Monday, August 11
Office Closed
Tuesday, August 12
Morrison’s Gang (weekly fix-it group) – 8:00am-12noon - Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, August 13
Christian Education Committee – 7:00pm - Zoom
Thursday, August 14
Friday, August 15
Office Closed
Saturday, August 16
Men’s Fellowship – 8:00-9:00am – Fellowship Hall
Women’s Fellowship – 8:30-9:30am – Youth Room & Zoom*
Thrift Shop – 9:00am-12:00pm - Parsonage
Sunday – August 17
8:30am - Outdoor Chapel Worship with Church School & Nursery Care
10:30am – Meetinghouse Worship with Church School & Nursery Care
* For more information or to get Zoom links, please be in touch with office@uccb.org
Meet Our Guest Preacher – The Rev. Tim Hare
Hi there! I’m very happy to have the opportunity to worship with you. My name is Tim Hare, and I am a husband to Angela, who teaches 8th grade English, as well as a father to Charley who is a rising sophomore in college and Lucy who is a rising senior in high school. I was ordained in the United Methodist Church and served three UM congregations over the course of 16 years. From 2014 until June of 2025 the Methodists shared me with the United Church of Christ, which graciously offered me Dual Standing in the Fairfield East Association while I served as pastor to the Trumbull Congregational Church. I loved my 11 years with the UCC and was blessed to develop many relationships with new colleagues while serving on Association committees and attending congregational events. Currently, I am the Director of Mission Engagement and Community Outreach with Masonicare, which is a state-wide retirement and senior healthcare network. A significant piece of my work is the cultivation of robust spiritual programming within our communities while engaging congregations and other community partners in ongoing relationships. If you have a question about Masonicare’s continuum of care, please ask me or send me an email at thare@masonicare.org.
Sharing to Build, Building to Share Campaign Update
Last Sunday, Dave Cole led us on a tour of our new space that is almost completed. Folks were amazed to see all that has been accomplished. This week, the focus is on the installation of the Fellowship Hall floor and the unavoidable grease trap.
Our Sharing to Build, Building to Share Campaign that started in November 2022, will conclude November 2025. Thank you all so much for your continued gifts, for completing your pledge gift or for giving above and beyond your pledge. Your continued commitment to bringing in redeemable cans and bottles is appreciated because every dollar matters. It is all encouraging and very generous of you! We are truly grateful! Thank you!
If you wish to learn more about the details of these happenings, please feel free to reach out to any member of the Fellowship Hall Financial Task Force: Ken Arifian, Laurie Matson, Michael Matson, Monica McInerney, Alan Peck, Jim Sugden, and Rod Wutzl.
Yankee Fair Update
This year’s Yankee Fair will be on October 18th, and the theme is “Sharing the Love, Loving to Share”, which reflects our church’s spirit. And in that spirit, we hope you will find the best way to share your gifts in getting involved with the Fair. There are plenty of opportunities to serve before, during, and after the Fair each year.
One such opportunity is to help lead Bake Shop. We are seeking a chairperson or two for the Bake Shop Booth, and we are open to any ideas about others booths (i.e. crafts, art, etc.) that people may wish to make happen for the Fair this year.
There is also an opportunity to help in preparation for all of the donations that will begin to come in through the Barn, which will be open for donations on Saturdays in September. There will be a Barn workday on Saturday, August 23rd from 9am-12noon.
So, let's all get ready for another wonderful event for us to Share the Love, and love the opportunity to share with all. If you wish to share ideas or your gifts in preparation for the Fair, we invite you to reach out to our Fair Chair, Jack Brown (jackjbrown57@gmail.com).
Summer Food Drive
Note that our Summer “Peanut Butter & Jelly” Food Drive to benefit the Brookfield Food Pantry continues through this week, August 15th. You can grab items from the list or make a monetary donation to CCB noting “Food Drive” in memo.
Thanks for your support of our Texas Disaster Relief Collection
Thank you so much for your generous support of our collection for disaster relief in and around the Kerrville, Texas area, as they were devastated by floods earlier this summer. With your help and gifts, we were able to raise $969 to share with Kerrville Host Lions Club Foundation (https://texaslions.org/) What began as a “heart project” on behalf of one of our young people, Poppi Crandell, will now be able to make a difference in the lives of those who need to know some extra love and care. Thank you, CCB!
Together Women Rise- August grantee: MAIA – GUATEMALA
MAIA is designed and run by Indigenous women to empower Indigenous girls with the skills and knowledge to lead transformational change and break cycles of generational poverty.
The overarching goal and objective of this program is to increase retention rates of Indigenous girls in secondary school while reducing teenage pregnancies. This is one of the key targets for Rise around the world. This particular project is part of MAIA’s holistic model that motivates girls to stay in school by providing peer and family support, technical and socio-emotional skills, and the self-confidence and knowledge that they can reach their full potential.
This will be the 5th grant for this organization by TWR since 2012. That means that TWR has reviewed their past grants and is satisfied that this group is achieving their stated goals on a regular basis.
If you have questions about TWR, please speak with Olivia Quinsland or go their website: Maiaimpact.org
Yarn Available for Prayer Shawls & Service Projects
We have free yarn available for people who would like to contribute to our Prayer Shawl, Linus Blanket and other crafting ministries. If you are interested in participating in one of these ministries, we invite you to check out the collection of yarn we have stored in the Church School wing. (During this time of construction, please ask a staff member where you will find the bins.) And if you have any questions about what is needed, how to get started, or who might be a good teacher to help you on your crafting way, please be in touch with Pastor Jen (jennifer@uccb.org or 203-775-1259 ext. 308).
Summer Office hours are Tuesday-Thursday from 9am-2pm.
Monday, August 4
Office Closed
Tuesday, August 5
Morrison’s Gang (weekly fix-it group) – 8:00am-12noon
Church In Society Committee – 7:00pm – Karen Underhill’s Home
Wednesday, August 6
Deacon’s Meeting – 7pm - Zoom
Thursday, August 7
Friday, August 8
Office Closed
Saturday, August 9
Men’s Fellowship – 8:00-9:00am – Upstairs Kitchen
Women’s Fellowship – 8:30-9:30am – Youth Room & Zoom*
Sunday – August 10
8:30am Outdoor Worship in the Outdoor Chapel with Church School & Nursery care
10:30am Indoor Worship in the Meetinghouse with Church School & Nursery care
* For more information or to get Zoom links, please be in touch with office@uccb.org.
Meet Sunday’s Guest Preacher
The Rev. Carra McFadden graduated from Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA, and she has served churches in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. She is retired United Church of Christ (UCC) minister, lives in Sherman, and is a member of the Newton Congregational Church.
Rev. Carra’s passion is serving a nonprofit in Kenya by leading trips to Kakamega, Kenya. Visit the Friends of Kenya Rising website (friendsofkenyarising.org) for the story and photos of how this organization and its volunteers are assisting Kenyan students and their families in rising out of poverty.
Tour the new addition with Dave Cole Sunday, August 3rd at 11:30am
Dave Cole will lead a tour through our new addition. Come see the new elevator, ADA bathrooms and storage space. The project is almost completed!
It’s fantastic to see the new floors in the Church School wing and a new ceiling and lights in Fellowship Hall. They look so much better! This week, Fellowship Hall closets and walls are being painted, the water heater connected, and flooring installed in the hallway from Fellowship Hall to the old bathrooms.
Although the project is near completion, collection of gifts to our Sharing to Build, Building to Share Campaign, begun in November 2022, will continue through November 2025. Thank you all so much for your continued gifts, for completing your pledge gift or giving above and beyond your pledge. It is encouraging, incredible, and very generous of you! Your continued commitment to bringing in redeemable cans and bottles is also very much appreciated, as we have raised over $1300 already. Every dollar matters, and we are truly grateful. Thank you!
If you wish to learn more about the details of the project, please feel free to reach out to any member of the Fellowship Hall Financial Task Force: Ken Arifian, Laurie Matson, Michael Matson, Monica McInerney, Alan Peck, Jim Sugden, and Rod Wutzl.
Yankee Fair Update
We are closing in on this year's Yankee Fair to be held on Oct 18. As we lead up to this year's event, I look forward to a fellowship event shared with our congregation and the community at large.
This year's theme: “Sharing the Love, Loving to Share" reflects our church's spirit. I hope, in that spirit, you once again embrace this theme with passion and commitment.
A couple of program notes...
Many booth chairs will be back this year, and I am thankful for their continued efforts and support. We have one opening that I ask you to consider, the Bake Shop Booth. This booth has been chaired for many years by Lucy Brown and Kristi McPadden, and they have done a fabulous job. After 18 years, it’s time for a break. If you are interested in chairing this booth, please let me know.
Also, if you have any interest in chairing a Craft Booth, or perhaps an Art Booth, where CCB folk can display their artistic creativity, let me know. These two booths are examples for you to consider and/or mold as you wish, and I am interested in any other booth ideas that you have.
Finally, as I say (and mean) each year, the strength of this fair and its success always starts and ends with our congregation's investment in this event. To that end, I have reached out to prior volunteers via email, but even if you haven't participated before, you are wanted (in a nice way). There will be many volunteer opportunities available.
So, let's all get ready for another wonderful event for us to Share the Love, and love the opportunity to share with all.
May the blessings of our Still Speaking Lord be with you always,
Jack Brown, Fair Chair (jackjbrown57@gmail.com)
Summer Food Drive
Note that our Summer “Peanut Butter & Jelly” Food Drive to benefit the Brookfield Food Pantry continues through August 15th. You can grab items from the list located by the Giving Tree in Brooks Hall or make a monetary donation to CCB noting “Food Drive” in the memo. Thank you! ~ Your Friends on the Church In Society Committee
Yarn Available for Prayer Shawls & Service Projects
We have free yarn available for people who would like to contribute to our Prayer Shawl, Linus Blanket and other crafting ministries. If you are interested in participating in one of these minisitries, we invite you to check out the collection of yarn we have stored in the Church School wing. (During this time of construction, please ask a staff member where you will find the bins.) And if you have any questions about what is needed, how to get started, or who might be a good teacher to help you on your crafting way, please be in touch with Pastor Jen (jennifer@uccb.org or 203-775-1259 ext. 308).
Help Wanted Opportunities
If you would like to know more about how you can help host a summer fellowship time to provide an opportunity for people to spend time in refreshment and conversation after 10:30 worship OR how you might contribute your gifts to our Media Team, please reach out to the Church Office (office@uccb.org or 203-775-1259).
