Dear friends,
We are two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, and we continue to adapt the ways we gather in order to protect ourselves and our community.
At our meeting last week, the Church Council took up a discussion of continuing our requirement to wear masks for church gatherings, including worship. The decision was made to continue our mask requirement through at least Easter Sunday (April 17th). We expect larger that usual crowds for both Linda’s retirement service and Easter Sunday, and it seems wise to continue to act with an abundance of caution to protect those who want to worship in the sanctuary for these important celebrations. The council will take up this discussion again at our meeting on April 5th.
If and when we decide to change our mask requirement, I pray that we will bear with one another with grace, patience and love. It was clear from the Council’s discussion that while some folks are ready to move about without masks, others are reticent to gather without them. People’s decisions to wear masks or not are often complex and highly personal. If our requirements change, we expect folks will continue to do what feels safe for them and their families. This might feel uncomfortable and messy at times – but if we extend each other a bit of extra grace and compassion, we can navigate this phase of the pandemic together.
We are also mindful that COVID continues to be part of our collective reality, and protocols for protecting one another will continue to be strengthened and relaxed as necessary. As always, we will strive to be a community of mutual care and concern.
With hope,
Marianne Cowan, Church Moderator
Rev. Kelli Whitman, Interim Pastor
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We are pleased to welcome Rev. Kelli Whitman as our interim minister. She began her work with us on January 16. She’ll be serving alongside Rev. Gard through March.
Kelli is a life-long member of the United Church of Christ. She grew up in central Pennsylvania and graduated from Susquehanna University with a B.A. in Communications. After college, she moved to St. Louis Missouri to attend Eden Theological Seminary. She moved to Maine in 2010 and has been serving churches in the Cumberland Association ever since.
In her pastoral profile, Kelli describes her approach to interim ministry this way:
I like to think of interim ministry as a “trapeze moment”—we’ve let go of one settled reality, and we’re waiting to grasp the next. As an interim minister, I hope to help a congregation make the most of that “in the air” time. This usually involves asking lots of questions. What do we want to celebrate about our history to this point? What do we need to let go of in order to embrace what is next? What strengths exist in our congregation right now? Who do we believe God is calling us to serve right now? Most of us do not enjoy change, but if we can embrace the possibilities of transition, we can emerge with a renewed sense of mission and purpose, ready to embrace what God is calling us to do in the next chapter of our lives together.
Kelli lives in Saco with her husband Bryan and daughter Abigail and her cat, Linty, who has been a constant companion during these many months of working from home. In her free time, Kelli enjoys baking (especially attempting new cupcake recipes), working on a variety of arts and crafts, and listening to pop-culture podcasts.
IN-PERSON WORSHIP in the Sanctuary!
9:30 am SERVICE EVERY WEEK
As the sanctuary was built to hold 300 people, the 40-50 who come regularly to worship during Covid can chose comfortably distanced seating. Currently, our services are a bit shorter, as we are singing two hymns instead of 3, have the offering plates at the doors, and the children are invited to activities with Sunday School leaders in the educational wing during the service. We have the good fortune of having the Sanctuary and Handbell Choirs back in action. They are playing and singing while masked, no easy thing, but it’s good to be together and not to have to forego this important part of worship.
MASKS ARE REQUIRED IN THE BUILDINGS. We are holding coffee hour in the sanctuary during the winter–more room to move about.
THE STITCHERS are meeting on Thursday mornings, 9:30-12, masked. THEY ALSO WELCOME you to drop in for COFFEE/TEA/CONVERSATION, any time during the morning. Should the numbers in attendance make meeting in the library too cosy, we have other spaces to which we can move.
Guidance from the CDC is changing daily…and often confusing. Still, the Council has determined it wise to have a policy in place for ALL gatherings in the church, both church and community groups:
All groups meeting in the buildings and on the property of the church must follow the CDC guidelines in place at the time of their meeting; Maine CDC guidelines must be observed where they are more restrictive.
Receive news of the church and community in your e-mail inbox about once a month, and a link to each worship video weekly. Each person in your household can subscribe to have these sent to their very own inbox. It’s free!
NOTE: When we launched the e-newsletter, some of you found that your issues went somewhere other than your email inbox. Among the ways to fix this is to put the church’s email address (office@ngucc.org) in your Contacts so that your email server will “recognize” us and deliver your mail.
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For those who do not “do” e-mail, we are happy to send you newsletters in a snail-mail version by first class mail. Please use the CONTACT US tab, above, to request the paper newsletter; don’t forget to include your street address.
Distribution days for the remainder of the summer are: July 24, August 14, and August 28. Please note that there are 3 weeks between the second July and the first August distribution days.
There are things we “amost never” can purchase at our usual supplier, Good Shepherd Food Bank, so if you are in the giving (and shopping) mood, our clients would love to have:
Beans (baked beans, other canned beans, dry beans), Jam/Jelly, Scallop/Gratin Potato side dishes, Fruit Juice in plastic containers, Spaghetti-O’s or other canned pasta, Coffee, Tea and Hot Chocolate, shampoo, dish detergent, liquid laundry detergent, garbage bags.
PLEASE check expiration dates!
It is our mission to be a reliable source of supplemental food throughout the year. Twice a month, we offer non-perishable foods purchased at Good Shepherd Food Bank and/or given by generous individual donors, and surplus produce, bread and other bakery items collected from the Gray Hannaford store.
Donations are welcome during the week, when the church office is open. Cash gifts are also welcome(click on the MAKE A DONATION tab above)
Distribution of food happens at the back of 19 Gloucester Hill Road, off Church Road, from 8-9:30 AM on the Second and Fourth Saturdays of Every Month.
Open to New Gloucester residents. Quick once/year registration; quick check-in. (New Gloucester residents may also use the Gray food pantry , which is open on the first and third Friday afternoons each month.)
Thursdays at 3
A new set of bible passages each week, tied to the Sunday service. We meet in the church library. Come and explore with us.
If you want to read ahead, you can find a calendar of the readings HERE.
Sanctuary Choir rehearses at 7 pm on Wednesdays. Singers of all voice groups are welcome to join in the fun and fellowship. At each rehearsal we do several voice (and brain) warm-ups before we launch into the anthems. There is laughter, sympathy, prayer, and sometimes sweet treats at the end. We also keep a calendar on the wall so singers planning to be away can pencil in their dates. C’mon. You know you want to!
Handchime choir rehearses at 6 pm on Wednesdays. We could easily use a few more people. Ideally, each ringer has only two or three bells, and some of our regulars have been juggling 5 or 6…so, yes, there’s room for you.
