Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church
  • BUUC Home
  • Events
  • About the BUUC
    • Our History
    • BUUC Committees >
      • Executive Committee
      • Worship Committee
      • Membership Committee
      • The Women's Alliance
      • Flower Committee
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  • Stewardship and Gift Policy
    • Charitable Giving and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
  • Sermons 2021-22
    • Neither Here nor There
    • Transformation and Growth
    • The Geometry of Life
    • Borderland
    • Again
    • In Costume
    • Saints We've Known
    • Kurt Vonnegut: Humanist Hero
    • Thanksgiving Life
    • Come Home
    • How Big Is Your Circle?
    • Winter Warmth
    • Alone Together
    • Running on Empty
    • A Most Human Season
    • Lazy Busy
    • If We Choose
    • It's Not Just You
    • The Fear of the Refugee
    • Idle Worship
    • Doing Dishes
    • Of Muck and Martyrs
    • The Arithmetic of Joy
    • Finding Joy in Uncertain Times
  • Our Covenant
  • Minister's Welcome
  • Religious Education
  • Music & Choir
  • We Rise: Social Justice Resources
  • Newsletters
  • Church Calendar
  • Unitarian Universalism
  • Driving Directions
  • Photos of Us
  • Making the BUUC Accessible
  • LOVEUU
  • Community Resources
    • Mental Health Providers, Worcester MA
    • Southern Worcester County Parent Guide
  • Contact Us
    • Sermons 2021-22
    • Neither Here nor There
  • Sermon Archives
    • Come Build a Land
    • Our Brains, Our Minds and Our Hearts
    • Gifts
    • Repairers of the Breach
    • The Times They Are A-Changin'
    • Mission Possible
    • It Matters
    • Thanksgiving Reflection
    • Shoes That Fit
    • Winter
    • Ignorance, Answers, and Bliss
    • Questions, Questions
    • Living to the Point of Tears
    • Lost in the Shuffle: UU's Less Popular Principle
    • On the Turning Away
    • A Matter of Degree
    • A Collection of Near Death Experiences
    • I Know Her So Well, I Think. I Thought.
    • Faith-based Resilience
    • To Abet Creation
    • Who Cares?
    • A Matter of Life and Depth
    • Pass/Fail
    • Enough
    • O Holy Light
    • With New Eyes
    • Coming Alive
    • Beyond Words
    • Becoming
    • A Miracle Even Thomas Jefferson Could Embrace
    • Fear Not!
    • The Miracle of Change
    • Meeting Grace
    • R-E-S-P-E-C-T
    • Serving with Grace
    • The Pursuit of Happiness
    • When Heresy Met Sally
    • The Souls of All Living Creatures
    • What Are You Looking For?
    • Beloved
    • Let Me Count The Ways
    • Happiness
    • Chosen
    • Faith and Belief
    • Room To Grow
    • Blessed Fools
    • Don't Be a Superhero
    • Getting There from Here
    • Unfinished Business
    • Universalism's Origen
    • Yearn to Learn
    • Beauty Saves
    • Commentary on Freedom
    • Being Human: Religious Community in a Plastic Age
    • Questionable Certainties and Faithful Doubts
    • Commentaries on Murphy's Law
    • Children of a Lesser God
    • Fragile Nets of Meaning
    • Life Incarnate
    • So You Want to Be Happy
    • A Year's End Resolution
    • Where Stars Are Born
    • Thanking Eve
    • Anger, Our Teacher
    • Everlasting Punishment
    • Comprehending Moral Imperatives in a Me-centered World
    • Promises Kept
    • Dancing With The Stars: Science and Religion
    • Two Steps and Missteps: Church Membership for Human Beings
    • Light of the World
    • Dear God
    • Imago Hominis
    • CESA: Reflections on Drug Addiction
    • Falling in Love Again
    • How Does Your Garden Grow
    • Repent! No Guilt Trip Required
    • Go Out into the World
    • Thanks-living
    • Life and Not Life
    • Guilty As Charged
    • Dare To Hope
    • Don't Forget To Chew
    • Break the Silence - Stop the Violence
    • Living Among Strangers
    • What Is Religion Anyway?
    • East of Eden
    • Praying Attention
    • Wholly Human
    • The Healing Power of Forgiveness
    • All I Want for Christmas
    • Let It Be...Let It Go
    • Why Not?
    • People Like You
    • Vulnerable Trust
    • Thin Places
    • Now What?
    • Courageously Humble
    • The Last Butterfly
    • The Good, The Bad, and The Whole
    • Sacred Souvenirs
    • Made Whole
    • This Wild and Precious Life
    • Fragile Nets of Meaning
    • Where Our Future Can Begin
    • Taking Stock: Managing Our Spiritual Inventory
    • To Convert Life into Truth
    • Are We There Yet?
    • Family Matters
    • Ordinary Saints
    • All I Wanted Was Everything
    • Giving Thanks
    • To Be or Not To Be
    • Entering the Christmas Story
    • A Great Light
    • What's Real?
    • Troubling the Water
    • The Amazing Mr. Wedgewood
    • Lend Me Your Ears
    • Work That Is Real
    • Happy Melba Toast Day
    • The Great Pacific Garbage Dump
    • Plastics, Benjamin!
    • Surprise Beginnings
    • A Place at the Table
    • Norbert Capek’s Flower Communion: A Call To Honor Life
    • Voices of God
    • Hold On To What Is Good
    • The Little Stone Church That Rocks
    • What Would Jean-Luc Do?: A Tribute to Humanist Hero Gene Roddenberry
    • From Who am I? to Whose are We?
    • Turning
    • Spirituality
    • R & R
    • Spritual F-Words
    • Does Anyone Really Like Herding Cats?
    • Prepare to Be Amazed
    • The Greatest Gift
    • The Impossible Will Take A Little While
    • Taking Sides: Journey to the Center of the Universe
    • Help Wanted, Apply Within
    • Two Truths & Plastics and Water Don't Mix
    • The Third Conversation
    • Good People >
      • UU You >
        • Twitter and Covid and Wall Street, Oh, my!
        • I Do Believe in Spooks >
          • Holy Homophones >
            • What's in a Name?
            • So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!
            • Open-Mindedness, As Assigned
            • Going on a Journey
            • Cheap Love
            • Nonproductive Delight
            • The Persistence of Memory
            • Thoughts about the Historical Jesus
            • Lindens and Tiarella and Bearberry, Oh My!
            • Season's Greetings
            • I Still Have A Dream
            • Peace Corps - A Lesson in Caring
            • Spiritual Engineering
            • Thanks for the Memories
            • Our Stories, Ourselves
            • Anxious Gardeners
            • The Best Sermon Ever!
            • UUnited
            • We Are Courageous
            • A Right Way to Be Wrong
            • Sacred Ideals
            • This Wild and Precious Life Revisited
            • 20/20
            • Home
            • What About Now?
        • Fragile
        • Time Ravel
        • Now Is Not the Time for Hope
        • The G Word (It's Probably Not what You Think)
    • No Thanks, I'll Walk
    • Be the Change
    • I Don't Know
    • What Lies Within
    • Guest Perspective
    • Growing Panes
    • De Colores
    • Roots and Wings

Events Calendar
We reopened Sunday Worship Services in person on September 12.  We are also streaming the service via ZOOM for those who are uncomfortable gathering in person or unable to be at church. Please note that because of the Covid pandemic, we will not be offering nursery care at the beginning of the church year, but hope to in the future.

If you would like to participate in our online service and are not on our email list, please send your email address to our Office Assistant Emily at buuc01506@gmail.com.



Upcoming Events​
​

June Services* 

Sunday morning services are held at 10:30 am. 
​

June 5: The Arithmetic of Joy Worship Leader: Rev. Craig M. Nowak New Member Welcome Music: BUUC Choir
​June 12: Finding Joy in Uncertain Times Lay Speaker: Rita Schiano Music: Jefferson Upton, flute 
June 19: Intergenerational Service with Stone Communion  A Mighty Resistance –Rev. Craig Music: BUUC Intergenerational Choir 
June 26: Summer Services begin 
UUA General Assembly — Sunday Worship 
​A link to the livestream will be sent the week prior, and again on 6/26. 

Summer Services will be held via Zoom.

*A Note About Worship 
Currently are holding hybrid services (in person and streaming). Information about attending in-person is included below. To stream the service (attend online) click the link that will be provided weekly via email.  If you are not on our email list but would like to be, please contact our Office Assistant Emily at buuc01566@gmail.com.​

Requirements for Attending InPerson Service at the BUUC
We are aware of the statistics concerning the Delta variant of the Covid virus and want to keep our members and friends safe, so with that in mind, we are implementing the following changes for the time being regarding returning to services in person:
  • First of all, we hope that all who can receive the Covid vaccine have been vaccinated. But we are aware that vaccines do not guarantee complete protection. Therefore, we are requiring that everyone entering the building wear a facemask whenever there is more than one person inside.  This applies to any time before, during and after the service.
  • The ushers will seat people as they come in to assure that there is personal distance maintained for single people as well as families or pods of people.  While it is unlikely to happen, we reserve the right to turn people away if we determine that we have reached full capacity for safety.
  • We will not have coffee hour after the service and ask if people want to socialize that they do so outside the church.
  • We are asking that people not bring food or drink into the sanctuary as eating or drinking requires removal of facemasks.
  • We are streaming the service on Zoom for those who are uncomfortable attending the service in person.  .
  • If you are participating in the service via Zoom, please email your joys and concerns to buuc01506@gmail.com with the subject line “Joys & Concerns” no later than 12:00pm on the Saturday before the service.
  • We will not provide nursery care at the beginning of the church year but hope to add it at a future date.
Please be aware that the Executive Committee discussed returning to in-person services at great length.  We hope that with making the service available through streaming, most people will be able to take advantage of being at the Sunday service either in person or virtually.  

We understand that Covid has been difficult for all of us and we would all like to just put this virus behind us and return to “normal,” but that isn’t realistic at this point.  So, we have put together an approach that we hope will allow us to be together respecting the science of this virus and keeping people as safe and comfortable as possible. 

Remember too, that the changes being implemented are temporary. This is not a “new normal.” We will get through this challenging time together. 

Please contact any member of the Executive Committee with questions you have about resuming in-person services.  If you have questions about the Religious Exploration program, please contact Cara Wales at c.l.c.wales@gmail.com 

Thanks,
Barbara Hale, President, b.lambert.hale@gmail.com 
Rev. Craig Nowak, RevCraigNowak@comcast.net 
Gary Blanchard, garyblanchard@hughes.net 
Fritzi Foster, fritzifoster@yahoo.com 
Chris Keough-Huff, smurf111@charter.net 
Helena Paez, Hepamay@me.com 
Doug Smith, mecodoug@charter.net 
Sarah Swift, saswift114@gmail.com
​
BUUC Journaling Group 
When:  7 p.m. on the last Monday of the month to be resumed in September 2022
Where:  On ZOOM

Join us  at 7:00 on the last Monday of the month
on Zoom for the BUUC Journaling Group. All are welcome. Please  
email c.l.c.wales@gmail.com for more information. 
​
Aging As A Spiritual Practice
The continuation of the Adult Religious Education course is currently on hiatus.  Contact Cruger Johnson Phillips, cruger.johnson@gmail.com or Joanne Hamerly, jmh2ndchapter@gmail.com  for further information.


​Announcements!

Volunteers Wanted for the Brookfield Ecumenical Food Pantry
​Do you have two hours a month to help out at the Food Pantry? The pantry is looking for volunteers to help distribute food to clients throughout the year. Hours of operation are from 9:30 am – 11:00 am on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Food Pantry is located at St. Mary’s Church in Brookfield. It is a very hands-on way to help out the community. To learn more, contact me at sully-3@charter.net or at coffee hour. 
​~Donna Sullivan
​
Planning an Event or Meeting at BUUC?
If you or your committee is planning an event at BUUC, please be sure to notify BUUC’s Office Assistant Emily Foster at buuc01506@gmail.com. She can check if the date, space and time you want is available and promote your event or meeting through the appropriate outlets used at BUUC (email, print, calendar, Facebook, Twitter). If you are the event/meeting host/chairperson, please arrive at the church before other attendees to ensure the space is ready (including lights and heat as needed). 
​
​Scrapbook
​
We purchased a scrapbook to document BUUC events. If you attend an event and take a photo please forward it to Debbie via email, Debbie@DebbieEnnis.com. Please write a brief line or two about the event, i.e. date, purpose, place, responsible committee. We also welcome newspaper articles about our church or our members, when the BUUC is mentioned. We would love to have this to look back on in future years. Thank you, Your Membership Committee

Ongoing Events
​

STONE SOUP COMMUNITY LUNCHEON
Stone Soup  Stone Soup luncheon will begin in October 2022 and will be held at 12:00pm on the first Wednesday of the month starting in October. A link to attend will be sent out via email to members and friends each month.

THE BUUC WOMEN'S ALLIANCE
During the church year (September through June,) second Wednesday each month at 7 pm at the BUUC or in a member’s home unless otherwise noted.
All women are welcome.  Contact Laurie Magnuson for more information. Please note that meetings are suspended while we are dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.
    The Women’s Alliance is open to all women in the community. This year we have some plans in the making.  We are also planning a fun day of health awareness and relaxation methods this spring and are happy to once again be presenting our Goods and Services Silent Auction at at date to be determined.
Please feel free to join us.  Contact Laurie Magnuson at LMagnuson@randolphproducts.com for more information. 

CHOIR REHEARSAL
Choir meets on  Thursdays at 7:00 in person. 
If you are interested in joining choir,  have other musical skills to share, or any questions about the music program,  please get in touch with Music Director Lila M Farrar; lilamfarrar@gmail.com or 508 864 5978 .

BUUC BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
Our regular meetings are on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m.   This year we will be meeting via ZOOM.  If you would like to participate, please contact Barb Hale at b.lambert.hale@gmail.com.  Keep Reading!
June 14:  Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
We will be taking July and August off to read and will come back on September 13 to compile our book list for the next church year.
​Everyone is welcome to join us for the BUUC Book Club.  We meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 7 pm via Zoom.  If  you have any questions or suggestions contact Barbara Hale at b.lambert.hale@gmail.com
Get reading!

Committee for Ecology & Social Action
When:  Second Wednesday of the month, 7 p.m.
Where:  Via Zoom

Committee for Ecology and Social Action is now meeting the second Wednesday of the month.  We are currently discussing ways to protect voting rights and ways to help with the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Penny Blum at quabbinquilter@gmail.com 

Quiet Gathering in the Spirit of the Quakers
The Quiet Gathering will be resumed when it is possible to get together. For more information, contact Cruger Johnson Phillips, cruger.johnson@gmail.com. 
​
​Sanctuary: LGBTQ Coffee House  
Currently postponed because of Covid-19 concerns

When:  Third Friday of the month, 7-9 p.m.
Where:  BUUC

A monthly coffee house for LGBTQ youth and their allies to gather, share, eat, and socialize in a safe and welcoming setting where all are accepted and welcomed. Bring your favorite snack to share and meet other youth. For more info, call 774-254-0843.
​
Proudly powered by Weebly