History

Pastor Hartmut

Dear Members of First Reformed Church:

I need to share a short biblical story with you, because it has a lot to do with us and our church: To this day we remember the reforms of King Josiah. They began when High Priest Hilkiah found the long forgotten Torah scroll in the temple in Jerusalem. It was not a scroll but the scroll, and it happened in 623/22 B.C. The event provided the prelude to far-spread religious and political reforms in Judah, the southern part of the Holy Land not occupied by the Assyrians.

Why did Hilkiah find the scroll? The ruling king, Josiah, had been upset with his predecessors’ administration and the fact that the temple was in disrepair. So he had ordered a large preservation program for the House of the Lord. In the course of this, Hilkiah found the long lost scroll. When the king studied its content he was reacquainted with the core of the Jewish tradition and realized that his administration required a different platform. Shortly thereafter, change began to take place. [click to continue...]

You might remember our October 19th Congregational Forum on The Markets & the Church. That day, we discussed the impact of the current financial crisis on our communities and how we, as Christians, can respond to this. Liz Hance was so kind to provide us with a meaningful presentation, analyzing the reasons for the crisis and ending with a number of ethical considerations. [click to continue...]

The November 1st Historic Cemetery Tour has taken shape. Several folks will be helping out. There will be a fund-raising table, as well as refreshments provided by the Christian Education Committee. We hope that you can support us by advertising the event to families and friends. Also, the committee needs help in setting up the many gallon jugs which will light up the way through the cemetery. Please come around 3:00 p.m. if you are able. Tours are from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The generosity of our Turkish friends is without limits. On Sep 29th, we th were again guests of the Interfaith Dialog Center, this time at the Marriott Suites in Somerset. Several private iftar dinners in families had preceded the occasion, and the ties between our church and our Muslims friends are growing stronger. The dinner on Sep 29th was special because it gave our Turkey travel group a great opportunity to act as a group and to anticipate this way some of the travel experiences we will have later in December this year. It was a special joy to have Rev. David Groeneveld, pastor of the Linden Reformed Church, join our group that is now thirteen members strong.

Please watch for information on the November session of our Turkish class here at First Reformed Church. It will be the last before we travel.

As the global financial crisis gives us a whirl even in downtown New Brunswick, we, at First Reformed Church, are blessed to have received the steady help of Rev. Paul Nulton and the Volunteer Services of the two Regional Synods that he coordinates. Mid-October marked the end of Paul’s last stay with us this year. He accomplished quite a bit: three sanctuary windows are now almost completely restored, as is the outside of the annex to the Randolph Room. When financial sources dry up, it is even more important that we can rely on diligent handy work like Paul’s!

So we take the opportunity and extend a heartfelt thank-you to him for the many hours he spent in our church yard, and also for the encouragement he has given many of us here. We also wish to thank Ellen and Dr. Bruce Hamilton, who always hosted Paul throughout his various stays at our church. This saved a lot of money and truly helped make Paul part of our community. Thank you, Ellen and Bruce!

We are further blessed in that Paul has agreed to come back in 2009 in order to continue the work on the sanctuary windows. The first lower row is almost finished, so we have the other lower row, and then the two upper rows of windows to go. Where would we be without Paul?

Do you remember the devastation of Poile Zedek cemetery at the beginning of this year? Several of us had asked to rush to our neighbor’s help, and so we had a special collection during worship on February 24. At the time we wrote to Rabbi Mykoff the following:

“Here at First Reformed Church we feel that a historic congregation like yours is an important anchor of the community. Together we provide a sense of historic identity, and we help make our community particular. An assault on one of us is,  therefore an assault against all of us.”

I would like to share with you now the thank-you letter of the synagogue, because so many of us contributed to this cause.

Thank you again for your concerns, you prayers, and your financial contribution.  Together we build community in our neighborhood.

Who was the philosopher who overlooked the skyline of a city of his time and then remarked that 150 steeples cannot all be wrong? Was it Gottfried Leibniz or John Locke? I don’t know, but the story was brought up by Prof. Adam Heinrich who sat next to me at the retirement dinner for Bruce Hamilton. Here, by contrast, is a much more earthly picture, not of our steeple but of the tower of the church house. A steeple is supposed to point towards the glory of the eternal realm of the heavens. Yet our picture here was taken from the profane vantage point of the upper level of the Wolfson parking deck. I thought you might like it anyway, since it provides proof of the steady progress our preservation project makes. We are bringing God’s House back to order. May later philosophers theorize over what this might mean!

Heavy machinery – ah, we workers in the Lord’s vineyard have a special affinity to this. Perhaps this is so because much of our daily work centers on spiritual matters that are just so different from a decent back hoe or a nice round tanker truck. Well, on Jun 9th, we had all of this and much more at church, as PREFERRED TANK SERVICES began the work of retiring our underground oil tank. [click to continue...]