A number of parishioners, volunteers, and parish employees have recently received emails from fake gmail accounts impersonating our parish priests. This is a hoax. Our parish firewall was not breached and no part of our network has been hacked or compromised. Automated “bots” “scrape” the email addresses from our parish websites and construct and send fake emails. Please know that neither Fr. Mike or the parishes of The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley would never solicit money or information by email.
Our parishes are one of 7 parish communities in NJ selected to participate in NeXt Level, a program of the Center for FaithJustice funded by the Lilly Endowment, which offers a new approach to youth ministry designed to strengthen Catholic parishes. NeXt Level invites youth to discover their gifts and passions in order to create and implement parish-wide projects rooted in the Catholic tradition of service and justice. [For more details, click on the title.]
The Knights of Columbus will be collecting eye glasses and accessories. A drop-off box will be in the vestibule of St. Alphonsus Church through the month of February for your donations. Thank you!
For more information on the upcoming Open House and Information Sessions at Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, St. Paul School Princeton, Stuart Country Day School, St Ann School Lawrenceville, Notre Dame High School, and Holy Ghost Prep Bensalem Pa, click on the graphic or the headline.
The Polish Arts Club of Trenton announces the availability of $1,500 scholarships to qualified high school seniors of Polish descent to assist in their pursuit of a college education. For details and an application, please visit our website www.trentonpolisharts.org or contact your high school guidance counselor. Applications must be submitted by Feb. 20, 2019.
The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley has a new website! Come and see what Fr. Mike has to say about our three parish families in one faith community, and much more. Visit thecatholiccommunityofhopewellvalley (one word).org. [For more details, click on the title or graphic.]
The Columbiettes are taking orders for Christmas flowers. Orders must be prepaid. Please leave order forms in the designated envelope in the church vestibule or Mail to: MJ Kent: 125 Mine Rd., Pennington, NJ 08534. Questions? Call Mary Jane at 609-273-3337 Make checks payable to Columbiettes #7103. Flowers will be available for pick up the weekend of December 9th after masses. Profits will be used to purchase personal articles for those in need. [For further details, and to download the order form, click on the poinsettia.]
"I am delighted to serve St. James as the new choir director, upon the legacy of Kristin Hingstman and her predecessors. I have served over two decades as a cantor, choir director, and music director in Kansas (my homeland), Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. I look forward to supporting the liturgy and prayer life of The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley. Our mission is to draw into a deeper relationship with Christ through sacred music, and to invite you to join our communal song. While I will be present on an interim basis until Christmas, please come say "hello" to me after the 10:00am Mass at St. James on Sunday, November 25, and on December 30. I would love to meet you and learn about the wonderful community of St. James!" - Alicia Brozovich
The Knights of Columbus just had their installation of officers this past weekend at St. Charles Borromeo church in Skillman. Click on the title to see a photo of the 2018 officers installed.
Bishop O’Connell has made an official decree for the Year of Youth! He has decreed that July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 shall be celebrated throughout the four counties of Diocese of Trenton as a Year of Youth. To learn about the four purposes and goals of this "Year of Youth" and to watch the Bishop's announcement video featuring the young people of our diocese, click on the photo or the title of this item.
Since July 1st 2017, our combined parish committees have been working on our year-one goals and objectives. There are many new and exciting opportunities under consideration to engage more parishioners from all three parishes to help us truly become a warm and welcoming Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley. We are always seeking volunteers to help develop and support new events that bridge our three parishes. For more information or if you have questions, please contact Paul Kimaid at pkimaid@aol.com. For a more detailed summary of our progress to date, click on our new logo!
As most of you know, the Pastoral Council introduced and launched our Pastoral Plan in September of 2014. This plan was designed to be a 3 year effort moving the parish toward our Vision to become a “vibrant and welcoming” Catholic Community. The Pastoral Council has recently completed an assessment and summarized the key accomplishments over the last 3 years for our parish. Click on the header to see all of the good things that have been accomplished! We are always looking for volunteers to help move many other initiatives forward.
As part of our ongoing efforts to collaborate through the Faith in Our Future Diocesan initiative, the parishes of St. Alphonsus, St. George and St. James are linked as one faith community, together known as The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley. This new name and logo will help unify our common vision of faith, family and communion through Christ. For more information about this effort, click on our new logo!
The St. James Anchor House Ride participants – and the kids served by Anchor House – thank you all SO much! Your generosity again this year was spectacular, totaling a nearly record-breaking $8,900+; thank you! Your continued support makes it possible for Anchor House to continue to provide a lifeline of safe support to the most at-risk of our community’s youth. If you missed the opportunity to support the Ride, you can still go to the website www.anchorhouseride.org and click on “donate” to add your support to the cause. Again, THANK YOU!
Effective with this new July fiscal year, we will be implementing a plan based on our proposed linkage model, which will further strengthen the relationship between our three parishes. The thirteen page implementation plan outlines the goals, objectives and action steps to be completed during this next fiscal year. To see the full plan and further details, click on the graphic or the title.
Volume 1 of the Legacy Stories of St. James is now available here on our website! A limited number of copies are also available in the Gathering Area near the Prayer Request Book. This project was organized by the St. James Legacy Committee in order to gather a living history of our parish through the collected stories and memories of its parishioners. We are already working on Volume 2. If you have a story you would like to share, we would love to hear it! Just email us at stjameslegacyangels@gmail.com. If you have questions, please feel free to send them to us too. [Click on the graphic for further information.]
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The St. James TASK ministry is recruiting volunteers. The commitment is light - the fourth Friday every 3 months - to help serve those in need at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. For more information about our ministry, click on the title or graphic of this News item and reach out for details. We look forward to meeting you!