At 2013's Yankee Fair,

CCB celebrated
Brookfield's Birthday!

For Photos of the event, click here or here.

Last year, as The Congregational Church of Brookfield held its annual Yankee Fair and Barn Sale on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013, we remembered our town's 225th Birthday. 

Did you know our church, founded in 1757, is actually OLDER than Brookfield?  Our founding pastor, The Rev. Thomas Brooks, sent two of his grown sons off to fight for their new country in the Revolutionary War!

Every year, admission and parking for the Yankee Fair are free. Proceeds support church programs and charities such as (in the 2013 town anniversary year) the food pantries of Brookfield and the 3 towns that ceded land in order to form Brookfield -- Danbury, Newtown, and New Milford. 

Each year, the Fair also supports our Refugee Resettlement Ministry for families who are brought to safety by our U.S. State Department after escaping from war-torn lands, and it provides "church mission grant" money for our young people to go on mission trips -- such as the two Brookfield High students who went to Oaxaca, Mexico, during Spring Break 2013 to work with the indigenous poor who have to live in the city dump. 

Less than one-quarter of our proceeds go to the upkeep of church property -- which in 2013 included repair and repainting of our white Meetinghouse and steeple -- a treasured landmark in Brookfield since the mid-19th Century.  Thank you for your support of our Yankee Fair and joining us in our church mission to "Pray, Share, and Welcome" in the way of Jesus.

This year our Church Council, on the recommendation of our Church-in-Society Committee, is dividing the 50% of our Yankee Fair Funds that go to outreach projects in our community and beyond, among four recipients:

· Refugee Resettlement Ministry—our own ministry program helping to resettle refugees from around the world.

· The Association of Religious Communities (ARC)—serving the Greater Danbury Area with issues of homelessness and housing, food insecurity, domestic violence, building relationships between communities of faith, strengthening the community, and more.

· Silver Lake Conference Center—our CT Conference Outdoor Ministries Center that has served a number of our church family members as they have participated in summer camp weeks, served on Camp Staff, participated in Men’s Retreats and service projects, the Annual Women’s Retreat, and Confirmation Retreats. 

· Simply Smiles—a CT based nonprofit whose mission it is to bring smiles to children whose lives might otherwise seem incredibly bleak.  Members of our church have served with Simply Smiles in Oaxaca, Mexico and the surrounding communities and on the Lakota Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

This multi-level recommendation will help us serve our church ministries, our local communities, youth and adults throughout the state who attend meaningful events at Silver Lake, and beyond into the United States and the world.  What better way is there to share our Fair Funds in this year when our Yankee Fair theme is “Mission Possible,” focusing on the many ways God calls us to use our gifts in service locally and out in the world?

The Congregational Church of Brookfield is at the crossroads of Routes 25 and 133 in Brookfield Center. For more information, call 203-775-1259.