 Be sure to visit our Sermon Archives to read or listen to past sermons. |
2017 Church Directory
The 2017 church directory is available on the member area of the church website. It is also available in the church office and in the narthex on Sunday.
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| Lift Your Spirits with the Volunteer Corps! Many of us on the Volunteer Corps board have been inspired by our spirited, lively, warm and wonderful Volunteer Corps members. We know you will be too! Invite Alex, Kayla, Libby, Mary and Sarah over to share a meal with you and your family. They are all doing incredible work with social service and social justice groups in our region. The Volunteer Corps is an intentional community of five young adults living a simple lifestyle in our former parsonage on Western Avenue, just a block from church. Sarah Levine is the contact person for Westmorelanders who want to invite the volunteers over for meals or other social events. Contact Sarah at: sarah.levine@rocketmail.com or 802-275-8487. |
Sunday Flowers
 The flowers on the chancel add much beauty to our worship. Individuals or families may sign up for any given week to provide flowers with a dedication included in the Sunday bulletin.
Please contact Judy Fogt and let her know that you are interested. The cost is $55.
You can mail your check the church office or drop it in the collection plate with a notation that it is for chancel flowers.
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You are Needed in Church School
Our children need kind, caring grown ups to lead in our Preschool, K-2nd, or 3rd-5th grade class for a few Sundays over the course of the year. It's fun and important, To volunteer, contact Alexis at alexis@westmorelanducc.org or sign up at SignUpWestmoreland.org.
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| Westmoreland Sermons on iTunes! You can subscribe to the Westmoreland Sermons on iTunes Podcast! Search for "Westmoreland Sermons" or click the icon below.
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Sign Up for Coffee Hour!
 Coffee Hour is a time to welcome guests and to strengthen relationships within our church community. This ministry is vital to the life, spirit, and growth of our church. Beverages (coffee, tea, water, juice/lemonade) and tableware are provided by Westmoreland. Food is a welcome addition and is provided by Coffee Hour Host(s). Please sign up to host coffee hour (once per year is recommended) with your family or pair-up with another member of the church.
Click here to sign up!
Thanks,
Stacey Fannon
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Standing Rock March on DC
Friday, March 10, 10:00am - 2:00pm
 Rev. Brooks Berndt, the UCC Minister for Environmental Justice, intives you to support and participate in the Standing Rock March on DC that will take place on March 10. There will be an organized UCC presence at the march, with more than 100 people signed up to participate.
For more information or to sign up, click here.
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Festival Chorus presents Missa Brevis
Sunday, March 12, during 10am Worship
Unlike his compatriot Bela Bartók, who emigrated to the USA, Kodály remained in Hungary during the Nazi occupation. After the war he became one of the leading figures in the development of music education in Europe. In common with a number of early 20th century composers, much of his music is based on national folksongs and dances. In addition to the Missa Brevis, Kodály produced two other major choral works, Psalmus Hungaricus (1923) and the Te Deum (1936), as well as numerous part songs.
Early in 1945 Red Army troops finally overcame the German forces who had been occupying the city of Budapest. The surviving civilian population emerged from where they had been sheltering during the seven weeks of non-stop bombing, to find large parts of the city destroyed. Kodály was caught up in this carnage, taking refuge in the cellar of the Budapest Opera House where, somewhat improbably, the Missa Brevis was composed. It was not an entirely new piece, but a re-working of the composer's purely instrumental Organ Mass of 1942. First performed in the cloakroom of the Opera House, it later received its official première at the 1948 Three Choirs Festival in Worcester.
The regular parts of the Mass - Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei - are framed by two short movements for solo organ: Introitus and Ite, Missa Est. The work's distinctive character arises largely from
Kodály's modal harmony and folksong-inspired melodies, coupled with a lyrical romanticism.
-John Bawden
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Exhibition of Quilt Artistry by Ann Harwell
March 12 - April 23
 The Westmoreland Arts Committee is announcing an exhibition featuring Fabric Artist, Ann Harwell. Her work is displayed in the Lee Hansley Gallery in Raleigh, NC, in Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery in Winston Salem, NC and in many homes. You might recall Westmoreland Arts Committee's winter 2015 exhibition of Ann Harwell's beautiful astronomy - themed quilts. This spring's exhibition will open on March 12, 2017 and run until April 23, 2017, and will feature Ann's floral - themed quilts.
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Adult Study - The Pastor's Class
Sundays, 9:00am, Library
You are invited to join me in the Library at 9:00 on Sunday mornings. As you may know I am in a doctoral program at Wesley Seminary, focusing on how the church engages (or not) in public life. I will lead this class based on material I am reading in my program. Each week I will bring paragraph, an idea, or an article for discussion. Your job is to show up with you best ideas.
On Sunday, March 12, we are going to discuss photographs that relate to public policy.
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Craft & Beauty Market Fundraiser
Briggs Center for Faith & Action ESL Program
Saturday, March 25, 9:30 am - 3:30 pm,
Westmoreland Social Hall
Please join us for this unique Craft & Beauty Market. 30% of all sales will be donated to the Briggs Center ESL Program. Students and teachers will offer the following services and handmade items for sale:
- Hair Cutting & Braiding
- Makeovers & Manicures
- Pottery, Paintings, & Patchwork
- Kids Crafts & Face Painting
- Alpaca Gloves
- Beaded Jewelry
- Vintage Clothing
- Homemade Cupcakes
- Snacks & Refreshments
- Café Justo Coffee for sale
All Westmorelanders are invited to attend and/or participate. If you would like to provide a service, sell your homemade items, or if you have any questions, please contact Stacey Fannon at csfannon@gmail.com or 301-564-4330.
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March Children's Collection
Razors and Shaving Cream for Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington
 Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington is a community partnership bringing together homeless people and others in need in Greater Washington, with support and volunteers from churches in a joint effort to improve the lives of all.
We will collect and donate the following for their clients: disposable razors (men and women) and shaving cream.
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 Want to be kept in the loop about UCC's refugee ministries? Sign up for their monthly newsletter here.
Want to take action on the justice issues you care about, including immigration and refugees? Join UCC's Justice and Peace Action Network (JPAN) here.
Want to help plan how Westmoreland will carry out our motion in Support of Extravagant Welcome to Immigrants and Refugees of All Faiths? Email Lori Mosher to get involved.
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Library Update! Your Input is Needed!
 Westmoreland's Board of Spiritual Formation (BSF) has a fact-finding report and proposed recommendations from board member Jane Williams on the church library's status and potential futures. (Westmoreland's 2020 initiative, which includes re-purposing the present library space, served as the impetus for this study.) The BSF has endorsed this report. The Governance Council has reviewed the report and has asked for a period of open congregational input.
The library report acknowledges that the library has been inactive for several years, that church members and staff use the collection sparsely and that many other sources of information are readily available elsewhere, notably electronically. The report's recommendations include the following:
- Weed the present collection to a core selection of reference/research materials (commentaries, dictionaries, etc.), Bible translations, standard works of philosophy, spirituality, religion and theology, works on other faiths, items about the UCC, the hymnal collection, and children's books. (A small group of Westmorelanders with special interest and expertise could be asked to help weed the present collection.)
- Keep the core collection in the present space and move it to shelves out of reach of children, and/or staff offices.
If the library report's recommendations were followed, the collection would be static and there would be no library manager, few or no new purchases, and no catalog kept up to date. In other words, the status of the past three years for the library would continue. Here is the full report.
We want your feedback, especially about your actual use of the library and how the above actions would affect you. Please send your comments to Jane Williams by March 19, 2017.
Feedback will be reported to the Board of Spiritual Formation, plans modified as needed and then submitted to ministerial staff and Governance Council.
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Giving to Westmoreland
Look for information in the mail and via email about ways that you can support Westmoreland and our work in the world.
2017 Annual Giving
Gifts to support the ongoing life of our church -- music and worship, spiritual formation programs, fellowship events, staff salaries, and building maintenance. Click here to pledge on-line to the Annual Fund.
Capital Campaign
Gifts to our four-year campaign to build a new entrance, add a new elevator, add a gender neutral restroom, and make our kitchen functionable. Click here to pledge on-line to the Capital Campaign.
Children's Collection
Items collect by our children in worship each Sunday to give to local helping groups.
Special Offerings
The five UCC offerings (plus our own outreach offering) that go across the country and around the world to meet needs.
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 StillReading Book Group
Today, March 26, 4:30pm
We will meet on Sunday, March 26 at 4:30-6:00pm in the Parlor to discuss
The Betrayers
by David Bezmozgis. Winner of the National Jewish Book Award, The Betrayers tells the story of Baruch Kotler, a one-time Russian dissident who served 13 brutal years in the Gulag after being denounced by a friend. Fleeing to Israeli he has become a celebrated, but a political crisis causes him to seek refuge in Yalta-where he encounters the old friend. Please join us for discussion and fellowship, including snacks of course!
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