This is a very unusual week with THREE things you need to know from the Reformed Church Center!
FIRST, Mary Risseeuw, this year’s Poppen-Young Fellow in Reformed Worship, is doing a study of what minister’s wear to lead worship in the RCA (sometimes called “vestments”) and why you wear what you do. Please fill out the attached survey and send it back to her by February 20th.
SECOND, The Reformed Church Center is accepting proposals for two-week fellowships in Reformed Church history, Reformed Worship, and RCA Women’s Studies from now until April 15th. The fellowship includes the opportunity for a residency in New Brunswick of up to two weeks, access to the RCA Archives, Gardner A Sage Library, and the NBTS faculty, a small stipend, and more! Find out more and find applications at Reformed Church Center Fellowship Opportunities for 2026-2027 – New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
FINALLY, we have a great roundtable program coming up on Wednesday, February 11, from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm Eastern Time. In 2024, the project for Acknowledging the History of Enslavement and Liberation of African Americans in Pequannock directed the reinterment of African American human remains in Pompton Plains, New Jersey. Some of us heard Nathan Jérémie-Brink’s exciting convocation address on that project last August. This program, “Theological Tools for the Work of Repair and Legacies of Slavery in New Jersey” will feature pastors and educators who served on the advisory council for that project. They will offer reflections on their work, attentive to their considerations of scripture, ministerial vocation, and public witness. We will move beyond the scope of that particular project to also address the resources and obstacles specific to the work of racial justice in varied ministry contexts inside and outside New Jersey. Attention will be paid to how this public history work presents challenges and opportunities for congregational engagement. This conversation will intersect with a curriculum under development at NBTS for churches exploring these themes of history and social justice. It will be led by Nathan Jérémie-Brink, by Elmira Nazombe, a noted social justice educator; and by Gregory Dunlap, senior pastor of Woodcliff Community Reformed Church. You can find out more about this discussion at Theological Tools for the Work of Repair and Legacies of Slavery in New Jersey – New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
Like all Reformed Church Center programs, this discussion will be free to all participants, but registration is required. You can register at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tIBrNu1RQwWYtIMemiGdrQ.
There’s a lot going on! I hope you can be part of it!