FPC News email 6/20/2013

June 20, 2013

FPC NEWS

PERSONNEL UPDATE

As was reported by the Personnel Committee at the Session meeting on Tuesday, June 18th, the decision was made to restructure the custodial responsibilities of the church. Rather than having two fulltime positions, Building Manager and Sexton, we will now have one fulltime position, Building Manager, and the Sexton will become a part-time position. Of course, the elimination of the fulltime Sexton position means the release of Lee Roberson. This information was shared with Lee yesterday morning (6/19), so he is no longer a member of our staff. Whenever decisions which affect individuals and families are made, it is always difficult. We assured Lee that this decision did not reflect on him personally, but was a decision we felt was in the best interests of the church.

The new part-time position will have different hours and different responsibilities, and we are looking to fill it by September. The position description isn’t complete, but we anticipate including some later afternoon/early evening hours, as well as some weekend duties. We will be completing the position description soon, and begin advertising.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Mike Bruchac (Ruling Elder and Chair of Personnel Committee), Tom Everett (Ruling Elder on Personnel Committee), or myself. We will be glad to answer your questions.

SWEDISH CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Many of you will remember the group from a Swedish church in Göteborg, Sweden who visited us for several weeks last summer. Pastor Anders Stenback brought close to a dozen youth from his congregation, and they enriched our congregation by preaching (Pastor Anders) and singing in worship and staying in the homes of a number of our members. This year, it’s our turn to visit them, so a group of youth, accompanied by Minister of Music Barb Piercy, Pam Ramsden, and Sandra Nathans leave today for a two week visit. They will sing in worship this coming Sunday at the church Pastor Stenback serves, and renew some of the friendships which were forged last summer. Please keep them in your prayers!

GENERATOR NEEDED FOR THE WEST ESSEX FIRST AID SQUAD

The West Essex First Aid Squad is the regional Emergency Medical Service organization providing EMS service to Caldwell, Essex Fells, Fairfield, North Caldwell and West Caldwell. In 2012 they responded to 2,757 calls, an average of 7.5 calls per day. As the EMS agency for each town’s Emergency Operating Plans, they depend on donations to exist as a volunteer agency.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, there were few places where residents could charge oxygen machines and other life support machinery. There was also a need for a warming station for the first responders who responded to over 200 calls during the hurricane and recovery in our community.

The West Essex First Aid Squad would like to install a standby generator system to meet the needs of the squad and our communities in the event of another significant power outage.

The West Essex Ministerial Association is working with the West Essex First Aid Squad to raise the needed funds in each of our houses of worship to meet our community’s needs.

The estimated cost of this generator system is $34,000. The Session authorized me to provide this giving opportunity to our congregation. The goal for FPC is $7000. Congregation Agudath Israel and Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church have also committed to reaching the same amount, with some of the smaller congregations in WEMA contributing somewhat less. If you would like to support this worthy cause, please make your check out to FPC, and mark it for First Aid generator.

WHILE YOU ARE AWAY … God’s work at First Pres continues as usual and the expenses also continue. Please prayerfully consider prepaying your pledge. You may do this in full or in weekly amounts. Your checks may be post-dated if you wish and will not be deposited until the date you note. Have a wonderful summer enjoying all of God’s blessings!

Thank you for your ongoing support of the mission and ministry of FPC, and stay abreast with all the happenings by checking the church website frequently!

Blessings,

Rick

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