Missions – Page 20 – Princeton UMC Blog

March 6, 2016October 6, 2020

UMM Breakfast: Prison Ministries: The Petey Green Program

2016 3 umm fortson in sweater

United Methodist Men’s Breakfast

Speaker: Walter Fortson, The Petey Greene Program
Date: March 13, 8 am

Walter Fortson is the public relations and special projects manager of the Petey Greene Prison Assistance Program, which has its national headquarters here in Princeton. It aims to be the largest volunteer program behind bars in the country that offers in-class high-quality tutoring and resources for all incarcerated students working toward their GED or high school diploma.

An inmate at Albert Wagner Correctional Facility in Bordentown works towards his GED in weekly sessions under the guidance of a Princeton University student tutor as part of the Petey Greene Prison Assistance Program.

2016 3 umm volunteers cropped

Upon his own release from prison in 2010, and through the Mountainview Project – a special program geared toward helping formerly incarcerated students go to college – Walter Fortson was admitted to Rutgers University. In June of 2013, he completed his Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology with minors in Biology and Psychology – graduating magna cum laude. In 2012, Fortson was the recipient of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship – a national award that recognizes the country’s student-leaders in public service. In 2013, he worked as a research associate with the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, D.C, evaluating alternatives to parole revocations in Maryland. He recently earned a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge.
Everyone is invited to enjoy a hot and tasty breakfast. A $5 donation is requested. Next month, April 10, Carl Clark will talk about Urban Promise Trenton.

February 15, 2016October 6, 2020

Represent Christ in the Marketplace

2016 feb karen at chamber best — Karen Longo-Baldwin, left, with Dr. Patty Fagin at a recent chamber breakfast

Because PUMC belongs to the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, church members get discounts on events like those held by the Young Professionals Group, Women in Business Alliance, Technology Business Alliance, and Independent Business Alliance.

This month Debra Vizzi speaks about the Community Foodbank of New Jersey at a breakfast at the Nassau Club on Wednesday, February 17, at 8 am (come earlier for networking). She is CEO of the state’s largest anti-hunger and anti-poverty organization, which employs some 200 people. Register as a member of PUMC for $25 at www.princetonchamber.org. You can bring your own business cards as well as brochures from the church and Cornerstone Community Kitchen

February 13, 2016October 6, 2020

Valentine Treats: yummy breakfast, young voices

This is the Sunday for another yummy breakfast, prepared by the United Methodist Men. We’ll hear how polio has almost been stamped out around the world. Another treat: the children’s choir will sing, directed by Tom Shelton. (Yes, these pictures were taken in warmer weather! (Also mark your calendars for February 28, Youth Sunday, when the kids join the Youth Choir to sing at both services.)

Our sermon series for Lent: “I AM”. Each Sunday in Lent, we will examine who Jesus is (the Light of the World, the True Vine, the Good Shepherd, the Way the Truth the Life, and more). As we examine who Jesus is we will reflect on how that informs we who are as Christians.

February 9, 2016October 6, 2020

Thursdays: Journaling through Lent

image by Marc Romanelli via Getty Images, from Huffington Post — Photo by Marc Romanelli via Getty Images, from Huffington Post

Betsy Arnold will lead a “Journaling through Lent” group on Thursdays, 11:30 to 12:30, in the conference room of the church. “Journaling is a very personal process and we will be exploring different ways to enjoy this spiritual practice,” she says. “Please bring any thoughts, ideas, books, and techniques to share with the group. You will also need some type of journal or tablet of paper and your favorite pen. We will be doing some writing during our hour together.”

Intrigued? Check out this Huffington Post article about journaling as a tool for changing one’s life.

Betsy and her husband Bill moved to West Windsor last year; they have three children, one still in high school. Betsy graduated from Emory University and, earlier in her career, was a social worker. Now a published author, she is hard at work on Book III in the Tapestry series, a series of young adult historical fantasy novels set in medieval times.

To join the journaling group, or for more information, call 609-924-2613 or email office@PrincetonUMC.org.

February 9, 2016October 6, 2020

A heart-y breakfast on 2/14

Polio was a dreaded disease for those who grew up in the ’40s and ’50s, and even in the 1980s the world saw about 1,000 cases a day. Join us for breakfast on Sunday, February 14, at 8 am, when Dr. Julie Ann Juliano speaks how Rotary clubs around the world are fighting to eradicate polio. Sponsored by the United Methodist Men but open to all, the tasty hot breakfast, with all the trimmings, will be in Fellowship Hall. A $5 donation is requested.
A native of Queens, Dr. Juliano graduated from New York University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and did her internship at the RWJ University Hospital (Somerset). Since 1992 she has been active in the Rotary Club of Branchburg and she served as district governor. She and her husband have three daughters, and she was active in Girl Scouts for 13 years . Board certified in family medicine, she has a private practice in Branchburg, New Jersey.
The Rotary Club of Princeton meets on Tuesdays at 12:15 at the Nassau Club; it is part of an interfaith and international organization that has helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. In 1988 Rotary joined three organizations (WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Now, every dollar is being matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A member of Princeton Rotary, architect and Rotarian Ahmed Azmy went with his wife Nadia to work as part of a vaccination team in Pakistan. The disease is still alive in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

February 9, 2016October 6, 2020

Endless buckets of love

P1070383 cindy pray — Prayer at Children’s Time. “There’s always another bucket.”

P1070391 up steps — Middle-schoolers get ready to take ‘buckets of God’s love’ down the aisles, collecting today’s offering.

God offers endless buckets of love — that was Lay Minister Cindy Gordon’s message on Sunday (2/7/2016), at Children’s Time. For a photo essay, click here.

February 8, 2016October 6, 2020

Ashes to Go: February 10

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
This year our pastoral staff will again be offering Ashes to Go to busy Princeton community members. From 9:30 to 11:30 am we will gather outside our church on Nassau Street and offer ashes to those who are unable to visit church on Ash Wednesday, February 10, reminding them of the start of this holy Lenten season. For our traditional Ash Wednesday services, Scott Sherrill will preach at noon and Jana Purkis-Brash at 7:30 p.m.

February 4, 2016October 6, 2020

Holy Communion February 7

2016 feb communion from Oct This Sunday, the first Sunday in February, we will observe Holy Communion. JJ Flag will preach. As part of the last in the series of “Healthy Spirituality: Inside Out” he will tie it all together. At the 9:30 service, Cindy Gordon will give the Children’s Sermon, and Tom Shelton will direct the Youth Choir.

February 3, 2016October 6, 2020

Sunday Learning

Two adult classes are offered on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Both welcome ‘drop ins’ at any time.

The Heart of our Faith class is studying the book of James. says Don Brash, Theologian in Residence at PUMC. New this year — Don will be joined by Bill Arnold as co-leader of the class, known for its lively discussions from divergent points of view.

Meeting 2016 feb essays in the library, the Contemporary Issues class is reading a book of essays, The Givenness of Things, by Marilynne Robinson, who won the Pulitzer for her novel Gilead. According to the publisher, the book “investigates how the work of the great thinkers of the past, Calvin, Locke, Bonhoeffer–and Shakespeare–can infuse our lives, and calls attention to the rise of the self-declared elite in American religious and political life.” For the New York Times review, click here.

Other study groups that welcome drop ins: The United Methodist Men on Tuesday nights, the Monday Morning Group on Monday mornings.

January 22, 2016October 6, 2020

Hands On in Christ’s Service

7 P1010809 — 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