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The Fathom The Federated Church Of Marlborough’s Newsletter “Marlborough’s Community Church” An Open, Affirming, and Reconciling Church Rev. Dr. Joseph Shore-Goss 16 Pleasant Street Marlborough, NH 03455 Church Office (603) 876-3863 Pastor’s Study 876-3414 Website: federatedchurchmarlborough.org e-mail: fed.church.16@gmail. Church office hours: Mon 1:00-5:00pm and Tues-Fri 9:00am -1:00pm
July 2019 EDITION
Blessings Church,
Wow I have been gone for 10 days. 10 days of conferences and workshops. 10 days of meetings with church leaders, reconnecting with friends and colleagues and worship. Imagine that worship at a church conference.
There were tears shed and voices lifted. There were many languages and song and prayer. I personally, am still processing a lot of what happened. I have a giant bag with cards and programs and buttons sitting on my desk to be filed, to be used, to be scrap-booked.
I know this sounds exciting and it was. But the Highlight, the greatest honor I have ever had in my life is I served as Chaplain to the Names Project panels. The AIDS Quilt.
“The Quilt was conceived in November of 1985 by long-time San Francisco gay rights activist Cleve Jones. Since the 1978 assassinations of gay San Francisco Supervisor Har-vey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, Jones had helped organize the annual candlelight march honoring these men. While planning the 1985 march, he learned that over 1,000 San Franciscans had been lost to AIDS. He asked each of his fellow marchers to write on placards the names of friends and loved ones who had died of AIDS. At the end of the march, Jones and others stood on ladders taping these placards to the walls of the San Francisco Federal Building. The wall of names looked like a patchwork quilt.
Inspired by this sight, Jones and friends made plans for a larger memorial. A little over a year later, he created the first panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt in memory of his friend Marvin Feldman. In June of 1987, Jones teamed up with Mike Smith and several others to formally organize the NAMES Project Foundation.
Public response to the Quilt was immediate. People in the U.S. cities most affected by AIDS — Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco — sent panels to the San Francisco workshop. Generous donors rapidly supplied sewing machines, equipment and other materials, and many volunteered tirelessly.”
Each Aids quilt is a 3’x6’ panel, the size of a grave, sewn by friends, family, loved ones to honor those who have passed. They are then put together in 12x12 squares. We had ten of those squares. They are random but the project does its best to bring panels related to the event. So we had a panel from; Second Congregational Newton made from a choir robe, two panels from Northern California Nevada Conference, a panel from Robins-dale UCC Minnesota, panels from South Africa, China and all over the world.
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But there is one story I want to share with you. There was a panel that read across the middle David -He is still our brother. It had ten squares around his name, all hand made by his ten siblings. His brothers and sisters sat down, shared their grief and lovingly made the panel. He had lived just 36 years. Gone too soon, still loved today. I know this because his sister was at the conference and shared the story with me.
As I write this people are gathering to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. As an ONA congregation I want us to celebrate Pride and yet never forget the pain and the loss it took to get our country, our state , and our congregation to where we stand today.
Peace,
Pastor Joe
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Please remember the following friends who are on our ongoing prayer list:
Freda Boufford Steve Yardley Ilona Nason
Jenny Krinsky Scott Saxby
Cynthia Howe Dot Gordon Doris Miner
Kathie Mitchell Jackie Williams
Corinne Bennett Brenda and Mike Brennan
Please let Pastor Joe or Beth know if you would like someone added or removed from this prayer list. Thank you
Bible Readings for July
Sunday July 7th 2 Kings 5:1-14 and Psalm 30 Isaiah 66:10-15 and Psalm 66:1-19; Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16, Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Sunday July 14th Amos 7:7-17 and Psalm 82; Deuteronomy 30:9-14 and
Psalm 25:1-10; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37
Sunday July 21st Amos 8:1-12 and Psalm 52; Genesis 18:1-10a and Psalm 15; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42
Sunday July 28th Hosea 1:2-10 and Psalm 85; Genesis 18:20-32 and Psalm 138; Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19); Luke 11:1-13
July 2019
7th G: Brenda Brennan and Melissa Calle LL: Betty Sweet U: Bob and Betty Sweet 14th G: Kathy Oliver & Deb Reynolds LL: Kathy Oliver U: Larry & JoAnn Robinson 21st G: Jean Hickox & Barbara Howard LL: Marge Shepardson U: Lynne Linders & Deb Potts 28th G: Madalyn Fadden & Jane Howe LL: Larry Upton U: Della Starkweather &Laura Webber
August 2019
4th G: Dick and Jane Butler LL: Nancy Wyman U: David and Nancy Wyman 11th G: Cherry Robinson & Della Starkweather LL: Kathy Oliver U: Larry & JoAnn Robinson 18th G: Ed and Gilda Goodrich LL: Ed Goodrich U: Dean and Denise Bennett 25th G: Madalyn Fadden & Jane Howe LL: Kathy Oliver U: Bob and Betty Sweet
Please be sure to contact Beth at the church office to announce births, deaths, marriages and major life
events to the congregation and community
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Birthday Celebrations for July and August
Please let the office know if there are any mistakes or
omissions in the birthday listings
JULY Connie Andrews 7th Dean Bennett 9th Laura Webber 9th Kim Stanton 13th Sue Bemis 14th Reagan DeYoung 14th Beth DeYoung 21st Cassandra Packard 22nd JoAnn Robinson 22nd Mollie MacKenzie 29th
AUGUST Carl Shepardson 9th John Gordon Jr. 19th Chris Wilber 23rd Nancy-Bradford Sisson 24th Carolyn Munroe 30th
Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear friends, Happy Birthday to yoU
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TUESDAY – September 10th
Always the 2nd Tuesday of the month 5:30 p.m.
at the Community House 160 Main St., Marlborough, NH
This meal is sponsored by the Missions Committee of the
Federated Church of Marlborough. It is FREE of charge
(donations are accepted, but not necessary).
All are welcome!
September’s Gramma is: The Garden Club
Serving : To Be Announced
Hope to see you there!
Future Gramma’s Tables hosts and dinners:
October: Marl/Harris and First Responders
November: Church and Friends December: Main Crust Pizza
REMINDER: Articles for the August Fathom should be in the office by the end of the day on the
25h of July. Late submissions will NOT be published.
Pastor's Sermons Appreciate Pastor Joe’s sermons?
You can read/see them each week on the website and on our Facebook pages.
federatedchurchmarlborough.org
SUPPORT THE FEDERATED CHURCH! Support Federated Church of Marlborough by shopping at AmazonSmile. When you shop at
AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate to Federated Church of Marlborough. Support us every time
you shop.
https://smile.amazon.com/ch/02-0368267
COIN JAR JINGLES The new total for the coin jar is $102.61. Because we got to $100, an anonymous donor will match our funds for a total of $202.61.
FROM THE CHURCH OFFICE
During the month of July, beginning on Monday, July 8th, the Church Office and Food Pantry will be open on Mondays from 11am-5pm and on Fridays from 9am-11am. Tuesday through Thursday hours will remain the same, from 9am-1pm. The Church Office and Food Pantry will be closed on Thursday, July 4th and Friday, July 5th.
Regular office hours will resume again on Monday, August 5th.
CHURCH FAIR
Gramma’s Attic is looking for jewelry gift boxes, especially necklace sized. They can either be left at the church, or contact Madalyn Fadden.
CHILDREN’S DAY THANK YOU
Sunday, June 2 we celebrated Children’s Day. Our kids shared some of what they learned about disciples. “Thank you” to the kids and to the disciples among us who work with our chil-dren.
CHURCH SEXTON
Is there anyone willing to fill in for Jean on Sun-day mornings and get the church ready for wor-ship? You would need to be at church around 9 to get everything up and running and the doors unlocked. There is a To Do List all set for you to follow. After church you would make sure lights and sound system are turned off and lock the doors. Please get in touch with Marge or I if this is something you feel you can help out with.
Thanks, Debbie Potts 355-3326 [email protected]
ENERGY TIPS OF THE MONTH
Eat lower on the food chain. In other words, eat more vegetables and grains, and less meat – es-pecially beef and lamb. Cows and sheep emit large quantities of methane, a powerful global warming gas. It also takes a lot of cleared land, water, and grain to raise a cow (especially if it’s raised on a feedlot and not on grass). If you eat the grain yourself and skip the beef you have a much smaller carbon footprint.
Ways you can make a difference: • Eat vegetarian at least once a week • Eat smaller portions of meat • Eat more chicken, less beef • Buy local meat when you can; it’s more apt to
be raised in a pasture and it doesn’t have to be transported very far.
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AN INVITATION FROM THE TRUSTEES
The Trustees of Trust Funds are planning an in-formational meeting on Tuesday July 9th, at 10:30 in the Chapel. This is an open invitation to anyone interested in learning about our trust funds, how they are managed and how decisions are made about annual distributions from the invested funds. The policies and procedures which are followed by the Trustees will be re-viewed. Also, an example (or two) of recent past annual distributions will be used to explain the allocation of returns from these funds to sup-port the Church and Community House operat-ing budgets, the Altar Guild, as well as providing funds for humanitarian purposes.
We know the date & time will prohibit people with a day job from attending, so we'll plan an-other session if necessary for others who show an interest. So, for those of you in this category, please let us know and we'll work out a date and time later on.
Trustees of Trust Funds
SUMMER CHURCH CAMP Welcome to the Neighborhood!
Where is your neighborhood? Who’s your neighbor? What did Jesus say about neighbors? Love your neighbor as yourself – What’s that all about any-way?
Send your child, or a child you know, to Summer Church Camp where we’ll explore these ques-tions in a fun setting, through games, songs, crafts, service, plenty of snacks and lots of fun.
Church camp will be held August 12 through August 18, based at the church, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Formal registration is for children entering kindergarten through grade six completion. There is a special place at camp for kids in mid-dle school, who will be “junior campers.”
For registration or other information, contact Kathy Oliver (209-3259), Marge Shepardson (867-4027) or leave message with Beth at church (876-3863).
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR CHURCH RIDES PROGRAM
Just a reminder to all members of the congre-gation and community that our church has a transportation ogram for people who would like help with rides to doctor’s appointments, gro-cery shopping and other essential errands. We are a small group and are in need of volunteers willing to drive in the Keene area as well as the occasional trip to other area medical facilities. If you have some free time and would like to help - or if you or a loved one need transportation please call or e-mail me. Many thanks!
Cyndie Jewett Transportation Coordinator 603-876-3527 603-762-0780 e-mail: [email protected]
GREEN TEAM MEETING MINUTES June 12, 2019
Present: Bob Shore-Goss, Dean Bennett, Denise Bennett, Dave Chase, Jayne Chase, Marge Shep-ardson
1. Energy Audit – Marge will talk to Eversource about changing the lights to LEDs.
2. Bob asked if someone could go to the Inter-faith Power and Light conference on June 27. No one has volunteered at this time.
3. Season of Creation 2019 • Every Sunday in September • There are kids’ activities on the website • We also talked about helping people calculate
their carbon footprint after church some Sun-day in September
4. Bob would like to set up a series of environ-mental movies for the public at the Community House. He has three movies and is working on getting a fourth. He’s also putting together a panel discussion for the Keene area, a “Panel on World Spiritualities, Nature and Climate Change,” that could be held in conjunction with the films.
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5. We are looking into setting up a public conver-sation on the Green New Deal, perhaps a town forum in the winter.
6. Recycling bins and barrels – Dean will order the ones we decided on at the last meeting, and in the fall we will start an education campaign at both buildings to increase recycling.
7. The Climate Xchange group has reached out to UCC environmental teams. Marge will get in touch with Mary Potts.
NOTES FROM TRUSTEES MEETING June 13, 2019
Members present: Betty Sweet, John Gordon, Jr., Richard Butler. Members who could not attend: Connie Andrews, Larry Robinson. Others present: Maureen Kelliher and Janelle Sartorio – Cambridge Trust Co.; Rev. Joe Shore-Goss.
Summary: The Cambridge Trust update re-port on our invested funds was presented by Portfolio Manager Maureen Kelliher. Her report shows the following: a market value of $1,179,553 as of May 31; an estimated annual income of $35,780 and a 3.03% portfolio yield. Since 2012 Cambridge Trust has been managing our funds, guided by our objective for moderate growth with tolerable risk. Currently the investments are 70% equity funds, 29% fixed income and 1% in cash. The equity sector of investments con-sists of about 24 % in growth stocks, 50% in blended stocks (balanced) and the remainder in more conservative value stocks. Annual divi-dend returns have been consistent, on average about $35-36,000; the Trustees apply all divi-dends to support the Church & Community House budgets, the Altar Guild, and to provide funds for humanitarian needs.
Recognizing that we depend significantly on in-come from trust funds, it was noted that our portfolio is doing fairly well in spite of continu-ing volatility of the US and international mar-kets, and everything which affects those markets week to week.
As we went through details of the report, there were a number of questions and comments. Rev. Joe brought up the subject of non-fossil fuel companies and related sustainable energy. We explained that we had considered developing a socially responsible portfolio about 3-4 years ago, and reviewed a comprehensive proposal from Cambridge Trust. After evaluation, the Trustees decided not to go in that direction at that time, primarily because we would see a sig-nificant reduction in annual dividends which for several years have been a major component of annual distributions. (The Trustees will contin-ue to monitor possible green energy alternatives for investment as opportunities present them-selves to provide increased yields for stronger support for our income requirements.)
Other items covered: – reviewed Treasurer Connie Andrews' report with focus primarily on memorial funds, a few needing to be determined by the family as to their specific use. We also discussed use of earn-ings from the Torelli Memorial fund; we will be contacting a family about a possible use to help a down-syndrome person this year. – discussed advance planning for the special meeting on Tuesday, July 9 at 10:30 AM for the purpose of educating church members and friends about the scope and management of our funds. Items to be covered: policies on Endow-ments, Investments, and Spending; information on the endowments; the use of investment earn-ings & growth and how we determine distribu-tions from total returns; an overview of the past 5 years of support from Trust funds; and infor-mation about other funds which the Trustees handle. – The meeting was adjourned at 5:40. Trustees of Trust Funds
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The Federated Church Of Marlborough16 Pleasant StreetMarlborough, N.H. 03455Return Service Requested
July 2019United Church of Christ – United Methodist – Unitarian
Universalist The Reverend Dr. Joseph Shore-Goss
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SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
30 10:00amFamily
Worship
01 02 9:00am A.I.M
CH
03 10:00am
Toddlers CH
04 9:00am A.I.M
CH
05 10:00am
Crafts and Chat
06
7:00pm NA
07 10:00am Family
Worship Children’s Day
08 09 9:00am A.I.M
CH
10:30am Trustees Meeting
10 10:00am
Toddlers CH
11 9:00am A.I.M
CH 12:00pm
Friendly Meals CH
1:00pm Adult Rec CH
4:30pm Council Meeting
12 10:00am
Crafts and Chat
13
7:00pm NA
14 10:00am Family
Worship
15 16 9:00am A.I.M
CH 10:00am
Coffee Hour CH 7:00pm Legion
CH
17 10:00am
Toddlers CH
18 9:00am A.I.M
CH
19 10:00am
Crafts and Chat
20
7:00pm NA
2110:00am Family
Worship
22 23 9:00am AI.M
CH
24 10:00am
Toddlers CH
25 9:00am A.I.M
CH 1:00pm Adult
Rec CH
26 10:o0am
Crafts and Chat
27
7:00pm NA
28 10:00am Family
Worship
29 309:00am A.I.M
CH
31 10:00am
Toddlers CH
01 9:00am A.I.M
CH
02 10:00am
Crafts and Chat
03
7:00pm NA
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July at the FEDERATED CHURCH
2019
