January 2014 1 Newsletter of the First Reformed Church inNew Brunswick

From Pastor’s Desk —by Pastor HartmutSometimes, a bouquet of flowers can say more than athousand words. This is how I feel about this picture ofCharlie Nonestied’s baptism on December 22nd last year.

There are joy and excitement in this picture, but also focusand attention. Is this not how the joy of new life in JesusChrist is supposed to look like? Think also about our oldReformed ideal of the gathering around the Table. Well,here it is the baptismal font. It sure is the center of acircle. I love also the symbols of past and future on themargins: On the left, a camera recording memories; andon the right two young people looking with curiosity intothe future unfolding in front of their eyes.

You see, I can get carried away with this. Too often,however, we focus on the difficult side of being a church:the decline in membership, deferred building maintenance,and the ever-present budget deficit. But then God has uscelebrate a baptism. This, too, dear friends, is church!

May you carry the image with you into the New Year! It isa gift from God, our Creator and Sustainer. “I will put mySpirit within you,” he says, “and you shall live, and I willplace you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, theLord, have spoken and will act.” (Ezekiel 37:14)

With fond wishes,Pastor Hartmut

Inside this IssueOur Missionary 2May I Come In? 3Benevolence of the Month

Elijah’s Promise 4Drama@FRC 4Dutch Dancing 4Sinterklaas 5Michelle’s Letter 5TCCDC UPDATE 6Light of the World Bash 7Rainbow Children’s Choir 8

Hall Education Fund—by Susanne Clark

Many thanks to all those who shopped at TenThousand Villages on December 6 at the HallEducation Fund’s annual shopping day. The HallFund netted almost $150.00, and the people whoshopped got great gifts.

Our next event will be the annual winetasting andsilent auction that is scheduled for March 7, 2014.Just like last year it will be held at the First ReformedChurch. Mark your calendars and plan to be with us.It is a lot of fun and for a very worthy cause.

January 2014 2 Newsletter of the First Reformed Church inNew Brunswick

January 2014 3 Newsletter of the First Reformed Church inNew Brunswick

Please May I Come In?by Joan Fekete & Lolly Schenck

This question could be asked at the door of First Reformed Church on January 26,2014. That is the beginning date when we will be providing shelter for thehomeless men of New Brunswick. We will provide space for them to sleep untilSunday February 1, 2014. This will be our first week and the second one is March16, 2014 thru March 22, 2014.

We can provide space for up to 15 men to spend the night. They enter at 7 PMand remain until 7 AM. We usually offer some refreshments in the evening. Coffee,tea and some sort of baked goods are the normal offerings. The morning offering isusually orange juice, coffee, tea, fresh fruit and a type of coffee cake. Then they areout for the day whatever the weather may be until 7PM that evening.

This is only possible if we have enough volunteers to come and spend the nightwith the men. Each night requires at least two people, one being from FirstReformed Church. Many nights there are three people who stay. Volunteers comefrom other churches such as Highland Park, Rutgers Protestant Campus Ministry aswell as people who simply see the need to make sure that there is a place for thehomeless men to sleep. We look forward to the time when there will be no need for us to offer shelterbecause everyone will have a place to stay, but until then it is one of our ministries.So for those of you who are reading this article, please reflect on your warm homes,and then look at your calendar and see if you can offer to stay a night.

If you are willing to volunteer to stay a night, please call Lolly Schenck at 732-991-8352 or Joan Fekete at 732-254-4647. Hopefully then, our answer to thequestion at the top of the article will be YES!

Please hold in your hearts what the Bible says about this:Matt. 25:37-40 “…..The King will reply, I tell you the truth,

whatever you did for the one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did forme.”

January 2014 4 Newsletter of the First Reformed Church inNew Brunswick

Benevolence of the Month — Elijah’s PromiseTheir HistoryElijah’s Promise was established in 1989 when three localchurches (St. John’s Episcopal, Emanuel Lutheran, andChrist Episcopal of New Brunswick) joined together tostart a small soup kitchen. Although local congregationshave continued to fill much of our volunteer base over theyears, we receive great amounts of support and servicefrom local student groups, community healthorganizations, local businesses and many others.

In 1997 Elijah’s Promise created a culinary arts trainingprogram called Promise Culinary School. We have taught aprofessional culinary curriculum to hundreds of students,preparing and placing them at jobs in the food serviceindustry. In 2010 our culinary staff launched a Baking andPastry program that trains students in the art ofprofessional baking.

In order to provide on-the-job training for culinarygraduates, Elijah’s Promise started a catering business in1998. Our catering staff provides hundreds of healthymeals every day to children in New Brunswick and to ourcommunity’s elderly and homebound through NewBrunswick’s Meals on Wheels program.In 2009 Elijah’s Promise worked with Who Is My

Neighbor? tocreate A BetterWorld Cafe,based on amodel pioneeredby DeniseCerreta of OneWorld Everybody

Eats. The cafe has been successful in bringing delicious,sustainable food to our area while giving all people anequal opportunity to enjoy it.

Why this name: “Elijah’s Promise?”The name Elijah’s Promise comes from a passage in theHebrew Bible where the prophet Elijah is called by God tostay with a widow at Zarephath during a severe famine.Sojourning in a region far removed from his people inIsrael, Elijah asks the widow for food and water. Thewidow replies by showing the prophet that she has enoughfood for only one final meal. After promising that she willnever lack what she needs if she shares with him, thewidow feeds Elijah. The result is that the widow’s jar offlour remains full even amidst a harsh famine.Our philosophy is that by sharing not only what we have,but also the tools for people to feed themselves, no one inour community needs to go hungry.

Drama at First ReformedBy Pastor Hartmut

Does it always have to be so wordy and erudite? Not whenyou come to First Reformed for one of its skits and plays!Last year’s Christmas pageant was for adults. It featuredsuch illustrious characters as family counselor Dr. Phil andthe scroll eating prophet Ezekiel. A strobe light and a fogmachine from George Street Playhouse completed thedramatic effects, and we all had lots of fun. It is lovely tohave laughter and life as part of worship life. It’s who weare and how God is shaping us

January 2014 5 Newsletter of the First Reformed Church inNew Brunswick

Michelle’s Letter

The following letter was pinned to the refrigerator in thechurch kitchen after worship on December 15. It’s a greattestimony to the ministry of First Reformed Church and itslong-lasting impact beyond the barriers of time anddistance…

Dutch Culture at Hageman’s Farm—by Pastor Hartmut

I know, Sinterklaas was four weeks ago. Nevertheless, Iwanted to share these pictures with you – not only,because they feature our Dutch Dancers, but also,because they give you an idea in how many differentways members of First Reformed Church are reachingout to different parts of our population.

This time, it was a Dutch speaking crowd in the ruralsetting of Hageman’s Farm in Somerset. In fact, most ofthe children on the lap of Sinterklaas responded inDutch that day.

As heartwarming as this might be, it really needed somespecial stamina to perform in the ice-cold barn. Snowand drizzle outside the windows did not make it better.But our Dutch Dancers are tough people! Still, whenSusan and I performed the Ijswals in the end, it reallyfelt like a waltz on ice. But we had a good time in thispart of rural New Jersey, and the old farmhouse waswarm. We enjoyed Dutch pastries and traditional Dutchcrafts.

January 2014 6 Newsletter of the First Reformed Church inNew Brunswick

UPDATE—by Susan Kramer-Mills

While we celebrate the New Brunswick Zoning Board’s approval of our project, we look forward to our big plans for2014!

Yes, the Zoning Board unanimously approved our project! We thank all the community friends who came out andspoke up FOR the re-design project. It was a moving evening, indeed. Many of us wiped away tears from our eyes asthe Zoning Board took its vote. They were moved as well.

Meanwhile, we are making connections with other groups interested in affordable housing and domestic violence.Several fundraisers are being planned. We will keep you posted.

We have several volunteers helping us out on a regular basis from the community; and we welcome Rebecca Escobar(Member of the Suydam Street Reformed Church and President of the New Brunswick City Council) as our newestBoard member.

In the month of January 2014, we hope to have the following accomplished:• An agreement between the State Historic Preservation Office and HMFA about the project• A finalized lease agreement, which is approved of by the Consistory, the Administrative Council of theClassis, and other entities

We meet monthly and welcome visitors to our meetings, so if you are interested in what’s happening just come tothe next Board meeting which will be January 6th beginning at 5:00 pm with a dinner.

Dina’s Dwellings

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Light of the World— by Pastor Hartmut

When Jesus referred to himself as thelight of the world (John 8:12), he wasaddressing the darkness of the context inwhich he was born and later carried outhis ministry. Since then, the church as thegathering of his followers has beenworking like a lighthouse keeper. Here atFirst Reformed, we symbolize this once ayear with our Light-of-the-World Bash.It’s a time of seasonal brass music, offellowship, crafts, cider and cookies. Inall our diversity and coming fromdifferent backgrounds, we have come toappreciate one another as called togetherat the Lord’s Table. Come, and join ourround. The New Year will offer plenty ofopportunity

First Reformed Church9 Bayard Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901phone: 732-545-1005; fax: 732-545-1139email: Secretary@FirstReformedChurch.netweb site: www.FirstReformedChurch.net

The Rainbow Children’s Choir— by Benjamin T. Berman

The Rainbow Children’s Choir really shone at the Interfaith Thanksgiving service this past November. They foundthe service very meaningful, and I think they really learned a lot by seeing such a diverse program from faiths allacross the spectrum (Whirling Dervish, chanted Hebrew, a song from Godspell).

Our next performance will be our annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration. The performance date will beSunday, January 26 at 12:15 pm. There will be two rehearsals: on January 12 and January 19 at 1:00pm.

All rehearsals and the event will be at First Reformed Church: 9 Bayard St., New Brunswick, NJ, 08901.

If you have not sung with the choir in a while, then please consider yourself invited to rejoin! We want to includeeveryone (grades 3-6). If you would like to help by facilitating snacks for the kids, or food for a reception after theMLK event, please let me know.

Thank you for all of your time and effort to help this Rainbow Choir succeed.