(above) Faith Lutheran Church is located at 524 South Street, New Providence, NJ 07974. The Rev. Jane McCready is Pastor. To contact the church, please call 908-464-5177 or email family.faith@verizon.net. You can also visit our website at famfaith.org for more information.
Important Things Stay the Same at Faith Lutheran Church
Submitted by Sally Reier
Like all religious organizations these days, Faith Lutheran Church has been forced to make some changes–but the most important things have stayed the same. Under the leadership of Pastor Jane McCready and through the generosity and creativity of members, Faith Lutheran has found ways to continue to provide solace, connection, worship opportunities, and prayerful resources even in the era of social distancing.
On Sunday, March 22, Faith live-streamed a brief liturgy of the word on Facebook Live at 10:00 a.m. Ninety-five separate Facebook ID’s were logged in and participated in listening and praying together. That liturgy is archived in the video section of the page so it can be viewed anytime.
As Pastor Jane prepares for this week’s service, she says, “Worship is the central act of our faith community and it is vitally important that we provide a way to keep that going,” The service of the word follows the lectionary as would be the case if worship were being held in the church building. Minister of Music, Shea Velloso, records organ pieces to be used during virtual worship.
Pastor Jane continues, “It’s a bit of a work in progress, but we’ve gotten very good responses and plan to continue to look at all the possibilities that technology allows.”
Faith Lutheran has remained committed to its ministry partners including Roots & Wings NJ, Family Promise Union County, and St. John’s Soup Kitchen in Newark. As an example, this past week, Faith organized an effort to provide St. John’s with sandwiches to hand out to those on the lunch lines. In less than 48 hours and with a goal of 400, Faith members and those close to the community responded by delivering 681 sandwiches that were then driven to St. John’s. “It just feels good to be able to do something,” said one volunteer.
Members are also finding ways to give one another moral support through phone calls, email check ins, and video conferencing. Staff members are making regular calls monitoring the well-being of parents who have kids at home and seniors who might feel isolated. For those missing Sanctuary Choir and Bell Ringing practice, a member was kind enough to join one of the video conferencing services and set up a dial-in every Tuesday night. The church newsletter is also continuing to go out weekly with the current prayer list and that week’s devotional resource included.
Also attached to the newsletter is a sign-up for those who would like to have lilies placed on the altar for Easter service. “Easter is coming no matter what,” Pastor Jane says. “We will continue to be the church, with or without the use of our building, living in the promise of Easter hope as we care for this community and those around us.”
Everyone is welcome at Faith Lutheran Church, which is a warm and vibrant Christ-centered servant community that strives to be loving, forgiving, healing and affirming. Join us for virtual worship at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. Find us on Facebook: Faith Lutheran, New Providence.
