USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > Woodbridge > History First Presbyterian Church, Woodbridge, New Jersey 300th Anniversary May 25, 1975 > Part 9
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The general program for the year is the responsibility of the Pro- gram Chairman and her committee. These women plan the year's activities and present a year book which contains the program, names of hostesses and devotional leaders, members' names and addresses and duties of each member. The Vice-president is also Ways and Means Chairman. Her duty and that of her committee is to present ideas which, when put into action, will increase the amount in the Guild treasury, thus enabling the Guild to be of greater service to the church. Since 1956 one of the highlights of the Guild year has been the Spring Auction and Cake Sale. The distribution of "Talent Dollars" every few years causes temporary dismay among the members but usually results in a sizable increase in the Guild coffers when the mem- bers return their dollars generally increased many fold by using their "Talents." These talents have varied from having clam chowder sales to making book marks.
The activities for the year vary, but each year one evening is set aside to work on table favors or gifts of some kind for the residents of our Synod Homes. Each Christmas the Guild gives a cash gift to each of the four people whom our church sponsors in the Synod Homes. The Woman's Auxiliary of Synod Homes also receives a contribution toward their projects for the Homes. In 1974 in addition to the usual gifts the Guild gave a subscription to "Guide Posts," the publication sponsored by Rev. Norman Vincent Peale. This edition is one in large print, a special boon to those with failing sight at Madison House and at the Haddonfield Home.
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The responsibility of the Church Nursery is one of the tasks as- sumed by the Guild. The Nursery Chairman compiles the schedule of nursery attendants for the year and each week reminds the person whose turn it is to serve in the nursery, of her duty. If the scheduled person cannot serve and a substitute is not available. the Chairman finds herself in charge of the nursery. The Guild, in conjunction with the Ladies' Aid, has accepted the responsibility for having fresh flowers in church every Sunday. Mrs. Joseph Husk has served most faithfully as Flower Chairman since 1965. Several members of the Guild also help the church secretary with special mailings and each month prepare the "Spire" for mailing.
The funds spent on material for the necessities and beautification of church property have varied through the years starting in 1947 with a purchase of Christmas tree lights for $18.30, repairing the church chandelier in 1972 at a cost of $1261.00, and climaxing in 1973 with the paving of the church parking lot at a cost of $7020.00. Whether it was $503.50 for the electric typewriter for the church office, $10.00 for nursery supplies, $462.00 for pulpit chairs or $13.85 for kitchen curtain material for Fellowship Hall, the money for these items was raised with zeal and given with love. From the time of its organization until early in 1974 the Guild has been privileged to spend more than $13.000.00 on necessities and beautification of church properties and to give as donations to the church for current expenses and pledges over $14,000.00. Of the latter figure, $4.223.97 was specifically ear- marked for the Renovation and Restoration Fund.
All of this has been made possible, not because of one person or of one committee, but through the eforts of a group of dedicated women, working cheerfully together, guided by the maxims which the early members had thoroughly imprinted on their minds and hearts- "Nothing for the Lord Is Impossible." and "A Guild Girl Never says, 'No'!"
Ladies Aid
In 1946 the only woman's organization in our church was the United Presbyterian Women, a national organization whose primary concern was missionary work. At that time many women felt the need for a second woman's organization whose primary purpose would be to provide financial help to the local church and to aid the pastor in his duties. The end of World War II brought the return of Reverend and Mrs. Earl Devanny. With the return of Mrs. Devanny, a group of about forty women called together by Mrs. Whitney Leeson and
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Mrs. Devanny, met to discuss means to fill this need. As a result of this meeting held in May 1946, the Ladies Aid Society was born.
The first officers elected were: President, Mrs. John Kreger, who served for ten years; Vice-president, Mrs. Albert Bowers, Sr .; Secre- tary, Miss Louise Brewster; Treasurer, Mrs. George Fullerton, who was their beloved treasurer, Key Woman to the Belvidere Home and Sunshine Chairman from this time, 1946, until her death in 1963.
The first project was to raise $1000 in four years for the 275th Anniversary Celebration of the church in 1950. Since that time, the Ladies' Aid has raised money for kitchen needs including a new re- frigerator, cooking utensils, table silver and other articles.
Two beautiful silver services and two fine lace tablecloths were purchased. These are at the disposal of any group wishing to use them. The tray of one is engraved to honor the memory of our deceased members, and the other to honor Mrs. Devanny, who worked so tire- lessly for the Society.
Several hundred dollars are given to the trustees each year, and special funds are raised for such needs as church carpeting, choir gowns, lights, etc.
The meetings average about twenty-five members and are held twice a month. At first meetings were held in the homes of the mem- bers, but after the completion of Fellowship Hall in 1956 the group has met there. Each of the three women's groups shared in the expense of furnishings the "Ladies Lounge or Parlor," contributing $800 each.
Funds are raised each year by an Annual Fall Bazaar, by rum- mage sales and by projects at regular meetings.
The presidents following Mrs. Kreger were: Mrs. Edwin Earley, Mrs. William Bowen, Mrs. Fred Baldwin, Mrs. John Jelicks, Mrs. Andrew Simonsen, Mrs. Albert Bergen and Mrs. Hans Stockel.
A fine celebration of our 25th Anniversary was held in May 1971 with a luncheon served and donated by the White Church Guild.
Our pastor, Reverend Lewis Bender, visits us often with words of praise for our works and prays for our continued success and co-opera- tion with the church.
The Ladies' Aid have made the following gifts to the church: Silver services, refrigerator, shrubbery, 275th Anniversary Fund, choir gowns, carpet for the church, furniture for the parlor, dishes, carpet sweeper, Communion table and pulpit, tablecloths, money gifts and donations to the trustees amounting to $11,264 and total gifts of about $20,000.
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We have an active Sunshine Chairman, Mrs. Edwin Potter, who sends out cards, flowers, and money gifts to the sick and bereaved as well as to the four people sponsored by our church at Synod Homes.
A Hostess Chairman and a Devotional Chairman see to it that each meeting is well planned. We share with the Guild the expense of pulpit flowers.
An Entertainment Chairman plans games, quizes, etc. for several meetings a year. We open and close the year with a Covered Dish Luncheon.
We all enjoy the work and the fellowship and pray that this or- ganization will continue for many years.
United Presbyterian Women
Upon the recommendation of the Elizabeth Presbyterial, the "Guild Circle System" was presented to the Women's Auxiliary at a meeting held March 19, 1943. After two organizational meetings, the Session called all the women of the church to a meeting on April 16, when a constitution and a budget were presented and accepted. The name "Women's Association of the First Presbyterian Church of Wood- bridge" was chosen.
At this time, the movement toward having one women's organi- zation in a church instead of several, was being launched throughout the United States by the Presbyterian Church. The theory of the sys- tem was that each woman in a church would belong to the organiza- tion and all would work together to accomplish that which they had been aiming toward separately. The organization would be divided into circles, to nurture fellowship and give more opportunity to express individual needs. Circles would meet once a month, usually at the home of a member, and the entire membership would meet together once monthly at the church to conduct business and take part in special programs.
In order to keep each circle from becoming a club unto itself, names of all members were to be put in a bowl and redrawn each year for circle membership. The only division made, was membership for afternoon and evening groups. This is still the practice of UPW.
The formation of such an organization in our church was not done without sacrifices. The Lillian Buschman Guild, organized in March 1929, and the Women's Auxiliary which had received its new
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name that same year, disbanded. The Amy Breckenridge Chapter of Westminster Guild, organized in 1920, continued to meet for quite some time, until, due to a changing world, they ceased to meet.
On May 7, 1943, in the sanctuary, the interim pastor, the Rev. Kenneth M. Kepler, installed the following slate:
President Mrs. Kenneth Kepler
1 st Vice President Mrs. Edward H. Kinsey
2nd Vice President Mrs. George Battman
3rd Vice President Mrs. Edwin Plueddemann
Recording Secretary
Mrs. Grace Von Bremen
Corresponding Secretary
Mrs. Eugene Burns
Treasurer Mrs. Emerson White
Historian Miss Louise Brewster
Twelve circles were formed with the following chairmen:
1-Mrs. John M. Kreger 7-Mrs. Whitney C. Leeson
2-Mrs. James Reid
8-Mrs. Kenneth Manning
3-Mrs. M. H. Keneston 9-Mrs. Fred G. Baldwin
4-Mrs. Clifford Blair 10-Miss Kathryn Holland
5-Mrs. Bertha Brewer 11-Miss Bess Donnelly
6-Mrs. Edwin F. Earley
12-Mrs. F. Ward Brown
Projects undertaken in the first year included redecorating the church basement (then the Primary Department). This cost $50 for paint, brushes and curtains. Labor was volunteered. The pastor's study was refurbished for $40, under the same conditions. Blackout shades were purchased for the church basement; it was, after all, 1943, and a service flag with a star for each son of the church in the armed forces was purchased and hung in the sanctuary.
Other activities carried out during the early years included: in- auguration of a nursery during church services, care of the kitchen (its list of problems are the same as today's); installation of a ladies' room in the Parish House, installation of a downstairs lavatory in the manse, and organization of a flower committee for the church. Because of the faithfulness of Mr. and Mrs. George Rowe who placed flowers from their garden on the altar of the church each Sunday for so many years, this committee's work covered only a few winter Sundays.
Sewing for mission stations from Arizona to Africa and points beyond was a giant task cheerfully assumed. Dozens of garments were made annually for many years until the economy changed in the coun- tries where the stations were located. It then became more charitable
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to send money which could be used to pay native workers to make the needed articles. This served a two-fold purpose of supplying the hos- pitals, schools, etc., with many articles and providing the workers with the self-esteem of earning a living. During World War II, it is also noted, the women knitted hundreds of articles for the American Red Cross.
During the post-war years, well into the 1950's, the activities of the Association were shaped by the times. Boxes of clothing without number were collected and delivered to the Newcomer's Christian Fel- lowship in New York City where the Rev. and Mrs. Frederick Forrell clothed a great flow of refugees. Many of these came from refugee camps with few, if any, posessions to start a new life.
At this time also, some circles adopted families whose life in impoverished Europe was desperate. Boxes of food, clothing and neces- cesities, impossible to purchase even if one had the price, were sent regularly. Touched by the stories of German Christians behind the Iron Curtain whose faithfulness to God kept them in miserable poverty, as well as physical danger, the women responded with more gifts and CARE packages for several years.
In the United States, partial support of the Rev. and Mrs. William Isette, missionaries to the Papago Indians in Arizona, was part of the UPW budget over a long period of time. Under the auspices of the Association, "Papago Christmas" was held each year at which time the Sunday School children donated gifts and candy for their counterparts 'on the Papago Reservation at Sells.
By 1946 upon the conclusion of WW II and the return of Rev. and Mrs. Earl H. Devanny, as the aspect of women's organizations in our church changed and the Ladies' Aid and White Church Guild were organized, they assumed many of the local activities which formerly came under the Association's committee structure. The "Second Mile Giving" of Presbyterian women which is still vitally necessary to the support of many mission activities at home and abroad continues to receive loyal backing from the Association's free will offerings.
Woman's changing role in our society has been reflected in the UPW programs. There are modifications, but the basic features of the following activities have not changed through the years:
Circle friends - Each circle adopts two or three shut-ins each year and remembers them throughout the year with cards, gifts and visits to let them know someone cares.
Christmas boxes - Besides remembering the guests at the Pres- byterian Homes. November finds UPW members donating gifts for a
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previously selected recipient, sometimes far away, but with the costs of postage rising, it is more often some group near at hand.
Bible Study - Probably the heart of the UPW program is the Bible study conducted at circle meetings. With few exceptions, the members take turns in leading the study - not without fear and trem- bling. There is a hymn which goes, "Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine, with jewels rich and rare .. . " Many a jewel has been unearthed as circle members seek together for the riches of the Word.
The official purpose of the UPW reads:
Seeking to be obedient to God's call in Jesus Christ,
we unite:
To support the mission of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.
To help one another grow in Christian faith and understanding, and
To act in Christian concern in the company of God's people everywhere.
Hoping to abide by this goal in the future, we look forward to where the Lord will lead us. Our group embraces women of all ages which span more than 60 years. Each age has its own special con- tribution as we remember the motto chosen for the group in 1943: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God."
Sunday Church School
In an historic pageant written for the 250th anniversary of our church Mrs. L. V. Buschman writes that the men and women of our early church, "were people of great faith and vision. Religion to them was no mere incident but a vital part of their lives." They devoted almost the entire day of Sunday to the worship of the Lord and they took their children with them. So far the first 143 years of our church's history there was no Sunday School. The children worshipped with the adults and learned their Bible lessons at home. Apparently some parents were not doing their job and the children's religious edu- cation was being neglected. During the pastorate of Dr. Henry Mills, a group of women petitioned the elders for permission to "gather the dear children of the community together and teach them the great truths of the Holy Word." On the third Sunday of June in the year of Our Lord, 1818, the first Sunday School classes were held.
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Most of the work of establishing the first Sabbath School was done by Sally Potter, Jane Patton and Mrs. Harriet Potter. Classes were held on Sunday afternoon and consisted mostly of singing hymns, hearing Bible stories, and memorizing Bible verses. The Church rec- ords for the early years of Sabbath School no longer exist but appar- ently the classes were held in a private residence until school rooms were added to the church in 1868. Miss Potter conducted one of these classes near Metuchen because "it was quite impossible for the children of that section to reach the town."
The second superintendant was Dr. William Barton whose wife established the Sabbath School Society to benefit and help finance the work of the school. The Society bought paper supplies for the chil- dren and books for the Library which by the year 1900 had some 600 volumes. This library was very important and the Sunday School Committee had many lengthy discussions over each and every book that was purchased for it.
The minutes of the monthly Sabbath School meetings indicate that various "entertainments" were arranged for the children of the Sabbath School. The records of August 19, 1877 state that a picnic was going to be held at Boynton Beach on Tuesday, the 27th. The committees for this picnic included one for the "procuring of wagons and teams." In July 1883, our church families joined several other area churches on the first of a yearly excursion to Asbury Park. Other "entertainments" included a Christmas Festival where a tree was pro- vided, a church supper was held and prizes were awarded to the chil- dren who attended most regularly, who learned their lessons well or who "brought the most souls to class." These three activities were continued, in one form or another, well into the 1900's.
But the members of the committee did not just concern themselves with the work of providing "entertainments;" they had long discussions on the problems of raising funds (the Sabbath School tried to be self- supporting), the difficulty of keeping the "little one's minds on the task at hand," the best ways to increase attendance, and sometimes even, on the behavior of some of the teachers.
The members of the committee were indeed people of faith and service. Many people were involved in the work of the Sabbath School and much labor, time, and effort was put into the work of the Church. Because they were disappointed in the School attendance, which on Rallying Day was about 150, they established the Home Department, a program for taking the School into the homes of the people.
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The Sabbath School also encouraged the children to donate to the work of missions. The offering on the last Sunday of each month was used for the work of the church World-Wide.
The Sunday School records for 1908-1909 state that the school had twenty teachers, nine officers including a librarian and an average attendance of one hundred thirty to one hundred forty children. The record attendance for 1909 was 370 on Rallying Day. The curriculum used was the Westminster Quarterly. Children's Day and the Anni- versary Exercise was a combined annual celebration which was held in June. It must have been a very special affair for special programs were written and invitations were sent to all the churches in the area.
The attendance records for February 8, 1921 proved that the Sunday School continued to develop. It had seven different sections - a Cradle Roll, Beginners, Primary, Junior, Intermediate and Senior Departments. By the time of the Sunday School's 110th birthday, the committee had 44 members. The activities included not only Sunday morning classes and all of the activities already mentioned, but also Daily Vacation Bible School, Rally Days, Special Sunday Worship Services, Mission Projects, The White Gift Program, teacher training courses and conferences and a Sunday School Orchestra.
Through the years, the activities of the Sunday School continued to grow. The activities changed with the times, the facilities were expanded by the building of Fellowship Hall and curriculum materials were constantly updated and revised but the problems facing the com- mittee for the Sunday School remained the same - how to increase attendance, how to finance a growing church school and how to find devoted and capable teachers who would help our young people to develop into active, committed Christians.
In 1972 when our church was renovated a new Christian Educa- tion building was constructed. The Sabbath School which over the years had met in private residences, in basements, in overcrowded con- ditions in Fellowship Hall, finally had adequate facilities in which to conduct its very vital task, the job of educating its young children in the faith of its forefathers. Hopefully, they will become the kind of people to whom religion is not a mere incident but a vital part of their lives. The people who have served our Sunday School have been nu- merous and dedicated. There would be no Sunday School today if it had not been for those men and women of "faith and vision."
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To our youth, who at times are impetuous and demanding, yet who constantly remind us that we must not become weary or discouraged in the Master's Service, we dedicate this book.
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