NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU ARE ON LIFE'S JOURNEY, YOU ARE INVITED AND WELCOME
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU ARE ON LIFE'S JOURNEY, YOU ARE INVITED AND WELCOME
In a world where Christianity is too often associated with intolerance, exclusion, and hate, the mission of United Church on the Green is to proclaim Christ through faith, hope, and love. We are a community of many races, ethnic backgrounds, religious experiences, ages, sexual orientations, and gender identities. No matter where you are on your journey of faith, you will have a home here at United Church on the Green.
Come join us for Worship!
Moderator's musings
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Driving to the woods of what was then a very rural Bristol to my favorite uncle’s house to feast with 30 or more of my family made me feel like we fit in to this country. Other holidays always felt very Italian and were very special in their own right, but on Thanksgiving we always gave thanks for all that this country had given us, growing from children of parents who fled a peasant poor existence in southern Italy to the relative prosperity of being children of dentists in one fell generation. This was the one holiday where the menu was purely American, drinking grasshoppers before sitting down to antipasto (well almost purely American), turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed onions and cranberry sauce. We all still gather for Thanksgiving, some years over 40 of us, a few miles further up the road in the woods of rural Burlington. What we have to be thankful most for is the blessing of having been born here where the standard of living is so comfortable and consumption sometimes downright obscene. We may take this for granted for much of the rest of the year, but from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, the focus is on giving back. This has informed my approach to the holidays and is one of the reasons I love my United family because here the focus is as much on giving as on celebrating.
We have much to be thankful for indeed. We are thankful for Rev. Kevin Ewing who has so ably filled our pulpit for a year now, preaching the gospel of Love and The Covenant. We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of Roger Adams and the entire Pastoral Search Committee who pour their hearts into their work, presenting United to various candidates and engaging in the discernment process, dedicated to their task until the Spirit matches us to our next Senior Minister. Let us all continue to pray for the Committee and the prospective candidates. Having joined the committee for many hours, it is clear to me that we are poised to act. All we need is the right shepherd to lead us.
We are thankful for the efforts of John Sawyer and Jack Russell in tirelessly working to keep our historic building in tip top shape. We are thankful for the foresight of our Finance Committee members in ensuring that our insurance coverage was such that we will be able to repair and even improve our beloved Bradley Room space following the flood earlier this year. Demolition is now complete and work has now begun. Do not be surprised if we are back ahead of schedule.
We are thankful for the dedication of Cher Balkcom and Jeff Hopper, who are putting us in to many Service and Justice opportunities both traditional and the new opportunities to volunteer through CONECT. Two that are dear to me are Reading to the Youth of New Haven or tutoring at IRIS. I urge you all to get involved. Volunteerism is the best medicine.
We are grateful for the work of Julie Peterman making our prayground a warm inviting space for children during worship, and to Chris Maursky for all she soes with the Federated Youth Group to engage and hold the interest of our teens.
We are thankful for Dale and June Richards, Colleen O’Connor and George Lindsay, who bring an extravagant welcome to all that we do.
We are thankful for Will Henton for continuing to keep our facilities in shape and ready for whatever activity we are hosting despite his recent challenges. We are thankful for Nicole Atchison who is the face of United to many at the Parish House, always smiling and working at odd hours to ensure that the Word gets out to all of us in a timely manner.
Now for the good stuff. Join Barbara Adams in collecting and delivering food for the D.E.S.K.’s Thanksgiving food drive.
We will be gathering to decorate the Meeting House and could use more hands. Please contact Roger Adams or Kathryn Thomas ASAP to learn how to help make our Meeting House festive for Christmas.
We are collecting NEW clothes, especially WARM clothes for all children…infants, toddlers, youths, teens, of all genders (and I am sure that women’s and men’s winter coats would find grateful hoes as well) for our immigrant and refugee friends at IRIS. Bring them to church on Sundays or contact Cher or Jeff for details. Gently used winter clothing will be accepted and donated to CCA.
SAVE THE DATE: Join us for a festive Christmas celebration as we gather after our Worship Service on Sunday, December 18, 2022, in the Meeting House for a festive holiday party. We will gather around the piano and Caesar will lead us in Christmas song. Bring a holiday treat to eat that is special to your own traditions. We have invited our friends at IRIS to join us and a certain man from the North Pole will be making an appearance to give gifts to all the children. Bring your families!!!!!
We will of course meet on Christmas Eve, which is a Saturday this year, for our traditional Service of Lessons and Carols with special music and this year, the return of our Moravian beeswax candles, to illumine the night as we join in singing Silent Night.
These are a few of the doings at United Church on the Green this Advent. Keep an eye on the Website and Bulletin and Eblast for full details.
On a personal note, I am thankful for each one of you who have made United such a warm welcoming family to all those for whom organized religion has been a painful hurtful experience. You are truly ensuring that United is a Christian force in this community.
Enjoy your turkey. Try a grasshopper.
Al Forino, Moderator
