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EPISTLE

Bradford Congregational Church UCC Bradford, VT (802) 222-4034

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Dear Church Family,

T. S. Eliot began his long poem, The Waste Land, saying April is the cruelest monthmixing memory and desire. April is a transitional time between winter

and summer. It is an interim time.

I love April. The

wildflowers are coming

out on the woods floor:

bloodroot, hepatica, trout

lilies, trillium and all the

others. Birds are

returning. Their glorious

morning chorus is surging. Buds are swelling. Most of the biting and stinging

bugs have not yet emerged. The earth is joyous and alive.

And yet, April can indeed be cruel. We can wake up excited to go out into a warm

day and instead find several inches of new snow.

Memory and desire mix and make us yearn for things to be otherwise. The

yearning makes the birth of the new season feel painfully hard and slow.

That is how the children of Israel felt on their long journey through the wilderness

toward the Promised Land. It is why they accused God and Moses of being cruel.

It was human nature for them to feel that way. Moses had to remind them to look

APRIL, 2015

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beyond the merely human to all Gods gifts that were sustaining them every step of the way.

Jesus suffered a hard stretch in the wilderness, too, as Lent reminded us. He

modeled the same survival technique as Moses. He turned back to God every time

he was tempted to despair or take an easy way out.

Miracles happen when we keep turning to God. Angels came to help Jesus in his

wilderness. The Israelites found manna, they found that God guided them with a

pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, they found themselves over time becoming

stronger and more united.

Memory and desire can make us yearn for the interim time in our congregation to

be over. We long for the idyllic summer of full pews, a full choir loft, vitality and

growth. We may feel discouraged and tempted to drop out until that summer has

come. Yet, as T. S. Eliot says, April is breeding lilacs out of the dead landstirring dull roots with spring rain. Patience and the eyes of faith help us see it happening and help us endure.

We can speed the arrival of the longed for summer in our congregation by looking

to God as Moses and Jesus did and finding the guidance and strength we need.

Turning to God helps us let go of attachment to our own will and let Gods will unfold in its own time and way. It enables us to put our focus where it needs to be:

loving God and loving one another

wherever our path may lead, and

participating in the process of

transformation.

April may be cruel in ways, but I

wouldnt miss it for the world. It is so exciting to be part of the

changes that are happening. There

is gardening to be done. The

ground needs to be prepared and

opened to rain, air and light. It

needs fertilization and the planting of seeds. There is much work to do so that

summer may bring the harvest of our dreams.

Thank you for your participation in this interim time. You help the coming of a

new era every Sunday that you come to worship. You speed the future beauty and

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bounty of this congregation every time you participate in the process of

envisioning, healing and renewing that the Church Councils Steering Committee and the Diaconate are leading.

In the meantime, the birds are already singing! Our

faithful choir and great organist are making beautiful

music every Sunday. Fruits are already abundant! The

congregation is loving and supporting one another and

offering Sunday School and community dinners and food

shelf donations and programs for spiritual nurture and

social justice.

I hope you will savor this interim April. I hope you will

use this Eastertide to fill yourself with the light of Christs resurrection, a light that is already at work bringing new

life to you and to this church we love.

Love, life and light,

Tom

Among those who were lifted up in prayer in the past month:

Ren Millican Marcia Tomlinsons sister-in-law Clark Stever Margaret Staples sister Melissa Gerry Michael Caldwell Christine Nye Dan Perry, Sr. Marcia Tomlinsons sister Peg Clafin Margaret Staples

Lee Morinto Shirley Stever Kim McFarland Allen & Barbary Stahl

Terry Sweitzer Sam Martin Amy & her children Maxine Burgess

the owner & employees of Britton Lumber

Our sympathy and love to the family and friends of

Anita Bean

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Lectionary

Readings

for

April

April 5, 2015

Easter Day

*Acts 10:34-43

or

Isaiah 25:6-9

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

or

Acts 10:34-43

John 20:1-18

or

Mark 16:1-8

Second Sunday of Easter

April 12, 2015

*Acts 4:32-35

Psalm 133

1 John 1:1-2:2

John 20:19-31

Third Sunday of Easter

April 19, 2015

*Acts 3:12-19

Psalm 4

1 John 3:1-7

Luke 24:36b-48

Fourth Sunday of Easter

April 26, 2015

*Acts 4:5-12

Psalm 23

1 John 3:16-24

John 10:11-18

Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 3, 2015

*Acts 8:26-40

Psalm 22:25-31

1 John 4:7-21

John 15: 9-17

* During Eastertide a reading from Acts is sometimes substituted for the Old

Testament lesson.

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Christian Ed

We had great Sunday School

attendance in March, and the kids

listened to stories, made projects,

and even ate matzo crackers as

they learned about Easter and the

events that are commemorated

during Holy Week. The month

culminated with Palm Sunday,

where the children helped read the

scripture and passed out palms

during the service, as well as hosting the coffee hour.

Also in March, we purchased new movie equipment using

money bequeathed to Christian Ed by Jane Munson, along

with funds raised at our Valentine dinner. The c hurch now

has a new flat screen TV, a sound bar, a Blu-ray & DVD

player, as well as a cart to store them all on. We tried them

out for the first time at the community dinner, and the kids

enjoyed watching a movie after they'd eaten. We look

forward to more movie showings in the future!

CHURCH COUNCIL NEWS

Finally on March 5th we were able to find 11 members in attendance at 7:00 PM so

the meeting was able to accomplish its business. First thanking all for attending

and then accepting the scarce minutes of the three monthly meetings held without a

quorum. December 4th, January 8th, and February 5th.

Robert Taylor is mailing out an informational Stewardship letter to be followed up

by the Pledge Letter. If you have already received it please be prompt as unless

pledges improve we will be in deep hole.

The Diaconate will be printing our own Bulletins when the present supply runs out

in May.

Christian Ed purchased new movie equipment with income from supper. Children

also purchased food for the food shelf.

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Perrys Oil Service has installed a temporary above ground tank because of problems with the underground which cant be repaired until ground thaws. Trustees have contracted with Randy Hoyt for repairs to steeple.

Steering Committee has installed charts on vestry wall for everyone to view and

add colored dots indicating agreement or not. Hope all will complete.

Because April 2nd is Maundy Thursday service the monthly Church Council

meeting has been moved to the 9th.

See information on Bradford 250 Celebration in following minutes.

All Officers, Boards, and Committees annual reports must be to Barb Joslyn and/or

Dan Perry before April 15th. ((barbaraj33@gmail.com;Big1dan@gmail.com)) or

by letter.

Daniel Perry, Moderator

(following are the minutes)

The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ Bradford, Vermont

CHURCH COUNCIL MINUTES

March 5, 2015

Present: Rev. Tom Kinder- Interim Minister; Charlotte Welch- Assist Treasurer;

Gloria Fox-Treasurer; Rob Taylor-Finance; Dan Perry II-Assistant Moderator; Dan

Perry III-Trustees; Barbara Joslyn-Clerk; Carole Taylor-Diaconate; Marcia

Tomlinson-Asst. Historian; Janice Larabee-Nominating Committee, Usher &

Flower Committees; Jim Perry-Diaconate

.

The meeting opened with us reading the Covenant together and Rev. Kinder

offered a prayer.

Approval of February 5, 2015 Minutes:

A motion was made by Carole Taylor to approve the February 5, 2015 minutes; seconded by Gloria Fox and approved by unanimous vote.

Approval of January 8, 2015 Minutes:

A motion was made by Marcia Tomlinson to approve the January 8, 2015 minutes; seconded by Jim Perry and approved by unanimous vote.

Approval of December 4, 2014 Minutes

A motion was made by Gloria Fox to approve the December 4, 2014 minutes; seconded by Carole Taylor and approved by unanimous vote.

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Treasurers Report:

...................................... Treasurer requested $12,000 from the Katrina Munn Memorial Funds for this years budget for the music. This should defray the deficit.

...................................... Treasurer would also like to have the church pay back the $4000 borrowed from the Wild Game Supper funds to help defray

costs. Game Supper funds are to only be used for repairs to the church, not

for the churchs budget.

...................................... Question of how the Katrina Munn funds are used. These funds were set up to be used for the music section of the Churchs budget.

The treasures report will stand approved until audited.

Rob Taylor Finance Committee:

He and Rev. Kinder are preparing the informational stewardship letter. Rob will e-mail it to the Clerk (Barb Joslyn) who will mail it out to church

members by March 15th. It will be followed by the annual pledge letter and

pledge card to be mailed by the end of March.

Marcia Tomlinson-Asst. Historian:

See this months Epistle with the corrected February article about Capt. Trotter, from a Bradford Authors Viewpoint.

Jim Perry-Deacons:

Pre-printed bulletins will run until the end of May; we will then use our own.

Monetary assistance: o $100 to the Bradford Food Shelf; $25 for gas @ Perrys Oil Service o $1196 balance.

Marcia Tomlinson March Deacon of the Month

Jim Perry April Deacon of the month.

Easter information: o Asked Church Council to change the date of the monthly meeting

from April 2nd which is Maundy Thursday, to April 9th.

o Good Friday, April 3rd, the church doors will be open although there will be no service.

o Palm leaves will be distributed by the children on Palm Sunday. o Sunrise service with the Methodists.

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Pastoral Care (before/after a minister leaves): o If you are an active member, go to Rev. Kinder first. o If you want to talk with another minister, talk with Rev. Kinder first;

he will contact the other minister.

o For funerals, see Rev. Kinder who will then negotiate with another minister that you might want to have.

o Karen Lipinczyk is not eligible for pastoral concerns or duties until after our new minister (not the interim minister) has served for two

years.

Bridget Peters-Christian Education:

New movie equipment has been purchased; Patrick Peters will set it up this weekend (March 7th/8th).

Trip to Hannafords for Food Shelf shopping with the Sunday School last week in February.

March 29th, Palm Sunday, is 5th Sunday of the month. The children will participate in the service and then host coffee hour.

The children are going to decide how to distribute $130 from the Valentines Dinner they are leaning towards an animal shelter. Once they decide, we will organize a trip to deliver the donation in person.

Dan Perry II Trustees:

With Joe Button away, there have not been too many meetings.

Planning is in the works for the clock/steeple renovations. We have received some funds and we have decided that Randy Hoyt from Tunbridge, VT will

do the work he had the lowest bid for the job.

With the ground frozen right now, a temporary 275 gallon fuel tank has been set up on the north side of the church. Perrys Oil Service donated the tank until after the work is done to replace the buried tank. The clerk will send

out a formal thank you to Perrys Oil Service when the work is done.

Reverend Kinder:

Talked about the work of the steering committee regarding the charts that are up on the walls in the vestry. The charts are awaiting responses from the

church family. Members of the Church Council have been asked to start the

response process before they leave tonight.

Two areas of concern that the Deacons will oversee are: 1) the need for healing, and 2) how we deal with conflict issues.

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I am talking with Methodist minister, Jordan, about Sunrise Service and will get the word out.

We will also have a Maundy Thursday service and will get the word out on that as well.

Carole Taylor, Deacon:

Nothing additional to report.

Janice Larabee Nominating Committee:

There are several positions that need to be filled for the coming year: o Moderator; Assistant Clerk; Auditor; Trustee (maybe Janice Larabee);

Diaconate; Music (Janice Blake off for one year); Inter Church

Council (Storme off; but she is our only member at this time so we need 3 spots filled; Flower-needs 1 spot filled; Ushers (Janice Larabee

on/Charlotte Welch on- Note: Charlotte already helps every

Sunday).

Bradford 250th Celebration: o May 25th Rogers Rangers Encampment by NAPA o Dedicating the memorial that is being moved from the Memorial Field

to the Flagpole in the center of town.

o May 25th: Luncheon chaired by Martina Stever/Janice Larabee Wants our church to donate hamburger, hotdogs, rolls (salads

made by church members), 2 grills and someone to man them. The meal is by donation and all but 10% will come back to the

church.

o September 26th is the Ball; can the Hymn Sing be changed to Sunday afternoon?

New Business:

Charlotte Welch reported that Scott Welch is close to getting our website simplified. He needs to know some Wild Game Supper info so to put it on

the site Charlotte will contact Julie Porter or David McLam.

Motion: Marcia Tomlinson made a motion to change the date of the April 2nd (Maundy Thursday) Church Council meeting to the following Thursday,

April 9th. Seconded by Gloria Fox and approved by unanimous vote.

Motion: Marcia Tomlinson made a motion that the church donate hamburger, hotdogs, rolls for the Bradford 250th Celebration on May 25th. Charlotte

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Welch seconded the motion and it was approved by unanimous vote. Janice

and Martina will let us know how much.

The next meeting will be held Thursday, April 9, 2015 at 7:00 pm.

The meeting was closed with a prayer and adjourned at 8:10pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara Joslyn

Church Families from Long Ago Part II The Clarks

According to Rev. McKeens History of Bradford, little was known of Joseph and Sarah Clark, two of the original seven members of our church in 1810. They

were among the early inhabitants of Bradford Joseph born in 1747 and Sarah in 1759. They were members of the first Congregational Church under the pastoral

care of Rev. Gardner Kellogg. In fact, Joseph was one of the two men (the other

Edward Clark of Haverhill, NH) to build Bradfords first meeting house (now the Old Church Theater). The contract/bond was signed on April 23, 1793 as voted at

the Freemens meeting on September 2, 1788. Rev. Kellogg served for fourteen years as Pastor of this church the one and only pastor of the Congregational Calvinistic Church of Christ, Bradford, Vermont. He was paid with 20 cords of wood if needed and a 200-pound settlement in land. He was ordained in the new church on September 2, 1795 and continued his ministry until his resignation I

1809. Soon after his resignation the church voted to form a new church with a

more orthodox creed.

Rev. McKeen does go on to say that when he first arrived in Bradford and had no

home of his own, he boarded with the Joseph Clark family in their home on the

Lower Plain about one and a quarter miles south of the center of the village. He

described it as a comfortable cottage which the Clarks had occupied for a long time

and that it was probably one of the oldest houses in the town. It was in good

condition when he wrote his book in 1874. He had a little chamber hat looked out toward the polar star.

Rev. McKeen says that Joseph Clark was generally styled as Deacon Clark although he was never regularly so constituted. He was active in religious affairs

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and for a time officiated at communion services. He was selectman in 1792 and

was later excommunicated from the church. Joseph married Sarah Mussay and

they had a large family:

1) Moody Clark, born August 31, 1796, married Susan Richards March 20, 1797

and died April 9, 1843 and she died May 31, 1850. They had seven sons and three

daughters.

2) Laben Clark, born July 19, 1778, became a Methodist minister, was employed in

the last years of his life as the financial agent of Wesleyan University in

Middletown, CT where he died in 1868.

3) Joseph Clark, Jr., born September 6, 1780, was a farmer and mason, was a local

Methodist preacher. He remained on a farm a few rods from his fathers farm and was very active in Methodism on the Lower Plain before the church was built. He

died February 22, 1849. He was twice married: first to Fanny Aspinwall who died

in 1826 and second to Susan Bond of Corinth who died April 7, 1847. They had no

children but adopted a niece, Miss Bond.

4) Edward Clark, born July 6, 1784, moved to New York state, married, and died

there.

5) Hannah Clark, born February 6, 1787, became the second wife of David

Morrison of Fairlee whose first wife was her sister.

6) Sally Clark, born July 9, 1789, married David Morrison of Fairlee. She died

leaving three sons.

7) Samuel Clark, born July 30, 1791, lived in Bradford a while, then moved to

New York state and died there.

8) Betsy Clark, born April 10, 1794. She died at home.

9) Gardner Kellogg Clark, born February 28, 1796, graduated from Union College

in Schenectady, NY, studied for the Gospel ministry and was ordained and

installed as pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Preble, NY, married and had

children. It is believed that he spent some of the last years of his life in the service

of the American Home Missionary Society. He died in Saratoga, Minnesota on

March 19, 1870.

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Joseph Clark, Sr. died in December, 1835 and his wife Sarah died May 31, 1850.

They and some of their children are buried in the Upper Plain Cemetery in

Bradford.

Historians Note: Its interesting that two of our churchs seven original members had problems within our church. Joseph Clark was excommunicated; Deacon

Daniel Moore in 1824 had a problem. This is what Bernard Craft, long-time

member says: In January 1824 Deacon Daniel Moore and Benjamin Underwood refer boundary line to committee chosen by the church, Deacon Moore to avoid

abiding by the agreement reached, sells his property to his son. June 1824 Rev.

Grant Powers of Haverhill called as mediator, and he proposes that the church buy

the land that is in dispute which Underwood agrees to sell for $5.00 but does not.

October 1826 Council of Four Churches called, Bath, Piermont, Orford and

Corinth. Moore and Underwood sign agreement but in April 1827 Underwood

dropped from membership and October 4th Moore resigned as Deacon.

Our first seven members:

Joseph Clark excommunicated Nov. 23, 1829 Sarah Clark Died March 18, 1833 Daniel Moore Died Jan. 1851 Anna Moore Died May 1824 Pamelia Kidder Died Kingsbury, NY Deborah White Ret. To Piermont August 1814 Euphema Morse Died Fe. 17, 1841

I guess things really dont change! Every generation in our church has its joys and concerns. I would like to find out if the Clark cottage still exists on the Lower

Plain. Any ideas??

Eris, Historian

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Our church is on the bottom right spring in Bradford long ago!

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Good Morning Kenneth L. Samuel

"I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to

rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O

Lord, thou has brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I

should not go down in the pit. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of [God], and give

thanks at the remembrance of [God's] holiness. For [God's] anger endureth but a

moment; in [God's] favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh

in the morning." - Psalm 30

I think I've been hearing the refrain of Psalm 30:5 all of my life. I've heard it

proclaimed with powerful conviction from the pulpit and I've heard it beautifully

intoned in the melodies of gospel songs and anthems. There is perhaps no other

Psalm that offers as much faithful hope and blessed assurance as this one:

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

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I had always understood "morning" to be the daybreak that God sends after the

nighttime of our misery and suffering. I believed that joy would surely come when

daylight appeared, and we could finally see our way out of the trepidations and

tribulations of the night. Then, late one night, I received a call, and when I

answered the phone, the caller said to me, "Good morning." I looked over at the

clock and it was 12:07 a.m. It suddenly dawned on me that morning comes to

most of us not at daybreak, but at night.

And since joy comes in the morning, joy must come when we realize that our new

day dawns at night. Joy comes when we understand and believe that dark times

and dark situations cannot prevent the fulfillment of God's promise and progress

in our lives. Joy comes when we celebrate the fact that even in darkness, God is

still moving us toward better days.

Though my daylight may not yet have appeared, I am now moved to joyfully

pronounce to myself and to others: "Good morning!"

Prayer Dear Lord, even in the darkness of our circumstances, help us to realize that you

have already brought us through the debacles and depressions of yesterday and

days gone by. Now help us to find joy in knowing that the new day of our

salvation has already begun. Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

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Saturday, May 2nd, in our church,

the North Country Chorus,

with the St. Johnsbury Academy Hilltones, the St. Johnsbury School Childrens Chorus, pianos, percussionists, flutes, and soloists,

all under the direction of Alan Rowe,

will present Carl Orffs CARMINA BURANA

Click here for a taste of this masterpiece you may not realize you already know!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFSK0ogeg4

Carmina Burana translates as Songs Of Beuren, and refers to a collection of early 13th-century songs and poems that was

discovered in Beuren in 1803. The name has

Latin roots Carmina means songs, while Burana is the Latinised form of Beuren, the name of the Benedictine monastery of

Benediktbeuren in Bavaria.

The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent, and

satirical. They were written principally in

Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German,

and some with traces of Old French or

Provenal. Some are macaronic, a mixture of

Latin and German or French vernacular.

Twenty-four of these poems in Carmina

Burana were set to music by Carl Orff in 1936.

The other two NCC Carmina performances will be at the Littleton First

Congregational Church on May 1st at 7:30 pm, and at the St. Johnsbury South

Congregational Church on May 3rd at 3:00 pm.

Tickets may be purchased at the door, or better yet from Catamount Arts.

Details at http://www.northcountrychorus.org/events.html

Among those who were lifted up in prayer in the past month:Our sympathy and love to the family and friends ofLectionaryThird Sunday of EasterChristian EdCHURCH COUNCIL NEWSThe Congregational Church of the United Church of ChristApproval of February 5, 2015 Minutes:Approval of January 8, 2015 Minutes:Approval of December 4, 2014 MinutesTreasurers Report:The treasures report will stand approved until audited.Rob Taylor Finance Committee:Marcia Tomlinson-Asst. Historian:Jim Perry-Deacons:Bridget Peters-Christian Education:Dan Perry II Trustees:Reverend Kinder:Carole Taylor, Deacon:Janice Larabee Nominating Committee:New Business:The next meeting will be held Thursday, April 9, 2015 at 7:00 pm.The meeting was closed with a prayer and adjourned at 8:10pm.Church Families from Long Ago Part II The ClarksEris, HistorianOur church is on the bottom right spring in Bradford long ago!Details at http://www.northcountrychorus.org/events.html