December 7, 2018

BBPC Weekly BUZZ September 06, 2019

This Week in Worship Saturday, November 16

5:00 p.m.

&

Sunday, November 17

10:00 a.m.

Rev. Linda E. Owens Preaching

“Building a Mystery (part 2) “

Stewardship Dedication

Scriptures:

Isaiah 65:17-25, Psalter: Isaiah 12

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Luke 21:5-19

The Adult Choir

“Teach Me, O Lord” - Philip W. J. Stopford (b. 1977)

“The Lord Is My Shepherd” - Jill Gallina

Love Local, Dine Out!

If you have signed up to join us as we visit local

Bound Brook restaurants for lunch, your restaurant

assignments are in the reception area (round table).

We will depart after church on Sunday, November

17th. If you have not yet signed up , please email

Linda Owens at Linda@bbpc.org

Prayer Shawl Ministry

Prayer Shawl Ministry will be meeting WEDNESDAY,

NOVEMBER 20, 2019 at 7:00 P.M. at the home

of KATHY HOBBS, 20 DOMINO RD., SOMERSET, NJ.

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF ADDRESS FOR

THIS MONTH! We are always seeking and wel-

coming new members. Please let Kathy know if you

will be attending: kathyahobbs6@gmail.com.

We hope to see you there!

Buildings & Grounds

BG&T is planning a work session on Saturday

(11/16/19), around 10:00 AM to remove the rest of

the wood from the foyer.

We need volunteers with: hammers, pry bars,

sawzalls, and other power tools.

Please also bring gloves and safety glasses.

We plan to: remove the wood and the nails

from the wood so it can be reused and store the

wood

If you’re available we need 3 - 4 people.

Thanks.

Dan Luna BG&T

Community Interfaith Thanks-

giving Service

This year we will be hosting the Community Inter-

faith Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, Novem-

ber 24 at 4PM. P lease join us in our common

celebration of gratitude. It is a wonderful oppor-

tunity to get to know our neighbors and to share in

what we all hold dear. Please bring canned goods

or other non-perishable food items for the South

Bound Brook Food Bank.

The Fellowship Commission is responsible for

refreshments after the service and we’d like

to ask church members to donate desserts

and goodies . We’re going to have a sign up

sheet available after church this Sunday for

anyone who wants to donate. Please email

Doug Boleyn at dboleyn@gmail.com with any

questions or concerns.

Lifetouch Photography Update

Some of you have told me that you have received

your photograph order from Lifetouch Photog-

raphy. I hope you are happy with your order. If

you have a specific problem, please notify me. I

have been in contact with Lifetouch to learn that

the processing of some of the photographs has

been delayed. Lifetouch is working on the orders.

I will give you an update when I know more infor-

mation. Thank you for your patience.

Kathy Hobbs

Youth and Families Spark Sunday School is for children ages three

through grade five. Each week, we enjoy hands on

activities that help children understand and re-

member stories from the SPARK Story Bible. This

month we are learning about the Battle of Jericho.

Advent Open house: Sunday December 15

Come experience Spark Sunday school after

church

ECHO is a for middle school students, and meets in

the cave during worship.

Youth Group

All youth grades 6-12 are invited to join us! Please

email sally@bbpc.org for more information.

November 17, 5 PM in the Cave:

What were your favorite shows when you were

little? Relive them with Charades and Netflix.

Youth Retreat

This year's youth retreat is just over a month

away. The BBPC youth will enjoy a weekend grow-

ing in faith and community together at the beauti-

ful Mont Lawn retreat center in PA. We hope your

teen (6-12 grades) can join us this December 6-8.

Please email Sally@bbpc.org if your youth would

like to attend.

Confirmation

Please let us know if your high school aged

child would like to participate this year.

Spark

Friends

Building

walls &

knocking

them down

Saints’ Photo Tables

Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos of

loved ones. The saints’ photo table has been taken

down. Please pickup your photos at the church

office.

2020 Stewardship Update

On Thursday October 31st letters announcing the

2020 Annual Stewardship Campaign and pledge

cards were mailed to church members. Members

began receiving their letters on November 1st. We

learned earlier this week that there was a glitch in

generating the mailing labels, so a small number of

members may not have received the stewardship

information. If you have not received your letter and

pledge card, they are available on the table in the

reception area. Please take this opportunity to pick

up the information and plan to return your pledge

card this weekend (Stewardship Commitment Week-

end).

Your Stewardship Commission

Fearless Generosity Abounds at BBPC!

Last weekend the 2020 Stewardship Campaign was launched with a ROAR, heard up and down

Mountain Avenue. The majority of church officers pledged along with many members on

Stewardship Commitment Weekend for our Officers. We received 31 pledges totaling $110,167.

Thanks to all who made their fearless pledge it is so very much appreciated.

Your Stewardship Commission

Did you know?

Some interests survive from generation to generation. Such is

the case in Chris Potter’s family when it comes to geology.

Chris’s dad was a geology professor at Hamilton College in

Clinton, NY. Chris was a geology professor at Lafayette

College in Easton, PA before working for thirty years for the

US Geological Survey. Chris and Cathy’s youngest daughter,

Kate, is a geologist that will join the faculty of New Mexico

Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro in 2020 when

she completes her post-doc studies at UC Santa Barbara.

Clearly, this must prove that even rocks do not fall far from

the tree!

Clinton, NY was and is a small town in upstate NY. Chris grew up there as the fourth of six kids. His mom

was very active as a community volunteer in the local arts center, assisting immigrant families with language

training and helping students from low income families. Chris played the French horn and ran track and

cross country in high school. He grew up attending an Episcopal church. Chris matriculated Williams

College in MA where he was on the ski team, the track team and the cross-country team. He received a B.A.

in geology in 1974. Chris then attended Brown University in RI where he obtained a M.S. in geology.

Before beginning his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in Seattle, Chris worked as a geologist at an

engineering firm in Atlanta from 1977-1979. There he met Cathy, a young social worker, at a Presbyterian

church. They were married in 1978.

Since then, Chris and Cathy have been longtime Presbyterians in a number of states as various jobs have

taken them from place to place. Chris has served numerous times on the sessions of the various churches

and has sung in the traditional and contemporary choirs, serving as one of the song leaders for the

contemporary-ish service at the church in Denver, the last before the move to NJ. Most recently, it is Cathy

that has brought the Potters to NJ and BBPC. She is currently the Dean of the Rutgers University School of

Social Work. The Potters live in Bound Brook not far from the church.

Chris completed his Ph.D. in 1983. His specialty is structural geology which involves the study of the

deformation and tectonic evolution of different regions of the US and the world. Chris did research for a

couple of years at Cornell University and was a professor of geology at Lafayette College in the late 1980’s

until he was recruited as a research scientist by the US Geological Survey and from which he retired at the

beginning of this year. Most of the years at USGS were spent in Denver and, while there, Chris was the

Director of the Central Energy Resources Science Center for seven years. His work focused on various

regions of the US and the world including Nevada, Alaska, Madagascar, China and elsewhere. As a

structural geologist, Chris’s work applied to a variety of issues including earthquake hazards, nuclear waste

disposal and oil and gas resources.

Chris and Cathy have three daughters and three granddaughters and, as of three weeks ago, a grandson!

Beth and her husband, Devin, live in Brooklyn with their daughters, Anne (6) and Abby (4). Devin is an

educator/school administrator at a school in Manhattan, and Beth is in her final year of law school planning

to work in the area of gender equity law. Laura and her husband, Matt, and their two little ones (Nancy [2]

and Denis [3 weeks]) live in Cleveland Heights. Matt is an accountant, and Laura works for a local chamber

music organization fundraising and performing administrative activities.

CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE.

Did you know? Continued

Laura has a doctorate in tuba performance from the University of Kansas! Kate and her husband, Ryan, are

currently living in two difference places while Kate does her post-doc work in geology. Ryan is a professor

of geology at New Mexico Tech. Kate will join him on the geology faculty in the fall of 2020.

Cathy and Chris joined BBPC in 2014. Chris is presently serving on session and is the co-moderator of the

mission and outreach commission. He also served on the mission study team that paved the way for the

selection of Linda as our pastor. And, of course, Chris sings in the choir.

Over the years, both due to work commitments and for pleasure, Cathy and Chris have explored much of the

planet – Europe, China, Madagascar, New Zealand, on and on. Chris is a skier, runner and hiker.

Chris’s current-most-active-retirement job is as president of the Brandreth Park Association, though he

admits that he loves being recruited by his daughters to provide childcare of the grandkids in times of need!

Brandreth Park is a family association of landowners in the Adirondacks. This large plot of wilderness was

purchased by Chris’s great-great-great grandfather in the mid-nineteenth century and is currently held by the

descendants as a tenancy in common.

There are about 40 “camps” (cabins of one sort or another) on a beautiful lake. Chris estimates the number

of interested family members of every variety on the email list is about 100. There are biannual business

meetings and occasional large social events. Once upon a time, lumbering was done on the property. More

recently, the “family” views its role as steward of the property and as host to environmental research. How

remarkable that a family could peacefully own this large tract of land for decades, approaching centuries?

Surely the ancestors must feel enormously proud of its offspring!

October Year to Date Income and Expense:

Actual Budget Over/(Under)

Income

Pledge 258,112 269,006 (10,894)

Plate (non pledge) 30,101 24,808 5,293

Church Usage 23,650 22,833 817

Other (excluding per capita) 25,702 25,054 648

Total Income 337,565 341,701 (4,136)

Expenses

Personnel 249,291 249,527 (235)

Ministry 20,582 24,738 (4,156)

Administration 85,207 89,226 (4,019)

Total Expense (excluding per capita) 355,081 363,491 (8,410)

Net Income to Expense (17,516) (21,789)

Advent & Christmas Happenings: Tree Lighting & Carol Sing – Date to be announced

December 6-8 Youth Retreat

December 19 @ 7pm Blue Christmas Service at the Trinity United Church

118 King George Road, Warren

December 21 & 22 Lessons & Carols

December 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight & Communion Services

4:30pm Intergenerational Family Service

7 & 11pm Traditional Worship

A NOTE FROM PASTOR LINDA

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is

able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can

ask or imagine …” Ephesians 3:20

It is that time of year again in the life of the church

when we look forward, beyond Thanksgiving and

Christmas, to the new year ahead. What will 2020 look

like here at BBPC? Quite frankly it is hard to imagine

what the next year will have in store. All we know for

certain is that change is in the air.

In 2020 we will say “goodbye and thank you” to Tom Rodgers and hello to an interim Director of Music. We will also be thanking Sally Zeiner for her transitional

work with our children and youth and welcoming a per-manent, part-time Director of Christian Education. We will be wrapping up our Capital Campaign, tackling

repairs to the windows and updating church signage and lighting. But we will also be doing the things we

have always done and done well … fostering a welcoming and supportive community of faith and

reaching beyond our walls to love and care for the world around us.

Our staff will change, but our mission will not. We will remain faithful to God, who has been so faith-

ful to us. We will worship with joy. We will welcome with open arms. We will care deeply and love

tangibly. And we will give of ourselves generously, of our time, talent and treasure to a God who sees

the future clearly, even when we can’t, and who will work through us in ways beyond our wildest

dreams.

On the weekend of November 16 & 17th you are encouraged to say, “Yes!” to God’s plan for our new

year ahead though an act of fearless generosity, by offering your financial pledge for 2020. Your

pledge makes it possible for the Session to plan responsibly for the challenges that lie ahead; the hiring

of staff, the support of programming, the maintenance of the building, payment of utilities, and faithful-

ness to our mission. We hope to walk boldly into 2020 with high expectations and generous resources.

That can only happen if you help make it happen by sharing with us your anticipated financial giving

for the coming year.

Please join us next weekend and bring your pledge card with you. During the closing hymn you will be

invited to bring your pledge card forward to drop it in the basket. This weekend our church officers,

elders, and deacons will lead the way offering their pledges. Let’s give without fear, trusting God for

our future!

A pledge to the church is not a legal obligation. You can amend your pledge if your circumstances

change by contacting one of the church Financial Secretaries (John O’Melia or Judy Wahrenberger). It is, however, a good faith statement of your intentions for the future and is essential to the process of

planning for the coming year.

Capital Campaign Update

Progress – Progress – Progress

The capital campaign committee continues its work in

support of your pledges and gifts for capital improve-

ments to enhance the utility and beauty of our church

home. Good progress has been made in recent months

and a summary of our progress is available in a three-

page report in the church reception area for your review.

The report includes a financial summary, project specif-

ic financials, a project summary, and information on

new project activities planned for 2020. Thank you for

your continued support of the capital campaign.

Your Capital Campaign Committee

Follow us: Facebook @ B.B.Presbyterian Church & Instagram @ bbpresby

The Bound Brook Presbyterian Church

409 Mountain Avenue, Bound Brook, NJ 08805

In Other News…

College Student Updates: Please provide your college student ’s current address to the church

office.

Caring Minister On Call: November 17 - November 23: Jill DeMouth Save The Date: After Hours Bible Study meeting in 2019-2020 year from 7:30—9:00pm:

Nov. 25 (lesson 3), Dec. 16 (lesson 4), January 27, 2020 (lesson 5), Feb. 24 (lesson 6), Mar. 23 (lesson 7), Apr. 27 (lesson 8), May 18 (lesson 9), June, picnic. Date and time TBD.

Church Office Hours: Monday—Friday, 9:00am - 4pm

BBPC is SMOKE FREE! No smoking is permitted on church grounds. We hope that this w ill create a healthier and more pleasant environment for all of us.

Chair Yoga Class—Join us! Monday at 9:00-10:00am, Wednesday at 12:00-1:00pm, and Friday at 12:15-1:15pm. Please note, all classes will be at the Freeman Chapel in the cemetery. Cost: $40 for 8 weeks per class.

Flower chart: The 2019 Flower chart is posted outside the Sanctuary.

Please send Buzz articles to office@bbpc.org. Article deadlines are Thursday 1:00pm.

Weekly Calendar November 15 — November 23

Friday 12:15 p.m. Chair Yoga 7:00 p.m. BBP Railroad Club 8:30 p.m. AA

Saturday 5:00 p.m. Worship

Sunday 8:45 a.m. Adult Education 10:00 a.m. Worship 11:00 a.m. Youth & Children’s Choir 11:30 a.m. Youth Group

Monday 9:00 a.m. Chair Yoga 8:30 p.m. AA

Tuesday 11:45 a.m. Staff Meeting 7:00 p.m. Sessions & Deacons Meeting 8:00 p.m. AA

Wednesday 12:00 p.m. Chair Yoga 12:15 p.m. Caring Ministry Meeting 7:00 p.m. Prayer Shawl Ministry Meeting

Thursday 9:00 a.m. Silence Seekers 6:45 p.m. Bell Choir 7:15 p.m. Boy Scout Troop Meeting 7:30 p.m. Choir Rehearsal 8:00 p.m. AA Meditation

Friday 12:15 p.m. Chair Yoga 7:00 p.m. BBP Railroad Club 8:30 p.m. AA

Saturday 5:00 p.m. Worship