Author: barbarafox

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Walks and Talks on Race re Mike Brown

The Princeton community will host a parade and rally on Saturday, August 23, 2 to 4 p.m. “to insist on Justice for Mike Brown and to share our common grief, dismay, anger, and our commitment to future change.”

Not in Our Town (NIOT) Princeton, in partnership with the Princeton Public Library, will host a special session of Continuing Conversations on Race on Thursday, August 28, 7 to 9 p.m. PUMC belongs to NIOT.

Also responding to the events in Ferguson, the UMC’s Greater New Jersey Conference will hold a “Just in Time” conversation about race on Saturday, August 30, 9 to 3:30 p.m. at Turning Point United Methodist Church, 15 South Broad Street, Trenton. Free but registration required, call Dr. Vanessa Wilson, 609-388-8852

Re Saturday’s rally: All are invited to join in solidarity and determination to fight for “equality and justice for all”—the words we say when we recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
DATE: Saturday, August 23
TIME: 2-4 p.m.
PLACE: Gather at 2 PM at Tiger Park (with the bronze tiger!), Nassau Street, just up from Palmer Square, Princeton—from where we will march peaceably along Nassau Street and Witherspoon Street to Hinds Plaza next to the Princeton Public Library
HINDS PLAZA: speeches, demonstrations of solidarity, cries for justice, songs and poems as you wish; each individual should probably keep remarks to 3 minutes
SIGNAGE/PLACARDS: If you bring a sign to the parade and rally, it should use language FOR justice, healing, and (radical) reform, and NOT “against the police” (we have an outstanding police department in Princeton which has worked long and hard the last couple of years to build much better relationships through their community/walk/bike the streets methods, not just sitting in patrol cars.) Signs should not be on poles and should be lettered so as to be visible from the street.
Say the organizers: Never again (we have said so many times) and now we must say it again, mean it, and live the words.

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Webinars for Christian Educators

For Christian educators –Sunday School teachers and parents — here is a link to online resources provided by Parish Resource Center, Long Island West.

Potential courses include Called to Teach: An Online Course for Sunday School Teachers, September 15 – October 6, 2014.

Then there are webinars that can be heard any time after the air date.

Teaching and Ministering to Tweens
Thursday, November 6, 2014
7 pm to 8 pm EST

Working with Exceptional Children: ADHD and the Autism Spectrum
Thursday, September 4, 2014
7 pm to 8 pm EDT

Focusing on the True Meaning of Christmas with Children
Thursday, October 2, 2014
7 pm to 8 pm EDT

Equipping Families to Teach the Faith to Their Children
Thursday, December 4, 2014
7 pm to 8 pm EST

To get an email with complete info on the webinars, ask Anna@princetonumc.org. Most webinars cost $10 and the Christian Education committee budget can help with the cost.

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Trenton as a Mission Field

All United Methodist Women are invited to Turning Point United Methodist Church in Trenton next Sat., Aug 16th from 12-3 p.m. for an open house and BBQ for “friends” of the church. UMW and PUMC have been supporting Turning Point’s many efforts in reaching out to their community. We are invited to come and see the work that is being done there.

“We have a great story to tell,” say the organizers.”Come hear about what we are doing, and how others can join in to transform Trenton.”

There will be a Video Presentation of Point Ministries, a Tour of Church Facilities, and the chance to Meet and Greet Ministry leaders and Participants.

Contact Anne F through the church office for directions or carpooling information.

Also needed: a basic sewing machine for a family in need. If anyone has an older machine, contact Anne through office@princetonumc.org

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Step forward with your talents

SUMMER SUNDAY ARCHIVE

Step forward with your talents! Richard G did that, 22 years ago, when he wrote a series of plays about Bible stories for “Summer Sundays.” Now this program is an integral and much-loved staple of the Christian education program at PUMC.

Kids love it. Who wouldn’t? Older children get to dress up in costumes (we have a fabulous costume stash) and use their thespian talents. They don’t have to memorize lines — they read through the script once on Sunday morning and then they perform it. Young ones do a craft that relates to the play and then get to watch the play. Plus, of course, refreshments.

Going by the maxim that we learn 10 percent of what we hear and 80 percent of what we experience, these thespians surely will remember these Bible stories. Some 50 skits are rotated from year to year. This year’s focus is on women in the Bible: Queen Esther, Miriam (Moses’ sister and prophetess), Ruth, and Mary Magdalene. Also — King Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, Jesus and the Demon Pig, The Christmas Donkey (a donkey who accompanied the Kings through the desert) and a new one, yet to be written, about Peter in prison.

The cast changes weekly, of course, due to family vacation schedules. Richard officially ‘retired’ from active duty three years ago, and this year’s Summer Sunday supervisors, Ed F and Andrew H, with help from Ian G, contact each prospective thespian every week, so they have a cast list in mind. Walk-ins and visiting children are encouraged. Just bring your ready-to-read child or visitor to Rooms 204/205 at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, now through August 24.

Meanwhile, young children and older kids who aren’t in the play come to Room 202 for crafts, creatively devised in the early years by Cindy G and then Laura F to coordinate with the Bible story. Then, during her freshman and sophomore years in high school, as part of earning her Girl Scout Gold Award, Elizabeth T designed the crafts to echo a wide variety of Bible stories and ran the program when Laura wasn’t there. Now Elizabeth is assembling a catalog of the plays.

What can be more fun than dressing up and acting out? Or of watching your child do it? Hint: parent volunteers welcomed and needed! Helping in the craft room at Summer Sundays is a perfect volunteer opportunity, a one-week-at-a-time commitment and there’s rarely any prep required. We’d love to give our long-time regular teachers a summer break! The signup sheet is on the bulletin board next to the Library.

When you ask Richard about how he used his talents for Christ’s service, he is self-effacing, downplaying his role, saying it was a family project, with the four of them (Cindy and the now-grown Heather and Rory) doing craft cut-outs in front of the TV and making suggestions on the stories. “”Peggy Fullman asked me once where I get the ideas. I told her I honestly don’t know; when I need an idea, it pops up. Peggy said I’m letting God in, and what comes out is His, slightly filtered through a mortal brain. I’ll go with that.”

Surely the rest of us are harboring unused talent and abilities. What talent or idea is God filtering through our mortal brains?

This article appears in the August newsletter. Above, an archival photo. Below, picture taken by Charles P a couple of Sundays ago.

current Summer Sunday

 

 

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Meet the Neals at VBS

Neal Family

Meet Josiah — Mercy — Wes — and Jerusha! Vacation Bible School students will have the chance to make friends with children who live 8,000 miles away. In our evening program entitled “Can You Hear Me Now? God Calls Kids Too!” preschool children through incoming 6th graders will meet — through videos — a missionary family working in Fiji. Set for Tuesday to Thursday, July 29 to 31, 5:30 to 8 p.m., the VBS program is free by registration. Dinner is included, and parents are invited to stay.

Twelve-year-old Mercy Neal and her eight-year-old brother, Josiah, are moving from their home in Belleville, New Jersey to Fiji, an island in the South Pacific. Their parents — Rev. Wesley Neal and Rev. Jerusha Neal, both graduates of Princeton Theological Seminary — will teach at a seminary there.

“The children and youth of Princeton UMC will be writing to Mercy and Josiah, and they will also support the Neal family with prayer and fund raising,” says Anna Gillette, associate pastor for discipleship. “VBS children will hear Bible stories about God calls children into discipleship.” Crafts, music, mission projects and games will tie the week’s theme together.

For information or to register — or sign up to help — call 609-924-2613 or email Anna@princetonumc.org.

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Sally: Proclaiming the peace of God

IMG_3369Catherine Williams gave the inspiring message at the funeral for Sally Ross on Monday, April 28. Here is the text of her sermon, based in part on Sally’s obituary and on Psalm 139.

At one point Catherine quoted the obituary, “Sally was committed to building a supportive church community. She was an active member of the PUMC, sang soprano for the choir, served on numerous committees, assisted with countless fundraisers and did practically everything but preach.”

It is this last phrase – did practically everything but preach – that I find interesting. I am a currently a third year doctoral student of Homiletics (preaching) at Princeton seminary, and one of the things I have constantly wrestled with in my study is a working definition of preaching that I find satisfactory.

I’m thinking of this dictum that has been dubiously attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi that says, “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”  On that basis, I do think that Sally did a little preaching herself.

But there’s one other message Sally preached that quilters and crafters may comprehend more easily. Again Psalm 139 is my reference point because the Psalmist speaks of a God who is involved in the details of our lives. The Psalmist reflects, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.”

It was as though the Psalmist could see God leaning over a masterpiece, working with deft, nimble hands to create a unique, one-of-a-kind person – right from the womb. Anyone of the unique, one-of-a-kind quilts or handmade shawls and garments made by Sally is a picture that paints a thousand words of God’s intimate, creative involvement in our lives and indeed in the world.

Yes, I would contend that Sally did everything in church, including a little preaching. She may have found this notion hilarious, but she did. She proclaimed the unconditional love of God through her friendships. She proclaimed the wisdom of God through her timely counsel. She proclaimed the steadfastness of God through her persistence and resilience in her fight with cancer. She proclaimed the peace of God, even in her dying….

For the complete text, click here.

 

 

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In honor of Sally Ross

Anna Looney gave one of the tributes to Sally Ross, buried today. Here is a link to the obituary. Anna began with quotes from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expery:

“But if you tame me,” said the fox to the Little Prince, “then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world….”

The Little Prince said to the pilot,“Of course I’ll hurt you. Of course you’ll hurt me. Of course we will hurt each other. But this is the very condition of existence. To become spring, means accepting the risk of winter. To become presence, means accepting the risk of absence.”

At this moment, as we come together to remember and celebrate Sally, I’m conscious of how words fail us at this time of heart-breaking loss. We struggle to speak of her courage and love, not knowing how we will carry on without her.

So many people have shown their love for Sally Ross. Her beautiful obituary stated Sally’s deeply held value: “being there for your loved ones is the most important thing you can do.” This was Sally through and through: Sally was there for Charles, Andrew, Claire and Grace. She was there for friends and neighbors. She was unfailingly generous with her time, her attention and her presence even in the difficult years of dealing with cancer. Sally did not complain or check out when her health was challenged; I can’t recall one time when she begged off a request to help or a chance to do something kind for someone else. Sally never showed self-pity for the hard hand she was dealt.

By being present, Sally was an inspiration. Just a couple weeks ago, I asked her how she coped, having such a cheerful attitude, and she replied that each of us has this day, this present time, no guarantees. She said it so matter-of-factly.

Sally lived the fullest and best life possible, with absolute grace and true beauty.

Charles has said Sally was his perfect complement: cheerful and upbeat no matter what challenges life threw at them. I found Sally brought the same kind of positive attitude to all of us. Yet she was not a Pollyanna; Sally was a strong woman with a voice, opinions and a keen mind. We talked over life’s hard knocks and injustices, as well as our own foibles and silliness, all within a framework of genuine affection, humor and the benefits of age.

I cannot begin to describe how many ways Sally’s friendship blessed me and enriched my life. Most recently, Sally inspired me to try quilting. When I dreamed up a crazy plan of making a Christmas present quilt for my daughter, Sally helped me in every step —- showing me with patience and support how to do it, while step by step the sheets and batting were turned into a bed cover that was precisely what they wanted. (Seriously, she shocked and amazed me when she boldly took her scissors to expensive fabric, making necessary cuts required by the process, when she took the huge thing home and sewed it up, then together we chalked the quilting grid, both of us crawling around on the floor with pins and yardsticks to mark off the squares.)

At our New Year’s Eve party, Sally talked about the history of quilting and showed examples of quilts she’s made. Her beautiful handiwork caused us collectively to catch our breaths. Shortly afterwards, Sally taught me my first steps in quilting – a craft that I will continue, always with thoughts of Sally.

In fact, Sally’s quilting skills were another embodiment of her inner person. Through her kindness, warmth, and loving hospitality, Sally brought people together.Just as she had an eye for placing fabric into a master design, Sally brought people together around their table, in her living room, in her lovely back yard…. Sally made everyone feel included, loved and important.

What Sally did with fabrics, she also did with people in her life: weaving odd bits into a beautiful design that brought out the best in everyone and every thing.

I cannot begin to express how deeply I will miss Sally. Not having her physically present in my life is something I cannot fathom right now…She is indeed ‘our beloved Sally.’

Sally inspired me to be a better person through her friendship and example. I’m sure I speak for many here today that herlegacy inspires usto greater kindness and presence, to more intentional generosity and patience, to authentic loving service and commitment, and to divine grace and beauty.

Like the works of art her quilts are, Sally has created a life well-lived, full to the brim, bursting with color andsuffused with meaning. As her life and friendship have been a wonderful blessing to me – and to all of us, her impact will never leave us.

Like the Little Prince said to the pilot, when we look at the stars, we will think of our relationship. Sally is present in our hearts always. I am reminded again of James Taylor’s song – “Shower the people you love with love; show them the way you feel.”

In honor and celebration of our beloved Sally, let us be present today to each other. Let us shower the people we love with love. Let us find ways to connect with each other like beautiful patchwork quilts.

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Stand Against Racism: April 25

Everyone is invited to the 7th annual Stand Against Racism on Friday, April 25, from 5:45 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hinds Plaza, by the Princeton Public Library. Participants will make a pledge and sign a banner.

There will be music and messages, followed by a discussion inside the community room at the library. This event has been arranged by the Princeton YWCA and the Princeton Human Services Commission and it is co-sponsored by Not in Our Town and its member congregations. So come on out to this inspiring community event!

This event was originally announced to begin at 6:30 p.m. but everyone is encouraged to come when they can, leave when they must.