As we did for the first time last year, we are again inviting all children and youth to bring their backpacks to worship on Sunday September 15 for our 2nd Annual Blessing of the Backpacks during morning worship. This Sunday also marks the beginning of this year's Sunday School program. Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to begin another year of fun and learning, both here at church and at school!

 

 

"A picture is worth a thousand words!" For our 50th anniversary ten years ago we put together a DVD of the history of the church, for which we used pictures stretching back to the church's earliest days. For our 60th anniversary this fall, we plan to supplement that original DVD with newer pictures and incorporate them together with what we did in the past. Our hope is to mass produce this new product and make it available to everyone in the congregation. If you have any pictures from the life of the church you may have taken over the last ten years or so, please email them to Danielle or, if hard copies, bring them into the office, so we can include them.

 

SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS AND HELPERS ALWAYS NEEDED!

 

With Sunday School starting up on Sunday September 15, we are always in need to both teaches and helpers to make sure we are adequately staffed for our classes and rotations. Knowing that teaching takes our adults and youth out of worship, we don't ask anyone to commit to teaching more than two weeks in a row. We are grateful for those who have helped in the past and in advance for those who will be helping this year. Our rotation system is user friendly for teachers and anyone teaches receives the material in adequate time to review the material for that week's lesson. No teacher experience is necessary! A desire to help our kids in the way of Christ is all that is needed. For more information or to express interest please contact Acting CE elder Steve Mchugh, Co-Superintendents Janelle Foster or Sue Repasky or Curriculum Planner Bev Brouhard. The old saying, "It takes a village to raise a child" is certainly true when it comes to the Christian care and nurture of our children!

 

 

 

UPC  Chancel Choir Rehearsals begin on Thursday, September 12, 2019   

6:30 p.m. - 7:40 p.m.

 

Get out of the shower and come join us for regular Thursday fellowship/rehearsals 6:30 p.m. - 7:40 p.m., or you may wish to participate in special service presentations like Advent/Christmas or Lent/Easter, or small ensemble solos, duets.  We learn and prepare music from various backgrounds, blended, classical, sacred popular, men's and women's sacred Barbershop, etc.   

 

Contact Music Director  Argaille Di Matteo at 862-242-9304, or [email protected] if you're interested in making a "joyful singing noise" with us.  

 

 

ATTENTION UPC YOUTH!   School is starting up again!  Time for School Band, Orchestra, Elementary Recorder classes, and piano lessons to kick into gear!

 

Consider yourself blessed if you are learning to play an instrument this year, or singing in the School Choir or Glee Club!  Music is the Universal Language, for sure! Practice also makes us all better Musicians, whatever our age, or school grade!

 

Contact Music Director Argaille Di Matteo  862-242-9304, or [email protected] if you'd like to participate in one of our Band/Orchestra instrumental Groups or solo instrumental music offerings at Worship.  There's a place for you if you play an instrument, or sing... Check it out with Argaille

 

 

 

 

 

For several years now a small group of UPC readers has met monthly at the home of Michael and Linda Broder to read and discuss faith-based literature. The group has been known as the "Biblical Literacy Group", in part because that was the name of the first book the group read, but also because most of our readings have been focused on understanding and interpreting Scripture. At its meeting in June before breaking for the summer the group decided on a new, more generic name, "The UPC Book Group".  

 

The group will still continue to focus on readings that help us grow as Christ-followers, but now will consider a wider variety of topics. Our format of reading a single book over the course of time, a chapter or several chapters at time will still be continued (as opposed to many fiction book clubs that read a different title every month).

 

Our first reading selection with our new name is "Grateful" by Diana Butler Bass, who is a popular teacher, speaker and best-selling author on a variety of faith topics. As the title indicates, in her latest book Bass explores the transformative power, individually and communally of living a grateful life, or as is often said, practicing an "attitude of gratitude".

 

Rev. Rick has several copies of the book in his office and they are now available in-expensively in paperback on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

 

The first fall meeting of the UPC Book Club will be Wednesday Sept. 11 at 7:30 pm, at the Broder home. All are welcome. Even if you haven't read any of the book yet, feel free to drop in on this first post-summer gathering! Warm fellowship, lively conversation and Michael's delicious popcorn are guaranteed!

 

 

   

We ended up taking a break for our annual summer ASP this past summer. But after that one year hiatus, we'd like to pull a group together again to resume our long history of traveling south to work on homes for a week. Steve Mchugh will again be organizing our effort.

 

We will be holding our first organizational meeting after worship on Sunday September 22 in the church library. All former ASPers are welcome to join us as well as anyone who has ever thought about joining the fun, in addition to those just wanting to get more information. ASP has a minimum age of 14 to participate; at UPC that has usually meant post-Confirmation age. For younger children, one parent is recommended to attend as well, though not strictly necessary.

 

Just ask anyone who has ever been on an ASP trip and they will tell you it is lots of fun, a bit of hard-work, daily peanut butter and jelly sandwiches- and life-changing! (oh, and we forget to mention our nightly ice cream runs!).

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning on October 6th

Each Sunday after worship

Coffee, Light Refreshments and Fellowship

GREAT NEWS!

Another work day is planned for Saturday, October 19th with Habitat for Humanity. The work site is located at 121 Main Street, Succasunna. The day will begin at 8:30am and end at 4:00pm.

Last May, 13 people from our church volunteered for a work day and the response was "Let's do another one!" and so another one was scheduled!

What an excellent was to help others and show God's love!

Sign up on the poster in the hallway and see Carole Rose for necessary paperwork if you would like to volunteer. We have an awesome God, let's act out our love for him on October 19th!

"CHRISTIANS AGAINST CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM"

[A growing number of pastors and church leaders are endorsing the following statement about the dangers of mixing faith and politics under the guise of "Christian nationalism". This document is being included in this issue of the Messenger for UPC folks for their own reflections. Anyone interested in meeting with Rev. Rick to talk about it, please let him know.]

"As Christians, our faith teaches us everyone is created in God's image and commands us to love one another. As Americans, we value our system of government and the good that can be accomplished in our constitutional democracy. Today, we are concerned about a persistent threat to both our religious communities and our democracy - Christian Nationalism.

 

Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both Christian faith and America's constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation. We reject this damaging political ideology and invite our Christian brothers and sisters to join us in opposing this threat to our faith and to our nation.

 

As Christians, we are bound to Christ, not by citizenship, but by faith. We believe that:

 

Whether we worship at a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple, America has no second-class faiths. All are equal under the U.S. Constitution. As Christians, we must speak in one voice condemning Christian nationalism as a distortion of the gospel of Jesus and a threat to American democracy."

 

CHOOSE A SUNDAY TO CELEBRATE A SPECIAL OCCASION

OR

IN MEMORY OF A LOVED ONE

 
gn up on the bulletin board in church hallway