Grace United UCC New Church Start

When I don't have to sing in the choir I attend Grace United Church, which is a new church start in Hunterdon County that is supported by a grant from the Board of World Fellowship of Christ Church. They currently worship in a Montessori School on Route 31 near Clinton. They are about two years old. They have about 30 members and today I counted 25 people in the church including me and three children! I don't think that Christ Church can boast of that percentage of the membership that attends church regularly. I am a member of the support committee for this church. But I visit this church not to check on them but because they are close to where I live and I have come to like the people there. This church has two part-time founding ministers who share the pastoral duties. Rev Dan Lunquist is also a family therapist and the Rev Sue Goodwin is a former corporate communication specialist.

From their website: Grace UCC is a new, progressive church in Hunterdon County, NJ, with a ministry directed at people unchurched and those disillusioned with institutional churches. Worship is central to Grace UCC. Family worship is the model here, and there is a strong emphasis on making worship mutlisensory and child-friendly. Many families in the congregation have young children who attend worship, and there is an active youth group and a confirmation class.
They pride themselves on being the church without walls.

Dan Lunquist gave the Meditation today entitles "Where Are You Going Next Year". He spoke of four points to consider for next year, 1. Who am I? (Who are you really not just your profession?) 2. What do I love? (What really turns you on?) 3. How shall I live knowing I will die? (No one knows when they will die so how do you live every day of your life.) 4. What is my gift to the family of the earth? (What are you doing to help the world, every one is doing something). This was a very moving sermon/meditation and a fit way to end the year and start the new one.

The church has recently organized so that they have a constitution, bylaws and lay church leadership, which takes some of the load off the founding pastors who used to have to do everything.
Last Saturday they worked in the Food Bank in Flemington helping them to do inventory.

I told them of some other outreach programs in which they can become involved, the Shawl Ministry and HomeSharing of Somerset and Hunterdon County. They seem to be interested.

They have to leave their current facility at the school and they have found space in the Women's Club in downtown Flemington. This could help them reach out to new members because they would be in walking distance for many people.

Grace United as a new church start is supported by many of the UCC churches in New Jersey, including Christ Church, and a New Church Start grant from the national UCC. This helps pay the bills including the pay of the pastors and the space rental.

This is a part of the UCC objective to reach out to new people and bring them to the church. More new churches may be started in New Jersey.

This is one of the programs that your pledge money to Christ Church will help fund.
For more information about Grace United visit their website http://www.graceuccnj.org/UCC.html. Or if you have a chance visit the church, they meet at 11:00 AM and serve communion at every service.

Jeannette Brown
UCC Representative

Shawl Ministry Outreach

Recently I received the following e-mail I thought you might be interested in reading:

Hello Ms. Brown,

My name is Donna Williams-Pettaway I am the Activities Director for the Hamilton Grange Senior Center in Central Harlem. We are one of the oldest senior centers in the Harlem New York area, we are sponsored by the Convent Avenue Baptist Church and The Department for The Aging.

I was writing to let you know that I have started a knitting and crocheting program here at the center for the seniors who attend. We meet every Wednesday from 10am to 12pm. One of my seniors mentioned the Shawl Ministry and expressed an interest in creating Knitted items which would be donated to your good cause. I wanted to gain alittle more information so as to aquire the materials we may need to participate. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Best regards,

Donna Williams-Pettaway

This probably came to me as a result of the Shawl Ministry's participation in the Alternative Gift Market. I told her of course she can be part of our virtual Shawl Ministry and instead of shipping shawls to Summit that they go to people in Harlem who need them.

The Shawl Ministry now has funds to be used to purchase supplies or for publicity. Anyone who would like to participate as a knitter or chrocheter is welcome. I will be available as a teacher and coach. Also the Deacons are responsible for telling me the names of persons who could use a shawl so when you have a finished product we will bless it and send it on it's way. There are a number of prayers that can be sent with the shawls . I will try to have a page on the Christ Church website that lists the prayers. I got these prayer from a Shawl Ministry Group which is a part of the Yahoo Groups. One of the members of that group listed the prayers that they use.

So remember this is another way to spread the word of God through the work of our hands. The people who have received the shawls to date have been very grateful for them. Since I am writing this before the heat comes up in my house I am wearing the shawl that was donated to me by a UCC member.
Jeannette Brown

Smithfield Hams. Food Fight

Last Friday night "NOW" the television program on PBS Channel 13 broadcast a story about the Smithfield meat packing company in Tar Heel NC. It is the world's largest hog processing plant. Each day, some 5,500 workers slaughter and cut up over 30,000 hogs. "Meatpacking is dirty and dangerous work. But in the Tar Heel plant, Smithfield has made an already difficult work situation much worse. A high risk of injury and mistreatment of injured workers, inflamed racial tensions, and illegal anti-union activities make some workers say: "they're not killing hogs, they're killing people." ". If you would like to see plant and read about it the NOW program is posted on the web at http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/250/smithfield.html It is said that a member of Christ Church was one of the producers of this program

But this reminded me that at Thanksgiving time the UCC Justics and Witness Ministry sent me a notice about the Smithfield company and it's treatment of workers. This is posted at http://www.ucc.org/justice/smithfield.htm They recommended an number of action items that we should take, among them are:

• Locate meat from Smithfield Packing Company. Learn how to identify meat from Tar Heel and tell the UFCW where the meat is sold. Remember Smithfield Foods, Inc., is a huge company with many plants, union and non-union. Some plants treat workers with fairness and dignity. Our concern is with the Smithfield Packing Company in Tar Heel, NC, only.
• Write to Smithfield's chairman. Send a note urging the chairman of Smithfield Foods, Inc., to treat workers with fairness and dignity, and allow them to freely choose whether to form a union. Write to Mr. Joseph Luter, III, Chairman, Smithfield Foods, Inc., 200 Commerce St., Smithfield, VA 23430. Postcards addressed to Mr. Luter with a pre-printed message are available from JWM (jwm@ucc.org; 866-822-8224, ext 3700). We invite you to host an educational event at your church and provide these postcards for people to sign.

  • Ask your congregation to sign the United Food and Commercial Workers' union Resolution for Justice at Smithfield .

• Hold a "Smithfield-free" Thanksgiving or Christmas party. Throw a party for the holidays and serve no pork from the Smithfield Packing Company's Tar Heel, NC, plant. Ask guests to send notes, available from JWM, to Smithfield's chairman asking for justice for Tar Heel workers. Download a party pack from UFCW.