Montgomery Ministries Final Report

Why are we here? Why did God put us here? Why do Christians go to church? Why did they establish churches in the first place? I’m not going to answer those questions—most churches have mission statements and there are thousands of theologians in print over many years who have answered them. But I certainly thought about these questions when I began this attempt to describe Montgomery Ministries (MM.)

Why did Michael Prewitt start it in 2005? What has MM been doing over the years since then? How did we grow from seeking purpose (Got Purpose? was Michael’s slogan for MM flyers and cards) to spirit-filled prayer, to those Holy Spirit nudges to give aid—spiritually or otherwise— when we can and to knowing we can?

I can give you a brief history, but really want to answer the more important question: what has MM meant to those who have been part of it? Some of us will answer that as we see it in our own lives.

After the brief history, the individual stories are in alphabetical order.

A Brief History

The late Michael Prewitt, M.Div., an associate pastor at Hopewell Presbyterian Church (HPC), started MM in 2005 in Montgomery Township (which was without a Presbyterian church) with Sunday worship in the middle school library. The small congregation gradually grew to 30 or so regular attendees including one or two seminary students. Michael was loved by all, and his sermons and ministry to us were a gift from God.

In 2007, after summer services in a church in Hillsborough because the school library was unavailable, attendance decreased, and we met in Michael’s office rooms instead. In 2009 the Presbytery required Michael to find another church that could pay him, as he had been pastoring for several months without taking a salary. The core group decided to continue renting Michael’s offices, one room of which became our sanctuary. Michael was an inspired and inspiring preacher. We missed him, his sermons and his Bible studies. But we carried on.

The group would repeatedly swell and shrink over the years. Many came because we were small, and they were searching for spirituality in their lives in a safe place. Some, refreshed, would go back to the churches that had nurtured them as children. We were a conduit.

From our web site, closed in 2017:

Montgomery Ministries is a small Christian community that meets in a non-traditional church setting. We call it a "house church" in an office. We have a heart for people who are struggling with life's reality and who are feeling isolated. People seeking to fill a spiritual hunger have found comfort and fulfillment here and have become part of our loving and supportive fellowship that feels like a family.

After Michael left we had Lynn Rubier-Capron as our preacher and part time pastor. Thereafter we had several other volunteer preachers including Nancy Curtis, Kim Copeland, several students from Princeton Seminary, Barb Pauley and Dick Scheetz from HPC and finally our faithful lay preacher Christopher.

Alan’s Story

Montgomery Ministries opened their hearts to me the moment I walked in the door. It gave me an opportunity to go deeper in my spiritual journey. I also got a chance to lead a little. I am very grateful for my time spent as part of MM!!

Andy’s Story

(Andy was our music director, keyboardist extraordinaire, scripture go-to-guy and treasurer for most of MM’s existence.)

Angie’s Story The Gift of Montgomery Ministries

When I first found Montgomery Ministries, I was sad and troubled and feeling “lost”. My first experience with this church fellowship, was in the library of the Middle School, with Rev. Michael Prewitt pastoring his flock of about 30 or more people. The group was very welcoming, and the pastor was very easy to talk with and even convinced me to share “my story” in a worship service. Looking back, I am still in disbelief that I was able to do that, being so new to this church group and basically shy in large or new groups.

However, it was not until we moved to our small “house church in an old warehouse/office building,” that I began to feel a real part of Montgomery Ministries. Immediately I was encouraged to join their Bible Study and then the Worship Planning group, and then the choir! And then even to sing in an ensemble of three!

Here, I felt secure. Here, I felt safe. And here, I started to share my heart.

Here even, I could shed tears, and risk being vulnerable. Here I felt accepted. And most importantly, here I began to find God in a deeper sense and began to form a personal relationship with Jesus.

I liked our humble settings that seemed like Jesus would prefer. One of our two rooms was used as an inviting and comfy Bible Study and fellowship room and the other as a sanctuary with a small altar table, keyboard, baptismal glass bowl on a mosaic table, folding chairs and an old, very faded, very large couch in the back of the room.

Our numbers continued to decrease as some wished a more traditional larger setting. Thus, we began to focus on the people around us who were hurting and seeking a welcoming nurturing safe place to come and seek God and friendship. We began to evolve into an earnest discipleship, actively seeking to share God’s love and fellowship. The people who gravitated to our small intimate form of worship and fellowship, needed to feel accepted and loved and encouraged.

Some came for a short time, others stayed longer. A core of ten or fewer committed to moving to another building with four rooms when our building sustained water damage. These new rooms we fondly named “The Upper Rooms”. Here we could create a “kitchen” area, and an 3 eating area for a bigger group to eat and fellowship, a larger sanctuary, and a very inviting Bible Study room with 5 large bookcases, sofa, and comfy chairs. A lot of heartfelt sharing and praying happened in this room!

Looking back, over the years I was a part of MM, from 2008 until the pandemic changed our circumstances, I am remembering many wonderful, blessed events. We had 4 baptisms: A toddler baptized by Rev. Kim Copeland; a toddler, Eva Riley, baptized by Rev. Nancy Curtis; Sep, a young man, baptized by Rev. Mike Capron; Laura Warren, a member and elder of Montgomery Ministries, baptized by Rev. Lynn Capron. We held a small outdoor memorial service for Kesner, fiancé of Kim Copeland. We had several Thanksgiving meals with guests from Good News Home. Seders were also held as well as yearly Christmas services with caroling, nativity drama and dinner for Good News Home women.

Many times, members of Montgomery Ministries, became involved in personal 1-1 relationships and then brought them to our church family for sharing of our Faith, accepting them with our love and encouragement, and sometimes financial support. We encouraged a young single woman through her pregnancy and preschool years of her daughter’s life. I vividly remember holding her precious newborn infant in my arms a few hours after her birth. We also remember Eva’s baptism in our sanctuary, with toddler Eva standing beside her mom while Rev. Nancy Curtis officiated in such a warm welcoming way. We also remember helping her find and secure an apartment. During difficult times, they stayed at my home, and I fondly remember dying Easter eggs with Eva as a toddler, and even doing laundry.

One event made a big change in my life. Rev. Lynn Capron invited me to attend a conference entitled The Church and Addiction held in Edison. There I met “Miss Ernestine” who was director of Good News Home, a residential Christian treatment center for women with addictions. I was so impressed with this ministry that I could not rest until I had visited this center and found myself volunteering and assigned to teach a weekly 12-Step with a strong Christian focus. And 15 years later I am still teaching this class though now using Zoom. I really feel God called me to this ministry and it has blessed many women including myself to attain and maintain recovery. MM was quick to recognize the value and God led ministry at Good News Home and began supplying Bibles and study and devotional materials. In addition, the church formed a personal relationship with the women by inviting them to special events and worship services, as well as mentoring and encouraging some individuals during a time that they most needed it.

The conference, Church and Addiction, also was a testament to how God works. There I met Clara from Newark, who gave me her business card. Two years later when I was conducting a twelve-step leaders’ workshop, I “found” Clara’s card and invited her to attend. I believe this was definitely a God-ordained “incident”! Clara brought three other women and that is how we met Zakiyyah.

MM was blessed with many volunteer pastors and seminary interns, and lay teachers and preachers. We especially remember Rev. Zakiyyah who learned about us from a conference she attended. Zakiyyah spent some weekends with us preaching and mentoring us and some of the Good News Home women. I especially remember this woman of God, telling her story and preaching God’s message barefoot, and having everyone in the room kneeling before their 4 chairs in confessional prayer! My granddaughter later revealed this experience changed her life regarding chronic anxiety! Zakiyyah also mentored some of the Good News Home women when they were visiting the same weekend. Zakiyyah understood them and interfaced with them in compelling life-changing ways.

Zakiyyah told her story that as a young mother of three she became very ill with a terminal diagnosis. She prayed to God that if he let her live until her children were grown, she would give her whole life to His Service. She recovered to her physicians’ amazement, and she kept her promise and studied while working and raising her family and became an ordained minister. She preached with her life, witnessing on her doorstep and the streets of Newark, warning drug dealers away from her neighborhood, as they knew she was watching, and PRAYING.

God kept His promise. All of Zakiyyah’s children grew into adulthood, the youngest just graduated from college when Zakkiyah became critically ill agin. Sadly, even after MM had helped Zakiyyah secure a liver transplant, her body rejected it. When we visited her in the hospital, and when we called her as she spent her last days under the care of hospice, she would reply to our question: “How are you doing Zakiyyah?” …. She would reply in weak yet vibrant voice: “Growing in the Lord, Growing in the Lord.”

Four of us attended her Memorial Service in Newark, singing one of her favorite songs, and sharing our memories of her time with us at Montgomery Ministries. She will always be remembered by her last words to us: “Growing in the Lord, Growing in the Lord.” Her succinct powerful testimony “Growing in the Lord” is also a very accurate way to sum up the years of our experience in the MM fellowship: “Growing in the Lord…. Growing in the Lord. Praise God, Growing in the Lord!”

Thank you, God for blessing MM and all who passed through our open doors.

The pandemic forced us to end our meeting in the Upper Rooms and for many months we conducted Bible Study and Worship services with Zoom. During the summer of 2021 we met for Sunday Services outdoors in Andy’s driveway and we zoomed Bible Study. When weather was too cold for outdoor gatherings some of us worshipped at Blawenburg Reformed Church and three of us joined their choir. Though we have decided not to continue the formal entity of MM, our time together has strengthened our Faith and given us many opportunities to share our Faith and God’s Word and Love with others whom God sent to us. We end our time together in the Upper Rooms but there will always be a room in our hearts and spirits that is reverently known as Montgomery Ministries and fondly called MM. And though we are now scattered out in the Lord’s service, we are still “Growing in the Lord. Praise God! Thank you, Jesus! Growing in the Lord.”

Christopher’s Story

(Christopher was our lay preacher for several years and often brought moving personal stories to his reflections on scripture.)

These are my reflections on some ten years or so with MM: Someone came up to me at the end of a 12-step meeting and invited me to a Bible Study. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t think of a good reason not to go. I was aware of the spirit 5 world but had no working knowledge of Jesus and his companions, so the timing was perfect. I took to Christianity like the proverbial duck to water. The image that followed me in those days was the dovetail, a kind of God-incidence or synchronicity. I loved everything about the church, from the music to the careful exegesis of sacred texts. So it was with a degree of pride that I agreed to preach on Sunday mornings, something I never would have imagined for myself in my life preceding MM. My background in writing and performance prepared me for creating and delivering these sermons to our small but passionate gatherings.

Everyone in the church excelled at some aspect of worship. Everyone was on an equal footing. Sharing my reflections with the congregation allowed me to engage with scripture in a manner that was living and vital. Frequently I would make a mistake regarding God’s word and be taken to task (gently.) This was a crash course in Christianity and I loved every minute of it. The spirituality I have encountered as a result of my participation in MM has given birth this past year to unprecedented artistic endeavor. I believe in the kinship between creativity and spirituality and have produced a plethora of drawings inspired by my faith.

I will miss this church family, but I have faith I will be taken to the next level

Clara’s Story

When I think of Montgomery Ministries I think of how kind the members are; their willingness to help others; how they have the Agape Love for people. And most of all as a church they are willing to go the extra mile. They are a loving and caring ministry.

Georgie’s Story

I am happy to recall some special memories I hold dear. One is the weekly singing of song selections. I continue to be a member of a Choral Group to this day. Another is the weekly Bible studies. I just loved the gathering during the week as well as Sunday services with all the members of the MM Group. Who could forget the amazing meals contributed towards by all of us? An amazing experience for me which will most likely never be repeated, sadly. My sincere love to all.

Gina’s Story

I am forever indebted to HPC and the people who mentored me as a new born-again Christian but felt called to the “mission field” a year after MM started. I liked the smallness of the group, though I’m not sure why. (I also liked that it was a 10-minute drive from my house with plenty of parking.) After Michael left, there was certainly a lot for the core group of 5 or 6 to do. We were it—deacons, elders, choir, pianist/music leader, janitors, sometime preachers, Bible study leaders. The bulletins for our Sunday services were my task. This became a couple or more hours of worship each week for me as I searched for or wrote prayers and found online pictures for bulletin covers.

I learned a lot at HPC about what it means to be a Christian, but I had a lot more to learn at MM—patience, tolerance, that I am a sinner, repentance, forgiveness. The list could go on but ends with Love. I suppose in a small group these encounters with yourself and others happen more readily, like in a family. (I couldn’t hide behind others in pews. We didn’t have pews. We sat in a circle or square.)

I grew in my walk with Jesus while at MM, having the space and time to search for and practice Christian meditation. I shared some of my experience with the group in an occasional sermon or Bible study as others did as well. The feedback and encouragement were important.

While attending MM, Angie and I trained as Stephen Ministers with a wonderful group of HPC women. This training extended over several weeks. Then I was assigned to a woman whom I visited weekly or biweekly, reading the Bible with her, answering questions. This, as well as the next assignment I had, caused me to grow in faith and confidence in my ability to share that faith—open my mouth to say I believe this—and to encourage and empathize. I hope these two women appreciated me half as much as I appreciated them and my time with them.

I can’t remember or write those things I do remember because it would make this report too long. And I want you to read about these others’ remembrances.

Kim’s Story

What a beautiful season of growth it was for me to be a part of this ministry. The mission on the website first drew me in—that everyone was a minister, no gift more important than the next. This was such a beautiful mirror of what God’s kingdom must be like. I’m grateful for In His Steps and first being exposed to the 12-Steps through a Christian lens. I’m also so very thankful for Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. This book was gifted to me when I joined and I’ve shared it with many friends. Also, one year on my birthday Margaret stood up from her wheelchair, walked over to me and prayed. This felt miraculous. And also the memorial service for Kesner, the replanting of hope and Angie’s beautiful sermon.

Worship planning and preaching, seated in blue jeans and sandals, was new and special for me. And the love that you shared with the women’s center and friends that I invited to worship, like Talithea. Such beautiful hospitality. Small in number but generous in giving love and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Laura’s Story

Where do I start with the miracles of MM? Away from church attendance many years, in the Spring of 2007, I felt a pull to put my toe back in the water after months of participating in a 12- step program. A friend was attending MM which met at my old high school at the time, and that sounded appealing to me. I was warmly welcomed and soon was tempted to participate in the worship singing and playing my guitar at a Mother’s Day service that I encouraged my nonchurch going teens to attend in lieu of Mother’s Day gifts/cards.

I can't believe that happy memory was a first of many as the Holy Spirit worked with me, I proceeded slowly to come to planning meetings, Bible studies, Sunday worship, gradually feeling drawn to commence reading the Bible in its entirety from the beginning, bringing other 12-step friends to church and eventually tithing. In approximately 14 years, I've been so grateful to have been blessed with the pastoring of the late founding pastor Michael Prewitt, the interim volunteer and guest pastors, seminary students, and lay preachers who served with us after the church was no longer able to support a pastor financially.

I feel closer to God and have grown more personally and spiritually with this small family-like church community, in conjunction with years of the 12-step program, than in any other time in my life.

We have been a prayerful and musical group and with the usual differences of opinion we learned we could love our way through with extra effort and God's amazing grace. There were baptisms, (including mine), weddings, funerals, memorials, providing for a well In Liberia, becoming a compassion sponsor, helping Sep, a friend with special needs, move to a more appropriate and much better location, and hosting/ sharing Christ's love with groups of ladies from Good News Home. I've been blessed to know the importance of being very involved with a church family that loves God and with God's grace can make a difference by loving each other, our neighbor, even someone on the other side of the planet.

In conclusion, even though the pandemic stopped us from meeting in our twice relocated office, we were able to continue by zoom for over a year now, and I for one feel we will always have a unique connection to each other and be forever changed for the better from our time together at Montgomery Ministries worshipping and trusting our Lord, Jesus Christ. Praise God!

Lynn’s Story

(Rev. Mike Capron and Rev. Lynn Rubier-Capron supported MM spiritually after Michael Prewitt left and we had decided to continue MM.)

2008 is such a very long time ago, and so much has happened since Mike and I moved to Hopewell NJ. Mike received a call to be the pastor of Hopewell Presbyterian church, and I came along; not knowing if God would call me to ministry through the church, through teaching the violin, or both. It was both.

Montgomery Ministries was at a transition point, and I was touched as I heard that they needed a pastor. I knew of no other mainline church that had a similar targeted ministry for people in recovery. (MM was not targeted for people in recovery, we simply had some members in recovery, and they attracted people they knew who went on to invite others and so on.)

The Presbyterian oversight process for ministry is very thick and requires a lot of committee and Presbytery attention. Historically, these things are in place for good reason. I still remember listening to the conversation on the floor of Presbytery when we were discerning how HPC and MM would be related to each other. A seminary professor asked the group to consider ecclesiological concerns. I then had the opportunity to speak and asked the people in the room to consider that this was a unique and important opportunity for ministry in a 8 Presbyterian church, one that most main line churches would struggle to provide. The Spirit of God moved through the room and the decision was obvious. A new era of MM of began as an off-campus ministry of HPC. I was grateful that this historic link between the two could continue.

Like most small groups, MM was about relationships. Each member knew the passions and convictions of the other, each knew that their joint efforts amounted to something that was greater than each part. Each person came back again and again to the presence and action of God within and between them. MM always knew that God’s presence and action is not just about our human spirit. It is also about our bodies and how we live and thrive in body, mind and spirit through the presence and action of God.

May God continue to bless the people and the relationships that have formed through MM.

Maggie’s Story

I was not a member but a frequent visitor when I stayed with my sister, Gina Williams. I am one who benefitted from Hopewell’s undertaking! I will never forget the sweet fellowship with Jesus and the MMs in their upper rooms, and the two other facilities they occupied before that last. Thank you from one who was very blessed, and continues to be, by the sacrifices made to bring MM into His world. I love the friends I’ve made at MM!

Marty’s Story

I actually met Andy for the first time at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. He was the music director of the contemporary service. From there I transitioned with him into MM in 2006.

I like to think that Andy was responsible for my renewed interest in playing guitar again! Before I met him, I hadn't played guitar in 12 years! MM started out as a music influenced Church, but it ended up being so much more as we grew.

Our group was small but very powerful in the Holy Spirit. Our core group was the most unlikely of individuals to bond the way we did. All of us were from completely different backgrounds, and yet, when we met for Bible Study, or Church Services, we came together as one, to worship and pray. Each of us had special gifts and talents that the Holy Spirit used to help strengthen and mature us in our Christian walk of faith in Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Jesus has deepened. I am so grateful and feel fortunate to have been able to be part of such a special group. Through this group and through the help and teaching of the many mentors and Spiritual leaders, I feel my Faith has increased exponentially. I truly believe “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) He is my rock and my salvation! (from Psalm 62:6)

Our group has made many journeys together on Bible Study Night as we delved into the Scriptures and witnessed God answer many prayers. The most exciting and rewarding of the journeys was when our group prayed through the Book of Revelation! I believe it took almost 4 months to read, pray, and share with one another our wonderful discoveries of this Book. 9 I truly believe that our small group touched many lives across many borders! I believe that, as sad as it is to see it end, that our journeys are just beginning. We all will have MM to help us remember how our faith was strengthened, and it will help us persevere! (Tim4:16)

I hold the Bible close to my heart and am learning from it daily. I try to share it with whoever would lend an ear. God Bless.

(Marty, modest as usual, neglects to mention that he has led most of our Bible studies, including the months of Revelation. He is still leading us on Thursday nights on Zoom with prayer, Psalms, scripture to study, and wisdom.)

Nancy’s Story

I was with MM shortly after it began. I had left another congregation in Montgomery and was looking for preaching and teaching that were Biblically true. I was hooked. Michael's sermons were inspiring. The music was beautiful. And the enthusiasm of the Princeton Theological Seminary students was contagious. One of the students created a "youth group" for my son and his friend.

When MM shifted I felt that I needed to move on also.

But my journey brought me back in the role of a once a month preacher. The small group meeting in the upper room encouraged me and gave me the opportunity to challenge myself and grow.

I treasure my time in the Upper Room and my time as a congregant with Michael. All have helped me grow as a Chaplain and a Minister.

Ophelia’s Story

Hi, my name is Ophelia Nabwe. I started attending the Montgomery. Ministries church through my client Margaret Page, that I worked for as a care provider. Mrs. Page was a member of the MM church, and she talked to me about it, and asked that I go with her to church. My first visit was very nice; all the members was very nice, and I felt welcome. Since then I went to church every Sunday. I said thanks to Mrs. Page for encouragement and I love the MM church, because they treat their members like family. They will pray for all the members, and even have Bible study with you and talk to you about God. What the MM family has been in my life, I can't express how much love and support I have had from the MM family. I am from a country called Liberia. When I got ready to send for my family from Liberia, the MM church helped me a lot to get them here and now my family of five are here, and we all are part of the MM family. The MM church has also provided safe drinking water for people in my country Liberia, and they are all very grateful to the MM church for such a wonderful job, of giving them safe water to drink. My family and I are very grateful to be a part of this wonderful ministry.

These are my thoughts about the MM church. Thanks to all of my MM family for the wonderful prayers, encouragement, love and support they have for their members. I pray that God will 10 continue to bless and protect each of us as long as we live so that we can pass it on to others in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Renée’s Story

I am a life that was changed from the support Montgomery Ministries gave me during my pregnancy and the early years after Eva’s birth. Angie invited me to live in her home for a while. You helped me find and secure an apartment and helped with rent. It’s hard to be a single mom. You accepted and encouraged me in many ways through really hard times. Holy Spirit was tangible when we worshipped together. A life was changed. A life was saved. I will never forget you all. Love, Renée and Eva

Ruth’s Story

(While Ruth was with us, she gained confidence to study to be a care-giver and is now doing that work. She was raised a Roman Catholic and has since joined a church of that tradition.)

I remember when we did the Christian 12-steps with Lynn. And I am thankful for Angie suggesting I write my notes on index cards for school.

Sandra’s Story

Our pastor was Kim, (at that time) and you took me personally by the hand and guided me, with all my doubts & fears. I didn't believe much, and you all spiritually helped me not only believe in it but also that I was worthy of a better life. You all gave me hope, when I had lost it all, loved me, until I could love myself and ultimately helped me to become a better person for myself so that I can give my life experiences, strength, hope, & inspiration to others. I have never forgotten all you have done for me, and I continue to spread my spirituality to others. Helping others truly helps me in all aspects of my life.

Montgomery Ministries Timeline from HPC Clerk of Session

May 2003: First report to HPC Session about the proposed ministry. Presbytery of New Brunswick has agreed that HPC will take the lead in establishing the ministry. Discussions had evidently been taking place before this. Correspondence and documents have not been researched.

June 2003: Special Report presented to HPC Session by Kathy Strode, Curt Wilbur, Michael Prewitt and Pastor Ginny Smith. There is no physical report in the Session packet, but Session approved a three-year financial plan, and identified Michael Prewitt as Designated Associate Pastor and Charles Hartwick as Parish Associate. Office space was to be rented on Route 206 in Montgomery, and Montgomery High School was to allow use of their cafetorium for services.

April 2004: communion is being held every Sunday (location not identified).

2005: In the Annual report, Michael Prewitt notes that he became Organizing Pastor in January (installed and ordained Jan 18), and that this month marked the formal beginning of the ministry. A Christcare ministry “Together” led by Janis Wilbur meets on Thursdays at the MM offices.

No reports in HPC annual reports for 2006-2008. Services are taking place at Montgomery High School. Some HPC members are attending. Doug Robbins recalls attendances of around 30 people in this period.

2009 Regina Williams reports in the HPC annual report. The ministry has established a Christian Women’s 12-step program. Elders from HPC have been attending services.

2010 Regina Williams annual report. Lyn Rubier Capron is serving as volunteer pastor. 12-step program continues. 2 bible studies per week.

2011 Regina Williams annual report. Very similar to 2010.

2012-2018 no entries in HPC Annual Reports.

2013 Andy Thurm, Angie Rebert, Lauren Warren, and Gina Williams appointed HPC Elders (class of 2015).

2014 July Michael Prewitt death.

2019 Regina Williams annual report. 12-step program now based in Flemington. Two families are being financially supported. Thursday night Bible study. Nancy Curtis Chaplain once per month. Lay preacher.

2020 Regina Williams annual report. In-person meetings stopped May 20th (COVID). Meetings over Zoom 4x per week including Thursday Bible study. 12-step in Flemington continues. Providing assistance in local community.

More information is probably in issues of The Messenger and in Session packets for this period. These have not been reviewed.

Ian Burrow, Clerk of Session

June 15th 2022