|
|
Latest information from Barrington Congregational Church, UCC
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you missed any previous emails, they are being posted to our website
at this link for easy access. Some of the things that are
NEW in this email:
- Bulletin, Hymn Sheet, and Announcements for May 3rd live-stream worship service
- Music and Choir Celebration this Sunday
- Virtual Communion this Sunday
- Discussions via Zoom about Associate Minister search
- Names sought for Search Committee
- Profile of Loaves and Fishes RI volunteers
- Knitting Group meets virtually
|
|
Church Office is CLOSED until further notice
All in-person worship, meetings and activities at church are suspended or postponed until further notice. However, some things are happening virtually.
Thurs, Apr 30
4:30 - 6 pm Happy Hour via Zoom
Fri, May 1
Dale on call for pastoral emergencies
Sat, May 2
Sun, May 3 Music and Choir Celebration Sunday + Communion
10:45 am Coffee Hour via Zoom (note the earlier start time)
11:15 am Discussion via Zoom about Associate Minister Search
Mon, May 4
7 pm Discussion via Zoom about Associate Minister Search
Tues, May 5
11 am Staff meeting via Zoom
1:30 pm Worship Technology Team meeting via Zoom
7 pm Knitting for Others Group via Zoom
Thurs, May 7
4:30 - 6 pm Happy Hour via Zoom
Fri, May 8
Dale on call for pastoral emergencies
Sat, May 9
Sun, May 10
10:45 am Coffee Hour via Zoom
Please note that looking ahead, cancellations and suspensions of meetings may not yet be noted in the on-line calendar as we don't know what the future holds.
|
|
Music and Choir Celebration Sunday ......
|
This week, we have an exciting worship service planned full of special music to offer praise to God and brighten your Sunday morning. We have bells, solos, and a special communion anthem by our quarantine choir.
|
|
Speaking of Communion, we’ll be celebrating virtual communion this Sunday. We invite everyone who wishes to participate to have elements prepared ahead of time for you to join in this celebration. If you have bread and juice (or even wine) feel free to use it. However, we invite you to participate with whatever elements you have on hand. Christ is present and will not be denied if you do not have the “proper” elements. God understands and joins us however invited, if invited with an open and loving heart. See you Sunday!
|
|
We hope you can join us live, but if not, you can watch a recording later at the same links.
Resources for this week's worship service are at the following links:
|
|
Zoom opportunities after worship this Sunday (see later for details)
|
10:45 am Coffee hour via Zoom after worship
11:15 am First of two opportunities for discussion via Zoom about an Associate Minister for Congregational Life.
|
|
Dale and Linda include Prayers of the People during each Sunday's worship service. They invite you to email or text them prayers (to
dale@bccucc.org
or
linda@bccucc.org
), or leave a message on the church's answering machine (246-0111)
a
ny time prior to 9:00 AM on Sunday morning
so they can include them in the live stream. Please be sure if you are mentioning people, to confirm that they would be comfortable with being lifted up in public AND that you don’t include full names. Perhaps just mention first names. We want to be respectful of peoples’ privacy as we hold them in our prayers.
|
|
We're moving forward at BCCUCC
|
|
In particular, there are two major initiatives happening that you should know about. Read the blog (at the link above) for details.
One of the initiatives is ....
|
|
.....the search for an 'Associate Minister of Congregational Life'
|
An email was sent to our active church members and friends earlier this week (and snail-mailed to those without email). It addressed the need for an 'Associate Minister of Congregational Life', and a job description for this new position.
The congregation is being asked to do three things:
|
|
2.Share - join in a Zoom discussion
|
There will be two discussion gatherings via Zoom to answer any questions and hear any ideas from you regarding this newly defined position. They will take place on
Sunday, May 3rd at
11 am, and on
Monday, May 4th at
7 pm. The log in information is the same for both meetings:
For security reasons the zoom information was included in the email sent to you, but isn't included in this version that gets posted to our church website and Facebook.
|
|
3.Support - suggest names for the search committee
|
We will soon be establishing a formal search committee. Please submit any names of those you think would make good candidates to be on this search committee. Church Council will elect a committee that best reflects the breadth of our congregation. Names should be submitted to Kate Colby at
kcolby@fullchannel.net
by Monday, May 4th.
|
|
There's a place for you at BCCUCC......
|
As we look to the future at Barrington Congregational Church UCC, our church needs your help to support our ongoing ministries. There are a couple of ways for you to get involved in the upcoming year.
CHURCH COUNCIL
, which is our governing body, has
2
open positions starting in July.
- Treasurer – The Treasurer is responsible for the care of the funds and financial records of the church and reporting the church’s financial activities and financial condition.
- Auditor – The Auditor is a member of the church who is a qualified accountant and does not hold any other elected office in the church. An annual audit of the financial records of the church is prepared by the Auditor.
In addition, we have three
MINISTRY TEAMS
that need your support also starting in July.
- We need 5 people to join the Membership Ministry Team which seeks to make individuals welcome in our church community. They welcome visitors, new members, and work with ministry teams to encourage member participation in ministry teams and church council.
- We need 3 people to join the Stewardship Ministry Team which encourages giving of one’s self to God’s work. They currently focus most of their work on planning and organizing for Consecration Sunday.
- We need 4 people to join the Finance Ministry Team which manages the financial affairs of the church including the annual budgeting.
If you are interested in working together in ministry with others at BCC UCC, please contact Elizabeth Azevedo (860-301-2915) or
eazevedo17@gmail.com
) or another member of the membership team - Liz White, Libardo DeLaTorre, or Wendy Forman.
|
|
Opportunities to get together (virtually)
|
|
After worship coffee hour on Sundays
|
We host a Zoom coffee hour after church each Sunday
.
Beginning shortly after the ‘livestream’ worship ends,
around 10:45 am
, all are invited to log onto zoom and chat with your fellow church members and friends. We hope to see you there - but you'll have you bring your own coffee!
For security reasons the zoom information was included in the email sent to you, but isn't included in this version that gets posted to our church website or Facebook.
|
|
Knitting for Others Group
|
No longer able to get together in person, this group of knitters is meeting virtually. Their next get-together is scheduled for
Tuesday, May 5th
at 7 pm via Zoom.
All knitters and crocheters are invited and new faces are very welcome – so do join in!
For security reasons the zoom information was included in the email sent to you, but isn't included in this version that gets posted to our church website or Facebook.
|
|
BCCUCC Happy Hour on Thursdays
|
All are invited to stop by the BCCUCC virtual Happy Hour with Dale every Thursday anytime from 4:30 - 6 pm via Zoom. So grab your favorite beverage sit down with your computer, tablet or smartphone, and hang out with your church friends for a while. You’re welcome to drop by (virtually) for as long or short a time as you’d like – we miss you and hope you’ll join us!
For security reasons the zoom information was included in the email sent to you, but isn't included in this version that gets posted to our church website or Facebook.
|
|
New to Zoom? Here's what you need to know
|
Zoom is pretty easy to set up and use. If you are using a tablet or smartphone (iPad or Android) there are apps to use. You should be able to find the app “Zoom” in your App Store.
If you are using your computer (ideally with a camera, like most laptops have) when you click on the link from your weekly church email, it will take you to a website and ask to install Zoom on your computer. Say “yes”. It is a very small and pretty quick download and install.
Once installed, whenever you click on a zoom link it will automatically launch zoom and log you into the meeting. If it doesn’t log you into the meeting automatically, you can manually type in the meeting ID into the Zoom app (on computer, smartphone, or tablet) and then the password, and it will take you to the meeting.
|
|
'Llama Pajama Time with Andrea'
|
If you're not able to watch live, you can always watch a recording later on the
live-stream page of our website.
|
|
Profile in 'Be the Change'
|
|
Church members who are making a difference
|
The second in this occasional series from our Deacons, spotlights church members
Liz White and
Jay and Phyllis Buckley, and all the work that they do with Loaves and Fishes RI.
|
|
|
The Easter Flowers have been removed from the sanctuary and set aside to die back. At some point in the summer - or when we're able to reconnect - the bulbs will be made available to the congregation for pick up and planting in their own gardens.
|
|
Changes in some special Sundays
|
Jubilation Sunday has been moved to Sunday, May 31st.
Confirmation Sunday has been postponed until the fall.
|
|
The clergy, church officers and ministry team leaders are reminded to submit their individual reports to the church office
by Monday, May 18th
. They should cover the period from June 2019 – May 2020 and, if possible, also include any goals for the upcoming year. Reports should be emailed to Christine at
office@bccucc.org
or mailed in. If you have any questions, please contact Christine. Our Annual Meeting is scheduled for after worship on Sunday, June 7th.
|
|
Some of you have been hand delivering contributions to the office. While we appreciate your doing so, please do not enter the building, for your safety and for the safety of the limited staff that must work from the office. We encourage you to either mail your contributions to the church or leave them in the "church mailbox", located at the top of the steps leading to the office - on the wall on your left. The US mail and the church mailbox are checked daily by a staff member. Thank you.
|
|
Stay connected with each other - and call the ministers if needed
|
During this time of separation, we are all encouraged to keep in touch with each other. If there’s someone in the church you’d like to reach out to - maybe someone living alone - but you don’t have their contact information, please call the church office and leave a message (401 246-0111 x 101) or email
office@bccucc.org
Christine will then get their contact information to you.
If you’re in the hospital, a nursing home or rehab, or you’re simply staying home as required, but would like a visit with a minister, please don’t hesitate to call them and they’ll be happy to visit with you over the phone during this time of restrictions. Their numbers are Dale (401) 246-0111 x 103; Linda (401) 246-0111 x 104. Leave a message and they'll get back to you.
|
|
Church Offering - please continue to give if you are able
|
Thank you to those of you who have already mailed in your contributions to the church. If you are financially able to do so at this time, we encourage you to mail in your regular contributions or use online banking if that is available to you. This will allow our cash flow to remain stable and for the church to be able to pay its bills and meet payroll. We appreciate your efforts! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Financial Secretary, Pat Stoddard, at
pat@bccucc.org or 246-0111 x 102. Thank you.
|
|
Ways to watch our live-streams
|
We are doing our live-streams using 'Facebook Live' and there are two places to watch it online:
- On the church’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/bccucc
- On the church's webpage www.bccucc.org at the 'BCCUCC live-stream' link from the home page, where the feed will be embedded.
For Facebook live, simply go to
www.facebook.com/bccucc
to watch. You don't need a Facebook account to see it. If you do have an account, search for the church's Facebook Page which is 'Barrington Congregational Church UCC'. If you 'Like' our page should then get our news feeds, and also be able to comment on our posts and the live feeds.
If you're not able to watch live, you can watch a recording later, on the
live-stream page of our website.
|
|
The office is closed but you can still reach us
|
|
Following recent recommendations, the church office will be closed for the foreseeable future. However you can still be in touch with the ministers and staff. You can either send an email or leave a message on the answering machine at the person's extension. Both emails and voice mail messages will be checked regularly. Our contact information is:
As Dale says in his most recent blog "
if you need support, strength, or help in these days, please don't wait for Linda, me, or someone else from the church to call you. Reach out to us. We're still here and we'll be there for you in the ways that we can!
"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
