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Christmas Poinsettia Orders are due this Sunday
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Point Pleasant
Presbyterian Church
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Weekly News for
Sunday,
December 14, 2014
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 Dear Friends,
What a joy we have in store this Sunday morning, as the Chancel Choir presents Part 1 of Handel's Messiah!
William R. Shoppell, Jr. is the choral conductor and Sara B. Hoey is the organist. A professional string quartet will provide further accompaniment.
Beloved as a staple of sacred Christmas music, Messiah was not actually composed for that holiday. In its complete form, this sacred oratorio tells the story of Jesus' birth, passion and resurrection. Its most famous segment, the Hallelujah Chorus, in fact belongs to Part 2, the Easter section. That chorus presents the words of Revelation 21:15, which celebrate the exaltation of the ascended Christ as Lord of all:
The kingdom of this world is become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ;
and he shall reign for ever and ever.
That won't stop us, though, from enjoying the Hallelujah Chorus along with Part 1 this Sunday!
If you'd like to take a look at the Bible passages the Choir will be singing, you can find a listing of them here.  There's an old tradition of congregations (as well as audiences in secular concert halls) standing as the Hallelujah Chorus is sung. The most common explanation is that this practice began with England's King George II, who was so overcome by the power of the music that he stood up in admiration - and when the king stands, everybody stands. While there are reasons to doubt the historical truth of this account, it's still a wonderful way of praising God, who sent Jesus into the world that we might be saved. So, we continue to follow that tradition, however it got started.
Come join us this Sunday, for an experience not only of a classic piece of sacred music, but also of the worship of God!
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
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This Sunday
Sunday, December 14 - Third Sunday of Advent
9:00 a.m. - Youth Connection
10:00 a.m. Worship/Handel's "Messiah," Part 1, presented by Chancel Choir
10:00 a.m. - Sunday School begins
11:15 a.m. - Christmas Pageant Rehearsal
3:00 p.m. - Youth Connection Christmas Caroling
4:00 p.m. - Webelos, Basement
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Sunday School This Sunday
Sunday School will be starting at 10 a.m. in the CE Annex classrooms, this week. Please bring your child directly to Sunday School!!
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EVERYONE'S Invited to Youth Connection Christmas Caroling!
 This Sunday meet us at the Manse at 3 p.m. ready to Carol! We'll travel to the homes of various home bound members of the congregation and/or to local nursing homes. All members of the congregation are invited to join us as we go caroling.
We will be having a pizza party afterwards. Please bring a food item to share with the group (either appetizer, bag of snacks or desserts). Pizza and drinks will be provided. Feel free to wear a Holiday Hat and dress for the weather! In case of snow, watch for an email and Facebook announcement.
Youth Connection Alumni - as well as members and friends of the congregation t large - are welcome to join us. We would love to see you and catch up with you!
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"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 December 14 is the Donley family. Let us be prayerfully aware of Loren and Lynn, as well as all our members and friends.
Other prayer concerns: The family of Doris Baker; Judy Leonardis; Agnes Skowronek (Bill Hoey's sister); Jean Meklin; Bill Blauvelt (Jacque Thornton's Brother In Law); Michael Limpantsis; Jim McGuire; Margaret Olsavsky; Kathryn Feldman; Trudy Pedersen; Karen Larsen; all those in the military, as well as those struggling with addictions and mental illness.
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CHRISTMAS EVE USHERS NEEDED - We are in need of 2 additional ushers at the 4:00 p.m Service and 4 ushers at the 11:00 p.m Service. The 7:00 p.m. service is covered. Please call Scott Smith at 732-840-0279 if you are available to usher at the 4 or 11:00 p.m. service.
 STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN - In the latest news from the New Year's in November campaign, 85 households have made prayerful resolutions for 2015 giving totalling $202,376. THANK YOU to all who have made these commitments, which are of great importance to the Session in building next year's operating budget. You can find a copy of the NYIN prayerful resolution card either online or in the pew racks, which you can place in the offering plate or send in to the church office.
CHRISTMAS BULLETIN PREPARATION - Volunteers are needed again this year to come in on Tuesday, December 23 to help fold bulletins in preparation for our Christmas Eve Services. We will be folding in the Fellowship Room beginning at 1:00 p.m.
 ST. GREGORY'S PANTRY IS STILL IN NEED OF UNWRAPPED TOYS & GIFTS - The annual Christmas Distribution is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, December 16, 2014. Unfortunately, this year donations are not as strong as they've been in the past, so we're putting out an urgent appeal. Please consider bringing a new, unwrapped toy to Church this Sunday as a donation. The Pantry gives two to three presents per child to families in need. Gifts for teenagers are especially needed - CDs, gift cards, sweaters, hats, nail polish, etc. Gifts can be placed on the table in the Narthex this Sunday.
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Christmas Poinsettia Orders Are Due This Sunday
Poinsettia donations in honor or in memory of loved ones are $15 each, and payment must be included with the order form. Please be sure to indicate "Christmas Plants" on the memo line of your check! Order form and payment may be placed in the offering plate or mailed to the church office. Once the quantity of flowers needed for sanctuary decorations has been reached, additional gifts will be used for purchase of sanctuary paraments and banners.
Deadline: This Sunday - December 14, 2014.
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Nursery Attendant Needed
 The Church is looking to hire an additional nursery attendant on Sunday mornings from 9:45 to 11:15 am. This is a paid position at $10 per hour.
Know anyone who's interested?
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 During December, EliSabeth-Verdella Circle is offering two ways to send Christmas greetings to your church family members and contribute towards local mission at the same time. Please place your addressed cards for fellow church members in the box in the narthex. Please donate the money you would otherwise have spent on postage in the adjacent donation box. Circle members will sort the cards alphabetically for pick-up by recipients. Alternatively, you can write a brief Christmas message on the decorated poster board, also in the Narthex, for your Church friends. If you choose this option, the Circle would appreciate a small donation to their mission project. Thanks!
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Christmas Day Dinner
Celebrate Christmas Day through the joy of serving others! Our free Community Christmas Dinner - 12 noon-2:00 pm in teh CE Annex, is for anyone with no place else to go on the big day who would enjoy and old-fashioned holiday feast with congenial company. We need:
Cookie Bakers - In baking your own cookies, please plan on baking a little extra for our Christmas dinner guests. Cookies can be dropped off at the Church starting December 21st.
Christmas Morning Volunteers - We need volunteers to help from 8:30-10:30 a.m to bring the food up to the kitchen; 10:30 a.m - 12:00 noon to make local home deliveries; and finally, cleanup beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Donna Wittmann is coordinator of this event. Please call her at 732-965-5637 if you have would like to volunteer.
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Joan Valentine House Giving Tree - NOW FULLY SUBSCRIBED
Thanks to all who have taken envelopes to purchase Christmas gifts for residents of the Joan Valentine House. We're happy to announce that all the gift requests have been taken, so we're fully subscribed!
For those who ave agreed to purchase gifts a reminder: please choose no more than TWO items from the list to purchase. This is important to preserve a sense of equality among all the residents.
Please bring your wrapped gifts into the Sanctuary no later than Christmas Eve, and place them under the Christmas Tree, with a gift tag indicating who the gift is for. Gifts will be handed out at an Epiphany Party early in January.
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A Part of the Church You've Probably Never Seen
 Recently Ruling Elder Doug Peterson climbed the ladder into the top of the church steeple to repair the bell rope. While he was there, he took this picture of the bell.
Some years ago, the bell was fixed in place - as opposed to swinging freely, as it used to do - and the clapper was rendered immobile. A hammer-like device on the outside of the bell now rings it whenever the bell rope is pulled.
Thanks to Doug for his work for the church "on high"!
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Volunteers Needed for Claremont Care Center
 On the 4th Sunday of the month our church takes on the responsibility for a worship service at the Claremont Care Center nursing home.
This short service is held at their facility from 2:30 to 3:00pm. We are in need of volunteers to lead a simple worship service. Generally there are two people to lead this service. With a scripture reading, a short message/talk (five minutes), a prayer and several hymns, you have made their day! There are song sheets in the church office with the words of familiar hymns.
We are also in need of musicians to play simple hymn accompaniment.
Your ideas and suggestions are also welcome. The following dates are open: January 25, February 22, March 22 and April 26.
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Thank You from the Deacons
Through your generosity, the Deacons collected $1,447 last Sunday for the Deacons Fund.
So far in 2014 the Deacons have provided assistance to over 30 people which included both members and non-members. Just some of the areas of assistance included helping people with rent, utilities, prescriptions and gift cards.
You can find envelopes for donations to the Deacons fund in the pews each Communion Sunday. Please know that when you give a donation to the Deacons fund, the Deacons carefully screen each request and that you are really helping someone in desperate need.
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Christmas Pageant Rehearsal Schedule
December 14: Rehearsal in the Annex from 11:15-12:30.
December 21: Rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary from 11:15-12:30
December 24: Meet at Sanctuary at 3 p.m. for the service that begins at
4 p.m.
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SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS
Last week - we discussed the theme of 'Peace'. We talked about what peace means to us and how it relates to Jesus and his message. We made some fun Christmas crafts and talked about how excited we all are for Christmas to come!
This week -I can't believe it is week 3 of Advent, already! This week we are going to talk about joy! We will cover everything from the joy Jesus has brought to the world (and maybe even sing about it, if the children are up for it) to the joy each one of them bring to the special people in their lives.
Please Note - Sunday School will be starting at 10 a.m. in the CE Annex this week. The kids will NOT be attending the first part of the worship service this week. Please bring them directly to Sunday School!!
Peace and Blessings,
Tricia Stoffers
Sunday School Coordinator
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Point Beach Prep News For the Week
 This week we met both Ms. K with her her kite and a puppet who is a king. At our activity tables we made kites and keys. We also made special Christmas presents and cards for all of the parents! Shhh, it's a surprise! During Music and Movement we kicked our feet and hopped like kangaroos.
We have also been practicing singing Christmas carols for our Family Sing-a-Longs that will take place December 22nd and December 23rd. We read many Christmas stories including Frosty the Snowman, Snappy's Christmas, and Clifford's First Christmas, to name a few. We enjoyed marching around the playground while it was snowing, trying to catch a snowflake!
See you next week with Letter L.
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So let us not grow weary in doing what is right
 The following note came into the office this week, thanking the church for work done by Volunteer Village workers.
Reverend Wilton,
I hope one day to come visit your Church and meet you personally. I have a pretty incredible story which I would like to share with you. I am a single grandma with custody of my granddaughter London, who just turned three. I am a former victim of severe domestic violence. My mom lost her mobile home in Holgate to Sandy and my LBI Trailer Park was completely demolished. So, London and I were homeless, lost everything. I was a client at Peoples Pantry. I met a volunteer there last year around Christmas. I was trying to find help with warm clothes for London. The volunteer handed me a $100 Visa giftcard, from your Church! She said she had prayed over it and knew it was meant for us. Small World. We truly had nothing! No gas. I had no gas money for car and wasn't sure if we would make it back. I filled up the tank with the Visa card and bought warm clothes for London. We are now living in a 1973 mobile home in Barnegat, which my mom purchased with a small amount of insurance money she received from Sandy loss. Sadly, so much has gone wrong since we've been there, simply can't keep up. Pipes continually burst, flooding trailer and causing old floors to collapse. After I pay my lot rent and utilities, no money left. So thank you so much Reverend.
I just wanted to express my gratitude for the wonderful work your Church performs. Frank Jones and Lend A Hand volunteers repaired my granddaughter London's bedroom floor, which had collapsed. If not for their help we would have been placed in a motel. While our trailer still has many problems, I am so grateful London's room is safe. Thank you to all for acts of kindness.
Tracey B. |
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The latest edition of the church calendar is available online, on the church's website. 
Sunday, December 14 - Third Sunday of Advent
9:00 a.m. - Youth Connection
10:00 a.m. Worship/Handel's "Messiah" presented by Chancel Choir
10:00 a.m. - Sunday School begins in Worship
11:15 a.m. - Christmas Pageant Rehearsal
3:00 p.m. - Youth Connection Christmas Caroling
4:00 p.m. - Webelos, Basement
Monday, December 15
St. Gregory's Pantry Toyland Setup, CE Annex
6:15 p.m. - Choral Bells, Fellowship Room
Tuesday, December 16
St. Gregory's Pantry Toyland Distribution
7:00 p.m. - Session Meeting
Wednesday, December 17
9:00 a.m. - Women's Breakfast at the Rainbow Diner
5:00 p.m. - Dove Choir Rehearsal, Choir Room
7:30 p.m. - Troop 6 Christmas Party
Thursday, December 18
7:30 p.m. - Chancel Choir Rehearsal
Friday, December 19
6:30 p.m. Webelos Den, Basement
Saturday, December 20
Sunday, December 21 - Fourth Sunday of Advent
9:00 a.m. - Youth Connection
10:00 a.m. Worship/Choral Bells
10:00 a.m. - Sunday School begins in Worship
11:00 a.m. - Sandwich Sunday
11:15 a.m. - Christmas Pageant Rehearsal, Sanctuary
4:00 p.m. - Webelos, Basement
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 Birthday Blessings
Dec 14 Jason Borkowski, Michael Dunham, Travis Dunham, Kristen Jensen, Liam Murphy
Dec 15 Peyton Viggiano
Dec 16 Laurie Pearce, Ruth Werner
Dec 17 Linda Cottrell, Dawn Holton
Dec 18
Dec 19 Jeffrey Kells, Joan Panuska, David Rogers
Dec 20 Stanley Davis
Dec 21 Corina Collins
Dec 22 Craig Lambie
Dec 23
Dec 24 Jennifer Nase, Dorothy Tolley
Dec 25 Mary Ann Miller
Dec 26 Anna Landre
Dec 27 Christopher Cook, John Curtis
Dec 28 Dustin Cottrell
Dec 29 Kenneth King
Dec 30 Magda Giase, Dale Leasure, Thomas Millar, Christopher Shekon
Dec 31
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 Sunday, December 21, 2014
10:00 a.m. Worship with the Choral Bells
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
4:00 p.m. Family Christmas Eve Service
7:00 p.m. Candlelight Service with Special Music
11:00 p.m. Candlelight Service with the Chancel Choir.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
12:00 - 2:00 p.m. - Christmas Community Dinner, CE Annex
Sunday, December 28, 2014
10:00 a.m. Worship with Carol Sing
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Pastors
The Rev. Carl Wilton, Ph.D., Pastor
The Rev. Linda Chase, Associate Pastor
Office Staff
Kim Gaydos, Church Secretary
Donna Ferry, Financial Secretary
Dee D'Amore, Volunteer Village Bookkeeper
Music Staff
Sara Hoey, Organist
William Shoppell, Chancel Choir and Choral Bells Director
Rebecca Muraglia, Acting Dove Choir Director
Christian Education Staff
Courtney Rzeplinski, Youth Connection Coordinator
Tricia Stoffers, Sunday School Coordinator
Devlin House, Point Beach Prep Preschool Director
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Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church
701 Forman Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
(Corner of Bay and Forman Avenues)
Church Office: 732-899-0587 Fax: 732-899-2946
Visit us at http://www.pointpresbyterian.org
Church Office: mail@pointpresbyterian.org |
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