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

(HOORAY, WE HAVE TWO NEW BOARD MEMBERS FROM OUR FIRST SEND, WE STILL NEED HELP FROM MEMBERS OF THE REGIONAL SYNOD!)

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

COMMUNITY CHURCH OF HARRINGTON PARK LIVE NATIVITY DEC 17

Save the Date

Live Nativity at CCHP on Sunday, December 17th beginning at 12:30

Please join us for a family Christmas afternoon celebrating the birth of Jesus. The Christmas Story performance begins at 1:00. All children are invited to participate as angels or shepherds; arrive at 12:30 PM for costuming. Have fun at the petting zoo –including cows, sheep, goats, a donkey and even a camel. Join in the singing of carols, enjoy a cup of hot cocoa, and share meaningful moments with your family, neighbors and friends. This is a special Christmas afternoon … not to be missed!

This beautiful event is a wonderful way to create a connection between our church and the surrounding communities.

You are invited to a free fellowship breakfast for both clergy and laity with the primary goal of facilitating connection and fellowship – as well as engaging in an enlightening discussion to consider the thoughts and concerns you experience in the course of your ministry. 

Saturday, January 13 

Location:  The event will be held at Friendship Hall at the First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains, N.J. 529 Newark-Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains NJ (see below for map).

Morning check in will begin at 9 a.m. and the event will begin at 9:30 a.m.  The event will be free, but registration is required and is limited to the first 200 who sign up. Click here to Register.

The program will feature a community conversation titled:

“What is the Future of the Church and Ministry in Changing Landscapes: A Conversation in Community” 

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

• OLD NORTH REFORMED CHURCH SEEKS PASTOR (posted November)
• MINISTER OF MUSIC, TRINITY COLLEGIATE PLAINFIELD (20 HOURS)
• CLOVER HILL REFORMED CHURCH, SEEKING PART-TIME PASTOR (ABOUT 24 HOURS/WEEK)

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.