221st PCUSA General Assembly in Detroit, 14 - 21 June 2014

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
The 221st session of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA is meeting at the COBO Center in downtown Detroit from 14 - 21 June, 2014. Here is the live streaming of the meeting. Tonight they are electing the moderator. A bit of trouble with their technology during the vote, so they sang a few hymns!

FPC Matawan Progressive Dinner - 3 May 2014

The Outreach & Fellowship Commission of the First Presbyterian Church of Matawan will be conducting the church's ever-popular Progressive Dinner event. On Saturday evening, 3 May 2014, groups of 6-8 persons will enjoy an appetizer or soup & salad at one home, followed by a main course at the next, finishing up with dessert at a third. The Commission is seeking hosts/participants at the moment. The more, the merrier. Check the church flyer for details.

The 4 Feb 1899 edition of The New York Times contained an article which told of a fancy progressive dinner conducted in Chicago. "They dined, took an appetizing drive, and then dined again. Every time they sat down they were in a different house and different viands tempted them. In this way several residents of Hyde Park, who believed in pleasant variety, assorted their advanced ideas last evening. They were the hosts, entertainment, and guests of a 'progressive dinner'." Their fancy courses included caviar sandwiches and oysters, soup and fish, and fillets of beef and vegetables. The article provided a list of "the persons who planned and attended the novel 'function'."

The 7 Jan 1927 edition of The Matawan Journal reported on a local New Year's Eve progressive dinner involving Mayor and Mrs William H Sutphin,  Mr and Mrs John Laird, Mr and Mrs C Knecht, and Mr and Mrs Warren B Hutchinson. The evening finished with a game of bridge.

Rest assured our church's progressive dinners are much less high society, don't require married couples, and are unlikely to make the press. They simply are a great way to get to know fellow members and to have a Saturday evening out.

Lenten Study and Dinner, Too

The Lenten soup, supper and Bible study event is Wednesday 9 April 2014 at 6 pm in the Adult Lounge at First Presbyterian Church of Matawan. All are welcome. The Adult Lounge is at the chapel end of the building, first floor.

Presbyterians Nationwide Support One Great Hour of Sharing

See how One Great Hour of Sharing is promoted at other churches:

• Bellevue Presbyterian Church, Bellevue, WA refers to the offering's beginnings in post-WWII relief efforts and provides details on some of the program's current projects, including an effort to provide potable water to storm-ravaged Haiti; support for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) and its work in war-torn Syria and nearby Oso, where a mudslide killed many local residents; and support for a senior high project sending teens to Costa Rica on relief projects there.
• St Stephen Presbyterian Church, Chatsworth, CA uses videos to reach out to the community and to show how active they are in mission. They published the above You Tube video about OGHOS to prompt caring for those in need. And the pastor greets visitors to the website with a video that clearly calls newcomers to Christ.
• The Presbyterian Church in Geneva, Geneva, NY is hosting a One Great Hour of Sharing Brunch and Auction next Sunday morning after church. Geneva was reportedly the largest donor to OGHOS last year and they're aiming to do even better this year.

Doug Baker to Visit on 12 April

Elaine and Doug Baker

     Doug Baker will be visiting the First Presbyterian Church of Matawan on 12 April 2014 at 6:30 pm. All are invited to the Adult Lounge for a discussion of the Bakers' peacemaking work in Northern Ireland, which FPC Matawan has supported with a portion of the church's designated mission funds for many years. Dessert and coffee will be offered.

     Doug is the PCUSA's regional liaison for Ireland and the United Kingdom. In this role he helps grassroots Presbyterians from the United States become involved with and learn from ministry in Ireland and the UK and maintains relationships with partner churches.

     The Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program is one way Doug engages in his ministry of training and relationship. Through the YAV program, people between the ages of 19 and 30 serve in communities of need for one year at 11 sites in the United States and 5 sites overseas. Doug coordinates the Northern Ireland site, where volunteers support work with youth and children and perform other ministries in congregations. They also spend part of each week with community projects addressing the legacy of decades of civil conflict.

     As coordinator, Doug mentors YAVs as they learn to live in an intentional Christian community, serve the church’s mission, and engage in vocational discernment. Doug’s wife, Elaine, assists in the ministries with YAVs and also helps facilitate group visits from the United States.

     FPC Matawan is located on Route 34 North at Franklin Street, just north of Main Street in Matawan. The church's Adult Lounge is at the end of the first floor education wing, across from the chapel. From the parking lot, go downstairs, enter the doors, make a right and proceed down the hall, then turn left and look for the Adult Lounge on your left after the library.

   Keep up with Presbyterian World Mission on Facebook.

One Great Hour of Sharing and FPC Matawan (1949 - 2014)

     Since 1949 Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through One Great Hour of Sharing to share God’s love with our neighbors-in-need around the world. Your generous gifts to this Special Offering help provide relief those affected by natural disasters, provide food to the hungry, and assist in helping to empower the poor and oppressed.

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     The 15 Oct 1953 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 3 col 2) reported on an upcoming stewardship event at the First Presbyterian Church of Matawan, where the guest speaker would be the Reverend Arthur S. Joice, national secretary of special offerings for the Presbyterian Church USA. Among his duties was running the One Great Hour of Sharing program.

     The Red Bank Register showed a Rev. Arthur S Joice as pastor of the Shrewsbury Presbyterian Church early in 1953 and again in 1954. As this was presumably the same man, perhaps the Reverend was working locally and also handling work for the national church, which was based out of New York City in those days? Why the article doesn't mention his work at Shrewsbury is unclear.

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     The Rev. Arthur S. Joice, of the Department of Stewardship of the Presbyterian Church, New York, will be guest speaker Monday, Oct. 19 at a special Planned Education dinner at 6:45 in the lecture room of the Matawan Presbyterian Church.

     According to Charles C. Schock, Sr., Edgemere Drive, Matawan, chairman of the committee of the local church, the dinner will acquaint members of the congregation with an Inspirational "Christian Action" Program for 1954.

     Mr. Schock announced that the Rev. Joice will discuss the significance of increased stewardship and the value of year-round programming. The guest speaker is secretary of Special Offerings for the General Council, Department of Stewardship of the Presbyterian Church. He is also Secretary of the Directorate of the Building Fund Campaign and is in charge of the One Great Hour of Sharing. The Rev. Joice is a graduate of Syracuse University and Yale Divinity School.

     "This dinner will be a major event in the life of the Matawan Presbyterian Church," Mr. Schock declared. "We believe that the Planned Education Program can be one of the most stimulating things that ever happened to a church in Matawan."

     George Ritter, Broad St., Matawan, will serve as toastmaster. Various phases of the church's program for 1954 will be presented and discussed by'the Rev. Chester A. Galloway, pastor; Walter Swanson, Edgemere Dr., Matawan; and Milton F. Stevenson, Broad St., Matawan.