Sunday, October 6, Worship and Communion, Reverend Kathy Duhon @ 10 AM
Sunday, October 13, Zoom Worship @ 10 AM
Sunday, October 20, Universal Worship @ 10 AM
Saturday, October 26, Conversation and Potluck @ 4 PM at the Church
Author: webmaster
Invitation to the Installation of Settled Pastor
The Berkshire Association of the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ and The First Congregational Church of Lee, UCC are pleased to invite you to The Installation of The Rev. Marsia Brown Ludwig As our Settled Pastor Sunday, September 29, 2024.
- Service of Installation: 3:00pm Sanctuary
- Followed by a reception in the Community Room at the First Congregational Church of Lee, United Church of Christ, 25 Park Place, Lee, Massachusetts
All clergy are invited to process in together at the beginning of the worship. Christian clergy are invited to vest wearing red stoles. Interfaith clergy please come in attire that is right for your tradition. A reception will follow in the Community Room, to which all are cordially invited. For more information please contact our church office at (413) 243-1033.
Our distinguished preacher will be the Reverend Darrell Goodwin, Executive Conference Minster of the Southern New England Conference, UCC.
Come celebrate with us.
Universal Worship Service Sunday, October 20, 10am
The Canaan Congregational Church and the Abode of the Message Join Together to Host a Universal Worship Service
Sunday, October 20, 10:00am
1670 County Route 5, Canaan
The Canaan Congregational Church and the Abode of the Message cordially invite neighbors and friends to attend a Universal Worship Service, offered by ordained ministers in the Inayatiyya Sufi tradition.
Created by a Sufi mystic of the 20th century, it honors major religions and spiritual paths through readings from each tradition that demonstrate a chosen common theme. Sometimes music or practices from those traditions are included.
The Sufi tradition believes that religions and spiritual traditions have the potential at their core to lead to realizations that foster increased tolerance, compassion and gratitude. This inclusive service recognizes our uniqueness, diversity and spiritual liberty; while it simultaneously reminds us of our unity in the one divine boundless Being, by whatever name that may be called.
Following the service will be a question-and-answer exchange. Light refreshments will be served. Please join us for this uplifting event!
What is most necessary today is the awakening of the heart. It does not matter what religion people profess if they know the depth of religion which is love. All the different forms of religious service, and the forms of prayer, behind them what secret purpose is there? It is to prepare the heart for that bliss which only love can give…. For the religion of love is the religion of tolerance, the religion of love is the religion of forgiveness.
– Hazrat Inayat Khan
Support Neighbors in Need Collection in October
Neighbors in Need (NIN) is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ which supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). Two-thirds of this offering is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects through grants.
NIN grants are awarded to UCC churches and organizations doing justice work in their communities. These grants fund projects whose work ranges from direct service to community organizing and advocacy to address systemic injustice.
These grants fund projects whose work ranges from direct service to community organizing and advocacy to address systemic injustice.
One example of direct services is a summer program STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics offered through a St. Louis based organization called Unleashing Potential which provided summer educational opportunities in the underserved community of Ferguson-Florisaant School District.
Of note: In November 2021, our church’s Creating Space Spirituality and Arts Collective (CSSAC) received a Neighbors in Need grant in the amount of $7,500 for the 2022 calendar year.
Please support Neighbors in Need anytime during the month of October.
How to donate: If you are attending church services in person you may bring your NIN check to the service. Or, you may mail your donation directly to Canaan Congregational Church, PO Box 66, 1670 County Route 5, Canaan, NY 12029. Make your check out to the Canaan Congregational Church, and please note “Neighbors in Need” on the memo line of your check.
Ed Fallon, for the Missions Team
Do You Know What Reverend Mark Longhurst Has Been Doing Over the Last 10 Years?
Besides raising two sons and living in Williamstown, MA…
After his first pastorate in Canaan, Mark served at First Church Williamstown for seven years. Before he left Canaan, some of us may recall that he once attended a one-week study retreat at the Center for Action and Contemplation a community founded by Father Richard Rohr in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Throughout the years, he continued his study with Richard Rohr and other CAC community members in his continuing faith journey. Three years ago, he left pastoral ministry to become the Digital and Print Publications Manager for the Center.
Recently, he has written his first book The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God which will be released on October 22, 2024.
We knew he was someone special when he was in our midst. He remains that special someone who is offering his gifts to the wider world.
About the Book in Mark’s Own Words
Most of the readers of this newsletter have heard me mention that my first book The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God is coming out October 22. It has been the slow work of ten+ years, writing my way through the beautiful and dense thickets of ministry, marriage, and parenting to complete this book. I’m thrilled that the day is nearly here, and I hope you’ll read it.
The book encapsulates a Christian-based spiritual path of mystical depth in everyday life. I draw on saints and prophets such as Jesus, St. Francis, my grandmother Margaret, John Muir, Thomas Merton, Howard Thurman, James Baldwin, and more to help illuminate a way to God that runs to the heart of the world, not from it. In particular—and this might be the book’s unique contribution—I have tried to mine biblical wisdom to inspire an engaged, contemplative life.
This book describes the integrated life I continually seek: devoted to the mystic vision of union with God and reality, passionate about justice, peace, and ecological wholeness, taking the Bible seriously and rigorously committed to inner and outer transformation. In The Holy Ordinary, social justice themes of the divine preference for the margins and the destructive power of whiteness show up alongside reflections on embodiment, prayer, the arts, the dark night of the soul, and the importance of choosing joy. All while pointing to the vast yet narrow path to God running right through our marvelous and mundane lives.
Back to School Supplies Donations Still Welcome and Needed
Again this Fall, our church will be collecting school supplies for local families in need through October.
Those wishing to donate may bring their supplies to the church building. Items may be left in the food pantry basket near the entryway. We will again have a second plastic bin marked “School Supplies” on the church deck near the far entry door. If choosing this option, please place your items in the school supplies bin and close the cover tightly.
Please note: If using the outside bin, leave only paper, pencils and other items that are not affected by warm temperatures. In previous years, items such as crayons have melted in the heat.
Members of the Mission Team will arrive at the church mid-day or early afternoon on Tuesdays, gather the school supplies and take them to the Chatham Area Silent Pantry; where they will be distributed to area families with school children.
Suggested items include: loose leaf paper, construction paper, index cards, post it notes, plastic pencil boxes, glue sticks, gallon size zip lock bags, children’s scissors, crayons, markers, highlighters, dry erase markers, lead pencils, and colored pencils.
We are grateful for any and all donations to this worthy cause.
Ed Fallon
For the Missions Team
Canaan Town Wide Yard Sale
October 12, 2024 9:00am-3:00pm
Rain date 10/13
Hello, Canaan residents and neighbors!
The Canaan Climate Smart Task Force invites you to a fun and eco-friendly town-wide yard sale! Discover a variety of yard sales throughout the community, all conveniently located in one area.
How to Participate
Host a Sale: Sell items from your own Canaan home.
Join Us at Stoddard Field: Bring your items and a table to sell at our central location.
Special Features
Free table: Browse and find free treasures!
Repair Café: Bring your favorite items for on-the-spot repairs. (lamps, wood glueing chairs, jewelry, small sewing projects, small appliances are some examples.)
To participate at Stoddard Field or have your address listed in the next flyer, please contact Marion by September 25th. Email or text (646) 752-8340.
Additional Activities
Enjoy food, festivities, and attractions at Stoddard Field. Interested in vending or playing music at the field during the sale? Let us know.
Join us for a fantastic day of community fun and sustainable shopping!
Creation Care: A Tip from Reverend Quentin
At a recent church service, we discussed ways we could lower our impact on our environment. We noticed that by making our own laundry detergent, we can reduce the amount of plastic we waste. We decided to make this known to more people.
Making powdered detergent is simple, and all the ingredients come in boxes or paper. The basic detergent requires three ingredients: borax, washing soda, and bar soap, such as castile or Ivory. With the ingredients on hand, it takes only a few minutes. You’ll need a box grater or equivalent or a food processor. Having a kitchen scale helps.
Basic Recipe for Powdered Laundry Detergent
- 14 oz. Borax (or 1 cup)
- 14 oz. Washing Soda (or 1 cup)
- 5 oz. Bar Soap.
Steps:
- Using the fine holes of a grater, grate the bar soap. Alternatively, chop the soap in the food processor.
- Add the borax and the washing soda
- Mix well
Use one to two tablespoons per load. This works for high efficiency washers, too.
Some things to note
This is the simplest one of many recipes. Some recipes also include baking soda. Though I usually add four ounces, some recipes call for up to 14 ounces. This recipe is unscented. If you want some fragrance, add a few drops of essential oil, such as lavender.
If you have a bar of soap that is not five ounces, you can adjust the amount of powder. (This is where the kitchen scale helps a lot.) Determine the amount of powder by using this formula:
Then:
Cross multiply: 5 x weight of powder to use and then 14 x weight of the soap bar
They will be equal, except you will not have the weight of the powder you want to use. That’s OK.
Divide the number derived from multiplying 14 x the weight of the soap bar by 5. The answer is the weight of the powder to use.
Don’t Forget to Donate to the Chatham Food Pantry
Our vintage laundry basket is routinely filled to the top with items the congregation recently donated to the needy of the community. Our focus is to collect goods that are not comestible but equally important such as bath tissue, diapers, toothpaste, light bulbs etc. Thank you all for your support and kindness to the needy in our community.
Canaan UCC Schedule
Sunday, September 1, 10:00am
Worship and Communion, Reverend Quentin Chin
Sunday, September 8, 10:00am
Worship Reverend Quentin Chin
Sunday, September 15, 10:00am
Rescheduled Clark Poetry and Pot Luck
Sunday, September 22, 10:00am
Zoom Worship
Sunday, September 29, 10:00am
Worship Reverend Quentin Chin
Followed by Coffee Hour and Farewell Gathering