barbarafox – Page 24 – Princeton UMC Blog

August 22, 2016October 6, 2020

Warming up to music: Tom Shelton

lorie photo — Tom Shelton, PUMC children’s choir director, tapes PUMC choristers for his webinar.

Tom Shelton, director of children’s and youth choirs at Princeton United Methodist Church and assistant professor at Westminster Choir College. will present a nationally broadcast webinar on Thursday, August 25, at noon for the Choristers Guild, a church music publisher, on Effective Teaching Techniques for Working with Children’s Choirs.

To prepare the webinar he invited members of the choir to join him in the music room last week. Here is how they “warmed up.”

And here is how Tom uses the Dalcroze Method to teach rhythm:

Looks like fun, doesn’t it! EVERY child is invited to join the PUMC Children’s Choirs. Participation is free, all are welcome.

Tom Shelton invites children and parents to a Children’s Choir open house at the church, Nassau at Vandeventer, on Wednesday, September 7. Kindergarten and first grade come at 4:30 p.m., second through fifth graders at 5:30 p.m.

Youth from grades 6 to 12 are invited to an open house for the Youth Choir, led by Tom Shelton, at Princeton United Methodist Church, Nassau at Vandeventer, on Sunday, September 11 at 5 p.m. Parking is free on Sundays; for parking information click here. Email Tom@PrincetonUMC.org or call 609-924-2613.

August 20, 2016October 6, 2020

Sing with Us: Meet the Children

Introducing singers from PUMC’s Children’s Choir!

Tom Shelton, director of children’s and youth choirs at Princeton United Methodist Church and assistant professor at Westminster Choir College. presented a nationally broadcast webinar on Thursday, August 25, at noon for the Choristers Guild, a church music publisher. To prepare the webinar he invited members of the choir to join him in the music room last week.

A sought-after conductor, educator, and composer, Shelton welcomes everyone to his choirs at PUMC; there is no audition and no participation fee. On Wednesday, September 7, Tom Shelton invites children and parents to a Children’s Choir open house at the church, Nassau at Vandeventer, on Wednesday, September 7. Kindergarten and first grade come at 4:30 p.m., second through fifth graders at 5:30 p.m. Youth from grades 6 to 12 are invited to an open house for the Youth Choir, on Sunday, September 11 at 5 p.m. Parking is free on Sundays; for parking information click here. Email Tom@PrincetonUMC.org or call 609-924-2613.

With bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Shelton is assistant professor of sacred music at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and president elect of the American Choral Directors Association. He has conducted ‘all state” and festival choirs in 20 states and abroad, including at Carnegie Hall.

Through music of the Christian faith, PUMC choristers learn good singing techniques and music theory; they participate in worship monthly, present a musical in the spring, and sing at special services throughout the year.

Here’s an example of how they learn:

August 20, 2016August 31, 2016

Sing with Us! Open house September 7

Watch a master teacher at work! See and hear the Children’s Choir from Princeton United Methodist Church in rehearsal. This clip — warming up their voices — was filmed by Tom Shelton for a national webinar he’ll give on August 25.

Please share this with families you know: Tom Shelton offers an introductory session on Wednesday, September 7, at 4:30 p.m. (kindergarten and first grade) and at 5:30 p.m. (second through fifth grade). The open house for youth (grades 6-12) is Sunday, September 11, 5 p.m. Shelton teaches the youngest children, ages three and four, during their Sunday School class. Parking information here. For info, call 609-924-2613 or email Tom@princetonumc.org.

A sought-after conductor, educator, and composer, Tom Shelton welcomes everyone to his choirs at PUMC; there is no audition and no participation fee. Through music of the Christian faith, PUMC choristers learn good singing techniques and music theory; they participate in worship monthly, present a musical in the spring, and sing at special services throughout the year.

Here’s a great example of how music education develops singers’ minds:

Do you know a child who could love music? Invite them to PUMC’s choirs!

August 15, 2016August 22, 2016

Sermon: Telling Our Stories

Our lives are ‘storied’ together as people who will be remembered, and who will act by faith, said Erik “Skitch” Matson in his August 14, 2016 sermon ‘The Stories We Tell.” it was based on a lectionary reading, Hebrews 11:20-12:2.

“By faith” was the often repeated catch phrase in this passage, which recounts story after story — from the Exodus to Jericho and the sufferings of the prophets.

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ²fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith,” says Hebrews.

“Narrative is the scaffolding of experience,” said Matson. Let’s use Jesus as the lens, the eyeglass, with which we interpret our stories.”

August 13, 2016October 6, 2020

Erik ‘Skitch’ Matson on ‘Stories We Tell’

Erik ‘Skitch’ Matson — our new youth pastor — will be in the pulpit on Sunday, August 14, to preach, based on Hebrews 11:29-12:2. His topic is “The Stories We Tell” so here is his biographical story, in his own words:

“Prior to coming to Princeton Seminary, I spent 5 years working with youth in San Diego, CA, and am grateful to lead in this role again. I was born and raised in northern California but headed south to Point Loma Nazarene University for a B.S. in Physics. It was during this time that God pulled my heart towards ministry, and I haven’t looked back since. I enjoy listening to and playing music, exploring the great outdoors, playing sports, and reading a good book. I also enjoy being around young adults, which fits nicely into the second part of my two-point charge as the Director of the Methodist college ministry at Princeton University, the Wesley Foundation.”

August 8, 2016October 6, 2020

Summer Sharing: ‘The East and West in Me’

So far this summer, in Summer Sharing sessions after church, Barbara MacGuigan has spoken on her anthropology adventure, and Paul Manulik and Lindsay Diehl have told about their music mission to Haiti.

Summer Sharing continues with Jamileh “Jamie” Gerber on Sunday, August 14 at 11:15 a.m.in Fellowship Hall. Born in Iran, Jamie has worked around the world from Tehran to Trenton, from South Carolina to Spain.

Jamie grew up as a Christian in Iran, where most of the people, including her grandparents, were Muslims. In the early 1930s her father was befriended by Christian missionaries who arranged for his eye disease to be treated in Tehran. “It was his Damascus moment,” says Jamie. She remembers that, following the teachings of Jesus, he brought people into their home from all backgrounds and religions.

Jamie went to college in Beirut and worked in the royal palace, leaving Iran for a year to earn a master’s degree in instructional technology from Indiana University. One of her favorite jobs at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) was to help newly literate rural farmers read how to improve their agricultural methods. In 1979 she and her family survived the revolution. Jamie moved with her husband and two children to a Spanish fishing village on the Mediterranean Sea, and she found work teaching in an international school.

When Jamie moved to Princeton in 1983, she joined our church. She earned her Master of Library Service at Rutgers and worked at the Princeton University Library and at the state labor department. Then she left town to be an associate professor at Bloomfield College. Remembering Princeton and PUMC fondly, she moved back here and rejoined the church this spring. Her topic: “The East and the West in Me.”

July 31, 2016October 6, 2020

Hear Rev. ‘Buster’ Soaries at the chamber lunch

2016 august soaries

A noted faith leader — Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. — will speak at the Princeton Regional Chamber Lunch on Thursday, August 11 at 11:30 a.m. at the Forrestal Marriott. The senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, he is a former New Jersey Secretary of State and the author of “Breaking Free from Financial Slavery,” published by Zondervan.

Princeton United Methodist Church belongs to the chamber, so any of us can go for a reduced ticket price ($50). Register as a church representative. For the networking, bring your own business cards as well as brochures or cards from the church.

July 29, 2016October 6, 2020

Making a Difference: Not in Our Town

niot%2520logo-2

Not in Our Town Princeton (NIOT) welcomes newcomers to its monthly sessions at Princeton Public Library in the Community Room. An introduction to “Continuing Conversations on Race and White Privilege” is at 6:45 p.m. and the dialogues start at 7 p.m. Our church supports NIOT, which aims “to create a safe and welcoming atmosphere in which everyone will feel respected and have their stories listened to and really heard. We are motivated to explore our own privilege and biases and to continue to learn and grow by hearing each other’s stories, so that we can best make a difference.”

Before the Continuing Conversation on Monday, August 1, there will also be a social hour with refreshments starting at 6:15 p.m. For the following month, the Continuing Conversation will be Tuesday, September 6.

2016 august niot 2014 b — Spin the wheel, answer a question, get a prize

Community Night Out is Tuesday, August 2. If you go to Princeton’s celebration, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Community Park Pool, visit the ‘fortune wheel’ made by PUMC member Tim Ewer. Spin the wheel to answer a question and get a prize. It is part of National Night Out when people across the country gather at their homes, on their streets, and at their local community centers to help strengthen the partnership between the community and police. It is hosted by the Princeton Police Department, PBA Local #130, and the Princeton Recreation Department. Admission to the pool that night is free to Princeton residents. Outside the pool there will be rock climbing, demonstrations of emergency equipment, a demonstration by K-9 Harris, inflatable games, and more. Join the fun!

July 23, 2016October 6, 2020

Blue Thumb Drives to Welcome Visitors

2016 august bag story cropped

Welcome folks to our church with the new blue visitor bags! Each has a thumb drive — with the church logo and address — and a postcard of our Tiffany window, plus a visitor’s guide to Princeton. Thanks to T.J. Mortensen for the thumb drives and bags!