Tag: volunteers

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Welcome back, Tom Lank

Welcome back to Rev. Tom Lank!  He and his family return to PUMC on Sunday, February 12 so that he can speak at the breakfast served by United Methodist Men. His topic: United Methodist Volunteers in Mission. He will also preach at both services, on the sermon series topic “Life in Community,” based on Deuteronomy 30:15-20 

Tom is a United Methodist Deacon and a product of Princeton UMC, where he discerned his call to ministry as a layperson, and served on staff as the Associate Pastor from 2008-2010.   Tom led the mission trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo  that launched PUMC’s strong support for United Front Against Riverblindness. He currently serves as the Coordinator of the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission program for the Northeastern Jurisdiction, covering United Methodist congregations from Maine to West Virginia to Washington, DC.  Tom, his wife Gretchen Boger, and their two children, Edith (11) and Alice (8) currently live in Philadelphia.

UMM cooks the tasty hot breakfast, and it’s not ‘just for guys.’ Everyone  is invited; a $5 donation is suggested.

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Hands On in Christ’s Service

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Cindy Bennett and Anne Fikaris were “hands on for Christ when they baked cookies for Womanspace

This is a personal post. In the several decades I’ve been at Princeton United Methodist Church, one of the congregational traits I value the most is an understanding attitude regarding personal schedules. We don’t play the blame game. If something comes up and you can’t do what you signed up to do, we’ll manage somehow. If you say you don’t have time to do a particular task, we won’t guilt you into doing it.

But perhaps we aren’t reaching everybody with the right message. The opportunity to be “hands on in Christ’s service” can be so exhilarating, even life changing. It’s just a matter of finding the square holes for the square pegs.  Maybe we aren’t being savvy about offering volunteer opportunities.

So I was intrigued by a post in the national United Methodist weekly digest: How to recruit volunteers when begging and badgering doesn’t work. And was delighted to find that at least one committee is already using one of the tips.

Take a look at the article (click here) and see what you think. If you think one of these strategies will work at PUMC, email the communications committee at communications@PrincetonUMC.

But how you are “hands on in Christ’s service” is up to you — and Jesus! We promise — you won’t have to take charge of your idea unless you want to!

Barbara Fox

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Help give homeless children the best summer ever!

SummerCamp2011

For homeless and vulnerable children in our community, summer often means facing dangerous streets, not having enough food to eat, suffering significant learning loss and missing out on lots of fun. Hard economic times have increased the number of families coming to HomeFront, for help….and they are turning to us.

Can you sponsor a homeless child for HomeFront’s camp program this summer?  One child, one week: $135. We will be gathering a special collection through June 1 to spread God’s love among the most vulnerable members of our immediate community.
Please make your check payable to Princeton UMC and enter: HomeFront Summer Camps in the memo line. Your gift will be collected and blessed with our regular offering.  Thank you for your generosity.

Other opportunities to serve the homeless families of Mercer County through HomeFront:
-volunteers age 17-25 are needed to staff summer camp
–volunteers of any age are needed for administrative help
-volunteers for HomeFront’s GED program: especially in math
-matching gift donations to renovate a large new housing facility
–donations: new linens, housewares, furniture, to equip transitional homes
-large freezer for donated food

To help, visit HomeFrontNJ.org or call 609-989-9417, x 107.