From the category archives:
Sunday, Aug 8th – at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary with a testimonial to Marie Washington for her many years of Christian service.
Sunday, Aug 29th – at 10:00 a.m. Collegiate Churches Outdoor Worship at the Van Wickle House including a potluck picnic. Bring your own folding chair.
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By Margaret Coakley and Erie Beemsterboer
For a number of years now, the men of the church take over the kitchen on the morning of Mother’s Day. They come in and prepare all different kinds of delicious food for everyone. One year, we had pancakes of all different ethnic backgrounds; last year, the eggs were cooked to order.
This year, Gary Bernhofer is organizing this event again. Breakfast will be served from 9:30 a.m. If you want to help or supply any kind of food, please let Gary know or email him at JRTPals@aol.com.
There will be a basket for donations; this year the donation will go to the Worship and Music committee to help offset the programs and activities they organize.
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By Margaret Coakley and Erie Beemsterboer
As we are writing this, we are in the middle of our Lenten time. The Adult Education class, Living Your Faith in a Messed Up World, has had its challenges, as we all do at one time or the other. Once it had to be cancelled due to the snow, another week it was very wet and windy, once it had to be postponed because of Ted’s funeral service. But most classes have been very well attended, and even though we have not been able to make it to one of the classes, we have heard nice reports about it.
Nature has been rough on us the last couple of weeks, and so getting to church was not always so easy. But the weather did not deter people from coming to hear the Bell Choir play a beautiful piece on Mar 14th. Since so many could not hear, we are planning on playing it again some time.
By the time you receive this, the Easter plans are all complete. Like last year, the Bell Choir will play a piece during the service and the choir will sing beautiful songs to mark this important holiday.
If you have any questions or suggestions for the Worship and Music committee, our next meeting with the Christian Education and SNAP committee is planned for Apr 11th, and another meeting for ‘just’ the Worship committee is on the agenda for May 23rd. Please feel free to approach Margaret or Erie and your concern will be put on the agenda.
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submitted by: Margaret Coakley and Erie Beemsterboer
This month in worship we have several Lenten series and services taking place. We started the Lent season with a collegiate service. This year it was our turn to host Second Reformed Church, Suydam Street Reformed Church and Highland Park Reformed Church. The service was very moving with the imposition of ashes, hand washing and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Following it was a delicious Feast of Sausages which people enjoyed.
An Adult Education class series is being offered on all Fridays of Lent. The series will be led by Pastor Hartmut and held on Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. at various church members’ homes. The theme is Living Our Faith in a Messed-Up World. On Feb 19th, the series started at house of the Pastors. On the following dates, the families mentioned will host the next session. All are welcome to attend any of these.
Feb 26th – the Feketes
Mar 5th, the Waanders
Mar 12th, the Vande Buntes
Mar 19th, the Novacks
Mar 26th, the Hances
We thank all of these generous people to open their houses for these classes.
Like last year on Maundy Thursday, there will be a Seder meal followed by a Tenebrae Worship service. This service was very well received last year, and I know people are looking forward to having this service again. See the article about this elsewhere in the newsletter. And the first Sunday of April we will celebrate Easter. Again special elements for the service are planned.
Looking further ahead on the calender: For our annual Rally Sunday in September, we are working on something really special. It will be a full weekend of special events. The dates to put on your calendar are Sep 11th and 12th. We will host Lorraine Nelson-Wolf in a Song Gift Weekend. More details will be announced later.
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Last year, we celebrated a special dinner on Maundy Thursday. Dinner was served in the sanctuary at tables set for a “Seder-like” meal. In fact, we did follow a shortened version of a Seder, with a few additions including an altered form of the Lord’s Supper. Following dinner, we entered the pews and concluded with a Tenebrae worship, which reminded us of Jesus’ death on the cross. The whole experience in this form was incredibly moving; thus, the Invitation & Outreach Committee along with the Worship Committee plan to celebrate Maundy Thursday again in such a way.
Please mark your calendar for Apr 1st, 7:00 p.m. The Seder meal menu will include lamb, rice pilaf, greens, various Seder foods, dessert and beverages. A vegetarian dish will also be available. Since Ethel Salamone is “The Chef”, we know that the meal will be delicious. The cost of the meal is $10 per person and $30 for a family.
Reservations will be required since we have to set up tables in the sanctuary and need to plan out the number of seats. There will be a sign up sheet in Fellowship Hall, with a cut off date of Mar 21st. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask Ethel Salamone or Joan Fekete for more information.
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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
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The worship committee is looking forward to a meaningful Lenten period and Easter season. Not all the details are completely planned as I write this, but many thoughts and special plans are in the works. Please mark in your calendar Feb 17th for Ash Wednesday. This year we will be hosting this service for the collegiate churches (which include Highland Park, Second, and Suydam Street Reformed Churches). This worship service is always moving with the imposition of ashes, hand washing, and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Of course, I would be remiss in forgetting to announce the Feast of Sausages following the Ash Wednesday Services. That’s an evening you don’t want to miss.
A deeply moving Seder meal, like the one we held last year, is once again planned for Maundy Thursday. We will begin to collect reservations soon. This meal is then followed by a Tenebrae Worship during which we remember our Lord Jesus’ death on the cross. More information about this meal will follow in March.
As flu season is still around us, we have to be careful to not spread germs. In order to help this along, there are wipes and hand sanitizers available in the back of the church for you to use.
At our last meeting, we also talked about the Lunchtime Recitals. The spring season is coming soon, and we are preparing for it, even though the State of New Jersey has announced that it will be freezing all grants for arts events. So keep an eye out for the announcements of the dates and performers, and any call to help us celebrate this ministry for the New Brunswick Livingston School music classes and the elderly who are served through this outreach program.
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