PRESBYTERIAN MESSENGER

UPCOMING EVENTS. . .

Every Sunday 10:00 AM Worship

Communion served 1st Sunday of Month

Choir Practice 8:30-9:30AM

Knitting Group 2nd Sunday of Month in

Sanctuary 12-1:30PM

Every Tuesday – Bible Study 7-8:30PM

Every Wednesday – Bible Study with

Rev. Lou Kilgore 10-11:30AM

Bell Choir Practice 7PM

Wed 3/1 Ash Wednesday Service 7PM

Sat 3/4 Coffee House-Music at 7PM

With Steve Palmieri

Sun 3/5 Installation of Officers 10AM

Sun 3/12 Clocks Go Forward

Thu 3/16 Personnel 10AM Session 7PM

HMPC Coffee House with Steve Palmieri                                

Please join us at HMPC for an evening of live music with “Daybreak,” featuring our own Steve Palmieri.

The music begins at 7PM on Saturday, March 4th and besides great, live music, we’ll have delicious snacks and a cash bar.

Advance tickets are $20 and $25 at the door.  All proceeds go to benefit the Maine Mission Trip in July. The church is located at 730 Franklin Lake Road, Franklin Lakes, NJ 201-891-0511.

Ḟaithworks

This Sunday is the first Sunday in Lent. During this Season, which is 40 days long (not counting the Sundays, which are like “little Easters”), our young people will be exploring stories from the New Testament about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and Jesus’ encounters with Nicodemus, a woman drawing water at a well, a man born blind, and a friend named Lazarus. The Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday March 1 and lasts until Easter Sunday. It is a season of quiet reflection when we bring our deep thoughts and feelings to God. Often people observe Lent with something the church calls spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, meditation, fasting, and service to others. At Faithworks, this Sunday’s reading from the gospel of Matthew 4:1-11, tells a story of the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is led by God’s spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Wilderness is a place of seeking, journeying, and struggling with the possibilities. The temptations facing Jesus in the wilderness are the same temptations facing many of us today: to be selfish and take care of our own needs first, to get attention by showing off, and to be ruler of the world. Rulers get lots of attention, make all the decisions, and get whatever they want. Jesus refused to take such power, choosing instead to obey God. Jesus chooses to serve God and God alone, and the tempter left. At our time together, the story of Jesus’ temptation may offer young people meaningful insight into where temptation comes from, in what forms, and how they might begin to challenge those voices around them that draw them away from healthy and authentic living. Pray that young people will be open to exploring the many faces of temptation and reflecting on the choices they make. All children and youth are welcome to join us for Bible story time and activities on the 2^nd floor after the time of conversation with the pastor. Childcare is available for children 4 and under on the 2^nd floor as well.

 “Souper Bowl” Collection

On “Souper Bowl” Sunday, our congregation gave $377 plus eight bags of canned soup for the Center for Food Action in Mahwah. The Mission Team thanks everyone who collected coins and bills in CFA containers or added gifts to the soup kettle during hospitality time on Feb. 5. Special thanks to Tom Noonan for counting the change and delivering our donation to CFA. Still have your CFA container? Please bring it to the church office and add to our CFA contribution.

Prayers & Announcements

Announcements for the Sunday Worship

service should be emailed to the church

office. If you would like the community

to pray with you please call the office at

201-891-0511.

April 21-24 Advocacy Training Weekend

PCUSA is sponsoring a Compassion, Peace and Justice Training Day in Washington, DC on April 21. This program will be followed by Ecumenical Advocacy Days April 22-24. Almost one thousand Christian advocates will meet for workshops, lectures and concrete actions  for social justice. For further information, go to www.presbyterianmission.org, Advocacy Training Weekend.

Book Club at HMPC

The Book Club meets on the 4th Friday

of the month and anyone is invited to

come and discuss the books.

March 24 – The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

April 28 – I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

May 26 – When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

New Church Office Email

Please note that all email correspondence to the church office/Chris Buckley should now be sent to office.manager@highmountainpres.org.

Immokalee Update

Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been instrumental in providing better wages and living conditions to many farmworkers. At a recent meeting I attended at Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church in Naples, Nely Rodriguez, member of CIW, explained the progress which has occurred recently. Currently 90% of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange participate in the Fair Food Pro

gram, although not all the companies buying from them provide the additional penny per pound as part of the program. Workers can earn $5 – 50 more per week when picking for the Fair Food Program. Some of the farmers in the area also have farms in other areas of the east coast, including New Jersey. This enables migrant workers to earn more as they move north.

Recently CIW assisted in the first slavery case under their program. There were 30 workers in Homestead given rides by two persons who required the workers to give them their wages. Those responsible were jailed and the grower had to leave the program, since there is zero tolerance for such practices. The grower now has to go through a retraining program and probation before it can rejoin. Workers are informed by CIW that they are the monitors of their own rights and can contact a 24 hour hotline to the Fair Foods Standards Council to report problems with working conditions. The work force is more stable since the inception of this program. Nely Rodriguez and Rev. Noelle Damico are members of the Board of Directors of FFSC. Rev. Damico spoke to us at HMPC a few years ago, explaining this work. PCUSA presently donates $20,000 annually to CIW. HMPC contributed $500 last year for this project through the denomination. CIW continues to encourage all supporters to boycott Wendy’s, which refuses to join the Fair Food Program and purchases its tomatoes in Mexico. The 2016 James Beard Annual Leadership Award was presented to CIW “for their innovative work in forging a new human rights model in the food industry supply chain”. For additional information, see www.ciw-online.org or www.allianceforfairfood.org. CIW is the worker’s organization and Alliance is the organization in support of the workers.

Barbara Fernstrom     

                              Sunday Server Sign-Up Sheet; First Quarter 2017

*Assigned families can decide who will be reader. Please inform Chris who is reading one week before you are scheduled. If you cannot be available when assigned, please switch with someone else and inform the office of this change.  Please check PM regularly to see the date of your assignment.  We need a few more volunteers for the listed duties.  If you can help in anyway, please call the office at 201-891-0511 and we can add you to the list. Thank you for your kindness and generosity in assisting with the church service.