General

The first weekend in December is celebrated at the Van Wickle House in Somerset with the visit of Sinterklass (the Dutch Saint Nicholas) accompanied by traditionally-clad Dutch Dancers from First Reformed Church. The merriment will take place between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Be sure to attend!

By Susanne Clark

Are you looking for the unusual as you start your holiday shopping? Do you want to find unique gifts for those on your list? Then plan to shop at Ten Thousand Villages at 320 Raritan Avenue in Highland Park on Saturday, December 6th. You will find many interesting handcrafted items from developing nations to purchase and you will be supporting a worthy cause as you shop. The Hall Education Fund will benefit from all sales made on Dec 6th as a portion of the profits on that day will be donated to the Fund. Members of the Hall Fund will also be there to assist you with your gift decisions.

The Hall Fund has a long history of helping New Brunswick students with demonstrated financial need secure an education. Since its inception in the early 1800’s when it was established to “educate the poor and needy in New Brunswick,” the ministers of, and people with ties to, First Reformed Church, the Presbyterian Church and Christ Episcopal Church have supported its mission. In its continuing effort to raise funds to provide college scholarships to deserving local young people, the Hall Education Fund is sponsoring this shopping opportunity at Ten Thousand Villages. We hope to see you there on Saturday, December 6th.

Matthew 25:40 - “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of
mine, you did for me.’”

Sunday, December 14th through Saturday, December 20th, First Reformed Church will again host the Men’s Shelter. During this week, we will provide space for the men to sleep. At this season of the year, there is no room at the Oznam Shelter, just like there was no more room in the Inn at Bethlehem that fateful night two thousand years ago.

Think about what it would be like to have no place to go except the street. Rain, snow, frigid temperatures — it makes no difference; they still must find a place outdoors. [click to continue...]

We had a very productive meeting in November. It was a combined meeting as our October meeting was cancelled due to other more prudent matters. We looked at the calendar for next year and planned our regular activities. We are also looking at a new activity in May. I will write more about that when the date comes closer. [click to continue...]

Now that we are approaching the New Year, take out your new calendar and go to January 31st. Put a big mark on it, as we have planned a full evening for you.

To start the evening, we will have a Silent Auction, sponsored by the Women’s Guild, which you can enjoy at your leisure while sipping drinks and enjoying wonderful appetizers and desserts. While you are digesting all this and contemplating your choices at the Auction, the Gay Men’s Chorus of New Jersey will be entertaining you.

The Gay Men’s Chorus has generously offered to perform a concert to benefit our historic preservation project.

Details are yet to be finalized, but we’ll get the word out soon about tickets. In the meantime, please mark your calendar. Plan to support this event with your presence, with contributions of items for the auction (items from home or gift certificates from businesses you patronize) and with your invitation to family and friends.

With a title like this, you thought I would provide a bit background to the annual family gathering at home, talk about the childhood dynamics that regularly catch up with us on occasions like these? But far off! I have much simpler things in mind.
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On November 9th, Second Reformed Church in New Brunswick had invited to a prayer evening with Brother John of Taizé. It was a great evening, and representatives from several area churches had come, including several Reformed churches.

What was so special about it? Was it the chanting, the sea of candles, or the open faces one encountered upon entering the sanctuary? All of this was true, but it was more. The key to understanding Taizé-related things lies in the question what Taizé stands for. “Of course,” you might answer, “this is quickly said: Taizé is a village in France now famous for the monastic community that makes its home there.”

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Here at First Reformed Church we know how to throw a party. This last one took place November 16th at the Kramer-Mills house and involved our thirteen Turkey travelers together with a group of our Turkish friends. We received our flight tickets and the itinerary. We discussed the center points of our trip: Istanbul, Izmir, Ephesus, Antalya, and the old Ottoman capital of Bursa.

Several of us signed up to provide more detailed information on subjects that will all of us affect: Places of Judaism in Istanbul, The Life of Orhan Pamuk, The Gülen Movement, to name a few. Then we had a lavish potluck that mixed our cultures in very appealing culinary ways. In the end we all agreed: let’s have one more of these events in December, before we start for Turkey after Christmas.

For everyone of our members and guests above the age of 65, please come to the Free Spirits Christmas Party on December 10th at noon. We usually meet in the Randolph Room and enjoy each other’s company by eating our brown bag lunches.

For this year’s party, Pastor Susan will make coffee and provide cookies. Please bring a picture of one of your Christmas celebrations from years past, so that we can share stories.

Friends are welcome to join the Par’tee.

Ah! If I were able to write shorthand, maybe this interview would have been recorded word for word. This not being the case, let me share the gist of it in a few paragraphs. Voulda James has been coming to our lunchtime series for a long time. She is a Memory Impairment Coordinator at the Spring Hills at Somerset, an assisted living community on DeMott Lane.

When Voulda comes to our concerts, the residents entrusted to her care accompany her and it’s always a large group. To be memory-impaired brings a lot of challenges in daily life. Short-term memory is especially affected, and this has grave implications. Voulda said, “Residents become easily disoriented, which means that they often lose a sense of time, place, location and direction, and, as the dementia progresses, so, too, can the last vestiges of memories they possess. They also must be accompanied everywhere – even a stroll outdoors which so many of us take for granted.” [click to continue...]