Stockton Presbyterian Church

The Good News Ringers and Singers, from the Good News Home in Flemington, NJ will be participating in worship on Sunday April 11th at 11am. 

The group will perform vocally and as a bell choir during the worship service.

The popular virginia based gospel group, The Skyline Boys, will be performing a concert at the church on Sunday evening, April 18th at 6pm. 

During the concert, a free will offering will be taken for the musicians.  A free coffee hour with dessert will take place in the main hall after the concert, with opportunity to meet the Skyline Boys and purchase CD’s.

Did you know that April is National Poetry month?

On Wednesday April 7th, the church will be hosting a Poetry Reading Night.  Our guest will be poet Ray Brown.  The reading will take place from 7 to 7:45, with a time of coffee and dessert afterward.  The event is free and open to the public.

A brief biography of Ray Brown from the newversenews.blogspot.com

Ray Brown lives in Frenchtown, NJ. His first collection of poems, I Have His Letters Still, will be published in June. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, his poetry has appeared in the 13th Annual Poetry Ink Chapbook, Moonstone Publishing, Philadelphia; The Star-Ledger of Newark; NJ Lawyer Magazine; and at PoetsSpeak.com. He received a NJ Poetry Society 2009 Recognition Award, and will be published in upcoming volumes of The Edison Literary Review, The Big Hammer, FreeXpresSion, The River Poets Journal, and The River. Three of his poems have been published by The New Verse News.

The Stockton Sanctuary is such a beautiful space, and it is a wonderful partnership when renters can use this space for their service of holy matrimony.

This year, we will be hosting four weddings.  Our first is a Sunday afternoon wedding on April 11th.

The sanctuary and space will also be used on May 15, June 19 and July 10 for services of Holy matrimony.

L.I.G.H.T. House (Learning Is Good, Helpful and Team-based) bible Study is a once a month gathering for Adults during the Education Hour.

We meet from 10am to 10:40am in the Woolverton Room.  Our next meeting is Sunday March 21st, where we will be studying Philippians 4.

In April, we will start a study on the Paul’s Letter to the Colossians.

All are welcome.  This is a great opportunity for parents to nurture their spiritual life while children are in Sunday School.

As Holy Week approaches, the church is partnering with local congregations to offer worship to God.

Mt. Airy Presbyterian will be offering a Maunday Thursday service on April 1st. 

Stockton will be providing a Good Friday service at 7pm on April 2nd at 7pm.

Mt. Airy, Stockton, Old Rocks Community Church and the Wesleyan Church in Stockton will partner to offer a Easter Sunrise service at Dilts Farm Park in Sergeanstville on Easter morning.

We will offer our traditional 11am worship service on Easter Sunday.

Stockton Church is proud to partner with local radio WDVR (Sergeantsville) as the new host to WDRV’s Saturday evening show:  The Heartland Hayride.

The Heartland Hayride is a live country music show.  It gathers two Saturday’s per month, from 6-8pm.  The show is in the sanctuary of the church.  A dinner is offered at 5:30 at an additional price.

Tentative Dates for the show include:

• February 6 and 20
• March 13 and 27
• April 10 and 24
• May 8 and 22
• June 10 and 24

Click on the link below to learn about our Presbytery’s hunger action program. 

Leading the way is Rev. Marcia MacKillop, who will be guest worship leader at Stockton Presbyterian church.

“All the apostles asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do”  —St. Paul, Galatians 2:10

Presbyterian Hunger Action

Dear Sisters and brothers in Christ,

 We are inviting you to be a part of our all new and exciting Sunday School program, “How They Lived, How We Live”.

 We will be exploring daily life in biblical times such as breaking bread, making jewelry and pottery as well as looking at some special people and events.  How are our lifestyles similar…and different?

 In striving to grow our sense of community, we will participate in all activities as one group.  We will gather for opening exercises and then proceed to the morning’s scheduled event. Opening exercises will begin promptly at 9:45 in the sanctuary led by Pastor Ken and the Event Leader of the day. 

•  Arts and Crafts Leader:  Megan Ego
• Bible Leader:  BJ Miller
• Mission & Games:  Sally Horner
• Play Practice and Singing:  Joyce Opdyke

An example of how one month would look:

October 4^th                  Bible Story and Faith Interview

October 11^th                Arts and Crafts

October 18^th                Mission and Games

October 25^th                Play Practice (for Christmas Pageant) and Singing

 Each week, at least one adult will be taking responsibility as the day’s event leader.  Our recent confirmation class and other teenagers will provide a rotating leadership presence, helping the event leaders.  In addition, the teens will have their own class once a month.

 Rally Day will kick off on September 13^th at 9:45.  Come join the fun!

 Shalom,

Sunday School Staff

The cost to get a mosquito bed net to a child at risk for Malaria in Kenya is about $10.  Much of that cost goes into shipping and handling.  Nets have about a five year lifespan and need to be replaced.  Each day, about 3,000 people die from Malaria in the world, mostly children and elderly.

The Elders of the Stockton church have approved a plan to equip local Kenyan citizens to start making a living by producing mosquito nets.

Dr. Brad Elder of Doane College is in Kenya developing a program to reduce cases of malaria, reduce dependance on foreign charity, clean up the environment and provide human dignity through employment.  Dr. Elder is a contact of one of our Elders at the church.

The plan is to harvest plastic bags festering in bushes and trees throughout the Kenyan landscape, press them into 8-ply sheets of plastic, have holes punched in them and stitched into mosquito nets.

Approximately $1500 establishes an individual/church or civic group to start a micro-business making mosquito nets.  The end product costs 5 cents to produce and can be sold locally at affordable prices.  It is amazing to think that $10 could save a life…but what about 5 cents?  By equipping the start up costs for a business, the end result is far more efficient.

Our goal at Stockton is to raise $3,000, enough to start two businesses.  Our hope is to partner with the community.  If you would like to help, checks can be made to Stockton Presbyterian Church.  Please include Mosquito Nets Save Kids on the memo line.

Some of the items that are included in the business start up…

1. First aid kit, $62  (U.S. dollar amount)
2. Ironing Table, $106
3. Sewing Machine, $172
4. Rubber gloves, $125 for 80 pairs
5. Tailoring Scissors, $15 for 4
6. Overalls, $300 for 40 pair
7. Iron Boxes, $13 for 4
8. Tracing/wax paper, $17.50 for 20 meters

We are very excited about supporting this mission.  We feel it has several positive elements, including human dignity, environmental sensitivity and economic empowerment, in addition to literally saving lives.

Thank you in advance for any way that you can help with this mission project.  The peace of the Lord be with you.