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Virtual Worship
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May 16th - Mental Health Awareness Sunday
“The Joy of Friendship”
Rev. Bryn Smallwood-Garcia preaching on John 15:9-17. Jesus suggests that to “love one another” is the way to salvation, and if we can “just do it,” a full life of great joy follows -- especially if we can learn to connect with God and one another in genuine friendship. Are we finding this to be true as Covid danger decreases and we are finally able to reconnect more again? What has our year of isolation taught us about the power of embodied love and the joy of being together in worship and fellowship? How do the kind of friendships we make at church improve our mental health and provide healing for those in struggle?
We hope you will join us for these opportunities to bind our spirits in worship with each other. Links will be shared via email, posted on our website at 
uccb.org and shared on our church Facebook page.
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Outdoor, In Person Worship,
Sunday, May 16th
Nursery Care & Church School
In-Person Worship: 9:30am in the Back Parking Lot
We will be moving back outside for this opportunity for people to join together for worship. We will have a chance to incorporate more music, including some singing together, as well as to hear an anthem from one of our bell ensembles. You will find the sign up link below. We ask that people intending to join us for In Person Worship sign up by Saturday and include how many people and the names of those who will be attending worship with you. You can register for our In Person Worship using the following link:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080C4CA8AF28A4F94-930am18.Note: If the weather is not conducive to outdoor worship, we will move inside our Meetinghouse.
Nursery Sign Up for In-Person Worship at 9:30am:
As we continue to phase in our reopening plan, Council has decided to open the Nursery for care during our In-Person Worship on Sunday mornings. Following state guidelines means that there can be up to four children in the Nursery, and there will be special considerations in place to be sure that we keep our children and Miss Debbie safe and healthy to the best of our ability. If you plan to join us for In-Person Worship and need Nursery care for your child(ren), we invite you to sign your child(ren) up in advance using the following link. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080C4CA8AF28A4F94-ccbnursery4.
Sign up for In Person Church School at 9:30am:
We now have an opportunity for children to join together in person for our Church School program, as well as online. Starting this Sunday, we will have two age-graded classrooms for in person Church School and one online Zoom classroom with Mrs. Adams teaching. Mrs. Crandell & Miss Wendy will be the teachers for our in person church school, and guidelines about mask wearing, social distancing, and sanitizing will be followed to the best of our ability. More information can be found at the sign up link. Please sign your child(ren) up in advance so we know who to expect using this link:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080C4CA8AF28A4F94-inperson2.Pastors Fund Thanks & Information
Our pastors wish to thank you so much for your generous support of the Pastors Fund during these difficult and ever-changing times. With your help bills have been paid to cover housing costs, medical bills, and emergency repairs as well as to cover other everyday costs like food, gas, and clothing for members & friends of our church and wider community. The Pastors Fund is supported through the honorarium from the funerals/memorials that our pastors officiate, as well as through the generous gifts of members and friends of our community. The Thrift Shop has supported the Pastors Fund with gifts from sale profits, and the Pastors Fund is also one of the options for holiday support through our Virtual Giving Tree this year.If you are feeling moved to make a direct gift to the Pastors Fund, gift cards for groceries and gas are always welcome, as are donations made payable to Pastors Fund.
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Note from Stewardship Committee
We may not be meeting together these days, but your church is still here, hoping to meet people’s needs, whatever they are. We are still the church – looking for ways to be God’s hands and feet in the world around us, even when we are not together on Sunday mornings! SO….
- Utilities + office supplies = YOUR CHURCH
- Payroll + Sunday School supplies = YOUR CHURCH
- Committees + building repair = YOUR CHURCH
- Supporting needs around us + uplifting music = YOUR CHURCH
- Choirs + internet and phone service = YOUR CHURCH
Please continue to give to our special church in whatever way you were used to giving before, if you are able, so that your church will be there for you, throughout this crisis, and beyond!
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Your Pastors are Here for You!
Pastoral Care Appointments
bryn@uccb.org or 510-847-4235 cell #) or Pastor Jen (jennifer@uccb.org or 203-510-4760 cell #) to set up a time to talk and pray together. Note: Your pastors are trying to take their days off, with "electronic sabbaths," on Wednesday (Bryn) and Friday (Jennifer), so you may not receive an immediate response if you send an email on one of those days.
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Worship Opportunities
Friday Morning Meditation
bryn@uccb.org if you would like to join, and the link will be sent to you via email.| |
Labyrinth & Children's Garden:
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uccbsocialmedia@gmail.com. If you have missed any of our online worship services you can find them linked below, and you can subscribe to our YouTube channel uccbvideo, where our worship services are archived.   |
CHURCH OFFICE HOURS
The Church Office is generally open Monday-Thursday from 9am-1pm. If you have a need to stop by the office in person, we ask that you call ahead (203-775-1259) to ensure that Jeannine McCullough, our Office Administrator, is expecting you. Please ring the doorbell and wait for the door to be answered and plan to wear a mask when you stop by the Office.
NOTE: Our phone system also allows you to leave a private voicemail message for the Office or a member of our Church Staff, which is automatically forwarded to staff email addresses as well.
Know that "No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!"
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At Home Electronic Worship Options
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Congregational Church of Brookfield
Listen to the Congregational Church of Brookfield's PODCAST.
Don't have time or an internet video connection?
Subscribe to our podcast and listen on the go to past sermons.
Click on: https://soundcloud.com/user-98392082
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Welcome! No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.
- Would you enjoy the guidance of fellow seekers to help you support your children's growth into strong and compassionate moral thinkers?
- Are you looking for a place where you can bring your deepest joys and sorrows and find real companionship in celebration and suffering?
- Do you long for a place where you and your family can learn to love one another and care for the world in a compassionate faith community?
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Watch this space for more information about our programs and ministries in the future.
As always, we also care about your spiritual health, so know that although your pastors are working mostly through remote connections, we want to respond to your needs and concerns promptly. Be aware, however, that may not always be possible. Our church phone system delivers your phone messages (to 203-775-1259) to our email, or you can email us directly at Bryn@uccb.org or Jennifer@uccb.org.
Let us continue to reach out to care for one another, and pray for one another and our world, as we face this global pandemic together, remembering the Apostle Paul's powerful affirmation of faith in these verses from chapter 8 of his Letter to the Romans:
31What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
