CREATION FESTIVAL 2013

Pastor Cynthia, 2 adults, and 2 youth from CPC attended the largest Christian Musical Festival in the US on June 26-30 in Mt. Union, PA.  Creation Festival had multiple stages for worship, concerts, and Christian Education, as well as camping, food, mission events, and extreme sports!  It rained every day which was a blessing to help keep things cool in the summer months in a tent! 

Check out some photos of our great experience and plan to join us next summer!

Main Stage at Creation Festival with close to 85,000 tickets sold in 2013!

surfing!

rock climbing

  

candlelit worship



Pastor Cynthia's Farewell Sunday

After 2 years of ministry with CPC as our
Interim Associate Pastor for Family, Youth, & Children's Ministries.
Pastor Cynthia's term will end with us this July.

On this coming Sunday, June 23^rd Pastor Cynthia will preach at both our 8:30 and 10 am worship services.  There will be a farewell reception in her honor after the 10 am worship service.

Pastor Cynthia's last Sunday at CPC will be July 7^th and her last day in the office will be July 16^th.

Please join us in wishing her and her family well!

special worship service june 9

This coming Sunday, June 9th all students in 1st grade and older will remain in the sanctuary
for the entire 10 am worship service. 
This worship service will include music from our children and youth,
a dramatic reading of scripture from several different voices,
and elements that are easily accessible for our youngest worshippers.

The nursery will be open for infant and toddler care.

All Pre-School and Kindergarten students will be dimissed from worship for Sunday School as usual.

Celebrating youth!

On May 18th, CPC welcomed 14 new members from our Confirmation Class at a breakfast with friends, family, and church elders.  On May 19th, our worship service was led by the children & youth of our congregation.  We featured youth musicians, youth artists, and youth liturgists.  We were blessed by two youth and one mom who preached!  It was certainly a joyous Pentecost weekend at CPC!


14 confirmation students worshipping with their families
after answering affirmatively the questions of new members



confirmation breakfast



summer family church event!

CREATION FESTIVAL

June 26^th - 29^th in Mt. Union, PA
80,000+ people

100+ Christian Bands and Speakers

4 days of music, worship, extreme sports, and inspirational messages

Camping, food, music, fellowship, road trip, FUN!

If you are interested please contact Pastor Cynthia

registration deadline is June 15^th.

Full event tickets are $105 which includes camping & all concerts.

This trip is open to youth 12 years of age and up
as well as families of every age!

CPR & AED training

The PTO of the CPC Weekday Nursery School & Kindergarten offered CPR and AED training to parents and caregivers recently.  The classes were led by Rev. Cynthia Betz-Bogoly.  23 individuals were certified to use the on-site Automated External Defibrillators at the church where the nursery school is located as well as provide emergency response to choking victims, peform rescue breathing, and perform CPR on infants, children, and adults.  Thank you to the PTO and those who came to the class, your willingness to learn will lead to a better chance of saving lives!

Pastor Cynthia leading the CPR/AED class

Senior High Mission Trip Fundraiser a success!

Thank you to everyone who made donations of volunteer time and items for our rummage sale this past Saturday.  We were able to raise money tp support scholarships for participants in our 2013 summer Senior High Mission Trip with the Appalachian Service Project as well as provide necessary items to those in need locally for a very discounted price!

If you wish to make further finanical contributions toward the mission trip you can support the bake sales on May 5th and June 9th after worship or simply desginate a financial gift toward the SH mission trip.

We have over 20 youth and several adults who will travel for a week to West Virginia to assist in home repairs for those in need this coming July.

HOLY WEEK EVENTS AT CPC

Please join us!

Thursday, March 28^th at 8 pm in the Sanctuary for our Maundy Thursday Worship including the Motet Choir, the Celebration of the Lord's Supper, worship leadership from Rev. Don Steele and several CPC members, as well as a service of Tenebrae candle lighting.

At 9:30 am on Good Friday, March 29^th all children and their families are invited to join Rev. Cynthia Betz-Bogoly in the annual Children's Walk with the many churches of Summit.

We begin in the CPC auditorium and then walk from church to church throughout town to hear, see, sing, and learn the story of Holy Week led by youth, musicians, and pastors from our neighboring churches.

We will walk from CPC to the Memorial Hall of St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church, then to the lawn of Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary, from there we process to Christ Church’s Barnwell Hall, and then into the Sanctuary of Christ Church, from which we head to the Memorial Garden at St. John's Lutheran Church, and finally finish our walk in the sanctuary of St. John's Church.

At noon on Good Friday, March 29^th Rev. John Illian will lead worship in the chapel

On Easter morning, Sunday, March 31^st

·  Sunrise worship is at 6:30 am in the Memorial Garden with a message preached by Rev. Don Steele followed by a continental breakfast

·  9 am worship features the children flowering the cross in the sanctuary

·  11 am worship in the sanctuary

·  11 am children's crafts, snacks, and a movie in the auditorium

 

Palm Sunday Evening Worship

On the evening of Palm Sunday we gathered to praise God using our voices and our bodies.  We focused on finding our own answers  to the question "Is Jesus Who You Expected?" through exploring scripture and discussion with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We offered up our palms in praise through artistic expression reaching toward Jesus' glory just like those who gathered along the roadside reaching out in praise to Jesus as he triumphantly entered Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week.  We offered up our love and prayers through the creation of care cards for those in our faith community who are hurting.  We also gathered around the Lord's Table to celebrate Communion and later in the evening we shared around the dinner table in a delicious meal prepared by some of our church volunteers.


using paint this Palm Sunday to add our palms of praise to the image of the triumphant cross

Pastor Cynthia delivering the evening message on Phillipians 2:5-11

exciting news for our sister church!

La Iglesia Presbiteriana Nuevas Fronteras is being officially chartered by the
Presbytery of Elizabeth as a PC(USA) congregation on March 17th.

This is the congregation with partner with for the annual Sharing Tree providing gifts for needy families at Christmas as well as the monthly soup kitchen at which our senior high students and adult volunteers prepare and serve a hot meal for those in need in Plainfield.

CPC volunteers preparing dinner

 

CPC volunteers cooking!



serving line full of delicious free food preprared by CPC members!



church auditorium where dinner is served and free clothing distributed

baked apples!

Lenten Worship

Last night over 50 worshippers gathered to continue our Lenten Journey together through song, prayer, praise, fellowship, sharing personal reflections on scripture with each other, and the study of God's Word.  We brought our footsteps to the base of the cross because each life is a journey we must travel with a deep consciousness of God.  Every journey in our lives as Christians brings us to the foot of the cross.

SOUPER BOWL OF CARING FEEDS OUR NEIGHBORS IN NEED

On Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3, our middle school and senior high students volunteered for the SOUPER BOWL OF CARING food drive at CPC spearheaded by our confirmation students.  We collected $256 and over 300 food items to support SHIP - Summit Helping Its People.  Also, over 20 volunteer youth and adults helped to advertise, collect, and sort the donations.

entering into Lent

            This past Sunday, our middle school students served dinner at SHIP to those in need in our community and orur senior high students gathered to make Valentine's Day cards as well as have a silly gift exchange.  These two ministry programs partnered with our morning worship services and Sunday School allowed our youth to live as disciples of our Lord.
            Now as we enter into the Lenten season today our congregation will gather in the chapel at 8 pm for our Ash Wednedsay worship serivce.

Ash Wednesday is a day of mourning for our sin and the sins of all humanity before God, a recognition of our mortality save for the grace of God, and a request that the Lord remember our creation and breathe new life into our burned-out, dusty lives once more.  It is Christ, not us by our own actions, who saves us from the ravages of sin, and it is upon Him that our hope is placed.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a time where we undergo a discipline that helps us become better disciples.  Traditional Ash Wednesday services include an imposition of ashes, which is the marking of an ashen cross on our foreheads with the pastor’s thumb dipped in a little olive oil mixed with the ashes of last year's Palm Sunday branches.  The mark of the cross upon the forehead, like the mark of Cain (Genesis 4), is God’s mark of grace upon us that we might not die even though we are obvious sinners.

This evening we will also be celebrating the Lord's Supper together as we begin our Lenten journey.

Debut of praise band at evening worship brings glory to God!

This past Sunday evening our praise band, 14 members strong,
had their debut as worship leaders at CPC.

75 worshippers gathered to hear God's word, sing God's praise,
celebrate at the Lord's Table, and fellowship over a catered dinner together.

Our next Celebration of Gifts evening worship service sponsored by the
Alternative Worship Team will occur on Sunday, Feb, 24th at 5:30 pm.

2 upcoming weekends of exciting worship and mission!

This coming Sunday, Jan. 20 is our annual Unity Worship service with Wallace Chapel and Fountain Baptist Church at 10 am at CPC.  Following our morning of worship together, our senior high students are invited to join in our 3rd Sunday mission event at the Soup Kitchen in Plainfield.

On Saturday, January 26th our Middle Schoolers will be volunteering at "Second Time Around", the Junior League Thrift Shop in Summit from 9:30am-11:30am. 

Interested in worshipping with us in the evening or joining our new praise band?

A Celebration of Gifts - Alternative Worship at CPC

Join us on January 27^th at 5:30 pm in the Auditorium for worship led by youth and adults.

Our focus will be on "New Beginnings"

We will celebrate communion, lift up our voices in song, hear God’s Word, and fellowship together.

 Join us after worship for a catered meal.  $5 per person/$20 per family

 Our offering during worship will benefit scholarships for participants in the
Senior High Mission Trip this coming summer to West Virginia.

 
 

 

 

JAM SESSION

On January 6 we had our first jam session with the new alternative worship music leader at CPC, Adam Gilbert.  Adam will be partnering with the Alternative Worship Team and Pastor Cynthia for the next 3 months to revamp our alternative worship program.
We will be worshipping in the auditorium at 5:30 pm on January 27, February 24, and March 24.
Instrumentalists and vocalists of all ages and skill levels are welcome to join us for rehearsals and the worship services.  Please contact Pastor Cynthia for more details.

Adam Gilbert and Noni MacPherson lead several youth and adult instrumentalists and vocalists
in reherasing the Newsboys praise song "He Reigns"