Category: Worship

Posted on

Fall Kickoff: Get Connected!

For its Fall Kickoff on September 10, Princeton United Methodist Church (PrincetonUMC) launches a new look  — new pastors and a new fall worship schedule. It will have one 10 a.m. service that will be ‘live-streamed’ on Facebook at PrincetonUMC. Trey Wince will preach, followed by a “Get Connected” reception. Wince and Dr. Virginia (Ginny) Cetuk have joined Erik (Skitch) Matson on the pastoral staff.

Earlier that day (8 a.m. breakfast) Ed Felten will speak about his days in the White House as Deputy Chief Technology Officer. After the service, in the coffee hour, there will be a Discipleship Fair – to learn about opportunities starting in September and October.  Adult education classes begin September 17 at 8:45 a.m.

Sunday School students will worship with their families before going to classes. Youth from grades 6 to 12 will be in the sanctuary for worship; they meet for dinner and youth group on Sunday at 6 p.m.

Traditional worship at PrincetonUMC features the Chancel Choir and the Bell Choir directed by Hyosang Park  and the Children’s and Youth Choirs directed by Tom Shelton, both accompanied by Christopher Williams, organist. For one Sunday per month (September 23), at an alternative worship service, a praise band will play.

A diverse congregation whose members come from many surrounding communities, backgrounds, and faith histories, PrincetonUMC is located at the corner of Nassau Street and Vandeventer Avenue. The church is wheelchair accessible and a nursery is available. For information, 609-924-2613 or http://www.princetonumc.org/

(This article is taken from a press release).

 

Posted on

Connect with Adult Classes

We’ll learn about new ways to connect with others and study our faith at the Fall Kickoff on September 10, but meanwhile here’s the news about the ongoing Sunday adult education classes. Both the Heart of Faith class and the Contemporary Issues class begin September 17, from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m.

The  Contemporary Issues class will meet in the Library. Charles Phillips will facilitate the discussion about the introduction to a book by Sendhil Mullainathan  and Eldar Shafir. “Scarcity” is described as “a surprising and intriguing examination of how scarcity—and our flawed responses to it—shapes our lives, our society, and our culture. Drawing on cutting-edge research from behavioral science and economics, Mullainathan and Shafir show that scarcity creates a similar psychology for everyone struggling to manage with less than they need.”  The book “provides a new way of understanding why the poor stay poor and the busy stay busy, and it reveals not only how scarcity leads us astray but also how individuals and organizations can better manage scarcity for greater satisfaction and success.”

Larry Apperson supervises the Heart of Faith Class, which meets in Fellowship Hall and will be taught by Larry (Lawrence) Curtis, a retired United Methodist pastor who served churches and as a district superintendent in northeastern New York and Vermont for over 40 years. He retired from Troy Conference but boundary changes mean he is now a member of the New England Conference . He and his wife Helen (a retired cardiology nurse), moved to New Jersey last year to be near their daughter who is a mathematics professor at the College of New Jersey. Their older daughter is a social worker at a Methodist children’s home in Macon, GA . Their son served as a pastor of inner-city churches and then became a Navy chaplain 10 years ago; he currently serves as chaplain for 300 marines in southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Posted on

Worship: August 23 10 a.m.

Here is the link to the live stream of the worship service on August 23. Thanks to Charles Hayes for managing this.

Starting at minute 18, Trey Wince preaches on John 10:1-16, titled “The Voice.” Among the favorite hymns – “All Creatures of Our God and King” and “The Lord’s My Shepherd I’ll Not Want.” Plus the Pickup Choir, directed by Hyosang Park, offers “All Things Bright and Beautiful” in a John Rutter arrangement. Anita Tong – who just celebrated her birthday 🎂and Skitch Matson are liturgists. Nancy Dawn Jones is the reader.

Viewers — the only part you can’t join us with is the coffee hour 😉 ,

Want to see previous Sundays? Here is August 13. It was managed by Robin and Caroline Birkel.

Posted on

From Pastor Ginny: ‘This is love’

Dear Friends,
Grace and Peace in the name of Jesus Christ! I just checked the Bible verse for the day on the Bible Gateway app on my phone. As usual, it seemed like a direct message from God.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14.

This verse has me thinking about what the word “heavenward” means. The usual definition is to be directed toward heaven, or the sky. But I always look to the poets to help me understand deep words like “heavenward.” I was not disappointed when I turned to my favorite poet, Rumi.
Rumi was a 13th-century Sunni Muslim poet, mystic, Islamic scholar and theologian. He lived from 1207 to 1273 but his words are timeless. He has been described as the “best selling poet” in the United States. I understand why. He says this about the word heavenward:
This is Love: to fly heavenward.

This fall we will again gather to celebrate our being back together after summer travels to camps, far away places, and vacations in our own back yards. On September 10 we will have the kickoff to our church year by gathering for exciting worship followed by opportunities to hear about the offerings in education for all ages – some of which are new this fall – along with service opportunities and activities for all ages.

(For the September 10 Rally Day and Discipleship Fair)… many of you will be called upon to help us get ready for this exciting event. Included in the day will be expressions of hospitality for everyone, both church members young and old and visitors to the church. In addition, we will ask everyone to enter the church through the front door on Nassau Street. We’ll have coffee together in the yard, greet one another with the love of Christ, and extend our invitation to join us to passersby.

During my short time at PUMC I have felt the love of God in many ways: your gracious welcome to Trey and me; your affirmation of Skitch as part of the pastoral team; and your intentionality about living fully into your faith in Jesus Christ. Our time together on September 10 will be another opportunity for us to share the great love of God with each other and with visitors. When I think about our future together, Rumi’s words come
back to me. When we boil it all down, we are called to love with God’s love. And that, for me, is the best definition of heavenward I know.

This is Love: to fly heavenward! Are you ready to fly?
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Ginny

Posted on

Help build the on-ramp to discipleship: Trey Wince

“There is a lot going on in the life of our churches, but there is just not a sufficient on-ramp, for new visitors at least,” says Worship Pastor Trey Wince.  Here  in this video he tells how our church — and other churches — can help people  get on the path to discipleship

  1. Build the onramp.  Welcome and communicate in a way that easily conneTrey Wince PUMCcts people with your church. Set up ways to easily invite people, to clear away the traffic that gets in the way of people’s experience with God.
  2. Schedule merging lanes: opportunies for new people to learn what’s going on next in the church. Have regular meetings. Organic relationships develop.
  3. Build the highway: Have a clear path of discipleship so that your church is going somewhere on purpose. Clarify where we want to take people on a life of faith.

We start to build the on-ramp on Sunday, September 10, at 9 a.m. with coffee and lemonade on the lawn before 10 a.m. worship. And, after the service, a Discipleship Fair! 

 

Posted on

Sermon: Passing on a Legacy of Faith

“Passing on a Legacy of Faith,” sermon by Phoebe Lorraine Quaynor, Princeton United Methodist Church on Sunday, June 11, 2017 (Recognition Sunday) based on Exodus 3:1-6, and 9-10.

Today as a church family we celebrate all things education! We celebrate the passing down of truth from one generation to the other. We celebrate the custodians of this truth in our community. Whether science, theology or philosophy or math…it is TRUTH and graduation means somebody passed a body of knowledge  down to another. I stand here as one who has received much TRUTH and GRACE from this church family.

To continue, link here

 

Posted on

Handbells Ring on Sunday May 21

Handbell quartet: Hyosang Park, Bill Gardner, Curt Hillegas, Robert Scheffler. Photo by Charles Phillips

If you loved the handbell concert on May 7, here is good news.  The handbell quartet will play for both services on Sunday, May 21 (that’s the Sunday Rev. Don Brash will preach). Also that day Hyosang Park will give a solo concert at Hillsborough Reformed Church at 4 p.m. That’s Sunday, May 21, at 4 p.m.

If you have always wanted to try handbells, come to the “handbell open houses” after the Here is Hyosang Park’s bell solo “It’s a Wonderful World.”

And, on the Facebook page for Princeton UMC, here is the familiar Mallotte version of the Lord’s Prayer. 

Posted on

Learning from Children and Trees

 

Tom Shelton and the Children’s Choirs prepare to sing on Palm Sunday

The Children’s Choirs will present their musical, The Tale of Three Trees, on Sunday, April 23, at 9:30 and 11 a.m.  Written by Allen Pote and Tom Lang, and directed by Tom Shelton, this musical brings to life the traditional story of some trees with a dream and God with a plan.

The Youth Choir will present a series of skits, vignettes, solos, and anthems for Youth Sunday, April 30. Because of Communiversity there will be one service that day, at 9:30 a.m. Both choirs will reprise their musicals for Communiversity at 2 p.m.

The children’s musical follows the adventures of three trees — bringing to life the traditional story of some trees with a dream and God with a plan. The first tree dreams of holding great treasure; the second tree longs to become a mighty ship, and the third tree just wants to stay in the forest and point people to God. Told through story and song, the congregation is reminded that even when we can’t see the forest for the trees, there is no prayer that is too small for God.

It’s a good story but trees can’t possibly have social relationships, right? We grownups would scoff at that idea and say merely that this musical is an imaginative way to present Christian truths.

Yet in “The Hidden Life of Trees,” an international bestseller, forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers.

As we learn more about our world, we learn that God has amazing plans. We look forward to April 23, when the children will teach us about God.