September 2018 Hilltopics - Amazon S3... · 2018-09-01 · Page 2, September 2018 - Hilltopics mapped character and attitudes that are vital to who I am and I, in turn, allowed him

MESSAGE FROM OUR PASTOR… I am sitting in a park on a gorgeous day and I am riveted. I can’t take my eyes off children playing with such joy and abandon. My guess is they are around the ages of 4 or 5. The attention of these young ones is captured by a simple, cylindrical shaped yellow balloon. Off to the side, mom fills the balloon with an air pump and releases it into the air. The balloon then flies around high above them dancing and wiggling with great speed until all spent it finally dives toward the ground. Each child of course wants to be the first one to grab it up before it lands but the exact path of the balloon is always such a challenging, delightful, and unrepeatable mystery. As for me, I’m left smiling both outside and in. Have you ever found such sheer happiness in something so very simple? Life easily becomes complicated. As we begin to move from summer into fall, and our schedules get filled up once again, perhaps we think more and more about what we want to get done and how many things we can fit into a day. Yet, how dangerous it is to forget about the joy in the simple! While there is so much pressure and temptation to think that more “doing” is necessarily better, we know it’s not. Quantity and quality have never automatically gone hand in hand. There is that old saying about the importance of stopping and smelling the roses. Sometimes well-worn clichés drive home an important point. I mean, there is no guarantee those roses will be around when you finally find the time to enjoy them, right? The old Shaker tune Simple Gifts has always been a favorite of mine.

‘Tis the gift to be simple’ tis the gift to be free, ‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

I hope this September you will always carve out enough space in life to enable you to know the joy of what is so very simple to experience: human connecting and friendships…beauty in the natural world…worship at church…moments of quiet and stillness… Maybe you can make this a year ‘round possibility? Please let us know how we can support you in your quest. We are all for it! Faithfully Yours, Barbara

OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL PROGRAM BEGINS SEPTEMBER 16TH

Please mark your calendars now!

GRIEF RECOVERY GROUP FORMING, INFORMATION MEETING SEPTEMBER 17, 2PM

A new daytime Grief Recovery Group is forming. There will be an information session about it, Monday, September 17th at 2PM. The fall group will last 8 weeks and begins Monday, October 1st, 2PM. It will be facilitated by Barbara who is a trained Grief Recovery Specialist. If you would like to attend the information session, and/or are interested in the Grief Recovery Group, please let Barbara know. Also, please pass this information on to anyone who you feel might be interested.

Remember, when you experience loss, people say you have to let go and go on with your life, but they don’t tell you how. The Grief Recovery Method Support Group experience teaches you how to recover from loss with supportive guidance every step of the way. Remember, time alone will not heal your broken heart.

SEPTEMBER 29TH BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS… We love our pets! Mark you calendars now for this year’s Blessing of the Animals Service. It will be on Saturday, September 29th at 4:00pm. If you don’t have a live pet, stuffed “pets” are welcome! Please help us get the word out to pet lovers everywhere. This is a wonderful way to celebrate all of God’s creatures. Won’t you join us on the front lawn of the church? In case of rain, we will hold our Blessing of the Animals in the church narthex. A MESSAGE FROM OUR YOUTH DIRECTOR… Grow Together Coming this fall Picture something with me if you will: a local family, the breadwinner has a good job, they have a nice house, all the kids have their own room, each room filled with all the resources and technology needed to succeed academically. To make sure they are well rounded, each child is enrolled in a number of teams or clubs that give them exercise, teamwork, and social interaction. They have a nice SUV that can be used by a parent to transport children and any participants in the carpool to wherever they need to go. The family calendar is well organized and the children are provided nutritious meals and snacks for their many activities. They have even managed to clear calendar space for an annual vacation to have time as a family somewhere fun and make sure they connect with grandparents and extended family on birthdays and Christmas. Would you say that family has got everything going right?

Maybe at first read you see the kind of family that many of our families are striving to be. It seems like a family with everything and kids who have been provided with every opportunity. But from a spiritual perspective, the family above is missing one vital component: each other. While of course we strive to provide all we can to make our family as excellent as we can, what truly makes a difference in our children, and the family as a whole, is the relationships we build. In my time as a youth minister I meet many families that expend a great deal of energy and resources providing what is believed to be important and missing what is truly important. We as humans thrive on what we learn as we grow together. Becoming is far more than knowing my ABC’s. We learn how to be human from how we interact with the people in our family first. They are our first community. We learn kindness, patience, wisdom, grace, responsibility, and a ton of other traits that are central to becoming all God made us to become. My grandfather taught me to fish, but reflecting on it as an adult, I realize that what I learned was way beyond fishing. I spent hours fishing with my grandfather, watching what kind of man he was, hearing his stories and telling mine. My young mind

HILLTOPICS – SEPTEMBER 2018 WILSON MEMORIAL UNION CHURCH WATCHUNG, NJ 07069 (908) 755-5020

www.wilsonmemorialchurch.org Email: [email protected]

Page 2, September 2018 - Hilltopics mapped character and attitudes that are vital to who I am and I, in turn, allowed him to know the last generation he would know and get a glimpse of the future and a patience with my developing self. On my shoulder is even a bluebird tattoo that mimics the one he wore on his shoulder as a testament that his life was permanently written on my soul. It was inefficient time. I could have been on a team or taking some kind of class, but instead I spent hours in a trout stream becoming more than I could have ever have become and allowing him to do the same. We need each other. The church sometimes behaves like my imaginary family above. We think it’s about having the most amazing facility and programs for all ages and tastes and we spend our resources accordingly. But if we are honest, we spend very little time with anyone outside of our immediate circle. We think we are doing Church with our one hour a week (a month?) but never take the time to cultivate vibrant and committed Christian relationships. We cannot be surprised that our membership tends to drift away if we think church is anything other than being committed to each other. We need to grow together if we are going to grow at all. This past year we formed an Intergenerational Ministry Team that has been working to create the best avenues for growing together as a congregation. Our flagship ministry is something we are calling, simply, GROW TOGETHER. We have done our research and found that we can create something once a month on an early Saturday evening that brings people of all ages and backgrounds together for a meal, worship, creativity, and learning. Dates for our Grow Together Gatherings will be October 13, November 10, December 1, January 12, February 2, March 2, and April 6.   We plan to launch in October, so look for the Registration booth in September! Growing together is vital to our health and survival as a church and to the depth and vibrancy of our Christian life…regardless of age. Please consider joining one of our “lunch table” families (more on that later) and help us make Wilson the place God intends it to be. Get your Backpack Blessed! Join us on our all family service September 9th and our Backpack Blessing! Everyone who is starting the school year can bring their backpack and have a special blessing said just for them! School can be intense and we want to send everyone into the new year the right way! It will be an all family service so that all ages can connect with joy, a good dose of humor, and the right lesson to take back to school! That is September 9th in our morning service. Come meet Daniel in Sunday School September 16th! We have a new but familiar face to join our Sunday School and family ministry team! Thomas Henry has been hired to help us primarily in our Sunday school ministry but he will be a regular presence in many things we do. He has already proven to be a friend of Wilson’s families and you will see his reports showing up here next month. But for now, we invite all of our children to join us for the launch of our Sunday school year as we take kids on a journey to ancient Babylon as they learn courage and faith in God though the story of Daniel! It all starts September 16th!

Kindness Trail Grand Opening We are so grateful to our community partners who have worked with us to forge a community trail in our back lot. The Boy Scouts blazed the trail last year and this year the Shpunders and the Girl Scouts, led by the Wighard family, have done a mind-bending job of putting some beautiful finishing touches on our trail. It is ready for the grand opening! Join us Sunday, September 23rd, for a special service and coffee hour to dedicate this gift to our church and community! Blessings Michael A MESSAGE FROM OUR BOARD PRESIDENT… “If you’re working on something you care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you” – Steve Jobs Wilson has been growing and changing! Some changes are minor, other changes are really obvious; we have lost a few trees, others had to be cut down because they were unsafe. Gardens are being planted or spruced up. Some items are not glamorous (the sump pit water now runs away from the building instead of towards it and all emergency lighting has been brought up to code), the Sanctuary sound system is in process of getting a much needed upgrade, while other changes bring a smile to your face. Please visit the Kindness Trail that the Wighard family along with Girl Scouts have built off the back parking lot – what a treat for the soul (those lost trees went to woodchips for the pathway)! Another Scout project is the new Wilson Memorial History Room, located in the last room on the right of the Sunday School wing. This room will be the place where we can collect and showplace our church history and memorabilia. I would love to find a team of folks to help collect and organize for the new displays. One of the old wooden church signs has been made into a wonderful table that can be used to lay out books or photographs. We have had many joys this summer, (the wedding of our own Michael and Carol Droege), a large group of folks from our church were able to attend the ICCC Annual Conference in St. Louis, and we had a multi-generation Mission trip to Port Arthur, TX. We had special music all summer, with some of our own talented church members sharing their gifts, along with Handbells and Jazz Trio. Young adults from our church held the Pineapple Fest, a music festival which showcases all kinds of music. All through the summer, one could find folks volunteering their time to keep our church in order, while more importantly our pastors work to guide us spiritually. Did you miss a sermon while out of town? Did you know there is an audio library on our church website where you can listen to a week you missed? You can even download this to listen while traveling. How cool is that? You can follow Barbara’s message on the gift of meeting with God anywhere, anytime, or perhaps Michael’s message on “I am Somebody in the house of God”. Please know, if you were away from church this summer, your church family missed you! Please come and join us as soon as you are back in town. Your family would love to see you! We have much to share with you. Respectfully submitted, Lorri Monetti

Page 3, September Hilltopics

BOARD BRIEFS JUNE … 1. MINISTER’S REPORT –June 3rd was a day of

celebration as we honored Arlene and Roger Seidel for their 28+ years of service to our church congregation as our Church School Directors.

2. It was delightful to have the Green Brook Middle School Chorus visit our service in June. They did a beautiful job and their songs were incredibly meaningful. The bells added to the joy of the day as well.

3. It was a wonderful opportunity to discuss Fr. Greg Boyle’s book Barking to the Choir with the group of folks willing to come out May 23 for a small potluck and book discussion. There were about 10 people in attendance and Barbara would like to try this one evening format again.

4. Barbara completed two Grief Recovery sessions. She plans on doing either an evening Grief Recovery group in the fall or an afternoon and evening one depending on the interest. If you know of anyone who might be interested in the grief recovery program offered by Barbara, please don’t hesitate to put them in touch with her!

5. YOUTH AND FAMILY DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Mission trip dinner – Michael reported that the dinner was very successful. They served 120 and raised almost $4,000 for trip. There is still more cost responsibility for those attending (around $300). Everyone is on schedule. The Frippery has generously donated the cost of travel and food in TX, which is a big help. Entertainment was great, and Kendall spoke a testament to mission trip. Stock sales will hopefully help to fill the gaps.

6. Vacation Bible School will be postponed. Instead of July 1, it is being proposed to hold it during Sunday School Kickoff on Sept 16.

7. Michael spoke about the intergenerational team getting together on a Saturday night once a month – trying to get change on approach, not the programs, as they are good. Launch date in October – not to replace Second Sunday.

8. FACILITIES – Tony Cito reported on the following projects and issues: New emergency lights in Blackburn Hall bathrooms and Sunday school wing bathrooms, bringing us into compliance.

9. White pipe from the corner of Blackburn Hall has been replaced for the sump pump. While digging, found the sewer line had a leak, which has to be replaced.

10. Tree work completed – The tree in front of the Frippery is gone, along with another tree by the drive, which was being eaten by carpenter ants. The large pine in the middle of the upper parking lot should be next as it is also affected by ants.

11. Film for the windows in Fisher Hall to be put up during the summer – to be scheduled.

12. Blackburn windows need to be replaced, sooner than later.

COMING IN OCTOBER… We want to highlight some special programs coming up in October so you can make put these offerings on your calendars! Chapel Wednesdays Chapel Wednesday will begin again on the first Wednesday of the month, October 3rd. The time is 7:15pm-8:00pm and the theme will be Present Moment. Look for upcoming Chapel Wednesdays: November 7th, Gratitude and December 5th, Gift. Each evening consists of music, a very brief reading or spoken reflection on the theme of the night, a guided meditation and then a period of silence that you may use for your own private prayer practice. Invite anyone you think may be interested! New Book Group, Hillbilly Elegy Please join us for our new three session book group! We will be reading and discussing Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance. Hillbilly Elegy is described as, “a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of poor, white Americans…in Hillbilly Elegy, J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hanging around your neck.” The group will meet on Tuesdays, October 9th, 23rd, and November 6th, 7:00pm either at the church or in group members’ homes. Let Barbara know if you would like to be a part! “What’s Brewing?” October 14th, 11:20am in Sanctuary We are pleased to announce that Kamili Williams, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plainfield and Middlesex Counties will be joining us for our first “What’s Brewing?” of this new season. Held generally on the second Sunday of the month, “What’s Brewing?” programs address relevant issues. Grab your cup of coffee and join us back in the Sanctuary on October 14th. Update on Ordination Process for Michael As you read in your summer mailing, Michael is in the process of completing the steps necessary in order to be Ordained to the Gospel Ministry by Wilson Memorial Church. A target date for the Ordination Service of Michael has been set for Sunday, October 21, 2018, 2:00pm. More information will be forthcoming!

Page 4, September Hilltopics

WOMEN’S GUILD… The Women’s Guild will meet Thursday, October 4th at 11:30am. COVENANT COMMITTEE… The Covenant Committee of Wilson Memorial and St. Mary Stony Hill Churches are pleased to report that the Blood Drive held on August 11 worked out fairly well despite the early torrential rain. 42 units were collected and we are pushing harder for about 60 plus in the fall. The date will be pinpointed in the October Hilltopics. We will also be planning for our annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service. More details on that will also follow. We need to report that our sign that was placed near Watchung Lake on Stirling Rd. is missing again (for the second time) and we hope that anyone with information re it will contact me or anyone else who is on the Covenant Committee. We all appreciate your support and say "Thank you"! Fran Ellis

THE FRIPPERY THRIFT SHOP … The yellow house in the upper church parking lot. Open Tues/Thurs 9:30-12:30 (and the FIRST Sat. Oct-June) mark your calendars! The Frippery is reopening its 47th year on Thursday, September 6 at 9:30 AM. We have been busy bees this summer, clearing EVERYTHING OUT, cleaning, scrubbing, sorting and getting ready for another fun year! We have Whoosits and Whatzits and items you HAD NO IDEA YOU NEEDED!! Halloween items are out as well as starting our Christmas tables (Remember at 2 days a week the holidays come quickly to us) MOST clothing is just $4 per item ... and we only sell beautiful items! Bring a friend and come discover the best kept secret in Watchung!!!

STARFISH… In case you are not familiar with the local food bank we have supported for many years, take a look at the Star Fish website: www.starfishplainfield.org. Like any good stewardship effort, we have donated time, talent, and finances throughout the years. Our food donations tend to dwindle over the summer, but thanks to the Frippery, peanut butter, jelly, mac and cheese and tuna have helped stock the shelves at Star Fish. Also over the summer, checks for $2000 from the Frippery, our annual Outreach check for $4500 and individual checks from loyal supporters in our congregation have helped to keep the Star Fish bank account in good shape. Plus we have “behind the scenes” helpers who regularly deliver our food donations from Wilson Memorial to Star Fish and deliver our checks to the Star Fish treasurer. Let's help Star Fish put some food on the tables of needy families as they get back to school. PLEASE BUY ONE EXTRA ITEM as you grocery shop this week AND PULL ONE HELPFUL ITEM out of your own abundantly stocked kitchen cabinet. If we ALL CONTRIBUTE 1 or 2 things per week in September, Wilson Memorial can make a huge impact! Thank you ALL.

SYMPATHY… We extend our sympathy to the family of Robert Kleppinger who passed away on June 23rd. A service was held at Wilson Memorial Church on June 27th. We also extend our sympathy to the family of Kurt Nadler who died on July 27th. A Memorial service was held at Wilson Memorial Church on August 1st.

PERSONAL ITEMS… We continue to pray for those suffering with health problems: Fran Ellis, Diane Ray, Joan Baylis, Russ Funk, Howard Beyer, Janet Meeks, Joyce Possien, Ellie Groves, Gladys Andrews, Joy Jurgens, Eva Wehof and Alison Barr.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Worship Service 10am AA 8:00pm

Labor Day

Boy Scouts Meeting- Library 7:30pm AA/SA 7:30pm

Boy Scouts Meeting- Library 7:30pm

Frippery Reopens 9:30 am – 12:30pm! AA 7:30pm

AA 8:30pm

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Worship Service10am Family Service – Get Your Backpacks Blessed! AA 8:00pm

Executive Board Meeting 7:30pm

Frippery 9:30am -12:30pm AA/SA 7:30pm

Frippery 9:30am -12:30pm AA 7:30pm

AA 8:30pm

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Worship Service 10am First Day of Sunday School AA 8:00pm

Grief Recovery Information Session 2:00pm

Frippery 9:30am -12:30pm AA/SA 7:30pm

Frippery 9:30am -12:30pm AA 7:30pm

Men’s Breakfast Country Squire 9am AA 8:30pm

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Worship Service 10am Kindness Trail Grand Opening AA 8:00pm

Frippery 9:30am -12:30pm AA/SA 7:30pm

Frippery 9:30am -12:30pm AA 7:30pm

AA 8:30pm

Blessing of the Animals 4pm

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September 2018 Wilson Memorial Church Monthly Activities