We are embarking on an exciting time at UCC Boxborough. Your Master Plan and Capital Campaign Teams have been meeting, planning, wrestling, discussing, assessing, sketching and meeting some more. And they are ready to share proposed plans! See below for important information about upcoming dates. In particular, see the information about the agenda for the Annual Budget Meeting on Jan. 28, and Open Houses on Feb. 11, 13 and 15.
During the next few months, healthy communication skills will be a vital resource. Please don't hesitate to share your excitement, questions and concerns; if you're wondering about something, no doubt somebody else is too. Avoid assumptions about people, plans or intent; seek information with an open heart and mind. Practice deep listening, listening not only for content but also for meaning, for the hopes and dreams and fears being shared. Most of all, keep breathing, inviting God's Spirit into your very being and into this community, so that all we do and discuss, plan and build, will bring God's beloved community to the world.
Peace,
Rev. Cindy
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Worship
Sunday, January 21, 9:30 am
This Sunday we'll consider the problem with happiness. Everybody says they just want to be happy. There are scores of books and workshops designed to help you pursue happiness. But nobody is happy. Maybe we're aiming for the wrong thing. One thing will probably make us happy, though: the junior choir will sing during this service!
Sermons
Worship Bulletins
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Spiritual Nurture
This Sunday and next (Jan. 21 and 28), Spiritual Nurture begins at the second hymn. Rob will meet with elementary youth in the Pipe Room, and Paul will gather with middle and high school youth in the Community Center.
Nursery care is available every Sunday during the entire worship service.
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FAITH AND FOOD EVENT CANCELLED
We are canceling the Jan. 21 Faith and Food event. We heard many people who would have attended will be watching the Pats game instead, and we want to support our community's love of chips and guacamole!
Please save the date for our next Faith and Food event: Sunday, March 4, 5 pm.
Between now and then, please join us for these fun, meaningful, family-friendly events (more info elsewhere in this Flash).
- Community Contra Dance! Jan. 27, 7 - 9 pm, Gathering Room. Music, community and dancing feet! Free and no experience needed.
- Folk Coffeehouse! Feb. 3, 7 pm, Gathering Room. Local talent, candlelight, and snacks chase away the winter chill.
- Souper Bowl Sale! Feb. 4, after worship, Gathering Room. Buy wonderful homemade soup to enjoy at home with another round of chips and guacamole!
- Souper Hero Lunch! Feb. 11, after worship, Gathering Room. For a minimum donation of $15 (kids eat free) enjoy a variety of soups, breads and desserts. Enjoy your soup in a unique hand-painted soup bowl for an additional minimum donation of $15.
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UCC Boxborough Annual Congregational Meeting 2018
Please join us for the UCCB Annual
Budget Meeting
Jan. 28, 2018, right after worship
Community Center
Child care and heavy snacks provided
There are very important items on this agenda:
- We will vote on the 2018 Budget and the recommended Slate for Council, Finance and Pastor Parish Relations.
- We will receive an update from the Master Plan and Capital Campaign Teams MPT / CCT).
- We will hear details of an early donation to the Capital Campaign. A $46,000 gift has been received from Jeff and Janet Glidden. Council, with the support of MPT/CCT, recommends this gift be used to improve the Community Center.
- We will vote on a recommendation from Council that the congregation authorize up to an additional $20,000 from the congregation's reserves for upgrading the kitchen in the Community Center.
With the congregation's approval, these improvements to the Community Center will begin immediately after the annual meeting. The work will be accomplished thanks to gifts of time and talent from Greg Turner (Gen. Contractor), Ron Vogel (B&G Project Manager) and Andy Loverud (Architect) as well as other volunteers from the congregation.
Please join us after worship on Jan. 28, to be part of this exciting and important time in the life of UCCB!
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MASTER PLAN / CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UPCOMING EVENTS
Let's open doors... To build community and grow God's love.
The Master Plan and Capital Campaign Teams (MPT/CCT) have unanimously embraced a proposal for renovating the historical building! Come learn more, join in the planning, and vote to support.
Jan. 28:
Annual Budget Meeting, after worship, Community Center. Hear a brief update on the Master Plan and Capital Campaign.
Feb. 11:
Open House, presentation at noon in Sanctuary. MPT & CCT members will present the project and discuss campaign goals, timing and how to get involved.
Feb 13: Open House, at 10:00 - 11:00 am, Gathering Room.
Feb 15: Open House, at 7:30 -8:30 pm, Gathering Room.
Mar. 18:
Congregational meeting to present and vote on the project and capital campaign, after worship in the Gathering Room.
For more detail, read on...
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Tenth Annual Folk Coffeehouse
Saturday, February 3, 7 - 9 p.m.
Save the date! Nothing could be better than shaking off the dark winter chills and enjoying warm, gentle music in the Gathering Room with friends on a Saturday evening (7 - 9 p.m.). The Music Committee invites you to enjoy the many talents of our community and perhaps offer some talents of your own in a traditional folk "coffeehouse" setting. This event is intended to slow us down, warm us up, and bring us together as appreciators of music.
Volunteers are needed to support this event. We need help with set-up/clean-up and with preparing refreshments to offer during intermission.
Please contact Peter Senghas (
[email protected] or 978-263-5508) if you would like to participate or if you have a question about this event.
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"Souper" Bowl Sunday Soup Sale
Following worship on February 4, the Fellowship Ministry Team will host its annual Soup Sale. A variety of homemade soups, chili, and beans will be available for sale to the congregation. Interested cooks can sign up on the sheet posted in the Gathering Room or contact Deb Simmons at 978-365-9711 ([email protected]) for more information.
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Save the date and be a SOUPer Hero for Puerto Rico!
Feb. 11, right after worship, join together for soup, bread and dessert - all for a minimum donation of $15 (kids eat free)! Have your soup in a premium, hand-painted bowl for an additional $15. We will also simply be accepting donations for rebuilding in Puerto Rico. Please note that this is a separate even from Fellowship's Souper Bowl, which will be held on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 4, as usual. It's a chilly winter - we can never have too much soup!
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An Evening with Debby Irving
Sponsored by Acton Congregational Church, UCC Boxborough, West Acton Baptist Church, and
Social Action of Beth Elohim (Na'aseh)
Wednesday, January 24 7:00-9:00 pm
Acton Congregational Church
12 Concord Road, Acton
Free Will Offering
Debby Irving is a racial justice educator, author, and public speaker. A community organizer and classroom teacher for 25 years, Debby Irving grappled with racial injustice without understanding racism as a systemic issue or her own whiteness as an obstacle to it. As general manager of Boston's Dance Umbrella and First Night, and later as an elementary school teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she struggled to make sense of racial tensions she could feel but could not explain. In 2009, Debby took a graduate school course, Racial and Cultural Identities, which gave her the answers she'd been looking for and launched her on a journey of discovery. Now, speaking and leading workshops around the country, Debby devotes herself to exploring the impact white skin can have on perception, problem solving, and creating culturally inclusive communities. A graduate of the Winsor School in Boston, she holds a BA from Kenyon College and an MBA from Simmons College. Her first book, Waking Up White, is the book Debby Irving wishes someone had handed her decades ago. By sharing her sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, she offers a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance. As she unpacks her own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, she reveals how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated her ill-conceived ideas about race. Monies raised above expenses will benefit the Fostering Racial Justice Group.
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Fostering Racial Justice Group
Fostering racial equity and justice by activating the community to dismantle bias and systems that reinforce racism.
Waking Up White Book Discussion
Join us for a guided discussion of Waking Up White. Debby Irving describes her continuous journey from white unawareness to white alertness. She candidly and generously shares her personal process with us. Her work is important because like her, many of us are still trying to understand what it means to be white in this country. In a culture where race plays a center role, understanding the assumptions that we believe to be true is critical. This book can help us start the process of understanding the extent of white privilege in our society.
Maria-Veronica Barnes, FRJG member, will facilitate book discussions for members of our community who are interested to dig a bit deeper. The book has questions and reflections at the end that will guide our conversation.
We will review different parts of the book in each session, so you are welcome to all of them or a couple, if you prefer that.
Let's meet at the
Gathering Room at UCC Boxborough, 723 Massachusetts Avenue, Boxborough on,
- January, 31st 7:00 PM
- February, 7th 7:00 PM
Registration is free, just sent an email to
[email protected] by January 20th to let us know that you are coming.
Even if you didn't read all chapters you are welcome to come!!!
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Boxborough Community
Contra Dance
Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 7 PM - 9:30 PM
Gathering Room
Come warm up, and beat the winter blues with us! Contra dancing is a type of dancing that is traditional to New England, and can be danced by just about anyone. This event is free and open to all, and is a chance to meet your neighbors. No partner or experience is necessary. All dances will be taught and led by a caller. Fun, lively music will be provided by Julie Metcalf on fiddle and Mark David Buckles on guitar. Dereck Kalish will be on sound.
While these dances are not specifically geared toward kids, children are welcome with a supervising adult, and dances are fun for all ages.
What does contra dancing look like? Here's a video of a dance I called in Portland, Maine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekt6GJ9uY48
Please bring a pair of clean shoes to change into to protect the wooden floor.
There is free parking in the church lot.
Special thanks to the United Church of Christ, Boxborough for donating the dance space, and to
John Aiello
for sponsoring this event!
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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
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Weather Policy
In the event of inclement weather, Buildings and Grounds works with the Pastor to determine if it is safe to hold worship or other events at UCCB. They take into consideration travel advisories, weather outlook, and the condition of the church itself. For Sunday morning worship, information regarding the canceling or continuing of worship is left on the outgoing voicemail by 7 am.
Regardless of whether or not worship or other events are officially canceled, all parishioners, staff and lay leaders are urged to make their own decision based on their individual circumstances and comfort level: safety is our first priority.
If you have a role in worship or an event and are unable to attend, please notify Rev. Cindy via email ([email protected]) or church voicemail (978-263-7387).
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Want to learn more... click the links below!
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