Sunday, October 6, 2024

World Communion Sunday

"Flesh Made Holy"

8:30am and 10:30am Worship Services in the Meetinghouse

(with 10:30am Live Stream)

We continue to pray for peace on this World Communion Sunday, even as we confess it may be hard to hold on to hope – especially as we see so much division, violence and war all around us. Lest we be discouraged, maybe it helps to know that the teachings of Jesus on the power of human love were mostly rejected and ridiculed at the time of his ministry? Peace with Rome seemed impossible, and fighting back seemed futile, but into it all, Jesus called his nation back into holy covenant as one faithful family.


Isn’t love still the answer today? Isn't relationship more important to you than religion? And doesn’t a hug often offer us more healing than words of wisdom or advice? In Communion, Jesus invites us to join him at the table for a meal together, and as we celebrate the holiness of the bread, named as his body, we remember the church is also his body -- and that all fragile human flesh is holy and precious to God... whether old or young, male or female, rich or poor... wherever in the world we may live.

   

Join us for Communion worship at 8:30 and 10:30 this Sunday, with Church School and Chancel Choir at 10:30. Pastor Bryn preaches on passages from Genesis 2 and the 10th chapter of Mark’s Gospel. Nursery care is always available.



Our 10:30am service is regularly LIVE STREAMED and RECORDED.

    You can live stream our 10:30am service for October 6th from the following link: External link opens in new tab or windowhttps://youtube.com/live/UyCaTEdFz_Y?feature=share     


      Additional recordings of our worship services can be found on our YouTube pageExternal link opens in new tab or windowhttps://youtube.com/live/Pa1PbrelfJE?feature=share   


      Church School & Nursery Care are available: If you have questions about Church School, please be in touch with our Church School Coordinator, Barbara Crandell at External link opens in new tab or windowbarbara@uccb.org.  The Nursery is open for both Sunday services as well.


      Together Women Rise Potluck –
      Sunday, October 6th, 5:30-7pm in Fellowship Hall

      Why do we support Together Women Rise (TWR)? What does a usual TWR meeting look and sound like? In a typical meeting what and how do we learn about the needs of girls and women around the world? This is a chance for the whole family to come together as a community of faith and learn.

      What do I bring? 1. An open mind willing to learn, 2. An entrée, salad, or side dish big enough to feed 8.

      While a donation basket will be available, there is absolutely no expectation for you to donate to this month’s Featured Grantee “She’s The First,” which is a mentorship program for girls from the global South, many of whom will be the first in their family or village to get an education.  (During regular meetings, people are encouraged to donate what they would have spent had they gone out to dinner in support of the month’s featured grantee.  However, any and all amounts are appreciated, and the opportunity to learn is equally important.)  This potluck and program is meant to be an all ages learning opportunity, open to anyone in our congregation or in our wider community. We realize that many of us don’t know what Together Women Rise is all about. This is a chance to enjoy some fellowship and learn something new. There will be activities for the kids in connection with what the adults are seeing and hearing as well.





      What does it mean to be an “Open & Affirming” church?

      What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

       

      If you’re eager to learn more about The Congregational Church of Brookfield as well as our External link opens in new tab or windowOpen & Affirming statement, you can look at the curriculum we used for our June "Open & Affirming" Bible study at

      External link opens in new tab or windowhttps://reformationproject.org/biblical-case/



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      Call to Share our Gifts & Offerings, Roy Taylor on YouTube

      Sunday, June 30, 2024

      Click here: External link opens in new tab or windowhttps://youtu.be/bSbUnGVt7bY


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      10:30am Sunday Weekly Worship Recordings:

      If you are not able to watch the service live from the beginning, or if you need to join the service late, there will be an opportunity to view the entire recording in a few hours, after YouTube processes it and uploads it to our church YouTube channel. For instant notifications of Live Streams, you can also subscribe to that channel, uccbvideo, by clicking on the red "Subscribe" button on the YouTube page.


       

      Sharing to Build, Building to Share…

      See the New Vision for Fellowship Hall!

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      Brochure link above

      Update - October 2024

      In June, our congregation voted to move ahead with our full "open and affirming" vision of making our church building fully accessible to all! And over the summer months, our crew from Cole Contruction was able to finalize all the plans and permits needed to get us started.

      After a festive, intergenerational groundbreaking ceremony on September 22nd, construction has now begun. Many have enjoyed looking down from our Church School Wing into the deep hole and diggings for the foundation for the addition that will provide space for new ADA bathrooms, stairs, closets, and elevator to connect our lower Fellowship Hall level with the main courtyard entrance by the Church Office.

      It will be an exciting school year to get to watch this all begin to come together, and we invite you to stop by and take a look for yourself. (Just be careful about traffic in the parking lot, and be sure to remain safely behind the construction fencing -- especially if you have children eager to use our playground, which has been temporarily relocated into the field across the back driveway.) The plans have been mounted on the wooden divider wall in Fellowship Hall that separates our remaining usable space from the construction zone.

      We are on our way to a fully accessible building for all!   

      If you have any questions about the project, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastors Bryn or Jennifer, Ken Arifian and/or Laurie Matson. Your continued support – financial and spiritual – is amazing and so very much appreciated! Thank you!

      If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Laurie Matson (Co-Chairperson) and Ken Arifian (Project Manager) at the emails below.

      Thank you all for your continued patience and support!

      Laurie Matson - External link opens in new tab or windowlmatson1380@gmail.com

      Ken Arifian - External link opens in new tab or windowkarifian@sbcglobbal.net

      Church Office - External link opens in new tab or windowoffice@uccb.org

       

      (Click here to read more)

      Because we are CCB, we have fun whenever we gather! Even as we worship each week in our historic Meetinghouse, fellowship is at the very heart of our church life and we believe Fellowship Hall should be accessible to all.  We invite you to contribute as generously as you can and help us extend God's extravagant welcome to everyone, "no matter who we are or where we are on life's journey."  Whether we walk or roll, we seek to follow Jesus together!



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      Pastors Fund Thanks & Information

      Our pastors wish to thank you so much for your generous support of the Pastors Fund during these difficult and ever-changing times.  With your help bills have been paid to cover housing costs, medical bills, and emergency repairs as well as to cover other everyday costs like food, gas, and clothing for members & friends of our church and wider community.  The Pastors Fund is supported through the honorarium from the funerals/memorials that our pastors officiate, as well as through the generous gifts of members and friends of our community.  The Thrift Shop has supported the Pastors Fund with gifts from sale profits, and the Pastors Fund is also one of the options for holiday support through our Virtual Giving Tree this year. 
      If you are feeling moved to make a direct gift to the Pastors Fund, gift cards for groceries and gas are always welcome, as are donations made payable to Pastors Fund.

       

      Your Pastors are Here for You!

      Pastoral Care Appointments

      Pastor Bryn and Pastor Jen are available for individual pastoral care appointments either in-person or via phone or Zoom.  If you have something that you would like to address or speak with them about, please feel free to reach out,  ( External link opens in new tab or windowbryn@uccb.org or External link opens in new tab or windowjennifer@uccb.org ) to set up a time to talk and pray together.

      Worship Opportunities

      Labyrinth & Children's Garden:

      One of our confirmands recently cleaned over at our Labyrinth - making sure the path is clearly outlined and instructions for use of the labyrinth are posted at the beginning.  We encourage people to stop over to the church and use the labyrinth during this nice weather (while maintaining physical distancing practices).  (Note: Our Labyrinth and the story of how it came to be were recently published in a book of New England Labyrinths, so we are excited to share that with people in our area and beyond.)  Work will also begin soon on our Children's Garden, a garden that will be planted in raised beds around our Labyrinth, where kids will be able to remember loved ones and go to play and pray at our church.


      Keep an eye on your email, the Congregational Church of Brookfield Facebook Page, or our website on Sunday morning for the links to join us (and please feel free to share the links with family and friends). Afterward, if you are willing to share a photo of you or your family worshipping with us online that may be used on our CCB Facebook page or website, please send it to External link opens in new tab or windowuccbsocialmedia@gmail.com.   If you have missed any of our online worship services you can find them linked below, and you can subscribe to our YouTube channel External link opens in new tab or windowuccbvideo, where our worship services are archived.

       ndayCB

      Summer Church Office Hours

      Tuesday through Thursday - 9:00am - 2:00pm

      CLOSED on Mondays and Fridays.

        The church door will remain locked for safety reasons, but our Ring doorbell system helps us to know who is coming to the door.

      If you want to ensure someone will be available to assist you, you can always call ahead to the Church Office at 203-775-1259.


      We are an Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ.

      Know that "No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!"

       

       

       At Home Electronic Worship Options

       

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      Congregational Church of Brookfield

      Listen to the Congregational Church of Brookfield's External link opens in new tab or windowPODCAST.

      Don't have time or an internet video connection?

      Subscribe to our podcast and listen on the go to past sermons.

      Click on:  External link opens in new tab or windowhttps://soundcloud.com/user-98392082