SAYING GOODBYE

Phoebe Quaynor, our Director of Children’s Ministries, has been with us for about three years and is leaving Princeton UMC at the end of this month to pursue a Ph.D. at Penn State University. Phoebe has been a blessing to our Children’s Ministries, Sunday School,  our teachers, and most of all, our children. On Monday, June 10, 2019, Staff Parish Relations Committee organized a dinner for Phoebe at Amalfi’s Restaurant in Lawrenceville. Phoebe enjoyed the camaraderie, and everyone had a wonderful time on that rainy Monday evening. Pastor Ginny praised Phoebe for her remarkable energy and all that she achieved at Princeton UMC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During worship in church on Sunday, June 16, Pastor Jenny acknowledged Phoebe, who was standing together with the children, and presented her with the gift of a prayer shawl. The congregation offered their prayers and blessings. At the special Coffee Hour held on Sunday to celebrate Phoebe, Pastor Skitch thanked her for her leadership as Director of Children’s Ministries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Princeton UMC has also recently said farewell to other active members who have served our church family faithfully and have just recently left our congregation for a new home.

Richard and Cindy Gordon relocating to Maryland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Bernard and Karin Brouwer moved to Florida

 

They have all in diverse ways greatly contributed to Princeton UMC. Though we are sad to see them leave our church, yet we are happy for them to continue on their life’s journey.  Our prayers go with them as they pursue their different paths. The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8)

Written by Isabella Dougan

 

Sermon “Come, Holy Spirit! Make us Resilient”

On Trinity Sunday, June 16, 2019, Pastor Jennifer Smith-Walz preached on the topic “Come Holy Spirit!  Make Us Resilient” from the sermon series “Revealing Resurrection.” Her sermon is based on the scripture reading “Peace and Hope” from  Romans 5:1-5.  

Pastor Jenny pointed out that people have many different responses to suffering, given that there are many kinds of people, different types of struggle, and many different circumstances. Some feel undone by their plight, others nurture a sense of victimhood; still, others feel shame, which leads to depression. She believes that the best option is to face our suffering, hold steady, grow more alive, wise, and hopeful.

She noted that we are suffering because of our faith in Jesus Christ and we should not get stuck in the suffering, introducing us to Luther Smith’s words “There are places in the human heart that do not yet exist. Then suffering enters in to brings them to life.”  She observed that suffering is the Holy Spirit moving in us and through us. Pain creates patience, which builds character, which produces hope. Hope then brings peace because, through the Holy Spirit, God has poured love into our hearts.

Paul teaching in the Roman Catholic Church expounded on suffering and the church’s response to it. Pain leads to endurance, and we must exhibit patience, which will build up our character for peace and hope. He tells us that suffering is something that all Christians are called to expect. The pain will come, especially if we follow Christ who gave himself up for us, suffered under Pontus Pilate, crucified, dead and buried. We are called to take up our cross and follow Jesus.  Even though we know it,  we sometimes go to great lengths to avoid suffering or make up all kinds of excuses for our own struggle and that of others. Paul tells us we shouldn’t. 

Up to 50% of our population has experienced some trauma in our homes, in school, in battle, in our churches.  Suffering can be physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental. Many people don’t talk about it. They simply don’t trust anyone, especially the church, to believe them. And so they find themselves in a world of the walking-wounded – alone, stuck, ashamed, depressed, hopeless. How then do we handle suffering when something happens to us? The church’s response is to rejoice in our sufferings.  

Paul encourages us not to waste the pain or struggle. In Peter L. Steinke’s words,  “We waste suffering if we gloss over, deny, avoid or neglect its message . . .  If however, we can learn from pain, it is not wasted, but a source of life and health.”  People ask, “How is pain a source of life and health when we are under assault?” Pastor Jenny gives four responses:  “When pain comes, denial and avoidance are a waste. We must either (1) look around for help – from God and/or from our community; (2) fight, (3) take flight from the struggle, or (4) go numb.

Paul’s message is that we must be immersed in God and in our community so that when suffering happens, we can look around and see our tribe and continue to see God’s love poured into our hearts as a gift from the Holy Spirit.  Our community does not deny or avoid suffering. It is full of people willing to share in our struggle or bond with one another. We should practice calling on God to receive the Holy Spirit, which makes us brave, brings us together, and opens us to one another so that when suffering comes, the Holy Spirit is already in us. And when we can’t see the other side when we feel afraid, shame or despair, we must remind ourselves that the Holy Spirit will overcome, and we can share burdens with and for one another. Paul promised us that the Holy Spirit will help us in our suffering. Pastor Jenny is, therefore, encouraging us to heed Paul’s promise and call on the Holy Spirit to make us resilient.

 Can we feel the Holy Spirit moving within us, pouring unconditional, eternal, everlasting love on us?  If we feel it, Pastor Jenny invites us to take time to share with someone how the Holy Spirit is working in our life. If we can’t handle it, we must still talk to someone. This Holy Spirit fosters love, faith, and trust.

At the close of the sermon, Pastor Jenny invited Larry Apperson to share his story with the congregation of how he overcame suffering.  Looking back on his life, Larry remembered one snowy night in Princeton, many years ago, when he cooked lots of soup and brought it to our church, wanting to feed hungry people in the area. After setting the tables and putting up the signs outside, he waited hours for people to show up, but no one came. For a long time, Larry suffered enormously from this disappointment. He had this great idea, but he couldn’t get it done.  Yet, he could not let it go. Ten years passed, several things happened. Then, with the arrival of a new pastor, things started to change. One phone call from a church that needed food daily. . . . And so the Princeton Cornerstone Community Kitchen Princeton Cornerstone Community Kitchen at Princeton UMC was born. Cornerstone Community Kitchen served its first meal on June 6, 2012, and in partnership with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) have since served 30,000 meals.  In Larry’s mind, he thought he had failed, but the Holy Spirit saw that this was a good idea and was telling him not to give it up.  Full of hope, endurance, patience, and not avoiding suffering, Larry has received God’s love through the Holy Spirit poured into his heart and overflowed to others.

 

 The sermon is podcast on this webpage under the category “worship.” Here is the link

For the complete video of the June 19 service, found on Princeton United Methodist Church Facebook page, click here.

 

Coffee With The Pastors

Got questions? If you would like to know more about Princeton UMC, you are invited to Coffee with the Pastors in Room 204 on Sunday, June 23, 2019, after worship service at 11:30 a.m. We also want to get to know you better.  Psalm 34:3 says, “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.”

If you want to explore joining this congregation, a small group will meet starting in the Fall.

Sermon “Revealing Resurrection:A Surprising Party”

On Sunday, June 9, 2019, Pastor Jenny Smith Walz preached on the topic “Revealing Resurrection: A Surprising Party.” Her sermon is based on the scripture reading ‘The Coming of the Holy Spirit’ from Acts 2: 1-21

She reminded us that the first Pentecost happened 50 days after the Resurrection and 10 days after the Ascension of Jesus Christ. The Jews were gathered from all over the land for the Festival of the Harvest and the Torah. The party was powerful and wild. While they were praying, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus’ apostles and others, and they found themselves speaking in different languages.  The entire community of Christians was made up of 120 people, but all present received the Holy Spirit without discrimination. Although everyone would have spoken Greek, the Galilean Jews found themselves speaking languages they didn’t know – those of the immigrant Jews.  Every language was made available to all. You could see the bewildered look on their faces. The native language was the language of the heart.        

In illustrating the scripture,  Pastor Jenny used  Brennan Manning‘s famous quotation, “The gospel is absurd, and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe. . . .  This, my friend, is what it means to be a real Christian.” She stated that it was time for our own Pentecost. We need to hear and understand each other across all divides. The Holy Spirit is calling for inclusiveness, and diversity, especially now in the midst of the most segregated time in our country. 

Listen to Pastor Jenny as she calls us to attention: “The Holy Spirit is moving here. Can you feel it?” The Holy Spirit wants to do more, to show God’s mighty deeds, power, and love inside and beyond Princeton UMC. What are we doing to allow Pentecost to happen in us today?

The sermon is podcast on this webpage under the category “worship.” Here is the link

For the complete video of the June 9 service, found on Princeton United Methodist Church Facebook page, click here.  

Sermon “Revealing Resurrection: An Ironic Escape”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, June 2, 2019, Pastor Jenny Smith Walz preached on the theme “Revealing Resurrection: An Ironic Escape.” Her sermon is based on the scripture reading ‘Paul and Silas in Prison’ from Acts 16:16-34. 

To illustrate the scripture,  she asked the children during Children’s Time if they had opened doors before: “What happened when you opened doors? What did you see on the other side?” Listen to their answers as you watch the video of the service on Princeton UMC Facebook page.

Pastor Jenny is captivated by this compelling story, told in the scripture, of a demon-possessed fortune-telling slave girl, possessed by her slave owners with their wealth and power, healing, exorcism, mobs, state jailer’s duty, midnight hymn-singing from the prison stocks, earthquakes, doors opening, prison break-ups, conversion, and finally baptism. At the end of it all, we are left with many questions and healthy skepticism.

As part of her message, she tells us that revealing resurrection is all about freedom – personal freedom, freedom of the mind. Yet there are different understandings of freedom, many of which are about seeking for self without regard for the impact on others. What then does freedom mean for us Christians?

How have you experienced doors opening, being unchained, unbound, be who you were created to be?  How have you overcome systems of oppression, poverty, sin, shame, addiction, cycles of abuse, or fear?

Looking at the broad sweep of the scripture as it relates to the life of Christ, freedom is big, complex, subversive, and world-changing. It is good news to the poor, release to captives, sight to the blind, resisting evil and injustice, deliverance from sin.

The jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul and Simon replied,  Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” He was speaking about Jesus, who helped others and gave them hope. Their response permits us to open doors, to see beyond this moment, beyond oneself to something only God can make happen.

Listen to Pastor Jenny as she invites us to hear for ourselves how God is opening doors for us. She reminds us that we too are capable of doing that.  Where is God freeing us? Where is he inviting us to walk through an open door? How are we opening doors for others? What now? Take some time to tell others how God has opened doors for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sermon is podcast on this webpage under the category “worship.” Here is the link

For the complete video of the June 2 service, found on Princeton United Methodist Church Facebook page, click here.  

Congratulations To Pastor Ginny Cetuk

Congratulations to Pastor Ginny on her 45 years of service in the body of Christ. It is the life she is called to live.

Congratulatios also to Princeton UMC for getting Pastor Ginny to stay on in the category of ‘retired pastor’ for one more year. We pray for God’s guidance and strength for her.

During Coffee Hour, after the worship service on Sunday June 2, 2019, SPRC Chair Iona Harding joyfully told her”We are thankful that at this time in your career you are here with us.” She thanked Norman Cetuk for bringing the cake for his lovely wife.

Written by Isabella Dougan

Sermon “Revealing Resurrection: An Amazing Detour”.

On Sunday, May 12, 2019, Pastor Jenny Smith Walz and  Youth Choir Director Tom Shelton presented a worship service with the theme “Revealing Resurrection: An Amazing Detour.” Selections from Broadway musicals by Stephen Schwartz illustrated the sermon. 

To illustrate the scripture from Acts 16:9-15, the Youth Choir sang “God Help the Outcasts.” Here is the song, not from the youth choir, but the movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

As part of her message, Pastor Jenny tells us that, “God has given me a vision and has brought resurrection in me. I have experienced renewal and healing and a new opening to God’s spirit. I have been able to see, and I hope that together, we can learn to see even more how God is giving us a vision.  We can  see how God is helping us to perceive a new reality, not only to see the outcasts among us, but also to see how we too are outcasts in need of God’s grace, how God is blessing us over and over.” 

She hopes, “God is giving each of us a vision that helps to move us from places of fear to places of trust.”

Listen to Pastor Jenny as she encourages us to be open to the miracles and the visions that are right here before us. 

Here is a link to the podcast of Pastor Jenny’s sermon

For the complete video of the May 12 service, found on Princeton United Methodist Church Facebook page,  click here.  

Princeton United Methodist Church Seeking Director of Children’s Ministries

Princeton United Methodist Church BuildingPrinceton United Methodist Church in Princeton, NJ is seeking a part-time Director of Children Ministries to plan and lead the children’s programs, including the Sunday School program that helps the children of our diverse and welcoming congregation grow together in faith, fellowship, and discipleship.  The successful candidate for this position must be able to articulate her/his spiritual journey in the Christian faith, be able to teach and assist both children and teachers in doing the same, and help our children begin the quest for continued spiritual growth across their lifespan.

Requirements for this position include a minimum of a Bachelors’ Degree in an education or ministry-related field, active involvement in a church for at least ten years, present or previous participation in a United Methodist congregation, and a minimum of three years involvement with or leadership of children’s ministry.  At least one year of seminary is preferred.  Interested candidates will submit a cover letter and resume to jobs@princetonumc.org with Director of Children’s Ministries in the subject line.

Written by Isabella Dougan

Farewell to Phoebe Quaynor, Director of Children’s Ministries at Princeton UMC

Congratulations to Phoebe Quaynor, who has been accepted at  Penn State University to pursue a Ph.D. program in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Postcolonial Children’s Literacy. She says, “her doctoral program would allow her to present and produce literature as a tool in restoring identity and dignity in places where there has been none, or there has been a deformation.”  

Phoebe has been Director Of Children’s Ministries here in Princeton UMC and will be leaving at the end of June. She has been such a blessing to our Children’s Ministries, Sunday School, our teachers and, most of all, our children.  She believes that any classroom is a site for transformation, not just for giving information, while adding, “My prayer is that parents and volunteer Sunday School teachers know that what they do each day, though not celebrated enough, is a response to God’s call to accompany a child on their spiritual journey.”  

Phoebe has also served as a seminary intern, confirmation instructor, worship leader, and guest preacher. She received her Master’s Degree in Divinity and Master of Arts in Christian Education from Princeton Theological Seminary.

We express our sincerest gratitude to her for the valuable skills and positive qualities she brought to Princeton UMC.

As we say farewell to Phoebe, we are proud that she has decided to pursue further postgraduate study. We wish her continued success throughout this new journey.

There will be a Special Coffee Hour to thank and celebrate Phoebe Quaynor on Sunday, June 16, 2019, immediately following Worship.

Written by Isabella Dougan  

Contemporary Issues New Topic, New Book – ‘Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists’

Starting Sunday, May 19, 2019, the Contemporary Issues class will be reading ‘Moral Clarity’ by Susan Neiman. 

According to its chair, Charles Phillips, “We chose this book because we wanted to discuss a contemporary philosopher’s thoughts on morality and compare them with our understanding of morality as based on our faith.” 

The introduction to this book, ‘Moral Clarity,’ stated: “Moral inquiry and political activism start where reasons are missing. When righteous people suffer, and wicked people flourish, we begin to ask why. Demands for moral clarity ring long, loud bells because it is something we are right to seek”.

Listen to Susan Neiman in her own words https://youtu.be/ABJSZk4HVvc 

The Contemporary Issues class meets on Sundays at 8:45 a.m. at the church library and precedes the 10:00 a.m. worship service so that attendees can benefit from both experiences

The subjects addressed are chosen by those who wish to attend, with a focus on issues that individuals, families, groups, and countries face in the world today. The group has lively discussions, and everyone can participate. 

All adults are welcome to join this weekly discussion group.

Written by Isabella Dougan