The Church Bell Greetings from Greg………………..2 New Purchase Procedures Noteworthy Community Nursery School Board of Church Life…….………...3 Christian Outreach WB Food Pantry Second Chance Thrift Shop Pastoral Visits Donelle Wright’s New Address..….4 Church School News Thank You Prayer and Praise……..…………...5 September Bell Deadline Financial News Homecoming Sunday Adult Discussion Group…………….6 Letter from Gina Engel……………..7 Birthdays Church Staff /Address….Back Page JULY WORSHIP SCHEDULE 10:00 United Worship at Christ Lutheran Church 10:00 United Worship at First Congregational Church THE CHURCH BELL JULY/AUGUST 2018 The First Congregational Church Newsletter A Congregation of the United Church of Christ At 26 Central Street in West Boylston online at www.fccwb.com The Lord has yet more light and truth to break forth from his holy Word.” - John Robinson, pastor to the Pilgrims INSIDE THIS ISSUE “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and let anyone who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” ~ John 7:37-38 NRSV
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Transcript
The Church Bell
Greetings from Greg………………..2
New Purchase Procedures
Noteworthy
Community Nursery School
Board of Church Life…….………...3
Christian Outreach
WB Food Pantry
Second Chance Thrift Shop
Pastoral Visits
Donelle Wright’s New Address..….4
Church School News
Thank You
Prayer and Praise……..…………...5
September Bell Deadline
Financial News
Homecoming Sunday
Adult Discussion Group…………….6
Letter from Gina Engel……………..7
Birthdays
Church Staff /Address….Back Page
JULY WORSHIP SCHEDULE 10:00 United Worship at Christ Lutheran Church
10:00 United Worship at First Congregational Church
THE CHURCH BELL JULY/AUGUST 2018
The First Congregational Church Newsletter
A Congregation of the United Church of Christ At 26 Central Street in West Boylston
online at www.fccwb.com
The Lord has yet more light and truth to break forth from his holy Word.”
- John Robinson, pastor to the Pilgrims
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and let anyone who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”
~ John 7:37-38 NRSV
The Church Bell 2
Greetings from Greg…….
On Friday and Saturday June 15th and 16th I represented First Congregational Church of West Boylston at the
Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ annual meeting in Springfield. This annual gather-
ing, the 219th, was historic in that the delegates were asked to decide whether the Massachusetts Conference
was willing to unite with the Connecticut and Rhode Island Conferences to create a new unified Tri-
Conference.
These three conferences, three of the oldest in the United Church of Christ, have all fallen upon hard
times. Membership, giving and participation are down in all three conferences (as they are in all denomina-
tions in America today). Coming together would allow us to share resources (which we already do) and, as
with many corporate mergers, allow us to consolidate three conference minister positions into one.
This coming together will not be a merger in the corporate sense. We were asked to vote to create a new non-
profit charitable corporation that would be made up on the three UCC conferences of southern New Eng-
land. Unlike in other mergers, all three conferences would keep control of their own endowments. To put it
simply, no money will be changing hands or going into a single pot.
What happens to the properties the conferences own will be decided at a later date, by those chosen to lead the
new conference. It was not up to us to vote that level of action. We were merely asked to approve, or not, the
merger.
The Massachusetts delegates voted, with only a few against, to approve the creation of the new confer-
ence. The Connecticut Conference approved it with 83% in favor and the Rhode Island delegates were also in
favor of the merger. Now that it has passed our three annual meetings the merger must be approved by a vote
of the entire denomination at the next General Synod around this time next year.
The new conference won’t actually become a living, breathing reality until 2021, but the wheels have already
begun to turn to make this a reality.
How will it affect us in West Boylston? It really won’t have much of an impact upon us. We will still have a
regional minister to turn to for guidance and assistance when necessary. We will still pay our association dues
to the Central Association. By 2021 our conference minister (who is currently the Rev. Don Remick) may not
be located in Framingham, but maybe the new Tri Conference minister will be located there. That detail is
unclear. The bottom line is that there is not much to fear from this change.
As a church with an interim pastor, you know that change happens, and we pray that this change will be for
the good of the church and the glory of God. We are reminded in Paul’s letter to the Romans that, “Hope does
not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been
given to us.”
So let us be a people of hope in terms of our local church, the wider church and even the world.
It is a pleasure to be with you in this time of change and I look forward to sharing in the work of the church
with you as we worship God, follow Jesus, serve others and love all - in Christ’s name.
Faithfully Yours,
Greg
The Church Bell 3
Greetings and Happy Summer! The BOCL, wants to thank all those who have so willingly answered our requests for help each month to server our church at our Sunday ser-vices. We would like to remind everyone that in the month of July we will be worshiping at Christ Lutheran Church and they will coordinate serv-ers there. In August we will return to the FCCWB to worship starting at 10:00 AM. Our coordinator for August is Allison Person. Please contact Allison by email at [email protected] or call (508) 829-0609. Our Board of Church Life appreciates everything you do to help us meet our responsibilities. Thank you! Matt Rogers 508-963-0275 [email protected]
Noteworthy
Thank you all for your generous
support of our music ministry over the last year.
Looking ahead, we have several new, exciting things
planned for the 2018-2019 program year. On the
forefront is a concert series presented by our church.
There will be three concerts as part of this series
which will feature performances by our very own
Chancel Choir and Chancel Ringers alongside the
Anna Maria College Chorus, Seele Musicale Cham-
ber Ensemble, and First Baptist Worcester’s Chancel
and Handbell Choirs. If you would like more infor-
mation and/or would like to support this new series
in any way, you are encouraged to contact Kristjon at
As we begin to close the Thrift Shop for the summer, we are taking stock of the Good and the Bad. The Good: we have painted and reorganized, added a cash register to provide a receipt, offer Thrift Shop $ for purchases over $10.00, and we now have an email newsletter and the ability to notify customers of closings and sales. The Bad: we really need more volunteers - people to help in the store and in the sorting room. Please think about joining us - meet new people, make new friends and help your community. We really do have fun. We also need some technical assistance. Experience or a willingness to create mailing lists, create newsletters, set up our cash register to name just a few. In short - we need you !!!! Your purchases, your do-nations, and your assistance. Thank you for a great year. Contact Darlene for further info: 978-257-3484 or [email protected]
Prayer and Praise All those with health concerns: Jim Bronwell Carol Rotti Lynne Pierce-Arlette and Bill Peterson’s friend Steven Small Sophia Landeo Bernadette White–one of our faithful Second Chance Thrift Shop stewards Tony-Sharon Seale’s brother-in-law David Holmes-Amie Dehner’s step-father Scott Holt Debbie Thomas-Carol Rotti’s cousin Bob Akins-Marsha Saunder’s brother Valerie-friend of the Poland family Lori Rotti Danielle Akins-Marsha Saunders’ niece Ursula Helle Ryan-Arlette Peterson’s coworker’s husband Greg Phelps-Lue Hawley’s nephew Janet Friberg-Carol Rotti’s cousin Lisa Robertson-Carol Rotti’s niece Wider concerns: Thanksgiving for all who come through our doors. Our service men and women around the world and their families. Those who are unemployed among us and around the country.
The Church Bell 6
Sunday, September 9 ~ Homecoming Sunday Chancel Choir 8:30
Church School Returns The Reverend Dr. Gregory W. Schmidt preaching
A Festive Homecoming Reception
following worship.
From Our Treasurer—We need your help!
Please remember to keep current with your pledge
through the summer months. Our expenses contin-
ue all year even when you are not in worship in any
given week or month. If you plan to be away over
the summer we appreciate your efforts to honor
your financial commitment to our church to help us
honor our commitments to our staff, ministry and
mission. You can mail your offering or drop it off
at the church office or in the mail slot on Central
Street.
During our united worship time with Christ Luther-
an Church offering envelopes will go to their re-
spective churches and undesignated cash offerings
will be divided equally between the two churches.
Hello and Happy Summer from the Adult Discussion Group The group is now on our sum-mer break. We had our year end gathering a few weeks ago and are looking forward to some nice summer weather.. Near the end of our meeting schedule the group decided on the opening subject that we will study when we return in September. We will begin a five part series by Adam Hamilton, entitled, “Unafraid, living in hope and courage during uncertain times.” Americans are anxious people. Many of us suffer from fears caused by our life experiences. In this study, Hamilton will show how we might better move away from worries and fears and learn to live with courage and hope in this anxious age. Hamil-ton will explore the most common fears experi-enced by Americans today and offer practical solu-tions along with insight from Scripture. Please come and join our group when we return from our summer time away. Blessings, George
Good morning my friends, As most of you know I started my new position as Director of Finance and Operations at African Com-munity Education program (ACE) last week. ACE is a community-oriented educational program targeted toward African refugee and immigrant children
living in Worcester. The students attending this program have come to the U.S. from nations suffering from war
and political or social instability. As a result, these children were unable to engage in meaningful schooling
during their childhood. When they arrive in the U.S., they are enrolled in school according to their age, rather
than their actual level of education, and thus are often years behind their peers in most subjects. Fortunately,
many of these children are bright and motivated, and ACE seeks to draw on these strengths to close the gaps
with their education.
To meet the needs of this population, ACE has developed a Saturday program with formal classes in Math and
English, a one-on-one tutoring and mentoring, life skills courses and extracurricular activities, such as dance,
soccer and art. We also offer after-school tutoring, Monday through Friday from 3pm to 6pm. Lastly, we em-
ploy culturally competent outreach staff to do home-visitations with families and encourage parents to take an
active role in their child’s education.
As luck would have it -I have started during the annual fundraising drive just before the beginning of the new fiscal year. Here at ACE we raise funds for our programs through grants and donations. We are all reaching out to our contacts to support ACE with our new monthly giving program. We call it KUPANDA, which means to plant or sow in Swahili. We have a goal of signing up 60 supporters to join the program before the end of June and I was wondering if you would like to be one of them. One of the reasons I’m particularly excited about this initiative is that each supporter will receive a monthly story highlighting the journey of one of our students, so you can see first-hand the impact of your do-nation. It really doesn’t matter how much you donate, what matters is that we have a large community of supporters - we know it takes a village to raise one child! So even if it’s just a dollar or two a month please consider joining this program and supporting ACE. I don't want you to feel any pressure about this but did want to offer the opportunity to become involved ! Additionally we always need volunteers to work with the kids both ongoing as mentors and tutors or on special occasions for activities and field trips. Let me know if you are interested and I can provide more info on that. Aside from helping African refugee kids get more outstanding programming from ACE, you'll also get a free t-shirt and discounted tickets to our Annual Gala which this year will be October 11 (Save the date - as you might expect -its not your typical boring gala) All donations are tax-deductible, of course! If you'd like to join, here is the link to sign up! https://donate.acechildren.org/kupanda. Thank you so much Gina