Dear Centenary Church Family:

This Sunday, June 29, 2008: The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost / Youth Sunday

8:45 AM – Youth & Children Rehearse for Morning Worship Service
9:30 AM – Worship & Summer Sunday School
Centenary Youth & Children Present A Service of Praise
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time
Celebration of Found Coins: ClothesLine Ministry

Reminder to Youth & Children participating in this Sunday’s Worship Service: There will be a time of rehearsal and practice for the service on Friday, June 27 at 7:00 PM in the Centenary Sanctuary. Assistant Pastor Bauknight strongly encourages all participating youth & children to be there…and to be at the church by 8:45 AM this Sunday in order to have a final rehearsal prior to the Worship Service.

Worship and Summer Sunday School will held at 9:30 AM through Sunday, August 31. Please make note of this seasonal change in our Worship and Sunday School schedule for the Summer. (There will be no Sunday School classes on July 6 or August 31.) On Sunday, September 7th, we will resume our Sunday morning schedule with Worship and Sunday School for Pre-K through 12th Grade Youth at 10:15 AM. The Adult Class will continue to meet at 9:00 AM.

Wedding Bells: Congratulations to David Persily and Amy Giamarino who were united in marriage on Sunday, June 22, 2008, at the Valley Regency in Clifton, NJ. Pastor John Painter and Rabbi Alfred Landsberg presided at the interfaith ceremony. Amy and David Persily are residing in Bridgewater, NJ.

Grateful Thanks: We extend our deep appreciation to Scoutmaster Nick Pellegrino and a number of Boy Scouts from Troop #74 who cleared away brush along our Grove Avenue property in mid June.

Information Still Requested About Our 2008 Graduates
2008 College and High School Graduates: We continue to seek any additional information about those Centenary members and friends who graduated from college or high school this year. Please call or e-mail (CentaryUMC@aol.com) the Church Office so we may continue to share in the joy of their accomplishments with the Centenary Church Family.

You are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshments following our Sunday Worship service. Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the many available weeks on the 2008 Refreshment 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.

Centenary will next be serving dinner at the Ozanam Shelter on Monday, July 7. Please check the information on the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up to assist with food preparation or serving. The July Menu: Baked/Barbecued Ribs, Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Cookies, and Ice Cream Bars. For further information, please contact Glenna Gundell (732-463-1431) or Mary Ellen Heim (732-548-2587). Thanks.

Food Collection—Sunday, July 20: Please bring cereals, staple food items in plastic jars or cans, and paper products to share with persons in need in our area. We 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 #4, #5 & #6…not pull-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

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.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. – Ovid

Responsibility is our response to God’s ability.

We all blossom in the presence of one who sees the good in us and who can coax the best out of us. – Desmond Tutu

I am too blessed to be stressed! – Anonymous

No matter what you have, you could always give back a little and gain so much more. – Beverley Mitchell

Our integrity is revealed by our actions at an unguarded moment.

I don’t follow Jesus because I think Christianity is the best religion. I follow Jesus because he leads me into ultimate reality. – Rob Bell

The humble carpenter of Nazareth was also the mighty Architect of the Universe.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love. – Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Morning Prayer
Dear Lord,
So far I’ve done all right.
I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper,
haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent.
I’m really glad about that.
But in a few minutes, God,
I’m going to get out of bed.
And from then on, I’m going to need a lot more help. – Author Unknown

Baseball teaches us, or has taught most of us, how to deal with failure. We learn at a very young age that failure is the norm in baseball and…errors [are] part of the game, part of its rigorous truth. – Francis T. Vincent, Jr.

A superior person brings out the best in others. – Chinese Proverb

You cannot unsay an unkind word.

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. – Galileo Galilei

When the morning’s freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday, when the leg muscles give under the strain, the climb seems endless, and suddenly nothing will go quite as you wish–it is then that you must not hesitate. – Dag Hammarskjold

Next Sunday – July 6, 2008:
9:30 AM – Summer Worship
(Please note that there will be no Summer Sunday School session or Child Care on July 6)
The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost / Sacrament of Holy Communion
Preacher: Terrilisa Durham Bauknight Theme: Not the Last Supper, but the First
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 Romans 7:15-25
Psalm 45:10-17 Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time

Prayer for the Week of June 29: It is our duty and delight to give you thanks, O God, and we praise you for providing for our needs in abundance. Out of your gracious hands has come all that we need for daily living. But mostly we give you thanks for the gift of Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord and Savior. In him we have been drawn to you. In his sacrificial love we have glimpsed your redemptive grace poured out for all creation. Your love is deep, mysterious, unfathomable. Help us to receive your great sacrifice for us, your great gift in Jesus Christ, not to understand it, but rather to experience it in the depths of our being. Amen.

Special Thanks: “I want to share a special word of thanks to the entire Centenary Church Family for your support and caring during my recent Renewal Leave. I am grateful to Assistant Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight for her diligent administrative and pastoral care and oversight during the month of June…and through the first two weeks of July. And I am thankful to Chairperson Jodi Mochel and the members of the Staff-Parish Relations Committee for authorizing this time for spiritual reformation. I look forward to returning to full ministry in the congregation on July 13, and to sharing with you the blessings of my ‘time away.’ In Christ’s Love, Pastor John Painter”

Painters on Vacation: Pastor John and Tina Painter will be spending some vacation time in West Virginia and Lake Junaluska, NC, beginning this Sunday, June 29. They expect to return to Metuchen on Saturday, July 12. Pastor John will be back in the Centenary Pulpit on Sunday, July 13.
During Pastor John’s absence, the Rev. Terrilisa Durham Bauknight, will be “on-call” for pastoral care emergencies. Please contact the Centenary Church Office if you have need of pastoral care. Or when our Church Office is closed, you may contact Pastor Bauknight at 908-419-4101 (cellular).