Youth Leaders for Service and Worship
Our young people will take leading roles in our church this weekend! On Saturday, March 29 at 6 p.m. they stage a fundraising dinner and auction for the Appalachia Service Project (ASP). Tickets for the March 29 dinner are $5, and all are welcome. Among the 
items on the auction block: condos in London, England and Key West, Florida. The ASP program welcomes all teens of all backgrounds, church members and non-church members alike, to participate in this life-changing experience.
On Sunday, March 30, at 9:30 and 11 a.m., three graduating seniors — Alexander Birkel, Daniel Prakash, and Anthony Teng — will deliver the sermon. Their topic in the Landscape of Lent series is “Mud.”
Sunday Schoolers from second grade on up will attend the 9:30 worship service. After all — soon it will be their turn to lead a Youth Sunday!
Then on the Thursday before Easter, April 17, at 7:30 p.m., the youth choir and a string quartet will present Faure’s Messe Basse for the service of Upper Room Communion.
Come and support our youth!
Jeremy Lin: Christian ballplayer — October 11
Mo Chen invites everyone to see Linsanity, the documentary about Jeremy Lin on Friday, October 11, at 7 and 9 p.m. at the Garden Theatre. Even the most casual basketball fan knows the story of Jeremy Lin, as he and his New York Knick teammates created one dramatic win after another in a season that seemed to be going nowhere. Lin is known as a committed Christian.
The Princeton Area Alumni Association (PA3) in association with the Asian American Alumni Association of Princeton (A4P) sponsor these two showings, which may be the only two in New Jersey. Tickets must be purchased in advance online. Tickets are $15 and $7.50 for students.
Bill Fairbanks: Doing the Hard Thing
Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash challenged the congregation, on Sunday, in her sermon “Fitting In or Becoming Fit.” Taking the spiritual gifts passage from I Corinthians 12, she helped us remember times when we had play the part we didn’t want to play, when we wanted to “fit in.”
“Pressure squashes our particular gifts,” she warned.”To fit in, we hide away what God has given us to be gifts to others. Do the hard things,” she urged. Don’t “put a basket over your light.” Don’t resist the very things that make us uniquely situated to help others and work for good. “We have choices,” said Jana, “to simply fit in or become fit. May God bless us as we choose to do the hard thing.”
She cited how Nancy Brinker pushed uphill to make sense of her sister’s death by cancer. You may not know Nancy, but you will recognize the name of her sister, Susan G. Komen, and the millions of dollars raised in her name to combat breast cancer.
Jana offered an excerpt from Do Hard Things” A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, by Alex and Brett Harris, two young men who challenge young Christians:
- Do things outside your comfort zone
- Do things that go beyond what is required
- Do things too big to accomplish alone — organize a team
- Do things that don’t earn an immediate payoff, but that are the right thing to d
- Do things that don’t fit in
As if to illustrate, some of us met a couple who are living those rules, going outside their comfort zone, doing something that doesn’t fit in. They joined us at the All Church Picnic. Bill Fairbanks-– a cultural anthropologist from California — is walking across the United States, just “to do it.” He’s gotten as far as Princeton, en route to Boston. His wife, Carol, drops him off in the morning and picks him up at night. They show us that anyone of any age can take up a challenge.
May God bless us as we choose to do the hard thing.
Pictured above, Reggie C speaking with the Fairbanks at the church picnic.
Step Right Up and Spin the Wheel
Though it was 100 degrees in the shade, PUMC’s Growth Committee took its message “Help Us to Help Others” to the Princeton Regional Chamber’s “Plaza Palooza” networking event on July 16. From 4 to 7 p.m. at the Princeton Public Library’s Hinds Plaza, folks “spun the wheel” at the PUMC table.
This was the third year that PUMC’s wooden wheel, crafted by Tim Ewer, had a workout at the chamber’s mid-summer marketing expo. Local businesses (hotels, restaurants, contractors, laywers) gave out all kinds of free stuff, plus a limited number of nonprofit members of the chamber (such as Morven, State Theatre, and Habitat for Humanity) were represented.
Iona Harding prepared the wheel this year to include six charities that the church supports: Womanspace, Crisis Ministry, Appalachia Service Project, Cornerstone Community Kitchen, and United Front Against Riverblindness, with its sister organization, Women of Abundance. Also staffing the table were Elsie McKee (from Women of Abundance and UFAR), Lindsey Donaldson, and yours truly.
The wheel makes satisfying clicks, and we took the role of carnival shills. “Step right up and spin the wheel,” we called, “wherever it stops, there’s where your money goes.” We told the spinners about the charity they “won” and they were invited to contribute $1 to it. If it stopped on “Free Gift” they chose from the basket of UFAR T-shirts, cute fabric purses made by FEBA, UFAR bookmarks made by Susan Lidstone, or a bar of chocolate. Everybody went away with a brochure about the charity they “won.” Kids got to spin for free and choose one of the beautiful bookmarks.
We met lots of folks we knew, made many new friends — and were heartened that lots of them already knew about UFAR and Cornerstone Community Kitchen. The word is getting out there!
Barbara Fox
PS: The Growth Committee can use volunteers — as Greeters and as Poster Put-er-upers — and more!. Talk to Iona.
Appalachia Service Project (ASP)
The Appalachia Service Project, also known as ASP, is a Christian volunteer organization founded in 1969, to repair homes of low-income families. They live in central Appalachia in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The primary goal is to make homes safer and more comfortable for their residents. It’s an 8-week summer program open to all volunteers.
The Princeton United Methodist Church has participated in this ministry since the mid-1970s. Every year we send a team of high school students and adult leaders the beginning of July to help needy families. Volunteers are not restricted to just our church members. We welcome all to participate.
While the trip takes place in summer, planning begins a year ahead, basically after the previous group returns. Meetings start in October the year before, so those interested can get informed and start raising funds for the trip.
Each participant must pay for the rental of vans that are the mode of transportation, lodging at a facility like a school, meals, and materials to repair the homes. Fundraising helps offset the costs, and is great for early team building.
Teens participate for a number of reasons. No matter the objective, their journey returns them as changed young adults. The experience is unparalleled, just based on their personal growth. And as a bonus, sophomores can use some of the time spent toward hours needed for community service (check with individual schools). Of course, adult leaders are also transformed.
The first meeting was last weekend, but it’s not too late to sign up. If you’re interested, please contact PUMC by email office@princetonumc.org or call 609-924-2613 for more information. You can sign up with a friend or family member, and remember, you don’t need to be a member of our church, or any church to participate.
Go to our Flickr album for more ASP 2012 photos.
ASP Team Finds Power in the Connection
Kudos to Bonsack UMC and Pastor Tim Tate and his team for rescuing our ASP volunteers whose travel plans were hijacked by the violent weather! Eventually the team was able to make their way to the Mullens, WV site, which we understand has power and A/C. We probably won’t hear from the team for a bit since there is neither cell service nor internet at the site. For the time being – no news is good news!
Getting Ready to GO!
The 2012 ASP team will meet at PUMC at 8:00am Saturday, 6/30, to head off to Appalachia. First, we’ll make a stop in Roanoke, VA, for the night.
Join the ASP Journey from your computer
It’s almost time for the ASP team to load up and head out for their summer mission work. This year the team is planning on providing blog updates from the road as time and Internet/Data Service is available. Check back here for updates.
To find out more information about Appalachia Service Project (ASP) goto www.asphome.org.
Youth Choirs Present “Children of Eden” for Mother’s Day Service
