Click on link above to download this month’s newsletter listing all of our upcoming events…
Bridges at the Shore: Bridges will be going to Red Bank, Keansburg and Freehold on Friday evening Jan 20th to hand out clothing, blankets, food, toiletries and conversation to low income neighbors. We’ll be sorting clothing on Thursday, Jan 19th at 6pm in the church sanctuary. The group goes every 3rd Friday. Contact Kathy Logan, if you can help: bridgesattheshore@hotmail.com.
Adult Education Planning Winter – Spring 2012
Bible Study – 1st Letter of Peter – after church on Sundays Jan 8, 15 and 22
Alex Haines, seminarian from Princeton Theological, will be offering a three-part Bible study focusing on the 1st letter of Peter: its meaning, history, and vision. The group will meet at about 11:30am in the Parish Office. Grab a cup of coffee and join in the discussion and learning.
How do we know God? Tuesday evening Bible Study 7-8pm – January 24 – Feb. 14 in the church office. Rev. Rusty will be leading an evening Bible Study utilizing a Kergyma curriculum focusing on ways we know God in the bible and in our own prayer lives. Come for all four sessions or just one or two…The class will be for just one hour and will include study and prayer.
Singing the Unsung by John Bell – a Lenten study: Sundays after church beginning on Feb. 26th. This is a DVD resource that speaks of the meaning of music in worship and in our lives, and seeks the revitalization of worship for the 21st century. John Bell is the music director of the Iona Community in Scotland, which is a retreat and worship center in an ancient monastery built in the 7th century by St. Columba on the Scottish coast. Our Minister of Music, Susan Davies Muhler, will be leading this discussion.
Space For Grace – Lent – Our popular evening “Space 4 Grace” program will be held during Lent: at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings: Feb. 29th to April 4th. These evening gatherings are a mix of worship and discussion, bible study and prayer, culminating in a gathering around the table to share Holy Communion.
Bright & Early Worship Celebration 8:15am on Sundays
All are welcome for an early start on Sunday mornings. In a small group, we’ll enjoy moving music, a meaningful sermon and prayers, and then share Holy Communion together. Feel free to stop in. Or come to our 10am service – with full choir and Sunday School!
Mission One – This November our church will be participating in the national United Church of Christ initiative called “Mission One.” Here is the description from the UCC.org website:
“In a nutshell, ‘One united church on a shared mission for 11 powerful days to feed the hungry and confront food-related injustice’ is the centerpiece of this major push that we are launching today,” the Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, the UCC’s general minister and president, told United Church News. “If you’ve ever yearned for the whole UCC to walk hand in hand to achieve a common goal, this is the answer to that prayer.”
Affirmed unanimously by the UCC’s 90-member Executive Council, meeting March 17-19 at the Church House in Cleveland, “Mission: 1″ — as the campaign will be called — plays on the prevalence of the number “1″ in the Nov. 1-11, 2011, timeframe and calls for three overarching goals:
- In the 11 days, the United Church of Christ will collect more than 1 million items of healthy food and other household items for local food banks and outreach services.
- In the 11 days, the United Church of Christ will make an extra-special push to gather online contribution of more than $111,111 for Neighbors in Need, offerings that will be shared for hunger-action purposes with agencies of justice and compassion throughout the United States.
- In the 11 days, the United Church of Christ will offer more than 11,111 letters to Congress asking the government to reform U.S. foreign assistance in a way that more effectively benefits hungry and poor people worldwide, helping to provide a major final push to Bread for the World’s 2011 “Offering of Letters” campaign.
Our own church’s focus will be on supporting our local food pantries and soup kitchens, as well as helping Bread for the World’s “Offering of Letters” to affect lasting change. You will hear more as we get closer….
Bright & Early Worship Service, 8:15 am on Sundays – If you’d like an early start to your Sunday, or if you’d prefer a simpler, shorter service with communion each Sunday, come and try it out!