Judy Albright - Designer and Publisher
Elizabeth Davis - Editor
Judy Albright - Designer and Publisher
Elizabeth Davis - Editor
December 2022...
Faithful Patience
Rev. Andy Nagy-Benson
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE November 2022
CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING
Church Council met on November 9, 2022. Some of the highlights from the reports we listened to are as follows.
We spent about an hour and 20 minutes in Executive Session reviewing the annual performance assessments of all staff employees and our two pastors. We concluded that we are blessed with highly effective and dedicated staff and pastors!
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Foster, Clerk
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.
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.
Living our faith
Eliana Cañas parra, Director of Children and Youth Ministries
seeking mentors at mary hogan
2022 Holiday Bazaar Update
With Gratitude and Love. . .
To our amazing 2022 Holiday Bazaar chairpersons, volunteers, and work crew, our talented handcrafters and bakers, and all our generous donors and, of course, our wonderful shoppers—you all made the 2022 Holiday Bazaar a success!
From the moment the doors opened at 9:00 a.m., we welcomed a steady stream of shoppers who enjoyed perusing the tables and room offerings and meandering both upstairs and down to see it all. The weather was wonderfully cooperative, and the comments from shoppers were overwhelmingly positive.
To date, our 98th Bazaar has raised $11,884. This success was achieved by over 50 volunteers working throughout the week to transport, set up, organize, price, and sell the crafts, jewelry, books, theme baskets, plants, toys, puzzles and games, small home furnishings, homemade pies and soups and specialty items, and fine photography. At the conclusion of the Bazaar, our volunteers and work crew diligently reassembled the upstairs rooms for Sunday use, set up the Second Chance Sale in Fellowship Hall, and transported a myriad of book boxes for storing off site. This indeed was a team effort!
Individual table/room sales to date are:
Thank you all so much for making the 2022 Holiday Bazaar such a special church event!
Ruth Penfield and Judy Jessup, 2022 Holiday Bazaar co-chairs
Planned giving
Did you know?
You can provide for yourself and your family and be generous to your church, all at the same time! A charitable gift annuity (CGA) can:
• Provide you with a steady income stream for the rest of your life,
• Reduce what you will pay in income taxes, and
• Provide a generous gift to our church after you die, which can support the church for years to follow.
Sally Holland can assist you in learning about the details.
—Planned Giving Committee
Pull up a chair...
Join us for a Potluck Lunch after worship on Sunday, December 11th - all are welcome. Since nine volunteers have signed-up to bring their favorite pots of vegetarian and meat Chilis (along with the recipe), we welcome various breads and salads. Attendees can bring a "dish to pass" to the Fellowship Hall kitchen before church where it can be heated or refrigerated until lunch.
Advent Book Study
Join Pastor Andy and Pastor Elizabeth in an Advent Adult Study each Tuesday at noon during the season of Advent. Together, you will read and discuss selections from "Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas." The class will meet at noon in the Russell C. Carpenter Room and/or on Zoom. All are welcome!
You can buy the book at Vermont Book Shop or here on amazon.com
calling all cooks!
In times of need, the Board of Pastoral Care can provide meals for our church members. We invite anyone who would like to help in this meaningful way to please email Debbie Deering at deering_debbie@yahoo.com, and she will add you to our list.
Signing up will just add your name to the email list. You are not obligated to help provide a meal unless you are available to do so.
If you are on the list and would like your name removed, please let Debbie know.
Holiday Tips from the Green Team
As the holidays approach, the Green Team wanted to share with you some climate-friendly holiday tips:
1. Always turn off your holiday lights before you go to bed.
Consider putting them on a timer if you have trouble remembering. When you take them down, store them with care so you won’t have to buy new ones next year. And when you do need to replace your lights, choose LEDs, which use up to 70 percent less energy than the old-school incandescent ones. Not only do Christmas lights in the U.S. require a lot of energy—more than the national electricity consumption of many developing countries —but the light pollution they produce at night can harm wildlife.
2. Consider second-hand gifting.
We’re not talking garage sale leftovers here, but things like vintage clothing and jewelry, antiques, and gorgeous old books. If you feel odd about it, ask the recipient ahead of time if they’re open to receiving used items as gifts. Also, be sure to put “used preferred” on your own Christmas list if you’re so inclined. There are a number of wonderful resale shops in Addison County including HOPE, Neat Repeats, Round Robin, Buy Again Alley, Junebug, and Sweet Charity. Check them out!
3. Swear off wrapping paper this season.
Instead of using gift wrap, use material you already have around your home, such as newspaper comics, old road maps, or scraps of leftover fabric. Have kids? Task them with decorating all those paper shopping bags you have hanging around. If you must use commercial gift wrap, opt for a gift bag and include a note asking the recipient to reuse it. Here’s why it’s so important: A large portion of the estimated 25 percent extra trash tossed out between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is composed of gift wrap, since a large percentage of wrapping paper (including anything decorated with foil or glitter) can’t be recycled.
4. Donate to a nonprofit rather than buying more stuff.
For the person who has everything, consider making a donation in their name to a local nonprofit. Many worthy organizations in our area are concerned with the conservation and stewardship of our natural landscapes, and some promote environmental justice and a shift from a carbon-based economy. Through the Board of Mission and Social Concerns, our church has supported several such organizations in the past, including Vermont Interfaith Power and Light and 350Vermont. The Green Team has promoted Green Up Vermont events for the past few years. As an added benefit, a donation will never need to be recycled or landfilled!
Christmas Season Calendar
Potluck Lunch December 11 11:15 a.m.
Christmas Pageant December 18 10:00 a.m.
Messiah Sing 2:00 p.m.
New Light 4:00 p.m.
Christmas Eve December 24 4:00 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
Christmas Day December 25 10:00 a.m.
Blue Christmas Service
Join us on Monday, Dec 5, 3pm ET for a virtual worship service with Team Global HOPE at UCC National Ministries for a Blue Christmas worship service. Blue Christmas services traditionally provide space for those who don’t feel so “merry and bright” during the holiday season.
This service seeks to recognize and stand in solidarity with the experiences of those aggrieved or displaced by disaster or forced migration in 2022, from Kentucky, to Ukraine, and beyond. We remember that we are called to stand in solidarity with the captive and the oppressed, and work together with God’s guidance to create a just world for all. UCC Clergy and choirs engaged in humanitarian ministries across the denomination will be providing reflective liturgy, music, and preaching during this event.
Register here
Alternative Gift & Christmas Card Sale
Habitat for Humanity of Addison County Christmas card sale is back on!
Habitat will once again hold their alternative gift fair and Christmas card sale during coffee hour after church on December 18. This is a chance to give your friends or relatives a gift that will help Habitat for Humanity of Addison County build their next home. Gifts are priced so that children can also participate.
Shop the alternative gift fair!
IMPORTANT DATES FOR YEAR-END GIVING
Many thanks to all the individuals and families who support our church. Without your gifts of time and dollars, there would be no church!
As the end of the year approaches, donors who itemize their taxes may find it helpful to know when certain types of financial gifts should be initiated in order to be completed no later than December 31. (Please note that the church does not give tax advice; donors should contact their own financial advisors.) Details can be found on the website at midducc.org/giving or by calling the church office at (802) 388-7634 to request this information.
Deadlines for Initiating Year-End Gifts:
Other Important Information:
Please include what the gift is to be used for to ensure proper allocation. Our church’s name is the Congregational Church, UCC of Middlebury, Vermont, and our EIN is 03-0238445.
Again, thank you for your essential support of our church.
Sally Holland, Chair, Gift Acceptance Committee
Who is The Rev. Dr. Donald Fisher Campbell?
The Rev Dr. Donald Fisher Campbell served the Congregational Church of Middlebury in 1981–82. He was appointed Acting Pastor of the Middlebury church, effective July 25, 1981. Donald Campbell shared the morning service with Rev. David Andrews (the incoming minister) on Sunday, May 2, 1982. The formal call for David Andrews was Aug 1, 1982.
Before accepting the pastorate in Middlebury, Donald had recently retired as pastor emeritus after 30 years of service to the Stamford Presbyterian Church of Stamford, CT. He was a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and served as one of their trustees. He had an A.B. degree from the University of Missouri and a Doctor of Education from the University of Pittsburgh. He studied at Cambridge University in England for a year. He also held an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Bloomfield College and was one of their trustees. He participated in numerous committees of the Presbyterian denomination.
Donald Fisher Campbell married Charlotte Morris on 31 Aug 1934 in Winnipesaukee, Moultonboro, NH. The parents of Donald are William John Campbell and Jennie F. Bowers; the parents of Charlotte are Charles A. Morris and Emma Space. This couple had three children. Donald and Charlotte resided at 44 Meadow Lane in Weybridge VT; they also had a cottage on Lake Hortonia.
Charlotte graduated from Toms River High School (’25), obtained her B.M.E. from the New Jersey College for Women (’29) - Douglas College of Rutgers University, taught music for several years in Orange NJ, and served as Secretary of the NYC Community Chest. She sang with Schola Cantorum and the New York Philharmonic with Arturo Toscanini. She served as a summer counselor a Camp Sloane, CT, where she met her husband. She sang in choirs at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, PA; First Presbyterian Church, Stamford, CT; and the Congregational Church of Middlebury VT.
Donald Fisher Campbell b 1 Jul 1909 Cranbury NJ d 15 Sept 2000 Middlebury VT
Charlotte Emma Morris b 7 May 1908 Toms River NJ d 6 Oct 2007 Circleville OH
Next month the family of David Andrews will be studied.
Malcolm W. Chase, Historian
December Birthdays
Eryn Diehl December 1
Stacie Baldwin December 2
Bob Granner December 2
Deb Evans December 5
Julia Morrissey December 5
Penny Stattel December 6
Ed Williams December 8
Chas Lyons December 9
Betty Nuovo December 10
Kendra Tatkon-Kent December 12
David Deering December 13
Charles Swift December 13
Bill Fifield December 15
Eva Phair December 15
Oliver Poduschnick December 15
Ellie Hendy December 18
Doreen Whitney December 18
Carol Campbell December 21
Steve Hoffman December 24
Mary Jane Washburn December 25
Rebecca Orten December 26
Emma Morrissey December 27
Clem Sheffert December 27
Jim Donnelly December 28
Donna Carpenter December 30
Julie Tatkon December 30
December Anniversaries
Michael & Chris Giorgio December 12
Bill & Gail Miller December 12
Jeff Buettner & Jessica Allen December 15
Polly Birdsall December 20
John McLeod & Blair Kloman December 22