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

Prayer Concerns: Katie Barberi, Jane Fredericks.

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.

This Sunday we will celebrate Reformation Sunday. It is that Sabbath on which we annually acknowledge the unique history of the Protestant Reformation. Like all movements of renewal and reform, the Protestant Reformation was responding to perceived excesses and distortions in the medieval church. However, unlike many reform movements, the 16th century leaders of the Protestant Reformation were not under the illusion that their reforms would be the last and only transitions within Christianity. The slogan “the church reformed and always reforming” captures their deepest conviction that in every generation we must adapt within the church to meet the changing needs and perceptions of successive generations.

The Protestant Reformation nonetheless provided us a legacy that we can easily observe in our Sunday worship. The presence of a Ruling Elder in leading the liturgy and in governing the church is a response to the Reformation heritage of “the priesthood of all believers.” The centrality of the sermon in our worship is a legacy of the Reformation’s reliance on scripture as the source of our understanding of God. When we make confession of our sins we do it corporately relying alone on God’s grace. These elements of our church life, and many more examples could be given, attest to the heritage we are heir to as Reformed Christians.

While this is a Sunday to celebrate that legacy, it is not enough to embrace the reforms of five centuries ago. To be Reformed Christians is to endlessly reform the church toward closer alignment with the will of God and the needs of the present generation. The challenge for us is to continuously renew the church’s ministry and witness so that it continues to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to today’s world and to show the love of God through it’s witness to places of need and want all around us. So, as we approach this Reformation Sunday let us renew our passion for the witness of the church in the world, redouble our efforts to proclaim the Good News to a weary world and continue to identify the ways in which we can demonstrate God’s love and grace to a weary and anxious world. For, “a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing…”

In faith,

Oliver Nicholas Pape

Born February 10, 2020

at Ocean Medical Center, Brick, NJ

Son of New Members Being Received

Nicholas and Amanda Pape

Godson of Patrick Pape and Ashley Gahr

Another Bible study will be led by Pastor Eileen during Advent. The study of the Psalms in September/October was very popular and well attended.

Motion was approved to receive Nicholas and Amanda Pape, Ryan and Kara Barker, and Justin and Tracy Heald as new members, and to authorize baptism of their children, Oliver Pape, Ella and Fia Barker, and Asher Heald, during Sunday worship on October 25, November 1, and November 8. With this scheduling, each family can be sure of safe social distancing and the space for their family members to attend worship in person.

Pastor Nominating Committee has been meeting weekly via Zoom and is looking forward to the completion of renovations to the Manse, which will make it even more attractive to a new pastor and his/her family.

Motion was approved to allocate up to $9000 from the Sandy Fund to finish Manse renovations which are ongoing.

We are pleased to announce that the church has been notified that the Small Business Administration has forgiven its Payroll Protection Program loan, making it a grant to PPPC.

Committee chairmanship reorganization changes include: Brian Potter, Finance Chair for one year, as well as Liaison to the Buildings and Grounds Committee. Donna Wittman will assume leadership as Coordinator of PPPC’s participation in Interfaith Hospitality Network. Barbara Reusch was re-appointed as Clerk of Session. Thank you to Kent Lorentzen, Frank Jones, and Craig Lambie whose term on the Session just ended. Special thanks to Dorothy and Jack Tolley who organized PPPC’s Interfaith Hospitality volunteers for many years and have now retired from the Coordinator position.

Plans for the Christmas Dinner, traditionally held in the Annex. are being made. The meals this year will be simple meals, with home delivery to those who register for them through the church office. Observing safe practices recommended by the CDC and the State, Donna Wittmann, Chairperson, and volunteers will lovingly provide food donations, prepared by restaurants and businesses in the community, to all who request them. There will be no gathering in the Annex.

Personnel Committee has been conducting interviews for the position of Church Sexton.

Sunday School reports that 7-12 families attend Zoom meetings each week and participate in the activities. The October theme has been integrity and being true to you, your authentic self.

Youth have been contacted about Sunday evening discussions of Scripture from morning worship. Zoom discussions will begin on November 1st at 6:30 PM.

Information about Confirmation classes that will begin in January will be sent out to families of prospective confirmands in November.

Join us tonight for a fun filled night.The Personnel Committee invites you to join us tonight for a fun filled night. The Halloween Costume Party is tonight, October 23 at 7:00 p.m. The link below is no trick but a real treat!

Gift Card prizes will be awarded for

Best Individual Costume

Best Pet Costume

Best Family or Group Costume

Best Decorations Indoor or Outdoor

Best "Trick"

There will also be a prize for the winner of the Halloween themed scavenger hunt.

A clue for your first scavenger item is - This guy started out his life with 300 but ended it with only 206. He is very humerus but has no heart!

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.

Thinking ahead for Christmas - As part of the IHN network we will be providing gifts and groceries to a family for Christmas. Due to the time crunch Barbara Reusch and Donna Wittmann will take care of the shopping. Anyone interested in offering financial support for this mission can make a donation to the church. Please indicate IHN Christmas in the memo line of your check or in the description box under Special Giving online. Your contribution will then be used for the IHN families.

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.

Burnout. Remember that term? It was coined by a man named Herbert Freudenberger in 1975 and is defined by three components. First, emotional exhaustion. Second, depersonalization. This is when you feel a depletion of empathy and compassion and caring. Third, decreased sense of accomplishment. This is an “unconquerable sense of futility: feeling that nothing you do makes a difference.” Do you feel like you are in a state of burn out? I sure do. Good news is you aren’t alone and there is help!

I came upon this information as I was listening to Brene Brown’s podcast, Unlocking Us. Her guests were twin sisters, Emily and Amelia Nagoski, authors of the new book, “Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.” It seems that many, many of us are in this state. Why not? 2020 has been one heck of a year and there is no end in sight to the stressors we are dealing with. Fortunately, even though we may not be able to change the stressors, think COVID, politics, racism, etc., we can do some things to lessen the effects of the stress upon us. The authors give concrete things we can do to help us complete the stress cycle so our systems calm down. I don’t know about you but my nervous system feels constantly jacked up. So, what can we do? First, one of the most effective things to do when feeling the effects of stressors upon us is to exercise. I know you’ve heard this before and I know not everyone can exercise but if you can it is the single most effective thing you can do to lower your body’s stress response. Getting your breathing up and your muscles moving is so very helpful in completing the stress cycle. Think of the stress cycle as “fight or flight.” When we cannot exert the effort, as we would in fighting or fleeing, we stay in the cycle of stress. Exercise helps to complete the cycle. Breathing is also a highly effective way to regulate the nervous system. Inhale slowly and deeply, hold your breath for a few seconds and exhale nice and slow and fully until there is no more air. Do this a few times until you feel more settled and calmer. Your brain may go all over the place but that’s ok. Affection also helps calm and complete the stress cycle. Think how nice long hugs feel. Lastly, wellness or the “freedom to move fluidly through the cycles of being human” can also help to complete and thus end the stress cycle. Wellness in this case is a state of action, not a state of being. Allowing ourselves to cry or laugh is imperative.

This is a very brief synopsis of the podcast. I urge any of you who are feeling burned out to consider tuning in or getting the book. What a relief to know there is something we can do in these very uncertain times to feel a bit better. Until next time, eat healthy, be happy, wear a mask and wash your hands!

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.

Our Stewardship Campaign began this past week. Pledge cards were emailed out. Only those without email should have received a pledge card in the mail. If you have not already, please fill out and submit your confidential e-pledge card today by clicking the link below. Pledge cards are also available in the Narthex.

All e-pledges will automatically be received and recorded by the Financial Secretary. No account or passwords are required to submit your e-pledge.

This week we learned letter E. Our sign language was elephant and eat. We read The Ear Book, All About Eggs, Ernest the Moose Who Doesn't Fit , The Earth and I, Elmer the Elephant, Eddie Elephants Exciting Egg Sitting and more. Some of our projects were envelope art, making elephants, egg circle painting, electric eels with elbow macaroni, and an elegant letter E. We danced like elephants and sang Do Your Ears Hang Low. We also did an Earth song, and an exercise song. We did some fun science experiments. One was called the disappearing egg. After letting an egg soak in vinegar for days, the shell completely dissolved! Another science experiment was called elephant toothpaste. The children observed an exothermic reaction of yeast and hydrogen peroxide mixed with blue food dye which ended up looking like elephant toothpaste. It was exciting!

Please be vigilant about any email that appears to be from a former or current staff member that seems to be suspicious. These email phishing scams have been much more prevalent as of late. Often time the fake email asks you to take some kind of unusual action (get back to them right away for some assistance, purchasing gift cards, clicking a link or downloading an attachment you didn’t request).

These scammers make a fake email account in a minister's name and then sends a request for gift cards allegedly from the minister to the congregation’s directory. The emails appear harmless; they have the local pastor’s name and an email address that looks legitimate, but upon further inspection, the email address is actually different from the ministers real email address. In some instances, the sender’s name may look correct but is misspelled.

DOs and DON’Ts:

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.

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

Monday, October 26 - 9:15 a.m. - PW Coordinating Team Meeting

Week of November 1-8 - Host IHN at the Day Center with Meals

November 5-6 - Point Beach Prep Closed

Sunday, November 8 - Stewardship Sunday

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 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