Weekly News For
Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church
June 7, 2020
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The Sunday Worship Invitation email is sent out separately on Saturday mornings. Feel free to forward the invitation along to family and friends.
IMPORTANT
Prior to Sunday
please update your Zoom to the latest version.
Zoom provides a pop-up notification when there is a new mandatory or optional update within 24 hours of logging in, so try updating on Saturday. You can also manually download the latest version by clicking on download from the link at
https://zoom.us
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Prayer Concerns This Week
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and thanksgiving be made for everyone, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity." 1 Timothy 2:1-2
The Prayer person
for the week is the Diane Sikora. Let us be prayerfully aware of Diane, as well as all our members and friends.
Prayer Concerns
: Mary McSweeney, Katie Hoffmaster Barberi, Maryann Leach,
Joseph Robinson,
Jay Hiatt.
Long term concerns
: Stephen Bardsley; Jacob Basilotto; Ed Jung; Despina Koch; Gwen McFaddan; Jacob Mendelsohn; Leigh Millar; Melissa Millar; Dale Norby; Marilyn Powell; Owen Provencer, Geoff Reilly; Susan Robbins, Bill Shoppell; Linda Lee Smith; Millage Youenger; Ginny Zimmerman; those struggling with addictions and mental illness.
Military:
Sarah Davis Brown; Morgan Daniels Colberg; Michael Fahey III; Robin Fiorentino; all those in our nation's service.
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The word for this week is:
incensed.
Very closely related to enraged, infuriated, indignant, and outraged, these words have been used repeatedly all week. Incensed suggests being aroused to extreme anger or indignation. We can trace its root to verbs such as burn, ignite or set fire to something.
In the New Testament Gospels, we find the concept associated with the word
indignant and its synonyms. Religious leaders were
incensed/indignant/angry at the reception Jesus received in Jerusalem (Matthew 21:15); Jesus’ disciples were
incensed/indignant/irritated at the waste of perfume poured on Jesus’ head by a woman (Matthew 26:8); and ten of them were
incensed/indignant/infuriated that James and John requested special privileges (Mark 10:41); the leader of a synagogue was
incensed/indignant/outraged that Jesus would disrespect the Sabbath law (Luke 13:14). We even have an instance of Jesus being
incensed/indignant/furious when little children were prevented from coming to him (Mark 10:14).
There was so much to be incensed and indignant about this week. A variety of fires were ignited moving so many people to action. Along with those who have experienced so much discrimination, I was incensed at the loss of life. Along with demonstrators, I was incensed at the abuse of power at so many levels. Along with many religious leaders, I was incensed at the recklessness with which religious symbols were coopted for display.
It must be noted that
incensed and
incense share a common origin.
Incense is that substance that produces a pleasing aroma when it is burned, and in many religious ceremonies is part of worship.
“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2).
My prayer is that what has set our emotions on fire will also ignite our creativity and determination to bring about the change that will rise as a sweet-smelling sacrifice, well-pleasing to God, who calls us to be instruments of transformation, justice and peace.
May God grant us grace, wisdom and strength for the facing of this hour!
Pastor Osy
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Hi there from the COVID Care Corner.
Well, we have so much more going on this week than we did last week. How are you doing with all of it? We are struggling to re-open our society all the while navigating a huge uprising and movement for equal treatment for our black brothers and sisters. Although protests in our backyard have been minimal, one can’t help but see what’s going on in many cities across the country. Reactions to the demonstrations vary widely. But I have a question for you to ponder regardless of the feelings you have been experiencing. What would it be like to get curious about racism and racial bias?
Clearly, we don’t have much diversity around here. Except for summer visitors, we don’t really get any kind of education on what many in other cities face. But here’s something to know: regardless of where we live, we are all raised with some basic assumptions, some of them influenced by the umbrella of racial bias. All of us. Before you get angry with me for saying this, ask yourself a few questions. 1. Why do you live where you do? 2. Do you know any areas where there is diversity? 3. What do you think of those neighborhoods? Chances are, like me, when you think of areas with a strong minority presence you don’t have the same thoughts as you do when you think of ‘your’ neighborhood. Those beliefs have been imposed on us by society, a society that operates with unsuspected and sometimes overt racial bias and racism.
Why am I telling you this in a COVID message? Well, first because I serve as the chair of the Social Justice group, but also because it’s all part of our self-care and our care for humanity. If we are willing to explore our own beliefs and if we get curious about the pain behind the current protests we can go really far in healing this nation from the trauma of racism. We are responsible only for ourselves around this. You don’t have to change anyone else or anything you do in the outside world. This work need only go on inside and, when it does, I guarantee that will make a difference in this world.
We are being called by the church to examine our racial bias. This is a big part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Matthew 25 initiative. So, if you find some curiosity, the next step is learning about yourself, your beliefs, and the beliefs of the African American population in particular. There are great books out there to help us learn more. Some places to start include Bryan Stevenson’s book,
Just Mercy
, Ijeoma Oluo’s book,
So You Want to Talk About Race,
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and the workbook,
Me and White Supremac
y
by Layla F. Saad and
How to Be An Antiracist
by Ibram X. Kendi.
I know some of these titles will spark defensiveness and I urge you to know this is not at all about shame or blame. Not One Bit. It’s really, really hard to look deeply at one’s own biases. It takes a lot of courage, too. I am also offering the opportunity for a discussion group around this (
email me, if interested). What better place than the safety of our church family to do this hard work. Right now, I can’t think of a better way to help humanity, including ourselves.
Elder Lynn
Lynn O’Hara, MS, RD, LPC, Licensed Psychotherapist and Registered Dietitian
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These Days for the Month of June is available online. The devotional for July/August/September is also now available for $6 each. Please call the church office and we will make arrangements for you to pick one up while the office is still working remotely.
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A big thank you to everyone who was involved in helping us beautify our properties last week.
Donna Wittmann and Margie Meklin took great care in cleaning up the garden beds to make them weed free.
Thank you to Troop 6 and their families who spread mulch throughout the properties. Over 20 Scouts worked hard with their masks and distance between each other. Thank you to Jim McGuire and Frank Jones who coordinated this effort.
If you are in the neighborhood take a ride by and see how nice everything looks.
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Calling the Class of 2020
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PPPC would like to recognize High School and College Graduates for the Class of 2020. If someone in your family will be graduating this year, please let us know.
For High School Graduates please send us their name, the school where they are graduating from and their plans for next year.
For our College Graduates please email us the degree/major and the name of the school. Emails can be sent to mail@pointpresbyterian.org. Our graduates will be recognized in a future newsletter.
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Ready for some more Family Fun with PPPC?
Let's start with a wild game of BINGO on Zoom
next Friday, June 19th, 7:00p.m. Have your snacks ready, get your cards printed and buttons, dimes or pencils to mark the numbers. We'll go up, down, across and round and round to give you a chance to be a winner while you watch to see how your friends and neighbors are doing as our Host calls out the letters and numbers you seek!!! Wonder who will be our BIG BINGO WINNER??!! Sure to be a lot of laughs! Cards will be included in a separate email invitation that will be sent out next Thursday. You can download and print your cards.
Then just one week later here's the DEAL! Family Fun Game Night for
June 26th is "Let's Make A Deal"! Come to the Zoom Room wearing a hat that you will create that will tell us something special about you. (Something like what is your favorite pass-time, or your favorite place, or what makes YOU happy, etc.)
How it will work....Our special guest Host will choose funny, or interesting or exotic hats that he notices, and the makers of those hats will get the chance to MAKE A DEAL with him. Our game will start at 7:00 and end at 8:00 p.m., and the number of winners will depend on the hats you create - - - but the amount of entertainment and laughs you will have will be unlimited!
Before you enter the Zoom Room wearing your hat, take a good look - a Scavenger's Hunt - around your home and look for items that the Host might want to trade to make a deal with you. Of course we can't tell you exactly what the items will be but you can make some smart guesses and have them close by! (Here's a few ideas - piece of candy or fruit, tooth or hair brush, a family photo and other things easy to find around your house.) If you found something that our Host is looking for you can choose to make the trade and get a surprise in the mail the next week, OR you can choose to wait till the end of our game and pick what is in Box #1 or Box #2 to get your trade. All just in fun and a good time for all !! Jesus liked to laugh and have fun, and we're sure he would love to see PPPC families having fun together too. So please mark your calendars, and if you have ideas for more game nights we would love to hear them!! See you in Zoom.
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Point Beach Prep Preschool
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The last full week of school is always color week. We still wore designated colors each day, but this year we had to post pictures of it! The lesson on color was the perfect time to remind families that we are all God's children, regardless of color.
The Nursery Teachers and I hand delivered each Nursery student's preschool certificate. We wore masks and kept a social distance but it was so nice to say good bye for the school year! Next week the Pre-k teachers and I will be doing individual awarding of graduation diplomas in each of the Pre-k student's yards, with the same safety standards. We are looking forward to these special days!
Devlin House, Director
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Social Yet Still Physically Distant
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It is important that people still remain socially connected. Make every effort to stay connected to your church friends. This week Marj Watson, Diane Legreide, Lynn Hahm and Linda Chase all connected outside at local park.
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Thank You For Your Generosity
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Thank You, Thank You...to all the generous people of Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church. Thank you for your monetary contributions, donated food given to Mary's Table and St. Mary's Emergency Food Fund. Thank you for your prayers as well. On account of your gifts, and from many others in the community, St. Mary's volunteers are able to deliver groceries to approximately 100 families each week. In addition, 215 hot meals are delivered weekly from Mary's Table. Without your support, people in the community would be struggling even more than they are to have food to eat. Once again, thank you.
As a reminder checks should be made out to St. Mary's and designated for emergency food or Mary's Table. Current needs include cereal, cookies and snacks, and cleaning supplies.
Blessings,
Linda Chase
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Special Worship Events in June
Sunday, June 7 - Sacrament of Baptism
Sunday June 14 - Church Membership and Anniversary Recognition
Sunday, June 21 - Choral Bell Choir and Chancel Choir Recognition
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Upcoming Birthdays This Month
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June 5 Diane Sikora
June 6
June 7 Olivia Shapiro
June 9 Luke Pearce
June 10
June 11 Susan Leasure
June 12 Luke Braaten
June 13 William Birdsong
June 14 Cecilia Collins
June 15
June 16 Cameron Durante
June 19
June 20 Trudy Pedersen, Jack Satterlee, Donna Wittmann
June 21 Nicholas Jalowski
June 22 Mary McSweeney, Andrea Purtell, Virginia Welch
June 23 Kendall Pearce
June 24 Joan Danziger
June 25 Gayle Ferry
June 26 Bryan Smith
June 27 Caitlyn Cook
June 28 Aidian McGuire
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Contact Us
Pastoral Staff
The Rev. Mr. Osvaldo Nuesch, Interim Pastor -
Email
The Rev. Dr. Eileen Lindner, Parish Associate -
Email
Office Staff
Kim Gaydos, Church Secretary -
Email
Donna Ferry, Financial Secretary -
Email
Music Staff
Sara Hoey, Organist -
Email
Melanie Chambers, Chancel Choir Director -
Email
Morgan Sarbello, Choral Bell Director -
Email
William R. Shoppell, Jr., Music Director, Emeritus
Christian Education Staff
Devlin House, Point Beach Prep Preschool Director -
Email
Frank Perkowski, Sunday School Coordinator -
Email
701 Forman Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
(Corner of Bay and Forman Avenues)
Church Office: 732-899-0587 Fax: 732-899-2946
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