Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church

Weekly News for

Sunday,

August 17, 2014

Dear Friends,

The death of actor and comedian Robin Williams, by his own hand, has touched many people deeply. He was, quite simply, one of the most beloved people in Hollywood. A true comic genius, Robin could always be counted upon to make us laugh. He brought light to dark days. Moreover, as Robin branched out from his manic, improvisational standup style into more serious dramatic roles, he conveyed qualities of kindness and vulnerability that seemed very true-to-life.

Robin's untimely death leaves so many questions. Even if it's true that - as some movie critics claim - his movie career had stalled slightly in recent years, he'd already racked up such a record of cinematic achievement that he could easily have retired and warmed himself at the fire of public acclamation. He was universally loved and respected. He had, by all accounts, long since achieved the American dream.

Word has just come out that he was in the early stages of Parkinson's disease, but medical science is now able to manage the disease's symptoms for a very long time.

So, why suicide? The answer, while simple, is one we don't often like to think about, let along speak out loud. The answer is: mental illness.

Robin Williams lived most of his life in the public eye, and never hid the fact that he suffered from serious depression. Now, anyone who asks, "What could such a successful person have to be depressed about?" knows nothing about depression. It's an illness both medical and spiritual, and it doesn't discriminate based on life's circumstances. When depression is accompanied by suicidal thoughts, it is a deadly disease.

Since the first news stories broke, a great many people have been thinking and talking about suicide: what it means, how it happens, what can be done to prevent it. This Sunday, we'll examine this serious but important topic from the standpoint of the scriptures.

Life is God's good gift. Will you join me this Sunday as we think together about what life means, and how we can best preserve and value it?

Pastor Carl

This Sunday

Sunday, August 17

10:00 a.m. Worship

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Acts 16:16-34

Dr. Wilton preaching: "LIFE IS FOR EVERYBODY"

Prayerfully Consider

"Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God's people." - Ephesians 6:18 (CEV)

The Prayer Family for the week of August 17 is the Braaten family. Let us be prayerfully aware of Jason, Lauren, Luke, Austin, Shane, as well as all our members and friends.

Other prayer concerns: Jane Lambie; Les Thornton; Jeff Bissey; Audrey Pearce; all those in the military, as well as those struggling with addictions and mental illness

PPPC NEWS

IHN DAY CENTER - Churches are being asked to contribute some basic items to the day center of Interfaith Hospitality Network of Ocean County. The day center is located in the House of Hope which is on Hooper Avenue behind the Presbyterian Church of Toms River. The day center is where the families in program are able to do laundry, look for housing, take showers and care for their children who are not yet in school. Listed here are items that are needed: 16 oz. bottles of water, paper towels, toilet paper, juice, butter, HE laundry detergent and hand soap. If you can help with any of these items, please bring them to the church and mark them for IHN.

BAPTISMS - Baptisms will take place on Sunday, September 21 at the 10:00 a.m. worship service. Ordinarily, at least one parent must be a member of PPPC. For more information, please call the Church Office.

Seeking "Church Treasurer 2.0"

The Session's Finance Team has met and rewritten the job description for PPPC's volunteer Church Treasurer position. "So, what is Church Treasurer 2.0?," you may ask.

With deep gratitude for Nancy Stout's faithful service in the hands-on, detail-oriented approach of the past, the Finance Team has decided a new day is upon us. We have an excellent Financial Secretary in the person of Donna Ferry, and - with church financial records now fully computerized - what we're looking for is a person with financial savvy and basic computer skills who can provide general oversight to the church's financial affairs. Daily or near-daily visits to the church office are now a thing of the past. Insurance, payroll and personnel management have been offloaded to other volunteers, to lighten the Treasurer's load. With Donna managing the details of accounting and donations tracking, we need a person to fulfill the corporate office of Treasurer, sign checks and assist Donna in making decisions about occasional questions, such as which church account a given expense should be charged to.

Assistant Treasurer Maria O'Connor is covering this territory on an interim basis, but the requirements of her "day job" make it impossible to consider moving up to the Treasurer position permanently. Do you know a church member with financial-management skills and a heart for mission, who's interested in serving God while living into that tasks of Church Treasurer 2.0? Or are you, perhaps, such a person? If so, please contact Pastor Carl immediately.

VBS Begins This Week!

Your children won't want to miss out, this next week, as we go to Rome to help Paul in prison, through PPPC's 2014 vacation Bible school program! Our theme is "Rome: Paul and the Underground Church." We'll explore ancient Rome each night from 6-8 pm, August 18-22. Our adventure will begin and finish downstairs in the CE Annex classrooms.

Registration is off to a strong start and continues!

We welcome all children who have finished grades Pre-K through 5. VBS is open to kids from the entire community, so please do invite your neighbors and friends! WE WELCOME WALK-INS - so, if you haven't signed your child up yet, just come along and register on the spot! (Come early at 5:30 Monday evening to fill out the registration form, if you haven't already.)

For questions and registration information, please call the church office at 732-899-0587. You can also email Christina Parrott who is leading this year's VBS!

You can also visit our FAQ VBS page.

Sunday Morning Lock-Up Person Needed

We're looking for someone to fill a VERY part-time job. Until the time came for him to go to college, Travis Dunham has served as our weekly Sunday-morning lock-up person. After the worship service and coffee hour are over, he's made the rounds of all the church doors, making sure they're locked and (if no group is meeting) that the security alarm is set. He's also made sure coffee-hour trash is bagged and tied, and that the pedestrian-crosswalk sign is taken off the street and stowed in its proper place.

This is a paid position ($10 per hour, which usually means about $10 per week). It's an ideal job for a reliable teenager who's looking for a little pocket money.

Interested? Know someone who is? Please give a call to the church office.

Covenant Bible Study materials are in, which means we're now accepting registrations for the two (and possibly more) study groups we'll be offering this fall.

Covenant is an introduction to the whole Bible, with weekly small-group discussions around a brief video. The video segments will bring expert Bible scholars right into the room with us. There are daily Bible readings with introductions for each day, as well as a longer weekly reading in the Covenant study book.

This is a NO EMBARRASSMENT Bible study! There is no expectation of previous Bible knowledge - although those who do feel familiar with the scriptures will get a lot out of it as well.

We're planning on two groups:

Mondays at 10:00 am, led by the Rev. Linda Chase

Wednesdays at 7:00 pm, led by the Rev. Dr. Carl Wilton

If neither of those times is good for you, please let us know. We can schedule times for additional groups to meet. For instance, we're discussing the possibility of a Sunday-morning group. If you can't make a given session, you can attend another group's meeting that same week.

Covenant Groups will start meeting in mid-September (dates to be announced) and will continue for 8 weeks. There are three 8-week units in the 24-week Covenant study - you can join any of the 3 units as we begin it (it's not necessary to do all 3 in sequence). We're planning to offer units in the Fall, Winter and Spring.

The cost of the first-term Participant Guide, "Creating the Covenant," is $20. Yuo can save by purchasing that book, along with the books for the next two units - "Living the Covenant" and "Trusting the Covenant"- for a combined cost of $50.

The best rate of all is available to iPad users. Search for "Covenant Bible Study" in the iTunes Store, and you'll find a special iPad app. For a cost of $9.99 - half the price of the printed version - you get the first-unit book in electronic form, as well as interactive note-taking features. An Android tablet app will be out soon, as well. (If you plan to use the tablet version of the book, please do be sure to call the Church Office and sign up for one of the two times, so we know you're coming!)

Click on the image above
to view the Covenant Introductory Video

Each participant will be expected to have access to a good Study Bible, as well as the Participant Guide for the current term.

Each of our Covenant groups will have its own password-protected web page, as an optional way to keep in touch. Those who register for the website will receive daily emails of the Bible readings, as well as reminder emails for group meetings.

You can learn more about the program at the CovenantBibleStudy.com website.

VOLUNTEER VILLAGE

Latest Volunteer Village Statistics

The Volunteer Village continues to have a major impact on recovery here at the Jersey Shore. Here are some updated statistics, as of August 1.

1. Number of volunteers housed: 950

2. Number of hours those volunteers have worked: over 26,700

3. Number of homes worked on/families helped: over 175

Some have asked about a recent news article in the Asbury Park Press, reporting that a number of Shore communities are not getting all the FEMA loan credits they're eligible for, because of inadequate bookkeeping of volunteer hours. We have been keeping precise track of our volunteer hours, but unfortunately, most of those hours don't factor into the FEMA calculations, which have to do only with volunteer work supporting municipal services (such as cleanup at parks or firehouses), or townwide relief efforts (like handing out hot meals). Nearly all work performed by Volunteer Village guests is on private homes, so their hours don't factor into the FEMA calculations. (Originally, we were told otherwise, but have since learned that's not how FEMA does it.)

Kudos to all the hardworking PPPC volunteers, who provide the supportive services that make all the other volunteer hours possible. We are changing lives!

Groups Staying in the Volunteer Village

Lend A Hand
(Carlisle Presbytery, PA)

We have a full complement of work groups staying in our Volunteer Village this Summer and Fall. Following is our latest list of groups scheduled:

Aug 17-21 Lend A Hand (Carlisle Presbytery, Pennsylvania)
Sep 7-13 Pass A Grille Beach Community Church, St. Pete Beach, FL
Sep 14-20 Crossroads Community Presbyterian Church, Leechburg, PA
Sept 28-Oct 4 Presbytery of Detroit
Oct 5-11 Rosedale Presbyterian Church Livonia, MI
Oct 12-17 Lend A Hand (Carlisle Presbytery, Pennsylvania)
Oct 19-25 Scioto Valley Presbytery, Columbus, OH
Feb 6 Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, PA
Apr 5 Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church, MD

TROOP 6

Video from Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Members of PPPC's own Troop 6, Boy Scouts of America, have been active this summer. They visited Washington, D.C., where they had the rare opportunity to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Click on the image below to view the brief but moving ceremony. Church member Patrick Cox is one of the scouts in the honor guard.

Troop 6, Pt Pleasant, NJ at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Troop 6, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

MISSION

Caregivers Volunteers Needed!

Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey (CVCJ) has put out an urgent call for volunteers! There has been an unusually high volume of homebound seniors (more than 25 requests have been received in the past week!). The agency is experiencing an extreme shortage of volunteers to provide these services.

Our primary need right now is for drivers to take a senior to a medical appointment or to pick-up some groceries from the supermarket. CVCJ provides a variety of other free services to our homebound seniors. If you have a few hours or minutes a week that you can spare, please call Mary Malagiere at 732-505-2273 or email Mary at marym@caregivervolunteers.org today.

Your prayerful consideration of our request is appreciated.

Mary O. Malagiere

Manager of Volunteers and Community Outreach

Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey

253 Chestnut St.

Toms River, NJ 08753

732-505-2273 ext. 211

ON THE CALENDAR

Calendar For The Week

The latest edition of the church calendar is available online, on the church's website.