We continue to meet each Thursday evening, and have reviewed personal information from over 70 candidates for our Associate Pastor position. Last Thursday we reached a milestone–conducting our first phone interview. Several more are scheduled over the coming weeks, as we begin to deepen our knowledge of individuals whose written responses have shown potential. We plan to continue to receive resumes/PIFs into March. May we ask for your help in two areas? Please pray for us and for the candidates regularly, that we may all sincerely and honestly seek to discern God’s call. Second is this: one of our members, Amy, often needs a babysitter on Thursday evenings, and sometimes has had to miss meetings. It would be so helpful to have a volunteer or two that she could call on. (Amy Pszczolkowski, amypiz19@yahoo.com, 609-737-6580). Thank you!

Alison Young, for the APNC

Members include: Alison, Amy, Bill Guthrie, Emily Cocco, Hope Anderson, Kevin Subers, Kim Newport, Rob Thornton and Thomas Lehman-Borer.

The Women’s Retreat will be held on Saturday, April 14, from 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton. Our leader will be Reverend Kiran Young Wimberly – more information will be coming soon. We are holding the retreat close to home this year, in the hopes that many of you can attend!

Lent quite literally begins by pondering things most of us would rather sail right by, our sin, our frailty, and our death. We’ve been well‐trained by our culture to turn away from such thoughts and to “accentuate the positive.”

The trouble is, as Christians, we know a deeper truth. We don’t live up to our own best goals for ourselves. We get stuck in routines that hurt us. We cycle around and around patterns that don’t build up, but tear down. As hard as we may try, we don’t love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and we find some of our neighbors to be almost impossible to love. So what are we to do? Do we just give in and accept this mess we are in? Do we become cynical? No, instead we dare to get up from our pew and come forward to get a smudge of ash on our forehead! A smudge in the shape of a cross, that is. The truth of our sinfulness and mortality is surpassed by an even greater truth. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. We don’t earn this, we receive it. He did for us what we can not do for ourselves. By his grace, we find healing and wholeness. That is exactly what love does! We set aside the seven weeks before Easter as a season called Lent so that we don’t lose track of this. The ashes of Ash Wednesday will be replaced by the good, good news. “Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!” Lent is a time to remember all of this and to engage in Chris‐ tian practices that lead to lives renewed by grace.

Here are just a few practices you might consider:

• Pick up the 2012 Year of Prayer booklet. Experiment with February’s “Lectio Divina” form of prayer. Try praying March’s “Daily Examen” before going to bed each night.
• Come to church at 7:30 am on Wednesday mornings before work, school, or other activities, for a brief devotional time followed by the Lord’s Supper of freshly baked bread and sweet grape juice.
• Attend a Lenten class on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 pm taught by our seminarian Justin Pannkuk, a devoted Christian and skilled teacher.
• Instead of “giving something up” for Lent, try “picking something up”, like food to bring as a gift of love for the people who depend on the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and the Crisis Ministry for nourishment, or the phone to call someone who would be grateful for some conversation.
• Ponder the words of Henri Nouwen through a devotional booklet for Lent, “Renewed for Life.” Help a child discover the meaning of Lent with a child’s devotional and sticker booklet called “All around Jerusalem.”

  In faith,
  Nancy
  Nancy Mikoski

The start of the new year brings with it an opportunity to reflect on the past and to look to the future. Last January over 120 members of our congregation began a journey together to read the entire Bible in one year. James E. Davison’s guide, “The Year of the Bible” was a helpful companion as we read scripture together. The intentionality and group support, as well as the formal and informal conversations about Scripture and the experience of reading it in this way, proved to be life-changing for many. We heard congregation members voice a longing to continue to grow in faith by engaging in other spiritual practices. Prayer was often mentioned as a practice that people wished to explore in more depth.

This booklet is a response to such yearnings. It is intended to nurture and inspire your life of prayer. God loves each of us and finds great joy in spending time with us as we pray. The first disciples of Jesus turned to him asking him to teach them to pray. I am so glad they did, for because of their desire to grow as praying people, we all have The Lord’s Prayer! The apostle Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit is with us as we pray, and indeed even prays for us when our words seem inadequate or simply won’t come.

The Adult Education Sub-Committee created the concept for this Year of Prayer. Their responsiveness to the needs of our church is a blessing to us all. Twelve styles of prayer are given, one for each month of the year. You are encouraged to try the new style to see how it feels to you. Any new style may feel strange at first so we hope that you will keep at it throughout the month. If you find a style that works well for you, don’t feel you have to stop using it as a new month begins. Simply add a new style to your prayer time. Over the year, you may discover four or five styles of prayer that resonate deeply with you. Add them to your spiritual tool box, thank God for them, and draw from them as often as you can.

I offer my personal thanks to my husband and co-author, Gordon Mikoski, for lending both his passion for prayer and his professional expertise to this project. I am grateful, too, for our daughter Charissa’s gifts for layout and design.

I’m looking forward to the classes, conversations, and prayers that we will share and to the closer and deeper relationship with God that the gift of prayer will encourage.

Happy New Year!

Nancy Mikoski

Introduction

Lectio Divina, from the Latin meaning “divine reading,” is an ancient prayer practice. It can be used by an individual, with one or two others, or in a group. This form of prayer allows God to speak in and through scripture.

How it works

1. Select a small section of scripture. You can select a few verses, a story, but do not select more than a chapter. Some Bibles have sections of verses with a subtitle. If your Bible does, this can be a helpful guide. Any part of Scripture can be used, but you may find selections from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and the Psalms to be a good place to begin.
2. Slowly read your selected passage aloud. Try to notice a word or phrase that grabs your attention. Spend a minute or two in silence pondering this word or phrase. If you are doing Lectio Divina with another person or in a group, have each person share the word or phrase they chose (without discussion).
3. Read the passage aloud a second time. This time, after a period of silent reflection, think about (or talk together about) your initial impressions or questions and how this connects to your own life.
4. Read the passage aloud a final time. Listen for what God may be saying to you through this word, phrase or passage. What would you like to take away with you? What do you feel called to do, or to become, or to ponder further?
5. Close your time with the Lord’s Prayer and with a prayer of thanksgiving for your time with God.

 Suggestions

If you are doing this prayer practice alone, you might want to create a journal where you can write down the passage you chose and a bit about what you feel God calling you to do, become or ponder further. If you are doing this practice with another person or with a group, some further guidelines will help you. It is important to remember that this is a practice of prayer and not a Bible study. Try not to “dissect” the passage with questions about who wrote it, when it was written where the places named are on the map etc. This prayer practice is formed with the belief that God God and will make ancient words meaningful for Christians today. It is also good to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit will move in people in different ways. Every passage of scripture has many messages and there is no “right” word or phrase. It is important in group Lectio Divina to listen to others but not to engage in debate or instruct or instruction. This type of prayer can be done with people of different ages and with people whose spiritual journeys are diverse. What others hear is for them. You may be enriched by what another person shares and this is a wonderful benefit of doing Lectio Divina as a group.

Resources

Hall, Thelma. Too Deep For Words: Rediscovering Lectio Divina (Paulist Press, 1988).
Hall offers wonderful insights about prayer and the back of the book has about 30 themes for Lectio Divina with suggested Bible passages for each theme.

At the end, Frank lifted a single candle and said to us, “This is the gospel of Christ.” We were encouraged to go forth to share the gospel’s good news with a world that lives in fear. The first century disciples did so at the risk of their very lives. It can feel risky for us, too.

We are living in a world that is polarized. There are the “Haves” and the “Have Nots.” Add to that a current category, the “Hads Who Now Have Not and Wish to Have Again.” That describes many families and states as well as many nations. The 99% feel divided from the 1%. Questions arise about the nature of capitalism and the meaning of success. During this presidential election year, many citizens find themselves on opposite sides, polarized by ideology and feeling more cynical about political debate and those who seek to gain or hold onto the highest office in our land. Can the good news of the gospel build bridges instead of building walls?

This Sunday, February 5, our Science and Faith program will be launched with a series of adult education classes each Sunday at 9am and once a month special programs on Sunday afternoons. In both venues, we will explore faith and science and discover the many ways that our lives can be enriched as we hold science and faith together. Why is this such a big deal? Honestly, it is important because many people who study and love and understand science have become polarized from people who love and are committed to God and live their daily lives upheld by faith. The number of those who can live happily in the world of science and the world of faith are too few. A Gallup poll from 2009 found that 39% of Americans believe in the theory of evolution, 25% do not and 36% don’t have an opinion either way. Gallup went on to research how many folks who believe in evolution attend church on a regular basis. Only 24% who believe in evolution reported attending church weekly. 55% said they seldom or never go to church. Can the good news of the gospel build bridges instead of building walls?

We, the bearers of the gospel not only can build bridges, we must. The Apostle Paul says that we Christians, those who have been reconciled by the grace of God, must then go forth as ambassadors, building bridges among the human family and being a visible sign of what it means to live in a vital and loving relationship with God.

Don’t be afraid. We have good news to live and to share.

In Christ,

Nancy

Nancy Mikoski

This is how “Afraid: the Gospel of Mark,” begins. What follows is an amazing experience that invites all of us to hear and see the story of Jesus in a fresh way. Frank Runyeon, a professional actor, will present this drama as a part of our worship service on Sunday, January 29. The service will begin at the normal time of 10:15 and will conclude around 11:45. There is no charge and visitors and friends are most welcome. A reception will follow. If you’d like to bring some cookies, fruit or muffins, please drop them off in the Deacon’s Kitchen that morning. I am grateful to Bill Alford and the Worship and Music Committee of the church for bringing this drama to our congregation. It is supported by our Memorial Funds. Mark your calendar now, invite a friend, and plan to join in this special worship experience.

Our Science and Faith year‐long program will kick off an Adult Education series beginning on February 5. Over the course of three months we will address three key questions: Where did everything come from? Where did human beings come from? How is God at work in the world today? We will approach these questions from the perspectives of both science and faith. It is our hope that we will all be enriched by these conversations. They will take place in Heritage Hall at 9:00 am on Sunday mornings. Other events will be held this spring so keep your eye out for the publicity. The Science and Faith leadership team is Bill Guthrie, Don Hirsh, Gordon Mikoski, Nancy Mikoski, Leeann Thornton and Don Wright. I am grateful for their energy and enthusiasm. I am also thankful for the Templeton Foundation and the grant that undergirds this project.

From February 1‐4, Leeann Thornton and I will be in Chico, California meeting with the lead scientists and pastors from the other 29 churches across the country, who were also awarded grants in this program. It will be a great opportunity to meet our counterparts and to learn from one another.

Adult Education Class: January 8 through 29th

 Introduction

The Bible contains a multitude of prayers, most of which can be used for prayer by contemporary readers. The most important and often used prayers are found in the book of Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6). German Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his short book Psalms: The Prayerbook of the Bible (Augsburg, 1974) echoed Martin Luther’s conviction that the Lord’s Prayer is a dense summary of the entire book of Psalms. Conversely, the book of Psalms expands upon and unpacks every phrase in the Lord’s Prayer. Bonhoeffer also made the observation that God has given us rich vocabulary, language, and imagery for prayer in the Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer.

The book of Psalms is a collection of 150 prayers and hymns from ancient Israel. There are many different kinds of prayers in the Psalms. Here are a few examples of the kinds of prayer found in the Psalms:

• Praise: prayers that extol God for who God is and for what God has done
• Lament: prayers that give voice to suffering or distress and ask for God’s help
• Pilgrimage: prayers used by pilgrims on the ascent to Jerusalem for religious festivals
• Royal: prayers celebrating the human ruler (used by Christians in reference to Jesus Christ)

Many find it helpful to pray their way through the entire book of Psalms. Others seek out Psalms that give expression to their particular situation in life. Because of their range and spiritual depth, the Psalms are among the most widely used chapters in the Bible.

Like the Psalms, the Lord’s Prayer has played a major role in Christian prayer through the centuries. Because Jesus himself taught his followers to pray using this brief prayer, it is probably the most widely used prayer in Christianity. Each of the specific requests or petitions made in this prayer addresses some major human need. The first several requests focus on God and God’s Reign in our lives, thereby giving expression to our fundamental human need to get out of ourselves, to forsake false gods, and to worship the living God. The latter part of the prayer contains petitions that focus on basic human needs: food; relationships with neighbors; and deliverance from evil. Because of its profundity, simplicity, and spiritual authority, millions of Christians pray this prayer once or multiple times daily.

How it works

a. Select a Psalm or a phrase from the Lord’s Prayer.
b. Read the text carefully, slowly, and repeatedly.
c. Reflect on the ways that the prayer connects with your particular life.
d. Speak the words of the Psalm or the Lord’s Prayer aloud, directing the prayer to the Lord for your needs using the words provided in the text.
e. Repeat one or more times through the day.

Suggestions

It may prove useful to pick one Psalm per day for prayer during January. Setting aside five to fifteen minutes, you could pray through the Psalm and then conclude with the Lord’s Prayer. As an alternative practice, you could use one or more of the phrases from a Psalm or the Lord’s Prayer as a stimulus for prayer in your own words about some need in your life or in that of a loved one.

Resource:

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Psalms: The Prayerbook of the Bible (Augsburg Fortress, 1974).

Per member for 2012:

General Assembly – $6.63

Synod – $3.95

Presbytery – $17.64

Total: $28.22 for each confirmed member in each household