The Prayer person for the week is Susan Beltran. Let us be prayerfully aware of Susan as well as all our members and friends.

Prayer Concerns: Katie Barberi

Long term concerns: Katie Abrams; Jacob Bassalotto; Michael Berry; Ed Jung; Jay Hiatt; Karen Liebhauser; Despina Koch; Gwen McFaddan; Jacob Mendelsohn; Leigh Millar; Melissa Millar; Dale Norby; Marilyn Powell; Geoff Reilly; Bill Shoppell; Linda Lee Smith; Millage Youenger; Ginny Zimmerman; those struggling with addictions and mental illness.

Military: Sarah Davis Brown; Morgan (Colberg) Sensing; Michael Fahey III; Robin Fiorentino; all those in our nation's service.

Matthew 19:14 KJV

To our contemporary ears the word “suffer” connotes pain or sorrow but in this language of the King James Version of the Bible the word “suffer” means allow. It is the meaning of the word we use when we speak of suffrage- meaning to allow to vote. Here Jesus is telling his friends and disciples to allow the children to come to him. And he concludes, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

This Sunday we will observe Children’s Sabbath, a day to join our hearts and minds with these the least, littlest of God’s children. The children of our own hearts and homes are fairing well for the most part, with enough love, food, educational opportunity and health care. Yet, many children in the US and around the world are suffering in the contemporary sense -lacking loving adults in their lives, adequate shelter, food, educational opportunities and health care. The Children’s Defense Fund, our nation’s preeminent child advocacy agency has recently compiled data on America’s children. Their findings are shocking.

Each Day in America

5 children are killed by abuse or neglect

8 teens or children die by suicide

9 children or teens are killed with a gun

59 babies die before their first birthday

248 children are arrested for drug offenses

826 children are born without health care coverage

1,638 babies are born into poverty

1,995 children are arrested

2,906 high school students drop out of school

Jesus lived and taught in a culture that did not particularly value children, since so many died before reaching adulthood. Nonetheless, Jesus made children a priority of his teaching and healing ministries. The church, historically, has followed his example in providing Sunday schools, preschools, camps and other activities for children. But the statistics above suggest our mission is not done. The children around us and across the nation need and deserve adult friends who will find the courage and the time to speak out on their behalf.

Come join us Sunday for worship as we explore the dimensions of child advocacy on this Children’s Sabbath to which the Spirit is calling us. Let us do so in the name of the most famous poor child in human history, even Jesus the Christ.

In faith,

In a time of contact less curbside delivery, we can still support the homeless families who are part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network program and staying at the day center in Toms River.

Our week to support IHN is the first week of November. We need to prepare and drop off dinner meals for the family in the program at the day center.

If you want to volunteer to prepare one evening meal, please speak with Donna Wittmann (732-948-8934) to let her know which night along with your possible menu. We will keep our volunteers updated with the number of people in the program when our week arrives.

The day center is located at 407 Lexington Ave., Toms River (just past St. Joseph R.C. Church on Hooper Ave., going south). Thank you for always faithfully supporting IHN for the past eighteen years.

Everyone has one week to get their Halloween costume and decorations just right. Join your church family and friends on Zoom next week for a fun Halloween Costume Party.

A special invite email will go out on Thursday and the link will also be in the Friday newsletter. The Zoom party will be October 23 at 7:00 pm.

Prizes will be awarded for the best family group costume, individual costume, best pet costume, best decorated front yard, best decorated inside of your house, and best decorated/carved pumpkin.

The personnel committee put this fun video together with all the details.

On Sunday, November 1 we will celebrate All Saints Day. An important element in the observance of All Saints is the offering prayers of thanksgiving in loving memory of members and friends of our church who have departed this life in the past year. Please call the church office or send us an email with the names of people to be remembered during the Great Thanksgiving.

The Autumn Decorations at the entrance of the Sanctuary are given by Leigh and Jane Millar in loving memory of their son Jim Millar and grandson Taylor Cowan. We are grateful to the Millars for this wonderful gesture every Autumn.

Are you as stressed as I am over all the hate in our country? By the divisions among people? By the awareness that we aren’t even of like mind over COVID 19? I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the state we find ourselves in as a country. What happens for you when you encounter someone who holds different ideas and beliefs from you? Are you able to hold a civil conversation or do you avoid the difficult topics altogether? Or worse yet, do you wind up in an argument?

This stress is not good for us. It bathes our bodies in stress hormones and affects us in physical and emotional ways. It also leaves us vulnerable to illness. It is absolutely in our best interests and the interests of humanity that we find a way to overcome our divisions.

We have a very important election coming up, one that is shaping up to be quite contentious. More hate, more divisiveness, more anger. Unless…. Unless we find a way to bridge the gap. Unless we decide that our relationships are more important to us than our viewpoints being the correct ones. I’m not talking about giving up on your convictions. I’m talking about finding a way to connect with people despite the differences in our viewpoints. It takes work but if we can stay in civil conversations with others we can usually find some common ground to land on. Boy, do we need some common ground!

So, educate yourself on the issues important to you and get out and vote! And then find a way to connect with someone. Stay in the difficult conversations until you find some common ground. Our collective well-being depends on it.

Elder Lynn 

Lynn O’Hara, MS, RD, LPC, Licensed Psychotherapist and Registered Dietitian

You might ask, "Can I invite a friend, relative, or neighbor?" Answer: of course! Please ask them to email us at pppsundayschool@gmail.com, so they can register and receive login credentials.

We begin October with a brand new life application:

When we trust in God, we can be truthful in whatever we say and do. Who we are in private should match who we are in public.

You can download the Sunday School Registration Form online, snap a photo of it, and email it as an attachment to pppsundayschool@gmail.com. We’ll send you the Zoom login credentials, so you can join us Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m.

Letter D is the perfect time to learn about and play with dinosaurs. We hatched baby dinosaurs from ice eggs, made dinosaur footprints and built our own as a project. We learned the dinosaur boogie and went on a dinosaur hunt. We also played in our new Dinosaur Center.

We did lots of other fun D activities such as pretending to DIG up treasures, dunk donuts, and drive a dump truck. We played Doggie Doggie Where's My Bone, Duck Duck Goose, and Farmer in the Dell. We played with dominoes and ducks. Miss Alli, our own personal dance instructor taught us different dance moves. Our Yoga pose was "down dog" Our sign language word was "Dad". Our sight word was "do". We read How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Daniel's Dinosaurs, Puff the Magic Dragon, One Duck Stuck, Duck on a Bike and more. We made ducks, dogs, dads, dots and dragonflies. What a dynamic week!

We had three separate trips from the Point Pleasant Beach Fire Departments to teach us about fire safety. We sat outside in the beautiful weather for our lessons and then were able to board the fire engine and take turns spraying the hose! Thank you to our volunteer firefighters!

With our church office being staffed on a limited basis, we ask that you please deliver items for the food pantry directly to St. Gregory's Food Pantry which is located at St. Mary's by-the-Sea.

The food drop-off area during their regular hours, Monday through Friday, 10 am – 12 pm, is on the Atlantic Ave. side of St. Mary’s by-the-Sea, lower level. If you would like to drop off non-perishable items at any other time, they may be placed in the box at St. Mary's by-the Sea parking lot door (off Bay Ave.). Please drop off non-perishable food for Thanksgiving by November 10th.

There are no indoor pickups or drop-offs at this time.

Tuesday, October 20 - 6:30 p.m. - Virtual Session Meeting

Friday, October 23 - 7:00 p.m. - Church Wide Halloween Costume Party Online

Every Wednesday - 9:00 a.m. Women's Breakfast at the Rainbow Diner

To view the church calendar online please visit our website or click on the link.

Oct 18

Oct 19 Marjorie McGhee

Oct 20 Randy Crate, Phyllis King, Carol Reid

Oct 21

Oct 22 Mike Aiello, Bill Nicholson, William Smykowski

Oct 23

Oct 24 W N Smith

Oct 25 Riley Fiorentino, Constantine MacGregor

Oct 26

Oct 27 Joan Reitmeyer

Oct 28 Sydney Hurley, Cynthia Kells

Oct 29

Oct 30 Claude Hurley, John Pasola, Frank Perkowski, Lisa Simpson

Oct 31

The Rev. Dr. Eileen Lindner, Stated Supply Pastor - Email

Kim Gaydos, Church Secretary - Email

Donna Ferry, Financial Secretary -Email

Sara Hoey, Organist - Email

Melanie Chambers, Chancel Choir Director - Email

Morgan Sarbello, Choral Bell Director - Email

Devlin House, Point Beach Prep Preschool Director - Email

Frank Perkowski, Sunday School Coordinator - Email

Church Office: mail@pointpresbyterian.org