Laity Spotlight

WHY DID YOU FIRST WALK

Larry Apperson, ever the raconteur, tells wonderful stories about the camaraderie enjoyed by PUMC friends. It goes with his assertion that people join churches either because of the minister or because of the people. It was both, for him, in 1977.

Larry, Louise, and eight-year-old Sharon moved to Montgomery when Larry’s IBM job moved to Dayton. “Louise was sniffing out churches before I was even thinking about it,” he says. They came to PUMC and soon Jack Johnson succeeded Ron Dyson as pastor. “Jack knew how to make you feel good, and he was very down to earth, the first minister I ever saw do the benediction with his eyes open. Jack would look around and make eye contact with you, and smile.”

As for the people, “the first people we met were George and Evie Lee. It was the way George and Evie treated us - got us connected and involved with so many other people.” Those he names - the Bleachers, the Becks, the Beggs, the Vaccaros - are no longer living, but they were among the group that would take turns leading the Adult Fellowship, meeting monthly on Saturday nights.

One of Larry’s stories involves the late Peter Hodge, a PUMC member who owned the funeral home on Vandeventer Avenue. “In 1979 Jack Johnson decided he wanted to go out for dinner in Trenton in a hearse! We all met at the parsonage. Peter Hodge drove over to the parsonage in the hearse, all set up for us to sit instead of lying down in a coffin. Four couples proceeded to a Chambersburg restaurant, with the cortege following.”

Like many newcomers, Larry’s first church job was as an usher, and later he presided over the Heart of Faith adult Bible class. Over the last decade his major legacy, Cornerstone Community Kitchen, has grown from serving free meals in a hospitable setting to addressing the root causes of poverty in other ways. Larry’s beloved Louise, who passed away in 2019, was for many years the stalwart organizer of the United Methodist Women and served with Larry as an usher. Sharon grew up in the church and married John DiStase; they moved to Rocky Hill with five-year-old Sydney and began teaching Sunday School at PUMC. Their twins Alex and Izzy are growing up in the church, and Sharon teaches Compassion Camp. After they made an addition to the family home, Larry and the DiStases now live together. Larry drives his truck to pick up fresh groceries and deliver them to CCK on Wednesdays.

Larry has seen pastors come and go. “You go for the people. You might get turned on by the sermon, but then you go on a ‘bad sermon’ day, hmm… If you like the people, you keep going. What Jenny talked about last Sunday (he refers to Baptism Sunday on January 9) was a Sledge Hammer question, WHO DOES GOD THINK I AM. That is a profound question in my mind. I think about who I am and I try to be better.” Larry Apperson with his wife, Louise

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IN THE PUMC DOORS

“It was primarily the music program that first brought us to PUMC,” says Jenni Collins. “We weren’t even considering transferring membership, but our children outgrew the opportunities that Cranbury UMC had to offer.”

Jenni and her husband Scott, both musicians, wanted their daughters to have the experience of an excellent music program. In January 2019, when she enrolled Elli, Margaret, and Juli in the choirs, Jenni looked forward to Wednesday rehearsals, hanging The Collins Family. From left: Maggie, Scott, Jenni, Elli, and Juli. out in the church library with another choir mother, Lorie Roth.

The Collins family had had all kinds of different worship experiences. Scott had been raised in the Congregational tradition, and Jenni had been brought up as Presbyterian. “My alma mater, Westminster Choir College, was Presbyterian, but I had church jobs in all different denominations,” she says. They started out worshiping at their local Presbyterian church but switched to Cranbury UMC. “Methodists are geared for going out into the world and preaching the Gospel,” says Jenni. “That’s what we wanted our children to experience.”

At Cranbury UMC they were “Methodized,” as Scott puts it. They liked the practical down-to-earth sermons of Rev. Ron Sager, and that he preached outside the pulpit, “on the floor of the sanctuary, down at your level,” says Jenni. “We enjoyed it there, but when the children outgrew the programming, we wanted to make a change. As adults, our faith is strong and deep, so it wasn’t as high a priority for us as much as it was getting our children on the right footing with their faith journey. It wasn’t until the following fall of 2019 that we became seriously involved, all of us, as a family.

The Collins family lives in Cranbury, so a move to Princeton UMC made a difference in their travel time, an adjustment that they now enjoy. When Scott and Jenni started to attend the Newcomers classes, they prayerfully considered whether to transfer their membership. They consulted with their former pastor, with whom they still remain socially connected. Scott continues to play percussion in his cover band “After Hours,” which began from playing with members of the Cranbury UMC Worship Band on Sunday mornings.

Now Jenni is often part of the skeleton crew that leads the service. After serving by leading hymns, she teaches Compassion Camp for PreK and Kindergarten this winter. Scott, a middle school music teacher with the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, contributes clarinet selections to worship services. He will gather with his colleagues to present a French-themed concert to benefit PUMC’s outreach missions on Sunday, February 13. Jenni no longer brings a child to choir on Wednesdays, but now, whenever Youth Choir and Youth Group are in person, she chauffeurs all three daughters - Elli, Maggie (also a current confirmand), and Juli - and they do so enjoy these PUMC programs and ministries.