will be presented on March 5, 2011 at a Women’s Guild brunch. Please mark your calendars — women of FRC — because it would be wonderful to have many of us there. We will also invite a speaker for this event.

Since we were discussing the parameters of the Martha Award, we decided to focus our Bible study on Martha, Jesus’ friend. It was very insightful to learn more about her. Most of us are familiar with the story of Martha and Mary, but Joan had found some interesting information in other passages.

We talked a little about the Advent Breakfast; you will find an invitation elsewhere in this newsletter. Please keep this date free, and know that friends are welcome!

If you have any Christmas cards that we can use, please bring them in and give them to Erie. They will be used to write a card to all residents of the Reformed Church home. The residents really like it that they receive a personal card.

On Friday ,Ellen, Janet and Erie drove up during the day to set up and prepare for the others to arrive that day and on Saturday. We had the house ready and an outdoor fire going when Susan and Joan arrived. We enjoyed stories and s’mores around the fire. Since it was a little later than originally planned, we decided to have all discussions the next day.

On Saturday while breakfast was being prepared, Norma, Margaret and Liz arrived. After a delicious breakfast, we tied a quilt to be used as a prayer blanket. The theme for this weekend was Fire, so for our discussions we talked about fiery women of the Bible. And we learned a lot! Most of us had heard about the Syrophoenician women, but Rahab and Rizpah were far more unfamiliar to us. While we enjoyed the outdoor air on the deck, we learned about these ladies and what they did to stand up for their families and beliefs. All the while, we were trying not to get hit by acorns since the wind was blowing them off the trees in quite a great number.

After a big spread of various salads for lunch, we tied another blanket. Since this is a fairly easy thing, we also talked about plans for the upcoming year. If you want to know more and be part of our discussions, you are welcome to come to next meeting on Oct 17th! We once more went outside to have our discussion about Rizpah and dodged a few more acorns. Because of the wind, we decided to only enjoy the lake by looking at it,and not taking a dive in or a boat ride. Another fire was made and the last of the s’mores were made, and sitting around the fire we sang songs, including a few canons. Then it was time to clean up and prepare for the drive back to New Jersey.

I hope that all the participants enjoyed the retreat as much as I did. Thank you, Janet, for so graciously offering your home to us! Without this, it would not possible to have such a wonderful retreat every other year!

I am looking forward to see all the women again at our next meeting! Once again, mark your agendas for Oct 17th after worship.

This year, Janet has graciously invited the women to come back to the lake house for a retreat. We have settled on the theme of FIRE as it appears in the Bible in several places. So expect to the sing some fiery songs, maybe have a fiery bite of food, or something to eat to cool of all that fire, or a splash in the lake to cool off!

We are planning on singing, swimming, boating, making music, sitting by the fire, devotions, working on a sewing project for shawls. All in all a fun and spirit filled 24 hours. The idea is to arrive in the second half of the afternoon at the lake house on Friday, September 24th. We will leave again before dinner on Saturday. If you would like to attend, please let Erie know so that we can plan for the meals. That way we probably can arrange for car pools as well, so not everybody has to drive.

The Women are still collecting bottles of shampoo and conditioner for House of Manna. We hope to give them the collection soon, so leave your donations in the basket in the Randolph Room before September 20th please!

As mentioned above, shawls are still being made by women of the church for those in need of something to hug and give them a little boost! Or if someone is celebrating a milestone in their lives, like getting a baby, getting married, those are great examples of people who also can receive a prayer shawl. We have a few shawls that can be given out and at the retreat we are planning on making a few quilted ones. If you know of anybody who could benefit from a shawl, please let Erie know!

On August 6th, we will watch the movie Home at Last – a movie about homelessness in the United States. Gary and Lauren Bernhofer will be hosting us. Again we will start at 7:00 p.m.and bring a dessert to share.

Please save the dates of September 24th and 25th for our annual retreat. We are looking to go away overnight this time. Activities and studies will all relate to the theme Fire. We will start with dinner on Friday and have some activities around a real fire. On Saturday we will have more on the agenda. Please let Erie know if you are planning on coming. We have two locations for the retreat and are still working out the details.

We announce the actual location in the coming weeks.

Our first regular fall meeting will be on October 10th. That is the second Sunday of the month. We decided to change to this Sunday so more people may be able to attend our meetings. As always all women of the congregation are welcome!

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.