Tuesday was September 1st! Allegedly Fall is upon us and the school schedule begins!! Alas, this Fall will not be like previous years! It has been a strange and unusual time over the past six months leading up to September 2020. The rhythm of our spring and summer life has been disrupted by coronavirus. As […]
ONLINE COMMUNION The Session of the Presbyterian Church has approved online communion for Sunday, July 5 and Sunday, August 2. As this is a new way of celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, please review the document below as you prepare your heart, mind and worship space for this sacred meal with the congregation […]
Quarantine, Stay at Home, Social Distancing, Wear a Mask, Black Lives Matter, George Floyd, Stock market Drops, Defund the Police, Virtual Worship, Zoom meetings, Monuments Virtual classrooms, Stage One moving into Stage Two, and the New Normal. Who would have thought the last four months would have brought us all of these issues? The […]
I hope you are doing well and will have a blessed week! I am writing you in regard to the eventual reopening of the Presbyterian Church at Woodbury,and how we will cautiously proceed when the state of New Jersey givespermission for gatherings of more than ten people. Our first priority is to the health and […]
Pretzels come in many flavors, shapes, and sizes — not unlike us. These treats are great for cheese or other dips or just by themselves. But have you stopped to consider they actually have a historical place in Lent? If you take a moment to look at the typical twist pretzel, you can see that […]
The church staff is currently reading a book by Ron Byars entitled, Believer on Sunday, Atheist by Thursday. The title comes from a sermon by Lutheran pastor, Ron Luckey that talked about the struggle of living his Christian faith during the week. It has been a thoughtful read about how we might grow in our […]
Psalm 100 is a Psalm of Thanksgiving that invites all lands to praise God: 1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his;[a] we […]
What is “Christmas”? It is three words: GOD IN FLESH; or four syllables: IN-CARNAT-TION. The Gospel according to John (1:14) tells us, “The Word became flesh and lived among us… full of grace and truth.” Christmas proclaims that God has come in flesh, has come “to save us all from Satan’s power.” Christmas celebrates far […]
On Sunday, November 4th, Rev. Ellie Johns-Kelley preached for our annual stewardship commitment Sunday. During her sermon, she challenged us to give in a PERSONALLY MEANINGFUL way. Each member of the church would need to determine what that meant. Ellie gave the example of her sister taking the daily money she would spend at Starbucks and donate that to her church above her regular pledge. […]
I have several friends who serve in the United Methodist Church and each year they offer a commissioning prayer for Christian service in a specific ministry. It reminds the members of the congregation that they are called to service and every follower of Jesus is to be about the mission of our Savior. The prayer from the UMC Book of Worship: Dear […]