9:30 AM — Worship & Summer Sunday School
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Hearing & Doing – Living & Giv-ing
Lectionary Readings: Song of Solomon 2:8-13 James 1:17-27 Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 (or Psalm 72) Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Music: TBA
Celebration of Found Coins: Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
10:45 AM — Fellowship Time

Summer Worship & Sunday School will be held at 9:30 AM. through Sun-day, September 6, 2009. (Note: There will be no Summer Sunday School sessions on the holiday weekend of September 6.) On “Homecoming Sunday,” September 13th, we will re-sume our regular schedule with Worship and Sunday School for Pre-K through 12th Grade Youth at 10:15 AM. The Adult Class will also resume its sessions at 9:00 AM on Sep-tember 13 in the Sunshine Room. Save the afternoon of Sunday, September 13 for our an-nual “Homecoming Picnic” at Merrill Park in Colonia (Rain Date: September 20). Details in the September edition of The Lamplighter, weekly Worship bulletins, and in weekly Centen-ary E-pistles to those for whom we have E-mail addresses.

Dear Centenary Church Family:

This Sunday at Centenary: August 30, 2009
The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost

9:30 AM– Worship & Summer Sunday School
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Hearing & Doing – Living & Giving
Lectionary Readings: Song of Solomon 2:8-13 James 1:17-27
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 (or Psalm 72) Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Children’s Message: Pastor Keith Swatzel
Celebration of Found Coins:Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
Music: TBA
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time(Room 20)

In my Message this Sunday, I am planning to share some thoughts with you around the issue of health care in America. Several general agencies (Boards of Church & Society and Global Ministries among them) and many leaders in our United Methodist Church have asked that United Methodist Pastors address these concerns on this particular Sunday. My intent is to approach this matter from the perspective of faith, and with the understanding of the role of the faith community as one which addresses our moral and ethical concerns. I look forward to sharing in conversation with you this Sunday around this critical issue facing our nation.

We look forward to welcoming Student Assistant Pastor Keith A. Swatzel, II and Ying Yu Wu-Swatzel home to Centenary this Sunday morning, following their summer sojourn in Texas. Keith and Ying Yu are grateful for your continued thoughts and prayers for them as they traveled back to NJ this week.

Volunteers Needed to Teach Sunday School Beginning in September
Please speak with Maria Morgan (732-662-9391) or Cathy Jean Savoia (732-826-1921) if you can offer your time and love to our children…Pre-K through 6thGrade…on Sunday mornings at 10:15 AM. You do not have to commit to every Sunday…and “substitute teachers” are always welcome and needed. Thank you.

Persons are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshmentsfollowing our Sunday Worship services.Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the many available weeks on the2009Refreshment Chart in the Narthex. Information on what you need to provide is available on the information sheet attached to the Refreshment Chart.Thank you for providing hospitality on a Sunday morning.

Please faithfully use your offering envelopes during the Summer, and at every possible opportunity to help with the progress our Church is making in underwriting our ministry and mission this year. God is good to us, and one by one we can make a difference in sharing the gospel story, if we work together in the days ahead.
Thank you in the name of Jesus Christ for making ministry possible.

A Reminder of Three Upcoming Events as we prepare to begin our Fall Schedule:

CUMC BACK-TO-SCHOOL PICNIC

Come One, Come All

To the Back-To-School Picnic following service on Sunday, September 13 (rain date September 20). It’s going to be in Merrill Park, Colonia, (same as last year) where you can play volleyball, badminton, croquet and other assorted activities including softball, so bring your glove. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken and beverages will be provided. Please bring your favorite salad or dessert. Also bring a folding chair for relaxing afterward. Hope to see everyone there!

Directions: R on Dellwood. L on Grove Ave. R at light onto Middlesex Ave./Rte 27.
At 6thlight (2.5 miles), R onto Green St. Immediate L just after underpass onto Middlesex Turnpike.
0.5 miles to Merrill Park. Once in park, follow one-way road 0.5 miles to Grove 1B on the left.
Parking lot is just past Grove 1B, to the left.

Centenary United Methodist Church
Invites you and your friends to our
OPEN HOUSE
Sunday, September 20, 2009
10:15 AM service

As we return to our fall schedule of family and church activities, we invite everyone to bring one or more friends, neighbors, or family members to experience the warm welcome of
Centenary. The service will include some special moments designed to help our
visitors learn about us, Centenary, and Methodism.

Please invite your friends and family to join us for worship.

Our hearts, our minds, and our doors are always open.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Centenary United Methodist Church

Invites you and your friends to our

Roast Beef Dinner
With all the trimmings!

Saturday, September 26, 2009
6:30 PM

Served Family Style

$15.00 for anyone 13 years and over
$ 5.00 for anyone between 6 and 12 years
Under 5 years – FREE

Please invite your friends and family to join us.
Our hearts, our minds, and our doors are always open.

Centenary United Methodist Church
200 Hillside AveMetuchen, NJ08840
Phone 732-548-7622

Adult Class Resumes September 13 with “The Prayers Of Jesus”
Centenary’s Adult Class will reconvene on Sunday, September 13 at 9:00 AM in the Sunshine Room with a seven-week DVD study on “The Prayers of Jesus.”
From his baptism to his crucifixion, the Gospels portray Jesus as a man of prayer who knew and deeply valued intimate communion with God. This series, led by some of the country’s leading Bible scholars, will give us an in-depth look at the prayers of Jesus and provide new insights into prayer, the character of God, and how we can deepen our relationship with God.
The topics that will be covered and the scripture passages on which they are based include:
· Watch and Pray—Jesus’ Model Prayer Life(Mark 1: 32-39; 9: 9-29; 14: 32-42);
· Our God Listens—The Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8);
· Joining in Jesus’ Prayer—The Lord’s Prayer(Matthew 6: 9-13);
· Praying to a Good God—The Friend at Midnight (Luke 11: 5-13);
· Praying with Purpose—Jesus’ Final Prayer (John 17); and
· A Friend in High Places—Faith, Prayers, and Answers (John 14: 13-14).
We will conclude this series on Sunday, October 25, with a short film from the NOOMA series called “Open,” which focuses on the question, “Does God answer prayer?” and offers a fresh perspective on how we approach the things in life that compel us to pray.
We invite you to join us for a new year of Bible study, starting Sunday, September 13, from 9:00 to 10:00 AM in the Sunshine Room.

Donations Still Welcome For Heifer Project “Joy to the World” Fundraiser
Even though we have surpassed our $1,500 goal, the Missions Committee is continuing to accept donations for its Heifer Project “Joy to the World” mission outreach project for 2009.
The money we have raised so far ($1,762.61) through your generous giving, will enable us to donate nine animals—one heifer, two sheep, four goats, and two llamas—to impoverished families around the world to help them become self-reliant. Any additional money we collect between now and the end of the year will allow us to donate additional livestock.
If you would like to contribute to this life-changing program, place a check in the offering plate made out to Centenary United Methodist Church, and write “Joy to the World” on the memo line.

Centenary United Methodist Women
DO YOU KNIT, CROCHET, OR DO ANY OTHER CRAFT??It is not too early to think about doing something for the Women’s booth at the Metuchen Fair. The Metuchen Fair is the first weekend in October and we need many items to sell at the fair. This is our only fund raiser for the year. If you have any ideas or can make some items for the fair, please talk to Sylvia Woodfield (732-549-9042) and give her your suggestions. If you have an idea for a craft, let her know and we can arrange for a workshop so that others may share in the craft.
CAMPBELL SOUP LABELSand other related products: We are still collecting these labels for the Red Bird Mission. There have been BIGchanges to the Labels program. The part of the label that we need is the UPC section along with the Labels for Education symbol.Please check out the UMW bulletin board (in the area near the Men’s Room) for more information on how these labels need to be collected. There is a basket in the Church Library to receive your labels. The Red Bird Mission, in Beverly, Kentucky, is a Mission Project of the United Methodist Church. The latest newsletter from the Red Bird Mission says they expect to be able to acquire a van in 2009 with their 1,600,000 points received from all the Labels that they received for the last two years.
PECANS, TRAIL MIX, CHOCOLATES, ETC.will be available in late October. This will be a fund raiser for the church budget this year.

TheCentenary Book Clubwill meet for its first session of the new club year on Friday, September 18, 2009, at 7:30 PM in the Sunshine Room. The group is hoping to be selected for either a conference call or personal visit from Barbara Delinsky who is the author of our Summer Read 2009, While My Sister Sleeps. The Book Club is open to men and women ages 18 years and older.

Food Collection—Sunday, September 20
Please bring cereals, staple food items in plastic jars or cans, and paper products to share with senior residents in Perth Amboy. We and they are deeply grateful for your generous sharing.
Special Appeal for Diapers and Infant/Toddler Food for Amandla Crossing:Your assistance is needed to provide diapers (sizes#3, #4, #5 & #6…andpull-ups) and infant & toddler food for children at Amandla Crossing. Please bring the items to Centenary and leave them in the boxes provided in the Narthex. Thank you. —Your Mission Committee

Some Thoughts for This Week:

Live with passion.
Live with purpose.
Live for others. – Jeffrey Immelt

My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. – Desmond Tutu

You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out he hates all the same people you do. – Anne Lamott

We should never measure our achievements by what others haven’t done.

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Two things happen to a Christian—something happens in us and something happens through us.

The church must go into the world because the world won’t come into the church.

Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good. – Mohandas Gandhi

Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Always remember to forget the troubles that passed away,
but never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.

Prayer holds together the shattered fragments of the creation. It makes history possible. – Jacques Ellul

If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning. – Catherine Aird

True faith does not contradict its words by its conduct. – Unknown

I can change only myself, but sometimes that is enough. – Ruth Humlecker

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein

When we accept tough jobs as a challenge and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles can happen. – Arland Gilbert

I have learned that a good friend is the purest of all God’s gifts, for it is a love that has no exchange or payment. – Frances Farmer

The smallest things become great when God requires them of us; they are small only in themselves; they are always great when they are done for God, and when they serve to unite us with Him eternally. – Francois Fenelon

Jesus promised the disciples three things — that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy and in constant trouble. – G. K. Chesterton

Next Sunday at Centenary: September 6, 2009
The Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Sacrament of Holy Communion

9:30 AM – Worship (There will be No Summer Sunday Schoolon Labor Day Weekend)
Theme: A Summer Hymn Sing, Part 2
Lectionary Readings: Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 James 2:1-17
Psalm 125 Mark 7:24-37
10:45 AM – Fellowship Time(Room 20

Summer Worship & Sunday School continues at 9:30 AM. through Sunday, September 6, 2009.(Note: There will be no Summer Sunday School sessionson the holiday weekend of September 6.)On “Homecoming Sunday,” September 13th, we will resume our regular schedule with Worship and Sunday School for Pre-K through 12thGrade Youth at 10:15 AM. The Adult Class will also resume its sessions at 9:00 AM on September 13 in the Sunshine Room. Save the afternoon of Sunday, September 13 for our annual “Homecoming Picnic” at Merrill Park in Colonia(Rain Date: September 20).Details in the September edition of The Lamplighter, weekly Worship bulletins, and in weekly Centenary E-pistles to those for whom we have E-mail addresses.

Prayer for the Week of August 30:Thank you, God of giving, for granting me one more hour, one more moment, in which I might serve you. Thank you, God of caring, that I might once more become your partner. You no longer call me a servant but friend, and as a member of your family I seek to share in your inheritance, which is your desire to lift up the fallen, sustain the struggling, strengthen the weak, speak honestly to the proud and mighty, and proclaim your kin-dom. Thank you once more for this opportunity which I take hold of with holiness. Amen.

Pastor Painter Attending “Jesus’ Last Night with His Disciples”
Continuing Education Series at Ocean Grove
Just a reminder that I am continuing to attend the continuing theological education series on “Jesus’ Last Night with His Disciples” at Ocean Grove this morning and tomorrow morning. Dr. James Fleming has been guiding us through this remarkable biblical exploration of Passover and the Last Supper, and the resources he is sharing will be invaluable for us as we prepare to observe Maundy Thursday during Holy Week in April 2010. I leave Metuchen each morning by 8:00 AM and generally return to the area by around 1:30 to 2:00 PM. If needed for a pastoral concern, I am available to be contacted by cellular phone (201-463-5552) while attending these continuing education sessions. Thank you for offering me the time and resources to attend this annual continuing education event with Dr. Fleming, and for your prayers for traveling mercies each day.

I look forward to sharing with you in Worship and Christian Fellowship at Centenary on this final Sunday in August.

In Christ’s Love, Pastor John