Category: Newsletter

Kiddush

The Kiddush in the modern Jewish tradition is a blessing “sanctifying the Shabbat.” I have experienced it also as the small meal after the Saturday prayer service is ended and before the worshippers go their ways to meals in their homes. Saturday morning Kiddush has always had the feel of a communion service to me — partly I suppose because it is small. The glass of juice I’ve been served is no more than the size of our communion cups. The challah is, happily, always a bit more than we allow in our tradition! But also because the moment is a communal moment of eating and celebrating.

Jews will recite at the Saturday morning Kiddush texts from Isaiah and Exodus.

If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your affairs on My holy day. If you call the sabbath “delight,” God’s holy day “honored”; And if you honor it and go not your ways nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains. Then you can delight in God. I will set you upon the heights of the earth, and let you enjoy the inheritance of your father Jacob, for the mouth of God has spoken.

Isaiah 58.13-14

Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. . .

Exodus 20.8

And then the people say: “Blessed are you God, our Lord, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.” With a resounding “L’Chaim,” the cup is shared together.

I would like to try a modified version of Kiddush this Sunday and Sundays to follow. Our sign off is always a bit awkward, and maybe there’s no real way to solve that problem. But as part of our Benediction, I will invite you to raise your cup — coffee or tea, juice or wine and say to yourself or to whoever is with you, “L’Chaim!”

The Swifts of Waterbury

Every early evening the swifts emerge from our chimney and fly all over downtown Waterbury, acrobatically scooping up insects and chipping vociferously the whole time. They do make quite a racket! Then, just before sunset, they dive back down into the chimney. I popped over one evening to lock up and record the birds returning to their roost.

Star Island Programming Opportunities

Star Island is a non-profit organization under the auspices of the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Churches. They usually host various multi-day events on the island, just about a 40-minute boat ride off the coast of Portsmouth, NH. It’s a stunningly beautiful place.

This year, none of us will be able to visit, sadly, because of Covid-19. However the corporation (full disclosure! One of our members, Jeff Loewer, is on the board!) has decided to stream many of their usual lectures and events, including even vespers.

Pop over to their webpage for full details. But let me highlight one more event (beyond the beautiful, contemplative vespers service) and that is the UCC’s Rev. Traci Blackmon, an associate general minister for justice will be speaking on the importance of story, as in, “Until the lion tells his story, the hunter will always be the hero.” Her offering will be on August 13.

Rev. Blackmon was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Vermont Conference’s Spring Annual Meeting, until it was cancelled for reasons of pandemic.

Check it out: https://starisland.org/program/story-matters-an-offering-from-rev-traci-blackmon/

You can also take a look at the rest of the programs here.

Church World Service Kits

This year, because of the COVID crisis, Church World Service has postponed its annual trip around the Northeast to pick up hygiene, school, and clean-up kits from Spring to Fall. We have served as a kit depot for over a decade and will continue to serve in that capacity this year during the week of September 15 – 18.  Churches from across the northern tier of Vermont will be making kits of various sorts and dropping them off at our church for pick-up by the CWS semi-truck later in September. 

For our part, we will not only host the kit depot,  but contribute some kits to the cause as well.  We are asking you to help us by making a school kit this year. School kits give children in impoverished schools, refugee camps, or other difficult settings some of the basic tools for learning.  All of the supplies are easy to purchase locally.  One of our board members put together a complete school kit at Shaws.  Each kit costs $12 – $13.

Here’s what you need to purchase:

  • One pair of blunt scissors removed from the package (rounded tip, only)
  • Three 70-count bound notebooks or notebooks totaling 200-210 pages (no loose-leaf or filler paper)
  • One 30-centimeter / 12” ruler
  • One hand-held pencil sharpener removed from the package
  • One large eraser (no pencil cap erasers)
  • Six new, unsharpened pencils with erasers (please remove pencils from the package)
  • One box of 24 crayons (only 24)

Put it all in a tied shut shopping bag (1 kit per bag, please) or other type of sealable bag, and bring it to the church starting September 1.  The board of outreach will assemble all the kits that arrive by the end of the day, Wednesday, September 9.

Thank you!

Audio-Visual Research Committee

As we begin to think about what re-opening the sanctuary to worship might look like, one thing we seem to agree on is that continuing some kind of online presence is important. Even at the point which a vaccine might become widely available, we will still have worshippers who for reasons of travel or health can’t be with us in person, might still want to be a part of worship at the White Meeting House. This much has become clear over the past few months.

Because there are so many options on the market, ranging from, “We’ve already got the equipment to do this” to hiring a company to provide equipment which they would interface with our current sound system, from essentially free, to many thousands of dollars, we are seeking volunteers who could explore these options, weigh the pros and cons and ultimately provide some kind of road map toward having an online worship presence into the future.

If you have an interest in this field and a little time to spare, please let me know — peter@waterburyucc.com.