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Receive it Receive it Live it Live it

Pass Pass it on it on

Narrative Budget Narrative Budget Stewardship Newsletter Stewardship Newsletter

October 2026

Note from the Pastor “Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.” — 2 Timothy 1:14 More than 180 years ago, people we never knew imagined a Methodist church in this place. They chose a remarkable location in the heart of Princeton and built a sacred space where people could encounter God and grow as disciples of Jesus. Generations after them added classrooms and offices, filled windows with stained glass, and transformed a fellowship hall into a place where neighbors could gather around tables and be fed. They could not have known us or imagined exactly what Princeton United Methodist Church would look like in 2026. And yet, here we are! Every time we walk through these doors, we receive something entrusted to us by generations before us. Think of all that has happened here: baptisms and confirmations; weddings and funerals; prayers and songs; communion shared; children formed; people called into ministry; neighbors fed; strangers welcomed; grief carried; justice pursued; faith questioned, discovered, lost, and found again. And through it all, grace. Grace given and received. We have received an extraordinary inheritance. But discipleship asks more of us than simply preserving what we have received. We are called to live it, and to pass it on. That is the invitation of this year’s stewardship theme: Receive It. Live It. Pass It On. We receive with gratitude the grace, faith, community, resources, and ministry entrusted to us. We live that grace through worship and formation, care and justice, hospitality and service. And we pass it on, so that people we may never meet can encounter God’s grace through this community too. The pages that follow tell some of that story. A narrative budget shows us more than what it costs to operate a church; it helps us see what our shared generosity does. Your giving becomes worship and music, formation for children, youth, adults, seminarians, and emerging leaders, care in seasons of grief and struggle, welcome for our neighbors, justice and mercy, and a place alive with ministry. After several years of difficult decisions, careful stewardship, and significant staff reductions, we are much closer to sustainable financial footing. Our 2026 budget is balanced, but includes revenue we cannot depend upon indefinitely. Our ministry still depends upon all of us sharing in the cost of this community. Every gift matters. PUMC may stand in the heart of Princeton, but our location does not fund our ministry. People do. Some can give a great deal; others much less. What makes this a community of faith is not that everyone gives the same amount, but that each of us prayerfully considers what has been entrusted to us and how God is calling us to share it. So I invite you to make a financial commitment to PUMC for 2027, helping us live faithfully the grace we have received. We are also beginning to imagine farther into the future. You’ll read in these pages about an emerging Living Ministry Fund, through which we hope to build a permanent source of support for PUMC’s ministry for generations to come. We have received much. May we live it faithfully. And may we pass it on. Peace and Love,

Princeton UMC Budget at a Glance Creative Innovation 11% Deepening Diversity 12%

Contagious Joy 24%

$71,595

$169,290

$79,444

$120,700 Engaged Growth 18%

$235,083

Total: $676,112

Compassionate Servanthood 35%

Want to know more? Our detailed budgets are available for public access. Scan the QR code below for our current budget, or request one from the office (tyler@princetonumc.org).

You can also request information about our investment accounts, endowment, or designated funds, none of which are available for general operating expenses.

Pass it on An Emerging Living Ministry Fund Princeton is a place of both deep roots and constant movement. People find their way here from around the country and the world, and for all sorts of reasons. Students arrive for a few years. Seminarians come to learn and discern their calls. Scholars, families, professionals, and others build lives here. And people find their way to PUMC too. Some become part of this community for a season, others for most of a lifetime. They worship, learn, serve, sing, teach, lead, love, and grow here. And their lives take many paths from here. Some graduate or follow a calling or opportunity to another place. Some retire and make a new home in another place. Some remain deeply rooted in Princeton and PUMC for the rest of their lives. Wherever their lives lead, what has happened here becomes part of what they carry, share, and entrust to others. For generations, people have been formed here as disciples and leaders. Children have grown up singing, serving, asking questions, going on mission trips, and discovering that the church belongs to them too. Seminary interns have learned the practices of ministry alongside us before carrying those experiences into congregations and communities far beyond Princeton. Adults have discovered new callings, deepened their faith, and learned new ways to love God and neighbor. Grace received here keeps moving. That is what it means to pass it on. Now we are beginning to imagine how our financial resources might do the same. PUMC currently has a permanent endowment fund, which will generate approximately $60,000 of spendable funds in 2027. Those resources, given generously by faithful members over the past century, have been entrusted to PUMC to support the long-term care and capital needs of our physical church home. We will continue to honor that purpose.

We are now preparing for the next chapter: growing our endowment so that we can care faithfully for both the place that shelters our ministry and the living ministry that happens within and beyond it.

At our upcoming church conference, we will consider a proposal to establish what we are calling a Living Ministry Fund. Gifts to the fund would be permanently endowed, creating an enduring source of support for PUMC's ministry generation after generation. We envision these resources strengthening PUMC's capacity to: Form emerging ministry leaders, including providing enduring support for our seminary and music internship programs. Sustain the people who make ministry possible, providing flexible support for PUMC's staffing needs as those needs change over time. Respond boldly to new opportunities, giving future generations the freedom to experiment, innovate, and follow God's call into ministries we cannot yet imagine. Strengthen our ongoing ministry, creating an additional, sustainable source of revenue alongside annual giving. This is a soft launch, and a larger fundraising initiative is still being developed. But we don't have to wait to begin imagining or participating in the future. You can help pass it on by: making a current gift of any size toward this emerging fund including Princeton UMC in your will or trust naming PUMC as a beneficiary of a retirement account, life insurance policy, or other asset letting us know confidentially about a planned gift you have already made To learn more or begin a conversation, contact Pastor Jenny or Michele TuckPonder. Someone imagined this church for us. Someone gave for ministry they would never see. Someone planted trees beneath whose shade we now sit. What might we entrust to those who come after us?

Contagious Joy

Receive grace. Live with joy. Pass on praise. We worship: receiving and responding to God's grace together through word, music, prayer, sacrament, wonder, and joy. We practice joy, delighting in God's presence and grace in every aspect of our lives. Our joyful responses to God's grace spark joy in those around us.

COLOR AND CULTURE: Afro Fusion and Beautiful Friends.

24% $169,290 By the Numbers 90 average weekly in-person worship attendance. 127 average weekly online worship participation. 24 acolytes help lead our congregation in worship. 9 audiovisual volunteers support our worship services, including 4 new sound technicians trained this year. 4 people serve through our Altar Guild, preparing our sacred space for worship. 45 liturgists help lead our congregation in prayer, Scripture, and worship. 19 ushers extend hospitality and help welcome people into worship. 7 online worship hosts welcome and connect with our digital congregation. 61 children, youth, and adults participating in PUMC's choirs and musical ensembles. 3 baptisms celebrated.

“Contagious Joy serves as a practical foundation for all the ways I find peace, love, and connection in the world,” says David Dreibelbis. “It serves as a north star and helps me envision ways to incorporate the love of Christ into daily life with my family, community, church, and career.” David chairs the Discipleship Board. He lives in Plainsboro with his wife Karen, daughters Louisa (10) and Anita (8), and manages a global medical device manufacturing firm. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL: Praising God with music and movement.

“The chuch is a fun place to be with kids,” says Xhiah Wolopaye.

BIBLE STORY IN ACTION: Children and adults had fun telling the story of Daniel in the Lion’s den.

“Misery loves company,” says Erin Marsz Simonds, “but joy is contagious too. Its smiles, laughter, and lightness remind us we're human and that God is love.” Formerly a writer, director, and actor in New York City, Erin is a realtor at Callaway Henderson Sotheby's in Princeton, "helping families buy and sell homes in the community I love." She has a five year old son, Ryder, and is a Congregational Care Minister at PUMC.

“PUMC is warm and welcoming,” says Brittny Mullin. When church shopping for her marriage to Patrick, everyone she talked to was “so enthusiastic about the church. Compassion Camp sessions reminded me of when I was going to Sunday School.” A human resource manager for a global financial firm, she now teaches Compassion Camp and is on the Leadership Board. Brittny and Patrick were married in the church and live in Plainsboro.

Worship is something we create together. Across generations, members of our congregation share their gifts through music, prayer, Scripture, hospitality, technology, and countless acts of preparation and service. Children and adults sing together in our Intergenerational Choir, lead prayers, serve communion, and participate in the shared work of worship. This year, we've also equipped new people to serve, including four newly trained sound technicians. As we share our gifts, nurture new leaders, and learn from one another, we receive God's grace with wonder and joy—and pass it on.

WELCOMING JESUS: The palm procession celebrates the joy of Palm Sunday.

Compassionate Servanthood 35% $235,083 By the Numbers $73,591 allocated in our annual budget to support denominational mission and benevolences, local missions, mission partnerships, and local benevolences. $5,035 contributed through special Communion offerings, supporting ministries and organizations beyond PUMC. 3 in-kind collections provided essential resources for our neighbors: 3,700 diapers collected for The Maker's Place. 50+ food items collected for Arm In Arm. 45 backpacks and $300 in school supplies collected for CCK families. 3,168 meals served so far in 2026 through Cornerstone Community Kitchen, bringing PUMC and our wider community together to share food, hospitality, and care. 6,760 volunteer hours represent hundreds of volunteers contributing their time and gifts to Cornerstone Community Kitchen.

TEAMWORK: Volunteers – who recently joined the church – served the first Advent Love Feast.

Receive mercy. Live with compassion. Pass on love. We turn outward: caring, serving, sharing, standing in solidarity, and working with our neighbors for justice and mercy. Following Jesus to the margins of society and experience, we seek to see, know, love, and share with those who are outcast, overlooked, oppressed, forgotten. Together we work for justice, and restoration.

HOSPITALITY: When families gather for a Celebration of Life, the church is there to help.

Engaging in PUMC’s core values means a great deal to Jazlyn Cruz. “Here, we consistently are taught and given tools to engage in Compassionate Servanthood. From small things like helping a stranger with a heavy bag -- or making every day resources more accessible for our neighbors. The more I engage, the more I can learn, understand, and grow with those around me.” A scientist by day, she has a joy for teaching, running (in HiTOPs half marathons), and reading. She serves on the Discipleship Board and volunteers with the Youth Group.

Momo Wolopaye supports the value of Compassionate Servanthood because Jesus valued the lonely, the downtrodden, and the lost. “Those are the people who need compassion, and I try to follow in Christ’s footsteps in that way.”

(Above) GENEROUS DONATIONS: Among the various donations – of food, school supplies, diapers – are Bags of Blessings at Thanksgiving. (Right) COMMISSIONING: Congregational Care Ministers support the church in caring for those in need.

God's grace moves through PUMC and into our wider community as we share our financial resources, our time, and our church home. Through our annual mission commitments, special communion offerings, and collections of essential supplies, we respond to our neighbors' needs and support ministries of justice and mercy. Our longstanding relationship with Cornerstone Community Kitchen is another expression of this commitment. Founded through the vision and dedication of PUMC members, CCK is an independent nonprofit that brings together church and community volunteers to share meals and hospitality with our neighbors. PUMC continues to provide a home for this work, sharing the space and resources entrusted to us. We're also imagining new ways to practice justice and mercy alongside our neighbors. Our emerging Justice & Mercy ministry is preparing to experiment with a community laundry initiative, exploring opportunities to build relationships, respond to practical needs, and deepen our engagement with the wider community. As we share what we've received, we participate in God's ongoing work of compassion, justice, and restoration—and pass on the gifts entrusted to us. 9

Engaged Growth 18% $120,700 By the Numbers 10 Discipleship Groups, with 79 participants. 30 children and 15 youth engaged in faith formation. 5 confirmands welcomed into church membership. 4 ministry internships during the completed academic year. 250 Wonder Practice Decks created for the year. TOGETHER: In Small Groups, as we get to know each other, we grow as disciples of Christ.

Receive the faith. Live as disciples. Pass it on. We form disciples: learning, practicing, questioning, serving, and helping one another grow toward perfect love. We actively further our journey of discipleship, immersing ourselves in the community, tools, and guidance that form us, free us, and perfect us in love. Through our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness, we strengthen and grow our beloved PUMC community with generosity and joy. (Left) SUMMER SUNDAYS: Fun activities offer new ways to engage young minds and hearts.

(Right) TEACHER TRAINING: For the Godly Play curriculum, adults learn how to use physical objects to tell Bible stories.

“I find PUMC so warm and inviting to ALL who enter our building and participate in any of our programs,” says Debra Armento. “My life is richer learning about their lives and building great friendships. Sharing God's love is a blessing to all.” Retired from her teaching career, and a member of the Monday Morning Group, Debra lives in Kendall Park and is “mom” to Jennifer, Tommy, George, Jacob, Ethan, and Trulie.

VOLUNTEERING: Many hands are needed to do the work of the church.

Charlotte Nyarko finds that the words of familiar hymns that she sang “back home” in Ghana help her connect with Jesus, and that Pastor Jenny “simplifies the preaching, and makes you understand it.” An East Windsor resident, she emigrated 27 years ago and works in home health care.

QUARTERLY UPDATES: Leadership and Discipleship Board members meet with the congregation to share important information about the church.

Discipleship is a lifelong journey, and we grow together. Through Discipleship Groups, Children's and Youth ministries, Adult Formation, and spiritual practices, people of all ages are learning to recognize God's grace and respond to it in their everyday lives. PUMC is also a place where emerging leaders discover and develop their gifts. Our internship programs provide opportunities to learn, experiment, and discern a calling within a living community of faith. As we nurture one another's growth, we pass on more than knowledge: we share practices, relationships, and experiences that can shape lives and ministries far beyond Princeton. This year, our new Wonder Practice Deck is extending that invitation beyond Sunday morning, encouraging people to slow down, notice, imagine, and practice wonder wherever life takes them.

Deepening Diversity 12% $79,444 By the Numbers 95 newcomers welcomed and known by name. 50 of these newcomers developed meaningful connections with PUMC. 16 new members welcomed into the congregation, including 11 through the Newcomers Group and 5 through confirmation. 6 Lay Congregational Care Ministers commissioned to strengthen our ministry of care.

TOGETHER: The intergenerational choir blends voices young and old to praise God.

Receive one another. Live community. Pass on belonging.

We form and care for a growing community of belonging: inviting, welcoming, connecting, caring, and becoming more fully inclusive and diverse. We reflect God's diverse creation and the fullness of God's kin-dom as a fully inclusive, equitable, accessible, multicultural, antiracist community in all aspects of our life together. MANDARIN: Friends chat in their native language.

“Because I spent so much time in New York City,” says Lennie Del Duca Jr, “where the churches were very diverse – this church is reminding me of that same feeling and I find that comforting.” An actor and audio engineer, he moved to Trenton to take care of his mother and takes two buses to get to church on Sundays. He supervises the audio from the balcony.

Elisabeth Stewart is grateful that pastoral prayers request compassion for those who have lost legal immigration status and are in danger. “I try to see God in all people, regardless of background or nationality,” says Elisabeth. A Princeton University senior majoring in Spanish and Portugese, she aims to be an immigration lawyer.

(Above) SHARING: In the Fellowship Hall, we get to know people from different walks of life.

(Right) PENTECOST SUNDAY: New members come from so many different backgrounds.

(Below) GAMES AND FUN: At VBS children and adults sing worship songs together.

Belonging takes many forms. Some people make PUMC their church home for a lifetime; others become part of our community for a semester, a year, or another season of life. This year, more than 95 newcomers became known to us by name, and approximately 50 developed meaningful connections through worship, relationships, and participation in our community. Together, we are receiving one another as gifts of God's grace, nurturing a community of belonging and care, and passing that gift on to those who find their way to PUMC.

Creative Innovation

By the Numbers

11% $71,595

15+ organizations and programs regularly use PUMC's building, extending its reach into the wider community. 54 households made written pledges totaling $432,851 toward PUMC's 2026 ministry. Many additional households contribute without submitting pledge cards. 488 people receive PUMC's regular communications, helping our congregation stay informed, connected, and engaged.

OPEN DOORS: For the 9/11 anniversary, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., PUMC volunteers invited passersby to come in for prayer or meditation.

Receive what is entrusted. Live it faithfully. Pass on possibility. We steward and organize the church: caring for resources, people, structures, spaces, systems, and possibilities in ways that support ministry now and make room for what God is doing next. We embrace our God-given creativity to experiment, explore, try new things, embracing our failures and our discoveries. We are open to new ideas, expressions of faith, and ways of being church, paving the way for others.

WONDER PRACTICE CARDS: This year we are putting our spiritual practices into action through created weekly reminder cards to follow our worship series throughout the year.

Until last year, Irene Yu drove from Freehold to be with her daughter Tienne (PreMed student as well as a violinist at Princeton University) and attend PUMC. Now she visits Tienne in Boston. “Because PUMC offers online worship, I can tune in at 10 a.m. from anywhere I am -- another state or another country,” says Irene. She is the nutritionist for a neonatal ICU at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

(Above) LENTEN PRACTICE: Many hands made light work, as we gathered to create the “Fear Knot” strings. Each week during Lent, we untangled one knot. (Left) LOVEFEAST: Creating a new tradition – we celebrated the season of Advent by sharing Moravian sugarcake and coffee while singing carols in the sanctuary.

“The first Advent Lovefeast,” says Stephen Lin, “offers new opportunities for the church to gather and to create a new tradition.” Stephen served at the Lovefeast and is on the Audio-visual team. The ministry we share today is possible because generations before us faithfully cared for what was entrusted to them. Now it's our turn. Through shared leadership, financial stewardship, communications, and thoughtful care of our church home, we sustain the ministries that bring PUMC to life. But faithful stewardship also invites us to imagine what might be possible. This year, we're looking again at our building and envisioning how it might more fully embody grace, hospitality, and belonging. Our emerging hospitality improvements are one expression of a larger commitment to care for what we've inherited while making room for new possibilities. That same spirit of imagination extends throughout PUMC's ministry—from new approaches to spiritual formation to emerging opportunities for justice and mercy. Together, we're learning to steward our inheritance not simply by preserving what we've received, but by allowing it to flourish in new ways.

Year in Review A year ago we started with our stewardship campaign, “Wealth Wisdom from Wesley” learning about Wesley’s advice to earn, save, and give while leaning into our identity as beloved children of God. “The Bible Tells Us So” was a time to look deeply at how we interact with our sacred text across cultures and generations.

For Advent and Christmas, we looked at migrants throughout scripture, and how those stories impact us and those around us today, as well as where God was present through all of it. For Epiphany, we studied the Sermon on the Mount in the series “Reoriented.” In this series, we looked at how Christ reshapes our identity, practices, desires, and hopes so that we might glimpse God’s glory and live reoriented lives.

During Lent, our series was “Fear Not!” We took a look at the ways God calms our fears through biblical stories of vulnerability, change, scarcity, awe, and love. For Easter, “Nevertheless, We Rise” taught us that resurrection is not just the story of Jesus, but the heartbeat of perseverance.

Each week in Pentecost we engaged in a different element of shared life together, and the resemblance our responsibility as the Body of Christ shares to being a member of a household – the “Household of God.”

We kicked off our fall worship series with a new dimension of spiritual practice that builds on last year’s “Ears to Hear.” This year our focus will be on the spiritual practice of wonder, through “Eyes to See.”

Book Review: Wesleyean Vile-tality

In Wesleyan Vile-tality: Reclaiming the Heart of Methodist Identity, Ashley Boggan explains why the word “VILE” described how John Wesley preached in the fields of the filthy city of Bristol, England. “He was telling the landed, the elite, that the poor, illiterate miners of lower classes were equal to those attending St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. This was a transgressive, missionally prophetic, and, some might say, vile decision.” This slim volume’s fascinating narrative illustrates how “vile” the “vile-tality” can be. Here are some excerpts: “In John Wesley’s England, Methodists were “offensive” because they dared to critique those in power; they dared to see God in all people; they dared to break the standards of church, state, and society in order to allow God to work in and through all people, even to the point of letting laypeople and women preach; they critiqued slavery at the height of the Atlantic slave trade; they educated the poor and outcast; they looked at the frivolous things of this world and turned their heads away from them and toward God. Offensive? Sure. But what an example they were of walking as Christ walked.” “At first the Methodist Episcopal Church in America espoused Wesleyan values of challenging injustices and societal values. In 1784, Methodists could not be a member in good standing and also be an enslaver. Soon, however, Methodists compromised moral positions for numerical growth.” Boggan challenges us Methodists to “Reclaim VILE-tality” and listen to John Wesley’s advice. First, said Wesley, “consider, with deep and frequent attention, the peculiar circumstances wherin you stand.” “In John Wesley’s day, you knew who was Methodist by their dress, their deportment, and their actions. They dressed simply, spoke plainly, avoided excess, and were generally a happy, singing people. In early 19th century America, Methodists stuck out as a pain in the neck of the U.S. bureaucracy. They challenged social and gender norms and pushed local, state, and national government to new policies of equity.” “Today we also have a chance to be new in practice. The 2020/2024 General Conference potentially opened many doorways. For the first time in history as a connection since 1784, we are not excluding anyone from any rank or status from access to the ministries of the church! Imagine the possibilities that lie before us without those restrictions!” Second: Do not imagine you can avoid giving offense. Wesleyan Vile-tality: Reclaiming the Heart of Methodist Identity, by Ashley Boggan. 119 pages, Abingdon Press, 2025.

“We all need to remember that perhaps we cease to be Methodist when we forget that at first our name was an insult. What would happen if people knew what United Methodists stood for just by hearing the label?” “Even more offensive than our name are our principles: We do not lay too much stress on opinions; we believe heartily in the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost; we refrain from excess entertainment; we seek to form new types of community; we have ‘neither power, nor riches, nor learning; yet, with all their power, and money, and wisdom [those opposed] can gain no ground against you.” Third, We can depend upon God to give us the courage to do this work. Following the call of God is rarely an easy task. That’s why it’s a call and not a desire. It’s never of one’s own doing; it’s a thing that God asks us to do on God’s behalf, a way to make new rivers in the deserts and paths in the forest.

Wesleyan Vile-tality: Reclaiming the Heart of Methodist Identity

Fourth, Keep going and “never rest again in the dead formality of religion” but instead pursue with your might inward and outward holiness.

Fifth and finally, Wesley advises us against complaining about the ways we suffer and the things people say against us as well as puffing ourselves up with pride. “Such grumblings he considers ‘at best, loss of time; for, instead of the wickedness of men, you might be talking of the goodness of God.’” This book, says UMC Pastor Michael Adam Beck, “helps us reimagine what it means to be a Wesleyan today: a people who boldly love, serve, and share hope in places where others might hesitate to go.”

Wonder Practice Card Deck

This fall, we began a new year of worship and discipleship with “Eyes to See: Cultivating Practices of Wonder and Holy Imagination.” It began a year-long pursuit to discover new ways to see Christ in our daily lives. To help supplement this inquiry, we are creating a deck of cards called the Wonder Practice Deck. These cards each hold a spiritual practice relevant to our learnings in service. As we progress through the year, we will add cards specific to our worship series during service. We offer them in both physical and digital format. The physical cards are kept on a single binderring and can easily be sorted through as a flip book. Our digital format can be found on our website using the QR codes below. For questions about our wonder practice deck, or to receive a physical copy, please email tyler@princetonumc.org.

QR code to Wonder page

QR code to “Receive it. Live it. Pass it on.” Wonder page

Princeton UMC Mission Statement We are a diverse faith community, engaged in enlivening spiritually thirsty people to joyfully respond to God’s love and grow as disciples of Christ, so that together we may experience the fullness of life.

www.princetonumc.org 7 Vandeventer Avenue Princeton, NJ 08542 (609) 924.2613