News and Events - October, 2009

Jeff Boyd, a Presbyterian Church (USA) missionary to Cameroon (pictured here with his wife Christi), will be speaking at the Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green on Wednesday, October 14, at 7:30 PM. This event, sponsored by Newark Presbytery, is part of the World Mission Challenge (WMC), an annual opportunity to connect each presbytery with a PC(USA) funded missionary.

Jeff recently wrote: Greetings from Yaounde, Cameroon. I look forward to this opportunity to visit with the folks within The Presbytery of Newark. I find it a joy to share with others how I see God working through the people I meet throughout the Central Africa region in general, but particularly in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo. I also find it truly a blessing to see and hear how God is at work in our church home, the Presbyterian Church USA. I look forward to hearing about how your presbytery, and the congregations within it, sense God urging you into ministries.

For more information about this event, please see Presbytery Center News. For more about Jeff and Christi Boyd, please visit their profile page on PC(USA) Mission Connections.

Annual Montclair (Essex County) CROP Hunger Walk October 18 CROP Hunger Walks are neighbors walking together to take a stand against hunger in our world. The 33rd annual Montclair (Essex County) 2009 CROP Hunger Walk is scheduled for October 18th (rain or shine) starting and ending at The First Congregational Church, 40 South Fullerton Avenue, Montclair. Registration is at 1:30 P.M., the Walk begins at 2:00 P.M. and is the usual 3 miles.

Church on the Green at the 2008 CROP Walk

Church on the Green is once again sending a team of walkers to this event, which raises funds and awareness for global and local programs that fight hunger, including our own food pantry. Those who plan to participate may pick up their collection envelope and instructions at the Crop Walk table in the Gymnasium following Sunday morning worship. Last year the Essex County Walk collected over $22,000, with $5,500 being returned to 11 local food pantries in our surrounding communities. Our walkers collected $2,325 (2nd highest total of 19 participating groups). Church on the Green received a check for $385 as part of our share. This money was deposited into the Food Pantry account, for the purchase of much needed food supplies. Please support our walkers by making a pledge. All donations will be greatly appreciated. Checks should be made payable to “CWS/CROP”, and all money should be turned in ASAP. All collected contributions must be returned to First Lutheran Church, Montclair, on or before November 2, 2009. For more information, or to support our team by making a donation online, please go to our CROP Walk team page.

Pull out the vinyl records, your saddle shoes and poodle skirts – or were you of the generation of madras shirts and long hair? Whatever your preference, we will be celebrating the Oldies But Goodies of yesteryear. See everyone at the Parish House on Friday Night, October 9 for the first of this season’s Friday Night Dinners. Promise it won’t be anything too outrageous – but with the new line of cooks, each meal will be something special. Entertainment will be geared to fun and relaxation. Please join us by reserving a ticket which will be sold on Sunday, October 4th and are available during the week at the church office. Please see Ginny Anderson – no tickets will be sold at the door. With the current economic situation, where else can you get a full course dinner, entertainment and an opportunity to meet with good friends and neighbors – all for just $8.00? Let’s start the season with a big gathering – the new season of programs are going to be exciting?

Our book study group will hold its next meeting on Monday night, October 12. We will meet in the church parlor 7:30 P.M. and will discuss chapters 2 and 3 of “Chosen in Christ: The Glory of Grace in Ephesians 1” by Rev. Richard Phillips. Everyone is invited! For more information or to get your own copy of this book, please see Glenn Maciag, call the church office at 973-743-1796, or email info@bpcog.org.

There will be a Blood Drive on Wednesday, October 28th, from 1:00 to 7:00 P.M. at the Student Center, Bloomfield College, 198 Liberty Street, 2nd floor. Our members could help by donating and having their donations credited to the church’s number. Donors must bring ID and know their social security number. Please eat a meal one hour before donating and drink plenty of water.

Family Fun Night October 2 Our first Family Fun Night was held at the church on Friday, September 11 and we all had a great time. We ate pizza, played great games, and closed with a brief reflection led by Rev. Foltz-Morrison. Starting in October, our Family Fun Nights will be on the first Friday of the month. Our next gathering will be on Friday, October 2 starting at 6:30 P.M. Dinner will be served. Sunday School students, their friends, family, Sunday School staff, and anyone who wants to see what all the excitement is about are invited to attend.

The Women's Fellowship of the Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green will be hosting an afternoon English Tea in the Parish House from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm on Saturday, October 3. They will be serving a selection of teas, assorted fancy sandwiches, scones with cream and preserves, and a choice of desserts. The price is $10, payable at the door, and proceeds will go to Presbyterian Disaster Relief.

Justice and Peace Shall Kiss Each Other

This year’s Peacemaking Offering will be dedicated on World Communion Sunday, October 4th. Each year the Presbyterian Church participates in this offering to promote peace and well being throughout the world. “Peace is the wholeness and well being that God wills for all creation. Although the effects of human sin wound all creation, God is continually at work in the world offering healing, wholeness, mercy, justice and peace.” (Mission Interpretation, General Assembly Council, PCUSA, 2008). Each year individual congregations may choose to designate 25% of the money received as they wish. This year our Session, upon recommendation of the Mission Committee has designated our 25% to go to the Bloomfield Challenger Little League. This league offers an opportunity for all those with some sort of physical or mental disability to participate in little league baseball and gain important socialization skills while participating in a team activity.

In deliberating about this recommendation to Session the committee wanted to do something that would help connect us to the town and do something locally. The committee also felt that this could be a springboard to other mission opportunities such as going to game to cheer the youngsters on or serving as “buddies” during a game or hosting a league picnic. We felt this could provide many opportunities to get involved in the community. We hope you will support this endeavor and welcome any additional thoughts or ideas you may have as we hope to continue to build a mutual call to action with this worthwhile organization. Peacemaking envelopes are included with the Spire and we hope you will participate and help with the goal of justice and peace kissing each other.