Presbytery of Northeastern New Jersey Updates

The Presbytery of Northeast New Jersey

Advent begins not at a manger but at a mountain. Isaiah paints a bold picture of nations that have spent generations warring, suddenly walking side by side, streaming toward a shared future shaped by God. It is impossible to hope, the kind that refuses to be limited by what has already happened, the kind that imagines peace in places where history insists it cannot be. In a time when many churches feel weighed down by anxiety, Isaiah invites us to lift our eyes to a horizon only God could draw.

And then Matthew meets us on that horizon not with a timetable for fulfillment, but a call to wakefulness. Jesus tells his disciples that God’s future will arrive like unexpected guests in the night, not on a schedule we can manage or manipulate. If Isaiah gives us the vision of impossible hope, Matthew gives us the posture: stay awake to the ways God may be arriving before we even realize it.

That kind of wakefulness is challenging in the church today. When we’re exhausted, it’s easier to lower our expectations than to raise our eyes. Many congregations are tempted to believe the future is fixed, that the only story ahead is one of managing decline. But Advent disrupts that resignation. Hope is not wishful thinking, it is the spiritual skill of paying attention to where God is already stirring. It is the discipline of looking for glimmers of hope when all we see is gray.

This season, hope becomes an act of resistance. We resist the temptation to measure God’s activity by our own timelines. We resist the narrative that says the Church’s best days are behind it. Advent invites us instead to look for the small signs like new ministries emerging, partnerships forming, or unexpected relationships taking root because these are often the first hints of God’s future breaking open.

The good news of Advent Hope is this:

• God is not done with us.

• God is not done with the Church.

• God is not done with the world.

So, we keep watch, not in fear, but in anticipation. We look to the mountain Isaiah sees, trusting that even impossible hope is possible with God.

Steve Huston

Organizing Co-Leader

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Pictures of Prospect

The church office is looking for a few volunteers of any age to take photos of Prospect people in action. Pictures of worship services (discretely of course), fellowship time, regular events or special occasions. Pictures will be used on social media, in worship, in emails and on our current and new website. If anyone can help with this, please contact Faye in the church office. A lot of fancy equipment is not needed, a phone with a camera and a steady hand would be great.

Volunteers Needed Sundays and Other Times

The beginning of a program year is a great time to volunteer to help around the church! There are both worship related positions- like greeting or clicking, and other chores like gardening, some office related items, and helping to clear out areas for the community to use. If you find yourself with a few hours to spare on a Sunday or other day, contact the church office... we have ideas for all levels of physical ability.

Specific Sunday Worship positions and brief descriptions, most take no more than an hour a week and can be done occasionally or as part of a rotating schedule:

* Greeter - greeting worship participants and helping them find what they need

* Clicker- using a remote computer mouse to advance the slides during worship

* Fellowship Time Host- make coffee or iced tea, set up and clean up

* MultiMedia Ministry Team Member- Set up audio/visual equipment and run sound and cameras for worship, livestream the service. Some basic training is needed for this job.

* Teaching ConnectEd for any age group.

Other times indoor jobs:

* Office scanning projects - historical documents need to be scanned into the computer and renamed to organize the files better.

* Helping clean out and organize supply closets and file rooms

*Bulletin Board Displays- update some of the outdated material on a particular ministry team's assigned bulletin board

* Help clean out rooms from ministries that are no longer using the items and work on a solution to remove the items from the premises (selling, donating, discarding).

Outdoor Jobs

*Maintaining any of the many particular gardens around the church and manse property

* Maintaining the fountain in the memorial garden (keeping it clean, and water filled)

*Trash and recycling cans brought in and out on specific days

Or, Join a ministry team. Volunteers are needed to help with all aspects of the church. Christian Education, Finance/Stewardship, Property, Worship Planning and Prospect Hunger Program! Most of these ministries meet monthly, in the evening, plus may have other projects to join in with- as a member of the team or not!

Contact the Church office for more information.