Please know our church and facilities remain closed due to the attempt at physical distancing to curb COVID-19.
Join Us!
You’re Invited!
Over these last months, we’ve missed gathering and connecting in person. We’ve missed in-person opportunities for spiritual connection and nurture. So, we invite you to consider joining with others in our congregation for
A Time of Gathering and Prayer
Saturday September 12th
5:00 – 5:45 pm in the CUMC parking lot
(vehicle parking will be in the Middle School lot)
*Rain Date, Sunday, September 13, 5:00 – 5:45 pm
**Postponement or cancellation due to inclement weather will be communicated in advance via email and on social media.
To maximize everyone’s safety and minimize risk,
we will observe the following protocols:
  • Wearing masks covering the mouth and nose
  • Sign-in to facilitate potential contact tracing if needed
  • Touchless greetings – air hugs, etc. are ok!
  • Attendees to bring their own seating (lawn chairs, wheelchairs, blankets, etc.)
  • Attendees of the same household may sit together; otherwise seating will be at least 6 feet apart. 
  • Households with young children who might find it difficult to stay seated are encouraged to bring a blanket to indicate their childrens’ space limitations. 
  • No access to the church building (including the bathrooms)
  • Attendees are encouraged to sign up in advance. (Link Below) We would like to have an idea of how many people to expect. 
  • You may attend via Zoom (Information and Link below)
Attendees are encouraged to sign up in advance using the RSVP button on right:
Questions? Email Pastor Sharon at scyarger@optonline.net 
Zoom Participants:
Those unable to attend in person for whatever reason will have the option of joining remotely through Zoom. You may use the Zoom button on right starting at 4:45 pm on 9/12.
Zoom access information:
Join Zoom Meeting 
Meeting ID: 842 7419 9353
 Currently we are considering this to be a one-time event, although we remain open to the possibility of additional such events in the future, if we have enough people willing to work on the set up, welcome, ushering, greeting, and clean up.

We offer this invitation with love and with grace, understanding that some are not ready to gather in person. For those who choose to gather and those who do not, know that in the midst of it all,
God is With Us!
Important Information
New Opportunities for Online Liturgists! We’re reaching out to all church members for pre-recorded Gospel readings through the Fall. (Please remember to film Sunday’s Gospel message by the previous Tuesday!)
Click Here to Sign Up for Your Slot Please note that dates are listed as Tuesdays on our Sign Up Genius because recordings are due on Tuesday.
If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Babbitt at bbabbitt@optimum.net or Jeff Markay at revjmarkay@earthlink.net
We Need Your Help! CUMC member volunteers are needed to pick up excess bagels from Chatham Bagel at 260 Main Street each day at 2:00pm (their closing time). Chatham Bagel has been an important partner in supplying our Wednesday Food Distribution efforts with fresh bread. Please help us keep this effort supplied!

The job can be shared with a few volunteers/families. It's also a great service opportunity for a college student that is home and virtual learning. Volunteers need to pick up the bagels, pack the bagels in bags of four (4) in the church kitchen, and then put them in one of the freezers. Questions? Please contact Jeff Markay at revjmarkay@earthlink.net. Thank you!
Please see important Community Information located after Music News.
This Week
Thursday, September 10th
Did you miss our Prayers Live @5 on Facebook last night, Wednesday, September 9th Don't worry. You can rewatch by clicking here. You don't need to be on Facebook to watch this link.

If you would like to participate this coming Wednesday, September 16th on Facebook or you would like to submit a prayer request, email Pastor Jeff at revjmarkay@earthlink.net.
Saturday, September 12th A Time of Gathering and Prayer
5:00 – 5:45 pm in the CUMC parking lot
 Rain Date: Sunday September 13th, 5:00 – 5:45 pm
Details listed above.
Sunday, September 13th
 Our worship service will be posted on Facebook, YouTube,
and our Website by Saturday morning.
Follow us on Facebook or YouTube to be notified
when we post new videos!

We hope you will worship with us, and share the links with those who have no church or cannot worship at their church during this time.

Sunday Zoom “Virtual Coffee & Conversation”
Join Us at 10:00am by clicking image below:

Meeting ID: 680 233 812
Password: 015665

Looking for the full Zoom Information?
Wednesday, September 16th
Prayers Live at Five on Facebook
All are invited to tune into a brief Facebook Live event each Wednesday at 5:00 pm. We will be lifting up some prayer practices that might be helpful as we navigate this new landscape. If you have prayer requests that you would like lifted up, you can type them into the comments section of the FB Live event or you can email them to Pastor Jeff at revjmarkay@earthlink.net.
These Wednesday Prayers videos will be stored on our Chatham UMC Facebook page for those who are unable to participate on Wednesdays at 5PM.
United in Prayer
You are invited to participate in some contemplative practices and prayer by clicking on the link to our Chatham UMC Facebook page:
Prayers lifted on September 9, 2020
For those who want to join hundreds of others who have been praying for the following people and situations, keep reading, and thank you.

Intercessory Prayers emailed or shared with us this week:
A Time of Silence together...
  • For all that goes along with the first week of school. Bless students of every age. Bless their parents, grandparents, kids and families. Bless teachers, administrators, staff members and their families.
  • For Steven as he recovers from cataract surgery
  • For a family whose baby is in the NICU.
  • For Alex in his administrative and delivery work
  • For Brittany in her job as a baker
  • For Steven as a cashier
  • For Marco in administration
  • For Elise, in need of your Healing and Blessing, and for her family as they care for each other.
  • For Bob as he continues to heal
  • For June who is now in hospice care in Oklahoma City
  • For Bobbie, in need of your Healing and Blessing 
  • For all that brings us to a place of gratitude
  • Help us to remember all of the good in our lives and in our world
  • For those in harm’s way in the heatwaves and the fires burning in the West
  • For those who are hungry, homeless or worried about having enough food and shelter for themselves and their families.

If you have people and situations that you would like lifted up in prayer, please email them to: revjmarkay@earthlink.net and indicate whether you want the prayers to be confidential, or shared with the greater Chatham UMC community.
The scriptures and prayers that are being shared this week for you and your communities are below:
Scripture:
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Genesis 12:1-2

Prayer:
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
Hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more.

Music:
Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah,
Written by Welsh Methodist Preacher William Williams (1719-1791) Sung by a Welsh Choir in Cardiff, Wales in 2012.
Contemplative Prayer Practice
When our minds wander during the silence, simply bring ourselves back to the prayers:
Guide me…
Guide me…
Guide me… Or
Guide us…
Guide us…
Guide us…
Check out our latest piece of online music, this time from the CUMC Praise Band: Bruce Springsteen’s Hello Sunshine. Visuals were provided by members of the congregation when asked to send in pics/vids of places and people that gave comfort, solace, or joy during the pandemic:

The Chatham UMC Ukulele Orchestra will meet again for their next sing and play-a-long on Saturday, September 12th at 11:00 a.m.! For ukulele music and/or more information please contact Peter Hill at petepiano@mac.com.

The CUMC Music Program Season begins again for our 2020-21 season. Our music groups include the Youth Musicians, Praise Band, Covenant Choir, Wind Ensemble, Wesley Ringers, and Ukulele Orchestra. If you are not yet part of the music program but are interested in finding out more, please contact Peter Hill at petepiano@mac.com. All are invited: our online component of the music program welcomes musicians from New Jersey and the wider world.
Important Community Information
The Chatham Emergency Squad is sponsoring a blood drive.

Saturday, September 12th 
8:30am - 2:30pm
45 Spring Street
Chatham Township Emergency Squad Building
Appointments are recommended.
Please Click Here to see flier with detailed information
Free COVID testing will take place on Tuesday, 9/15 at 58 Meyersville Road (lower level) from 11am to 7pm.

To register, click on this link https://www.friendlycovid.com/pages/chatham-township.

The testing is being offered by the Interfaith Health Council and Tri-Town Cares.
CUMC Outreach
Volunteers are always needed
Bread Ministry: If you would like to be involved in our Bread Ministry, please contact Edit Ostrom at: nyuszi@mac.com or
Communities of Care do you wish to receive a call, a text or an email from someone at the Chatham UMC community? Please email the church office by clicking here.
Pop Up Outdoor Food Pantry
Take what you need or leave what you can at our two pantry shelves. The shelves are located behind the building at the doors of the Chatham Methodist Preschool. Please help keep our shelves filled.
We offer links to resources you may need to help you or your loved ones through this "storm" of Covid-19. Because CUMC has always been a loving community of dedicated ministry, we know you are also seeking ways to give back to those in need.
All submissions for next week's CUMC Weekly E-news are due by Tuesdays, 2:00 PM. Submissions may be emailed to Eileen Ruggiero. 
460 Main Street
Chatham, NJ 07928
(973) 635-7740
See what's happening on our social sites: