Brecksville

On June 3rd, we will begin discussing our next book, Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women that a Movement Forgot, by Mikki Kendall. We will be meeting most Thursdays at 7:00 PM on our regular Zoom Link.

“With poise and clarity, Kendall lays out the case for why feminists need to fight not just for career advancement but also for basic needs and issues that often plague women of color, including food security, educational access, a living wage and safety from gun violence. In expertly tying the racial justice and feminist movements together, Kendall’s is one of the most important books of the current moment.”

—Time, “100 Must-Read Books of 2020”

We encourage you to purchase your book from a local bookseller if possible! Please reach out to Kate Klonowski by calling or texting (216) 534-3498, or by email at keightykay@gmail.com, with any questions.

At last!

After months of waiting and careful deliberation, it is time to come together and worship in person.

Please join us in the BUCC Sanctuary on Sunday June 13 at 10:00, and every Sunday after that.

Some things will be different from the last time we met:

• Masks are recommended but optional for adults. Children 3-12 should wear them at the discretion of the parent(s). Brecksville School systems was still requiring them.
• We will still work to spread people out in the sanctuary.
• Time with young worshipers will be suspended initially.
• Choir will be suspended (it is Summer anyway).
• The congregation will not be singing hymns (for now).
• We will implement “Bring Your Own Communion” for the next week.
• We will not pass the collection plate – they will be at the entrances of the sanctuary.
• There will not be a coffee hour. People are welcome to gather outside of church as desired, but we will not be meeting in Pilgrim Hall.

Some things will be the same and still wonderful:

• We will be together, worshiping.
• We will share live music from our talented Music Director.
• We will hear the Word, read and preached from the altar.
• We will be reunited with old friends, at last.

Some things may change, as we go forward:

• We will be flexible and caring as we see how things work when we are together.
• We will reassess singing hymns together and the choir in the Fall.
• We will bring back singing hymns, shared Communion, Time with Young Worshipers and Coffee hour, as soon as safe and practical.
• However, if there is a spike in COVID cases, we may institute other precautions (temperatures, pre-registration, go back to virtual services etc.).

Download and print Re-Opening Details for your reference.

For those that choose to join us virtually, we will be streaming our service live on YouTube. More information to follow!

To address a growing number of issues the performance of our SBCglobal.net email addresses, we are making the switch to gmail. Please see the following list of new email address for the BUCC staff:

• General Office (Anne Melfo): buccoffice23@gmail.com
• Pastor (John King): buccpastor23@gmail.com
• Donations/Expenses (Joy Garapic): buccfinance23@gmail.com
• Music Ministry (David Debick): buccmusic23@gmail.com

The “23” comes from our address “23 Public Square”, where we have been for over 200 years.

Please make this change to the information in your email contacts, or email groups.

We’re excited to announce our next book in the Social Justice Book Club series Dear America Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas.

We will begin on Thursday, April 8 at 7 00 pm, on the BUCC zoom. Skipping 4/15, we will continue on Thursdays until done.

It is written in a narrative, autobiographical style. Warning you may have a hard time putting it down!

Feel free to direct any questions to Kate Klonowski at 216 534 3498 or email keightykay@gmail com

All are very welcome!

The people who pickup the paper from our recycle bin in the parking lot, have offered to pay double for anything they collect during that week.
So let’s make sure we fill up the bin during that week:

• Save your scraps & boxes
• Contact your friends & family

Questions? Contact Jim Duffy 216-644-2784 or jmorganduffy@gmail.com

The cooking is done and the meals served and delivered!

Brecksville United Church of Christ teamed up with culinary arts students at Cuyahoga Community College for a Friday Fish Meal. They prepared over 300 individual meals which we served as a hot, take out lunches as well as 4-pack take-home and reheat packages. We had orders from 37 people.

The best news is that we were able to donate over meals for over 40 families to St. Augustine Hunger Center in Tremont. We also shared our excess ingredients, which they will use in future meals.

Thank you to all who: promoted our event, planned & ordered supplies, prepared meals, answered the phones, ran meals out to the parking lot, delivered donated food, cleaned up, and most of all purchased meals!

See the pictures, below of our exciting, fun and rewarding day:

So sorry, the order deadline has passed. If you have already ordered, we thank you and can’t wait to see you next week when you pickup up your meals.

Brecksville United Church of Christ has teamed up with culinary arts students at Cuyahoga Community College for a Friday Fish Meal. Interested in donating a meal to someone in need? Read to the end of this note.

Offering Pollack (fried with a panko crust or baked) the choices are:

• Lunch (Curbside Pickup 11:00 to 1:00):
  • Hot Fish Lunch – Baked $15.00
  • Hot Fish Lunch – Fried $15.00
  • Take-Home and Reheat package (serves 4) – Baked $50.00
  • Take-Home and Reheat package (serves 4) – Fried $50.00
• Dinner (Curbside Pickup 4:00 to 6:00):
  • Take-Home and Reheat Packages only

All include Coleslaw, Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread Muffin, Tartar Sauce and Lemon Wedge).

Deadline for orders is: Friday, February 26, 2021 at Noon.

Meals for those in need:

If you would like to help the mission of St. Augustine’s Hunger Center in Tremont, you can select one or more “Donation Meals” when ordering tickets. We will prepare and deliver your donated meals to St. Augustine’s for distribution, as part of the several hundred meals they serve daily.

During Lent this year, Pastor Allan Lane is reading Lent of Liberation by Cheri L. Mills. (ISBN-13 : 978-0664266837). You may find it valuable, as well.

Our final congregational meeting for 2020 will be held on Sunday, February 7th at 11:00, immediately following the Sunday service. The purpose of the meeting is to approve the 2021 budget.
If you attend the February 7th service, please stay logged into Zoom afterwards to participate in the meeting. If you do not attend the service, you may join the meeting at 11:00 via our Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4780705901

Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM) and Christian Education is co-sponsoring the next installment of the Social Justice Book Club!  Starting Thursday, January 14^th, from 7:00-8:00 PM in the BUCC “Zoom Room”, it will continue for the next several Thursdays at the same time.

We will be discussing Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times, by Bishop Michael Curry. You may purchase a copy here or anywhere books are sold!  

Each chapter addresses a common question Bishop Curry has been asked by people he has met during his travels:

1. What is love?
2. How do I find God’s love?
3. How do I find the energy to keep loving when the world seems to be going the other way?
4. Can love really change the world?
5. Won’t loving everybody make me a doormat?
6. I’m just a regular person, so how can my love have an impact?
7. I’m told to love my neighbor, but who is my neighbor?
8. What if loves reveals me to be a hypocrite?
9. Do I have to love even my enemy?
10. How can love overcome what divides us and move us forward together?
11. Does love mean avoiding politics?
12. How can love make “E pluribus Unum” real in America without erasing anybody?

We will create a reading schedule for the remainder of the book, and assign weekly discussion leaders at our first meeting.  Even if you haven’t had time to read, please feel free to join in and listen to the discussion – we’d love to have enough folks involved to need breakout rooms! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kate Klonowski at keightykay@gmail.com or 216-534-3498.