Sunday, October 13, 2024

8:30am and 10:30am Worship Services in the Meetinghouse

(with 10:30am Live Stream)


We hope you will join us for one of our worship services this Sunday at 8:30 & 10:30am in the Meetinghouse. Rev. Bryn Smallwood-Garcia preaches:

“Building History!”

As our Fellowship Hall construction project is now well under way, we turn to the wisdom of our ancestors in faith for how they undertook the work of facing their own uncertain future. Like us, the Judeans returning from their exile in Babylon in the 500s BCE struggled to know how they could possibly afford to do the impossible – rebuild the rubble of King Solomon’s great temple on Mt. Zion.

Did you know the ruler who held them captive, Cyrus of Persia, helped to permit and fund the construction? Did you know their struggling, enslaved people contributed all that they had to give to the project – whether money, prayers, building supplies or physical labor? Did you know many of the so called “experts” around them actively ridiculed them for their “foolish” attempt to do the impossible?

Join us for worship at 8:30 and 10:30 this Sunday, with Communion at the early service and Church School at 10:30. Pastor Bryn preaches on two hope-filled passages from Nehemiah and Ezra. Nursery care is always available.  



Our 10:30am service is regularly LIVE STREAMED and RECORDED.

    You can live stream our 10:30am service for October 13th from the following link: External link opens in new tab or windowhttps://youtube.com/live/ld-TiKdVrJE?feature=share   

      Additional recordings of our worship services can be found on our YouTube pageExternal link opens in new tab or windowhttps://youtube.com/live/Pa1PbrelfJE?feature=share   


      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 External link opens in new tab or windowbarbara@uccb.org.  The Nursery is open for both Sunday services as well.






      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 External link opens in new tab or windowOpen & Affirming statement, you can look at the curriculum we used for our June "Open & Affirming" Bible study at

      External link opens in new tab or windowhttps://reformationproject.org/biblical-case/



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

      Sunday, June 30, 2024

      Click here: External link opens in new tab or windowhttps://youtu.be/bSbUnGVt7bY


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      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!

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      Brochure link above

      This week’s “Sharing to Build, Building to Share” Project Highlight

      There is a hole in the ground!  And it’s a big hole!  Lots of work has been happening on our accessibility addition – preparing to house a new elevator and accessible bathrooms. This week the forms were installed for the footings of both the building extension and retaining wall, with the goal of pouring concrete. Yea!

      If you have any questions about the project or how you can help support it, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastors Bryn or Jennifer, Ken Arifian and/or Laurie Matson.

      We are so grateful for the continued support of our church family.  It is so generous and so very much appreciated!  Thank you!

      Pastor Bryn Smallwood-Garcia (External link opens in new tab or windowbryn@uccb.org)             Pastor Jennifer Whipple (External link opens in new tab or windowjennifer@uccb.org)

      Ken Arifian (External link opens in new tab or windowkarifian@sbcglobal.net)                               Laurie Matson (External link opens in new tab or windowlmatson1380@gmail.com)

       

      (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!



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      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,  ( External link opens in new tab or windowbryn@uccb.org or External link opens in new tab or windowjennifer@uccb.org ) to set up a time to talk and pray together.

      Worship Opportunities

      Labyrinth & Children's Garden:

      One of our confirmands recently cleaned over at our Labyrinth - making sure the path is clearly outlined and instructions for use of the labyrinth are posted at the beginning.  We encourage people to stop over to the church and use the labyrinth during this nice weather (while maintaining physical distancing practices).  (Note: 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.)  Work will also begin soon on our Children's Garden, a garden that will be planted in raised beds around our Labyrinth, where kids will be able to remember loved ones and go to play and pray at our church.


      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 External link opens in new tab or windowuccbsocialmedia@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 External link opens in new tab or windowuccbvideo, where our worship services are archived.

       ndayCB

      Summer Church Office Hours

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

      CLOSED on Mondays and 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!"

       

       

       At Home Electronic Worship Options

       

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      Congregational Church of Brookfield

      Listen to the Congregational Church of Brookfield's External link opens in new tab or windowPODCAST.

      Don't have time or an internet video connection?

      Subscribe to our podcast and listen on the go to past sermons.

      Click on:  External link opens in new tab or windowhttps://soundcloud.com/user-98392082