Quick Notes for November 22, 2023


rsmatoffice@gmail.com



OUR EMAILS ARE FULL OF USEFUL INFORMATION, PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO CHURCH FRIENDS SO THAT THEY CAN SUBSCRIBE USING THE FORM TO THE RIGHT HERE, JUST CLICK ON IT AND SEND THEM THE LINK.

IN GENERAL NEWS ITEMS ARE ABBREVIATED AND CAN USUALLY BE CLICKED ON TO FIND MORE INFORMATION. THIS IS OUR QUICK NOTES PHILOSOPHY THAT ALLOWS YOU TO SCAN WHAT MIGHT BE OF INTEREST TO YOU.

REFORMED CHURCH MINISTRY TO THE AGING

COMMUNICATION FOR SYNOD NEWSLETTER

OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE ON THE BOARD


NOVEMBER 18, 2023


The Reformed Church Home is a ministry of the Regional Synod offering compassionate

care for all seniors in a spiritual environment through assisted living and skilled nursing

care. In order to accomplish this, however, we need your help by serving on our Board of Trustees! The two qualifications are: first, to be a member of the Regional Synod (which

if you are reading this newsletter you probably are), and second, to have the passion and

skill(s) to serve as a volunteer in a non-profit setting (and if you have kept reading this

far, perhaps you do!). If you think you might be interested or if you would like to find

out more, give me a call at 201-873-9134 or email me at rrc.wfg@gmail.com. Thanks

and wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and blessed Advent season!

Bill Grob, President

CHURCHES IMPROVING COMMUNITIES HOLIDAY FUND DRIVE:

Click on the image below for a larger printable pdf

A NOTE FROM HIGHLAND PARK REFORMED CHURCH


A book has been written that needed to be written. Liz Estes, our dear friend and long-time church member and now pastor in Kingston, NY, has captured the tale of RCHP and the Indonesian community's struggle for immigration justice that played out over a 20 year period, starting just after 9/11.


I had long wished to write down what we experienced together during those 2 decades, but Liz' work out performs anything I could have imagined. I would encourage the church and community friends to purchase this and to remember a period when God gave us a particular boldness on behalf of a particular community. We learned so many lessons along the way. Many of those lessons are told here. This story matters. Faith communities, planted by God in particular places, are called to respond to God in real time and space. This is a story about power rooted in the love of God.


Pick up and read, and be comforted by the power of Love. 


peace, pastor seth


HERE IS AN AMAZON LINK TO PURCHASE THE BOOK



JOB POSTINGS


Clover Hill Reformed Church, a traditional, homey congregation with an active core of about 30 congregants, is seeking a part-time pastor.
Like many churches who have had a long-time pastorate (ours was almost forty years), our path forward has had many twists and turns. Almost eight years after this pastor’s retirement, we have completed a full self study and are looking forward to our next season. We have active ministry teams that oversee all the work of the church led by a group of committed servant leaders. We are committed to each other, our community and God, and need the support of a pastor who will help translate these commitments into action, growth and ministry.
The part-time position would be about 24 hours and involve leading worship, pastoral care, and working with our teams to develop new strategies for outreach. The pastor will be president of our Consistory. The candidate should be ordained, or eligible for ordination in either the RCA or one of our denominational partners (the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Christian Reformed Church in North America.)
Clover Hill Reformed Church is in Hillsborough New Jersey, which is in central New Jersey, almost equidistant between Philadelphia and New York and about 30 minutes from both the Princeton and New Brunswick Theological Seminaries. The church is located in a rural/suburban area with one of the top school systems in the State. The current parsonage is a vintage farmhouse and is adjacent to the church. 
Workload and compensation will be negotiated with the successful candidate.
Our church profile can be found here: https://www.cloverhillchurch.org/job-opportunities
To apply, please email our Search Team Chair, Marilyn Fineman, at m2fineman@gmail.com (posted Sept 22, 2023)
  • Lisha's Kill Reformed Church, in the small upstate NY city of Schenectady, seeks a minister of Word and sacrament. They hope their new pastor will be excellent preacher of bible-based messages who is also is a good spiritual leader with a focus on church growth. From their profile: "We believe God has a plan and will lead us to the right person to not only be a wonderful pastor leading church worship services, but also focusing on strengthening our members and overall health and well being of our congregation." Interested candidates should email the search committee chair, Robert Farquharson, to request the church profile. rfarquharson77@me.com (posted September 19, 2023)
  • Plainview Reformed Church is seeking a full time Minister (posted Sept 15, 2023)
  • RCA Chief Financial Officer (posted Sept 7, 2023)
  • Grace Reformed Church, Edison NJ (posted August 25, 2023), Pastor, part-time

THIS INFORMATION COMES TO US THROUGH A CONNECTION AT PONDS REFORMED CHURCH


Do you know couples who would consider a career opportunity in which they could work together to positively impact youth from disadvantaged backgrounds? Milton Hershey School (MHS), in Hershey, PA, is seeking married couples for a career opportunity called Houseparenting. Houseparents live on-campus and care for eight to twelve students – providing them both structure and nurturing so students can thrive. The School employs over 200 couples and has over 2,000 PreK through 12th grade students enrolled. MHS pays for relocation and training.

 

The positions are salaried, with benefits, plus housing, utilities, and meals while on duty. 

 

Learn more at https://www.mhskids.org/houseparents/ 


Robin Suydam, a member of the Regional Synod, is a board member at Creation Justice Ministries as a representative of the RCA. There are many resources available on their website.

THE REFORMED CHURCH CENTER AT NEW BRUNSWICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY HAS MANY VALUABLE SEMINARS THIS FALL SEASON!
We are in need of many food items this month.
Cereals, pancake mixes and syrup, oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly, coffee, fruit juice, mac and cheese, pasta and sauce. Mayo,
small bottles of vegetable oil. We quietly feed area families in need each month and are hoping for your support.
"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat"~Matt 25:35

Greetings!
The Church Multiplication Team has contracted with MissionInsite (see link at top) for one year. Any RCA church can request an analysis of their context. They can receive 3 different responses.  Churches may search by zip code or by street boundaries or by another geographic description.  

They will get data regarding Beliefs about God, Beliefs about Jesus, Beliefs about Moral and Spiritual Values, Faith and Religious Involvement in their context. They also get an Executive report about demographics.  They can contact me aletashepler@gmail.com for assistance.  

Peace and Grace, 
Aleta Shepler 
Church Multiplication Committee RSMAT 

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN IMPROVING YOUR TECHNOLOGY USE!

Would you like to:
Discuss church software for managing member information and online donations?
Learn to use email newsletters to keep members informed?
Rework your website to a more modern look?
Create online forms for people to register for events and provide feedback?
Create online visual databases like the livestream example above?
Take your livestream to the next level?
Develop a social media plan and a team to implement it?

REPLY TO THIS EMAIL AS WE FORM LEARNING GROUPS!


THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CHURCHES FOR ADDING THEIR LIVESTREAM INFORMATION TO OUR ARCHIVES PAGE
Wyckoff Reformed
Three Bridges Reformed
Ocean Community, Mahahawkin
Parkside Community

RSMAT churches are livestreaming and maintaining recorded service archives. This presents us with a unique opportunity to learn from each other and celebrate the amazing gifts in our community! Please use this webform to provide us with your church livestream link and a link to your recorded services archive. We will make a single page view available of all of this information so that you can visit around and get inspired!
Are you using a VR headset and exploring how virtual reality might be used in ministry? Let's have a conversation!
MURAL and other online whiteboards provide a way to add more interaction to zoom meetings. Let me know if you want to explore this further.
GATHER TOWN is a fun way to add some social involvment to your online options.
DO YOU HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF ADAPTING AND INNOVATING TO SHARE FOR INSPIRATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT? SEND IT TO US!
NJ CONGREGATIONAL CENTER FOR CANCER CARE
We have created an online gathering of all of the newsletters of the program. Find help for those facing cancer.

CHURCH BASED MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTERS ARCHIVE
We've created an online gathering of all of the newsletters the program has sent out during COVID. Very helpful insights to pass along to your congregations!
The information and materials that appear in the email newsletter, facebook page or on the Website of the Regional Synod of the Mid-Atlantics of the Reformed Church in America ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE OPINION OF THE REGIONAL SYNOD OF THE MID-ATLANTICS OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA, NOR ARE SUCH NECESSARILY ENDORSED BY THE REGIONAL SYNOD. THE ACCURACY AND VALIDITY OF THE INFORMATION IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PROVIDER OR AUTHOR.
Regional Synod of the Mid-Atlantics | 848-237-1794 | rsmat@rca.org | rsmat.org
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