Welcome to….
Rev. Michael O’Brien and his wife Pam. Rev. Mike is our new interim pastor. He is a graduate of Gettysburg College, holds an M.Div. degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a MSW degree from Rutgers University Graduate School of Social Work. He did his Basic Clinical Pastoral Education unit at Worcester State Hospital and completed 4 Advanced units of Clinical Pastoral Education in a Chaplaincy Residency program at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, CA. He has served as either Senior Pastor, Pastor, Assistant/Associate Pastor or Interim Associate Pastor at four Presbyterian churches in New Jersey and Maryland from 1977 to 2009. From July, 2010 to July, 2014, he served as Chaplain at Beacon Hospice in Plymouth, MA, having been a Chaplain resident at Sutter Medical Center for the prior year.
A big thank you to…
To the Worship Committee (especially Mark Vogel) for overseeing worship while we searched for an interim pastor; to our many guest ministers, to Kathleen for the bulletins. To everyone who helped with the children during Summer Celebration times on Sundays.
Also to the Hospitality Committee for their great work in sponsoring our hosting of the July 4 parade units for refreshment and restrooms as they prepared to step off; and for a great church picnic on July 13 at Springs Brook Park.
To the Interim Search Committee, James McIninch, Brad Morrison, Ken Dewar, Linda Roscoe and Niloo Hennings, for all the hours they put in. They worked very hard (and very secretly) to find the right interim pastor to meet our needs.
A Farewell to…
Alex Haney, as he heads into his second year as a YAV. He will be spending his next year in Little Rock, AR.
Also to the Davis Family. We will miss them…Natalie’s sweet ladylike attitude, Vanessa’s sassiness, and Eric’s beaming smiles. Best wishes to all of them as they move on in their life journey.
Deacon’s Corner
The Deacons have had a quiet summer. They will be assisting again this year for Rally Day.
Thank you to all who have been bringing George to church every Sunday.
The Food Pantry is in need of canned vegetables.
Stewardship Report
Many thanks to the Congregation for their Pentecost offering of $593.00. $335.50 was sent to General Assembly and the balance retained by PCBM.
Our Peacekeeping Offering is next on the agenda and is scheduled for Sunday, October 5, 2014. Our offering concludes A Season of Peace which encourages nonviolent solutions and provides opportunities to give witness to God’s gift of peace at the local, national and global levels. Look for further information in Sunday’s church bulletins during September.
Sing to the Lord a New Song
Choir will be starting again in September. Choir rehearses on Thursday nights from 7:30 to 9 pm and on Sunday mornings from 10:00 to 10:20 am. The first practice will be Thursday night, September 4, and the first service will be Sunday, September 7. The ability to read music is not required in order to participate, but non-readers need to come for most of the practices. However, if a person is skilled musically, they are allowed to take the music home to study, and join the Sunday morning practice. All are most welcome. The choir sings before the Word for Children, except for Communion Sundays, so teachers and students can participate, if desired. For further information, contact any choir member or Nancy Timmerman at 617-266-2595.
Musicians (of all ages) who would like to play or sing in church are encouraged to do so. Please let Nancy know if she does not already. This special music can occur during the Offertory most Sundays. In addition, the choir sometimes prepares music which uses an instrument or bells to supplement the choir. Special music with choir needs about a month of notice. Other music can be scheduled a week or two in advance. Let your light shine!
Women’s Bible Study
Women’s Bible Study will kick off their year with a brunch on Thursday, September 11. We will then begin a study, Reconciling Paul: A Contemporary Study of 2 Corinthians. All women of the church are welcome! See Marylou Lynn if you have any questions.
FALL LUNCHEON
September 14, we will celebrate being back together after all the swimming, hiking, traveling and the fact that we now have an interim pastor in place.
Lunch will be served following worship in Fellowship Hall. The menu is soup, salad, breads, dessert and beverages.
Please find the sign-up sheet in F.H. We really need to know how many to plan for. All are welcome.
Retreat
Saturday, October 18 is the date for the BPC fall retreat. Mark your calendars now and plan to come for the day from 10:00 – 3:30. The theme of the retreat is “Seeking God’s Guidance: As Individuals and In Our Community”. There will be time to focus on prayer, Bible study and discovering other spiritual practices to help us as we seek God’s guidance in our individual lives and as a community at BPC. We are planning time for a group craft and lunch will be provided!
Stay tuned for more details, but for now Save the Date!
Tony Triglione Memorial Walk
For Mission of Deeds
DATE: September 21, 2014
TIME: Registration at 11:30 am; Walk at 12 noon
LOCATION: Lake Quannapowitt, Wakefield, MA
STARTING LOCATION: Wakefield Lower Common near the Gazebo
REGISTRATION: $15 per walker / $40 per family
FREE T-SHIRTS TO THE FIRST 200 WALKERS TO REGISTER!
Complimentary appetizers from Joe’s American Bar and Grill, Radio station MIX 104.1 dishing out Ice Cream, Fabulous Music by the North Ave Band, Free Face Painting for all, Free Refreshments – popcorn, slush, granola bars, water; Raffle of Red Sox vs Tampa Bay tickets: Capitol Grille Burlington – Wine & Dinner raffle; Combined local businesses and restaurants gift cards Raffle.
Details & forms available in the office.
Introducing Our New YAV
Amanda Moak
While we are all sad to see Alex leave, he will be missed, we are also excited to continue to support the Young Adult Volunteer program with the Boston Presbytery. This year, the Boston Presbytery is sponsoring three new Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) to engage in the mission of providing healthy and sustainable food for all people by working with area churches and community groups. The goals of the YAV program are to help the young people learn to live simply, consider vocational choices, and enrich their spiritual lives. Our new YAV is Amanda Moak.
Amanda Moak is a recent graduate from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. In school she studied history, focusing primarily on American history. It’s one of the main reasons she fell so deeply in love with Memphis and colorful past. During her time at Rhodes, Amanda enjoyed being a part of the varsity tennis team, and working for her coaches in the tennis office. She was an active member of the Kappa Delta Sorority and worked with a student run street paper, The Bridge. While leaving Memphis and Rhodes is going to be a challenge for her, she is looking forward to living in Boston and doing something new with her life.
Now that she has graduated, Amanda has been spending time at home in Brookhaven, Mississippi. She finally has time to read for fun again and is excited about not constantly thinking about papers and tests. This summer she has become well versed in the arts of refinishing furniture; or as some people call it, upcycling. She is still playing tennis a few times a week, but on a less competitive level. But mostly, she is ready to leave home and begin this new part of her journey.
Jane McIninch will be Amanda’s supervisor. Amanda will be working full time in Burlington sharing her time between our church, the food pantry and working with the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce Charitable Foundation. She will help clients of the pantry figure out how to better take advantage of the fresh produce coming in from Farmer Dave and from the Burlington Community Garden. She will help build some workshops to teach Burlington residents including pantry clients cooking skills, better nutrition and life style changes to prevent obesity and live healthier lives. She will also help with the community garden. Be on the look out for more movie nights and other events and plan to get involved. On Fridays all three YAVs will work together in various volunteering activities throughout the Boston area.
The three YAVs sponsored by the Boston Presbytery will live together in an apartment in Watertown. They will also be challenged to live simply and will spend the first six months restricted to only purchasing food produced locally in New England and then the last six months purchasing their food through the SNAP program (Supplemental Nutrition Food Assistance). After spending a week in the New York City area at an orientation for all the YAVs serving this year both nationally and internationally, Amanda will spend the week of August 25th in a local orientation to Boston. Her first Sunday with us will be August 31st. Please welcome her to our church family and plan at some point during the year to invite her to participate in a meal or activity with you.
Christian Education
Sunday School Classes
Sunday school classes will be beginning soon. In the coming weeks, registration forms will be distributed during announcements. The form is MANDATORY for children attending nursery through older youth Sunday School classes. One form will cover all children in the same family. The deadline to turn in the CE registration form is preferably Rally Day, Sept 7, but no later than Sept. 14.
RALLY DAY PROJECT
On September 7 the Church School classes will assemble Hygiene Kits for their Rally Day Project. We will need a one-gallon plastic bag with zipper closure for each kit. So this will be much easier than making cloth bags like last year! Note the exact items in the list below.
You could bring several individual toothbrushes, a box of gallon bags, a few of the items, or all of the items. The kids will form an assembly line on Rally Day and create each kit.
Place your items in the “Hygiene Kit” box near the church entrance.
Hygiene Kit for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
1 – hand towel (approximately 16” x 28”, no fingertip or bath towels)
1 – washcloth
1 – wide-tooth comb
1 – nail clipper
1 – bar of soap (bath size in wrapper)
1 – toothbrush (in original packaging)
6 – Band-Aids® or other adhesive bandage strips
Please do not add toothpaste. Toothpaste with an extended expiration date will
be added to Hygiene Kit shipments just prior to
shipment.
BPC in the world
This article was sent out around the country in June by Church World Service.
July 31, 2014
Crayons Needed
With back to school sales already starting to pop up in stores, now is a good time to organize a CWS School Kits drive! The need for CWS School Kits is great and growing, and supplies in the warehouse are low.
Would your church or organization commit to holding a CWS School Kit drive to help our neighbors around the world? Read about the items needed to assemble school kits and then check out those sales.
One example of New England getting involved comes from the Burlington Presbyterian Church in Burlington, Mass. Congregants organized a CWS School Kit mission project last September as their children were starting back to Sunday School. The children helped fill 62 School Kit bags while learning about what Christians can do to help those in need. An assembly line was set up with the younger children at one end. Those children put smaller single items into each bag, then passed the bags to the next class, who were a little older. The middle school children added items that needed to be counted. The assembly line concluded with the older children checking each kit to ensure all items were present. We are so grateful that hands big and small aided in the effort to increase the CWS School Kit supply and help our neighbors around the world!
We also received the following letter from CWS:
Dear Friends:
Thank you for your kind donation of 62 school kits to Church World Service. Your compassion has given individuals and families touched by disaster the tangible evidence that they matter. That someone cares. And they are not alone.
Disasters can strike anywhere, anytime. And they can take many forms: tornadoes, earthquakes, civil conflict, drought, hurricanes and more. But with the support of caring people like you – who understand the urgency of responding after a disaster – people in crisis receive help when they need it, and hope for the future.
For updates on our most recent work, visit cwsglobal.org.
Here at home or overseas, when tragedy strikes your donations ensure that help is never far behind.
With deepest gratitude,
Rev. John L. McCullough
President and CEO
Presbyterian Church in Burlington 