http://www.fpchsnj.org/pastor

Soon our church will be creating a new photo directory. Photos will be taken for a new church pictorial directory Friday-Saturday February 26-7 and Thursday-Saturday March 11-13. Every family who participates will receive a free 8 x 10 portrait and can purchase more photos from Olan Mills. If those dates don’t work, let Pastor Jan know and your photos can be taken at another church in the area whose times are better for you.

Our Evangelism Committee is now a committee of Session and wants to let everyone know about what’s happening. It will be “strutting its stuff” along with the other committees of our session on Sunday January 24^th 2010 in Sweazey Hall. Just 6 members of our evangelism committee contacted 155 homes about our Christmas Eve services on December 12^th. You can help make a difference by joining us as we spread the good news about Christ and about our church in the community. Our evangelism committee meets the first Tuesday night of each month at 7:30 PM

Also, we will continue having training and sharing times about spreading the good news on the 3^rd Wednesday night of each month at the church. Join us for our next get together on Wednesday, January 20^th at 7:30 PM in the church parlor!

Our Connection to Presbytery – and the PC(USA)

One of the joys of being a connectional church is that we can organize gatherings for people with similar calls or interests. For example, we have only a few military chaplains in our Presbytery of New Brunswick, but there are several hundred among our 1.2 million members nationwide, plus more in the other Presbyterian denominations in the United States. The Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel (PCCMP) sponsors an annual retreat for chaplains and their families. This year they met in North Carolina, with our own Pastor Jan and Kathy participating. Here is an excerpt from the Presbyterian News Service coverage of the retreat. For the full article, go to http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09602.htm

“Historically, this retreat has been very important for helping to keep Presbyterians connected, and to allow for networking among junior and senior people,” said the Rev. Edward T. Brogan, director of the PCCMP, which selects, sends and supports chaplains “loaned” to the Armed Services by their respective denominations. For the Rev. Jan Koczera . . . and his wife, Kathy, the retreat represented a kind of reunion. On June 1, Koczera returned from his third tour in Iraq. “With repeated deployment to war zones, there is an increase in mental health issues,” said Koczera, noting how hard this most recent homecoming has been for him because of the cumulative effect of his three tours in Iraq. “It is helpful for us both to be here, to share our experiences with those who most understand.” Other PCUSA gatherings this past year have emphasized Presbyterian Women, social justice, peacemaking, the 500^th anniversary of theologian John Calvin’s birth, and Christian educators, to name just a few. Why travel so far to meet with people when there are thousands of Presbyterians in New Jersey? As Pastor Jan noted in his interview, it is helpful to share experiences with those who most understand. Sometimes, you have to travel to find a group that will understand and offer fresh ideas. From these gatherings, people come away renewed and refreshed, ready to return to ministry back home. It’s a great part of being Presbyterian. --

Jean Woodman

As part of our church’s 2008 Action Plan, here is a ministry of our church that we are revitalizing to reach out to our community.

Our Evangelism committee is reviving our Welcome Ministry and changing it slightly to also reach out to our new members. We have organized a group of willing volunteers who for one Sunday each month will be alert to visitors to our church at the service they attend and take a moment either before or after the service to greet them, introduce themselves and welcome the visitors to our church. In addition, they will take the time to get to know our new members. Along with this, we want to encourage everyone to wear their nametags every Sunday to help our visitors get to know us. If you’d like to know more about this ministry, please talk to Pastor Jan or Marion Walters.

The following is an article that I wrote for the 2007 Christmas edition of our 50^th Brigade Newsletter and is part of how we are preparing our soldiers and families for our deployment this coming summer. I often have to separate my work as a pastor and as an Army chaplain; I thought that you might like to read this sample of what I am telling our troops.

This time of the year is always stressful, because in all the joy of reunions and gift giving, there is always some unfinished business, always something left unsaid. And I know that as many of us face next year’s deployment, the additional uncertainty of our future has added stress to this holiday. Maybe you’ve had an experience like mine; I had a hard Thanksgiving. I traveled to my mother’s home in Ohio and told her in person the news that I would be returning again to Iraq. In all honesty, it was hard for her and while she always supports me, she is deeply concerned for me and for all of us. Perhaps some of you and your families have had a difficult time as you told them and your friends about our deployment in 2008. Perhaps they are very fearful for you and perhaps you yourself feel great uncertainty.

I want to share with you a story that may help, because it helped me. It’s an old story, about a young warrior. His teacher told him that he had to do battle with fear. He didn’t want to do that. Fear seemed too aggressive; it was scary; it seemed unfriendly. But the teacher said that he had to do it and gave him the instructions for the battle. The day arrived. The student stood on one side, and fear stood on the other. The warrior was feeling very small, and fear was looking big and wrathful. They both had their weapons. The young warrior roused himself and went towards fear, prostrated three times, and asked, “May I have permission to go into battle with you?” Fear said, “Thank you for showing me so much respect that you ask permission.” Then the warrior said, “How can I defeat you?” Fear replied, “My weapons are that I talk fast, and I get very close to your face. I am so close and talk so fast that you forget your friends. Then you get completely unnerved, and you do whatever I say. But you must understand my name; my name is FEAR, and it stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. If you don’t listen to my voice, I have no power.” In that way, the warrior learned how to defeat fear.

This is how it actually works. There has to be respect for the jitters, and understanding of how our emotions have the power to run us around in circles. But fear always tries to isolate us and make us forget that we are going into this together and there is support both for us who deploy and for those who stay home. In addition, many of you also, like myself, have faith in a Divine Presence that will never abandon us. Don’t lose contact with your sources of support; hold close to them and we will come through this and every struggle by God’s grace.

Many of you know that I am learning to play the harp through the program of Bedside Harp to promote healing and stress relief. I would like to give the gift of this music to our congregation. Anyone who wishes may contact me at home or the office (609-689-1814 or 609-587-3683), to schedule a 10-20 minute stress reduction and relaxation session either at their home or at the church. The sound of the harp has been medically proven to promote relaxation, reduce blood pressure and lower the pulse rate; it is very beneficial when people are under high levels of stress due to life situations or illness.

Pat Heran, Deb Doolittle and I want you to reserve Sunday, November 12^th on you calendar for our church’s first Stephen Sunday. We want to acquaint you with the Stephen Ministry, the commitment it requires and its promise for our church. On this Sunday the three of us will be commissioned as Stephen Leaders and will distribute brochures, answer questions, and show a video about Stephen Ministry. We want you to include us in your prayers and thoughts and we are praying that God will begin to speak to some of you about becoming Stephen Ministers yourselves. November 12^th will begin a time of awareness raising and education which is the first step of a three step process of bring Stephen Ministry to our church.

The second step is to recruit and train our first group of Stephen Ministers. Stephen Ministry takes people who are basically caring, empathetic people, and equips them with the skills that help make caring effective. We will begin taking applications for Stephen Ministers in December. Then, from March to May 2007 our lay volunteers will go through 50 hours of basic training. Some of the topics include: Confidentiality; Feelings, Yours, Mine and Ours; The Art of Listening; Assertiveness Training: Relating Gently and Firmly; The Crisis of Hospitalization; and Effective Use of the Traditional Resources of Christianity.

Central to this training is the art of listening—seemingly so obvious, yet a central learnable skill in any helping relationship. The aim of training is to equip people to help others work through their hurts and problems in the context of a Christian community They are available as caregivers to people who are hospitalized, in nursing homes, lonely, alienated from the church, separated or divorced, new to the community, bereaved, depressed, struggling with their faith… the list goes on. This “basic training” equips lay ministers to “stand with” others in a broad range of life concerns and crises.

Our third step occurs after their training as our Stephen Ministers are assigned “care receivers” to whom they regularly minister. So that they’re not left “out in left field,” they meet semi-monthly for supervision and further training, under the guidance of the Stephen Leaders. Stephen Ministry builds a support system so that volunteers stick with it, increasing its effectiveness year after year.

What business is the church in? We do so many things; care for one another, help the less fortunate, provide a safe and wholesome environment for our youth and children, provide for the regular worship of God, to nurture and disciple people in their Christian faith, and the list goes on and on. And these are all valid. But what are we primarily attempting to do as a church? Are we chiefly interested in taking care of our members or in creating a climate among our members that reaches out to the community? The difference between the two is profound and I believe that you are committed to the second task; reaching out to the community.

I am looking for people who want to see how our church can reach out to the community by telling people about Jesus Christ. We do well at living the message; but we need help on how to tell the message. I would like to start an Evangelism Task Force for our church which would have two basic duties; to receive basic training about how to tell the message of our faith and to give us direction on how to start an evangelism committee for our church. If this idea touches a passion of your own, let me know; I’d like to begin meeting soon.

First Presbyterian Church of Hamilton Square, NJ