January 6, 2016

Page 1 of 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Thoughtful Christianity 2

Choir, Class, Worship &

Book Club Schedules 2

Youth Group Schedules 4

News & Updates 5-6

Brown Bag 5

Pres Plus Jan. Event 5

Prayer Chain 6

Church Family in Prayer 6

Adult Meetings & Events 7

Focus is available the first Wednes-day of each month.

Next issue: 2/3/2016

Deadline: Tuesday, 1/28/16, 9am

PASTOR’S THOUGHTS

January is an interesting month. The second half of December is filled

with decorations and celebrations but by early January, most of the deco-

rations have been left at the curb and the social calendar goes quiet. Jan-

uary is a time to take a breath. And as we learn to write 2016 on our

checks or school papers, we are invited to lean into a new year. Out with

the old and in with the new. In Lawrenceville, you can join a group of

people at a bonfire and literally throw away the past, burning calendars

and slips of paper with regrets and sorrows from the past year.

What are you looking forward to in 2016? January is a good time to look

ahead, to make some plans and take some steps toward something im-

portant in your life. For some of us, this is easy. We know what we want

and have a well-devised plan to help us get there. To folks in this situa-

tion, I encourage you to pray, to see if God is in these plans, or if they

are your plans and God has intentionally or unintentionally been left out.

Others look to the future and see great big question marks. It can be

complicated if your health is strained, or your finances look dire, or you

are going through a rough time in your life.

One of my favorite authors, Frederick Buechner has inspired me and

many others over the years with these words. “The place God calls you

is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger

meet.” (Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC) It would be a huge mis-

take to think that God calls only pastors and missionaries, “professional

Christians.” No! God calls each and every one of us in our baptism. We

are called to live a life loving God and loving neighbors. How this call-

ing is lived out and embraced varies widely given our personalities, our

skills, our age, and our location. My 98 year old Esther Kramer couldn’t

imagine what God’s calling was for her, but God was calling her. She

had the gift of encouragement, and she shared her faith and encourage-

ment with young adults. She also used the telephone to encourage and

OF SPECIAL INTEREST IN THIS EDITION

■ MLK Event (pg. 4) ■ Final 2015 Dash Away 5K Report & Thank You (pg. 3 & 5)

■ New 4-Week Thoughtful Christianity Class (pg. 2) ■ Hopewell Valley Youth Cho-

rale Gives Concert at PPC (pg. 2) ■ PPC Officers & Committees Listed (pg. 7)

■ Meet Your Deacons (pg. 6) ■ 2016 Per Capita Announced (pg. 6)

Continued page 4 …

Pennington Presbyterian F A I T H C O M M U N I T Y S E R V I C E

their lives. None of us is too

old or too young to find glad-

ness doing things that address

the world’s great need.

At the end of January a new

group of elders and deacons

will be trained, examined, or-

dained and/or installed. To-

gether with the ongoing group

of officers, we will ask these

questions for our church.

What makes us glad? What are

the world’s deep hungers?

What are the hungers in the

Hopewell Valley? In Mercer

County? Where can these hun-

gers and our gladness meet for

our church? That is where

God is calling Pennington

Presbyterian Church for 2016.

Won’t you join us in praying

for our church in 2016? Prayer

is the key to knowing God’s

call. Frederick Buechner also

said, “Go where your best

prayers take you.” I’m excited

to discover where God will

lead us!

Happy New Year!

REGULAR WEEKLY

SCHEDULE Sunday – 10:15 AM

FOLLOWED BY FELLOWSHIP HOUR

Childcare Available

Please sign up to provide refresh-

ments for Fellowship Hour. Sign-up

after church in Upper Titus.

Please keep current on your stew-

ardship pledge. It supports PPC

cash flow and is appreciated.

CHURCH STAFF/CONTACT

Pastor: Nancy Mikoski

Associate Pastor: David Hallgren

Music Director: William Alford

Office Administrator & FOCUS Editor: Eva Szakal

Financial Administrator Pam Paluzzi

Office phone: 609-737-1221 Fax: 609-730-9665

E-mail: office@pennpres.org

Web: www.pennpres.org

www.Facebook.com/pennpres

13 S Main Street Pennington, NJ 08534

Page 2 of 7

CHILDREN/ YOUTH/ADULT CHURCH SCHOOL

PREACHING SCHEDULE

Jan. 10 Rev. Nancy Mikoski

Jan. 17 Rev. David Hallgren

Jan. 24 Dexter Kearny

(Ordination & Installa-

tion of Elders & Dea-

cons)

Jan. 31 Rev. Nancy Mikoski

CHOIR REHEARSAL SCHEDULES

Kerygma Bible Study – Sunday at 9 am and Thursday at 6:55 pm

“Thoughtful Christianity” – Sunday at 9 am

Children & Youth Sunday School at 9 am

WORSHIP SCHEDULE

Bell Choir - Thursday, 6:45pm. All ability levels welcome. If interested,

contact Laura McMillan at lmcmillan@lawrenceville.org.

Adult Choir - Thursday, 8:00 p.m.

Gloria Deo Choir (grades 6-12) - Thursday, 6:45 pm to 7:45 pm

Cherub Ensemble (pre-K-1st grade) Sunday, during worship and after

Time for Children.

Genesis Ensemble (grades 2-5) - Sunday, after worship at 11:45 am

(Call Bill Alford about adult or youth choirs: 609-333-0131)

■ THE PPC BOOK GROUP - The PPC Book Group will meet on Monday, Jan-

uary 18 to discuss the book Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. Contact Jane

Simpson at 609-466-4075 with questions.

■ PER CAPITA – The Church needs your help. Per Capita is a fundamental way

that nearly 11,000 congregations and mid-councils of the Presbyterian Church

(USA) participate in the work of the wider church. In 2016, we are paying

$32.50 per confirmed member of PPC. (2015 was $30.) The Per Capital is split

between the New Brunswick Presbytery, the Synod of the Northeast, and the

General Assembly. If you receive envelopes, there is an envelope marked Per

Capita. If you don’t use envelopes, please submit your $32.50, and mark Per

Capita in the memo line. Thank you!

Thoughtful Christianity

New Four Part Series

begins January 10

“Responding to Terrorism” How Christians should respond

to violence of terrorism.

Outline follows study produced by

PCUSA:

- Definition

- Possible causes

- Ways to address

- How faith impacts our

judgment about responses

to terrorism

Quoting from the text: “Terrorism constitutes one of the most troubling ways of using vio-lence to affect political affairs. In

order to deal with it effectively, we should have a clear idea of how it

operates and what causes it to arise.”

Hopewell Valley Youth Chorale

presents

Songs From Above Sunday, January 24, 2016 – 4:00 pm – Pennington Presbyterian Church

For tickets: See Bill Alford (pennpresmusic@gmail.com) Adults in advance $15 ~ At door $20 ~ Children/Seniors $10 ~ Reserved/Patron $25

Page 3 of 7

Thank you Dash Away 5K Supporters, Volunteers and Participants!

After more than three months of preparation, on December 5, 2015, the Pennington Presbyterian Church’s first Dash

Away 5K and 1-Mile Walk/Run went off without a hitch. The weather was perfect. Spirits were high. 142 people

were registered, 103 to run the 5K, 39 for the one-mile walk. Racing NJ timed the race and the results for the 85 fin-

ishers are posted at www.dashaway5K.org .

When all funds are in, we expect to have raised more than $4,300 to benefit three mission projects: to provide clean

water in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico through Living Waters for the World (LWW), combat homelessness

through HomeFront and its youth mission project with Habitat for Humanity. The community was invited to join us

and share our passion for mission.

Thanks to all who sponsored, donated, volunteered and contributed their time and talents to make the Pennington

Presbyterian Church’s first Dash Away 5K and 1-Mile Walk/Run a success! (List is continued on page 5)

The 2015 PPC Race Committee

Bob Macek, Co-chair

Suzanne Keough, Co-chair

David Anderson

Hope Anderson

Carl Christiansen

Gary Coleman

Mary Finlayson

Marguerite Greener

David Hallgren

Sandy LaCasse

Jena McWha

Nancy Mikoski

David Mills

Allison Neary

Pam Paluzzi

Jane Simpson

Eva Szakal

George White

Dee Wilson

Logo Designer and Artist

Lauren Meyer

Neighbors that Loaned Parking

Lots

Pennington United Methodist

Church

The Pennington School

St. James Church

Volunteers

Emily Ahmed

Brian Batchelder

Cindy Batchelder

John Coats

Carey Compton

Harry Compton

Chad Culbertson

Gale Downey

Nancy Lehman

Carol Meyer

Frank Newport

Robert Peeck

Amy Pszczolkowski

Daniel Pszczolkowski

Barbara Rockel

Kathryn Schumacher

Anne Trainor

Brett Trainor

Jon Trainor

Joe Tully

Janice Ubry

Lee White

Race Roster

Marty Menard

Police and First Aid

Pennington Borough Police

Hopewell Township Police

Pennington First Aid Squad

Boy Scout Troup 44 – Scouts and Adults Ted Borer Matthew Immordino Sullivan Meyer Biren Shah Aren Southall Michael Southall Daniel Souzogni Michael Stivala Matthew Tunkcz Rich Tunkcz Scott Watterson Anand Wetzel

Donors Anonymous (seven donors) Jim Dixon Courtney Ducharme Morris and Marilyn Fabian Heather Fischer Sandra Forero Nancy Gallagher Lee Lomma Laura McMillan Shirley and Nat Norton Barbara Rockel Mary Schulz Joseph and Donna Tully

NEWS and UPDATES

pray with people who were at a distance or were

going through difficult times. She found great

gladness in helping those with deep hunger in

their lives. None of us is too old or too young to

find gladness doing things that address the

world’s great need.

At the end of January a new group of elders and

deacons will be trained, examined, ordained

and/or installed. Together with the ongoing

group of officers, we will ask these questions for

our church. What makes us glad? What are the

world’s deep hungers? What are the hungers in

the Hopewell Valley? In Mercer County? Where

can these hungers and our gladness meet for our

church? That is where God is calling Penning-

ton Presbyterian Church for 2016. Won’t you

join us in praying for our church in 2016? Prayer

is the key to knowing God’s call. Frederick

Buechner also said, “Go where your best prayers

take you.” I’m excited to discover where God

will lead us!

Happy New Year!

Nancy

Join the Pennington Churches

For the January 17 Commemoration

of the Life and Legacy of

the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is a “Peace Gathering and Worship” event\,

hosted by Pennington Presbyterian Church and the

Pennington Clergy Association.

We will begin the ecumenical evening with a commu-

nity potluck at 5 pm in Heritage Hall with a special

worship service at 6 pm and dessert following. Last

names beginning with A-L will bring a main dish, and

M-Z, a side or salad. Drinks will be provided.

The Hopewell Valley Youth Chorale, led by Bill and

Michele Alford, will perform:

"Give Us Hope" by Jim Papoulis

"Hope for Resolution" by Paul Caldwell & Sean Ivory

"Like a Mighty Stream" by Moses Hogan

Local young people will share reflections.

Please bring canned goods

to donate at the service.

SUNDAY NIGHT CENTRAL JR. HIGHS (6-8 GRADE) & SR. HIGHS (9-12 GRADE)

Join with new friends and old.

PASTOR’S THOUGHTS (cont’d) SPECIAL EVENT

*See article above Page 4 of 7

Sunday Night Central

6:30 pm in Heritage hall

(unless otherwise noted)

Senior High

7:30 pm in the PIT

(unless otherwise noted)

Jan. 10 All Ages Night – Meet

with Pres Plus group for

intergenerational night

(civil rights awareness)

Jan. 10 PIT Night – Soles4Souls

preparation

Jan. 17 No meeting – attend

MLK celebration*

Jan. 17 No meeting – attend

MLK celebration*

Jan. 18 Service Day – meet @

PPC @ 8:30 am

Jan. 18 Service Day – Meet @

8:30 am (Soles4Souls)

Jan. 24 SNC Bowling – Meet @

Colonial Lanes @ 6:30

(pick up 8 pm)

Jan. 24 Food & Faith – Worship

and Communion (Pre-

pare for Youth Sunday)

Jan. 31 Dealing with school

pressures

Jan. 31 Dinner @ Whites’ house

@ 6:30 pm

News and Updates (cont’d)

Page 5 of 7

NEWS and UPDATES (cont’d)

Thank you Dash Away 5K Supporters, Volunteers and Friends! (cont’d from page 3)

We Thank These Generous Sponsors and Benefactors for Their Financial Support

2015 Sponsors

Gold

Racing NJ – Al Siuta, President

Silver

Eagle Building Maintenance &

Janitorial

Hopewell Valley Community

Bank

T10 Tech Services LLC

Wilson-Apple Funeral Home,

LLC

Bronze

Arbor Barber Tree Service

Buxton’s Boxes Self Storage and

The Furniture Mill

Chez Alice Catering

Dolce Nail Salon

Jennifer E. Fisher, D.C. LLC

Investors Bank

Kollevoll & Associates LLC

Rely Mechanical Co.

Saker ShopRites, Inc.

Sun National Bank

Individual – Business

Al’s Sunoco LLC

Hopewell Valley Car Wash

In-Kind Sponsors

Deli on A Bagel

Diamond’s Restaurant

KC Prime Restaurant

Pennington Quality Market

Family/Individual

Anonymous

Carl Christiansen and Jane Simpson

Gary and Nadine Coleman

Downey-Hatch Family

Susan Ewart/Artist

Suzanne Keough and Bob Macek

Carol and Galen Meyer and Family

Barbara and Richard Pratt

Torrens Family

Dee Wilson

MORE NEWS and UPDATES

2016 Coffee Hour Volunteers

Needed: Many thanks to all who

contributed snacks to our coffee

hour after worship in 2015. We

need continued support in 2016.

Please sign-up to take a turn. It is

a very easy way to serve our

church. It makes our fellowship

together a welcoming place for

visitors and friends. Contact Bar-

bara Rockel with questions: 609-

737-2476

Make Sure Church Office Has

Correct Contact Information:

We will publish a new directory

at the end of January. Please call

or email the office: Office@penn-

pres.org or 609-737-1221, X- 10.

Please share current emails.

PRES-PLUS January Event:

The older adult group will meet

at the church at 10 am on Thurs-

day, January 21 to carpool to the

Princeton University Art Mu-

seum for a self-paced tour to al-

low each person to focus on ar-

eas of greatest personal interest.

Current special exhibits include

the Great Persian Book of

Kings, the story of Iran from the

dawn of time to the 7th century

A.D. The museum is free &

parking is available just outside

the museum for anyone with a

handicapped license plate or cur-

rent placard. Lunch at a local

restaurant will follow. Contact

Madeleine Mansier at 609-737-

0863 or the Wrights at 609-737-

1723 if you have questions.

January 8 Brown Bag Lunch:

Bring your lunch to Upper Titus

at 12:30 pm, and presentation will

begin at 1 pm. The speaker is Pa-

tricia Jones of Mercer County Of-

fice of Aging: “HealthCare, Home

Care & Life Care” A light desert

and coffee/tea is provided.

February 5 Brown Bag Lunch:

The speaker will be Rev. Jack

McAnlis, “End of Life Issues:

Making Your Wishes Known.”

(Times and logistics as in Jan.)

MORE NEWS & UPDATES

CONTINUES ON PAGE 6

Let Us Pray Every Day Breathing in, say: “Loving God” Breathing out, say: “You are with us in all our troubles. Amen”

NEWS and UPDATES (cont’d)

PRAYER CHAIN

Did you know that our church

offers the services of phone or

email prayer chain for those with

a need or for those who wish to

lift up a joy?

We welcome all to be a part of

this meaningful program. If you

are interested, kindly contact Bob

Fletcher at iamflech@com-

cast.net or Barbara and Dick

Pratt at 609-737-2767.

KEEP OUR

CHURCH FAMILY IN YOUR

PRAYERS

Greener-Pedersen Families; Dee

Wilson & Family; Finlayson

Family; Ruth Morewood;

Dick Pratt; Wayne Fuller, Ben

Cranston, Charles Bryan; Al

Wensley; Gopa Khandwala;

Adrian-Hage Family;

Willever Family; and Beth Hut-

ton & Family

Page 6 of 7

College Care Packages: Begin-

ning Sunday January 17 and

through January 31, please take a

heart (or two) from the College

Care Package Tree in Upper Titus

to purchase snack items for the

care packages the Deacons send to

our college students. We also need

donations to offset shipping costs.

All items are due back the morn-

ing of Sunday, February 7. Please

see Carol Meyer or Evelyn Marion

with any questions.

New Per Capita for 2016 is

$32.50: See the article at the bot-

tom of page 2.

2016 Annual Meeting of the

Congregation is February 7:

The agenda is:

- To receive the annual report

- To elect the nominating

committee

- To receive the 2016 budget

There will be a pancake lunch

prior to the meeting, and this is

a fundraiser for the youth trip to

the Yucatan with Living Waters

for the World. (There will be

gluten free pancakes.)

Please Support Soles4Souls: Contribution of shoes and other

footwear concludes on January

17. Learn more about this pro-

gram here:

https://soles4souls.org/about-us/

There is a box in Upper Titus and

near the elevator in the Magner

lobby.

Officer Retreat and Training: On January 22 (Friday), from 7 to

9 pm in Upper Titus, and then

continuing on the 23rd, Saturday,

in Heritage Hall from 9 am to 3

pm.

Our world needs peace.

Add your prayers for the peoples of

the world - one country at a time.

Jan. 10 Bahamas

Jan. 17 Bahrain

Jan. 24 Bangladesh

Jan. 31 Barbados

Information about the countries is at

http://pennpres.org/pray-for-our-

world/ on Thursday, in time for a

summary to reach you in This Week

@ PPC. There is also a summary in

the weekly Worship Bulletin

Shalom Women’s

Bible Study

Meets Weekly at 9:15 am

Wednesdays in Upper Room

On January 6, the group begins

the study of Corinthians II.

Know Your Deacons

Class of 2016: Emily Ahmad, Courtney Greener, Chris Larthey,

Nancy Mason, Clark McAvoy and Marilyn Rutledge.

Class of 2017: David Anderson, Dawn Cocco, Chad Culbertson,

Evelyn Marion, Carol Meyer (Moderator), and Corinne Orlando.

Class of 2018: Cindy Carothers, Peggy Cranston, Gale Downey,

Bob Fletcher, and Ron Russell.

(Note: “Class of” means the year that the Deacon’s term ends.)

Adult Meetings and Events

Jan. 8 10:00 am Older Adult Ministry

Jan. 8 12:30 pm OAM Brown Bag Lunch (bring your own lunch)

Jan. 8 1:00 pm OAM Speaker: See page 5

Jan. 11 7:00 pm Disciple Team Leaders meet

Jan. 11 7:30 pm

Stephen Ministers, Christian Education, Member-

ship, Mission, & Worship and Music Committees

meet

Jan. 17 - Last day to contribute footwear to Soles4Souls

(See page 6.)

Jan. 17 5:00 pm Ecumenical commemoration of the life of the Rev.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (See page 4.)

Jan. 19 7:00 pm Support Team Leaders meet

Jan. 19 7:30 pm Facilities, Communications, Personnel, & Stew-

ardship Committees meet

Jan. 21 10:00 am Pres Plus outing: See article on page 5

Jan 21 3:30 pm HomeFront Meals

Jan. 22 7-9 pm Officer Retreat & Training begins in Upper Titus

Jan. 23 9-3 pm Officer Retreat & Training continues in Heritage

Hall

Jan. 23 4:00 pm

Hopewell Valley Chorale, led by Bill & Michelle

Alford, performs in PPC Sanctuary (See page 2

about how to get tickets.)

Jan. 25 - Parish Callers

Jan 25 7:30 pm Session Meets in Upper Room

Jan. 31 - College Care Package hearts (See page 6)

Feb. 2 7:00 pm Care Team Leaders meet

Feb. 2 7:30 pm Deacons meet

MEET YOUR SESSION MEMBERS

Page 7 of 7

Session:*

Class of 2016: Hope Anderson, Sandy LaCasse, Noah Lehman-Borer, Amy Pszczolkowski, Debbie Ryan,

Jane Simpson and George White.

Class of 2017: Gary Coleman, Marguerite Greener, Bob Macek, Jena McWha, and Allison Neary.

Class of 2018: John Bruestle, Caryl Chambers, Madeleine Mansier, and Nancy Russell

Session Committee Assignments (bold is chair):

Personnel: Jane Simpson

Mission & Peacemaking: Hope

Anderson & Nancy Russell

Membership & Commitment:

Amy Pszczolkowski & Caryl

Chambers

Christian Education: Allison

Neary & Sandy LaCasse

Facilities: Gary Coleman &

Marguerite Greener

Stewardship: George White &

Jena McWha

Older Adult Ministry: Bob

Macek & Madeleine Mansier

Worship & Music: Debbie Ryan

& Noah Lehman-Borer

Communications: John Bruestle

Nominating: Nancy Russell &

Sandy LaCasse

Session Moderator: Rev. Nancy Mikoski

Clerk of Session: Cindy Batchelder

Treasurer: John Coats *”Class of” means year that term ends.

Schedules that Repeat

See Choir, Sunday School

(youth & adult) & Kerygma

schedules on page 2 of this

FOCUS.

Shalom: 9:15 am, Wednes-

days in the Upper Room.

A SPECIAL REQUEST

And REMINDER

If you adjust a thermostat,

please set it back to the empty

room temperature and never

leave a thermostat on hold at

a high temperature when you

finish your meeting. Heat is a

big budget item this time of

year.

Thank you.