Some Random Comments, Page 1
Abiding Presence Lutheran Church

While the short history of the beginning of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, written by Rosemary, is certainly correct factually, I discussed with her that it seemed to lack a certain personal sense. I hope this piece gives a human face to the members from that era. The later history by Rosemary, discussing the construction of the church building, does address those concerns and some of Rosemary's comments are used in my note.
 
In late 1961, Rosemary and I arrived in this area. When I was offered an opportunity to take a better position in Princeton, it was time for us to leave family and friends to make a new life in New Jersey.
 
Rosemary, a life-long Lutheran and I, a mostly Methodist, visited several churches in the area, especially the Lutheran Church in Princeton and the Lutheran Church in Lawrenceville, but they were just not right for us.
 
At that time, there were no shopping malls in the area and Trenton was an important center for shopping, movies, restaurants, and such. Every Thursday evening, we would visit Trenton to do our shopping, have dinner, maybe see a movie. We would begin at Sears, walk over to Arnold Constable's, then walk to Yards, or maybe Lits. We would always be sure to stop at the Radio Shack on Front Street.
 
On Sundays, we would visit the Methodist Church on Broad Street. I particularly liked the church building and the minister. We must have visited some Lutheran Churches in Trenton, but I don't recall any.
 
In 1963, we stopped looking for a church and instead located a house in the Pennington area, a lovely, small, friendly town. Rosemary liked the Presbyterian Church and the Episcopal Church, and of course, I liked the Methodist Church, a big, old stone building with a slate roof. They loved us at the Methodist Church, definitely looking for new members, we even took the new member's course. The pastor at that time was James W. Marshall.