the LifelineNORWICH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHUNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

augu s t 2014

The Work & Playof the Church

The children read and interpreted the Pentecost readings on Children's Sunday.

Ann Beams baptizes Logan Earle Gallagher The Rev. Dr. James Antal and the Rev. Dr. Richard Crocker preached while Mary was on vacation, assisted by Susan White.

The Lifeline – August 20142

2014 LEADERSHIP

CHURCH OFFICERSChurch Council Chair . . . Chuck EgnerModerator . . . . . . . . John SeveringhausAsst . Moderator . . . . . . .Carolyn MertzClerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joanne EgnerTreasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark BeliveauAsst . Treasurer . . . . James HourdequinCollector . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin WitschiAsst Collector . . . . . . . Priscilla Vincent

BOARD OF DEACONSSenior Deacons . . . . . . . . Hillary White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dick Broussard

Mary Magavern, Bob Miller

BOARD OF TRUSTEESChair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doug James

Gary Brooks, Dan Van Dorn Avery Post

BOARD OF MISSIONChair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Doug Britton

Deborah Berryman, Jeff NielsenKathy Grant, Vicky Fish, Heidi Webster

BOARD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATIONChair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Beliveau

Ann Beams, Eve ZukowskiBrittny Calsbeek

COMMITTEES

FLOWERSTilda White, Sharon Corrigan

Deb Van Arman

HOSPITALITYMarty James, Stephanie Smith

Cynthia Blake, Anne Broussard Lillian Goss

INVESTMENT:Carolyn Mertz

MUSIC:Don Helms, Evelynn Ellis, Marty James

NOMINATING:Shirley Parker, Priscilla Vincent

STEWARDSHIP:Barbara Duncan, Jane Helms

Ann Beams

WOODWORTH FUND:Mimi Simpson, Jenny Williams Willemien Miller, Ryan Adams

Harry Dorman

OTHERAt-Large Church Council . . . . . . . . . . . .Head Usher . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter MertzHistorian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Delegates .Avery Post, Kenneth CracknellAlt Delegates . . . . .Katherine Broussard

NORWICH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHMary Brownlow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PastorKathleen Sherlock-Green . . . Choir DirectorTacy Colaiacomo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Organist Danielle Taylor . . . . Sunday School Coord .

Amy Frost . . . . . . . . . . . . . Office ManagerNichole Hastings . . . . . . . . . . . Bookkeeper Dan Goulet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sexton

IF YOU WANT TO DONATE FLOWERS FOR WORSHIP...please contact Deb Van Arman, by phone: 649-1723; or by email: jay .vanarman@gmail .com for help, information, or to sign up . You may also sign up on the “Flowers” sheet posted at the back of the church .

Camp AgapeDid you know… .?

• There are an estimated 4000 children in Vermont who have experienced a parent’s incarceration?

• A child with one parent in prison has a 70% chance of being incarcerated him/herself?

• More than 60% of parents in prison are held more than 100 miles from home?

This month, the Board of Mission has given $1000 to Camp Agape, a week-long camp in Vermont for children who have a parent in prison . Founded in 2006, Camp Agape Vermont offers a week of free camping and, since its inception, over 300 children have participated in camp in the beau-tiful setting of Covenant Hills Christian Camp, Cabot, VT . The guiding principle is to offer the children agape, a Greek word which means the kind of love God has for us – freely given, generous, unconditional, no-strings-attached love .

Camp Agape depend on gifts of time, materials and money . In 2013 their in-kind and financial support came in this form:

IN KIND DONATIONSHandmade Quilts $15,200

Donated Supplies $3800

Staff @ $10/Hr $21,600

Board @ $10/Hr $6300

Camper Transportation $900

Total In Kind Donated $47,800

REVENUESIndividual Donors $10,456

Congregations $10,643

Fanny Allen Corporation $7500

Family Foundations $6105

Other $440

Total Revenues $35,144

The Board of Mission is pleased to be a part of helping Camp Agape give these children a week of summer fun and love .

3The Lifeline – August 2014

This summer, the Common Lec-tionary of suggested Scripture pas-sages is working through the book of Genesis . We do not always use all the lectionary passages, so you may not have heard all the stories in this quirky, 50-chapter narrative . From the creation stories and “pre-history” stories of human nature and various tribes, we move to a specific tribe and family: Abraham, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren . Some of the stories told here are shocking, some are just foreign, some are comical, and some are heart-warming… .just like all family histories, I suppose .

The verse above was taken from the story of Jacob, the second son of Abraham’s second son . Through his own scheming, Jacob is forced to run away from home to escape an angry brother . He stops for the night and sleeps with his head on a stone (sounds uncomfortable) and dreams that he sees a ladder going between heaven and earth, thronged with angels . God appears and promises Jacob the land on which he sleeps as a gift to him and his offspring, and also that a blessing will flow from his family to all the families of the earth . Jacob awakes and fearfully realizes that the Lord is present in that place . He names it Beth El, the house of God, and the gate of heaven .

It would be easy to interpret this story on a purely territorial basis, yet another confirmation of the right of Abraham’s descendants to go to any length to occupy the land . But, on another level, it speaks to any moment of insight, any gateway to a hopeful future . This was a low point in Jacob’s life: landless, home-less, separated from his family, with no real prospects except a stolen blessing from his father, Isaac . So his dream is a surprise, a non-intu-itive leap, an “aha moment,” the recognition that God can speak in places we had imagined untouched by divine grace .

Many of our spiritual practices are designed to help us pay atten-tion . We pray and sing and minister to each other so that we can, at un-expected times, exclaim with Jacob, "Surely the Lord is in this place-and I did not know it!" Even in the com-pany of those we had thought op-posed to our deeply-held beliefs and ethics, we are sometimes shocked by a tender or thoughtful moment of sharing . Even on Sunday morn-ings, when Christians have gathered for centuries to hear the Word and share the stories, we are sometimes awestruck at a new expression of grace . Even in times of tragedy and trial, we are sometimes surprised by laughter and joy .

As a community of faith, one of our tasks and blessings is to share those moments of awe: to tell stories about our encounters with the divine in unexpected places,

to learn of dreams and insights that shake us out of complacency and time-honored certainties . I am lucky: I get to share some of these stories with you from the pulpit . But each of you is also part of the ministry of the laity; each of you has life-giving stories to tell . Who knows but that one person’s story is another person’s “aha moment .”

Jacob’s experience at the gate of heaven in Beth-El did not send him back to his parents, or back to the past, or into a secure and comfort-able future . It was a promise of God’s presence on a dangerous and unpredictable road, and a prom-ise of ultimate reconciliation and blessing . Likewise, our moments of insight tend to lead us into new territory . The stone pillow at Beth-El was not a boundary marker, but a signpost . May the dreams of this congregation be full of awe, full of surprise, and full of life-giving love .

Mary

PS: I would like to thank the NCC UCC for my 3-week vacation in July, a wonderful and refreshing time in England . William and I completed Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Path (each of us for the 2nd time) and got some visits in with extended family . Special thanks go to the guest preachers, Ann Beams, Jim Antal, and Richard Crocker, to the deacons, and to Susan White for helping with worship .

From the Minister"Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!"

Genesis 28:16

The Lifeline – August 20144

MEMBER FROM AFAR PROFILE

NancyRosenblum

Nancy grew up in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire . She went to what was then Colby Junior College and became a medical secretary . “I loved this job and I worked for 11 years at the cancer center in hematology and oncology .

“Bob and I had a June wedding in 1975 at the Dartmouth Bema . It was a beautiful day . Our children Holly (born in 1980) and Scott (born in 1981) went to Marion Cross, and I started working at the Nor-wich Nursery School . I absolutely loved the fun of working with children and getting to know all the wonderful families, and I worked there for 20 years .”

Before the children came, Nancy was in the choir . Jane Helms was conducting . Mark Pickett was the pastor . Nancy met many wonderful people at church . After the children were born Nancy began teach-ing Sunday School . She also worked as the church secretary for Mark and also for Patty Hough-Ross .

Bob was working for Creare Innova-tions / Spectra / Dimatix . He became chief financial officer and then chief operating officer .

“We spent nearly 40 years in the Upper Valley but decided to move to Naples, Florida to be near Scott and the 2 grand-children . Many friends visit us here and we love having them .”

Daughter Holly will be getting married in September in St . Paul, Minnesota .

Nancy is busy sewing, scrapbooking, gardening, and paper crafting . Bob enjoys his woodworking shop . Nancy reminded me that Bob made the gold clock hands for the church . They are rather ornate and bigger than you think .

The Rosenblums do have a modest boat, and Nancy enjoys fishing as long as she doesn’t catch anything!

Nancy is a firm believer in angels and feels that everyone has their own very special guardian angel .

PS:Nancy is one of many long-time, long-distance members who continue their support of the Norwich Congrega-

tional Church . The Stewardship Committee thought we’d celebrate our long-distance pledgers and, thanks to Linda Himadi, here’s the story of Nancy Rosenblum and her family’s connection with the Church and the community of Norwich .

The Stewardship Committee invites all of its members and friends to make a stewardship pledge . The Church receives pledges from long-distance members as well as the members and friends whom we see most Sundays . We move into the celebration of stewardship this fall . We welcome your thoughts on gratitude and giving of our time, talent, substance and influence .

The Stewardship CommitteeAnn Beams, Barbara Duncan & Jane Helms

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August 2014 Mission OfferingT H E V E R M O N T F O O D B A N K

The Vermont Foodbank runs a variety of programs to assist Vermonters in need including the following:

Feeding Vermont: Through a network of 270 food shelves, meals sites, senior centers, shelters, after-school programs, the Vermont Foodbank runs programs that help feed as many as 86,000 Vermonters who need food assistance .

Back Pack: All school-aged children today have one thing in common: the ever-present back-pack . For most kids a backpack might contain books and other school supplies . For chil-dren participating in the BackPack™ Program, a backpack means much more – it means a weekend with a full belly . With each new school year, the Vermont Foodbank wants to do everything it can to ensure that the youth in our communities don’t go hungry over the weekend . Beginning in October 2008, the Foodbank launched a weekend feeding program for children called the BackPack™ Program . This nationally recognized program of Feeding America is designed to meet the needs of hungry children at times when other resources, like school breakfast and lunch, are not available, such as weekends and school vacations .

Gleaning: Hundreds of volunteers are part of our volunteer gleaning network . Gleaning is the act of harvesting excess or unmarketable produce from a farm . This act of rescuing food al-lowed the Foodbank to gather and distribute as much as 400,000 pounds of fresh, local pro-duce last year throughout the state . Food banking has always had its roots in food rescue . Across the nation, for several decades, the national charitable food system has benefited from surplus production and manufacturing . However, in recent years food production has become more efficient and food banks have seen a decline in shelf-stable product dona-tions . Naturally, our reaction to this decline was to look for new opportunities and new sources of food donations . Knowing that many food producers in Vermont are agricultural, it made perfect sense to design a program that would help capture products that were not making it to market . Thus gleaning was born at the Vermont Foodbank to complement our fresh food rescue efforts .

To find out more about the Vermont Foodbank, its programs and opportunities to volunteer go to: www .vtfoodbank .org

Mission Offering donations can be made by using the yellow Mission envelopes in the pews .

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Beautiful Summer MusicChoir member Don Helms and Director Kathy Sherlock-Green each

sang during our summer services, along with five Young Artists from Opera North .

We thank the Clevie White Fund for ongoing support and sponsor-ship of the Young Artists participation in our summer series .

John McCarthy, baritone, recently starred in the world premier of Maurice Wright’s Galatea_Reset, an opera that utilized both human and robot singers . Also, he was honored as the second recipient of the John T . Douglas Award for Young Artists presented in memory of Temple’s past opera director . He has served as a studio artist for Chautauqua Opera and Opera Saratoga . John appears very frequently as a soloist across the greater Philadelphia area working with groups such as The Philomusica Chorale of Delaware Valley, The Germantown Concert Chorus, The Rittenhouse Orchestra, Moravian College and Opera Libera . He has been honored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions several times as a regional finalist and encouragement award winner in both the New York and San Antonio districts and regions . John holds degrees from Temple University and the Cincinnati Conservatory .

Sean Christensen, tenor, received his bachelors in Music and French at Bard College, and will be finishing his Masters degree in Music at Mannes College in May . He has performed excerpts as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Jenik in The Bartered Bride, Don Jose in Carmen, Romeo in Roméo et Juliette, Ruggiero in La Rondine, Alfredo in La Traviata, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Lysander in Midsummer Night’s Dream, and as Faust in Gounod’s opera . He has performed as a soloist with the American Symphonic Orchestra and with the Mannes Opera, and given several recitals . He has been awarded two prizes in music for his work, and studies with Arthur Levy .

Emily Geller, mezzo-soprano, was most recently a Resident Artist with Tri-Cities Opera where she performed the roles of Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Mercedes in Carmen, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana and Ines in Il Trovatore . Emily has performed lead roles with numerous regional theater companies, including C-R Productions at Cohoes Music Hall, Staten Island Philharmonic, One World Symphony, Amore Opera, Regina Opera, NY Lyric Opera Theater and Village Light Opera Group . She has also frequently performed at summer festivals such as Music Theater Bavaria, Intermezzo Opera Theater, Rising Star Opera Theater, College Light Opera Company and Boston University Tanglewood Institute . Emily earned her Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory and her Masters of Music in Opera from Binghamton University .

Kyle Van Schoonhoven, tenor, is a native of Lockport, New York . His recent stage credits include Alfredo in La Traviata, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Hoffmann in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Genaro in Prokofiev’s Maddalena, and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Kyle was a 2012 Victoria J . Mastrobuono Emerging Artist where he played Ruiz in Il Trovatore, conducted by Victor DeRenzi . Kyle was the recipient of the 2012 Leo and Luc Martin Scholarship . He received his BM from the Fredonia School of Music and his MM in Voice Pedagogy and Performance from Westminster Choir College .

Emily Misch, soprano, is a native of Santa Monica, CA, currently completing her Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes College – The New School for Music . Past performances include Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire at Neue Galerie New York and the role of Lucia in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia with Mannes Opera . As a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera Company in the summer of 2012, Emily covered the role of Zerlina in Don Giovanni and performed scenes from The Rake’s Progress as Anne Trulove, Le nozze di figaro as Susanna, and L’incoronazione di Poppea as Poppea . A student of Beth Roberts, Emily is a graduate of Yale College, where she performed principal roles with the Yale Baroque Opera Project and Yale Opera, and where she was the recipient of the Susan J . Smith Arts Prize and the Bach Society Prize .

The Lifeline – August 20148

Non-profitOrganizationUS Postage

PAIDNorwich, VTPermit No . 1

NORWICH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHUNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST15 Church Street • PO Box 236

Norwich, VT 05055-0236Tel: (802) 649-1433 • Fax (802) 649-2805

Office Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 8:30 to 12:30Email: . . . . norwichcongregational@gmail .comWebsite: . . . . . www .norwichcongregational .orgPastor: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev . Mary Brownlow

AN OPEN AND AFFIRMING CONGREGATION WORSHIPING ON

SUNDAYS AT 10 AM

LIFELINECoordinator / Editor / Photographer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Linda HimadiDesigner: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Douglas LufkinSend articles to: . . . . . . . . . norwichcongregational@gmail .com

Deadline for next issue: August 15, 2014

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If the church does not have your e-mail address, and you would like to be kept abreast of an-nouncements and events at church – by this no cost/no waste option – please send an email to the church office at nccucc2@myfairpoint.net.

This Is Just to Say

I have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe icebox

and whichyou were probablysavingfor breakfast

Forgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)The Norton Anthology of Poetry

(New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005)