Judy Albright, Ruth Penfield - Design and Publishing
Elizabeth Davis - Editor
November 2024
Thanks
Rev. Andy Nagy-Benson
Dear Church,
Waves of church members and friends are now rolling into the church in preparation for our 100th annual Holiday Bazaar, and I am buoyed by the energy they bring. A reliable source tells me that the planning for this year’s Bazaar started the day after last year’s Bazaar, and even if that’s a case of rounding up, it’s clear that this has been in the works for many, many months.
Beyond the logistical “why” of this big event—to raise funds for the church’s 2025 budget—I am swept up by the “what” of it all. The laughter I can hear coming from the Carpenter Room. The discernible hum of volunteers in motion. The thuds and thumps of deliveries dropped off. The meeting of old and new church members. This is special. And I want to thank everyone who is part of it. Many hands. Many thanks!
Of course, we don’t need to wait for November to be awash in gratitude, but this month might bring thankfulness to mind more readily. I think it does for me. November is the month my family and I moved to this area, the month we were first breathless before the beauty of this place, the warmth of our neighbors, the feel of our church. Fifteen years later, November still hosts our annual, day-long food collection for HOPE at local grocers, and the beloved Harvest Table on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. More thanks!
Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), a Dominican theologian, mystic, and alleged heretic, once mused that “if the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” I don’t think Eckhart was advocating for a one-prayer life, but the central importance of gratitude abides. I am grateful to serve a congregation that knows this and shows this. Ours is a year-round thanksgiving. Not because everything is as it should be. Not because everything goes as we hoped it would. But because God is with us and we are with each other on this journey, through heart swells and heartaches.
These are days when I feel especially grateful for community. I am grateful for you. Bless you, friends.
Peace,
Andy
CHURCH COUNCIL Meeting October 9, 2024
Church Council heard reports from both Pastors, the Treasurer, and all Boards. Both Pastors reported on the start of all the groups they are working with, as well as the addition of 11 new members to our congregation, new study groups, and a new high school confirmation class.
Michele Brown spoke about the bylaws change being proposed by the Budget Committee. They are proposing to add a member of their committee to Council. Council will vote on this recommendation at our next meeting, and, if approved, the church bylaws change will be on the agenda for Annual Meeting.
Alyssa Sinclair reported for the Red Clover Children’s Center. They have been having staffing issues, but have hired one new teacher, and things are looking up. They had to reduce their hours of operation a little but hope to get back to the regular hours soon.
We had a long discussion about the proposal to form a new committee to look at the future viability of our church. Michael Giorgio led this discussion. The committee would deal with our finances, the church building itself, and our programs. Council voted to bless a working group to explore long-range planning for our church.
We spent about an hour in Executive Session. The topic was the annual review for both pastors. When we came out of Executive Session, we passed a motion for each pastor thanking them for the outstanding work they have done this past year and recommending an increase in their compensation.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Foster, Clerk
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Between annual meetings, the Church Council meets once a month to fulfill its responsibility to coordinate the church's programs and business. Council has the powers generally ascribed to a corporation's board of directors.
The Church Council is composed of the following Church members: Moderator, Clerk, Treasurer, Senior Pastor, Associate Pastor, and the chairpersons of the six church boards. Also, there are three at-large members. One is elected every year and serves a 3 year term.
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The basic life and work of the church is under the direction and supervision of church boards, which meet monthly at the All Boards Meeting and report to the Church Council. Members of these boards are elected from the membership of the church.
FROM OUR director
of children and youth ministries
May Poduschnick
October began with the 49th Addison County Crop Walk on Sunday, October 6, where the Junior Youth Group (JYG) walked together. This event intentionally reinforced our ongoing discussions about food insecurity, both locally and globally, during our Tuesday evening meetings. While there is a great need for basic necessities around the world, we are also mindful of the needs within our local community and are actively learning about local organizations providing services and exploring how we can help.
Later this month, the JYG will hold its church sleepover from the last Friday to Saturday of October. They will participate in the Friday Night Community Supper and, afterward, bake pies for the Bazaar. The JYG is a dynamic and dedicated group that cares for one another and for the greater community. I am deeply grateful to Hugh McLaughlin and Felipe Chavez Carillo for their leadership with this group.
October was Stewardship month for our church. However, our Church School will dive deeper into the concepts of stewardship and tithing at the next Big Meeting on November 3rd. Our other Church School classes are running smoothly. Please note that we will NOT have Church School on November 24 due to the Thanksgiving break.
The nursery has introduced outdoor playtime to start our Sundays. We've enjoyed the warm weather, and being outside allows children to explore the natural world—sand, leaves, fresh air, and sunshine. We plan to stay outdoors as long as possible but will transition indoors when temperatures drop significantly. For now, we ask parents to dress their children warmly for at least some outdoor play, as time outside is a great way to help regulate energy levels.
We were fortunate to have Kathy Reynolds observe our nursery program and offer valuable tips. She spent two Sundays with the children and various staff members, helping us strengthen and improve our program. Kathy, who started and ran the Early Education program at Mary Hogan for over 40 years, brings a wealth of knowledge, and we are incredibly grateful for her insight.
We look forward to continuing our journey together in November and counting the many blessings we have. Thank you all for walking alongside us!
May Poduschnick and all the Church School Volunteers
from our music director
Ronnie Romano
Dear friends,
October has flown right by! As many of you know, I came down with pneumonia several weeks ago, which kept me at home for over 2 weeks. It was a spiritual time for me to slow down, rest, and focus only on myself. Now, mostly recovered with a few lingering symptoms, I feel stronger on the other side. I am grateful to many community members who covered rehearsals for me, brought me soup, and checked up on me. Special thanks to Jeff for keeping the Chancel Choir going in my absence!
The Chancel Choir will soon begin to shift our attention toward Advent and Christmas, some of the most stimulating music of the church year. We also continue to experiment with our seating plan in the Sanctuary, trying to strike a balance between quality sound, flow of elements in the service, and ease of setup. Before long, we should be settled in a consistent arrangement.
We also continue to hold monthly Taizé services on the last Sunday of each month in Unity Hall. In Advent, we'll hold a special Taizé service on Tuesday, Dec. 10th in the evening, featuring guest musicians and cantors. I encourage you to try a Taizé service if you have not attended before or haven't come in a while. The repetitive nature of the short chants really opens my heart to prayer with God through music and I would love to share this experience with more of you.
Please be well and I am ever grateful to make music with you every week!
Ronnie
We're Hiring, Spread the Word!
Do you have good communication and organizational skills? Are you someone with a strong affinity for teamwork and collaboration?
The Congregational Church of Middlebury is searching for a part-time Church Administrator. This position will provide administrative and communications support to the church, managing the day-to-day operation of the church office, distributing digital communications, and serving as the primary point of contact for church members and the wider community.
We encourage interested applicants to visit our church website to learn more about our church and for a full job description.
Hours: 30 hours a week, providing regular office coverage Monday through Friday.
Compensation: Negotiable. Commensurate with professional/life experience.
Projected start date: As soon as possible. Candidates should send a cover letter and resume to the attention of Pastor Andy Nagy-Benson at andy@midducc.org.
See you all at the
100th Anniversary Holiday Bazaar:
Saturday, November 2, 9:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Bring your family and friends to see how we have transformed the floors of our church into a festive Holiday Bazaar. Special display areas are filled with handmade and homemade crafts, fashion and fine jewelry and scarves, and themed gift baskets for bidding. Our extensive book room attracts people of all ages, as does the toys, puzzles, and games room. The garden table area features a wide variety of indoor and outdoor plants and a huge assortment of garden-related items.
Historically, church bazaars have always featured homemade and homegrown foods for sale, and our 100th Anniversary Bazaar is no exception. Along with our ever-popular homemade soups and pies, shoppers can visit the food table to choose a specialty treat, cookies, candies, breads, jams, and much more.
This year’s 100th Anniversary quilt is the raffle prize for one lucky winner. The quilt pattern, done in rose and green batiks, is called Roundabout and is made entirely of triangle-shaped pieces of fabric, but when assembled, they create a pattern of circles.
Please come and enjoy some fun browsing!
Feel free to contact Bazaar Chairs Ruth Penfield (ruthpenfield@gmail.com) and Judy Jessup (judyjessupvt@gmail.com) with further questions.
Bible Study: The Story of Abraham
Abraham is a deeply revered, if enigmatic, figure in the Bible. As the "father" of three monotheistic faiths -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- Abraham's story is a rich landscape to explore. In this 8-week course, we will follow his journey from Ur to the land of Canaan, as told in Genesis (11:47 - 25:18).
Classes will be held in Unity Hall on Tuesdays, noon - 1:00, to November 26. (No class on 10/8 and 11/12.) November 5th the class will meet at 11:00 a.m.
All are welcome!
a Follow up from the green team:
Seminar on Navigating Climate Grief
Thank you to everyone who attended our "Learning to Feel Like a Mountain" event with Rabbi Jay Michaelson, centered on dealing with climate grief and anxiety. We had a solid turnout and lots of deep, thoughtful conversation. For those of you who are interested in having a copy of Rabbi Jay's presentation, you can access it right here.
And for those of you who asked about the quote from Thich Nhat Hanh, it is this: “Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.” Words to live by!
Memorial Service for Jennifer Smith
A celebration of the life of Jennifer Smith will be held on Saturday, November 9th, at 2:00 p.m., with a reception to follow immediately in Fellowship Hall. If you would like to help with the reception by providing food, setting up, or cleaning up, please email Chris Ketcham at cmobleyvtnj@yahoo.com.
In addition to praying for and supporting the Smith family, there are two specific ways you can assist them as they prepare for Jennifer’s memorial service on November 9th. If you are able to provide transportation to or from the BTV airport, or if you can host out-of-town guests that weekend, please contact Sally Holland at sallyholland19702@gmail.com. She will help coordinate these efforts. Thank you!
Let us continue to pray for Jennifer's family and one another as we grieve, remember, and give thanks to God for her life.
Greening of the Church
Advent season is upon us. To get ready to welcome in the season, on Monday, November 25, at 12:30, we will gather to adorn the sanctuary with greens, wreaths, and trees. It always gives us great joy during the Advent season to see the church decorated.
Come please be a part of this; all are welcome. You can reach out to Dorothy Douglas at 989-0405 or jdmamidd@comcast.net if you have any questions.
Budget Team
When most of us think about the church’s finances, we think about the Operating Budget. The Operating Budget contains our “regular” income streams (by “regular” we mean pledge income, income from the Sunday offering plates, monies transferred from the endowment, bazaar income, etc.) as well as our day-to-day expenses. The church has a checking account it uses for depositing the income and paying the bills. In addition to the Operating Budget the church also has money in Special Funds and in its Endowment that support our programs and building upkeep.
Both the Special Funds and the Endowment consist of funds contributed to the church for specific purposes. This month, we are focusing on Special Funds. Some donors choose to donate to a nearer term, multi-year cause. These monies go into the Special Funds. Some of the Special Funds are in individual Money Market accounts, placed there so we have easy access to the funds and can accumulate interest for the specific fund. These accounts are the Associate Pastor Fund (which was started in 2018 to build a base of money to support an associate pastor) and the Short Term Building Fund (which is used for near term facilities’ projects). The remainder of the Special Funds are aggregated into one invested Charles Schwab account, with the exception of the year-old Community Suppers Fund, which is in its own invested account. Income and expenses are attributed to the individual line items of the Special Funds.
Each year, funds are taken from the Special Funds and moved into the Operating Budget to support expenses. This practice ensures that these monies are being used to support our programs, and it also bridges any shortfall between operating income and expenses. In constructing the 2024 budget, we needed to use more of these funds than in previous years in order to balance the budget. If all of the income and expenses equal what was budgeted for 2024, $40,000 will need to be withdrawn from Special Funds to support specific expenses. These funds will be moved from the Special Funds into the Operating Budget only if the monies are needed.
The Special Funds budgeted for 2024 are:
- Community Suppers – $20,000
- La Comunidad (from New Initiatives Fund) – $3,600
- Youth service trip (from Barberis Memorial Youth Group Fund) – $2,500
- Adult choir music (from Ben and Lois Foster Family Music Fund) – $2,500
- Guest Musicians (from Special Music Fund) – $2,500
- Guest Musicians for New Light (some from Special Music Fund and the remainder from the Foster Family Music Fund) – $1,500
- Flowers (from Flower Fund) – $2,000
- Member in Discernment Support (from Church Council Unrestricted Reserve) – $3,000
- Payment for Pastor Andy’s doctorate program (from Senior Pastor’s Advanced Education Fund) – $2,424
The chart to the right is similar to the chart in the Stewardship booklet, with the difference that, in this chart, the Special Funds are separated from the other “Past Gifts.”
Special Funds are an important source of income for our church, totaling 9% of the operating budget in 2024. We are grateful to have these past gifts available to support our church.
If you would like more information about the funds which we currently have in the Special Funds, please ask Michele Brown or Erika Garner.
Budget Team Co-chairs Michele Brown (michelelbrown59@gmail.com) and Erika Garner (garnersvt@gmail.com)
Did You Know?
The Planned Giving Committee (PGC) offers information and assistance to church members who wish to provide long-term support for the church. We are ready to meet with members who have questions and interests in this area; these conversations are always confidential.
In addition to the regular "micro-messages" that have appeared in Church Matters, the PGC has prepared informational brochures that address several related issues:
A BRIEF GUIDE TO WILLS AND ESTATE PLANNING
SAMPLE LANGUAGE FOR A GIFT THROUGH A WILL OR TRUST
CREATING A CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY
USING REAL ESTATE TO MAKE A GIFT
OUR CHURCH'S ENDOWMENT: IT MATTERS
These items are available in a display on the wall outside the youth room in Fellowship Hall. We welcome your questions, and we would like to meet with you at your convenience.
John Emerson, Sally Holland (Chair), and Tana Scott – Planned Giving Committee
Men's and LAdies' Lunch
The Ladies Lunch will be held at the church in the Russell Carpenter Room at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 21st.
There are three options for your meal:
1. Order and pay for your meal at Route 7 South Sandwich Shop by 10:00 a.m. and let them know it is for the Ladies Lunch. Someone will pick it up and bring it to the church. You can order and pay over the phone by calling (802) 388-3354 or by stopping by the sandwich shop.
2. Bring lunch from home.
3. Purchase and pick up lunch from a location of your choice and bring it with you.
You do NOT need to sign up. Questions? Contact Erika Garner at garnersvt@gmail.com
The Men's Lunch Bunch will be held at Rosie’s Restaurant on Thursday, November 21st at noon. If you plan to attend the lunch or have questions, please contact Mal Chase at patandmalchase@gmail.com.
Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
For November, we are asking for spray cleaners, laundry detergent, toilet cleaner, dryer sheets, dish soaps, window cleaner, and sponges. most of these are heavy items, which is good cause we are closing in on our next ton!
As always, thank you for your help.
Community Supper help needed
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!
Adult Study
Come join on a Quest for the Spirit! Back by popular demand, Pastor Elizabeth will be leading a 7-week class on a variety of Christian meditation practices. The class will meet Mondays at 1:30 p.m. in Unity Hall, starting November 4. (Nov. 4 -25, Dec. 2-16). All are always welcome.
Food Drives
Our Church will be holding two Food Drives for H.O.P.E. from10-2:00 PM on Saturday Nov. 16th at Hannaford's Middlebury & at Shaw's and the Middlebury Natural Foods Coop on Saturday Nov. 23rd. Your generous donations are greatly appreciated!
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November Birthdays
- to view birthdays for any month of the year SIGN IN to our online directory.
- Click on Calendar in the upper left of the screen.
Pamela Quinn November 1
Michael Cummings November 3
Jill Ruffa November 3
Debbie Deering November 4
Victoria Luksch November 4
Brett Viens November 4
James Davis November 6
Bronwen Kent November 6
Tanya Lehman November 6
Josie Masterson-Glen November 8
Matthew von Behrens November 8
Devon Karpak November 10
Frank Winkler November 10
Jennifer Stefani November 11
Jae Davis November 13
John Evarts November 13
Josie Abbott November 16
Mira Maglienti November 19
Mike Fiskio November 20
George Cady November 21
Frank Van Gansbeke November 21
Greta Allen-Buettner November 23
Doug Sinclair November 23
Mary Alice Beazley November 25
Mary Jo Champlin November 25
Harper Sinclair November 29
Sandy Youell November 29
Callum Krahn November 30
- to view birthdays for any month of the year SIGN IN to our online directory.
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November Anniversaries
Vanda Crook November 6
Conor Stinson & Ellen Whelan-Wuest November 12
Jeff & Diane Munroe November 13
Charles & Nancy Jakiela November 17
Read Last Month's Church Matters