This Week in Worship Reformation Saturday, October 26—5:00 p.m. Rev. Beth Scibienski preaching “What Does God Look Like?” Scriptures: Psalm 139:1-3, 13-14, 23-24, Matthew 5:1-2, 8 & Sunday, October 27—10:00 a.m. Guest Preacher: Elder, Bill Dettelback Scriptures: Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14 The Adult Choir “Cantique de Jean Racine” Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Elder: Issues and Answers: One Day Retreat Our one-day retreat on Dying, Grieving, End of Life Issues and Funeral planning will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26 in the Reception Area. Cost is $15 to cover lunch and materials. Bring a notebook, a reading or poem that you would include in your funeral, and a sympathy card that you found meaningful. We will make some reference to Elaine Pagel’s book Why Religion but you do not need to have read it before the retreat. Brooks Smith and Lou Rutprecht will lead the event. Let one of them know if you plan to attend. Friends of the church are welcome to attend. Laverne Miner will bless us at the event’s conclusion by accompanying us as we sing some funeral hymns Save The Date: Nov 13 topic is Report on the Longevity Conference from Chataqua Institute with Wayne Fabricius.
Transcript
December 7, 2018
BBPC Weekly BUZZ September 06, 2019
This Week in Worship Reformation
Saturday, October 26—5:00 p.m.
Rev. Beth Scibienski preaching
“What Does God Look Like?”
Scriptures:
Psalm 139:1-3, 13-14, 23-24, Matthew 5:1-2, 8
&
Sunday, October 27—10:00 a.m.
Guest Preacher: Elder, Bill Dettelback
Scriptures:
Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18;
Luke 18:9-14
The Adult Choir “Cantique de Jean Racine” Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Elder: Issues and Answers:
One Day Retreat Our one-day retreat on Dying, Grieving, End of Life Issues and Funeral planning will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26 in the Reception Area. Cost is $15 to cover lunch and materials. Bring a notebook, a reading or poem that you would include in your funeral, and a sympathy card that you found meaningful. We will make some reference to Elaine Pagel’s book Why Religion but you do not need to have read it before the retreat. Brooks Smith and Lou Rutprecht will lead the event. Let one of them know if you plan to attend. Friends of the church are welcome to attend. Laverne Miner will bless us at the event’s conclusion by accompanying us as we sing some funeral hymns
Save The Date: Nov 13 topic is Report on the Longevity Conference from Chataqua Institute with Wayne Fabricius.
After Hours Bible Study
The women’s After Hours Bible Study will meet on
October 28th at 7:30pm in the home of Jan
Holmlund—2 Drake Close, Hillsborough, NJ
08804. All women are welcome. If you are inter-
ested in participating, please contact Jane Settle, at
church, or by phone, 908-420-4839.
During this year we will discuss Love Carved in
Stone: A Fresh Look at the Ten Commandments.
What would it mean to consider the Ten Command-
ments as a “love letter” from a loving God? A re-
newed embrace of the Ten Commandments (or
Words) may ultimately contribute to the restoration
of ourselves and our communities, and the further-
ing of the gospel in the world. Love Carved in
Stone is a Bible study that may help us reframe the
way we look at and live in the world. We will dis-
Youth and Families Spark Sunday School is for children ages three through grade five. Each week, we enjoy hands on activities that help children understand and remem-ber stories from the SPARK Story Bible. This month we are learning about the story of Ruth. Last week we enjoyed creative storytelling with Ms. Sally. This week, October 27, we will have art with Ms. Barb. Please register for Sunday School here.
ECHO is a for middle school students, and meets in
the cave during worship.
Youth Group
All youth grades 6-12 are invited to join us! Please
It might be easier to pull a tooth than interview John Almendinger! Not that he isn’t kind and cooperative, but he is soooo modest. Likely, this article about John will fall seriously short of what could be said about this man who almost singlehandedly keeps much about BBPC in good running order and a beautiful, comfortable place for all of us to worship God. Occasionally even, John’s musical talents further adorn that process!
John spent his early childhood in Bridgewater and recalls his dad playing the ukulele. When he was seven, his dad bought John a guitar that cost $15 when $15 was a lot of money. That was so John could play with his brother who already had a guitar. During high school (by then living near a small lake in Sparta) and even before he could drive, John and his brother played in a band. When he served in the Army in Munich, John played in a band. Later John worked for three years with fiddle players where he played in a band, and years ago, he entertained people at Florida campgrounds where he played in a band. John reports that “there have been many bands!” As far as genre goes, John has done rock, country and solo music, often composing his own musical works. On a monthly basis, John continues to jam with one of his local brothers.
John also enjoyed singing in the choir at Dunellen Presbyterian Church prior to joining BBPC. Surgery on his thyroid gland affected his vocal cords, changing John’s singing range and preventing him from singing in our choir. John’s love of music remains to this day. Too infrequently, he performs his own compositions, guitar in arms and singing ably, as a special part of our church service. He describes his current music style as “Christian soft rock country.”
But most of us that frequent the church on days other than Sunday particularly know John’s role as ever-present solver of all manner of building-related issues. That’s also a story that traverses many years. As a childhood role model, John had a dad who was a handyman. After John’s graduation from Sparta High School in 1965, he worked for a year at a facility that made food and where he made contact with two Army officers who were in-specting the food. They encouraged John to request a food inspection position in the Army, and so John volunteered for the Army. Those were the years of the Vietnam Nam war, and John expected soon to be drafted. By volunteering to serve three years (one more than what was required), John was stationed in Munich where he was involved in food inspection at the military base. After discharge, John spent two years in the fast food business in Tampa, but returned to NJ in 1975. He again worked for the government, this time at the VA Hospital in Lyons. With natural talent and on the job training, John became a plumber/pipe fitter. He did steam work, working on all types of complex systems found in a hospital including regulators and valves as well as heavy equipment. Eventually John became the shop leader. John says “compared to the VA Hospital, BBPC is not all that daunting.” That said, John admits that the church building itself has eight heat zones and the PFC has four! When pinned down for an answer, John admits that he is at the church four to five days a week. And then there is John’s commitment to ASP. He has been on 25 ASP trips, both in the summer and as part of the adult mid-year trips. Currently, John is on session and is chair of the buildings and grounds commission.
John and Shirley met at the VA Hospital where both worked and were married in 1983 at the Dunellen Presbyterian Church. They retired together in 2003 and remain Dunellen residents. John and Shirley love to travel! They have done numerous trips with fellow BBPC worshippers to various parts of our country and have gone on cruises to many of the Caribbean Islands. A cruise from Quebec along the northern Atlantic coast and back to NJ is already in the pipeline.
John and Shirley made their way to BBPC in 1998 or 1999. John describes the difficult process of
transitioning to a new church saying for a couple of years his “heart remained at Dunellen Presbyterian Church.”
But a couple of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance trips (Houma, LA and Biloxi, MS) with a fellow BBPC member
convinced John that he had finally found his church. Though John’s role on session and as chair of buildings and
grounds ends in 2020, he shares that he will remain the church handyman. Thanks be to God!!
John & Shirley in the badlands of South Dakota last month
You Can Help!
When any item is left outside of the dumpster, large or small, the church is charged an overage fee of $80.50.
Please help the church reduce its garbage removal costs by taking the time to put all items in the dump-ster. If it is full, please wait until the following week to place in the dumpster.
Thank you, Finance Commission
September Year to Date Income and Expense:
Actual Budget Over/(Under)
Income
Pledge 228,971 243,750 (14,779)
Plate (non pledge) 27,538 22,500 5,038
Church Usage 19,830 20,550 (720)
Other (excluding per capi-ta) 25,460 24,456 1,004
Total Income 301,800 311,256 (9,457)
Expenses
Personnel 224,139 225,228 (1,089)
Ministry 18,837 22,190 (3,352)
Administration 79,242 82,926 (3,684)
Total Expense (excluding per capita) 322,219 330,344 (8,125)
Net Income to Expense (20,419) (19,087)
Session Highlights Highlights of the October 15 Session meeting are as follows:
Significant time was spent discussing the Synod’s invitation to New Jersey presbyteries to consider a plan to reduce the number of presbyteries from 7 to 4, redrawing bounda-ries that would likely divide our current presbytery (New Brunswick) three ways, ab-sorbing the pieces into larger presbyteries. Our presbytery will be voting in November to accept or reject the invitation to come to the table to move this plan forward.
Session was also encouraged by presbytery to explore becoming a Matthew 25 congrega-tion. This simply means joining other churches in our denomination to focus our work around the call to serve as detail in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Session was encouraged to explore this opportunity and will discuss it further when we meet in November.
As the end of the year approaches, so does the time to solidify a budget for 2020. Commis-sions have been asked to submit to the Finance Commission anticipated expenses for the last quarter of 2019 and budget proposals for 2020.
Session voted to consider candidates for the part-time (25 hours) Director of Christian Ed-ucation position from both within and outside the congregation.
Session approved the cancellation of recycling services from our current garbage disposal service in favor of moving the recycling to the curb for free county pick-up. The Finance Commission is also looking for a cheaper garbage removal service.
The Membership Commission reported on last week’s successful experience with Life-Touch Studios as reported on the timeline for the anticipated new church directories. Kathy Hobbs and her commission were thanked for their work.
The Worship & Music Commission reported the impending purchase of electric candles for the Christmas Eve candelabra, to replace the use of wax candles. This is a matter of safety, time and expense.
Mission and Outreach Commission reported on the arrival of the Somerset County Food Bank as their distribution center is now up and running from our PFC. They are also planning a November 1st benefit concert to raise funds for PDA (Presbyterian Disaster Assistance) Hurricane Recovery.
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The Bound Brook Presbyterian Church
409 Mountain Avenue, Bound Brook, NJ 08805
In Other News…
College Student Updates: Please provide your college student ’s current address to the church
office.
Caring Minister On Call: October 27 - November 2: Kathy Savo & Susan Sebastian Save The Date: After Hours Bible Study meeting in 2019-2020 year from 7:30—9:00pm:
Oct. 28 (lesson 2), Nov. 25 (lesson 3), Dec. 16 (lesson 4), January 27, 2020 (lesson 5), Feb. 24 (lesson 6), Mar. 23 (lesson 7), Apr. 27 (lesson 8), May 18 (lesson 9), June, picnic. Date and time TBD.
Church Office Hours: Monday—Friday, 9:00am - 4pm
BBPC is SMOKE FREE! No smoking is permitted on church grounds. We hope that this w ill create a healthier and more pleasant environment for all of us.
Chair Yoga Class—Join us! Monday at 9:00-10:00am, Wednesday at 12:00-1:00pm, and Friday at 12:15-1:15pm. Please note, all classes will be at the Freeman Chapel in the cemetery. Cost: $40 for 8 weeks per class.
Flower chart: The 2019 Flower chart is posted outside the Sanctuary.
Please send Buzz articles to [email protected]. Article deadlines are Thursday 1:00pm.
Weekly Calendar October 25 — November 2
Friday 12:15 p.m. Chair Yoga 7:00 p.m. BBP Railroad Club 8:30 p.m. AA
