Join us for Black Heritage Sunday! This Sunday, February 19

Get to Know our Guest Pastor

Reverend Shikaorsor Ademu-John is a Minister spreading God's good news to everyone. Shikaorsor served as a Lay Servant and Certified Lay Minister at UMC New Brunswick. He attended Drew Theological Seminary where he earned a Masters of Divinity Degree and moved on to Pastor Trinity UMC Highland Park. He also served as co- pastor of Wesley UMC in Edison NJ.

Shikaorsor is the founder and CEO of ISY, I See You, Ministries - a non-profit organization.

Shikaorsor E. Ademu-John M.Div, M.HA, CNA, Bach. Arch, BSc Arch

A special message from Melbourne Garber

Thank you very much to my Christ Church New Brunswick family, other colleagues, friends and family who attended my presentation on Wednesday 02/15 for the church's Black Heritage event on Sierra Leone's unique history related to the transatlantic slave trade, America and the early church in West Africa.



I was delighted to find out about 120 people were at the presentation and I hope it was informative and interesting.

If you were unable to attend the meeting or would like to view the recording the link and passcode are listed below.

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/JcyxLDB4A71itM0YFX173l3KtV26HXRHj4DbcoB9Lez5yMAsgfTbhNIrNsg_In2_._2uaEcg0a4PMcr-M

Passcode: YgFg461?

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday, February 22

Ashes to Go

Rev. Joanna will be at the New Brunswick train station at 7:30am to provide ashes.

Ash Wednesday Service

Joint Christ Church, First Reformed Church and Emanuel Lutheran for our joint Ash Wednesday service, 7p.m. at Christ Church.

Lenten Study 2023:

Sense and Sensibility – A Lenten Exploration

Sundays, 9:15-10:00

“Embodiment is the art of being present in our body as we experience life.” (openfloor.org)

“Lent is often a season given to denial of physical pleasure and sensation, but we’re already denied these by a

cultural atmosphere saturated with visual images, noise and air pollution, violence, and processed foods that dull the senses. The physical senses play an integral role in the human capacity for emotion and feeling. Overstimulation in the physical senses gradually erodes one’s ability to feel emotion. Yet empathy―emotional identification and connection with others―is crucial to liturgical engagement, especially in the highly dramatic practices of the signal events of the Christian Year.” 

“Sam Portaro proposes to restore our ability to participate emotionally in the Lenten journey by revisiting the five physical senses―one per week―in Lent. The discipline of a 40-day preparation for Easter suggests the importance the Church places on this seasonal retelling of the central acts of Christian redemption. Sense and Sensibility encourages the reader to renew a relationship with the physical senses that is a prerequisite to a deeply attuned engagement with the biblical stories read, taught, and liturgically re-enacted in the rites of Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter.”

Buy your paper copy by February 20th using your Amazon Smile (and after February 20th on regular Amazon)! 

Lent 1 (February 26): The Sense of Touch

Lent 2 (March 5): The Sense of Sight

Lent 3 (March 12): The Sense of Smell

Lent 4 (March 18): The Sense of Sound

Lent 5 (March 26): The Sense of Taste

Palm (Sunday April 2): Holy Week

Location: Ross Room and via Zoom

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86492004593?pwd=R0M1aXBPKzFkTXdjbEdDaEhOZ2hnZz09

Meeting ID: 864 9200 4593

Passcode: 032087

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcBWPPmHJK

Christ Church 280th Anniversary Celebration & Activities

Christ Church is celebrating its 280^th Anniversary from 1742 to 2022. Please be aware that the following events will take place from February 2023 through June 2023.  We expect bonding, fellowship and financial support from all Christ Church New Brunswick (CCNB) members and the Ecumenical community at the planned events.

Events Planned February 2023 through June 2023:

• February 21, 2023 – Shrove Tuesday Pancake Sale and Fellowship; from 6-8 pm – Admission adults $10, children $5

• June 3^rd 2023 - Main event - Musical recital at CCNB by Dr. Cho from 4-5 pm – Admission $40.00 - followed by a reception with refreshments in the auditorium (5:30-7:30 pm), with an invited guest speaker. 



• June 25, 2023 - Summer Barbecue at CCNB.

Other Activities:

The Youth expressing the History of Christ Church at multiple 10.30 am services

A fundraising activity for the event featuring a virtual slide show of Ads from Church members and the Ecumenical and business communities will be shown at the organ recital and reception. Details to participate in the fundraiser will be sent in emails.

You still have time to complete your Pledge Certificate for 2023. You will find the link HERE.

The Tuesdayers' Next Book: 

"Zealot: Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth"

Sifting through centuries of myth-making, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most enigmatic figures by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived. Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction. He explores the reasons the early Christian church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary. And he grapples with the riddle of how Jesus understood himself, the mystery that is at the heart of all subsequent claims about his divinity. The Tuesdayers invite you to join our discussion. We meet weekly over Zoom HERE on Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30 pm. For more information contact Jonathan Clark at im4canoes@yahoo.com.

Partner with Episcopal Relief & Development to provide support to people affected by the deadly earthquake along the border between Turkey and Syria. Visit episcopalrelief.org today to make a contribution to the

Turkey-Syria Earthquake Response Fund

Anti-Racism Training

In 1967 The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked, “Where do we go from here, chaos or community?” Fifty years later The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry answered, “The opposite of community is unacceptable.”

The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey offers the next presentation of its 20-hour online Anti-Racism Training beginning Tuesday January 31. This training includes 5 consecutive Tuesday Evening discussion sessions via Zoom, 7:00-9:00 PM on January 31, February 7, 14, 21, and 28, plus a followup discussion on March 28, as well as reading, listening, and writing assignments each week. Learn more and register at https://reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0015-0007-8b00bec63f394312b271c3d3cb4fa7fa  Please share this link and encourage others to participate in this training. There is a $100 nonrefundable fee for this course (although you may apply for the fee to be waived in special circumstances).

Forward Day by Day booklets (large and regular print) for February, March, and April have arrived. Please contact the office to have a copy mailed to your home.

Prayers requested for:

Arnold, Chahar, Christine, Dale, Doreen, Fred, Hugo, Jacqueline, Joy, Karl, Larry, Penelope, Sarah, Timothy, Winsome, and Winston.

Christ Church Ministry: Ushers

Anglican Cycle of Prayer: we pray for The Anglican Church of Rwanda

Diocesan Cycle Prayer: The Revs: Sister Barbara Jean Packer, Arian Hernando Wharff-Galvis

Birthdays: Zida Abbott, Steve Caruso, Jonathan Clark, Stephanie Elson, Clayton Kirlew, Silvia Muller, Lillian Nichols, Samantha Vogelsang, and Bret Zdanowicz.

The flowers at the Lectern: are given by the Walworth-Chant & LaPorte-Burns Families in memory of Laurel Evans and by Catherine and Paul Ambos in memory of Joseph J. Szeliga.

View the Faith Formation Newsletter for the Diocese of New Jersey!