July 2023 Newsletter

July Calendar

Looking Ahead

Ongoing

Garden Tour: July 20

Our garden angels, Judy and Gerri are hosting a church garden tour on Thursday, July 20^th from 5-6:30 PM. There’s so much to see and to learn about the stories behind all the different gardens!

MONTHLY DRIVE THROUGH: July 8 from 1-3 pmCollection of Food for Open Pantry

We also collect food for Open Pantry each Sunday during our worship services.

JUST PEACE GATHERING: SUNDAY, JULY 9

Our Foster Just Peace Team is hosting an "Informal Conversation about Gun Violence” after worship next Sunday. Everyone is invited to participate. For more information, please contact Bob Loesch. 

GATHERING WITH BOB LOESCH: SUNDAY, JULY 16

Everyone is invited to join Bob, our Writer in Residence, after worship on July 16 to discuss, write and share reflections on each participant's “Star Word” that we distributed in January. See Pastor Barbara if you need a star word!

SPECIAL PICNIC: SATURDAY, JULY 29 AT 5:30 PM

Please join us for our second annual picnic with the family from Afghanistan with whom we have the honor of walking alongside. We will also be joined by members of our Neighborhood Support team from area faith communities.

Would you like to be on the coordinating team? Please speak to Pastor Barbara. We’ll have a sign up sheet for participation soon!

SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR REBECCA JOHNSON

We will be collecting school supplies each Sunday through August 13. Needed: Everything from pencils to backpacks, notebooks, glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils, and two and four pocket folders. Thanks to everyone for your support!

SNEUCC CONFERENCE ANNUAL MEETING 2023 - A NEW THING

Submitted by the Rev. Susan Tarantino

On June 16-17, the Southern New England Conference held its 4th annual meeting at the DCU Center in Worcester. Friday evening featured a story-telling event in Worcester’s historic Canal District. With 500 attending in-person or virtually, this was the first full meeting of the new conference since its establishment in 2020!

Truly a new thing: “born” at the start of the pandemic, our new conference has gathered each year in alternative ways including the virtual-only attendance required by covid. This was its first ever Annual Meeting held NOT entirely online, and NOT completely in person, but truly hybrid! 100% online AND virtual. God is indeed doing a new thing!

The 85 people who attended online had opportunities to participate alongside the 400-plus in-person delegates: to vote and have their votes instantly counted; to speak during debate; to ask questions of the keynoter. They also had break-out groups, and those who registered early enough received quilt squares in the mail, the same as those given to the in-person attendees as they entered for worship.

The most visible “new thing” was the online voting. Gone were the voting cards that delegates once held up, or the simple voice votes. Also gone: Zoom polling used for some online meetings. Instead, all voting delegates were given credentials to log into a voting website for each vote. In the two weeks prior, delegates had the opportunity to take a practice vote. (For those who are curious about the outcome of the practice vote, 286 people voted "yes" when asked if they enjoy spring in New England; 11 voted no and 17 chose to abstain.)

Other new things: Spanish language interpretation, and assistance for hearing impaired attendees. Online voting proved to need a little tweaking but was successful. And a milestone vote: While the new conference was formed on Jan. 1, 2020, the historic entities continued to manage their own endowments and properties. One board member called the vote to consolidate funds “an act of ongoing becoming" as delegates to this 4th Annual Meeting voted overwhelmingly to “gratefully and soberly” accept the transfer of more than $26 million in endowments and invested funds from the historic Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island Conferences.

Report from our Delegates:

Submitted by the Rev. Dr. Robert Loesch

Susan Tarantino and I, delegates from Foster Memorial Church, and Pastor Barbara Schenk, attended two recent United Church of Christ events:

(1) Living the Love and Justice of Jesus- A Covenantal Gathering, sponsored by the Hampden Association was held on Sunday May 21, 3-5 pm. at Southwick Congregational Church. The event began with a service of worship led by the host pastor, Rev. Paul Nesbit with music, prayers, scripture readings and a time of thinking, pairing and sharing about the question "What is Covenant to you?" The service was followed by a time of breaking bread and sharing further in how we Live in the Justice and Love of Jesus.

Members of our Hampden Association churches were invited to take part in the 2nd Annual Springfield Pride Parade on Saturday June 3, starting at 12 noon to a gathering, vendor fair and block party at Stearns Square. There are 9 Open and Affirming Churches among the 21 UCC churches in the Hampden Association. 

(2) Southern New England Conference United Church of Christ (SNEUCC) sponsored a G.R.O.W Together Regional Gathering on Sunday, June 11 from 2-5 pm at the First Congregational Church of Chicopee.

There are 6 regions of the SNEUCC. The Northwest Region of the Conference consists of UCC churches in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Associations of Massachusetts and Litchfield Association of Connecticut. This was an opportunity to share and receive best practices from other associations and local church leaders as well as hear about NEW resources from the Conference. It was a time of learning, sharing and worship led by Conference staff: Rev.Darrell Goodwin, Executive Conference Minister, Rev. Liz Garrigan-Byerly, Executive Minister for Area Conference Ministry. and Rev. Terry Yasuko Ogawa, Associate Conference Minister of the Northwest Region.

For more information about the Southern New England United Church of Christ Conference go to www.sneucc.org; you can also visit the Facebook page of Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ.   

The Keynote address was given by the nominee for UCC General Minister, The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, who will be affirmed at the 34^th General Synod June 30-July4 in Indianapolis.

She shared this vision for the future Church:

1. Innovation and risk (“the SNEUCC is this”)

2. Creativity and new life

 3. Collaboration and togetherness

​

All in all, new technologies—while not glitch-free—allowed a full and better experience for everyone at the meeting, in-person as well as online. So... let's hear it for trying new things! Even when those things don't go perfectly. And give thanks for the hard work of our Conference leadership, staff, delegates, members and friends and hold in prayer the work of General Synod 34.

Note: Susan and Pastor Barbara participated in the meeting via ZOOM; Bob Loesch participated in-person for the meeting.

SPECIAL MUSIC SCHEDULE:

7/9      Women’s Choral Group

7/16      Sue Mcnary, Soprano

7/23    Roxy & Steve Bailey, Vocalists & Instrumentalists

7/30    Pamela Corey & Colleen Moynihan, Pianists

8/6       Men’s Choral Group

8/13      Barbara Schenk & Keith Walker, Vocalists &

                Instrumentalists

8/20     Frank P. Jackson, Pianist

8/27     Kathy Schoeck, Violinist

 9/3       Pickup Choir 

Everyone is invited to join the Pickup Choir. Women are invited to join the Women’s Choral Group and men invited to join Men’s Choral Group. Rehearsals will be held in the sanctuary on Sunday at 8:45 AM. Please speak to Frank Jackson for more information.

FOSTER SOFTBALL SEASON IS HERE!

https://www.interchurchsoftball.com/fields/

The Inter-Church Softball League's season has begun! Website above. There is also a Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/WesternMAChurchSoftball

Everyone is always welcome! Go, Foster team!