Emerging From Our Cocoon

 

For Communion this past Sunday, we did something we have not done in years. We shared the body of Christ as bread cut and cubed for people to take. We shared the blood of Christ as grape juice in open, actually cups for people to take. As two separate offerings. Without masks. Without distancing. For the longest time in the pandemic, we did not share public worship at all. For an even longer time, we used the “pandemic packets” for our celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

The ”pandemic packets” are ‘all-in-ones’, peel back the first tab for the wafer and the second for the grape juice in the cup beneath. One was clear, the other was silvery purple. It was safe, it was individualized, it got us through. It was annoying. I do not have the dexterity of fingers to open them without feeling clumsy. 

What we did not do, however, was return to our previous mode of serving. It was the practice of our church that people would remain in their seats and servers would come with the bread and the cup in turn. Since the pandemic, we do not have the numbers or the organization to accomplish that.

For us at First Presbyterian in Perth Amboy, the pandemic was the second in a ‘one-two’ combo over the last few years. Before the pandemic, we moved to Westminster Hall for an extended period to remediate the mold and repair the boilers for the Sanctuary. By the grace of God, we had insurance for that, but by the grace of the insurance industry, they dropped us after we used it, citing other repairs to be done.  They can cite what they want, the took our insurance because we used our insurance.

So, we struggle with attendance, we struggle with the financial means to finish some work that would get us a much better insurance deal, we struggle as we look to the future. But we worship the Lord faithfully. What was a tool to worship without gathering, our virtual services, have continued as a means of outreach.

So who are we today as the First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy?  For me, there are three things to define us. We seek to be people who communicate powerfully with our God, committing ourselves to lives of prayer, renewing our connections with the Almighty. We seek to be people who reflect deeply on who are God is, in our heads and in our hearts, drawing together from the Bible, from our experiences, from our traditions to declare for the Lord. We wish to be people who cannot contain this love and grace we have received in Jesus Christ but must carry it to the world.

Join us, support our church in work and in worship. You can give to the church at

First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy

45 Market St.

Perth Amboy, NJ  08861

You can worship with us in person in the sanctuary each Sunday morning at 10am. You can worship with us virtually at our Facebook page, First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy or on our church blog site, https://firstchurchperthamboy.blogspot.com/.  May God bless you and may God bless our church.

Peace,
Pastor Peter