After leading the Princeton Alliance Church to a position of prominence, literally and figuratively, at the corner of Scudders Mill and Schalks Crossing Road in Plainsboro, the Reverend Robert R. Cushman of West Windsor has chosen to follow a different calling. He is now the lead pastor of a new church, Journey 2L2, A New Church for a New Day. ##M:[more]##Although the group has been meeting and performing community service, the church will formally open on Sunday, February 25, at 10 a.m., in temporary facilities at South Brunswick High School. Cushman, the author of “What If You Pray?” worked with Princeton Alliance Church for close to 20 years.
“At Journey 2L2 we believe that ministering and serving are the normal expressions of Christian living,” says Cushman. “We believe that Christians who grow do so as they are serving and giving to others. Mother Theresa got it right, she helped one person at a time.”
Teams have collected blankets and distributed them to the homeless on the streets, landscaped grounds at an area high school, and raked leaves for neighbors. On Christmas Eve they delivered new clothing and more than 100 toys to children who would not otherwise have received gifts for Christmas.
“The success of a church cannot be measured entirely in terms of the number of people who come through the doors and the number of activities the church sponsors,” he says. Cushman, one of the founders of Princeton Alliance Church, began as executive pastor in 1989 and saw the congregation grow to more than 1,”600, housed in a gleaming new building. He retired from PAC in August, 2005. Most of the members were baby boomers, couples moving from New York City, many of them DINKs (double-income, no kids), and corporate. “The heartbeat of PAC was a church that we all felt comfortable bringing friends to,” he says. “We did great stuff over the years.”
“If all of our human efforts and all of our resources were being expended inside the walls of the church then no amount of powerful worship, teaching, or personal devotion would prevent us from falling short of what God expects of us,” he says.
“What are you doing for other people?” was the wake-up call he heard while sitting on a beach during a vacation in St. Martin. Then he received a message on leadership: “Get people involved with other people.” He realized that PAC was offering a different passion and knew he had to change.
“Then I realized that we forgot part of the story and what are we doing for the community? What are we doing to make a difference? Although we were doing things, it was not to the extent that we wanted to do,” he says.
“All across the country there are others feeling the same way, pastors who woke up like I did,” he says. “There is an increase in volunteers all over.”
Cushman was raised in Westfield within the Episcopal church. As an Eagle Scout, he did a lot of voluntary work, but did not feel a personal relationship with God. After graduating from Westfield High School he joined the Navy and was in boot camp when the Vietnam War ended. He spent four years based in Germany, Italy, and the Caribbean.
“When I was in the Navy a friend of mine sat down with me and told me that I had to choose whether I wanted to know God if I wanted to know who I was and what life is about.” It also led to the beginning of his career with God.
After graduating from Columbia Bible School in South Carolina and Northeastern Bible College, Cushman worked at Mountainside Chapel for four years. In 1983 he became involved with the Princeton Alliance Church, still in its infancy stage with services at Princeton High School.
He met his wife, Linda, when he was stationed in Virginia Beach. She is the owner of Just Call Linda, a life organizing service. As a personal assistant, she is the one to call when you don’t have time to shop, have your car fixed, or have something mailed.
The couple moved to West Windsor in June, 1986. “There wasn’t anything past the gun club,” he says.
Their children include Meredith, a junior at High School South; Adam, 21, studying in Florida to be a Harley-Davidson technician; and Carith, 22, a student at Mercer College.
“We need to go back to basics as our whole goal is to serve the community — with no strings attached,” he says. “When people discover serving, their whole life changes.” – Lynn Miller
Journey 2L2, South Brunswick High School, 750 Ridge Road, Monmouth Junction, 609-356-3169. Opening day for the new church affiliated with a fellowship of independent churches dedicated to the restoration of New Testament faith and practices. Sunday, February 25, 10 a.m
