contact Newsletter of the South Branch Reformed Church April, 2017 South Branch Reformed Church 870 River Road Hillsborough, NJ 08844 Office: (908) 369-4956 Fax: (908) 369-4602 Web: www.sbrchurch.org Inside this issue: Note from the Treasurer... 2 SBRC Youth Group 2 Women s Group 3 Lectionary Readings for April Birthdays & Anniversaries 4 New Graduates? 4 Monthly Calendar 5 3 From the Pastor... First of all, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to all who participated in the Corned Beef Dinner! To say it was a busy evening would be an understatement! I truly appreciate all of your time, energy and dedication to our church dinners! We served just over 250 people and we raised some significant funds to help the budget! Thank you one and all! If you haven t noticed, the second stairwell in the Sanctuary has been fixed!! We are truly blessed to have a wonderful relationship with Janek Radecki of Jan s Home Improvement! I m sure you all agree that he is amazing & talented! I am so excited to share that SBRC is going to have a very special guest join us on Sunday, April 2nd! We will welcome the Rev. Tony Campbell to SBRC as he shares God s Word and joins me in celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord s Supper. Rev. Campbell is the Associate General Secretary and Director of Mission Engagement for the Reformed Church in America! I am very excited for all of you to meet Tony and I know that you all will make him feel right at home. We are quickly approaching Holy Week and the activities available to join in worship and fellowship. The Annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place on Saturday, April 8th at 11:00am. Donations of wrapped candy to fill the eggs is greatly appreciated! Egg filling will be on Sunday, April 2nd at 7:00pm in the Dining Room. Palm Sunday is on April 9th along with our annual tradition of Hot Cross Buns! This is a Coffee Hour not to be missed!! Tenebrae Service with Communion will be on Thursday, April 13th at 8:00pm. Easter Services will be held on April 16th. We will start our celebration at our Easter Dawn Service at 6:30am by the Cemetery. Our celebration continues at our Easter Service at 10:00am in the Sanctuary. The Sacrament of the Lord s Supper will be at both of these services. Parents of our Confirmation students, please take note of the change in our meetings! Due to visit of Rev. Tony Campbell, we will not be meeting on April 2nd nor will we meet on April 16th due to Easter. Our only meeting this month will be April 23rd at 7:00pm in the Church Office. I realize that this conflicts with the Youth Group meeting, but we will attend that meeting as soon as we are finished. Christ is Risen!
PAGE 2 CONTACT Note from the Treasurer... February 2017 The offering receipts for February were $8,933 ($2,233 weekly average). We require $2,302 weekly to insure we make our budget as written. We ended January, $855 in the black. February proved to be a good month. Pledges were good, no unexpected repairs had to be made, and only one small plowing/salting bill was received. I am happy to report that we ended February 2017, $3,211 in the black. Keep up the good work as we enter into March where several quarterly payments are made. ~Robyn Friedlander SBRC Book Club The Book Club has been gathering for over two years now! It continues to be a wonderful group of individuals that gather monthly to discuss a chosen book along with wonderful discussions that often arise from the book in our personal lives. It is wonderful to see those with a love for reading being able to challenge each other as well as to support one another. We are always looking to add to our numbers! You don t have to be a literary genius or an academic critic to participate. Come on out and join in the fun and the discussions!! The Book Club met on Sunday, March 26th to discuss Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. As always, a great time was had by all! We will gather on Sunday, April 30th at 7:00pm at the Parsonage to discuss Walk Me Home by Catherine Ryan Hyde. We looking forward to seeing you join us! SBRC YOUTH GROUP!! The SBRC Youth Group will be meeting April 9th and 23rd. On April 9th, the kids will be finalizing plans for their upcoming party in May. Stay tuned for information on this event it s going to be a big one! The Youth Group will be collecting books for the Vietnam Veterans on April 23rd. Anyone with books for any age can bring them to church that morning. The Youth Group will pack them up, and arrange for them to be picked up and put to use by our Veterans. Do some spring cleaning for a cause. If you are in grades 5 th through 8 th, and haven t joined in on any of the Youth Group activities, there s no time like the present to get involved. We have a lot of fun ahead of us! Roast Beef Dinner & Bake Sale Our Roast Beef Dinner & Bake Sale will be held on Saturday, April 29th from 4:30pm to 7:00pm with Tyson Stramaglia presiding over the kitchen. A sign-up sheet has been posted for donations & helpers! Tickets & Take-Outs are available. Call (908) 369-4956 for tickets! Menu Roast Beef Peas & Carrots Mashed Potatoes Cole Slaw Pickled Beets Cottage Cheese Assorted Desserts Coffee, Hot & Iced Tea, Lemonade Adults - $15.00 Children (ages 6-10) - $6.00 Children (age 5 and under) - FREE
Women s Group News Women s group met on Sunday and we created five St. Patrick s Day favors and took them to the Foothill Acres Nursing Home. We clipped 808 stamps to be sent to Florida for Sunday School materials and we will deposit $10 in change for River Blindness for the month of March. If you have more stamps, please drop them off in the church office. Prayer Chain CONTACT ~Lynne Diehl It is great pleasure that Pastor Steve shares that the SBRC Prayer Chain has 21 members on the phone chain and 19 members on the email chain! This is great news and we all should be proud that we have so many members willing to pray for each other and for the church! If you would like to have the Prayer Chain started, the point of contact is Ruth Hunter. She will gladly take down all information and start the phone calls. Also, she will be in contact with Pastor Steve. If Ruth Hunter is not available, the second point of contact is Evelyn Krautwald. If neither are available, please call Pastor Steve who will be sure to get the chain started. If you are interested in participating in the Prayer Chain via phone call and/or email, please let Pastor Steve know and he can update the list. Flowers Just a reminder that if you have signed up for flowers in the Sanctuary on a particular Sunday, the cost is $40.00. Make checks out to SBRC with Flowers in the memo section. Lectionary Readings April 2 Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45 April 9 (Palm Sunday) Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 118:1-2, 9-29 Matthew 21:1-11 April 13 (Maundy Thursday) Psalm 116:1-2; 12-19 John 13:1-17, 31-25 April 14 (Good Friday) Psalm 22; John 18:1-19:42 April 16 (Easter) Jeremiah 31:1-6 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 Colossians 3:1-4; Matthew 28:1-10 April 23 Acts 2:14, 22-32; Psalm 16 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31 April 30 Acts 2:14, 36-41 Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35 Greeters & Coffee Hour Opportunities to Greet on Sunday and/or host Coffee Hour are still available! Please sign-up and help keep this important fellowship activity going strong! PAGE 3 Blanket Sunday!! Mother s Day is May 14 and it is also Blanket Sunday! SBRC has been an active participant in this wonderful mission project. Information about Blanket Sunday will be in upcoming bulletins and in the next Contact. Keep watch for the information. Questions? Please speak with Pastor Steve.
CONTACT PAGE 4 Birthdays and Anniversaries A very Happy Birthday and a blessed year ahead to those who are celebrating a birthday in April: 02 James Kelly 04 Samantha Shephard Walt Wengryn 06 Mariel Murray 07 Russ Corleto Amanda Evers 09 Anthony DePace 10 Verton Escoffery James Kelly, Jr. 11 Nancy Murray Jessica Nunn Tony Stramaglia 12 Robyn Friedlander 14 Reece DeRoner 15 Jacob Davenport Matthew Nunn 16 Emmalee Pantel 18 Kate Sarles Mikayla Shephard 20 Aaron Proodian Courtney Wengryn 22 Cole Marlatt Michael Shephard 24 Douglas Sheldon 25 Matthew Evers 27 Danielle Bowden Irene Foley Richard Sarles III 29 Christy Heckman 30 Catherine Burt Also, congratulations and Happy Anniversary to: 09 Brian & Kimberly Ammerlaan 12 Gil & Pam Warner 18 Robert & Dawn McDonnell 20 Jim & Hedily Wendover New Graduates? Do you know of anyone in our church family who is graduating this spring from grade school, high school, college, graduate school, etc.? If so, please complete the form below and return it to the church office or e-mail the information to newsletter@sbrchurch.org. We would like to print our congratulations in the May or June issue of the Contact. graduate(s)(d) from on. Name School, Degree, etc. Date Additional Info. (daughter/son of, etc.): graduate(s)(d) from on. Name School, Degree, etc. Date Additional Info. (daughter/son of, etc.):
Information for May s Newsletter is due on April 17th! Leave your information in the Church Office or e-mail to the Church at newsletter@sbrchurch.org. Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 2 Communion Filling Easter Eggs 7pm in Dining Room No Confirmation 9 Palm Sunday Youth Group at 7pm in Parlor 3 4 10 11 5 Knit, Crochet, Pray at 7pm at Stockman Home 6 12 13 Choir Rehearsal at Tenebrae Service at 8:00pm 1 Rug Hookers at 10am in Parlor in Fireside Room 7 8 Easter Egg Hunt 11am 14 15 in Fireside Room PAGE 5 CONTACT 16 EASTER April 2017 Dawn Service at 6:30am by Cemetery Easter Service at 10am 23 Confirmation at 7pm in Church Office Youth Group at 7pm in Parlor 30 Book Club at 7:00pm at the Parsonage 17 Newsletter items due! 24 Preschool Mtg at 18 25 19 Knit, Crochet, Pray at 7pm at Stockman Home Consistory at 20 26 27 Choir Rehearsal at Choir Rehearsal at 21 22 28 Preschool Tricky Tray at 7:00pm in Fireside Room 29 Roast Beef Dinner 4:30-7:00pm
South Branch Reformed Church 870 River Road Hillsborough, NJ 08844 The 12th Annual South Branch Reformed Church Preschool Tricky Tray Friday, April 28, 2017 7:00 PM 8:00 PM Prize Viewing / Light Refreshments Share God s Love Rev. Stephen Eckert ~ Pastor Mr. John Colaiacovo ~ Music Director Mrs. Karen Abbatiello ~ Church Secretary Mrs. Maureen DeMarco ~ Preschool Director Mrs. Pamela Rojas ~ Sexton 8:15 PM Winning Tickets Drawn Admission Tickets - $15.00 All admission tickets purchased in advance come with one free sheet of prize tickets, which will be given out at the door. Additional sheets of prize tickets will be on sale that evening. Please contact the Preschool Office for tickets or for more information at (908) 369-7885