First Presbyterian Church of Hightstown

It's time for our third annual Crock Pot Cook-Off!  It's this Saturday, February 13 at 5:30 PM in Fellowship Hall.

In honor of Valentine's Day, we'll be accepting entries in two categories - red and white.  Please think about entering a delicious appetizer, main dish or dessert!  They just have to be either red or white, and made-in and served-from a crock pot.  Everyone gets to judge, and prizes will be awarded to the first place winners in each category!

Admission: $5.00 for adults, $2.00 for children, and FREE to anyone entering a crock pot entry.

This should be a fun event to chase away those winter blues!  Please call Donna Scheifele at 609-585-4417 (or email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) by Thursday and let her know if you are coming, how many adult and child tickets you will need and/or if you are entering the cook-off.  Thank you!

Annoucning the first issue of FPCH's weekly calendar publication, Connections. The purpose of Connections is to feature those calendar items taking place during the current week, and to highlight important upcoming events and action items.  Connections will provide information to our church family regularly and immediately.

Connections will publish electronically every Friday and you will receive your copy via email or you can download directly from this website.  Click here to view the first edition or select the Connections link in the "Click Here For..." menu on the left to see all available editions.  A limited number of printed copies of the most recent edition will be available in the Narthex on Sunday morning.

Please send calendar items you would like to see in Connections or feedback on how we can improve to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

I want to thank you in advance for your offer to support the First Presbyterian Church's mission trip to Ghana. As you probably know, over 540,000 women die in childbirth every year! This is often due to issues resulting from fistula and poor birthing practices. It is hard to think that there are places in this world where a child can lose their mother simply because they did not have access to a routine doctor visit. In a modern world where we have technology, why do so many die needlessly?

This year the First Presbyterian Church of Hightstown is sending 10 adults to Ghana to help with a maternity clinic. We believe that this mission trip is going to really make a difference in the lives of expectant mothers in Africa. We will be on mission the last week of February. It is not often that we are given a chance to change a community in such a dramatic way.
Not only can we think of the lives a clinic like this will save, but we can also think about the families that we will be able to keep healthy and intact. However, as you can see in the photo, a lot of work still needs to be done! They hope to be ready to roof by the time we arrive in February.

While in Africa, because of the skills of those going, we will not just be working on the clinic, but will also be working on training, teaching nursing skills, agricultural skills and much more! By our witness of work and love we will truly make a difference in this community.

How can you help?

Saturday, January 30 - Come to Dinner at 6:00 PM!
Not only will you feast on a wonderful meal, you will hear interesting facts about Africa, be entertained by the noted illusionist, Gary Filson, and you'll try to outbid your neighbor on fantastic Silent Auction items. It's a night that's not to be missed! The community-wide dinner will be held on Saturday, January 30, at 6:00 PM in Fellowship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church.

We would appreciate your support by coming to this event ($20 per person or $50 per family suggested donations), providing a Silent Auction item, or by making a free-will donation to our mission. Anyone donating a Silent Auction item will be mentioned in our dinner program. Tickets to the event are now available - call the church office at 448-0055 or pick them up at church after worship from any member of the team. We're Ghana Make a Difference! T-shirts will be available for a $20 donation. Place your order now.

Thank you again for your offer to help! It will make such a big difference. Your donation will help us aid many expectant mothers in Africa live past childbirth to raise happy and healthy babies.

Rev. Bryan James Franzen

We live in an intensely visual culture, yet how much do we see? During our six evenings together, we will start our time with a wee little drawing exercise to train our eyes to see what is in front of us, then shift our gaze to looking at the art work of Rembrandt, an Gough, Gauguin, Chagall, Ronault among others and talk together about what we see in their paintings. We will attempt to see our Christian faith through the images these artists have created of Old and New Testament stories, and in turn, see these shared ideas in the context of the greater Christian story. No prior experience in art necessary; just a willingness to gaze.

This class will be taught by the Rev. Barbara Heck, a campus minister at Rutgers University. She currently paints in oils under the watchful eye of Gregory Perked at the Arts Council of Princeton. She has taken art classes at Cornell University, Art Center College of Design, and te School of Visual Arts.

The class will meet Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm from January 6 to February 10.

Our congregation has partnered with PNC Bank to offer free financial seminars. The seminars will share practical financial tips and strategies you can easily put to work in your own life. Discover how to buy that house, finance a college education, or how to simply open a checking account.

Our first free seminar will cover Educational Loans and is scheduled for Nov. 30 at 6:00 pm in Fellowship Hall. PNC Bank will be holding sign-ups on Sunday, November 22nd and Sunday, November 29th. It is recommended that interested participants sign-up for the workshop for accurate planning of childcare and food.

“If your savings account doesn’t cover the cost of looming college tuition bills, there are plenty of financing alternatives for undergraduates, graduates and adults interested in continuing education. This workshop explains how education loans bridge the gap – with competitive interest rates and repayment options to meet your needs. Learn how to navigate the financial aid process, and discover borrowing options that help make college affordable.”

The presentation is approximately 45 minutes followed by a question and answer session. Dinner and childcare will be provided by PNC Bank.

Just a reminder that the next planning meeting for the Adult Mission Trip to Ghana in late February will take place Thursday, September 24 at 7 PM in Fellowship Hall.

If you are considering going on the trip or would like to know more about it, please join us.  Feel free to call Bryan. Franzen or email him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any questions prior to the meeting or if are interested but cannot come Thursday night.

The Western Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana is located at the Western part of the Republic of Ghana.  The Presbytery stretches between two Regions - Central Region (beginning from Mankessim, Cape Coast, Assin Foso, Twifo Praso) and the Western Region (excluding Wassa Akropong and Sefwi area).  The total population for the political districts within the Presbytery is about two million (2,000,000) and cover an area of approximately nineteen thousand, four hundred and six (19,406) square kilometers.

In order to build a strong Presbytery, the Presbytery Council led by the Chairperson, Rev. W.N.B. Appiah is seriously working in the areas of evangelism; income generating projects such as sachet water production and large-scale poultry farming to strengthen the Presbytery's financial base; educating members through the publishing of newsletters and periodic workshops, etc.

Missionary work in the Presbytery is very demanding yet interesting and we look forward to partner any foreign church to share in the area of cultural and spiritual exchange and any other area that would be beneficial to both..

EXPLORE YOUR SPIRITUAL SIDE!
NEW CASUAL WORSHIP SERVICE TO BEGIN

Geared toward young adults and young families, this new, non‐traditional worship service will be a 45 minute spiritual escape from our busy lives!
Modeled in the way we live, most young adults and families will be able to connect with this new casual service!  We hope you will join us!

 

Worship in the Park has been moved to the Fellowship Hall because of the weather and mud.  If you have any question please call Bryan at 609-240-9771.  We will still enjoy the picnic and informal worship.  Hope to see you at 10:30am.

As most of you know by now we are undertaking a campaign to raise funds to repair our Church buildings.  But before I cover some specifics of The Church's One Foundation campaign, I want to make sure we all understand why it is essential that we raise these funds now, even in this difficult economy.

Over the course of the last two years or so, we have experienced a number of mechanical and electrical failures related to the infrastructure of our church buildings.  The Sanctuary and Education Wing, as well as Wilson House, have all had problems with their heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and electrical systems.  Repairs have been difficult and expensive, because these systems, at nearly 40 years old, are well past their useful life spans.  To complete some repairs, we have had parts custom made at considerable expense, because replacement parts were no longer available.

We can expect these costs to continue (and even increase) unless we replace major portions of the HVAC and electrical systems.  If we do not make these major upgrades to the HVAC and electrical systems, it is possible we may have a breakdown that is not even possible to repair, rendering our church buildings completely unusable.