oc tober
2014
the Lifeline
NORWICH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
U NI T ED CH U RCH OF CHR IS T
We Love our
Guest Musicians
The Hartland Flute Choir shared their music with us on September 7
NORWICH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Mary Brownlow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pastor
Kathleen Sherlock-Green. . . Choir Director
Tacy Colaiacomo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Organist
Danielle Taylor. . . . Sunday School Coord.
Amy Frost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Office Manager
Nichole Hastings. . . . . . . . . . . . Bookkeeper
Dan Goulet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sexton
Women’s Retreat 2014
This year, we will do a brief retreat on November
15 at Mary Brownlow’s house, from 11 am to 3 pm.
During this 4-hour break from our usual activities
we will worship, eat, and share our thoughts about
CHANGE and how it affects our spiritual and congregational life. We ask that people come for the entire
4 hours, rather than coming and going. Please bring
knitting or handwork to do, if you like. No donations
of food are necessary. You can sign up by calling or
telephoning the church office.
This shortened retreat comes out of some thinking
about how our retreats have changed over the years.
We will also plan an overnight retreat sometime after
the New Year, probably at a retreat center, which is a
bit of a drive away. With these two options, we hope
that participants will be able to take time and truly
have a chance to connect with each other. Stay tuned
about plans for the longer retreat.
2014 LEADERSHIP
CHURCH OFFICERS
Church Council Chair. . . Chuck Egner
Moderator. . . . . . . . . John Severinghaus
Asst. Moderator . . . . . . . Carolyn Mertz
Clerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joanne Egner
Treasurer. . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Beliveau
Asst. Treasurer . . . . . James Hourdequin
Collector. . . . . . . . . . . . Martin Witschi
Asst Collector. . . . . . . . Priscilla Vincent
BOARD OF DEACONS
Senior Deacons. . . . . . . . . Hillary White
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dick Broussard
Mary Magavern, Bob Miller
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doug James
Gary Brooks, Dan Van Dorn
Avery Post
BOARD OF MISSION
Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doug Britton
Deborah Berryman, Jeff Nielsen
Kathy Grant, Vicky Fish, Heidi Webster
BOARD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Beliveau
Ann Beams, Eve Zukowski
Brittny Calsbeek
COMMITTEES
FLOWERS
Tilda White, Deb Van Arman
HOSPITALITY
Marty James, Stephanie Smith
Cynthia Blake, Anne Broussard
Lillian Goss
INVESTMENT:
Carolyn Mertz
MUSIC:
Don Helms, Evelynn Ellis, Marty James
NOMINATING:
Shirley Parker, Priscilla Vincent
STEWARDSHIP:
Barbara Duncan, Jane Helms
Ann Beams
IF YOU WANT TO DONATE
FLOWERS FOR WORSHIP...
please contact Tilda White,
by phone: 649-1654 for help, information, or to sign up. You may
also sign up on the “Flowers” sheet
posted at the back of the church.
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The Lifeline – October 2014
WOODWORTH FUND:
Mimi Simpson, Jenny Williams
Willemien Miller, Ryan Adams
Harry Dorman
OTHER
At-Large Church Council. . . . . . . . . . . .
Head Usher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Mertz
Historian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Delegates. Avery Post, Kenneth Cracknell
Alt Delegates. . . . . Katherine Broussard
From the Minister
“And let us consider how to provoke one another to
love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together,
as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another,
and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
— Hebrews 10: 24-25
On the web site of the United
Church of Christ (the larger denomination to which the Norwich
Congregational Church belongs)
there is a lot of information about
the many ministries and missions
of the Church, as well as pages of
worship and biblical studies, and resources for local churches. In such a
large, diverse and inclusive church,
it is sometimes hard to find a succinct description of an identity and
a purpose. I did find the following
self-description there:
• Where God is all-loving and inclusive
• Where the Church of Jesus Christ
welcomes and accepts everyone as
they are
• Where your mind is nourished as
much as your soul
• Where Jesus the healer meets Jesus
the revolutionary
• Where together we grow a just and
peaceful world
How would we describe our local
church? Do the words above from
the UCC web site fit us? Do we
meet to “provoke one another to
love and good deeds” as is suggested
by the Bible passage from Hebrews
quoted above. Do we meet to learn
and grow in the life of the Spirit?
To provide a space for theological
inquiry and community events? To
put the question more bluntly, why
does the Norwich Congregational
Church, UCC exist?
Each of you might have a slightly
different answer. Some people
might focus on weekly Sunday
worship, which provides music,
Scripture, and an opportunity for
learning and prayer to any who
chose to attend. Other might say
that the church exists to be a refuge,
or an inspiration to service, or a
location where people of different
beliefs may assemble safely. Whatever your answer, we might agree
that the church is worth supporting
with our time and treasure.
Sometimes we get so caught up
in managing the church, with its
building and its finances, that we
think our purpose is to grow in
membership and in income. The
more people we see in the pews,
the better we feel. The higher the
pledge numbers, the more secure we
feel. Recently I read this quote from
Charles Bayer, in Hope for the Mainline Church: “The church does not
exist for its own sake. Its purpose is
not defined by its survival. The care
and feeding of itself is not its central
mission. It exists to give itself away.
It never puts its own needs ahead of
the needs of the world—of the least,
the last, and the lost.”
If we are active members and
friends of the NCC UCC, we feel
that our church makes a difference
in our lives: the church makes our
lives better. Rather than seeing visitors (or future, potential visitors)
as a way to increase attendance or
bring financial security for our local
institution, we might start with, “I
would like to see _____ attend or
get involved because I believe in my
heart that his/her life will be the
better for it.” We do not often use
the word “evangelism,” but in some
sense it is just that thought, that
hope for another person.
Over the years, I have seen
many people find solace, hope,
encouragement, and inspiration
in our church community. I have
seen lives bettered. Sometimes this
has been through a single visit or
experience with us. In other cases,
one visit leads to another and another, until the visitor evolves into
a “pillar of the church,” an integral
part of the living, breathing body of
Christ in this place.
In this autumn season of giving and gratitude, I hope that you
will meditate on the blessings to
be found in our communal life together. I hope that you will worship
and work with us. And I hope that
you will help us find and live out
our purpose: to share those blessings with someone else.
Mary
The Lifeline – October 2014
3
MEMBER PROFILE
Sonja
Lippman
Sonja just had her 12th birthday and is in sixth
grade at Marion Cross. When you ask what her
favorite class is, she enthusiastically replies,” P. E.!”
She plays tag and kickball, soccer, basketball, and
lacrosse. She snowboards, sleds, and has tried crosscountry skiing. She even did some fencing. “But you
have to keep your face serious.” She’s learning how
to skate, “but I’m really bad at it.”
Sonja is currently studying fractions and they’re a
lot of work. She enjoys writing stories. Her favorite
book is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen about a boy who
has to survive in the wilderness following a plane
crash.
Sonja was born in China and came to Los Angeles when she was 9 months old. Her family decided
that they wanted a better school system for their
daughters. Sonja has an older sister Rose who is 16
years old. (Rose is now providing care in the church
nursery.) Sonja is very happy at Marion Cross.
Sonja and her father John like to go to the dump,
pick up old pieces of stuff, and make things with
them.
The Lippmans have a dog named Kelly who is a
mutt. “She looks like a fox.” They are thinking of
getting another dog, too.
Sonja’s favorite color is blue.
October 26: A Slide Show on Modern Day Vietnam
Jeff Nielsen, a Mission Committee member, has been to Vietnam on a number of
occasions during the past 15 years. His interest began as a Social Work School student at
The University of Connecticut, where he did an Independent Study project in Vietnam
on Post War Social Issues. These issues include, Agent Orange a defoliant used to clear
forests and jungle, unexploded, left-over war ordnance that continues to remain buried in
the ground. Accidents with these continue today, killing and maiming adults and children 50 years after the war.
Jeff returned again the same year to SouthEast Asia with a 5-person team from Asian
Family Services in Hartford, Connecticut. This team consisted of returning war refugees
to develop adoption connections in Cambodia and Vietnam. Jeff is currently preparing
to go to Vietnam this January with his wife, June, as part of a work team with the Seattlebased NGO “Peacetrees Vietnam.” Peacetrees works in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam.
Quang Tri is one of the poorest Provinces located adjacent to the old DMZ, which was
heavily contested during the Vietnam War. 82% of the land in this rural province remains contaminated by unexploded war ordnance. This causes many problems for the primarily farming community and especially for children,
who often find and view these objects with childhood curiosity.
Jeff will show his slides of Modern Day Vietnam on October 26th.
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The Lifeline – October 2014
The Stewardship Committee is gearing
up for its annual pledge drive and asked
my husband, Chuck, and me to write an
article on how we decide to make our
pledge. We’ve been members of the Norwich Congregational Church for almost
30 years and so you might think we’ve
developed a formula for our financial
support, such as 10% percent of earned
income or 5% percent more than last
year. But that’s not what we do. Instead,
we reflect on two things:
•the importance of the Church to us
and the community
•our gratitude for the many ways the
Church has supported our family over
the years
We are so fortunate to have a beautiful,
historic Church building that provides a
wonderful setting for worship services and
other community events. While keeping
the lights on is necessary, the work that
our Congregation is doing to support the
local community and outreach services is
so much more important.
Chuck and I have gotten to know many
wonderful people at the Church that
we wouldn’t have otherwise. It keeps us
connected with folks from all generations
and we take comfort in knowing that we
have their love and support whenever it is
needed.
The Norwich Congregational Church
is where our three children grew up.
We have lots of family memories about
Sunday School, Junior Choir, and singing
Silent Night by candlelight. How wonderful it is to see the children of the Church
grow up and reunite at Christmas Eve
Service each year!
I will always be thankful to the Church
for the support given to my mother after
she moved up from Florida to live in Valley Terrace. The Church was so welcoming and members visited with her on a
regular basis.
When we make our financial pledge to
the Church this year, we will give because
we know that the Church is doing important work in our community and we are
grateful.
Joanne and Chuck Egner
From the Lilly Endowment Press
Release for the NCC UCC Lilly Grant
The Norwich Congregational Church has received a grant of
$39,900 to enable our pastor, Mary, and the congregation to participate in the 2014 National Clergy Renewal Program funded by the
Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. and administered by the
Christian Theological Seminary. The NCC UCC is one of 140 congregations across the country (and the only one in Vermont this year)
selected to participate in this competitive grant program. Established
by the Endowment in 2000, the program’s grants allow Christian
congregations to support their pastors with the gift of extended time
away from their ministerial duties and responsibilities.
Through the National Clergy Renewal Program, congregations
apply for grants of up to $50,000 to support and renewal program
for their pastors. Collaborative in nature and implementation, the
program allows congregations to partner with their ministers in developing an experience that addresses their unique renewal needs
and aspirations. In our case, $15,000 of the grant will be used by
the NCC UCC for renewal activities within the congregation, as
well as for interim pastoral leadership.
During the 2015 sabbatical time (between Memorial Day and
Labor Day), Mary will be pursuing studies in music, particularly
sacred music. The congregation will also use music as an “instrument” of renewal, so the Lilly Endowment grant will help fund
its own exploration of the role of music in our spiritual lives. This
may include guest musicians on Sundays, concerts, workshops, and
other community events. Throughout this time all will be encouraged to develop and share their own gifts of music-making and
appreciation. A Sabbatical Planning Committee is being formed to
develop these opportunities.
More to come. Stay tuned!
A Broad-Brush Numerical Summary
of the 2014 Stewardship Season
109 Pledges for Over $190,000
A large number of pledges were for the equivalent of up to $20
per week. Added together, they accounted for a sizeable portion of
our budget. Approximately 1/5 of the pledges were for amounts
between the equivalent of $100 per month and $500 per month,
accounting for a little less than a third of the budget. A very few
pledges accounted for over 1/3 of the budget.
FOR 2015, EVERY PLEDGE MATTERS!
A note about logistics: if you are mailing in your pledge card with a
check, please make clear whether the check is to complete your 2014 pledge
or to be counted towards your 2015. This will help the bookkeeper keep
your statements accurate.
The Lifeline – October 2014
5
Church Council Minutes – September 3, 2014
Present: Chuck Egner (Chair),
Bob Miller (Deacons), Dick Broussard (Deacons), Heidi Webster
(Mission), Doug James (Trustees),
Mary Brownlow (Pastor), Joanne
Egner (Clerk)
Inspirational word and opening
prayer led by Mary Brownlow.
The minutes of the July 30, 2014
Church Council Meeting were
unanimously approved. (B. Miller
moved; C. Egner 2nd)
Pastor’s Report:
Mary reported that during the
last month there was a birth (Ava
Calsbeek), a new member (Tom
Kinder) and a death (Cleta Wheeler). Plans are also being made for
a wedding in October. Mary is still
working on staff evaluations. She
has been able to streamline the
process a bit using email. The Contemplative Prayer Group has been
meeting all summer and is planning
a six week book study beginning in
September. The Christian Education Board will be meeting next
Monday. The Women’s Retreat and
the Youth Work Trip are issues that
will be discussed at the meeting.
Mary also reported that she has
been taking an online course offered by the Center for Progressive
Renewal titled How to Increase Worship Attendance. One of the things
she has learned is that Sunday
morning services aren’t necessarily
the best way to introduce people
to the Church. She has also heard
that some people might be more
apt to visit with her in a non-church
setting, such as a coffee shop. As a
result, she is considering having "office hours" for a couple of hours a
week on a regular basis at a location
like the King Arthur Flour Cafe.
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The Lifeline – October 2014
Mary will be on vacation November 3rd through the 9th.
Deacons:
Bob reported that the Deacons
have been finalizing the Pastor
Evaluation and will be presenting
it to Mary within the next month.
Hillary White has been working on
plans to be more welcoming before
and after service and to visit people
who aren’t able to attend Sunday
morning worship.
The Deacons have also been discussing the idea of having a special
service around the holidays for
people who may find it a particularly difficult time of year.
Mission:
Heidi reported that Mission
has not met since the last Church
Council meeting.
Trustees:
Doug reported that the Trustees
are scheduled to meet September
30th. The Church Office is functioning very well and financially we
are doing fine. The transition to
EC Fiber was complicated by the
fire alarm monitoring system and
the elevator phone line. Everything
is now working.
Christian Ed:
Mary reported that the new
Nursery Care person is now in
place and that Sunday School will
begin September 14th. Ideas for
adult education are being kicked
around and will be discussed at the
next meeting.
Old Business – Committee
Structure:
Chuck reported that he and
Mary met to discuss the issues surrounding our current committee
structure. Some boards and committees are short of people but still
functioning. The upcoming Sabbatical year would not be a good time
for a major change to the Church
structure. We should encourage
people to consider serving a position for one year while we continue
to discuss possibilities for change.
Mary will work with the Nominating Committee to pinpoint the
most necessary positions and not
worry about the others.
Mary has been reading the book
Real Good Church by Molly Baskette and learned about a Church
that does all of its committee work
one Sunday a month. This sort of
out-of-the-box thinking is where the
Council hopes to find an alternative to the current structure.
New Business – Upcoming
Sabbatical:
Mary and Bob discussed the
need for an Ad Hoc Sabbatical
Planning Committee to do the following:
• Plan events, workshops and
other programs for Congregational renewal before, during
and after Mary’s Sabbatical next
summer.
• Oversee the use of the Lilly
Grant funds and make sure we
are abiding by the Lilly Grant
Agreement.
• Coordinate with the Deacons
on the search for an Interim Pastor.
Mary mentioned that both Tacy
Colaiacomo and Kathy SherlockGreen were willing to be on the
Committee. Bob Miller also agreed
to be on the Committee and serve
as a liaison with the Deacons. In
addition to Mary, the Committee would likely need 2 or 3 more
people whose interests or strengths
include event planning, accounting
(attention to details) and Church
life/theological renewal.
The Council agreed that the
Committee would also need to
submit a report for the upcoming
Annual Report.
Heidi Webster moved that the
Church Council authorize Bob
Miller and Mary Brownlow to convene an Ad Hoc Committee to plan
for the Sabbatical and to oversee
the use of the Lilly Grant.
Chuck Egner seconded. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
Next Meeting:
Wednesday October 1, 2014 at
7:00 PM
The meeting was adjourned at
8:18 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Joanne Egner, Clerk
Mission Offering:
Neighbors in Need
The Mission Offering in October is designated for Neighbors in
Need (NIN). NIN is a special mission offering of the UCC that supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United
States.
This year’s theme is "Imagining Another World Where Literacy is No Longer a Concern".
Did you know? Low reading skills cause more students to drop
out of school before receiving a diploma than poverty. Reading
Changes Lives, the UCC’s newest all-church initiative, is a literacy
program designed to combat this global crisis. Your support of the
NIN offering helps to provide funding to these important initiatives.
Here’s a story for you to read:
The Florence Crittenton High School (FCHS) for pregnant and
parenting teens located in Denver, Colo., institutes its mission
based on this principle. In a unique collaboration with Denver
Public Schools, FCHS helps teen mothers stay in school and
graduate, give birth to healthy babies, learn how to be nurturing mothers, pursue post-secondary education, and acquire
marketable job skills. As a Neighbors in Need 2013 grant
recipient, FCHS services adolescent girls between the ages of
14 and 21.
Recent graduate Lesley Del Rio shares her story. “At 18, I
found a full-time job that did not require a high school diploma, and like many of my friends, I grew more interested in
making money than in school. No one in my family pushed
me to stay in school, no Imagining Another World where
educating women and girls is a priority….” she recalls. “Little
by little, I got behind on homework and credits until I felt it
would be impossible to catch up.” But in the blink of an eye,
Lesley’s situation changed. She learned that she was pregnant.
“One bout of morning sickness and I was fired,” she adds.
“My aunt told me about Florence Crittenton High School, and
I decided to go back to school for my son, Leonardo. I needed
to become a role model for Leo, someone he could respect
and admire.”
Today, Lesley serves as youth advisor for the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment and is enrolled
at the Community College of Denver. “My family is in awe at
the positive turnaround my life had when I went back to finish
school,” says Lesley. “Florence Crittenton Services gave me
the support I needed to move towards a better future — for
myself and for my son.”
Neighbors in Need helps make another world possible. It needs
our support. Please give generously in the orange envelopes during
September and October.
NORWICH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
15 Church Street • PO Box 236
Norwich, VT 05055-0236
Tel: (802) 649-1433 • Fax (802) 649-2805
Office Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 8:30 to 12:30
Email: . . . . [email protected]
Website:. . . . . . www.norwichcongregational.org
Pastor:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Mary Brownlow
Non-profit
Organization
US Postage
PAID
Norwich, VT
Permit No. 1
AN OPEN AND AFFIRMING
CONGREGATION WORSHIPING ON
SUNDAYS AT 10 AM
LIFELINE
Coordinator / Editor / Photographer:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Linda Himadi
Designer:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Douglas Lufkin
Send articles to:
. . . . . . . . . [email protected]
Deadline for next issue: October 15, 2014
E-MAIL ADDRESSES
If the church does not have your e-mail address,
and you would like to be kept abreast of announcements and events at church – by this no
cost/no waste option – please send an email to
the church office at [email protected].
Give Me The Splendid Silent Sun
Give me the splendid silent sun with all its beams full-dazzling,
Give me juicy autumnal fruit ripe and red from the orchard,
Give me a field where the unmowed grass grows,
Give me an arbor, give me the trellised grape,
Give me fresh corn and wheat, give me serene-moving animals
teaching content.
Give me nights perfectly quiet as on high plateaus west of the
Mississippi, and I am looking up at the stars,
Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I
can walk undisturbed.
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Favorite Poems Old and New
(Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1957)
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The Lifeline – October 2014
Please come
to Brunch!
On October 12, 19, and 26, our
worship services will be followed
by a light lunch. This is a chance
to enjoy each other’s company
and ask questions of Trustees and
Stewardship Committee members
about the financial needs, ministries and future of our church.
See you there!