December 4, 2022

2nd Sunday of Advent

8:30 & 10:30am Worship (and 10:30am Live Stream)

The great Hebrew prophet Isaiah saw a path forward for his despairing people of the Babylonian exile – and he called them to respond to God’s saving Way with joy.

This Advent, in the midst of the struggles of our age, where do you find your joy? How do you take your next best step forward with hope? Where do you see the hard world around you beginning to blossom in spite of the darkness and cold of winter?

Rev. Bryn Smallwood-Garcia preaches on selected verses from Isaiah 35, and the Chancel Choir sings “Springs in the Desert” at 10:30.

Our 10:30am service is LIVE STREAMED and RECORDED. You can live stream our 10:30am service for December 4th, from the following link: https://youtu.be/XdP3U75oy-8

Recordings of our worship services can be found on our YouTube page "uccbvideo".

Church School & Nursery Care at 8:30 & 10:30am: If you have questions about Church School, please be in touch with our Church School Coordinator, Barbara Crandell at barbara@uccb.org. The Nursery is open for both Sunday services as well.

Some Special Notes:

We require masks for group singing indoors.
Movable chairs for greater social distancing are available in the Balcony and in Brooks Hall.

While we want to be able to see everyone, we ask that anyone who is feeling ill or experiencing any Covid symptoms stays home from worship and worships with us via live stream or recording. Also, if you fear you may have been exposed to someone with Covid in the past week, or are awaiting test results, please take advantage of our live streaming.

Please be in touch with our Church Office at 203-775-1259 or

office@uccb.org if you have any questions.

Sharing to Build, Building to Share…

See the New Vision for Fellowship Hall!

If you missed your chance to attend an informational gathering back in October, we invite you to look over our exciting new plans now. Just click on the link below to see our color brochure, and if you have questions, they may be answered in our "Frequently Asked Questions." We invite you to think creatively about how to stretch your giving (with the "Creative Strategies for Giving" brochure below) so that we can meet our $750,000 goal and begin to move forward with construction in 2023! Giving cards are available at church, so that we can know your giving goal over this 3-year campaign, or you can email your estimate of giving to our Office Administrator at office@uccb.org, or use the new giving link on this website. We will celebrate the official start of our giving on First Gifts Sunday, December 18^th.

Brochure

FAQ

Creative Giving

Video

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!

Worship Recording:

You can view the recording of our 10:30am service for November 27th, from the following link:

https://youtu.be/tmi5ky-CWOw

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 or click on the link above.

REVISED Covid Policy

As a response to the rise in Covid cases among our church members, the Church Safety Committee recommends we advise the congregation of the recent outbreak and encourage the wearing of masks again in church, especially among members with underlying health vulnerabilities. We will also go back to the policy of requiring masks when in the church office and for indoor singing by groups of more than 10, as well as limiting the number of sung responses and hymns in indoor worship.

Also, to clarify CCB policy regarding quarantining and masking after having Covid, Church Safety Committee reminds the congregation that our Covid policy is to follow CDC guidelines, which are posted in full on the CDC website. A simpler way to remember the rule is 5+5. Covid positive individuals should quarantine for at least

5 days, followed by 5 days of masking around others at home and in public.

We strongly encourage you to take a home Covid test if you are showing any sign of illness. Most vaccinated folks who are getting sick are reporting only mild cold symptoms at first. No one wants us to have to cancel worship or programs entirely again, so we thank you for understanding the need for this change. Thank you!

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.

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

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.

CCB

Church Office Hours

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

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" - with hopes that it will be posted there by Sunday afternoon. 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. You can sign up for our worship services, nursery care, and church school at the links above.

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