Interfaith Meet and Greet May 1 at Hunterdon Central

This Sunday, May 1, at 1:30 p.m., Zion will be joining with Living Waters Lutheran Church and The Islamic Center of Hunterdon County for an Interfaith Meet and Greet.  The intention of this gathering is for us to get to know each other and learn about each other’s communities and traditions.

We will be meeting in the small cafeteria at Hunterdon Central High School.   The best way to find the small cafeteria is to enter from Junction Road and park in the lower parking lot behind the school.

Oldwick Tag Sale - Saturday, April 30

Oldwick Town-Wide Tag Sale
Saturday, April 30^th (Rain Date Saturday, May 7th), 8am –3pm
to benefit the food pantries in Clinton and Flemington

The Open Cupboard Food Pantry in Clinton and the Flemington Area Food Pantry are vital resources in our community, providing  food and personal care items for Hunterdon County families in need.  Zion Lutheran Church has been partnering with these organizations for over 20 years, hosting food drives and donating “Senior Baskets” for distribution to seniors during the Christmas holidays.  

As a proud supporter of these food pantries, Zion Lutheran Church will donate all net proceeds from the Oldwick Town-Wide Tag Sale to the Open Cupboard Food Pantry and the Flemington Area Food Pantry. 

We hope you will join us!  Clean out your closets and have your own tag sale on your property.  Keep the proceeds just send in your registration with $25.  All participants will have a Tag Sale sign placed on their lawn that will be removed the following day.   During the sale, maps will be distributed throughout the village with locations marked. 

Don’t have room to set up a site or live out of town?  Limited spaces will be available for a flea market at the Zion Lutheran Christian Education Building (CEB) 18 Miller Avenue.  Register to sell your items and keep the proceeds with $25 donation at signup.

Have items to donate?  If you have items to donate Zion will sell at the Tag sale with all proceeds going directly to the food pantries.  No clothing or books please.  Drop off location is at the CEB on Church Street & Miller Avenue: 
Sunday April 17^th (11:00–2:00), Tues – Fri, April 19^th – 22^nd(9:00-2:00),
Sunday April 24^th (11:00-2:00), Tues-Wed, April 26^st– 27^th (9:00-2:00).

To sign up, please call the church office at (908) 439-2040.
OR download sign-up form here.

A Message from Pastor Summer -- April 2016

“In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”  - II Corinthians 5:19

The headlines over the past weeks have been dominated with acts of terror.  In particular, the acts of terror in Brussels.  Those acts are intended to divide, tear down, and create fear.  What is to be our response as God’s people?  We struggle with that question.  Standing in the good news of Easter, what we are called to do becomes clearer.  As Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians, in the cross, Christ reconciled the world with God.  The gulf was bridged and the wall came down.  In love, we were reclaimed.  All the barriers we erect, sin, fear, doubt, were removed.  This extraordinary act of sacrifice and love was the very opposite of an act of terror.  The cross was the ultimate act of grace.  Easter, with the proclamation that Jesus is risen, is God’s affirmation of the power and victory of that act of love.  As Easter people, we are called into the world to be ambassadors of reconciliation.  In other words, to be about the business of acts of grace.  Acts that are intended to unite, build up, and create love.  We are truly to be anti-terrorists. 

This coming month, we will be in the anti-terrorism business.  We will be involved in acts of grace.  On April 1-2, we will be participating in Feed My Starving Children, putting together thousands of individual meal packets to be distributed to hungry people around the world.  On April 17, we will be joining with the Islamic Center of Hunterdon County and Living Waters for an interfaith meeting at Central High School, to get to know each other and learn about each other’s community and faith.  On April 30, we will be hosting a Tag Sale for the community to raise money for our local food banks.  Each of these acts of grace are designed to build bridges, bring people together, and make a difference in the world.  What can we do in response to acts of terror?  We can be Easter people.  We can be ambassadors of reconciliation.  We can be involved in acts of grace. 

Peace,

Pastor Summer

The Church Gathered, by Pastor Summer

Initially called “The Gathering”, this change in format on Sunday morning has been

well received and is suggestive of where we are heading in the future.  The intent

was to address some specific desires on the part of the congregation.  People have

been saying that they want more fellowship and music.  I was interested in more

conversation around the faith.  Out of those desires, The Church Gathered was created.

There is an intentional time for fellowship between the 8:30 service and the start of

Sunday School.  We are using music as the bridge to classes.  As the young people head

to class, adults are invited to be in conversation about our life of faith.  In those

conversations, we have explored teaching our children to pray, when and where God

has been present, what to do when God seems silent, and witnessing to our faith.  The

conversations have been rich and meaningful.  We have just begun and some suggestions have been made to tweak our efforts, but we seem to be headed in a good direction.  I’m hopeful that more people will participate in The Church Gathered. 

April 3 – Conversation: Doubt

April 10 – Family Worship

April 17 – Seminar:  Social Security

April 24 – Conversation:  The future of Sunday School at Zion

Feed My Starving Children, by Rebecca Melick

What a wonderful experience!  Over 450 volunteers came to Zion on April 1st & 2nd and packed 108,864 meals to be delivered to children in need around the world. This translates into providing a meal for 298 children every day for a year!  Folks from our Zion family, other churches, scouting groups, corporations, high school groups and individuals came together for 2-hour shifts to make a dent in the sad statistic that every day over 6,000 children die from hunger-related causes.

The meals that we packed consisted of rice, soy granules, dehydrated vegetables, and vitamins, and are scientifically formulated to provide optimal nutrition to malnourished children.  From Oldwick, the meals are trucked back to the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) distribution center and will be shipped in a container to orphanages, feeding programs, schools, and NGOs that are fully vetted and certified by FMSC.  These organizations must pay for the shipping and are required to tithe 10% of the meals to other organizations that cannot afford the shipping costs.  Remarkably over 99% of the packed meals arrive safely to their intended destinations.  Once our meals are shipped staff at FMSC will be able to tell us where our packs were sent. Most likely they will go to Haiti, due to the overwhelming demand that exists in that country. 

Thank you to all of the volunteers and our very generous donor who made this event possible.  I have been inspired, and I believe many others as well by this ministry, and our ability even as a smaller church to make such an impact for needy children and in a smaller way touched the lives of the 450+ volunteers who participated.  We look forward to next year and are hoping to make this an annual event at Zion. 

Social Security Seminar -- April 17 at 9:45 a.m.

During Adult Forum on Sunday April 17^th, the Endowment Committee will present

“Social Security, Getting the Most out of your Benefits”.  This informative program will

benefit those who are 50-65 years of age who are planning for their future retirement. 

Topics to be covered will be:

· The solvency of the fund

· When to begin taking benefits

· Maximizing benefits

· Working and receiving benefits

· Understanding the value of Social Security

The seminar will be presented by Ash Ahluwalia, President of National Social Security Partners, LLC, the nation’s leading Social Security planning firm.  NSSP works in collaboration with other professionals such as financial advisors, CPAs, and attorneys to help clients navigate the complexities of Social Security and maximize benefits.  Ash is one of the nation’s foremost experts on Social Security and is a highly sought after speaker at conferences and industry events.  Ash is a friend and was invited to present by our own Geof Close from the Endowment Committee.

Please set aside 9:45am to 10:45am on Sunday April 17^th if you are interested in attending this worthwhile seminar!

Interfaith Meet & Greet -- April 17 at 1:30 p.m.

On April 17, we will be joining people from Living Waters and the Islamic Center of Hunterdon County for a time to meet, and more importantly, to get to know each other.   How do our faiths inform and impact our communities?  What do we share in common?  How are we different?  We will be gathering at Hunterdon Central High School at 1:30 in the small cafeteria.  The gym will be open for children.  This gathering is intended to be an initial meeting with the hopes of having a larger picnic on Sunday afternoon, May 15, at Spruce Run.  Please join us on April 17^th.

Church Nursery

There has been interest is starting a nursery again during worship on Sundays.  For people interested, there will be a sign-up sheet at both the church and CEB.  The idea is to have parents rotate as nursery providers.  Of course, if they are others who would like to watch the children, you can certainly be added to the list.