| Good morning! I'm Susan Scherer, and I am standing here this morning not as a member of the choir, your occasional lay reader, resident blonde, elder, membership/communications committee chair, or even mission specialist. I am here because I am your FRIEND, and you are MINE, whether you like it or not. Wait, wait, wait. You people in the back. Please don't leave. I'll be brief, and gentle, I promise. What do friends do but SHARE secrets and special occasions with one another, and I'm about to share one with you: My family is a haven of love, patience, and understanding. A family is meant to be a haven where each person is precious and important to the other. Yet in every family, there is always potential for improvement in sharing God’s love at a higher level. All members of my family take our relationships with one another to an elevated level when we understand that we share a kinship beyond the physical to the spiritual. We have so much to give to one another because God is the source of the unlimited good we have to give. That good includes love, understanding, patience, and many other qualities. Divinely inspired, we give and receive these sacred qualities within our families and throughout the universal family of God. (Daily Word, September 8, 2003) I love our coffee hour on Sunday mornings. It means so much to me to see and try to speak with every one of you I can possibly get to after our worship service. I LIVE for the smiles, the handshakes, the pecks on the cheek, the hugs, and well, all right, the cookies. I’ve laughed with many of you over coffee, and cried in my beer with some of you. We’ve shared news of loved ones, talked about the church, our spiritual and social lives, our families, our children, our jobs, our pets and the Yankees. There's only one thing that could possibly better all this and that is the prospect of MORE FRIENDS like you. And Rutgers is about to celebrate some important dates that will further enhance the worship and coffee hour experience for our family circle. You already know about HOMECOMING SUNDAY next week. It is quite possibly one of the most joyous times here at Rutgers, as we will be ushering in the TRUE season of rebirth in our fair city. Look around, sniff the sunnier, crispier, cooler air (thank you, Canada), witness the opening of new Broadway plays, and rejoice in the return of the tanned, the reinvigorated and the rested to their New York home, and tell me you don't agree. NOW, just in case you haven't yet devoured the latest issue of RENEWAL, sent out to you just a few days ago, I am here to tell you we are approaching two more perennial favorites of mine: ON SEPTEMBER 28, we will be welcoming into our fold NEW MEMBERS!!! Several people have already expressed interest in attending our upcoming MEMBERSHIP INQUIRY SESSIONS, and I'm asking you to spread the word: Anyone contemplating induction into (or just curious about) our family at Rutgers is invited to attend these pensive, yet stimulating sessions in our SESSION ROOM on the 3rd Floor, on two successive Wednesday evenings, Sept. 14, and 21, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Just call the church office or speak to our Pastor, Dr. Shafer, if you are interested. ALSO ON SEPTEMBER 28 following our Worship Service (I'm so excited; here's the fun part), WE WILL BE HAVING AN EXPANDED COFFEE HOUR!!!! Ah hah. You may be waking up about now and asking, WHY??? Well, that's because SEPTEMBER 28 is also “INVITE-A-FRIEND” SUNDAY. Yes, dear friends. THIS IS OUR CHANCE to give our friends a peek into our life here. So please call or tell your friends, acquaintances, or total strangers, to join you here in Rutgers Church that day, when we will once again be filing into our Daniel Russell Room next door after the service to greet and honor new members, new friends, and yes, new desserts. I hope I haven't exceeded my allotted minute, but it would be worth any penalty to me if I could on that day make just one more friend, such as you. And the King will answer them: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” ---Matthew 25:40 See you there, I hope. |
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