Your Deacons have planned another Advent season full of meaning, connection and joy. It begins this Sunday with the Advent Wreath Workshop after worship. Wear comfy clothes, bring greens if you have them, and join us in the Fellowship Hall at 11 am for pizza and wreath creation. See below for information about other Advent opportunities in the weeks ahead.
And welcome the season this evening at the Bluegrass Concert, 7 pm!
Peace,
Rev. Cindy
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Worship
Sunday, December 3, 9:30 am
This Sunday, we begin Advent with communion and special music. In memory of Art Day, harp music will grace our worship service. We light the candle of hope, and vow to become agents of hope in the world. All are welcome to participate in the sacrament of Communion.
Sermons
Worship Bulletins
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Spiritual Nurture
This Sunday, Spiritual Nurture is offered to elementary through high school kids following the second hymn. Nursery care is available throughout the service. Next week all ages will worship together in a pop-up pageant!
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Annual Bluegrass Christmas Concert
Friday, December 1, 7:30 (doors open at 7:00)
We invite you to launch yourself into the Christmas season with Blackstone Valley Bluegrass and Friends (featuring our own Karen Wilber). This has been one of the highlights of the Christmas season at UCCB for many years! Admission is $15; $10 for seniors and children.
We would appreciate any baked refreshments to sell during intermission, individually wrapped for quick service. If you are interesting in baking items for this evening, please contact Peter Senghas (psenghas@yahoo.com or 978-505-5398).
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Advent Wreath Workshop
Sunday, Dec. 3, 11:00 am
All ages come for pizza and the opportunity to create an Advent wreath for use at home (if you have greens to share, please bring them; all other materials provided).
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Poinsettia Plants for Worship Service
Join us in decorating the sanctuary on Sunday, December 24th! We invite you to order flowers in honor or memory of a special person, or just to celebrate the Christmas season.
Poinsettia Plants are available in red and white. The cost is $12.00 each. Order forms will be in the bulletin this Sunday and are due Sunday, December 17th.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jenn LaCross in the church office (978-263-7387, boxborochurch@verizon.net).
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Advent Christmas Cookie
Swap & Sale
Fellowship's annual Christmas cookie swap and sale will be held on December 10h, immediately following worship. An assortment of delicious home-made cookies will be offered for sale. Gift bags and boxes will be available if you would like to put together a sweet treat for someone special.
Participate as a "swapper" by donating a minimum of four dozen home-made cookies, and receive one dozen free cookies in return. If you're interested in being a swapper, please see the sign-up in the Gathering Room or contact Deb Simmons (978-365-9711 or dlrmcgrath@comcast.net) for more information.
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Care Packages!!!
After service on Sunday, December 3rd, we will be assembling care packages for the young adults who are recent high school graduates and are now away at college, in the military, working, or on any other path.
We would like to gather homemade treats, notes of inspiration, items of local interest, favorite energy snacks and any other great ideas to include in these packages. Creative ideas welcome - we'd like the packages to include a fun assortment of delicious, reasonably healthy treats and for the packaging to be as "green" as possible. We will be sending these packages of love, support, sustenance and inspiration to ~25 members of the UCCB community.
Thank you for your contributions! Please bring your contributions that day and join the merry assembly! Please contact Kellie Senghas at
ktsenghas@gmail.com or
(978) 621-9108 with any questions or suggestions.
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Hats for Homeless
Although the weather has been mild, the biting chill of winter is soon coming. Let us remember those less fortunate who need our help to keep warm. There is a great need for hats, scarves, heavy socks, and gloves/mittens for homeless adults and children. The collection of these items will be ongoing until Sunday, December 3rd. There is a plastic basket in the Gathering Room for this purpose. Let us fill the basket to overflowing this year. Thank you for any help you are able to give. Any questions, contact eanddparkes1@yahoo.com.
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Christmas Star Program
It's that time of the year again where we kick off the Christmas Stars Program. The Stars are all on the tree in the Vestry. Each Star lists the wishes of the children under the care of DFS. If you would like to participate and make Christmas a little brighter for these children, please take a Star and write your name and phone# on the poster. We need the gifts back by Sunday December 17th so I can deliver them. Please tie the star on your packages. If you have any questions please contact Mary Ellen Sweeney at 508-954-2428 or
maryellensweeney8@gmail.com. Thank you!
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Christmas Tree Sale
Christmas trees have arrived and are now for sale! Please consider signing up for a shift to help spread the Christmas cheer. Tree sales are weekdays, 6 - 8 pm, Sat. and Sun. 12 - 6 pm. Sign-ups are in the Gathering Room, or you can call / text Rob Warwick at 978-394-6811.
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Living Nativity
Sunday, Dec. 10, 3:00 pm
Hear the familiar story as we gather under the huge winter sky. This pageant is held outdoors, with some friendly beasts! Cookies and cocoa to follow.
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Longest Night/Blue Christmas
Wednesday, Dec. 13,
7:00 pm Worship
The season of light and joy can also be a time of loneliness and grief. This time of commercialism and busyness can leave us hungry for meaning. Join us for a simple service that provides an opportunity to center in and experience the sacred presence. With music from Sounds of Peace, this gathering is
designed especially for those dealing with loss or having a difficult time, but all can find comfort in this peaceful service.
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Christmas Eve Worship
Sunday, Dec. 24, 7:00 pm
Intergenerational Candlelight Worship
Lessons and carols to
welcome Christmas!
We'll circle the sanctuary with
candlelight and the singing of Silent Night
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Adult Mission Trip
July 15-20th, 2018
You are invited to join us on our fourth Adult Mission Trip to Cherryfield, Maine, where we work in partnership with the Maine Seacoast Mission. Last summer's trip was another resounding success and we are excited to be making a return trip. We'd love to have you join us! Maine Seacoast Mission was started in 1905 by two brothers who were both pastors who realized that the spiritual needs of the island residents of far Downeast Maine were not being met. Today Maine Seacoast Mission's focus includes rural education and healthcare issues. While they provide a wide array of support services, they only utilize mission trip volunteers in their Housing Repairs Program. Downeast Maine has an old and decaying housing stock and the need for repairs and weatherization on these homes is constant. With the support of volunteers, Maine Seacoast Mission is able to help their most vulnerable neighbors. The UCCB has reserved several spots for this trip. We can always adjust this number later, so the more, the merrier! To join us you only need to be 18 or older (too "old" to participate in one of our youth mission trips). While this has been called a "hammer and nails" experience, all levels of physical ability and expertise are welcome. Feel free to check in with prior years' mission trippers for a sense of the physical demands of the week. Please contact Peter or Kellie Senghas if you are interested in joining us or if you wish more information
(psenghas@yahoo.com; ktsenghas@gmail.com; or 978-263-5508).
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QPR Suicide Prevention Training
Community-wide suicide prevention training, free and open to the public, on Tuesday, December 5, in the Gallery, 2nd Floor at Village Works in West Acton, 7-9 p.m. Eliot Community Human Services, with a Healthy Teen Initiative Grant from the Acton-Boxborough United Way, will conduct a suicide prevention workshop open to the community. The community-wide program that teaches the warning signs of suicide and an effective emergency response called QPR, QUESTION, PERSUADE, AND REFER . QPR teaches 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone for help.
Join us in saying YES to saving the life of a friend, colleague, child, sibling or neighbor.
By taking QPR training you will learn to:
Recognize the warning signs of suicide
Know how to offer hope
Know how to get help and save a life.
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Want to learn more... click the links below!
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