Dear Centenary Church Family:

Members of Centenary’s Youth Fellowship will lead us in Worship this Sunday, October 29th, at 10:15 AM. They will present a Message to the Children, Unseen, based on the story of Jesus’ healing of Bartimaeus in the Gospel of Mark 10:46-52. (Children in Pre-K through 5th Grade will be dismissed for Sunday School classes following the Children’s Time.) Using special translations of the readings from Psalm 43:1-8 (19-22) and Hebrews 7:23-28, the youth will present Would You Give It All Up?, a Skit/Message involving the entire congregation. During the Offertory, the Harris Ringers handbell choir will offer Grand Chorus by George F. Handel, arranged by Donald E. Allured. Our Celebration of Found Coins will be designated for the 2006 CROP Walk for World Hunger, which was held on October 15th. 25% of the funds raised through the Walk are returned to the local community and are used by the Metuchen-Edison Interfaith Clergy Association to meet emergency needs of households and individuals in our area.

Kids’ Night Out will be tomorrow, Friday, October 27th, from 6:30-8:30 PM. Lots of fun for the children…and some free time for parents. Cost is $8.00 per child for the evening.

Our Adult Study, In the Dust of the Rabbi, continues at 9:00 AM Sundays in the Sunshine Room. This DVD series, featuring master teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan, explores what it means to be a follower of Jesus, not only in the first century, but now in the 21st Century. The series is beautifully filmed on location in Galilee and Asia Minor, a region where the rabbinic practice of selecting disciples (talmidim) was well known, and where disciples walked the walk Rabbi Jesus taught them.

Reminder: This Sunday, October 29th at 6:30 PM: A Spooky Silent Movie, The Phantom of the Opera, with live piano accompaniment by Jonathan Benjamin; popcorn and refreshments served by our Centenary Youth. For very young children, there will be a separate video showing in the Sunshine Room.

Annual Halloween Trunk or Treating at Centenary—October 31st at 7:00 PM: Plan to come an enjoy the Halloween festivities in the rear parking lot as children in their Halloween costumes move among our vehicle trunks to receive their treats!

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

Ozanam Shelter Dinner: Centenary will next be serving dinner at the Ozanam Shelter on Monday, November 6th. Please check the information on the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up to assist with food preparation or serving. For further information, please contact Glenna Gundell (732-463-1431) or Mary Ellen Heim (732-548-2587). Thanks.

Calling All Cooks! Please put Saturday, November 18, 2006, at 6:59 PM on your calendars for a Pampered Chef fundraiser show to benefit the Centenary United Methodist Church budget. Watch for the flyer in the November Lamplighter for additional information, or speak with hostess Tina Painter (732-549-1786).

Thanksgiving Altar Decorations on November 19th: On Sunday, November 19th, Thanksgiving Sunday, we will again decorate our altar with fruits and vegetables as part of our harvest celebration and thanksgiving to God for the abundant blessings we have received. We ask that you donate some of your favorite fruits and/or vegetables, bringing them to the Narthex on Saturday, November 18th, from 10:00 AM—12:00 Noon. (You may also leave them in the Church Office during the weekdays prior.) If you would like to help us arrange these gifts on the altar on that Saturday morning, please let the Church Office or Worship Chairperson Chris Rose know.
In addition, we will be accepting donations of canned goods and non-perishable foods (Thanksgiving Meal trimmings; cereals, peanut butter, etc.) Saturday morning, November 18th (or you may bring them with you to the Worship service on November 19th). We plan to have the children bring these additional gifts forward at the beginning of the service.
After our worship service on Sunday the 19th your gifts will be removed from the altar, packaged, and distributed to families for whom provisions for a Thanksgiving meal will be particularly challenging this year.

2006 Church Conference – Sunday, November 19th at 6:30 PM: The Rev. Veronica P. Palmer, Raritan Valley District Superintendent, has announced that the 2006 Church Conference of Centenary United Methodist Church will be held on Sunday, November 19th at 6:30 PM at Centenary. You are encouraged to enter this date and time in your calendars and plan to attend this annual conference of our church.
As required by The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, and by the laws of the State of New Jersey, official notice is hereby given that at the Church Conference of Centenary United Methodist Church at 6:30 PM on Sunday, November 19, 2006, nominations will be received and an election held for three members of the Class of 2009 of the Board of Trustees. All members of Centenary United Methodist Church are eligible to vote on all matters before the Conference, and to vote in the election of leaders for the new year (except those under the age of 18 are not able to vote on the election of members of the Board of Trustees).
Further information about our 2006 Church Conference will be included in the November Lamplighter.

Community Interfaith Thanksgiving Service
Tuesday, November 21st @ 7:30 PM — Temple Beth El in Edison
The annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve Service sponsored by the Metuchen-Edison Interfaith Clergy Association will be held on Tuesday, November 21st at 7:30 PM. This year the service will be held Temple Beth El @ 91 Jefferson Boulevard in Edison. The Rev. Dr. Ronald Owens, Senior Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Metuchen, will be the keynote speaker for the evening. The Rev. Kathleen Cardy Tice, Senior Pastor of the Stelton Baptist Church in Edison is the Chair of the event.
Numerous clergy of all faiths will participate in the service, together with choirs, liturgical dance groups and congregational singing. Refreshments will be served following the service. Congregation Beth El is located off US Route 1 south, near the Wick Shopping Center; Jefferson Avenue runs south from Plainfield Avenue at the light for the Wick Plaza Center. We trust many from Centenary Church will want to join with worshipers from the churches, synagogues and mosques of the Metuchen and Edison area to participate in this service of celebration and thanks to God.

Refreshments: Persons are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshments following our Sunday Worship services. Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the available weeks on the 2006 Refreshment Chart in the Narthex. Information on what you need to provide is available from Pastor Painter or by speaking with Millie Pleuler (732-750-4434). Thank you for providing hospitality on a Sunday morning.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

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

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. – Storm Jameson

Birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn’t we? – Rose Kennedy

Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them. – Ann Landers

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. – Ben Williams

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference. – Reinhold Niebuhr

To have prevented one single sin is reward enough for the labors and efforts of a whole lifetime. – St. Ignatius of Loyola

To maintain our soul in a state of peace, it suffices to perform all our actions in God’s presence. – St. Francis de Sales

A Christian is someone who shares the sufferings of God in the world. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Next Sunday, November 5: The 22nd Sunday After Pentecost / All Saints’ Sunday / The Sacrament of Holy Communion
9:00 AM – Adult Class – In the Dust of the Rabbi
10:15 AM – Worship & Sunday School (Pre-K thru Senior High)

Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: The Grace to Forget
Lectionary Readings:
Pentecost 22 Ruth 1:1-18 Hebrews 9:11-14
Psalm 146 Mark 12:28-34
All Saints’ Sunday Isaiah 25:6-9 Revelation 21:1-6a
Psalm 24 John 11:32-44
11:30 AM – Fellowship Time (Room 20)
5:30 PM – Junior Choir Rehearsal (Music Room)
6:30 PM – United Methodist Youth Fellowship (Youth Rm./Rm. 20)
All Saints’ Sunday, November 5th: At our 10:15 AM Service of Worship next Sunday, November 5th, we will name and remember those members and friends of the Centenary Church Family who have joined the Communion of Saints since last November. If you have loved ones or friends who have died since November 6th, 2005, and you would like their names lifted up in memory during our All Saints’ Sunday Service, please provide that information to the Church Office by Wednesday, November 1st, so that they may be included. You may leave those names with Mary Kay Dangremond by phone during regular Church Office hours (9:00AM-1:00 PM weekdays), or provide them to the Church by E-mail (CentaryUMC@aol.com ), Fax (732-548-6256), or regular mail.

Prayer for the Week of October 29: Pause on this our road of life, loving Jesus, and find us now. Look into our souls and ask us what it is we need from you, heal us that we may see, hear, and live fully as your people Come, Holy Spirit, come. This we pray in faith. Amen.

I look forward to sharing in study, Worship and fellowship with many of you at Centenary this Sunday.

Shalom, John