United Church of Strafford, Vermont
All are welcome, without exception.
Category: Pastoral Letters
Christmas Eve Service 5:30 PM 2022
Dear neighbors, This service will be IN PERSON and Zoom only as of 4:30 PM on Christmas Eve. The full Zoom information is at the bottom of this letter, but the simple link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84071749891 I know how much this…
Read MoreClimate Action Needed Now in Vermont
Here is an urgent appeal from Susan Hodges, the moderator of Strafford Climate Action, the group that our congregation helped form in town. Thank you for doing all you can! First, here are the two attachments Susan refers to in…
Read MorePastoral Letter on the Golden Rule and Fundamentalism, January 16, 2021
Dear Church Family, All religions I know of have some form of the Golden Rule at their core, meaning a love of neighbor as an extension of our own self, and the concept of neighbor includes strangers, enemies and the…
Read MorePastor’s Leave of Absence
November 24, 2020 Dear Church Family, I am writing to let you know that I will be taking a leave of absence from the church from Thursday, November 26th until Thursday, January 14th. I have requested this for personal reasons. …
Read MoreTools for Calm and Wisdom: Welcoming and Centering Prayer Practices
Which would feel better to you: to be anxious, tense, fretting, enslaved to obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior, despairing…or as calm as you can be under the circumstances, resting in quiet trust, finding a place of inner peace even in…
Read MorePastor’s Report 2020
You can read the Pastor’s Report below or download it here: Pastor’s Report 2020 Pastor’s Report 2019-2020 This report was submitted before the McLane’s house burned down, making the central metaphor even more poignant. “Only that which cannot be lost…
Read MoreAnnouncing New Worship Formats and Spiritual Offerings
September 5, 2020 Dear Church Family, I am excited to share with you some new worship formats and spiritual offerings that have arisen out of conversation with the Deacons and the team working on our online worship. Here is a…
Read MoreAnti-Racism Pastoral Letter July 18, 2020
Dear Church Family, I am writing to make sure you are aware of three things relating to the struggle for social, economic and environmental justice in the Spirit of Christ. First, Rep. John Lewis has died, someone who risked his…
Read MorePastoral Letter on Antiracism in Strafford July 4, 2020
Dear neighbors, Our on line service this week focuses on antiracism, curating many deeply moving videos of word and music, almost entirely from people of color. Unlike our usual hour-long services, this one includes many hours of material, including the three…
Read MoreNEW: On Line Donations
Dear Church Family, We have set up an account for on-line donations with Vanco, a company recommended by the national United Church of Christ that works with thousands of churches like ours. We feel secure that they are as trustworthy…
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United Church of Strafford, Vermont 