Bruce Ballantine
Newsletter December 2023 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, I daresay that for most people, Christmas is eagerly anticipated as a time marked by festive gatherings of family and...
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Pastor Bruce
- Sep 28
- 2 min
Newsletter October 2023 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, On Sunday, October 1, here at First Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood NJ, we will celebrate World Communion Sunday. World...
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Pastor Bruce
- May 29
- 3 min
Newsletter June 2023 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, As I flew home on Monday, May 22, I reflected on my 10-day journey to take part in The National Evangelical (Presbyterian)...
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Pastor Bruce
- Apr 28
- 2 min
May 2023 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, Early this year, I was invited by The Outreach Foundation to make a second trip to Lebanon and Syria. Not long after that,...
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Pastor Bruce
- Mar 29
- 1 min
Newsletter April 2023 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends: As some of you know, one of my favorite poets is the late Ann Weems, who during her life was called by some the poet...
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Pastor Bruce
- Feb 27
- 1 min
Newsletter March 2023 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, I am pleased that after two years of Lenten Suppers Minus the Calories (that is, Lenten Supper Worship via zoom), this year...
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Pastor Bruce
- Jan 27
- 2 min
Newsletter February 2023 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends: I am excited to share with you that Rev. Butros Zaour, Pastor of the National Evangelical Church (Presbyterian) in...
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Pastor Bruce
- Dec 30, 2022
- 2 min
Newsletter January 2023 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends: Celebrating 200 Years of God’s Grace and Glory As you know, 2023 will be an exciting year for First Presbyterian Church of...
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Pastor Bruce
- Nov 1, 2022
- 3 min
Newsletter November 2022 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, Nineteenth-century English poet John Keats once wrote: “Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced.” I discovered the...
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Pastor Bruce
- Sep 30, 2022
- 2 min
Newsletter October 2022 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, As you know, we will celebrate the bicentennial of First Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood NJ in 2023. As we prepare to mark...
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Pastor Bruce
- May 28, 2022
- 2 min
Newsletter June 2022 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, While the word lazy has a negative connotation, I cannot help but look forward to the lazy days of summer. For many of us,...
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Pastor Bruce
- Dec 30, 2021
- 3 min
Newsletter January 2022 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends: As I sit down to type my first First Press article of 2022, I am reminded of the practice of adopting New Year’s...
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Pastor Bruce
- Nov 26, 2021
- 4 min
Newsletter December 2021 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends: It was a number of years ago, a few days before Christmas, and my mom wasn’t feeling well. So she went to see her...
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Pastor Bruce
- Oct 26, 2021
- 2 min
Newsletter November 2021 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends: As he often does when writing to the churches, the Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Philippians with words of...
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Pastor Bruce
- Aug 30, 2021
- 1 min
Newsletter September 2021 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, As I write this, August will soon give way to September, children will soon return to school, and in the rhythm of church...
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Pastor Bruce
- May 26, 2021
- 2 min
Newsletter June 2021 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, While we’re not completely out of the woods, conditions created by the coronavirus are improving greatly! Thanks be to God...
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Pastor Bruce
- Apr 29, 2021
- 2 min
Newsletter May 2021 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, As I write these words, I am preparing to plant pansies in some raised pots and beds around the backyard of the manse. I...
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Pastor Bruce
- Mar 26, 2021
- 2 min
Newsletter April 2021 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, As we approach Good Friday, I am reminded of these haunting words from Matthew 27:46: My God, my God, why have you forsaken...
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Bruce Ballantine
- Jan 30, 2021
- 1 min
Newsletter February, 2021- First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends, Three years ago during Lent, we created a midweek worship service combined with a simple meal. During those three years,...
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Pastor Bruce
- Sep 28, 2020
- 3 min
Newsletter October, 2020 - First Presbyterian Ridgewood, NJ
Dear Friends,
I believe worshiping God is the most important thing we do as Christians. It is in worship that we center our lives
before God
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