Dear church,

I can’t believe it’s June! The children, youth and I spent the month of May having quality time together. Sometimes praying, and something playing games. Just some weeks ago, some members of the Jr. Youth Group, youth group leaders and I had a sleepover at the church! We had dinner together, had a scavenger hunt in the church building (which, of course, included a lot of running in the building), spent an hour in the Sanctuary lighting candles and praying, and watched a movie before sleeping in Unity Hall. In the morning, we walked to have breakfast at Otter Creek Bakery, and came back in time for the Worship service. It was fun and wonderful, and I’m thankful for that time with the children. They fill my heart with joy.

And talking about JOY, don’t miss Children and Youth Sunday this week! Children in each grade spent the last two sessions of Church School working on the prayers for this week’s service and reflecting on the ways we worship God and serve the community beyond our walls. They all did this with the support of their incredible Church School teachers. Thank you May, Rik, Stacia and Jenny! The children have worked hard and are excited to worship with you!

To celebrate after church, the Board of Christian Development will host Sundae Sunday down in Fellowship Hall after the service. So, don’t miss the ice cream! See you all there!

Peace,

Eliana

My name is Felipe Chavez Carrillo. I was born in the heart of Mexico, Abasolo Guanajuato, but raised in Tecate, Baja California, a little town close to the border near San Diego. After being rejected from several religions for my sexual preference, I believed there was no place for me to build a spiritual community. I did not know some churches in the USA were open to gay people until my mother-in-law told me her church was open and affirming, and that is how I learned about the Congregational Church of Middlebury. After deciding we were moving to Middlebury, VT, I had hope that I could be accepted in this church, and on April 16 of 2023 I knew I had finally found my place after hearing Pastor Andy say, “Welcome to the Congregational Church of Middlebury, United Church of Christ. We are an open and affirming congregation, which means that no matter who you are or where you are on this journey, you are welcome here as you are.” Who would have guessed I had to travel 2,456 miles to find my community. It is worth it and I’m so grateful for being part of this amazing church where every member is very welcoming.

Originally from Reno, Nevada, new church member Linda Foster moved to Middlebury about four years ago after living in Alfred, NY. Both her children had also been living in Alfred, but after her son Chris moved to Middlebury, he encouraged her to join him and his family. Some of you may know Chris from his gorgeous trumpet playing during Christmas and Easter here in our sanctuary. So now Linda lives with her son Chris and their children, ages 16 and 20 years old. Linda also has a daughter named Shannon who continues to live in Alfred, NY, where she works at Alfred University, and she has three children ages 20, 26, and 28 years of age.

During her years of employment, Linda worked as a medical receptionist, retiring in 2012. She continues to help her family navigate the complexities of medical insurance … how lucky for them! Having had a knee replacement over a year ago, and wanting a sense of belonging in the community, she began to take water exercise classes at Vermont Sun, where she met Judy Albright and Carol Campbell. Since Linda’s past experience with church was disappointing due to a “fire and brimstone” approach, she was looking for a more open, friendly, welcoming, and liberal-minded church. With encouragement from her two new friends and her son Chris, she began to attend our church. She appreciates the fact that our church focuses on service, helping to support various local organizations, especially the donations of food to Hope.

What Linda enjoys most these days is the beauty of the East Coast, gardening (loves getting her hands dirty), being outdoors in nature, and reading. She shares a large room with her fat cat of 16 years named Gizmo. One very special thing that Linda wants people to know about her is that you may see her buzzing around town in her bright red 1999 Volkswagen Beetle!

Vanessa Dunleavy and Greg Akinbiyi arrived in Vermont in March 2020 for a two-week stay, after dating long distance (Vanessa in NY, Greg in NC). Two weeks turned into nine months in VT, followed by nine months in Miami. Then, in 2021, married and expecting their first child, they bought a house in Middlebury and moved here to stay!

Vanessa grew up in Vermont, and her parents still live here. She spent 15 years living in NYC, where she worked in musical theater and furthered her training for voice, yoga, and Thai massage. She teaches and practices these arts in her home studio in Middlebury. Keep an eye out for her voice students’ final recital on June 22 at our church!

Greg works remotely as a consultant and project manager for Salesforce.com. He is a lifelong fan of the Duke Blue Devils, where he served as captain of the football team. He has also a Master’s degree in Decision Analysis from Minerva University.

Vanessa and Greg are the parents of Josiah (age 2) and are excited to welcome Josiah’s baby sister to the family—due August 11! They are happy to be raising their family in a church that is open and affirming, with a strong sense of community.

Real estate (real property) can be the most advantageous way for an individual or couple to make an important gift to our church. Gifts of a private residence, vacation home, farm property, or undeveloped land may be possible. Real estate given to our church will be sold and the net proceeds used according to the donor’s directions.

Depending on the donor’s circumstances, there can be several advantages in giving real estate. For example:

•  By giving real estate, a donor may have the satisfaction of making a larger gift to the church than would be possible with available cash or securities.

•  There may be significant tax advantages to giving appreciated property.

•  With a gift of a retained life estate, the donor or donors may continue to live in their home after the gift is made.

•  The donor avoids the inconvenience and complexity of selling real estate which may no longer be needed, such as a vacation property or undeveloped land.

To explore your interests in making a gift of this kind, please contact the Planned Giving Committee through the church office or by using the pew card.

La Comunidad is a ministry that focuses on opening a space for the Hispanic and Spanish speaking migrant worker population in Addison County, to connect more deeply with one another and the wider community. Volunteers welcome the guests who gather in Fellowship Hall for a time of prayer in Spanish, candle lighting and share a traditional meal made by people from the Hispanic Community. These monthly gatherings, averaging around 30–40 people, have allowed us to get to know one another more meaningfully. Some of our partners have been the Open Door Clinic and the Addison County Parent Child Center.

The next gathering is on June 9th at 5:00 p.m.

Our Friday night Community Suppers continue to grow. We have a core group of volunteers who serve our guests. But we need more! The commitment is only about 2 hours on Friday night and as frequent or infrequent as you want. The work is not hard but so important: set tables, serve food, clean up afterwards. 

We believe it’s not only important to make sure our guests are fed but that they are greeted warmly, listened to, and given a place to make connections. We try to make sure they leave knowing that there is always a special place for them at the table. Interested? See Deb Farnham (802-233-1283) or Dottie Neuberger to get signed up. Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Green Team’s 4th Annual Seedling Giveaway! We were able to provide 125 plants to CVOEO this year in addition to sending many home with our congregants. Our next Green Team meeting will be on Monday, June 17 at 7:00 PM via Zoom. We will not be meeting over the summer months, but plan to brainstorm activities for the fall at this next meeting. If you are interested in being a part of fulfilling our mission as a Creation Justice Church we would love to have you join us! Contact sureidstjohn@gmail.com or leanna_maglienti@yahoo.com if you would like to be involved or learn more about our work.

Have you noticed?  The nursery has been full of babies and little tots on Sunday mornings this spring! If you are as excited as we are about the recent increase of young families in our congregation, and you would like it to continue, please consider helping in the nursery. 

The nursery is staffed by two (paid) youth workers and two adult volunteers. We need to expand our volunteer pool to accommodate the wonderful addition of little ones we are enjoying. If you are at least 18 years old and available to be in the nursery during worship once every 4–6 weeks, please contact Robin Bentley on the Board of Christian Development at rbentley05@gmail.com

Sunday, June 9th is a special day for our church! Our 10:00 a.m. service will be a joint worship service between our church and the Vergennes Congregational Church. What's the occasion? Our own Theresa Gleich Munn will be baptized! Our choirs will sing together, our deacons will serve together, and our pastors will lead together. As always, all are welcome! Love lives here.

In April, a major window restoration project began that will extend into the early weeks of summer. This project was years in the planning and is able to take place because of the continued diligence of the Board of Trustees and many dedicated and generous church members.

The existing windows had been installed during a 1923 renovation and wooden storm windows followed in 1979. Ad hoc repairs have been made since that time, but the windows had clearly reached a point where further repairs would have been insufficient. Several replacement efforts have also been considered over the past few decades. A concrete plan for refurbishment, aligning with an available contractor and the means to pay for the project, was proposed by the Board of Trustees and approved by Church Council in August 2023. Restoring the existing windows and adding architectural storms will allow us to maintain the historical appearance of the original Meeting House while simultaneously improving our energy efficiency. In addition, having multiple operable screened windows will improve air circulation during the summer months.

We are extremely fortunate that this project, which will cost approximately $311,000, is being paid for primarily through a withdrawal from our Church’s endowment account which is specifically dedicated to the Care and Maintenance of the Church Building. There are thirteen different funds in this account, the earliest gifts being from Joseph Battell in 1916 and William Porter and Emma Stewart in 1928 and the most recent ones in memory of Russell Carpenter in 2023. The balance from our Campaign to Retire the Debt, which raised approximately $150,000 more than anticipated, is also allocated to this account.

At the end of 2023, the balance in the Care and Maintenance of the Church Building endowment account was $947,315, of which $606,403 was available (please see the 2023 Annual Report for more details). These funds, along with the additional deposits from the Campaign to Retire the Debt to this account, will enable us to pay for the window restoration project this year, as well as painting the north and east exterior sides of the original Meeting House, which will cost around $51,000.

The Investment Committee, the Board of Trustees, and Church Council are in agreement that further capital projects (such as the repair or replacement of the roof) will require additional capital gifts AND that the endowment account dedicated to the Care and Maintenance of the Church Building will need continued support in the years to come in order to support the routine maintenance of the 215-year-old original Meeting House and its addition. We hope to engage the congregation in this conversation, even as we celebrate the tremendous generosity that has allowed us to embark on a major capital project without new capital fundraising.

To that end, if you would like more information regarding how a gift to the church could support either the current projects or how to contribute to the endowment, please be in touch with any member of the Gift Acceptance Committee (Robert Foster, Sally Holland, Leanna Maglienti and Pastor Andy Nagy-Benson) or to discuss an estate gift, contact the Planned Giving Committee (John Emerson, Sally Holland, and Tana Scott). We look forward to sharing more information with you in the coming months about the importance of the endowment and how it contributes to the overall financial health of our church community.

With gratitude,

Leanna Maglienti, Moderator

Addison Allies Network assists migrant workers in Addison County. A big part of what we do is provide items needed by worker households like refrigerators, beds, and other large pieces of furniture and appliances. We generally get items for free through Front Porch Forum and deliver to households that need the items. Pick-up and delivery is our greatest challenge because it requires lining up people to actually move the items and someone with a truck and the donor all being available at the same time. If we had more people willing to help with pick-ups and deliveries, it might not be as difficult. If we had more people then it would not be a burden for the few people we have helping at this time. I am reaching out to area congregations to ask if there are people with a truck willing to be on an email list and consider helping us with pick-ups and deliveries. There would be no commitment required, only to be on the list. We would send out an email to everyone on the list when we need something moved, and if you are willing to help, we work out the details with the donor and movers based on your availability. If you have a truck and are willing to be on the list, please contact me at vciambra@gmail.com. Thank you.