As we move through our daily lives, it is easy to miss the tectonic work of God’s kingdom. But if we take time to reflect, 2023 was a year we will not forget.
We forged a new mission statement that highlights our relationships with God and one another, and our God-given purpose to inspire others.
"We are a family of faith inspiring people to find and follow Jesus."
It has been a year of renewed mission. Both Hearts for Honduras and Malawi Visions held their first post-pandemic mission trips, and we hosted the first post-pandemic New City Kids benefit concert. We also launched a new mission partnership with Feeding Hands food pantry.
The Spirit has inspired some new energy, with new faces in worship and groups. The Children’s Corner preschool is now flourishing at full capacity, and Sunday school classes are bursting at the seams (and seeking new teachers!). We have two new staff members: Karen Van Nest as Administrative Director and Rev. Christian Hong as Congregational Care Pastor. And we celebrated the wedding of our Youth Pastor, Rev. Joseph Kang, and welcomed his wife Yeni.
This year we have also grieved significant losses. We held funerals for four young adult children of active members, for a beloved trustee, and for other covenant partners. We honored the retirement of Rev. Anne Havrilla, who served as Associate Pastor for over twenty years. And the simple process of cleaning the membership rolls led us to recognize many people, especially former youth, who have moved away or moved on over the years.
At the same time, we see signs of the Spirit at work all around. In the faithfulness of our trustees maintaining the facilities, the beauty of our music ministries, and the care of our wholeness and healing ministries. In our Re:Generation ministry growing by leaps in its second year, and the youth ministry reaching new youth through basketball, retreats, Bible studies, and participating on the Honduras mission trip. God is at work through us!
CONTENTS
- Worship
- Gather Team
- Grow Team
- Exalt Prayer Ministry
- Family Ministries: Liberty Corner Kids
- Family Ministries: Youth Ministry
- The Children's Corner
- The People Team
- Session
- Trustees
- The Board of Deacons
- Go Team
- Hearts for Honduras
- Malawi Visions
- Caregiving Ministries
- Stewardship & Financials
This presentation offers highlights of the 2023 annual report. Learn more in the full report.
Worship
At Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church, we are a family of faith actively learning and growing together. We gathered for worship weekly and learned about spiritual practices through Live Well, about the importance of sabbath in Rest & Recreation, how to live out our calling in Everyday Faith, and more.
Traditional Worship
It has been a very exciting year for the Traditional Worship Team. The mission of the Traditional Worship Team has always been to provide a source of inspiration during church services. A core group of approximately 50 volunteer musicians faithfully shared their talents through Covenant Choir, Liberty Ringers, Children’s Choir, soloists, and gathering musicians.
The Liberty Ringers bell choir hit the ground running, met for weekly rehearsals, and contributed to the musical portion of Traditional Worship at least once a month from September to May. The Covenant Choir held weekly rehearsals on Wednesday nights and sang roughly two to three times per month from September to June.
The Children's Choir under the direction of "Mr. Chuck," sang in worship about six times throughout the year.
The Concert Choir series featured the Virginia Bronze Community Handbell Ensemble, Opera Magnifico’s production of The Marriage of Figaro, and the ever-popular and wonderfully inclusive Christmas Concert, which combines the talents of the Covenant Choir, Liberty Ringers, and Contemporary Worship Team.
Contemporary Worship
“I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.” - Psalm 34:1-3
It’s amazing to see how God has transformed the Contemporary Worship experience at LCPC. We continue to grow as the Lord brings new people to our leadership experience.
- The Worship Initiative brought diversity to our Worship Team and congregation.
- Contemporary Worship Team collaborated with Chuck Schneider and the Traditional Worship Team for the Annual Christmas Concert and the One Service & Celebration.
- We welcomed the Youth Ministry to join the Contemporary Worship Team on two or three occasions supporting Pastor Joseph's theme to “Arise!”
- The Worship Team was gifted an opportunity to see Phil Wickham & Brandon Lake in concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, where we joined 18,000 other worshippers in resounding praise!
Thank you to the Contemporary Worship Team members Maria Novak, Tanya Tatum, Chris Marchant, Matt Vanzini, Corey Rivera, Rob Scheiderman, and Jayden Reid for their undying commitment. Special thanks to Sharon Lawton, Dan Sisto, Ryan Carroll, and Doug Carroll for their continued technical support.
Gather Team
The priority of Gather Team is to foster a warm, welcoming environment for newcomers and members. Some notable outcomes for 2023 include:
- Liberty Corner Church welcomed 166 guests in 2023.
- Reached out to 49 contacts to establish an additional connection.
- Advertising in local media and online platforms contributed to church visibility in key events.
- Engagement initiatives include personal emails from Pastor Barnabas, personal phone calls, and the potential of a Next Steps table.
- We established quarterly reporting to track both weekly worship attendance and small group/ministry participation.
Grow Team is inspiring everyone to find a place to grow spiritually.
- 3 spiritual growth classes: Faith Café, TraVERSEing the Word, and 1stStep
- 15 small groups
- 25 Spiritual Growth leaders. Thank you!
- 22 new covenant partners joined through 1stStep
- Individuals of all ages involved in spiritual growth groups
Exalt Prayer
The Exalt Prayer Team continued their calling to make LCPC a house of prayer, even as they worked through staff and volunteer leadership transitions.
Highlights of 2023 include:
- 45 Prayer Partners
- Ongoing teaching/training sessions at Prayer Breakfasts
- 3-day Prayer & Fasting experience
- 24-Hour Prayer Vigil
- Prayer partners available during worship
Liberty Corner Kids
We had an exciting year in Family Ministries! Here are some of the highlights from 2023.
We kicked off the year with games, special treats, and a prayer stone reminder for families to pray for the children daily.
Third through fifth graders and their parents explored scripture together in Bible Adventure.
Eleven students participated in the Communion Celebration
Kids gave back through Give Love Away projects including making meals for Shepherd’s Pantry, writing notes of encouragement, and setting up for the wedding celebration, and more!
Joyful Noise provided music and faith exploration for 50+ families.
We partnered with Laura Sassi for two, fun-filled author readings.
We hosted a large crowd at the annual Egg Hunt.
We launched VBS Sports Camp under a new format with our youth in positions of leadership.
We mentored the VBS Youth Leadership Team and offered lunch, leadership training, and discipleship throughout the week of camp.
Beyond the VBS Leadership Team, we engaged 60+ middle and high school volunteers to support VBS Sports Camp as Huddle Coaches.
We welcomed families to the Live Nativity to see animals, take photos with Santa, eat delicious food, and make new Christmas ornaments.
We ended the year with children leading the Christmas Pageant.
Salt & Light Youth Ministry
This year has been especially exciting for LCPC Youth Ministry (Salt & Light). Year 2023 was the year of “GRACE” and “GRATITUDE”. Youth Ministry enjoyed a grace-filled year of growing, serving, and leading.
Year 2023 was truly an amazing year filled with grace and praise of thanksgiving.
2023 Highlights include:
- 20+ average weekly Sunday attendance
- Two new teachers joined leadership: Ed O’Donnell and Felipe Tessutti
- Youth praise team led Contemporary Worship
- Youth served at Feeding Hand
- Middle School Retreat at Beaver Lake
- First youth led VBS Sports Camp week!
- Youth participated in Hearts for Honduras Mission Trip
The Children's Corner
From its early beginnings 36 years ago, working out of just one room, The Children’s Corner (TCC) has grown to be what it is today, a thriving ministry operating at full capacity.
For Fiscal Year 2023 TCC’s budget was in excess of $1,500,000. The projected budget for the current year is in excess of $1,700,000.
We experienced the highest enrollment in school history and record number of inquiries and tours. All with no paid advertising.
TCC utilizes 11 classrooms daily serving as many as 150 children.
God has blessed TCC with an extraordinary team of teachers and support staff. TCC employs 28 full-time and 25 part-time staff. Each day our teachers encourage the children to reach their God-given potential.
Programs offered include: Infant Care (as early as 6 weeks), Preschool (ages 1-5), and Summer Camp (ages 2 -K).
Our graduating class of 2023 who went on to kindergarten, included 32 graduates, 17 of whom started at TCC as infants
Community service projects from TCC children and parents:
- Substantial Christmas gift collection for Jersey Battered Women’s Service client families
- Children handmade Christmas Cards and Valentine’s for residents at Ridge Oak Senior Housing
- Thank-you cards and pre-packaged snacks given to Lyons VA Medical Center for Veterans Day
Involvement in LCPC events:
- TCC families participated in The Egg Hunt, VBS Sports Camp, The Live Nativity, and Joyful Noise
- Our strong financial position enabled TCC to cover the cost for TCC age eligible children to attend VBS Sports Camp
- Book Collections for LCPC’s Malawi Visions
- Donations to LCPC’s Deacons Annual Coat Drive
- Dresses donated to Dress Express Boutique
The People Team
The People Team plays a crucial role in reviewing and recommending benefits for all staff, encompassing both the church and The Children’s Corner (TCC). In 2023, we introduced a new Parental Leave Policy, and Benefit enhancements in Short-Term Disability, Life Insurance, and Retirement Plans are set to take effect in 2024.
Reflecting on staffing changes in 2023:
- March: Jane Kolarik, our Executive Director, resigned, and we express gratitude for her years of dedicated service. Staff and volunteers admirably stepped in during her absence.
- April: Joseph Kang, newly ordained, was promoted to Assistant Pastor for Youth Ministry, and we thank God for his ministry.
- May: Karen Van Nest assumed the role of Administrative Director, proving to be a valuable addition to the team. Thanks to all involved in onboarding Karen.
- August: Pastor Anne retired after 20 years of faithful service, and we appreciate her ministry. Thanks to Pastor Barnabas and others for covering her responsibilities.
- October: Rev Christian Hong was hired part-time as Congregational Care Pastor, a true blessing to our staff.
- A part-time budgeted position for a Spiritual Growth Pastor remains open. The People Team is working to determine the next steps for addressing this need.
Session
Session is the governing board of the congregation, consisting of 12 elected elders, Pastors Sprinkle and Kang, and a clerk. We ordinarily hold one meeting per month for long-term planning/vision and a second meeting for business and reports. All 12 elders also participate on the teams of the church either as a member or chair.
The Session began work at their first meeting in January 2023 by reviewing our current mission/vision/strategy. This work continued with defining our values, working with the Grow team, developing a vision framework for a discipleship model, and reviewing the ECO vision statement. Further meetings toward the development of the mission/vision/strategy statements occurred with the final statement approved by the Session in September.
Our mission: “We are a family of faith inspiring people to find and follow Jesus.”
- Worked with the staff on contacting covenant partners with whom we have had no contact since the pandemic started/ended leading to a project that led to removal of 273 people from our rolls.
- Approved the 2023 operating budget of $1,525,650, Endowment projects, the mission budget, designated special Easter and Christmas offerings, installation and ordination of new officers, called two congregation/corporation meetings, 22 new covenant partners, and nine baptisms.
- Reviewed and approved monthly staff and team reports and met with many ministry teams.
- Oversaw the hiring of a new Administrative Director, a new part-time pastor for Congregational Care, and the increase in responsibility for Pastor Joseph Kang.
Trustees
The Board of Trustees together with the Administrative Director are stewards of the physical plant God has provided for Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church: a 200,000 sq. ft. $16M 12-acre campus. Here are major projects completed in 2023:
Maintenance to keep our aging buildings (1860’s, 1960’s, 2001) operational and welcoming
- Installation of a new two-zone fire alarm system for the campus
- Maintaining the integrity of the Sanctuary by repairing the steeple and installing a new roof, gutters, and downspouts
- Complete the Amos Room exterior painting and window repairs
- Stop water intrusion and damage in the Center Court office area by installing drainage at the foundation and fixing the roof
- Continue an annual plumbing preventive maintenance program
- Post new interior and exterior door numbers to accurately locate maintenance issues, assist visitors, and speed up emergency response
Keeping the Grounds attractive and safe
- Build a new garden dedicated in memory of Vince Dezuzio to replace the old unsafe paver circle
- Maintain an inviting appearance with many smaller projects such as: maintaining the flower beds, tree pruning, and maintenance of the parking lot lights
- Complete a newly landscaped entrance to the memorial garden
- Continue to work on improved graveyard and memorial garden maintenance, operations, and record keeping
Provide security systems, training, and operations to meet the requirements of The Children’s Corner (TCC) and the expectations of our covenant partners and facilities users
- Replace obsolete failing equipment with a new video surveillance system including a new video and access control server, 11 new digital cameras, and a new display in the TCC office that will provide improved security for the children and the campus.
- Complete installation of the “Door 10” project that will protect TCC children and the staff by securing center court to prevent unscreened people from mingling with TCC children. The system is expected to be fully implemented in March 2024.
- Continue TCC emergency response training and the Easter security operations planning and execution.
The Board of Deacons
The members of the Board of Deacons care for the members of our church and community. Many thanks to our Deacons who faithfully cared for the church and community in 2023.
During the past year, we:
- organized the serving of weekly and monthly Communion.
- provided Prayer Partners each Sunday.
- reached out to bereaved families.
- thanked the Basking Ridge Police Department Liberty Corner Fire Department for supporting us.
- provided hospitality at weekly coffee hours, Easter breakfast, Rev. Anne Havrilla’s retirement, to welcome Rev. Christian Hong.
Additional Celebrations:
- 75 coats donated to Market Street Mission
- 151 Giving Tree gifts for HOME and Department of Protective Services
- Gift bags for residents of Good News Home for Women, FISH & YoungLives
- About $8,500 in emergency assistance to seven families
- Contributed the hotel costs in lieu of housing the HOME clients in our building.
- Set up several Meal Trains for people in need
We thank the congregation for allowing us to serve others in the name of Jesus Christ.
Go Team
It is wonderful to see how God is working through our mission partners to serve others in need! From within our doors to the surrounding communities to Honduras, Africa, and southeast Asia, God is at work and Liberty Corner Church is blessed to be a part of it.
New partnership with Feeding Hands food pantry in Hillsborough that serves Somerset County, serving more than 850 families every month.
The Good News Home for Women (GNH) completed a second-floor expansion in the main building, received a donated building for Mommy & Me pilot program, and was approved for a grant to establish a Sober Living House (temporary housing for graduates of its residential program).
The Hearts for Honduras (HFH) School is growing. There were 188 students enrolled at the end of 2022, which grew to 267 in 2023, including 15 ninth graders, the highest grade taught at the school.
At New City Kids (Jersey City), 152 children are enrolled, 98 teens are employed as Teen Life Interns, and 21 teens are Teen Life Apprentice volunteers. All 25 seniors graduated and began college, with three attending ivy league colleges - a first for the program! On March 31, we hosted the NCK spring production that showcased the talent of the young people and their faith, as several shared their testimonies.
"It feels good to be in a place where I can be a leader for my peers..." -Miguelfi
Linda and Geoff Simpson visited LCPC from Kenya during July and spoke about their youth ministry, Nuru Yake, which now has three youth centers in nearby communities with at least 500 children attending weekly and about 150-200 teenagers who come regularly to learn, grow, be mentored, counseled, helped in their schooling, and fed.
During the school break in late 2023, teenagers and children came to the centers almost daily for various enriching activities, including some certificate programs in the Bible, reading, and service. They also hosted a retreat for their young adults and one for more than 100 teenagers.
A Malawi Visions work team traveled there in September and teamed up with local volunteers to complete its fourth solar irrigated vegetable garden that will enable that center to produce all the vegetables it needs. They also constructed their fifth learning center of three classrooms that are being furnished and equipped with proceeds from the 2022 Christmas offering.
The Jesus Film Project in southeast Asia is making kingdom progress. Their tracking of Jesus Film showings from August 2022 to August 2023 in Thailand alone recorded 1,021 outdoor showings with 36,795 viewings and 9,162 decisions for Christ. That’s nine decisions per showing, which is impressive for a population that’s less than 1% Christian.
Pause Ministry continues to serve men, women, and couples locally and has expanded across the region. In addition to NJ, it serves individuals and couples in PA, DE, MD, and FL.
The Plainfield location of YoungLives is looking to expand from its four locations to add one in Somerville, which will be an opportunity for hands-on involvement by LCPC folks.
Hearts For Honduras
Hearts For Honduras School flourished in La Entrada this past year thanks to the commitment and faith of the staff, students, and parents, as well as the dedication and generosity of many from LCPC. The many accomplishments and reasons for thanksgiving include:
267 students successfully completed the school year, a 42% increase about the 188 enrolled for the 2022 year.
All 15 students in 9th grade graduated.
The Pasantes program, which is the youth empowerment program modeled after New City Kids, continued to mature, aided by ongoing support from New City Kids including an on-site visit from New City Kids to Honduras this past summer.
After four years without a mission trip given COVID-19 challenges, a LCPC mission team visited La Entrada in July, bonding with the staff and students at the school, taking part in the Pasantes work to spread the word of God to another school, and giving love away by making and delivering food baskets to families in need in the community.
Thank you to the entire Hearts For Honduras Team with special thanks to Mark Barickman for his many years of outstanding service and leadership as he steps down from his role as President of the HFH Vision Team.
Malawi Visions
The year 2023 was another productive year for Malawi Visions, working as the “development arm” of our partnership with Ministry of Hope (MOH). Our charter is to bring sustainable advancement, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to 9,000 vulnerable orphan children in Malawi. Our projects and programs seek to replace never-ending “relief” for children and villagers living within chronic poverty and hopelessness, with self-sustaining independence and self-reliance in education, food supply, and relationship with Jesus Christ.
We completed a fourth solar powered irrigation system at Khwamba, facilitating greater independence in food production via multiple growing seasons.
We constructed our fifth after-school learning center at the Mponela center, where we plan in the next year to initiate another after-school program. The three classrooms of the Mponela center will be furnished with chairs, table-desks, blackboards, laptops, etc. with funds provided by the 2022 LCPC Christmas Offering.
We supported youth evangelism activities through the purchase of 100 local dialect Bibles. The Teen Life Internship Program curricula begins each afternoon of classes with devotions and prayer, Bible lessons, and scripture memorization.
Daniel Moyo, our Malawian counterpart, visited in the U.S. for two weeks. Our focus with Daniel was brainstorming and developing improved techniques for our after-school programs, particularly the learning of English, and included visits to New Jersey’s top rated charter school, and New City Kids centers. We identified the all-important goal of improving the learning of English, upon which in Malawi, all future opportunities depend.
Four Malawi Visions members traveled to Malawi for a two-week working trip.
A new program of first aid and emergency response training was provided for all of the MOH center directors.
We completed our 12th ocean shipment to our facilities including books, table-desks, chairs, blackboards, solar panels and controls, library shelves, Singer treadle sewing machines, homemade skirts and shorts, and much more.
Our book group, collected, categorized, labeled, and packed 5,000 donated books, bringing the book total in our six libraries in Malawi to 50,000 volumes!
Our sewing group created 200 girls’ skirts and 200 boys’ shorts for the neediest children in our centers.
Our sewing machine group collected, restored, and shipped two additional Singer treadle machines, bringing the total to 12. Our tailoring classes have had terrific impact, both in learning a life-long trade, and in providing school uniforms for those who cannot afford to purchase them.
We hosted our third Malawi Visions Jazz Fundraiser in March, again featuring our own pianist Chris DeVito and his band.
We celebrate the efforts and team spirit of our at-home missional community of faithful Malawi Visions members who give of their time, and talents in so many ways. Activities include book collecting/processing, accounting, fundraising, financial planning, educational program development, and much more!
Caregiving Ministries
DivorceCare
DivorceCare ran from March 7-May 30, with an average of 15 attendees each week. We also sponsored DivorceCare Surviving the Holidays event in October with 17 registrants. After a great turnout, most of the group met afterwards at a nearby restaurant for a cup of holiday cheer.
Special thanks for Joyce Rogina for her six years of leadership.
GriefShare
GriefShare was offered three times this year. Our programs started on February 13, June 5, and October 12. We were full for all three sessions which is capped at 12 people to allow members to be able to talk during each meeting.
Due to having many people seeking us out this year, we did not advertise, and the last session was blinded on the GriefShare website due to overwhelming response. All of our meetings were offered in person and in October we used the updated, much improved GriefShare materials.
Thank you to Liberty Corner Church for hosting this very helpful program!
Stephen Ministry
In 1997, a group of five church members founded the Stephen Ministry at Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church. In 2023, Barbara Haynes, the last founding member, retired after 26 years of devoted service. With heartfelt gratitude, we recognize and thank Barbara for her leadership, inspiration, and loving, compassionate care that touched so many people.
In 2023, we welcomed Sabra Seyer to the Stephen Leader Team. We held a 50-hour training class and commissioned Karen Goller and Joe Plocinski as new Stephen Ministers. We thank Stuart White for his service as a Supervision Facilitator these past few years. We are grateful to Jane Kolarik who has joined the Supervision Facilitator team along with Corey Strickland and Sabra Seyer. The Facilitators role is crucial to providing support to the Stephen Ministers as they provide care to those in need.
There were 23 Stephen Ministers who were grateful to have had the privilege of providing 536 hours of one-to-one compassionate care to 34 care receivers from the congregation and the community.
Re:generation
Re:generation is a discipleship making ministry to lead people into a closer relationship with Jesus, which results in healing, leaving the old behind, and embracing the new life that Christ creates in us. All who are tired, broken, or hurting are invited to come find healing in Jesus Christ.
Re:generation operates as a hybrid ministry with groups both online and in person. The outreach efforts focus on Re:generation within our church, local community, and in the states of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Most weeks the ministry continues to welcome new participants. The in-person ministry has two Groundwork Groups to welcome people to engage year-round. Also, live worship was added towards the end of the year.
Additional celebrations include continued graduation of several men’s and women’s Step Groups, the raising up of new leaders for our church, 4F Group (40s & 50s), Young Adult Ministry (20s & 30s), Deacons, and the other ministries. Come experience recovery in Christ when life is broken!
Stewardship & Financials
In 2023, Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church (LCPC) continued its important work in advancing God’s Kingdom in our local community and across the globe through our missionary support.
The 2023 Total Giving (Pledged and Non-Pledged) was $1,335,849 essentially even with the 2022 level. Your contributions combined with disciplined control over expenses by the staff and ministry leaders resulted in an annual deficit of ($21,850) compared to a projected budget deficit of ($88,950).
Our 2024 Stewardship theme, “inspiring, FAITH, HOPE & LOVE” was based on 1 Thessalonians 1:3. During his sermon series, Barnabas reminded us of the characteristics of inspiring faith, hope and love would look like as evidenced in our lives. In these challenging times, it’s encouraging to see our brothers and sisters in Christ continuing to support the Lord’s work.
The financial statements and the 2024 budget are available in the full annual report.
Learn more about Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church at libertycorner.org, @LibertyCornerChurch, @lcpc908, or download the Liberty Corner Church app. We would love to have you be a part of this community of faith.