Dear Church Family,

Last week Pastor Stephanie and I had the distinct honor of giving the opening prayer to the State Senate as they began their voting session. While they didn’t know this was what we were doing, we put a full chamber of NJ elected officials through 7 solid minutes of our Lenten Journey—giving the Senate a taste of life shaped by the Psalms (Psalm 19, to be precise). Here are some portions of our prayer.

Steph: The heavens are telling the glory of God,

and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.

Day to day pours forth speech,

and night to night declares knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;

their voice is not heard;

yet their voice goes out through all the earth

and their words to the end of the world.

Seth: God, the heavens are telling of your glory, and so too is your work in this firmament called the state of New Jersey.

Your waves crash on our shores. Migrating birds work their way toward your Pinelands and then up along the Delaware, the Raritan, the Hudson. 

Eagles and ospreys play in the spray along Sandy hook, and along the Delaware Raritan Canal, all in their season, in joy.

Steph: God, the heavens are telling the glory of God, and so too are the people of New Jersey.

The eclectic and beautiful collection of humanity, with dozens of languages and dialects for hundreds more, you have moved people to this place, by rivers and oceans and by air, to come to this place too, settling here, for a new start, a new hope, for a life filled with Spirit.

This reality, of growth and blend, of twists and turns, of old community and new, making room for each other, and then making room again, is as old as this state—and older still. We thank you for your people; being made, and remade, formed and reformed, in your image.

TO READ THE ENTIRE SENATE PRAYER, CLICK ON THIS LINK

RCHP, you help us see, each and every day, that the details of our collective life can be lived like this—deeply and fully aware of the presence of God.

Peace to you,

Pastors Seth

P.S. Check out the photo gallery at the end of this email for church family highlights!

Upcoming April Events & Happenings

Holy Week

Saturday, April 1st:  From 10am-12pm RCHP will hold its Annual Easter egg hunt and party. It’s super fun and a great way to connect especially with all the young families in our church and larger community. Invite a friend! If you’d like to assist, contact Pastor Seth All teens are invited to come at 9am on Saturday to help decorate the social hall and quilt room!

Sunday, April 2nd: We will celebrate Communion on Palm Sunday, and we encourage all children in the church to come 5 minutes early to worship so as to help us process into the church Palm branches and song from the 2nd Ave doors.  

Thursday, April 6th: On Maundy Thursday we’ll hold an RCHP Potluck Dinner at 6pm as we commemorate Jesus offering the Passover Meal to his disciples. We hope you’ll come and be together as a community of 21st century disciples, as we prepare for the events of Gethsemane, Golgatha and Easter Morning. After the Potluck we will have our Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service. In this service we recount the story of Jesus’ suffering and death with a very solemn and traditional service. Many people say this is their favorite service of the year.

Friday, April 7th: On Good Friday, at noon, there is a Good Friday service at our South River location. It’s a service of readings and hymns. This service will be bilingual in Spanish and English.  

Friday, April 7th: Easter Labyrinth: On Good Friday, starting at 12 noon, you are invited to RCHP for our Easter Labyrinth. Artists from our church and greater community have put together a series of artistic works that guide us through a meditative journey in the sanctuary…to help us reflect on the depth of God’s love in Christ. This year’s labyrinth is framed by the Psalms…Psalms coupled with stories from the life of Jesus.

Friday, April 7th: Good Friday Service, Highland Park, 7pm: We will hold a service on Friday night at 7pm. This service is a service of that will combine the last words of Jesus from the cross with testimonies from members of our congregation.  

Saturday, April 8th: The Easter Labyrinth will be open from 9am-1pm on Saturday, April 8th.  

Saturday, April 8th: Nature Hike & a little Farm Work—RCHP will hold its monthly nature hike on Saturday the 8th as well. We will leave at 10:30am, from the church (maybe you can come to the Labyrinth first?) and just go together to Cook College Farm to see the animals and to walk around our church garden and to help a little bit to turn over some soil, pull some weeds and get excited for the growing season.  

Easter Sunday April 9th: —

6am—Gather at RCHP for the 5th Annual Franco Juricic Easter Sunrise Run. We will run from church to the Gazebo at Donaldson.

6:30am—The Easter Sunrise Service, Highland Park is our time to remember the women visiting the tomb of Jesus and finding it empty! The service is at the Gazebo, which is by the boat launch at Donaldson Park.

9:00am and 11:15am—Easter Sunday Services, Highland Park, Let’s celebrate together the radical good news of Jesus defeating death and claiming life for all!

10:15-11:15am—Easter Sunrise Potluck Coffee Hour, Highland Park. We invite everyone in the church to bring a dish to share as we take a 1-week break from Sunday school and instead gather for fellowship and food in the Social Hall.

11:00am—Easter Sunday Service, RCHP South River. We invite you to join us at RCHP’s South River Congregation for Easter morning worship!

Creative Conversation - Wednesday, April 12th, 10:30am-12:30 pm. Meet in the Quilt Room

Doing art at home can be lonely, so let’s do it together! Bring your own art supplies. Some basic supplies will be provided. Let’s chat, laugh and create! No skills needed - just a desire to have some fun. Questions? Contact Wendy Nussman at wendynussman@gmail.com 

D.E.P.T.H. - Thursday, April 13th, 7pm

Go in DEPTH in person! Join the DEPTH (Discussing and Exploring Personal Theologies Honestly) for our first in-person gathering on Thursday, April 13th from 7-8pm in the RCHP Parlor. DEPTH is a safe space for people to talk about their personal spiritual beliefs and how they might differ from traditional religious doctrine. Email Austin at retroboi319@gmail.com  with any questions and to receive the discussion prompt for the 13th. Participation in the group is not dependent upon identifying with a particular faith community; all are welcome!

Senior Prayer Breakfast: April 14th. Join your pastors in the Quilt Rm on April 14th, from 10am-11am, for breakfast and prayer.

Saturday, April 15th: New Members & Inquirers Class—Pastor Seth will offer a new members class from 9:00am-11:15 on April 15th. If you’ve recently come to RCHP, and you’d like to join the church, please come! This class will only happen if there are a minimum of 5 people interested in taking it.  

Saturday April 15th from 11:00-12:30 - Game Day in the quilt room.

Come on out and spend some light-hearted and fun quality time with your church family playing games and catching up. Games provided, but feel free to bring your favorite. Questions? Contact Wendy Nussman at wendynussman@gmail.com  

Interfaith-RISE Art Show

Since November 2022, students in the IRISE all level conversation class which meets weekly here in the church, have had drawing instruction alongside their weekly English lessons.  Currently many of the student works are on display in the social hall.  In this collaboration, through storytelling and creating art, students had the opportunity to express themselves visually and were not limited to just communicating with their linguistic abilities.  This artwork will be on display through April.

Save the Date!

Annual Meeting of RCHP, May 7th—May 7th is RCHP’s 133rd Annual Meeting.  Join us as we give God thanks for another wonderful year in ministry and as we make decisions about new consistory members to help guide us into the year ahead.  The Annual Meeting will occur between 1st and 2nd service.

SEE OUR "SERVING & WORKING FOR JUSTICE" SECTION FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OUR JUNE DISASTER RELIEF MISSION TRIP



Prison Correspondence Team 

Pastor Amos has been gathering a team each month to correspond with a list of elderly people who are incarcerated in New Jersey prisons. This team is a vital part of a policy campaign that Salvation and Social Justice is driving, to create second chance opportunities for incarcerated senior citizens to return to their communities. The next team meeting is scheduled for April 23 at 1:00pm.

Please contact Pastor Amos for more details.  amoscaley@gmail.com

Sunday Worship and Education/Fellowship Schedule

In Highland Park:  

Worship is at 9am and 11:15am. Services are identical (or at least close to identical). The first service is also streamed online, through Facebook, Youtube, and our website.

Sunday school for all ages is so incredibly meaningful! Bring your children to learn stories of God’s love and to connect with other church kids and caring adults.

In South River: 

Worship is at 11:00am - It is our desire for a growing number of RCHP members to join Keiko Kereh, on a regular or semi-regular basis, for worship in South River. 

Sunday Afternoon and Evening Schedule 

Kids in the Cave-Youth Group for 4th and 5th graders (right after 2nd service, 12:30 or so…1st and 3rd Sundays).

Confirmation Class 4:30pm-5:30pm

Middle School Youth Group-5:45-7pm

High School Youth Group-7:00-8:15pm

Sunday Nights—The Table, 5:30pm: RCHP offers a terrific evening gathering, each and every week, for around 40-50 people. We are so thankful for Faros, for Garden State Deli and for Harvest Moon Cafe, all of which have been providing delicious meals and delivering them to the church each week!

Special Adult Education Program   April 16, 2023, from 10:20am-11:10am in the Parlor

Sponsored by the WISE CARE Committee

Every year, more than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. About 610,000 of these are first or new strokes. About 185,000 strokes—nearly 1 in 4—are in people who have had a previous stroke.  

Our guest speaker is Florence Chukwuneke, MSN, RN, AGPCNP – BC, CNRN, NVRN-BC Neurology Services / Stroke APN Comprehensive Stroke Center; RWJUH New Brunswick.

In this adult education session, participants will learn more about stroke,

1. How to recognize a stroke when it is happening

2. How to respond to insure prompt emergency care 

3. And most importantly, how to prevent strokes.

Additional programs are planned to explore other common neurological disorders that impact our church family, including seizure disorders and dementia.

Wednesday Evening Choirs for All Ages:

Voices of Praise 5pm-5:30pm (followed by pizza and fellowship) 

Gospel Choir 6:00pm-7:00pm (childcare is offered during this time)

Chancel Choir 7:00pm-8:00pm 

First Voices & Voices of Praise—We couldn’t be more pleased with the growth of our kids choir programs over the past couple of months!  Join us, from 5:00-5:30, if you are between the ages of approximately 3yrs and 6th grade, for one of two kids choirs, with Pastor Seth or Pastor Amos.  We have so much fun together!  And, stay for pizza and stories, games and crafts with Ms. Meghan and Ms. Liezl!       

A Message from Pastor Terry terryjon.stokes@gmail.com

Kids in the Cave will meet on April 2 and 16 this month.

Please register to hold your spot for Camp Fowler as soon as possible! 

All youth and families (as well as the wider church community) are invited to Terry and Jodi's housewarming party at 240 Magnolia St on April 21. We'll do hors d'oeuvres at 6:30pm, a special house concert with Cecilia Glenn at 7:30, and a dance party at 8:30pm.

Sunday, April 2: On April 2 Pastor Seth will visit High School Youth Group to share about Global Grace Marketplace. This would be a great opportunity to invite High School guests from DECA or other school-based social awareness groups that might be interested in a new local shop. 

Assisting with South River After School Program—Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 4pm-5pm, come and join Keiko Kereh and a group of volunteers in South River to help kids with their homework.  Also, if you attend on Thursday, stay for a delicious community dinner! 

Opportunities for Daily/Weekly Spiritual Growth, through discussion, study and prayer

Morning Prayer, 9am-9:30am, Zoom: Each morning, since the pandemic started in March of 2020, RCHP has held a daily morning prayer. Different church members and pastors share for 10 minutes or so and then there is a time of prayer and sharing. All are welcome.  

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Wednesday Morning Bible Study, 7:45am: A strong group of around 10 gather for an hour on Wednesdays in the church parlor, to read the Bible together and then to discuss how the text resonates with our lives as individuals and as a community of faith living in this world. Conversations are excellent. You are also welcomed to leave early to get to work on time. Pastor Seth leads this group.

Contemplative Thursdays

We've begun our practice of creating space on Thursdays for contemplation and meditation. Each Thursday morning from 7:00 to 8:00, the sanctuary is open and prepared for quiet prayer and meditation. Every two weeks at noon, we're also journeying through a podcast and engaging in quiet conversation. Contact Carrie Dirks for more information.

Tricky Topics

Beginning in at the end of April, and running through May and June, the Tricky Topics book group will be reading and discussing the book "Becoming Abolitionists" by Derecka Purnell. There are two formats offered: virtual discussion on Friday afternoons and in-person discussion on Tuesday evenings. This book group will also feature a conversation with the author toward the end of the session. Contact Pastor Amos for more information.

"LitLovers" Reading & Culture Group

If you love talking about media and arts, and would like a lightly structured format for sharing, give LitLovers a try on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 1:30pm. Each week, participants are welcome to share about books, movies, TV shows, music and culinary delights. For more info, contact Cecilia Rowedder czr852@yahoo.com Please email to receive the Zoom link.

Weekly Virtual "Drop-In"

All are welcome to drop-in for an hour of friendly, free-wheeling conversation on Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:30pm. Contact our host, Carol Perry caca98@aol.com for more information and for a Zoom link.

Opportunities for Spiritual Growth through Sewing & Knitting/Crocheting

On Thursdays, from 10am-1pm, the Women’s Sewing Circle meets to create beautiful items that are incorporated into the annual bazaar.  This group, meeting year round, also is a wonderful form of support and encouragement for all who are involved.

On Tuesdays, from 7pm-9pm, the Prayer Shawl Ministry creates beautiful shawls that are then distributed to church members and to others who are prayed for in our worship services.  All are invited to learn this craft and to contribute in this way.

Opportunities for Spiritual Growth through Ministries of Justice and Mercy

June Disaster Relief Trip

Our ongoing commitment to serving communities impacted by disaster through World Renew DRS is happening this June in the Volusia County Area, Florida. This mission trip is scheduled for the week of: June 3-10, 2023. The group will consist of a maximum of 12 adults aged 21+. There are currently 4 slots available. 

SITE INFORMATION: “Hurricane Ian passed through Volusia County, Florida, on September 28/29th, 2022, traumatizing many Volusia County residents who barely recovered from Hurricane Irma just three years prior. Then, just 40 days later, Tropical Storm Nicole hit Volusia County. Both storms left Volusia County residents' homes destroyed, in need of repair and flooded.”

WORK: Will consist of general reconstruction work. Possibilities include flooring, roofing, sheetrock, painting, etc. More details can be provided as your scheduled work dates approach. Tools will be provided on site. All are welcome to participate and on site training and guidance will be provided. 

WHAT TO BRING: Sleeping bag/bedding, pillow, towels and toiletries. Work clothes, closed toed work shoes, work gloves, safety glasses, etc. Sunscreen, water bottle, clothes for after work, swimsuit, etc. Don’t forget to bring a small cooler or thermo lunch bag for your lunch. 

HOUSING FEE: There is a $12 fee per person per day to cover costs of lodging. Please contact Anthony DiGrigoli for further info awdigrigoli@gmail.com 

Radio Station at RCHP

RCHP, did you know that we have a radio station? It's called Radio Jornalera, whose mission is to give a voice to immigrant workers by amplifying their stories and needs. They envision being a safe space, an alternative media outlet where workers come to share experiences and knowledge based on community, solidarity and respect. For more information, including their radio shows, check out their website at https://radiojornaleranj.org/

HP Food Pantry

Food Pantry needs for April:

During these challenging times the Highland Park Community Food Pantry is currently not taking individual donations. Instead we now have an Amazon Wishlist where folks wishing to donate have several options to choose from as well as an option to donate Gift Cards. We appreciate greatly any donation as we are facing an increase of folks in need. Thank you all so much. You can access the Wishlist here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/11AKRFJFUGZPF?ref_=wl_share

Most urgent needs are:

Cereal

Oatmeal

Pasta

Adult Diapers- all sizes male/unisex

Adult Diapers- small (ladies) and medium (ladies)

In addition to the Amazon wish list, items may be purchased from big box stores like Costco or Sam's Club; contact Kathi for further details: foxyrox18@gmail.com

CHRONIC ILLNESS/CHRONIC PAIN SUPPORT GROUP ON ZOOM 

Has your life has been changed by chronic physical pain or illness? Are you willing to share your experience, strength and hope with others on this lonely journey? Join a new Weekly Support Group on ZOOM sponsored by the WISE CARE Committee of RCHP. This Support Group meets Tuesdays from 5pm-6pm.  

Contact Facilitators: Carla Epstein-Teliha, epsteinteliha@verizon.net  or Pat Kaufman, patbkauf@gmail.com for additional information and for a Zoom Link

Bereavement Calendar

RCHP remembers all those who died in April and all those who still mourn

The following names have been offered for remembrance in April 2023: 

Andy Colmant, Father of Liz Estes and Grandfather of Liv, Josie and Michael Carey

Eleanor DiGeronimo, also known as Gram, 

Beloved Grandmother of Kristin Tone, and Matt & Deanna Hepburn, 

and Beloved Great-Grandmother of Carmella and RoseMarie Hepburn

John Faust, Beloved Husband of Illona Faust, Beloved Father of Sarah and Jonathan & Sarah-Jean, and Pop-Pop to Jake, Kennedy, and Charlotte

Richard Hepburn, Beloved Father and Grandfather of the Hepburn Family

Bruce Jackson, Beloved Brother of Gail Green

Michael Kalnok, Beloved Father of Laura Kalnok

Joseph Neves Marcal Jr., Beloved Father of Marcia Marcal Persiano

Clara O’Neill, Beloved Long Time Member of RCHP

Jordan Riley Parlatore, Beloved Daughter of Tiffany Baker

Nana Rachel, Beloved Grandmother of Jess Munger

Loretta Romeo, Beloved Mother-in-law of Rich Lord

If it would be a comfort to include your loved ones in a monthly memory calendar, call Lisa at the RCHP office at 732-249-7349.

MARCH HIGHLIGHTS AND MILESTONES

Rutgers Scarlet day of service helps the church clean its yard!  Every March, for many years, RCHP has been blessed with the help of amazing Rutgers University students, who give of their time and labor to make our grounds and building a better place.  Many thanks for working through the soggy weather! 

Building community and Community building - RCHP welcomes its newest members and LEGO enthusiasts get to collaborate and connect through an event sponsored by Who is My Neighbor - what a blessing!

Property committee spring organizing day a success! Harry and friends whipped the basement rooms into shape - what a difference a day makes!

Story telling in-person and in print - Miss Wendy leads the children in a telling of “Stone Soup” RCHP style!  And Miss Sonia tells her story in her new book, “The Compassionate Caregiver”.  Reach out to the church office to find out how you can get a copy.