- Sunday evening at the Flexer’s home at 6:30 PM led by Karen & Ned Flexer.
- Wednesday afternoon in Fellowship Hall at 1:00 PM
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All church members and friends of Seaview are encouraged to attend. A lite lunch will be served. We will be hosting discussions about our mission, vision, church bylaws, membership, facilities/property, and more. We hope you’ll join us!
June 19, 2021
A woman and a man struck up a conversation watching their children play at a playground. Later, the man called out to his son on a swing, “tt’s time to go home.” The son pleaded, “Just five more minutes, Dad. Please?” The father agreed.
After a few minutes the father called out to his son again “it’s time to go home.” Again, the son pleaded, “Five more minutes Dad. Just five more minutes.” The father gladly agreed again.
We want to remind you that our Trustees are easing back into a more relaxed response to the pandemic. We have been advised that masks are now optional in our sanctuary unless someone is NOT fully vaccinated. The New Jersey guidelines then ask that you be understanding and continue masking and distancing. We are not yet back into our “in the aisle” greeting time. Please be patient. The day will come.
Joan Hofmeister’s great-grandson, Jeremey, has been moved to a rehabilitation unit. Then, a complication arose that landed him back in the hospital. We continue to pray for his full healing. Charlotte Jones, part of our online congregation, tells us that her daughter, Lynn, is now in rehab at Bryn Mawr. Please pray for her to regain use of her fingers and for clear vision. Stefany Blyn Jacobs related the sad news that her cousin, Bobby, has succumbed to liver cancer. This is hard on his parents, Jill and Banks. He was 53. May God’s peace that passes understanding guard their hearts and minds.
Discipleship Training will return for the summer season as of July 7 at 11:00 AM. Still using zoom as our medium, we will be studying James Bryan Smith’s The Good and Beautiful God. Please let Pastor Frank know if you to be a part. He will send you a link.
Ben Harvey has stood out from the crowd as he approaches graduation on Monday evening at Mainland Regional High School. He has been notified that he will graduate summa cum laude. We are so happy for you, Ben.
Drop Off Saturdays
June 12, 2021
“American culture has almost entirely fragmented the extended family. As a result, we experience a deep longing for the things the extended family used to provide… The church as a family can be a way of incarnating an answer to these longings.”
-Hal Miller, from “Brothers, Sisters” in Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People, p. 25
Tomorrow we begin to do what so many have longed to do. If anyone is fully vaccinated, those persons can come to worship without masks. Our brother, Dr. Larider Ruffin, has counseled us to remain cautious yet begin to relax some of the mitigation rules per Governor Murphy’s executive order. If you have not et been vaccinated, we ask that you follow the executive order and remained masked the entire time you are in worship. Distancing is relaxing as well. Also opening is our prayer room. Marguerite Heaton Colella will be glad to meet with anyone desiring prayer after the worship service in Room 115. It has been a long slog, and we are not out of the woods. Let’s keep working together until we are in the clearing. We don’t want to go backwards.
In our prayers has been Mike Carney who had a procedure yesterday to protect him from blood clots becoming dangerous. He was able to come home and is on the mend. Along with Mike, we have been intensely praying for Joan Hofmeister’s great-grandson, Jeremey. He was hospitalized last week and on a ventilator. The prayers have been fervent and he has regained consciousness as well as beginning to talk. And we are givjng God the glory. Charlotte Jones, part of our online congregation, had a scare this week as her daughter, Lynn, had a stroke after leaving a dental appointment. For a few days she did not know where she was, but has been located at a Philadelphia hospital. We lift Lynn before the Lord for healing.
Discipleship Training and Prayer wraps up on Wednesday evenings this week with our final study in Transformed Through Love. God is the ultimate source of love. How do you sense God’s presence? Sometimes we need to five up our preconceived ideas and just make ourselves available. Then the love flows. We meet by Zoom at 7:00 and you can come without having been part of the group previously. Let Pastor Frank know so he can include you in the Zoom link as it is sent out.
Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday. Observed the week after Pentecost, it became popular as a result of a heresy taught by Arius, a church elder from Alexandria in Egypt. Arius believed that Jesus, the Son of God, was subordinate to the Father and therefore not equal. Athanasius, also an Alexandrian elder, opposeed this teaching, holding to the traditional doctrine that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are eternally co-existent and co-equal with each other. The triune God we worship is the same throughout the year. Yet this is the day we set aside to make special note of this doctrine. Perhaps the most poignant hymn that emphasizes this truth is Holy! Holy! Holy! written by Anglican Bishop Reginald Heber in 1826. Based on the worship scenes of Revelation 4&5, it can be found in almost all Christian hymnals. We will sing it this Sunday. Our guest organist, H. Ray Hunsicker, will also be offering a prelude and postlude based on this wonderful hymn.
Governor Murphy has signed an executive order that New Jerseyans may now go without masks in many settings as long as one is fully vaccinated. However in many places, such as public transportation, transportation hubs, summer camps, children’s care centers and schools, the CDC guidance continues to call for masking. Churches may continue to require masking if those responsible deem it prudent. Our Trustees have counseled with Dr. Larider Ruffin, who has advised we indeed continue using masks for a few more weeks. The Trustees concur and will be asking our attendees to use masks for at least the next two Sundays. We realize what an inconvenience this is, but hope our people will see the value of being cautious since the pandemic is far from over. We thank you for your understanding.
Monday is the day our nation remembers and honors those who have given the ultimate gift of devotion to the nation and world. Women and men of all wars who fell in the line of duty are revered and given special attention. On the wall of the World War Two Memorial on the mall in Washington, DC, you can read many thoughts about those who served. One such quote that stands out is by Admiral Chester M. Nimitz. “They fought together as brothers-in-arms. They died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation.” Please remember that many who fell in the may wars fought were civilians and soldiers of other nations as well. Those communities and families also feel the pain of loss, many who fought alongside our US troops. One person has written that we must never consider this day as a celebration day and do nor wish one another a “happy” Memorial Day. It is a day of thoughtful and thankful remembrance.
Since Monday is Memorial Day, there will be no Women’s Bible Study group. The youth will not meet together on Sunday evening, either. There will be a Discipleship Training and Prayer meeting by Zoom on Wednesday at 7:00.
ADORE GOD | LOVE ONE ANOTHER | SERVE THE COMMUNITY
Pentecost, which we celebrate this week, is often associated with speaking in tongues (Acts 2), but in John’s Gospel, the promised Spirit is more about wisdom and discernment, about unfolding truth and the prospect of spiritual growth.* In John 16, Jesus promises his frightened disciples an Advocate, a Counselor, a Spirit of Truth who will continue to teach them how to live in this world. “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now,” he says. It sounds like a wise Elder to me: “I have more to say, but not yet.”
As we watch the news and face the harsh realities of systemic racism and climate change in our world today, let us pray for the renewal of that kind of Pentecost, so we can bear the truth of our time and place – because that’s what will empower us to act.
– Majorie Zoet Bankson, Church of the Savior in Washington, DC
Another May celebration is Paula and Andy Schaeffer’s 10th wedding anniversary. It was that long ago on May 28, that they walked the aisle and took vows of love and commitment to one another. It was their prayer then that God would fill their home with his presence. We celebrate God’s faithfulness to that prayer and their continued witness to that presence among us at Seaview.
Graduations are in the air. Just a few weeks ago, Anthony Chong walked to receive his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Temple University. It was a long and demanding course. Bianca Trenard is also celebrating after 2 years of study at Yeshiva University in NYC. She is receiving her Masters Degree in Speech Therapy. Both of these accomplished students grew up in our midst at Seaview. And now they flap their wings and fly. Warmest congratulations and prayers for the work the God has done and will do through them. More graduations to come in June.