What’s Going on at the Church
EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT
Yes, it’s TRUE. Your session took a bold step and approved the installation of air conditioning in Davis Hall. This is indeed a costly project that is being funded by the investment funds and will improve our summer worship services as well as enable us to rent the hall during the hot months. The (4) mini-split units and condensers have been installed. The next phase is the electrical assessment to determine the safest and best way to provide power to the units.
We welcome donations to offset the cost of this project with much appreciation.
On June 20th, we had 2 events happening simultaneously!!
Our first distribution from our food pantry was tended by members of the church and the Lafayette Mason Lodge! Al Shipley organized the distribution. The pantry is located in the former library of the church. We are using the shelves to store non-perishable food items. We will be hosting other distributions in the future. However, if you are in need of an emergency distribution, please call the church and we will arrange a time for you to come by and get a bag or two.
Outside we were celebrating the grand opening of the Union Street Resource Center (USRC) Community Garden! Mayor Ray Giacobbe cut the ribbon alongside Council members Darlene Eastman, Dave Brown, Danni Newbury and Jeff Brooks, USRC Director Cheryl Anne Cammann, Rahway’s Best owner Joie Nodarse, First Pres member Sue Krivenko, and David Holmes was accompanied by his fiancé, Hakiema.
The creation of the garden was the idea of David Holmes. David and Cheryl Anne worked hard to take this from idea to reality! Many volunteers from the church attended work parties to build, move, and fill the raised bed gardens. Northfield Bank gave funds to purchase the soil through Councilwoman Eastman. At the ribbon cutting, attendees signed-up to help tend the garden. Loyalty Food Truck provided free hot dogs and sodas to attendees.
All of this happened one of the most beautiful days of the year! God’s blessing is upon us in so many ways!
“Weighing Truth and Life”
The fifth step in the twelve step process says that we “admit to God, ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.” In worship, we hopefully do the first two parts of this step in the “prayer for reconciliation” without much difficulty. What may be more daunting, and difficult, is admitting to another human being what we have done wrong. This is a key part of reconciliation, especially when the wrong was done to someone we are in a relationship with. All three parts of this are key to forgiving and being forgiven and thus being reconciled with God, ourselves, and someone else. There is also another application of this fifth step, which is this: it is the foundation of the notion of accountability in a community. In the life of the church, it is part of the way we love and support each other. It is part of the way that we help each other to deal with the areas that need work, in order to change and grow. Richard Rohr adds some insights about the spirituality inherent in this step.
“God always acts with total freedom, from divine integrity and unilateral faithfulness to the covenants he makes, whether the other party keeps their side or not. This is the way God brings us all into the economy of grace – by loving us in spite of ourselves in the very places where we cannot or will not or dare not love ourselves. God does not love us if we change, God loves us so that we can change. Only love effects true transformation, not duress, guilt, shunning, or social pressure. Love is not love unless it is totally free. Grace is not grace unless it is totally free.
Step 5 is far from any notion of retributive justice, which the sacrament of penance too often became, and returned to the much more biblical notion of restorative justice – to restore relationships themselves, to restore integrity with myself, and to restore a sense of communion with God. Any gestures we do as a ”penance”, like “Say five Our Fathers and five Hail Mary’s” or “I will spend time in prayer every day for a week”, still perpetrates a de facto notion of a juridical exchange instead of a deep experience of healing forgiveness or unearned grace. You cannot deal with spiritual things in a courtroom manner.
What humanity needs is an honest exposure of the truth, and true accountability and responsibility for what has happened. Only then can human beings move ahead with dignity. Only mutual apology, healing and forgiveness offer a sustainable future. Otherwise we are controlled by the past individually and corporately. We all need to apologize and we all need to forgive. No wonder that almost two-thirds of Jesus’ teaching is directly or indirectly about forgiveness. Nothing new happens without apology and forgiveness. It is the divine technology for the regeneration of every age and every situation. Unbound ones are best prepared to unbind the rest of the world.“
Blessing and Peace, Ed
Looking to donate to our thrift sales?
If you have any furniture to donate, please take a photo of what you have and send the photos to office@1stpresrahway.org. At this time, we’re not accepting clothes or shoes.
Members usually work on Wednesday’s for our sales from 10:30 am -1:30 pm. If that’s not a convenient time for you to drop off donations, other arrangements can be made. Please email the church office and your request will be forwarded to the “sales crew” so they can respond to your inquiry.
As always, thank you to all who donate. Our sales have been a great success this year because of you!
Important Message from the USRC Board of Directors:
Please read these guidelines about Squier Hall and the formation of the USRC Board of Directors, who will be overseeing the groups meeting in Squier.
As part of the guidelines, please use this form if you have any concerns so that they can be addressed.
Interested in Getting Involved?
We have a lot of different ways for you to get involved – short-term projects, one-time opportunities, working with our livestream technology on Sundays, plus much more. Click on the button below to see what we have on our ‘volunteer wish list’. As more opportunities become available, we will be sure to update our listings.