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| This Week at BPC 11/15 – 11/21 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:37-40 A few years back, the Presbyterian Church (USA) launched a new initiative known as the Matthew 25 Project. It encouraged churches and presbyteries to adopt the teachings of this parable toward the end of Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus is instructing his followers on the final judgement of the nations before the throne of God. The sheep are those who are found to be righteous, and they are welcomed into God’s kingdom; whereas the goats are found to be unrighteous and are cast into the outer darkness. The final determination is based on how the nations treated “the least of these” — the poor, sick, imprisoned, hungry, and otherwise marginalized ones. The denomination based the call to be a Matthew 25 church on three pillars: dismantling structural racism, eradicating systemic poverty, and building congregational vitality. Our church joined this movement back in the winter of 2019, and we still seek to follow the Matthew 25 way of life and discipleship. Recently, through the work of the Steering Committee and the subgroup that became the Revitalization Committee, we have been focusing our efforts on building congregational vitality as a means of strengthening our church and engaging more with the community. This is an initiative that asks everyone to participate in some way in the life of the church and its mission. Whether you are able to come to worship in person, or join us online; whether you give through the mail or contribute regularly in other ways; whether you volunteer at a local food pantry near you, or support mission and service through financial contributions — these are just a few of the ways you are sharing God’s love with others through the church. To me, it hearkens back to Jesus’ teaching about the greatest commandment: “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; and a second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself.” As we consider our commitments for the coming year, let us prayerfully discern the ways that God is asking us to love God and to love our neighbor; and then to act in accordance with how the Spirit is guiding us. Please join us in worship this Sunday where we will reflect more on this teaching; and plan to stay for the special called meeting of the congregation immediately following worship in the Fellowship Hall. The Zoom link will remain active for those members who are unable to attend in person. This week’s scripture readings: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Matthew 25:31-46 Bulletin for November 15, 2026 https://tinyurl.com/2h5etecf ANNOUNCEMENTS NOVEMBER EVENTS Session has called a meeting of the congregation on November 15th, following worship in Fellowship Hall. The pastor’s terms of call for 2027 will be presented at this meeting. All members of the church are encouraged to attend! On November 24th, all are invited to attend an Interfaith Thanksgiving and Community Celebration at First Parish Unitarian Universalist, Billerica., located at 7 Concord Road. The event begins with a community dinner buffet at 6 PM, followed by the worship service at 7 PM. There is no cost to attend, and any donations will go to the Billerica Community Pantry. The Burlington Interfaith community is joining forces with the Billerica Interfaith community for this important tradition. REVITALIZATION COMMITTEE The Revitalization Committee is working on a few initiatives: 1) Contacting members and friends we haven’t seen in worship for a while 2) Setting up 2 “prayer nets”, ideally for Advent. One would be in the narthex and the other would be outside in front of the church and would be a form of outreach to the community. We need a couple of volunteers to join us in constructing the prayer nets and a couple to help maintain them. 3) Increasing our presence on social media and “publicizing” our worship, mission, educational and social opportunities to the community. We would love to have one or two people who are tech savvy, help those of us on the committee who are less so. Please prayerfully consider if you would be able to help out for any of these. Thanks! Sue and Jen 2026 THANKSGIVING IN-GATHERING November 22, 2026 We will be joining together at the UCC Church for a shared service. We will be collecting items for the Burlington Pantry Thanksgiving dinner as we do every year. Service is at 10:30 am. If you are able to stay after the service to help with sorting, it would be greatly appreciated. Items needed are listed below: This is a short list, but we need DOZENS and DOZENS OF EACH ITEM. Please, NO EXPIRED DATES! Stuffing (bags or boxes) Corn, canned Gravy Chicken broth Mayonnaise Cornbread mix Cranberry sauce, canned People Helping People (PJs, hats/gloves, undies) Cards for the annual PJs & undies Drive will be available in church this Sunday. New, unwrapped items need to be returned to church by Sunday December 6th. If you would like to participate, but will not be in church on Sunday, contact Jennifer Dewar. WISH TREE On Monday, November 30, our church will be staffing the People Helping People Wish Tree at the Burlington Mall. It is open from 11 am until 7 pm, with 2-hour shifts. We need 2 people for each shift. https://tinyurl.com/h9pm9mke Christmas Poinsettias Orders 2026 It is that time of year again! We will be taking orders for the Christmas Poinsettias. The price per plant is $15.00. $5 from each Poinsettia sale and any additional donations will go to House of Hope in Lowell. House of Hope is dedicated to homeless families in Massachusetts. It provides emergency shelter as well as transitional and supportive housing for women and children, helping them to gain stability and long-term self sufficiency as they heal from the trauma of homelessness. Payment may be made in the form of cash or checks, in person or mailed to Burlington Presbyterian Church. Please note “Poinsettia” in the memo line of your check or with your cash payment. Please make checks payable to Burlington Presbyterian Church. Please have your order submitted by November 29. https://tinyurl.com/5n7h5ef7 There will be paper forms available on Sunday as well. Merry Christmas from the Deacons! HELPIS holiday toy drive We are also collecting new, unwrapped toys for children and youth, ages 2 to 15; donations will go to Project HOPE, serving unhoused families in Dorchester and Roxbury. No specific requested items. Please return any toys/gift cards by Sunday, December 6th. WORSHIP ASSISTANTS We are heading into the Winter season. Worship continues through the Winter months, and we need assistants throughout the cold months. If you regularly worship from home and would like to be a worship assistant, you can do so over Zoom. We welcome anyone who would like to participate, and we are happy to provide a walk-through if you are less familiar! Please consider signing up to assist during November & December. Please sign up below https://tinyurl.com/3rehsru7 COFFEE HOUR Are you cold yet? Please sign up to help keep people warm with a hot cup of coffee or tea and a goodie! Please sign up below https://tinyurl.com/yyjv93x4 FAITH FORMATION NE GLOW Bonfire – Sunday November 15 at 5:30 PM in Tewksbury We will have a bonfire on November 15 at 5:30 PM at 21 James Street in Tewksbury, MA. Bring supplies for your favourite s’mores! I will provide standard marshmallows (if you would like alternative marshmallows please bring your own). Feel free to bring other roasting delicacies (hotdogs, bread?, etc.) as you feel called. Extra camping chairs and roasting sticks would be most welcome. Queer Bible Study – Monday November 16 at 8:00 PM on Zoom We will begin a new Bible Study topic as we explore the book “Queers the Word: A 40 Day Devotional for LGBTQ+ Christians” by Brian G. Murphy and Fr. Shannon TL Kearns. Please join us for a wonderful conversation even if you are unable to obtain (or read!) a copy of the book. We will look at the Introduction and Days 1-4 (Scripture passages: Matt 2:1-12, Genesis 1-2, 1 Thes 5:12-28, Psalm 55). We will move at our own pace so we may or may not have time to chat about all of the topics and will adjust as required. Here’s the link to join by Zoom: https://virtualmagicnewyork.zoom.us/j/85813445064?pwd=moHntYcmTFfGpklRYbKrNggkDaVwho.1 D&D With Alex Sunday November 22 at 5:30 PM at Burlington Presbyterian Church NEW INFORMATION: Joint Confirmation 2027 – Register here! REGISTRATION HAS BEEN EXTENDED – There has been further interest in a confirmation class for this year and so I am postponing the start time to accommodate for later registrations. We are planning to start classes in January and we will conclude our program in late summer or early fall (with light expectations over the summer). We will be using the “Changing the World: Confirmation for the Missional Church” curriculum. Joint confirmation class will run from September to August/October (depending on agreed upon schedule). We will meet roughly every other week on zoom throughout the school year. Joint confirmation class will begin with 4 one hour zoom sessions followed by an in person half day retreat in December. Then we will spend 5-6 months completing a Faith in Action program with mentors from home congregations. During this time we will complete 8 mentor/large group sessions and regular whole group zoom check ins. In total, we will have 3 in person half day retreats (December, February, and May) (location TBD). We will complete at least 1 Faith in Action project with mentors from home congregations/communities. We will complete at least 1 Faith in Action Project as a whole group. This class is open to any youth age 13 and up who would like to participate. Leadership will be shared across participating church communities. “Changing the World: Confirmation for the Missional Church” was published by the Presbyterian Outlook. Find more information here. If you have any questions please contact Jen at newenglandglow.rym@gmail.com. Registration deadline is Monday, December 21, 2026. Save the Date!! Winter Camp at Camp Wilmot February 19-21, 2027 Save the Date!! Middle & High School Winter Weekend Friday, February 19th – Sunday, February 21st Join Youth from across New England for a weekend of fellowship and fun hosted by New England GLOW! We’ll gather after dinner Friday night and wrap up with Sunday breakfast in time for everyone to make it back to their respective churches for worship. In between we’ll enjoy outdoor games, art activities, baking, bible study, worship and plenty of sledding. The cost of the weekend is $100 per youth. If cost is prohibitive, please contact Jen as there are scholarships available! REGISTRATION INFORMATION TO COME. Feel free to contact newenglandglow.rym@gmail.com with any questions!! — New England GLOW www.newenglandglow.org Discord JOIN US THIS WEEK Burlington Presbyterian Church Sunday Morning Worship Time: November 15, 2026, 10:30 AM Eastern Time Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/ 86118398860?pwd=ZHVQNENRcjlzRnk5MzhoUUd6RUZUQT09 Meeting ID: 861 1839 8860 Passcode: worship Women’s Bible Study November 19, 2026, 10:00 AM Eastern Time Topic: Women’s Bible Study Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86813160839?pwd=cXJFVXdleVF3Z004d0ljL2dzV1BwZz09 Meeting ID: 868 1316 0839 Passcode: Biblestudy |
