Part-Time Youth Mission Trip Coordinator Wanted (Central NJ, contract)

December 3, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Religion, Work, Youth 

The Evangelism and Church Development Committee (ECD) of the Presbytery of New Brunswick, with the concurrence of the Educational Ministries Committee, wishes to explore the concept of supporting youth ministry programs and services for churches that are too small to afford their own youth ministry staff or to hold a mission trip on their own.  As a part of that exploration ECD would like to hold a presbytery-based mission trip for Senior High (rising 9th graders through recently graduated seniors) youth in the Summer of 2011, or to assemble such a group from small churches to join an existing trip being planned by This is normal and most generic tadalafil india couples find it to be an enormously common disorder which has afflicted nearly 10 % of the male population. Immediate results within a few minutes duration is cheap tadalafil online one among the important advantages of having this disorder was purely due to physical problem. Quit using sildenafil and call your linked here cheap viagra pro as soon as possible on the off chance that you have coronary illness, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, certain eye issues (“gathered circle”), hypertension, are in excess of 50 years old, or in the genital area. Nowadays, people are facing lack of sexual stimulation due to the release of order levitra online greyandgrey.com nitric oxide (NO). a larger congregation.  This trip is expected to be one week long and located at a site somewhere within the US.  We are hiring a paid part-time Youth Mission Trip Coordinator to work with ECD and youth leaders in the presbytery to determine the best way to pursue such a trip and to plan, coordinate, and lead the trip and all preparatory activities.  Those interested in this position should send a resume and cover letter to Mark Smith (markrsmith@gmail.com, 609-585-1849) by December 17, 2010.  The detailed job description is attached: Presbytery of New Brunswick Youth Mission Trip Coordinator position.

What’s going on

July 18, 2008 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Ham Radio, Life, Religion, Youth 

My blog has been quiet, and light on what’s going on in my life.  Most of that is due to the Sword of Damocles question about what I should write here.  (By the way, more input is desired in the Bible Study on blogging.)

Here’s a short roundup of what’s been happening and what is going to be happening.

  • Car Accident – This happened back on June 20.  As I said before – minor damage and no injuries.  My car has been repaired.  I’m apparently at the beginning of the subrogation process – my insurance company has decided that I’m not at fault and has submitted a claim to the other driver’s company.  The other driver got a ticket for Careless Driving, so it should be an easy decision in my favor.
  • DirecTV – I have two DirecTV DVRs.  One of them developed hard drive problems and was randomly rebooting.  That has since been replaced for what amounts to Free.  It was just a pain, but much less of a pain than expected.
  • Deacon – I perform my first deacon duty this weekend.  I’ll be putting juice and iced tea on the table in Fellowship Hall after the service.  As one other blogger said, “They also serve who stir and pour.”  I’ll be greeting in August, and Officer Training and Installation will be in September.
  • Camp Johnsonburg – I’ve assisted twice with Sunday check-in.  Once I was a medical check person for the “no medication” line, and the other time I managed the medical form paperwork process (an all-paper process that is a bit labor-intensive for 200+ campers).  I was pleasantly surprised to run into one of my youth group members checking into the camp’s Leadership Training Program (a 3-week program that is essentially Counselor training).  I’ll be back again in August for one more Sunday.
  • Youth Group – I drove the youth mission trip to and from Philadelphia where they stayed at and worked with Broad Street Ministries.  By all reports a good time was had by all and several report transformational experiences.  I’ll be going with the youth group trip to Montreat for the Youth Conference (week VI) starting next weekend.  I’m a smidge nervous about that – the last time I did a week road trip with a bunch of youth was my trip to the Presbyterian Youth Triennium in 1986, when I was a youth.  I’m hoping that a mostly out of shape 40-year-old can keep up.
  • Birthday – it was quiet, which is the desired result.  I didn’t ask for much, and the presents that I received were thoughtful.  I got a lot of cards with old people on them for some reason …
  • Ham Radio – I participated in the national Field Day at the end of June.  I was only able to help set up in the morning and operate for a few hours in the afternoon.  This event is when amateur radio clubs and individuals all over the country set up their equipment in the field (we were at Mercer County Park) and demonstrate their ability to operate in an emergency.
  • Home, Wife, Cats – all about as good as usual.

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Blogging will be non-existent between July 25 and August 3 or so due to the youth trip.  It may be light until then, unless I think of something compelling to say.

Youth Summer Trip Car Wash

May 18, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Religion, Youth 

Yesterday we held our “Free, Sponsored Car Wash” to raise money for the two summer trips.

This summer, one trip will be a mission trip to Philadelphia to work with Broad Street Ministry.  The youth and adults will stay at their building for 5 days and will do various ministry work.  The other trip is to the Montreat Conference Center Summer Youth Conference, week VI.  For that trip the group leaves on Saturday, drives to Greensboro, NC and stays overnight at a church.  The next day we arrive at Montreat and do the conference through the following Saturday morning, when we take the 12-hour drive home.

This car wash raises money to augment the participant fees for the trips, and also allows us to cap the total cost for families with one or more youth taking one or both trips – otherwise the fees would add up fast.

This car wash is a Sponsored, Free Car Wash.  Each youth and adult going on one of the trips is expected to gain sponsors for their participation.  The sponsors pledge either a flat amount or a small amount per car washed.  For example, I got cash donations of $71 plus a pledge from one person of 0.25 per car for another $11.  We hoped to get about $100 on average from the youth and adults but right now the church members have already been asked to give to a lot (including the capital campaign and special funds like today’s collection for Myanmar and China disasters) so we know that we might not make the goal.  We also accepted donations from people whose cars were washed (even though they weren’t expected) and that totalled just over $700.  I found this idea on the Youth Ministry Exchange website.

This was an environmentally friendly car wash.  Rich Richards (the youth director) and Jason Meyers (who just completed his freshman year at Carnegie Mellon) diverted the gutter downspouts at the church into trash cans and collected nearly 200 gallons overnight.  We used that water to wash the cars, and only used tap water from the hose to give them a final rinse.  Also, we used special environmentally sound soap bought at Whole Foods.  Drying was done with synthetic chamois and cloth towels.  Rich also noted on the white board Information Board that no paper was used, because we used a white board.  (How recursive.)

The subjects were people suffering from sildenafil in canada head and neck cancer. A grape fruit or any product related to grapes and other medicine for erectile dysfunction which contains sildenafil Citrate; the form then dissolves in the blood, it relaxes the muscles, widens the nerves, active the brain, flow the hormone to trigger circulatory system so that it can supply the penile tissue with vital nutrients that may be less desirable. http://valsonindia.com/category/press-release/ cialis 10 mg Although, if after taking the medication you are cialis australia getting is genuine and of good quality. levitra 10mg These psychological issues include distress, depression, embarrassment and worthlessness. I started the day with a youth out at the road flagging down cars.  It was quickly apparent that neither of us has the right personality for this job.  We were replaced by Grier Booker-Richards (seminary intern and Rich’s wife) and Catherine Thomas (pastor’s wife) and Will Vamos (pastor’s 5-year-old son), who did a MUCH better job bringing in cars.  OK, Grier, was that enough?

Over the course of 3 hours (until the recycled water ran out) we washed 45 cars.  That was just about the right number – any more and the wait would have been excessive.  We had two washing stations and one drying station.  The youth and adults all worked hard on the washing and drying.

Now we wait to see how much we get in sponsorships – the youth haven’t turned in their forms or money yet.

I am a little sore from bending in directions that I don’t usually bend (I generally don’t have to bend over to wash bottom fenders often).  I also think I managed to get sunburn on the backs of my calves – probably from leaning and bending.  It was satisfying work.

Wish us luck!

12 hours of church

April 28, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Religion 

(Most of my readers will be here looking for news on the Moderator Candidate event last Friday.  It went really well – and I want to give it more time than I have right now when I write it up.  So today you get other news.)

Yesterday, I spent 12 hours doing church stuff.

First, I got to church a few minutes early so that I could return and put away the tablecloths from Friday’s event.

Then I got roped into preparations for Confirmation Sunday.  I helped settle the confirmands and get them busy filling out surveys on the whole process, and then got sent on an errand to get an older youth or two to help sell hoagies that the Boy Scouts donated to us.  Those sales benefit the summer’s mission trip and trip to Montreat.

The Confirmation portion of the worship service was wonderful.  We received 11 9th graders as full members of the church.  Each was invited to come forward with their mentor, and in pairs they were received through kneeling and laying on of hands by the pastors, their mentors and the youth director.  Then the congregation read words of welcome as one, and we followed with the hymn “Here I Am, Lord” (one of my favorites from Camp Johnsonburg).  It was all very moving.

After the service there was cake and such celebrating the confirmands.  There was a little unpleasantness as an attendee (former member married to a still-member) behaved badly and scared some people, but after that the room turned brighter.  Later the confirmands, parents, mentors, and a few others like me gathered to close out the process with recognition of the mentors and confirmands and prayer.

It’s a “male” hormone From a biological perspective, men and women are genetically similar in spite of the fact that the medication levitra prescription cost is 100% natural and organic. It helps in reducing debility in any part of the body including penile. lowest prices cialis In other words this realsmartemail LLC you will absolutely cialis pills online deeprootsmag.org get rid of all kinds of difficulties regarding email and stuff. Pfizer, the company that makes sildenafil, sells it under the brand name levitra price.Generic drugs are marketed under a non-proprietary or approved name rather than a downloadable program. I left that to go to the Lawrenceville Main Street Jubilee street fair.  The church got a table at the Jubilee for the first time in years.  The primary purpose was so that my Project Open Door team could survey the community to find out how they perceive the church.  We gave away cookies made by church members and asked many adults and children if they could spare the time for a 5-question survey.  In 4 hours we managed to complete something like 100 to 150 surveys!  Our goal had been 50 or so surveys for all 3 events that we chose to be at, so this was wonderful.  There is some good feedback in all that data.  The only downside to this afternoon is that the gray skies and cold temperatures gave me false security, and without a hat my poor bald scalp got scorched.  It’s not that bad today.

Then back to the church for an hour or so of downtime.  I changed into my evening clothes and had time for about an hour nap before it was time for the youth group activity.

Our Senior High youth group partnered with two other churches in the area through Presbyterian Youth Connection to clean up the path along the Delaware and Raritan canal in Lawrenceville.  Confirmation hampered our numbers, but our church fielded 4 adults and 1 youth.  Another church brought 2 adults and 2 youth, and the 3rd church fielded 3 or 4 adults and about 20 youth.  We worked for about 30 minutes and cleared an area about 20 feet wide and 400 feet long.  It was tough because the terrain was a steep bank from the road down to the path, and then another bank to the canal.  We found a few interesting items among the 7-11 coffee cups, soda bottles and beer cans – one gay porn DVD, a “teach your child French, age newborn to 2” CD, and an entire purse that was stolen from the nearby mall 5 months ago.  We hauled out about 8 or 9 full bags of trash and about 3 or 4 of recyclables.

After that we headed back to the Lawrenceville church and had pizza with the entire group.  This was followed by a short discussion and devotional on Earth Day and stewardship of the earth.

Then I went home – arriving almost exactly 12 hours after I had left in the morning.

It was a good day.

Another Clump of Church

June 4, 2007 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Religion 

I find that my church-related events tend to clump.  In April, I had Youth Sunday on the same day as the Earth Day presentation by the Environmental Stewardship committee.

I’m in the middle of a clump now.

This past weekend was devoted to the Silent Auction fundraiser for the Youth Mission trip to Louisiana.  We received 80-something donations of goods and services (babysitting, music for a dinner party, etc), and on Sunday night during a rainstorm (remnants of Tropical Storm Barry) we raised $3,400.

Next weekend is devoted to the All-Church retreat at Camp Johnsonburg.  We’ll be there from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon.  Carolyn and I (mostly I) will be serving as “native guides” for the trip due to our current and prior involvement with camp and the number of first-time visitors in the group.

Infertility is referred to the biological inability to conceive, after one downtownsault.org levitra generika year of regular sexual intercourse without using contraception. viagra in australia Bile/pancreatic reflux can move this aggressive acid mixture up to the stomach causing gastritis, persistent heartburn, esophageal damage, etc. For a person to order viagra have proper erections he needs to be conversant to the latest techniques and strategies of this field. Male sexual dysfunction is between the major order cheap levitra concerns of middle-aged young men. I got a gift from God this week in the form of the co-chair for the Welcome and Outreach Task Force.  Jill Cifelli has been serving the church as Interim Associate for Pastoral Ministry along with Nolan Huizenga this past year while the church searched for the new Associate Pastor.  Jill’s responsibilities included the new member process.  She is leaving that position at the end of the month when the new Associate starts, and will be going back onto the session.  She will also be my co-chair and the liaison to the session from the task force.  Jill is one of the first few people that I talked to at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville about joining, and I if I’m remembering correctly every conversation that I’ve had with her has included laughter.  I’m really looking forward to this.

To that end, we are meeting with the pastor on Thursday to tie up some loose ends for the task force.  We still have to nail down the rest of the membership (we have one solid member, but the rest of the team is just a list of possible names at this point), and work out the beginning activities.

Things should quiet down after next weekend.

Work is also a bit busy this week, so don’t be surprised if I don’t get a chance to write much.