Presbytery

Mtg. / AIDS Quilt Pg. 2

Our Fall Concert

Series Pg. 4

Pasta Dinner

Fundraiser Pg. 5

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

October 2017 Volume 8 Issue 10

Special points of interest:

Church Community

News - pg. 3

Prayer Requests -

pg. 6

Church Calendar

Inside this issue:

Editor: CAB office@1stpresrahway.org

December Retreat @

Stony Point

We are once again planning a

church family retreat for

Friday, Dec. 8th and Saturday,

December 9th at the beautiful

Stony Point Center .

Details on registration forms

and fees will become available

shortly.

From Pastor Erin...

TOWER CHIMES

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life —your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for God. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.

Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what God wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you,

develops well-formed maturity in you.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure

grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand

ourselves is by what God is and by what God does for us, not by what we are and what we do for God.” Romans 12:1-3, The Message.

H ave you been transformed from the inside out? I know it isn’t a question that we ask ourselves very often. As Paul says in these verses from Romans, our everyday ordinary life does not

always allow for such profound questions. But we must make the time to embrace what God has done for us and fix our attention on God. Once we do that we are more able to discern what God’s will/hopes are for us. The NRSV says, ‘...so that we may be able to test and approve God’s good and pleasing will’. To me, that invites an ongoing relationship with God that is about working through our choices in life. To test out means to go all in and walk around in it. When was the last time you took the time to ask is how I am living a testament to God? Is how I move through my everyday life an example that I have tried over and again the promises of God?

Perhaps it is time to take stock and offer your everyday life as an offering. Your routine and prayer life are key to finding out God’s good and pleasing will for your life. Each day we face the challenge of violence and disruption in the lives of our brothers and sisters throughout the world. Yet, God’s goodness follows us and begs of us to listen to the invitation to be changed from the inside out.

Life is too short to ignore our eternal hope in Christ. Our hopes are too fragile to ignore the peace we strive for in Jesus. The world is too expectant to not be met with the everlasting goodness of God. How might you invite the Spirit to help change you from the inside out?

I’m looking forward to hearing more about your journey in the upcoming

month. As always, “my door” is always open. - Pastor Erin

Page 2 TOWER CHIMES

Presbytery Meeting, October 10th

As published in the October issue of our newsletter, we are hosting the

meeting of the Elizabeth Presbytery. The meeting draws over 100

presbyters from across the presbytery. In addition, during the worship

service, Pastor Erin Hayes-Cook will be installed as the Moderator of

the Elizabeth Presbytery. Here’s what is still needed:

People to set up during the day on Tuesday, 10/10

People to make sure snacks & drinks are available throughout the meeting, 3-9PM

Desserts for dinner

Snacks for the meeting (i.e., cheese & crackers, fruit, veggies and dip such as onion,

ranch, hummus, chips, etc.)

Clean up crew on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning

If you haven’t volunteered and can help out at the meeting, give the church office a call at 732-382-

0803. We can use all the help we can get for this meeting. As always, dear church family, what-

ever you can provide, whether it is your time, food, etc., is always so very much appreciated.

On Saturday, October 14th, there will be a display of two beautiful portions of the AIDS Quilt. Be-

tween 11:00am - 1:00pm, you can experience the grace and beauty of this, the largest group art

project in the world. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, it tells stories and shares his-

tory. Admission is free, the experience is priceless. There will also be a special AIDS Awareness

Service on Sunday, the 15th, at regular worship time.

Page 3 VOLUME 8 ISSUE 10

3-Matthew S.

12-Michaela Grace W.

12-Cheryl Anne C.

14-Carlos A.

16-Helene H.

19-Robin S.

20-MaKenzie M.

21-Florence O.

29-Bill M.

31-Richard E.

31-Ashley S.

6-Joanne & Ted . ‘01

25-Cheryl & Dan . ‘69

ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS!!!

Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful hot, sunny day, and as a result of all the hard work of all involved, we raised the fan-tastic amount of:

$4750.64

This has been deposited into our general account and will help the church continue its programs and outreach.

Thanks to all who donated items and worked at vari-ous jobs. Even without our bake sale we were able to raise this amount. Once again we had many volunteers, including some youth, who did an outstanding job setting up, selling, and cleaning up. We could never have raised this amount of money without everyone’s cooperation and participation. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful church family who can come together and make our church fundraiser so suc-cessful each and every time.

Our Mini Flea Market will be held on Saturday, Nov. 18th, from 9am-3pm, and will feature Christmas items, jew-elry, as well as some of our regular items. Please save the date! This will be an inside flea market and we are hoping to have a bake sale this time. Donations can be dropped off at the church office, Monday-Thursday, from 9:30am-3:00pm. If you need a pick-up, call the office @ 732-382-0803, and we will try to arrange one. Please note that we no longer accept VCRs, VHS tapes, TVs, encyclopedias, books, computers, or used clothing. Sign-up sheets for workers to help with setting up, selling, etc., will be in Davis Hall starting October 30th. Food will be provided to all volunteers.

As you know, our flea markets have become a huge financial success and help us meet our budget, as well as continue our programs. Please plan on helping on November 18th so we can have another successful sale / fundraiser for our church.

Again, a special “thank you” to all the people who work year-long on getting ready for our events, they continue to be ...

DEACONS CORNER

DID YOU KNOW?

The Board of Deacons does not receive fund-ing through your pledges.

The only source of funds to do all that your Deacons do is through INDIVIDUAL donations from congregation members.

Please give generously using the envelopes in the pews, or on the 1st Sunday of each month in the envelope inserted in the Order of Wor-ship.

Thank you for your generosity and support!!!! !

Page 4 TOWER CHIMES

First Presbyterian Church has been a part of the Rahway community for more than 275 years. In that time, this church has offered Rahway a space for worship, creativity, learning, and recreation among other things. This fall and winter we will offer our community a space to experience all of that through music. We have three incredibly diverse concerts planned for the next few months.

As we move forward as a church in thinking about who we are and our place in Rahway, this concert series will be the perfect opportunity to invite neighbors and friends to experience our community in a different way. All concerts will be in our Sanctuary; there is a suggested donation of $10 per person. The schedule for the concerts is:

MEANT TO BE JAZZ Sunday, October 15, 2017 @ 7:00 p.m.

DEANNA WITKOWSKI

Sunday, November 19, 2017 @ 7:00 pm. GLASSBROOK VOCAL ENSEMBLE

Sunday, December 10, 2017 @ 7:00 p.m.

Meant to Be is a three piece jazz ensemble based in Oxford, NJ. They have been together for more than 15 years, and in that time they have developed an amaz-ing chemistry that is evident through their music. Here at First Presbyterian Church in Rahway, we have been blessed to have had Meant to Be join us for our Christmas Eve service for the past three years. Join us for a night of tradi-tional and contemporary jazz music!

Deanna Witkowski has an accomplished career as a pianist, arranger, and composer. She has been praised by publications like Jazz Times which published, “If, among con-temporary pianists, Brad Mehldau and Bill Charlap represent the gold standard, then Deanna Witkowski deservedly ranks as their sterling sister.” A prolific composer, Wikowski is well known for her work combining jazz and liturgy. Last year Deanna led our congregation in worship. This year she will join us again for a concert, which will fea-ture songs from her new album, Makes Heart to Sing: Jazz Hymns. .

“The Glassbrook Vocal Ensemble is an emerging professional choir. We seek to serve our arts community by supplying the highest caliber of choral repertoire to the needs of the Greater New Jersey and Trenton area.” Founded in 2016, Glassbrook specializes in a wide range of choral music, from classical to con-temporary. Their opening concert, Songs of Love and Light, was filled with beautiful musical moments. The program featured works by Bach, Wesley, Whitacre, Szymko, Paulus, and many more.

We look forward to sharing all this exciting and beautiful music with you and the Rahway community!

Page 5 VOLUME 8 ISSUE 10

Sponsored by the Buildings & Grounds Committee

Take-out is available upon request.

Come out and support the church while having

a good meal and enjoying some fellowship.

When: Friday,

October 13, 2017

Time: 4:30pm—7:00pm

Where: Davis Hall

Tickets: Adults—$10.00

Children (under 12)—$5.00

Menu: Spaghetti or Ziti w/Meatballs

Salad & Bread

Dessert

Refreshments

Tickets available at the door.

Page 6 TOWER CHIMES

Please consider either calling or sending a card to the church family members who are homebound; call the church office (732-382-0803) if you need phone numbers and/or addresses.

Prayer Requests

Candie A., Eva B., Florence B., Billy, Claudia Browne, Alyne Borst, Bob C., Kevin

Castelluccio, Cathy, Charlie & Betsy, Diane Clark, Anthony D., Jack D., Darlene, Dave,

Dennis’ Family, Ryan Diskin, Donald, Dyan, Joan Fogerty, Gail, Susan Gillette, Carol

Gould, Burt H., Matt H., Brian Hartlaub, Helene H., Ian, Barbara J., Jason, Jesse G., John

-Philip, Ilanda K., Katey, Kenneth, Kevin, Kristy, Edna Lanuto, Lillian, Lily, Barbara M., Joe

M., Stanley M., Mary Ellen, Tim Marsh, Dan Martin, Dotti Meyer, Mirla, Nick, Sylvia Nixon,

Richard O., Shane O’Donnell, James O’Leary, Kevin O’Neil, Olga, Olivia, Harry P., Paul,

Phil, Joanne Picarella, Preston, Doris R., Sally R., Ray, Reed, Roger, Allen S., Bob S.,

Laurie S., Savannah, Bob Schmidt, Seymour, Jeanie Spera, Linda T., Steve Thode, Terry,

Janet Tobias, Toni, Dan V., Helen Veeck, Margaret W., Wanda, Patrick Weaver, Christina

Weaver, Philip Weaver & Family, Leslie White, William, Elaine Z.

Those that are homebound: Caroline Balla, Margaret Guile, Doris Kapus, Ida Lau, Sallie

Tyler, Beverly Woolley

Oct. 1st - Aleya D.

Oct 8th - Carlos A. & Erwin A.

Oct. 15th - Joan C.

Oct. 22nd - Kenneth M.

Oct. 29th - Rosalind C.

OCTOBER

Nov. 5th - Patrick W.

Nov. 12th - Hazel R.

Nov. 19th - Debbie C.

Nov. 26th - Eric & Tara C.

NOVEMBER

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION 1731 CHURCH STREET U.S. POSTAGE PAID RAHWAY, NJ 07065 RAHWAY, NJ 07065

732.382.0803 PERMIT NO. 111

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

DATED MATERIAL

Worship with us

Each Sunday at 10:30AM

in the sanctuary

Office Email: office@1stpresrahway.org

Pastor: revehayes@gmail.com

1stpresrahway.org