The Voice of FRC - May 2025

The Franklin Reformed Church

www.frcnutley.com

frcnutley@optimum.net

973-667-7022 Church Office

From the Pastor’s Desk

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5-6

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." Theodore Roosevelt

As many of you know we have spent the last few years in discernment about the future of this

church community. We have prayed, studied Scripture, invited God’s presence to be with us and

engaged in deep thinking together. Over the last year the Consistory has been creating and

discussing scenarios for our future. We began with seven scenarios and have, through conversation, settled on three scenarios to present to the Congregational Meeting on May 18th.

While all of us may have hopes, dreams and wishes for our life together, the fact is that we

need to trust God, as the writer of Proverbs reminds us. Whatever our understandings about the

future of this church community may be currently, we must be faithful to the leading that God is, and has been, doing as we make some difficult decisions.

From the beginning we have agreed that however we choose to move forward, we should do

it with intention and not wait for “something” to happen. Our work together has been deep and

helpful not only in making this decision, but also in recognizing, as Teddy Roosevelt reminds us, that doing “nothing” is the worst-case scenario.

These have not always been easy conversations to have. They are made more complex as we

stand today grounded to our history, all 170 years of it. We have considered both the logic and

reality of the world we live in today, including but not limited to our financial circumstances, but also the deep emotional feelings and attachments we have for the community we have formed and the church campus that has granted us the space to do ministry. I, too, carry many different feelings about these decisions considering our 34 years of our ministry together.

But at this, above all times in our history, we need to trust God. I am reminded of Jesus’

words to Simon the fisherman, in the 16th chapter of Matthew, the 18th verse, “And I tell you, you

are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church and the powers of death shall not prevail against

it.” The word “church” here is from the Greek, ekklesia. While there are many ways to understand

this word, my favorite is “people of a shared belief.”

No matter what the future of this community of faith might be, I am confident that God’s

church, the universal church, will prevail on earth until the coming of God’s realm. And we too are a

part of THAT church. My prayer is that we can trust God with our journey, and of the journey of all

people of shared belief.

This and That

Our Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, May 18th after Worship. We will share a Potluck

lunch; please bring a dish to share. The Consistory with the Mission Church Team has continued to

discuss several different “futures” as we continue to seek God’s guidance for the future of this church community. We have prayed, studied Scripture, invited God’s presence to be with us and engaged in deep thinking together. At our Annual meeting the Consistory will present three possible scenarios as we move into the future. This begins a process to move forward, but a specific decision will not be made that day. We do, however, encourage everyone to join us. Over the next months the Consistory will set aside a half-hour at the beginning of our regular meeting to address questions and concerns that might arise from these scenarios. A second Congregational meeting will be held on October 12th after worship, where the Consistory will seek a vote of confidence from the congregation regarding steps to move forward.

A reminder: Only Active Members are eligible to vote at Congregational meetings. If you do

not know your current membership status (active, inactive or adherent) please be in touch with the

church office, and we can clarify your membership status.

Generally, Communion occurs on the first Sunday of each month, unless otherwise decided by

the Consistory. We will celebrate communion in May on the day of our Annual Meeting, May 18th. If

you are unable to attend services in person, the Pastor is available to bring Communion to your

home. Please call the church office to make a request.

Discovering God Leaders and Learners have selected the theme for 2024-2025: Trees in the

Biblical narrative. In May our tree is the sycamore, with Linda Ribaudo being our guide. We gather at 10am; the meeting is hybrid using the ZOOM link sent out with the Worship materials on Fridays.

Carts of Caring will roll on during the Memorial Day Parade in Nutley on Monday, May 26th.

You can march with us, push a cart, carry a donation bucket, carry our banner, bring donations for

the NFSB Food Pantry, or drop them off at the church by Sunday, May 25th. Members and friends of NFSB will again be joining us. We will gather at the NFSB building on Chestnut Street at 9:45am to decorate the carts and process to the assembly area at the Oval where the Ceremony to honor our veterans will begin at 10:45am. The parade will step off at 11am. Friends and family members of the church are all welcome to join us.

The Classes of Passaic Valley and Greater Palisades are offering a day-long event on Saturday,

May 31st at the Warwick Conference Center (the program begins at 9am and ends by 5pm). The

topic is “Creating Healthy Boundaries; Developing and Keeping Sacred Trust.” Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. This workshop is especially focused on maintaining healthy boundaries for church staff, Sunday School teachers, Consistory members and treasurers. The cost, which is $20 per person, will be covered by the Church. Please be in touch with Pastor Jill for more information or to sign up.

doorjam will be performing in Ocean Grove on Saturday, July 5th at 1:30pm (note this is an

earlier time slot than we usually have). It is also the day of the Ocean Grove 4th of July Parade which steps off at 10:30am on Main Street. Make a day of it! Hope to see you there.

The RCA, in partnership with the Christian Reformed Church in Northern America, produces a

quarterly newsletter called “Breaking Barriers” which deals with disability issues in the church. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter by email, go to rca.org and look under “Publications and Media” or type “Breaking Barriers” into the search line. The form to subscribe is at the bottom of that page.

We are again collecting items and donations for the Welcome Kits that we send to Camp

Sunrise in the summer. There are five weeks of Camp Sunrise this year. Items still needed for the

Welcome Kits are: 85 soaps, at least 20 large bottles of shampoo, 37 packs of tissues, 20 washcloths, and monetary donations of any size. Please place these items in the CAMP SUNRISE box in the sanctuary. Thank you!

We want to assure folks that the new doors for the east side of the Community House have

been ordered. When they arrive, our contractor will schedule a time to install them.

It takes a church! I am grateful to God for all those who have lent a hand, taken on a task and

shown their commitment to the ministry of our congregation over the last month:

• The people who attended the Lenten Book Study

• Tricia for creating the new art piece in the sanctuary for Lent and Easter

• Loretta and Robert who “oversee” the buildings

• Jim T. who looks after the Cemetery

• Jainie and Gail who coordinated the Maundy Thursday Dinner with Communion

• Everyone who gathered to “dress the church” for Easter Sunday

• doorjam who provided special music on Easter

• Everyone who helped to organize and set up for Easter breakfast

• Pastor Luke, a consultant from the Classis, who joined us at our April Consistory Meeting

• The “church mouse” who emptied the smoke stick behind the Community House

• The partnership with Holy Trinity and Grace Episcopal Church for our Lenten programs

We are celebrating the 170th Anniversary of the founding of this congregation this year.

Currently we are planning a Quilt Show and Open House, a Sunday School Reunion in the summer

months, with a picnic - Jeff reminded us that the Sunday School, established prior to the Church, will celebrate 200 years of learning in 2025. A field trip to the Van Bunschoten homestead in Sussex, NJ. An Anniversary Dinner and doorjam’s Christmas Concert. If you are interested in helping to plan any of these events, and we do need your help, please be in touch with Pastor Jill or any member of Consistory.

One of the events that I am excited about will be a Sunday School reunion over the summer.

Everyone who has been educated by the church family will be invited to a Bar-B-Que. It was

wonderful to see some of our alumni during the holiday season. Let Pastor Jill know it you would like to help with the planning for this event.

As a reminder: with the exception of Elders meetings, all church gatherings are open to every

member of the Congregation, including Consistory meetings. If you are interested in attending any

gathering that is announced, contact the church office for more information. Consistory minutes and financial reports are always available upon request.

Tuesday Morning Bible Study: We are studying the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. You

do not need to have been to other sessions; each session is self-contained. Bible study is held via

ZOOM, from 10 to 11:30 am. If you are interested in joining us, please send an email to

frcnutley@optimum.net with Bible Study in the subject line, and you will be added to the invitation

list.

The 2025 Flower Chart has been posted outside of the Sanctuary. The flowers may be given

for special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, in memory of a loved one, etc. The cost for each

Sunday is $30. Jeff Grieco handles the orders. While blessing us with beauty on Sunday mornings,

the flowers are given to a member or friend of the church after each worship service. They go with

our prayers for those who receive them. If you know someone who might be blessed by receiving the flowers, please let Jeff know.

The RCA General Synod made decisions in 2022 regarding the annual assessments. Each

congregation is being assessed according to a percentage of their annual income, as opposed to the number of members that we record with the denomination. The Classis of Passaic Valley and the Regional Synod of the Mid-Atlantics have decided to do the same. We are grateful to those who

regularly make their contribution towards the assessment amount. Assessments for 2025 are

$137.00, or if you use the three Assessment envelopes in your box set it is $46.00 per envelope.

From the Historian

170 years ago, on May 6, 1855, The Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of Franklin, Essex

County, New Jersey was organized by the Classis of Bergen of the Reformed Church in America. Our

congregation has had many Anniversary celebrations.

May 7, 8, and 9, 1905 the Semi-Centennial Anniversary was celebrated under the leadership of

Rev. William Stuart. On Sunday May 7th, in addition to Worship service there was a Sunday School

Rally at 2:30 p.m. with our first Pastor, John S. Lott. Former Pastor A. Messler Quick gave an address

after Rev. Stuart's commemorative sermon. In the evening a there was a special service with our

Mother Church, Belleville and Brookdale Reformed.

Two services were held for our 75th Anniversary on Sunday May 18th. Forner Minister of the

church Rev. Daniel W. Skellenger led the evening service and preached. On Tuesday May 20, 1930, a

service and reception in the Community House were held. Three former pastors gave their greetings to the congregation: Rev. Skellenger, Rev. Milton T. Stauffer and Rev. Harold W. Schenck.

Rev. Arthur Roosenraad was the Pastor when the church celebrated the 75th anniversary, and

in May of 1955 for the 100th anniversary.

May 3 and 4, 1980, when Rev. Leonard A. Jones was our Pastor, we celebrated our 125th

Anniversary with an Open House on Saturday afternoon, Sunday Worship, and an evening dinner in

the Community House.

On Sunday Nov. 4, 1990, when Rev, John Hart was serving as our Interim, a special 135th

service was led by John, and a turkey dinner was held in the Community House afterwards.

During Pastor Jill's ministry with us we have celebrated our 140th anniversary in March

of1996, 150th in 2005 and 160th in 2015 with special services and dinners.

Another church in Nutley has a May anniversary. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Roman Catholic

Church was established 100 years ago on May 13, 1925, originally as a church for the Polish people

of Nutley and Belleville.

From the Hart

It is not easy filling someone else’s shoes! Our good friend Loretta has been sidelined for a

while, so organizing the Welcome Kits for Camp Sunrise has fallen to a small committee. So far it has been a frenzy of “Where are the keys to the cabinet?” “Who usually orders the tote bags?” “How

much shampoo goes into each bottle?” “How many bottles do we need?” And inevitably, “I need a

nap!” I think we have things under control, at least for now. But as always, I am in awe that Loretta

has handled these tasks single-handedly for many years. Get better soon, Loretta. We miss you!

Till next month,

Lin