Middlebury Congregational Church

Dear friends in Christ,

I hope you’re all doing well. I’m now back from vacation and looking forward to seeing all of you. There are a few things to highlight for this week:

8/14 Outdoor Worship 10am

This Sunday we will have our second outdoor worship service of the summer in the outdoor chapel. Our theme is Bible Camp Reunion. We will be singing some classic church camp songs and some new ones. It looks like we should have lovely weather, but it is quite sunny at the chapel in the morning; so I suggest bringing something for shade. If anyone has a canopy/tent that’s easy to set up, that would certainly be welcome so we’d have closer shade. You’re also welcome to bring a chair. For those of you who watch online, we’ll record the service and post it later on.

Last Week: Mission School Supplies due by 8/15

We are collecting school supplies to help out kids needing some extra help getting everything they need to start school on the right foot. A list of all the supplies we’re looking for is attached. All donations must be in by August 15^th.

Thank you to worship volunteers!

I want to thank Howard F and Michele F for being two of our guest preachers while I was away, and I want to thank Janine SW and Stephanie T for their help leading worship! It was a wonderful team effort, and it’s good to hear new voices.

New Members/Church Info Meeting: 9/18

If you are interested in learning more about the church and/or joining the church, the deacons are looking to host an informational meeting about the church on Sunday 9/18 after worship. Please let me know if you’re interested or if you are interested in attending but are unable to make that date.

General Comments

Before I went on vacation, we had a sermon series on Joseph from Genesis. This week we’re actually continuing the narrative of what happens after Joseph, and we’re beginning a 4 week series from the beginning of the book of Exodus. In the coming weeks we’ll get to some stories about Moses, but this week we’re looking at the story of the Hebrew midwives from Exodus 1 who had the courage to stand up to pharaoh. We’ll also see how their actions connect to what Moses is able to do later on.

Peace,

Pastor Katrina

Dear friends in Christ,

I hope you’re all doing well this week.  Here are a few things going on in the church:

AED

Thanks to a generous donation from a family in our church, we now have an AED (automated defibrillator) in narthex (lobby outside the sanctuary.) While there is some training for operating it, the AED is designed to walk you through everything. When you open it up and turn it on, it starts giving instructions. In cardiac emergencies, time matters a lot, so it’s wonderful that we now have this resource just in case.

August Communion Moved to July 31^st

Due to the availability of pulpit supply, communion has been moved to July 31^st.

New Members/Church Info Meeting: 9/18

If you are interested in learning more about the church and/or joining the church, the deacons are looking to host an informational meeting about the church on Sunday 9/18 after worship. Please let me know if you’re interested or if you are interested in attending but are unable to make that date.

Summer Mission Project: School Supplies

We are collecting school supplies to help out kids needing some extra help getting everything they need to start school on the right foot. A list of all the supplies we’re looking for is attached. All donations must be in by August 15^th.

General Comments

I enjoyed the outdoor service this past Sunday. I’ve attached a picture from when we were shifting from worship to coffee hour. Thank you to everyone who helped lead our music! The service is now up on our YouTube channel. Our next outdoor service will be 8/14.

This Sunday is the last week in the sermon series on Joseph. (When I return from vacation we’ll pick up with what happens after Joseph and get to Moses.) At this point in the story, Joseph has risen to be what’s essentially the prime minister of Egypt because of his ability to interpret the pharaoh’s dreams. The dreams indicated a famine was going to happen, and Joseph had a really good plan for dealing with the famine. So, this week we’ll see how the famine affects Joseph’s brothers back in Canaan, and we’ll see when they finally meet Joseph again.

See you Sunday!

Peace,

Pastor Katrina