Sunday, July 13, 2025

10:30am in the Meetinghouse

Click Here to watch the Live StreamClick Here to watch the Live Stream

We invite you to join us at one (or both) of our worship services this Sunday, July 13^th. We will gather at 8:30am in our Outdoor Chapel beyond the Memorial Garden and at 10:30am inside our air-conditioned Meetinghouse. (In the case of inclement weather, the 8:30am service moves inside.)

Pastor Jen will preach “Oxymorons and Mercy” based on the story of a “curious” expert in the law and the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37. Have you ever thought about this story from the perspective of all the different characters? Have you wondered what the expert in the law thought as Jesus refused to just answer his question, in lieu of sharing a story? Have you ever passed up an opportunity to help someone? How are we to define neighbor? These are questions we will dive into as we gather for our time of worship.

Our Church School children will meet for their summer series at both worship services. The summer theme is “God Is Everywhere We Look.” Nursery care is always available. All are welcome!

Click here to view past streams on YouTube

Additional recordings of our worship services can be found on our YouTube page. uccbvideo - YouTube

Church School & Nursery Care are available: If you have questions about Church School, please be in touch with our
Church School Coordinator, Barbara Crandell at

barbara@uccb.org.

Call to Share our Gifts & Offerings

Laura Huling	Ruth Reda	Susan Dodd	Sally Markiewicz

Worship Opportunities

Labyrinth & Children's Garden:
Our Labyrinth and the story of how it came to be were recently published in a book of New England Labyrinths, so we are excited to share that with people in our area and beyond. Planted around our Labyrinth, we also have a Children's Garden, where kids are able to experience God's presence in Creation, remember loved ones who have died, and go to play or pray at our church. All are welcome to visit during daylight hours. You can find the entrance to the footpath to the labyrinth and garden on the left side of the slope down into our lower parking lot.

Together Women Rise is a community of women and allies that supports women and girls living in extreme poverty in developing countries. They provide grants for grass-roots projects in areas such as education, healthcare, economic sustainability, safety, and leadership. Formerly known as Dining for Women, the organization believes that investing in women and girls is crucial for ending extreme poverty and creating a safer world.

Keep an eye on your email, the Congregational Church of Brookfield Facebook Page, or our website on Sunday morning for the links to join us (and please feel free to share the links with family and friends). Afterward, if you are willing to share a photo of you or your family worshipping with us online that may be used on our CCB Facebook page or website, please send it to 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.

What does it mean to be an “Open & Affirming” church?

What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

If you’re eager to learn more about The Congregational Church of Brookfield as well as our Open & Affirming statement, you can look at the curriculum we used for our June "Open & Affirming" Bible study at

https://reformationproject.org/biblical-case/

Call to Share our Gifts & Offerings, Roy Taylor on YouTube

Sunday, June 30, 2024

Click here: https://youtu.be/bSbUnGVt7bY

10:30am Sunday Weekly Worship Recordings:

If you are not able to watch the service live from the beginning, or if you need to join the service late, there will be an opportunity to view the entire recording in a few hours, after YouTube processes it and uploads it to our church YouTube channel. For instant notifications of Live Streams, you can also subscribe to that channel, uccbvideo, by clicking on the red "Subscribe" button on the YouTube page.

Sharing to Build, Building to Share…

See the New Vision for Fellowship Hall!

Brochure link above

Update on our “Sharing to Build, Building to Share” Project

Summer is just beginning, when our Sharing to Build, Building to Share Fellowship Hall addition is expected to be completed! We are planning on having scheduled walk-throughs in the next month or two for folks to see the progress. Stay tuned for upcoming dates!

Thank you for keeping Cole Construction in your prayers as they are diligently working. Our deepest gratitude to you all for your prayers, gifts, and help. They are truly a blessing!

With Cole Construction forecasted to be completed the end of June, and our three-year giving campaign concluding at the end of this year, we are estimating a potential cash-flow shortfall of up to $50,000. We will need to borrow money, unless we receive 30-40% of our remaining pledge gifts before June, or additional gifts are made.

If borrowing is what we must do, our Fellowship Hall Financial Task Force will recommend to Church Council that the best approach is to borrow against the unrestricted portion of our General Endowment Fund, paying ourselves back (with interest) as remaining pledges are received. The task force will suggest an interest rate of 5.5% which is the same 5.5% withdrawal rate transferred out annually from the General Endowment. Of this 5.5% annual withdrawal from General Endowment, 4.5% is allocated to our annual Operating Budget and 1% is allocated to the Building & Grounds Designated Endowment Fund per the current Total Spending Rule specified in CCB by-laws.

We have a request to those who have not yet completed their pledge, to ask:

Is there a chance you might be able to complete your pledge by May or June?

If yes, we would be grateful to hear from you. Please contact Jim Sugden at jim@jimsugden.com.

If it is not possible, we understand. Thank you for your continued giving, commitment and support!

Fellowship Hall Financial Task Force: Ken Arifian, Laurie & Michael Matson, Monica McInerney, Alan Peck, Jim Sugden & Rodger Wutzl.

*Note: Thank you for continuing to bring your bagged & clean, redeemable cans & bottles to the outside shed under the Upstairs Kitchen stairs. This fundraiser has already netted more than $1,000 to support our building project. Wow!

(Click here to read more)

Because we are CCB, we have fun whenever we gather! Even as we worship each week in our historic Meetinghouse, fellowship is at the very heart of our church life and we believe Fellowship Hall should be accessible to all. We invite you to contribute as generously as you can and help us extend God's extravagant welcome to everyone, "no matter who we are or where we are on life's journey." Whether we walk or roll, we seek to follow Jesus together!

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.

Your Pastors are Here for You!

Pastoral Care Appointments

Pastor Bryn and Pastor Jen are available for individual pastoral care appointments either in-person or via phone or Zoom. If you have something that you would like to address or speak with them about, please feel free to reach out, (

bryn@uccb.org or

jennifer@uccb.org ) to set up a time to talk and pray together.

ndayCB

Church Office Hours

Tuesday through Thursday - 9:00am - 2:00pm

CLOSED on Monday & Fridays.

The church door will remain locked for safety reasons, but our Ring doorbell system helps us to know who is coming to the door.

If you want to ensure someone will be available to assist you, you can always call ahead to the Church Office at 203-775-1259.

We are an Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ.

Know that "No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!"

Email Blasts

To be added to our church "blast" email list and receive the most current updates, just contact our church office administrator, office@uccb.org.

Prayer Requests

We are a praying church!

We welcome your sharing of joys and concerns for prayer -- either with the Pastors, the Deacons, the Stephen Ministry team, or the whole congregation in public worship. If you have a prayer request to share, please just email the Church Office, with "Prayer Request" in the memo line at

office@uccb.org , and please indicate if you would like this request to be shared with just the pastors, with pastors & Deacons, or in worship. Thank you.

At Home Electronic Worship Options

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YouTube

We have more than 1,000 hours of worship available. Click on:

uccbvideo

No special equipment needed.

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Watch on Spectrum Channel 192

The previous week's service is on Sunday Mornings at 10:30 am, and Tuesday at 5:00 pm.

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Listen to Podcasts of previous sermons

Click on:
https://soundcloud.com/user-98392082

No special equipment needed.

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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Sunday Worship

We are recording our in person worship and sharing it to our YouTube page at "uccbvideo". We have two services with a brief (30 minute) worship is in the outdoor Chapel through Labor Day Sunday at 8:30am and a 10:30am worship (no more than 45 minutes) also in our Meetinghouse. Note: Nursery Care will be available at both worship services, and Church School will meet at 10:30am.

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