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Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church
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Weekly News For
Sunday Jan 28, 2018 |
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Dear Friends,
You may think from Sunday's sermon topic that I'm going to be talking about the church's "Big Cover Up" roof appeal, but it's not that sort of hole in the roof that's on my mind. It's the story in Mark 2:1-12 about Jesus' healing of a paralyzed man. The man was healed only because the spectacular chutzpah of his friends, who cut a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching, lowering him through it so he could avoid the crowds blocking the way.
Usually, a hole in the roof is a bad thing - but it wasn't that way for the man who received his healing because of it. It was only because of his friends' unconventional, outside-the-box approach that he was healed at all.
 Besides, roofs in that dry, hot climate weren't made of the same stuff as our own roofs. A typical first-century Palestinian home was made of bundles of sticks and thatch, laid over a set of parallel rafters. The roofing material had to be replaced fairly often. It was a relatively simple thing to move the thatch aside, lower the man through the gap between the rafters, and later close the opening up again. So, the man's friends didn't cause the homeowner any serious, irreversible damage.
The story provides me an opportunity to share a bit of vision for this congregation, on my last Sunday as your pastor. We church folk often think that, if we just open our doors to the community, we're fulfilling our obligation to share the good news and serve others. But sometimes the doors aren't the only means by which people come to Jesus. Sometimes, as his chosen community, we need to practice more radical forms of openness.
The "Big Cover Up" appeal aside, I'm eager to see Point Pleasant Presbyterian keep a hole in its roof. Come along this Sunday, and I'll tell you more about it!
Grace and peace.
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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dr. Wilton preaching:
"A HOLE IN THE ROOF"
10:00 a.m. - Worship/Noisy Offering/Chancel Choir
10:00 a.m. Sunday School begins in Worship
11:00 a.m. - Congregational Meeting
Noisy Offering - This Sunday, we'll collect the Noisy Offering that -
 through Monmouth Presbytery's Cents-Ability appeal - supports ministries to relieve hunger locally, regionally, and globally.
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Sunday School children are reminded to wear their PJs this Sunday.
(See article below)
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Check for Snow Cancellations
 In case of snow, please check the main page of the church website or the voice mail message about worship service times (732-899-0587) for the latest information about cancellations of church activities.
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Saturday, January 27, 10 am-12 pm
Point Beach Prep is happy to announce the opening of an afternoon session for both Nursery and Pre-K that will run from 12:45 to 3:15 p.m.
Please contact Director Devlin House at 732-701-9900 for more information.
Point Beach Prep has established itself in the community as a premier high demand school. We are grateful for all of families that entrust us with the care and education of their children.
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THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION AND CORPORATION
of the Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church will take place this Sunday, January 28 at 11:00 a.m. (Snow date: February 4).
The Congregation will elect officers, elect the Nominating Committee (for the election of officers), and conduct any other business that may properly come before the Congregation.
The 2017 Annual Report is now available online
and in the Narthex.
An extended program for Church School children will be available in the Education Annex, so parents may attend the Annual Meeting.
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IHN Arriving January 28
Families from the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Ocean County  will arrive on Sunday, January 28 and stay for the week.
Thank you to those who have already signed up!
We still needed a hospitality or overnight host on Friday, February 2. Everything else has been covered thanks to our wonderful volunteers.
We are expecting four families comprised of five adults and five kids. Financial donations, with IHN in the memo line, are also welcome at anytime. This allows us to cover incidental expenses like diapers, water, snacks and lunches for the families over the week they are here. For questions or concerns during the week, please call Dorothy Tolley at 732-892-9306.
Thank you!
Mark your calendar: On Sunday, February 25 at 1 p.m. Interfaith Hospitality Network will be having a training event for all the participating church volunteers at the IHN Day Center in Toms River. This two and a half hour training event will inform you of the proper protocols and procedures that ensure all guests have a safe and positive experience. To register for the event please call IHN directly at (732) 736-1550.
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"Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6
The Prayer Family for the week is the Wilton/Pula family. Let us be prayerfully aware of Carl and Claire, and their entire family, as well as all our members and friends.
Prayer Concerns: The family of Les Thornton; Morgan Colbert, Madison Jones.
Long term concerns: Jacob Basilotto; Bill Birdsong; George and Diantha Mathews Brown; Elsie Cason; Kevin Conheeney; Jean DeMartino; Don Destestafano; Audrey Kerber; Despina Koch; Bruce Larsen; Cody MacPhearson; Gerda Mooney; Jim Millar; Edith Pula; Jared Robbins; Susan Robbins; Zach Russo; Sarah Sarbello; Agnes Skowronek; Nancy and Ralph Smith; Jim Tabor;Grace Philhower; Tim Vilardi; those struggling with addictions and mental illness.
Military: Kyle Barker; Sarah Davis Brown; Morgan Daniels Colberg; Michael Fahey III; Jeffrey Hanrahan, Matthew Warren; all those in our nation's service.
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 A SERVICE OF WITNESS TO THE RESURRECTION giving thanks to God for the life of Leslie Thornton will take place on Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 11:00 a.m., at the Dooley Funeral Home, 218 North Avenue West, Cranford, New Jersey. This Thursday, February 1 at 1:30 p.m. there will be an interment of ashes in the Memorial Garden here at PPPC, with an informal reception to follow. An obituary may be found on the Dooley Funeral Home website.
 AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS (AGO) OCEAN COUNTY CHAPTER will be presenting Sacred Choral and Organ Music THIS Sunday, January 28 at 4:00 p.m. This choir festival will take place at Christ Episcopal Church, Washington Street in Toms River. A free will offering will be accepted.
ITEMS AVAILABLE - A church member is looking to sell their well-maintained 2001 Ford Focus with approximately 90,000 miles. Another member has a treadmill available for free. If you are interested in either of these items, please call the church office at 732-899-0587 for more information.
CONGRATULATIONS to the Rev. Becca Crate who was recognized by Arcadia University as one of the Top 40 Alumni Under 40. The most promising, accomplished young alumni that are making an impact across the globe were recognized at a ceremony in Philadelphia last week.
 2018 CHURCH DIRECTORIES NOW AVAILABLE - Directories can be found in the Narthex. Please call the church office if you would like a digital copy or with any updates to your information.
COFFEE HOUR HOSTS FOR THE NEXT MONTH - Please call Marge Meklin at 908-433-3957 for questions or concerns. Sign-up sheet is in the Church Kitchen.
January 28 - Bette Hughes
February 4 - Communion Breakfast
February 11 - Frank and Kerry Jones
February 18 - The McGuires
 CHAIRS NOW AVAILABLE - Approximately 20 student chairs and some adult size wooden chairs are available for a donation of $5 each. The chairs are currently in the CE Building. All monies from the chairs will do towards The Big Cover Up roof campaign. If interested please speak with Sue Perkowski or call the church office.
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Ash Wednesday February 14
Lent, the period of 40 days leading up to Palm Sunday and Easter, is to be a time of preparation, reflection and renewal. We invite you to begin your Lenten journey by joining with others from the church for the annual Ash Wednesday Soup Supper and Service.
We will gather on Wednesday, February 14 in the CE Annex with a soup supper at 6:30 p.m. Please plan to bring a pot of soup or a loaf of unsliced bread to share. If needed, runners will bring your soup upstairs to the annex before you park.
Sign-up sheets for soup donations are located by the Soup Pot in the Narthex; or send an e-mail to Kim in the church office. Please join us as we enter the 40 days of Lent together. Come together as a family; bring your friends.
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Books in the Library Now Available
This Sunday be sure to stop by the Church Library and grab a few books. A  small gallery is being planned for the space. Artist Karen Norby has been researching and developing the new space that would give the congregation, friends and community, the ability to exhibit and interact with the works of art throughout the year. A 2018 Eagle Scout project to convert the library space into a gallery is in the design stages.
A book giveaway to clear the space is continuing throughout January. Please help yourself to any of the books that are in the library. You will find a myriad of categories and genres something for everyone. Stop in and take a look and feel free to take as many as you would like. Books are available for the taking at any time. All unclaimed volumes will be donated to charity.
It is fitting that the first call for art will be the exhibit "Altered Books."
We invite you to get creative and alter or transform a book. An altered book is a form of mixed media artwork that changes a book from its original form into a different form, altering its appearance/meaning. Altered Books use all or part of a book as the starting point for a new work of art. Final pieces can take many different forms including sculpture, collage, assemblage or jewelry as long as the book features heavily in its final appearance.
If you are looking for ideas we recommend you speak with Karen Norby or Celishia Scarpone for some examples of creative book art or take a
look at some easy ideas online. Submissions will be on display starting at Palm Sunday, March 25. Both students and adults are encourage to participate.
Exhibition Conditions 
* Register by downloading and completing the submission form (blue cards also found in the narthex) and return to the office
* Artists must be 12 and older
* All artwork must be an original creation by artist or artists in collaboration
* Artwork may be declined if criteria is not met
* Work must be quality presentation and ready to install
* Exhibit will be non juried
* 2D work will be displayed on easels
* Only 3 pieces per artist may be submitted
* Drop off date for artwork is Monday, March 19, 2018 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Church
* Artwork must be displayed throughout exhibition (March 25-May 20, 2018)
* Pickup date is Sunday, May 20, 2018 after worship
So stop by the library, grab a few different types of books and have some fun whether reading or creating.
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The Big Cover Up
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UPDATED WEEKLY
Last Sunday, Sue Hankins reminded us of the Sunday School song she learned
here so many years ago, "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam." Back in November, when Sue climbed the attic stairs and saw the light shining through the roof, she is convinced this is not the type of sunbeam Jesus was talking about.
Your generosity in giving to The Big Cover Up has been a sunbeam to our campaign. To date we have reached a little over $35,000. We are grateful for each and every gift.
Reaching our goal of $75,000 is still a way off, but we are excited about our first month in this three-month campaign. The Big Cover Up also includes the work that is needed to help restore what has been damaged by the leaks.
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| Sunbeams coming through our roof |
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This Sunday, in the Annual Report you will read about all the many wonderful ministries that we are blessed to have at our church. You will also hear, at the congregational meeting, how we were able to reduce our deficit budget for 2017 and how we planned a budget for 2018 that reflects an understanding of our true financial situation. Reaching our roof campaign goal will allow us to start the year off with a real control of our finances.
Gold envelopes are still available in the pews. A check made out to PPPC with a note "Roof" may be sent or placed in the offering plate. If you prefer electronic giving click
HERE. If you prefer to spread out your giving over 3 months that is great. The campaign will run through the months of January, February and March!!
These are tax-deductible charitable contributions. Check with your financial
 adviser, but we understand that contributions from a qualified retirement account directly to the church are not considered taxable income.
Please prayerfully consider making a contribution. Your contribution will allow you to have a vested interest in all our ministries.
Stop and take a look at the "roof thermometer" posted in the Narthex.
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Your church needs you to join a liker gang.
No, we didn't say "biker gang." We need a large number of Facebook members to commit to doing something on behalf of the church that will take less than 5 minutes a day, but will make a big difference in the visibility of our church to the larger community.
All we need you to do, when you open up Facebook, is to be sure to visit the church's Facebook page and click on "Like" for that page itself, and - this is the important thing -
to go there every day after that, clicking on "Like" for every new item you see posted there.
You can find our Facebook page here:
Facebook has recently tweaked their algorithm, the formula that determines what shows up in users' newsfeeds. The changes mean that items posted by organizations (as opposed to individuals) aren't visible to so many users as they used to be. Pages that consistently get a large number of "likes," though, are seen by more people in our local area.
 We could invest in advertising through Facebook that gets our posts featured more prominently. But we have no advertising budget for that sort of thing. We can accomplish the same result for free by simply inspiring a lot of "likes" from our members and friends.
Their family and friends are then more likely to see our church's posts. It's like inviting someone to get to know our church better, without ever directly inviting them.
It's one of the simplest things you can do for your church, and you don't even need to leave your home to do it.
We're also looking for a volunteer to help coordinate the work of our new Liker Gang - and no, you don't need a motorcycle. Monmouth Presbytery's social media consultant, John Fong, will help our Liker Gang leader with ideas about how to increase participation. We'll soon be opening up a private Facebook group where members of the Liker Gang can coordinate with each other. If you're interested in becoming a leader of our Liker Gang, please contact Kim in the church office.
In the meantime, please visit
our Facebook page, like it, and then keep going back to it every day.
Thanks!
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New Beginnings Leader Training
Last month we had a visit from Peter Wells, our New Beginnings Assessor, who spent a day touring the church and community and meeting with congregational leaders. He will soon present us with a thorough report on our congregation, its strengths and weaknesses, with an eye to charting our course into the future.
Central to the New Beginnings process - but also to the Mission Study that will lead to the choice of a new pastor - is a series of four small-group meetings that will take place beginning in March. The small groups - which the Session hopes will involve as many church members as possible - will examine key insights from the New Beginnings Assessment. There will be an opportunity for everyone to express their views and ideas about the sort of Christian community our church should become.
The leader-training event will take place on:
Friday evening, February 23 and Saturday, February 24
We are looking to have the small-group leaders attend both the Friday evening and Saturday sessions.
Please contact Jim McGuire, (908) 783-7193, if you are interested in either leading a small group or in hosting a small group in your home (leading and hosting are not the same thing: the leader facilitates the small-group discussion, while the host provides coffee and dessert and a comfortable place to meet). Some small groups will meet at the church and others in members' homes.
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This Week in Sunday School
 Hello everyone!
Last week, we continued on through the book of Mark, examining the miracles Jesus performed. We focused on Mark 4: 35-41, which talks about when Jesus calmed the storm. Our 1st through 5th grade friends had a great discussion about how we can turn to prayer when "storms" arise in our lives, and how God can help us get through these difficult times.
This week is
PAJAMA DAY at Sunday School! All of our Sunday School friends are invited to come to church in their pajamas and then join us for a movie day complete with hot chocolate. Friends are encouraged to bring treats to share. We only ask that you label ingredients in any homemade treats, as we do have some friends with allergies.
We are looking forward to a great time! Parents are encouraged to stay for the annual meeting, the movie will extend past regular Sunday School time so your kids will be cared for and entertained while you attend the meeting.
See you all on Sunday!
Peace and Blessings,
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Next Sunday, February 4, the children of the Sunday School ask you to join them in helping fight hunger through the Souper Bowl of Caring
To Souper Bowl of Caring began in 1990. It was the idea of the youth pastor of a Presbyterian pastor in Columbia, SC to have the youth group collect food and money on Super Bowl Sunday. The thought was to collect food and money to give to local food banks on the day when so many people would be celebrating with special foods as they watched the big game. The youth group liked the idea so much they reached out to other churches in Columbia, SC. In the end 22 churches took part and they collected $5,700.
Today over 10,000 groups take part in the Souper Bowl of Caring and have collected over $100 million in the past 17 years. This simple beginning has grown into a gigantic force of human caring toward those who do not have enough food to eat.
All canned goods and money collected will be donated to St. Gregory's Pantry which is the local food bank that serves our community.
Next Sunday please bring a canned good or donate to one of the two soup pots the youth will be holding at the doors as you leave worship. Items can also be dropped off during the week of January 29 - February 2
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"The grace of the Lord Jesus
be with all the saints. Amen."
Revelation 22:21
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Visit our Church website for a complete and up-to-date calendar
Sunday, January 28
10:00 a.m. - Worship/Noisy Offering/Chancel Choir
10:00 a.m. Sunday School begins in Worship
11:00 a.m. - Congregational Meeting
IHN Arrives
IHN
6:15 p.m. - Choral Bells, Fellowship Room
Tuesday, January 30
IHN
10:00 a.m. - Busy Hands, Fellowship Room
5:00 p.m. - Tiger and Bear Den
Wednesday, January 31
IHN
9:00 a.m. - Women's Breakfast at the Rainbow Diner
4:30 p.m. - Webelos
5:00 p.m. - Dove Choir
6:30 p.m. - Wolf Pack
7:30 p.m. - Boy Scouts
Thursday, February 1
6:00 p.m. - Webelos
7:30 p.m. - Chancel Choir
Friday, February 2
Saturday, February 3
Sunday, February 4 -
Souper Bowl of Caring and Scout Sunday
10:00 a.m. - Worship/Communion/Chancel Choir
10:00 a.m. Sunday School begins in Worship
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BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS
Jan 29 Blake Birdsong
Jan 30 Michael Fanizzo
Jan 31 Donna Ferry
Feb 1 Jean Findlay
Feb 3 Deborah Brendler, Diana Obser, Jovie Hall
Feb 4 Robin DeRosa
Feb 6 Gwendolyn Whitworth, Jean Stoll
Feb 7 Jake Brzyski, Jarod Brzyski
Feb 9 Peter Farwell
Feb 10 Nancy Cook, Kathleen Leek-Clayton
Feb 11 Karyn Smykowski, Ryder Lucich
Feb 12 Elizabeth Havranek
Feb 13
Feb 14
Feb 15 Samuel Muraglia
Feb 16 Virginia Zimmerman, Julie Budrick, Emma Scarpone
Feb 17 Sue Hankins, Ryan Wittmann, Morgan Sarbello, Henry Scott
Feb 18 Mary Wade, Kylee Kells
Feb 19 Harvey Mendelsohn
Feb 20 Cora Landers
Feb 21 Linda Smith
Feb 22
Feb 23 Terri Satterlee
Feb 24 Heidi Steinert, Jamie McGuire, Isabella Drescher
Feb 25 Kent Lorentzen
Feb 26 Allan Novick, Tyler Barbieri
Feb 27 Thomas D'Amore, Michael Torres
Feb 28 Eva Pula, Emily Birdsong
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Upcoming
Sunday, February 4
Scout Sunday
Wednesday, February 14
Ash Wedneday
6:30 p.m. Supper and 7:00 p.m. Service
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| Pastors The Rev. Carl Wilton, Ph.D., Pastor The Rev. Linda Chase, Associate Pastor Office Staff Kim Gaydos, Church Secretary Donna Ferry, Financial Secretary Music Staff Sara Hoey, Organist William Shoppell, Chancel Choir and Choral Bells Director Rebecca Muraglia, Acting Dove Choir Director Christian Education Staff Tricia Stoffers, Sunday School Coordinator Devlin House, Point Beach Prep Preschool Director |
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