How Have You Been Fed? This month we’re hitting the pavement, seeking out your stories of how Princeton UMC feeds you! What story will you share? Use the hashtag #feedingtheflock to share on social media or send it to Pastor Rebekah Anderson at rebekah@princetonumc.org. Stories will be featured throughout the month on our social media and at the upcoming Storytelling Event on November 20th.
In This Issue Notes from the Pastor 2 Church Calendar 3 Our Ministry Story 4 Contagious Joy 6 Deepening Diversity 6 Compassionate Servanthood 7 Engaged Growth 8 Creative Innovation 11 PUMC Dishes it Out 11 Birthdays 12
Notes from the Pastor
Pastor Jenny Smith Walz
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” - Jesus (John 6:35) PUMC Feeds People! You’ve been hearing that a lot lately, from the invitation to offering each week in the service and on social media, to the current worship series we are in “Feeding the Flock”. A few months ago we started thinking about how to sum up the many things we do as the people of Princeton UMC as succinctly as possible, and this is what we came up with: PUMC Feeds People! PUMC feeds people literally, though it’s changed some with the pandemic. Many of the weekly inquiries we get in the office are from people looking for food. Gratefully Princeton Cornerstone Community Kitchen continues to give out dozens of meals each week. Our Outreach Ministry and special offerings throughout the year are working to eradicate food insecurity near and far. And I trust that someday we will be able to come together again for fellowship meals and holy communion in ways more like what we knew pre-COVID.
PUMC feeds people spiritually through worship and formation ministries, like Sunday School, Youth Group, small groups, our Online Campus, and music ministry. How have you been fed spiritually? How are you feeding others through these ministries with your engagement, your insight, your experiences? PUMC feeds people through this community of people. Have you ever noticed how nourishing it is to connect, pray, care, love, share, talk, and just be with and for others? Meals and groceries have been shared among congregants who are grieving, celebrating, and just going through a challenging time. Countless prayers, phone calls, note cards, emails, texts, visits, and zoom calls, have been shared among you, for countless reasons. You feed one another. PUMC feeds people through our connection with Princeton Theological Seminary and our incredible interns, who are simultaneously fed by and feeding this church. And this is all so they might go on to lead other churches to do likewise. This is a lot, but it’s not an exhaustive list of the ways PUMC feeds people. The rest of this November edition of our Newsletter is dedicated to the ways PUMC feeds people, how the people of PUMC are fed, and the ways God is calling us to feed (and be fed) even more. We hope it will help you discover ways PUMC is feeding people you didn’t previously know about. We hope it will help you name for yourself ways PUMC is feeding you and ways you are also feeding others. And we hope it will inspire you to invest in PUMC and partner with PUMC to continue to feed people in a multitude of ways. You’ll find included here a letter and a pledge card from our Stewardship and Finance Ministry Team asking you to pledge your financial support for 2022. Pledge Sunday is November 14! Bring your pledge cards to church or pledge online. Some congregants have generously offered to triple any increase for 2022 that you make over the amount you pledged or gave in 2021. Continued on page three.
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Continued from page two.
So an increase from you of $500 over this year’s giving will result in a $1500 increase overall! Think of how much more PUMC can feed people with your generous investment! Have you ever noticed how much Jesus fed others? He himself was the bread of life, after all. As we continue to be a diverse faith community, enlivening spiritually hungry and thirsty people to joyfully (and generously) respond to God’s love and grow as disciples of Jesus Christ, may we truly experience the fullness of life as we feed one another and are fed in return.
November Events Nov 7
Contemporary Issues Class Worship Virtual Coffee Hour Love Lives On Handbell Choir Divorce Support Group Youth Group & Youth Choir
Nov 8
Monday Morning Bible Study Children & Youth Formation Team Membership & Growth Team
Nov 9
Wesley Foundation College Ministry Meditation & Mindfulness Group Worship Team
Nov 10
Love Lives On Children’s Choir Cornerstone Community Meal Chancel Choir
Nov 13
Arm in Arm Brown Bag Community Distribution
Nov 14
HiTOPS Half Marathon Contemporary Issues Worship Outreach Team Handbell Choir
Nov 15
Monday Morning Bible Study Stewardship & Finance Team Circle of Care
Nov 16
Wesley Foundation College Ministry Meditation & Mindfulness Group
Nov 17
Love Lives On Children’s Choir Cornerstone Community Meal Communications Team Chancel Choir
Preparing for Sunday Worship
Nov 20
Arm in Arm Brown Bag Community Pick Up Storytelling Event
Date
Preacher
Special Music
Nov 21
Nov. 7
Rev. Jenny Smith Walz
Chancel Choir
Contemporary Issues Worship Arm in Arm Brown Bag Pick Up Divorce Support Group Youth Group & Youth Choir
Nov 22
Monday Morning Bible Study
Nov 23
Meditation & Mindfulness Group
Nov 24
Love Lives On Cornerstone Community Meal
Nov 28
Contemporary issues Worship Handbell Choir Love Lives On Youth Group & Youth Choir
Nov 29
Monday Morning Bible Study
Nov 30
Wesley Foundation College Ministry Meditation & Mindfulness Group
Thank you, PUMC, for feeding me! Peace and love, Pastor Jenny
Claudio Da Silva
Nov. 14 Rev. Jenny Smith Walz
Nov. 21
Claudio Da Silva, Laity Sunday Speaker
Nov. 28 Rev. Jenny Smith Walz
Youth Choir Handbell Choir, Richard Spotts, Organist
Children’s Choir
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The largest share of our budget goes to worship, which inspires us to practice joy, delighting in God's presence and grace in every aspect of our lives. Our joyful responses to God's grace spark joy in those around us.
We reflect God's diverse creation and the fullness of God's kin-dom as a fully inclusive, equitable, accessible, multi-cultural, antiracist community in all aspects of our life together.
Following Jesus to the margins of society and experience, we seek to see, know, love, and share with those who are outcast, overlooked, oppressed, forgotten. Together we work for justice, and restoration through our missions and outreach.
Through our formation ministries, we actively further our journey of discipleship, immersing ourselves in the community, tools, and guidance that form us, free us, and perfect us in love.
We embrace our God-given creativity to experiment, explore, try new things, embracing our failures and our discoveries. We are open to new ideas, expressions of faith, and ways of being church, paving the way for others.
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PUMC Worships Here and There and Everywhere!
Princeton UMC welcomed “home” dozens of families for in-person worship this fall.
Bill Gardner and Rev. Skitch Matson at the livestream tech station during worship.
Confirmation worship services have pivoted to being outdoors, at the Hayes’ home, for the past two years.
Kingston UMC reopened for in-person, indoor worship this October.
Many families continue to worship online from their homes for a variety of reasons, be it comfort, safety, or convenience.
PUMC Welcomes More to the Flock
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PUMC Feeds Our Neighbors
Judy Miller faithfully served the neighbors of Princeton UMC for over 30 years.
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Laity Spotlight: Connie Offer, Children’s & Youth Formation Team Leader When Connie Offer agreed to head the Children's and Youth Formation Ministry, she (or anyone else for that matter) had no idea that less than a year later, Covid 19 would force the closing Connie Offer of houses of worship and require church leaders to totally reinvent the way they ministered to their congregations. With her team of four, that's exactly what Connie Offer did. Although she is stepping down from her leadership role, Connie looks forward to continuing to serve at PUMC, a church that, for the Offers, began as a compromise. Connie moved from Ohio to New Jersey after graduate school for a career opportunity. She joined First Baptist of Lincoln Gardens and involved herself in children's outreach there. When time allowed, "I volunteered with their Ministry for Foster Children and Families," she explained. Outside of church, she became a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. (The CASA program helps monitor abused and neglected children in out-of-home placements.) In between work, church, and volunteering, Connie met her husband Stephen. After marrying, they began looking for a church to join that could serve as a compromise between her Baptist Church and his Church of England. " We were looking for a community that was diverse and welcoming and had a strong children's program," she said. They found all that at PUMC. Two years later they welcomed daughter Victoria to the family. When Pastor Skitch invited Connie to chair Children's Ministry, she had an active four-year old, and a busy career in healthcare management. "After much conversation with [my family] and prayerful consideration, I accepted," she said.
Four programs fall under the umbrella of the Children’s and Youth Formation Ministry Team: Sunday School, Confirmation, Youth Group, and Vacation Bible School. That is a lot to say yes to, but Connie is drawn to working with kids, and the Ministry’s mission sets a goal important to her. “The Ministry was established to teach young people about God and to foster in them a growing relationship with God,” she said, adding "It also provides an atmosphere of community that creates in our children and youth joy built around Christ and church." To help these programs flourish, Connie and her team work closely with the families, teachers, and mentors of PUMC children and youth "by teaching, training, encouraging, and supporting" them in their work. When Covid struck, having this family of volunteers proved invaluable to the team, whom Connie describes as collaborative and inclusive. "We invite feedback from our kids and parents, which helps us design (or redesign as the pandemic required) goal setting and programming to reach those goals," she said. The camaraderie of team members and volunteers helped the Ministry pivot during quarantine and continue to meet the goals of the team. One of the best-loved children's events put on by Children's Ministry is the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Brightly-colored eggs uncovered with shouts of "I found one!," the Easter Bunny hopping around sharing the children's joy, and music create a joyous experience.
Compassion Campers at Vacation Bible School Continued on page nine.
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Continued from page eight.
When quarantine made it impossible to hold a traditional Easter Egg Hunt, Connie and her team went to work answering the question, "How do we do this virtually?" Marie Griffiths and Jenni Collins, two members of the Ministry team, took the lead on the project. With the rest of the team and a host of volunteers, 50 children had a fabulous Easter Egg Hunt. Each child received a basket full of crafts and activities that, through Zoom, they were able to do together. They had a sing along and the Easter Bunny even made an appearance. As Covid restrictions eased and the weather mellowed, Connie and her team devised ways for children and youth to meet in person (masked and distanced, of course). They organized a family event, a downtown scavenger hunt. When possible, Sunday School events were held at a local park. This summer PUMC, Kingston UMC, and Trinity Episcopal held outdoor Vacation Bible School. "Providing kids with experiences to connect with each other and to their faith, and to know that the church is behind [those efforts] is very important," said Connie. Now near the end of her term, she reflected on her time leading the Ministry Team. Yes, there were a lot of hours spent planning and preparing then re-planning and implementing, but " because the work is so meaningful to me and so helpful to others to grow spiritually, it's worth the time," she said. "It makes me feel really good." Although Connie is stepping down as team leader, she will remain on the Ministry Team. She will also continue serving on the Reopening Committee. Connie is so thankful to have led such a dedicated team and recognizes them here: Marie Griffiths, Jenni Collins, Steve Wong, Mae Potts, and Janis Davis. A special thanks to Children’s Ministry Director Evangeline Burgers and Pastor Skitch Matson.
Lena Hamilton, William Ponder, and Ana Francisco-Cabus at Youth Group this fall
PUMC Feeds Youth “What do you want?” They’re the words Jesus says to a blind man named Bartimaeus in Mark 10, and they’re the words we started our semester with at Youth Group. What do you want? Simple enough, right? …maybe not. Once we started to unpack the different layers; once we paired this question with our semester-long focus on mental health; once we realized the depth of the question a hush fell over all of us. What do we want? Deep down inside? Throughout the Fall we have been looking at Faith and Mental Health through different Scripture passages in the Old and New Testaments, prayer practices like the Daily Examen, and even in talking with a local therapist about what therapy is and how it can help us. In all of these arenas, we are trying to answer the same question: If God cares about people being free and liberated (including the freedom and liberation that comes through healthy mental health), how can God and God’s love free me? How can I be “Fed” by God? Along with this, our students have chosen to ACT out good mental health by supporting the local nonprofit HiTOPS by volunteering at the upcoming Princeton Half Marathon on November 14th. HiTOPS works with queer youth and their families, and as we learned one night at youth group, queer youth are among the highest percentages of populations that struggle with mental health. Our students aren’t just “Being Fed,” they’re trying to “Feed Others” by living out their faith through supporting the groups that can help those most in need. Amen! There are still some spots that HiTOPS is looking to fill for adult volunteers, and if you are interested in supporting their efforts, find out more information at HiTOPS Half Marathon website: https:www.hitopsprincetonhalf.com/ 9
PUMC Feeds Students: Wesley Foundation Princeton UMC is happy to partner with the Wesley Foundation, guided by Rev. Skitch Matson. The group holds a Bible study in the Sanford Davis Room each Tuesday night and several students call PUMC their church home. Student Intern Grecia Hernandez shares how formative the ministry has been in her faith life, “It has been a huge part of my spiritual community and source of strength here at Princeton. When I was in my dorm for most of the day last semester, I was still able to have a place where I could be connected to people who were interested in the same questions that I am and who came with open minds to talk about that. The Wesley Foundation was definitely a place of rejuvenation for me each week.” Grecia sees the impact Wesley Foundation has on the students of Princeton University. “Now, being more involved with the Wesley Foundation as the student intern, I get to see the ways that the Wesley Foundation works to feed students’ spiritual needs. I would say that a lot of the work we do is trying to encourage students to participate in the conversations about their faith. I think that this along with the lessons from Skitch each week does a lot of the work of nourishing students. When people are given space and time to understand what they need and want, they are much better equipped to ask for it and create communities that address those needs.” In 2022-23, WF and PUMC are participating in The Vinery, which will strengthen our connection to PU and help us "continue to reach the people on campus who would most benefit from the group. People who are questioning what progressive Christianity looks like in their lives and the world around them.” 10
PUMC Nourishes Hungry Souls Online A highlight in our online campus this month is a new adult formation small group, called “Godfulness: Meditation & Mindfulness.” Led by Adult Formation Ministry Team Chair Claudio Da Silva, this group is a time and space to support each other and connect, to find and nurture peace and joy within you, in your relationships, and in your daily life. The group kicked off in October and will continue with online sessions every Tuesday at 8 pm.
Want to learn more about this group or other aspects of our online campus? Email Online Campus Pastor Tayler at tayler@princetonumc.org.
PUMC Dishes It Out
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November 2021 Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1 Ajube Hagan
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5 Larry Curtis
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8 Hyosang Park
9 Tom Sandford
10 Ian Griffiths Darrell Penn EJ Anderson
11 Mo Chen Jiseob Yoon
12 13 Pat Ostberg Sandra Von Rein Rebecca Koblin
14 Ed Febinger
15 Mary Jo Kahn
16 17 Steve Wong Lindsay Diehl Joseph Sandford
18 Suzan Gorski
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20 Jamaica Ponder
21 Isaac Penn
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23 Susan Lidstone
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26 Mary Lib Stuart Mary Jo Dixon
27 Hannah Green
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29 30 David Dreibelbis
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Thank You to our November Newsletter Contributors Pastor Jenny Smith Walz Kate Lasko Barbara Fox
Mikaela Langdon Evangeline Burgers, Editor
Special Thanks to All Those Who Shared Their Stories With Us This Month!
Do you have something you’d like to see in the newsletter? Recent event news, or something to feed our congregation on our discipleship journey? Email news@princetonumc.org The deadline for the December issue is November 15th.
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