Scripture for February:

Center Congregational Church Tele: 860-647-9941 United Church of Christ Fax: 860-649-6927 Manchester, Connecticut

E-Mail: [email protected] Visit us on our website: www.centerchurchucc.org

Church Office Hours: Mon-Thurs., 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Scripture for February:

2/7/21 Fifth Sunday after Epiphany /Communion Sunday

Isaiah 40:21-31, Mark 1:29-39

2/14/21 Transfiguration Sunday

2Kings 2:1-12, Mark 9:2-9

2/17/21 Ash Wednesday

7:00 p.m. zoom service (use the

Sunday morning log in info)

2/21/21 First Sunday of Lent

Genesis 9:8-17, Mark:1:9-15

2/28/21 Second Sunday of Lent

FROM OUR PASTOR

Dear Friends,

As our days slowly lengthen and the sunlight stretches

further into the night, I am reminded how our scripture brings

light and understanding to our lives. In the gospels, Jesus

speaks often about light. He shares the light of his being and

teaches his disciples how to find the light within themselves.

We, too, are invited to find our light. So what is this light? I

would say it is our soul connection to God that allows us to find

and free our authentic selves and truly live our faith in this

complicated, messy world.

Life wasn’t always so complicated. According to the faith

stories in scriptures, life in the garden of Eden was easy and

there was enough of everything. Heck, in Genesis 1:29a, it

says, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our

likeness…” How cool is that? Being the curious humans that

God created, the tree of knowledge was too tempting to pass

up. Perhaps it was the desire to know God better and be more

like God. It didn’t quite turn out as expected. Instead of

knowledge being life giving, it was a heavy responsibility to

bear. This burden brought a mix of emotions and fears that

dimmed the God light within humanity. The soul connection to

God was lost or buried in the process.

Thankfully our gracious and loving God continued to

reach out to humanity. The divine mystery is greater than we

can know or understand. God reaches out to help humanity

re-discover our authentic selves – our light. Each of us is invited

to be in an honest and vulnerable relationship with God. When

we can see and know that we are loved as we are, we can begin

to know ourselves and uncover our light. We can believe that

God is loving, gracious, and merciful. God brings love and light

to the world through each and every one of us. In Matthew’s

gospel Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city on top

of a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put

it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and

it shines on all who are in the house. In the same way,

let your

light shine before people

, so they can see the good things you

do and praise your Father who is in heaven.” Jesus showed us

this not only with his teaching, but in how he lived his life. His

actions spoke even louder than his words. He taught love,

heal-ing, compassion, forgiveness, and generosity.

The Center

is a publication of Center Congregational Church United Church of Christ

11 Center Street Manchester, CT 06040

The Center is published monthly (July & August combined) to keep members and friends in-formed of programs of the church and to report news about the faith

community of Center Church.

Center Church Staff

Rev. Joyce O. Crutchfield

Senior Pastor [email protected] Andrea Simmons Director of Music [email protected] Denise Knox

Director of Faith Formation

[email protected] Cheryl O. Knight Office/Finance Manager [email protected] Brian Lettieri Property Manager [email protected] Mikayla Oken Communications Specialist [email protected]

If you need to reach Pastor Joyce in an

emergency, call 860-948-0493 or email

her at: center

[email protected]

Nourished by Faith, United in Diversity, Called to Mission Jesus didn’t turn people away; neither do we.

The United Church of Christ:

No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey … you’re welcome here.

God knows this is difficult for us, as the human memory is short and our

trust in this abundant love is low. Thankfully, we have been blessed with the

Holy Spirit. This Spirit reminds us of all that Jesus said and teaches new ways

of being. So let us boldly come to our devotional time with ears to hear,

sof-tened hearts, and minds eager for learning. May we trust in God and the Holy

Spirit to bring us into our light.

It seems fitting to end with these powerful words written by Amanda

Gorman from her poem, “The Hill We Climb.”

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid,

The new dawn blooms as we free it.

For there is always light,

if only we’re brave enough to see it.

If only we’re brave enough to be it.

May we be brave enough to feel, and to share, God’s outrageous,

ex-travagant love.

- Blessings -

Do you have a gratitude gram you’d like to share with the congregation? Or a life event you’d like to acknowledge in our Congratulations section?

Please email : [email protected]

Happy Birthday to all our members with

February birthdays!

G

G

- Thank you to the members of the Ad Hoc Committees (Streaming, Reopening).

They are hard at work to ensure that when it is safe, we can gather together at the

church building and continue to provide church for those unable to physically

at-tend.

- As always thank you to all the essential workers who put themselves at risk to

provide services for the rest of us.

- Thank you to all who are caring for all us by wearing masks, physically

distanc-ing, washing their hands, and staying the course

Joyce Noel

Jacqueline Mirtl

Amy Watson

Linda Barnsby

Rosemary Smith

Eleanor Hohenthal

Warren Smith

Jane Curtis

Constance Santoro

Stacey Francoline

Dustin Taksar

Ben Petersen

Kathi Sanborn

Cohen Leonardo

Please pray for the following folks who have said good-bye to loved ones who have transitioned home to God.

- Keith Lovell and family on the death of Keith’s mom, Thelma Lovell.

- Jake McCarthy, his family, and the Klojzy family on the death of

Jake’s wife, Elizabeth Klojzy McCarthy.

- Roy Trevino and his family on the death of his sister, Becky Garcia.

- Diane Petersen on the death of her friend, Annette.

- Margaret Wales, her family, and the families of her siblings on the

deaths of her brother John and sister Gail Wolcott.

Condolences

Remembrances

May this prayer, Time is in your hands, O Lord, from www.living-prayers.com bring you comfort.

Time is in your hands, O Lord You place the sun and moon. You turn the tides of ocean deep So you can hold me safe in grief,

You can hold me safe. Eternity is always there

Around us everyday.

From every seed that grows a tree Creation sings of life redeemed,

In Christ we are redeemed.

Love is yours, it bears your mark, Your imprints everywhere. Each tender word I shared remains Love lives beyond our fleeting frame,

It lives beyond our frame. My precious one runs to your arms

I trust them to your care. You catch my tears and help me see,

The hope of Heavens glorious light, The hope of Heavens light.

Faith Formation News for February 2021 Newsletter

It is February, the month of love! As the Bible verse from 1Corinthians 16:14 tells us, “Let all that you do be done in love.” Love is very much needed in all our lives these days – love of God and love of each other. You also need to love yourself! We are all worthy of love! While writing this, the song “Love Can Build A Bridge” by The Judds came on my Spotify. I feel the words are very poignant to the crazy times that we are experiencing right now and the importance of giving love in everything you do. I’d like to share the lyrics with you. (Down Below)

Zoom Sunday School continues every week on Sundays from 11:00-11:30 am (Meeting ID: 964 9237 9303 Password: 220315). This month we will continue our “Great Stories of the Bible” theme. We will be learning about the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaching us to pray, and the enormous picnic. The first Sunday of the month is always a teacher’s choice for subject matter. The first Sunday in February we will be discussing what it means to truly show love to one anoth-er.

The Adult Sunday School discussion this month will be the second in the series “Heavenly Vir-tures.” We will discuss the virtue of “Chastity.” The discussion handouts will be emailed to eve-ryone on the church email list. If you do not have access to email but would like a copy of the handout, please contact the church office. A copy will be mailed to you.

Love Can Build A Bridge – The Judds

I'd gladly walk across the desert with no shoes upon my feet To share with you the last bite of bread I had to eat. I would swim out to save you in your sea of broken dreams When all your hopes are sinking, let me show you what love means.

CHORUS: Love can build a bridge Between your heart and mine.

Love can build a bridge. Don't you think it's time? Don't you think it's time?

I would whisper love so loudly, every heart could understand That love and only love can join the trials of man. I would give my hearts' desire so that you might see The first step is to realize that it all begins with you and me.

When we stand together, it's our finest hour. We can do anything, anything

Anything, anything Keep believin' in the power.

Zoom Choir: .

Chancel Choir is meeting via Zoom every Wednesday Evening @7pm.. If anyone is interested in small group

ringing...let them be in touch with me...email is best. [email protected]

Lent Begins:

Wednesday February 17th,

2021

Directory Update:

It has been a while since you were asked about updating your info for a directory – not the picture, just contact info. You are probably wondering why you haven’t received an updated copy yet. The church office currently has an old membership system that is unable to accurately print the updated directo-ry. Here’s the good news – the church is switching to an updated system. The bad news is we won’t be able to pro-vide an updated directory until it is completed. Sorry for the inconven-ience.

Center Congregational Church Happenings

Center Church Women

ALL

women in our Center

Congregational Church community are

automatically members of Center

Church Women. Watch for our emails

coming from Birdi Macaro. If you are

not getting them, let us know so we can

add your email address to our list!

Contact Birdi at

[email protected]

or

Manchester Area Conference of Churches

With Quarantining and children learning remotely we have found that there is more cooking and bak-ing happenbak-ing in our homes.

The pantry needs:

Flour Sugar Salt

Oil, and other various baking needs that perhaps the kids can help bake with their parents.

Let your donations be a teaching tool for the next generation of our future families!

Items, that we all take for granted, have become a real need for our MACC community. The pantry is asking for donations of:

Feminine products of all kinds Body washes

Soaps (hand and body) Shampoo & conditioner Toothpaste Toothbrushes Deodorant Razors Toilet Paper Paper Towels Dishwashing Liquids Laundry Liquids

In addition, GIFT CARDS for grocery stores and donations of non-perishable food items are grate-fully accepted at the Community Pantry located at 460 Main Street, Manchester during these times: Monday through Thursday 9am-4pm and Friday 9am-2pm.

Coats, Coats, Coats!!! MACC’s Community

Threads Thrift Storeneeds new and gently used

coats for all ages. They can be dropped off directly in the store during the hours of 10:00am and

1:30pm Monday – Saturday or left in the donation bin on the deck outside of the store after store hours. The store is located at 466 Main Street,

Manchester. Questions? Please, call Patti

Thur-low at MACC - 860-647-8003 ext. #12

MISSIONS COMMITTEE

The Mission Committee would

like to thank everyone for the

do-nations which allowed us to

sup-port the items below.

1. $300 to Alpha-1 Foundation in

recognition of Jonathan

Maid-ment’s complete of hiking’s Triple

Crown.

2. $1000 to Foodshare from the

Christmas offering

3. $1000 to UCC Fire Relief from

the Christmas offering

4. $275 to UCC Neighbors In

Need

A Message from your Finance/Stewardship/Trustee Committee

Dear Friends:

With 2020 behind us, as difficult as it has been, we are thankful for the many silver linings that surround us. It’s living through difficult times like these that we are reminded of all we are to be thankful for. We are thankful for you and every member of our community. We are thankful for your generosity, for your optimism, your dedication and your belief in Center Church.

We want to thank everyone who has contributed their time, resources and support to Center Congregational Church during this very strange and difficult year. The COVID-19 pandemic that began last year, has changed everyone’s lives as well as how we conduct ourselves on a daily basis. Every person and business, including churches, have been affected by this ever changing set of circumstances. We can’t thank you enough for the support we have received, especially considering what a challenging time this is for everyone. We hope you and your loved ones remain safe and in good health.

As you can imagine, the pandemic has affected this year’s church budget and fiscal year results. With the closing of our church facility in March, we lost income from room rentals, loose offer-ings, and some Sunday offerings. We also did not have our major fundraiser, the Holiday Fair in November 2020.

But we have good news for you!

We have experienced savings in utility costs and in most departmental areas. In April, we ap-plied for a PPP/SBA loan and in May we received $35,000 which helped keep our staff em-ployed and helped pay some of our utility bills. We have applied to have this loan be turned into a grant and have received preliminary approval of such. Final approval will mean that we will not be required to repay the $35,000 loan.

We also contracted with an eGiving service which allows us to provide a vehicle for friends and member of Center Church to give their weekly offerings or special offerings, electronically, by accessing a “Give Now” link on our website. We have seen more people use this resource to make their monthly offerings and special donations to Center Church.

We have learned to ZOOM and use Facebook Live and to adapt like others in the Faith Com-munity. We are using Zoom for our missions of Sunday Services and Coffee time (on Facebook Live also), Adult and Children Faith Formation lessons, weekly check-ins gatherings on Wednesday, book discussions, Wednesday Music Choir rehearsals, Council and Committees meetings.

Our Church Staff continues to support the Church’s missions in many ways. We have a pres-ence at the church Monday thru Thursday from 9am to 1:00pm. All those important tasks of keeping our church a vital part of our church lives such as answering the phones, paying the bills, ordering of SCRIP cards, keeping our building safe and clean, overseeing major repairs to heating system and Church windows continue to be done by our dedicated staff.

An Ad Hoc committee of the Church Council have begun to coordinate our efforts to be able to begin livestreaming our services from the Sanctuary of the Church once we are able to meet again in person on Sundays. This will allow us to our Sunday services to be experienced by those who are unable to attend in person.

With all of us doing more at-home cooking, why not have great tools? Rada knives, kitchen tools and more will be available for online ordering all year long! You can view the entire catalog and pur-chase your items online. Rada will ship them directly to your home or gift them to a different ad-dress. The catalog has a wide selection of knives and gift sets, as well as cookbooks, soup and dip mixes. The knives are made in the U.S and come with a lifetime guarantee. To ensure that Center Congregational Church benefits from your purchase, use this website: radafundraising.com. You will be asked which fundraising group you are supporting. Enter "Center Congregational Church1" to get to our page. If you are not comfortable ordering online, Lisa Wood will be available to help you find what you are looking for and place the order. Lisa will also answer any other questions you have (860-916-6123.)

As a reminder, shipping times may be longer than usual in 2021 so, please, plan accordingly. Thanks for your support!

When You

’

re Hospitalized -

Please Let Us Know!

Hospitals cannot release information to us — If you are hospitalized and would like a visit,

please:

 Call the church office to let us know you are in the

hospital. A family member or nurse may call the church office on your behalf.

 When you are admitted, state both your

denomina-tion (Congregadenomina-tional) and church (Center

Church), so that your name will appear on the cler-gy census.

Thank you for letting the Parish Care team know!

Finally, the first six months of the church fiscal year are showing a surplus thanks to combination of generous members and friends, and close monitoring of expenses. This will certainly help us as we work through the last six months of the fiscal year.

Take a moment right now to pat yourself on the back. You’ve lost some things, and heartbreak-ingly, you may also have lost some people. That pain will persist, but you are still here to tell the story. That is the grace of this moment. We somehow found a way to adapt and innovate in a time of radical and sudden change.

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to

live. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (The Message)

Ray Valade, Barbara Menasian, Jon Marx, Hillary Huttenhower, Tom Zownir, Ryan Fisher and Rich Harrington

Did you know that you could be getting The Center in your email instead of by mail?

On average you are sent 130 pieces of paper from us per year just by receiving

The Center. We highly encourage you to save a tree and ask to receive a full color pdf version of

The Center via email.

If you would like to Opt Out of receiving The Center all together, please email

[email protected] or

call the Church Office at 860-647-9941

Please know, you can go back to mail at any time should you prefer.

SCRIP Gift Cards

SCRIP is an ongoing fundraiser for Center Church where we offer for sale gift cards to a wide variety of businesses, including supermarkets like Stop & Shop and Highland Park Market, restaurants such as

Longhorn Steakhouse and Panera, Target, Walmart, Amazon, Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc. With your purchase of a Scrip Gift Card, you receive the full value of the card.

Center Church receives a small rebate from the supplier of the cards—making it a Win-Win for all!

Update: Visa Cards now have extended expiration dates!

Please contact Cheryl to request Scrip cards at offmgrcenterchurch@att,net

For additional info or to place an order for pickup. call our Church Office at 860-647-9941

Thank you!

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Center Congregational Church, for updates, Facebook Live, and frequent affirmations. @Center Congregational Church UCC

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