Posts from 2023
Celebrate the Holidays with Music
Have you ever thought of singing in a church choir, but thought it was too big of a commitment? or Do you play a musical instrument, but prefer doing so in your comfort zone? If you answer yes to questions like these, then we have an opportunity for you. The Music Committee is inviting you to join us in a holiday musical offering, which will be part of the Worship Services on December 24th (both 9:30 & Christmas Eve @…
The Outreach Giving Tree
The Christian Outreach Committee is kicking off our annual Giving Tree project and this year we have decided to support the Residential Reunification Homes run by Community Healthlink whom we worked with last year. These three homes, two in Worcester and one in Leominster, are residential treatment  programs that provide a safe, supportive recovery community and promotes a sense of  empowerment, family healing, and life skills essential for women and their children to stabilize and reunify their family units. These programs support and…
From The Pastor’s Pen
Sacred PauseWhen the urgeto react to thetactless clowns,anddown looks likeup,and life’s teethare sharper thana steak knife,breathe,and take asacred pauseThomas W Case Liturgically, Advent, is a time of waiting, of slowing down our minds, giving ourselves the time to refocus, re-energize, remember. It is also a time for us in the New England area to face, what can sometimes be a challenge, of recognizing birth and new life as the earth lays dormant and the critters of the forest find their…
SAFE CHURCH CORNER
Who, What, Where, When, Why and How? These questions can apply to many problems that crop up in our lives. They particularly apply to incidents or accidents that affect us, at home, at work, at play and at church. Hence, the INCIDENT REPORT. Let’s examine these criteria as they apply to filling out the report. WHO is anyone who has been involved in an incident or accident relating to a church activity; a child in Sunday School, an adult in…
Thanksgiving Food Collection – 2023
Thankfully we have been able to make necessary adjustments to the current new normal, and some things have not changed. Poverty and homelessness still exist. People have lost jobs or had their income reduced resulting in more need for shelters and food pantries. Â Â Â Â We are fortunate to have the Westminster Community Food Pantry housed in our church. In a recent conversation with Dorcas Hurd, Director of the Westminster Community Food Pantry, she expressed great appreciation for everything our…
From The Pastor’s Pen
All congregations experience ebbs and flows in those actively attending and participating in church programming and worship. No church enters into a community as a large church, nor do they complete their ministry as such. This shifts in size will be accompanied with anxiety and leadership stress. As well, negative perceptions of the congregation’s abilities to turn things around will increase when these shifts are not openly recognized by seeking adaptations: to the church structure, of the foci of the…
Generous Giving Pledges Needed!
Over the past month, we have had a number of members speak on behalf of their committees. Thank you to those folks who shared such valuable information about how their committees and their volunteers “show up†for the church. We need you. Your presence.We are asking all folks committed to this church to consider making a pledge as a way to bear witness of your presence. And for those who are already pledgers, we ask for you to increase your…
From The Pastor’s Pen
   Anxiety is high in this congregation. Questions of budget, pastoral leadership, and direction swirl. One source of this anxiety rests on the intersection of Generous Giving, church budget, and the capacity of the congregation to support a full-time minister. This is one level of the anxiety related to this particular aspect of the church’s life. To take it to another level is to name the reality of tension between remaining the same and adapting—making shifts in…
Women’s Fellowship Fall Activities
Please join us at one or all of these upcoming activities! A casual lunch at Kros on the Common in Templeton! Plan to meet at the church at 11:30 on September 12th so we can carpool to the restaurant. We will enjoy lunch and talk about future plans. Bring your ideas for activities. A Westminster Firefighter and Police Detective will offer a Be Aware program on Sunday, September 24th at 3:30 pm. Bring a friend to learn about how to…
GGM Annual Awareness
Living Presence, Right Now In September, the Generous Giving Ministry will be increasing our annual awareness of what  generous giving is for this church and collecting pledges. This year’s theme is Living Presence, Right Now. We invite EVERYONE to join us at worship in September and early October to hear more about how we show up, be present and attend to the financial and spiritual needs as a  congregation. Here we are. In the present. The past can inform us, and we…
From The Pastor’s Pen
While walking with churches facing the uncertainties of the future and asking where God is calling them to be present in the midst of that future, it is increasingly clear to me that it is imperative for us to be a people of Resurrection Faith.…      Resurrection Faith is living with the constant awareness that all of this (every aspect of our being as humans walking this planet and as members of the church) was originally God’s project. It is surrendering…
From The Pastor’s Pen
The Oxford dictionary online defines Tradition as “a long-standing custom or belief that has been passed from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.†The Merriam Webster Dictionary describes “tradition†as a. “an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior;†b. a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable;†c. the handing down of information, beliefs,…
Proportional Giving
……SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT! Our church is a member of the United Church of Christ (UCC), which has several geographic divisions or conferences. Our conference is the Southern New England Conference of the UCC (SNEUCC). In 2017 the SNEUCC passed the following: “Proportional Giving (PG) replaces a Local Church’s giving to Conference and National UCC through Membership Dues and OCWM Basic Support. Instead, the church’s PG contributions are based on its historic giving level in relation to its Total…
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