This week's events and announcements at Beneficent Church! (Note: If you can't see the entire newsletter, click "View in Browser" at the top of the email.) Issue Date: June 10, 2021 Sunday Worship "Rainbow Heart," Lindsay Satchell, watercolor You are invited to join us for our virtual celebration of Pride at this Sunday's worship service starting at 10am! If you are unable to attend, we will post a recording of the service on our YouTube channel ​ afterward. Download a PDF of the bulletin below. (It's also available on our website ​.) Click here to connect. Meeting ID: 594 289 087 Passcode: 1743 Call-in: 1-646-558-8656 ; when prompted for a Participant ID, press "#." When attending any of our services, review "Etiquette for Our Online Gatherings" below for important notes.​ Jun 13 2021 - ZOOM worship bulletin.pdf Download File Prayer Requests, Visitor Sign-In, Contact Staff Sunday's Guest Preacher Our guest preacher for this Sunday's Pride-themed worship service will be Rachel Maddox, a non-binary playwright, storyteller, teaching artist, and critical educator who has been based out of Providence, Rhode Island for almost four years. A New Jersey native, Rachel received a bachelor’s degree in Theater with a Playwriting concentration, and an Elementary Education Teaching Credential from Connecticut College in New London, CT. Rachel’s work has brought them across the country and back, and up the northeastern coast before landing in Providence to begin work with the Rhode Island Black Storytellers (RIBS) as Funda Fest Managing Director. Rachel currently works as a storyteller, teaching artist, and technology manager for RIBS in addition to other teaching work for various artistic and academic programs. They continue to develop new work and workshop their existing play, Destructive Behaviors. Prayers for Jerry We are saddened to share that Jerry Houle has been transferred to Hope Hospice & Palliative Care on North Main Street and is discontinuing further curative treatments. Jerry and his wife Jane have been members of Beneficent Church since 1994, and our entire community joins in lifting up their family in prayer during this time. Queer Vespers Tonight Tonight at 7pm, join Rev. Gwen Howard for a weekly Queer Vespers service, an ecumenical worship service created by someone in the LGBTQ+ community for members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as allies and accomplices. The service usually runs for about half an hour and is followed by a social time. To join the service (or if you'd like more information, please contact: [email protected] . Kitchen Renovation – Planning Meeting – Monday Property Committee chair Enno Fritsch reports that there will be an in-person meeting in the Round Top Kitchen next Monday, June 14, at 7pm. This gathering is open to those who are interested in helping with this project. While the Meeting House and buildings remain closed, it's necessary for this meeting to be on church property in order for the project to continue on schedule. So, to keep everyone safe, all participants must wear a mask – vaccinated or not – and must maintain social distance. At Monday’s meeting, the group will: review and approve the equipment selection. review finishes for countertops, cabinets, etc. review the final plan. The goal is to give Corrie deBoer, our architect, sufficient feedback so he can finalize the design with the engineers this summer and, by late summer/early fall, provide complete construction drawings that can be implemented when approved by the congregation. Thanks to those who have helped with this project! Staff and Holiday Schedules Pastor Jermaine will be unavailable on Thursday, June 17, and Director of Christian Education Jaquel Scott will be unavailable on Saturday, June 19. Pastor Elizabeth will be on vacation from Monday, June 21 through Sunday, June 27. If you have an urgent pastoral concern during that time, please contact Pastor Jermaine at [email protected] or (401) 479-6960. For most Fridays through Labor Day (September 6), Office and Communications Manager Michele Adamo will not be available. If you need something urgently, please contact her at [email protected] or (401) 537-8987 ​. “Outdoor Fun” Photo Contest for June This week’s “Outdoor Fun” selections by the Agape Committee showcase one of Lynn Estrada’s favorite hobbies: geocaching! For those who don’t know, geocaching is like a worldwide scavenger hunt. You use the GPS function on your phone to find hidden “caches” outside, then log in to a geocaching app on your phone to document that you found them. A couple of examples are shown below. What do you like to do in the summer? Take a picture of yourself engaging in a favorite outdoor activity or hobby (gardening, going to the beach, making smores, hanging with your church friends), then email it to to Agape Committee chair Lynn Estrada ( [email protected] ). Be sure to include a short description so we can include it in our e-newsletter. (It might also appear on Facebook, so be sure everyone in the picture is okay with that.) The committee will choose the winning photos each week which will be published in the “Weekly Update.” The final winner will appear in the July 1 issue of “Weekly Update.” Installation of Rev. Darrell Goodwin – June 19 The Southern New England Conference UCC invites all to join online at 1pm next Saturday, June 19, for the installation of the Rev. Darrell Goodwin as the first Executive Conference Minister of the Southern New England Conference. Faith Congregational Church in Hartford will be the virtual host for Rev. Goodwin's installation. The Rev. Goodwin, who began serving on January 1 of this year, is the first openly LGBT black person to serve as a Conference Minister in the United Church of Christ. As the Chief Vision-Keeper, he is responsible for guiding the conference and its affiliates to have a positive and lasting impact in our world. The Rev. Traci Blackmon, Associate General Minister for Justice and Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ, will preach at his installation. ​ Click here to register and receive the Zoom link for this historic event. Annual Program Meeting of Beneficent Church – June 20 The Annual Program Meeting of the Beneficent Congregational Church will take place via Zoom following worship on Sunday, June 20, 2021. At that meeting, the congregation will vote on a number of proposed changes to the church’s bylaws; please click here to download the details and review them in advance. If you haven’t received your PDF or hard copy of the Annual Program Report, please contact the Church Office at [email protected] or 401-537-8987. Note that, while all are encouraged to attend the meeting, only members of Beneficent Church will be allowed to vote. Re-Opening Subcommittee Continues Its Work The Re-Opening Subcommittee continues to make preparations for the Meeting House's re-opening, currently scheduled for September 12. The group is monitoring COVID-related guidelines from the RI Department of Health, CDC, and other sources, and has begun identifying tasks to be accomplished this summer. Recently, the committee established guidelines our renting groups will need to follow; some are hoping to return to Beneficent as soon as next month. (These non-church partners are guided by their own protocols and assume their own risks; our guidelines are intended to ensure the building remains safe for staff who must visit occasionally to do their jobs.) In the coming weeks, the Re-Opening Subcommittee will share more updates. We know already that, when we return to the Meeting House, we will need all hands on deck! Look for additional volunteer positions to be announced, and join us in this work to keep everyone safe. What About That Other Vaccine? Joyce Drake’s daughter Anna sends this reminder regarding another vaccine we should be aware of: Avoid Shingles! If you are 50+ years old and have had chicken pox, consult your physician or pharmacist about getting a shingles vaccine. Shingles isn’t life-threatening but can be extremely painful. It’s caused by the chicken-pox virus, which lies dormant in the body for decades, and can emerge in later years when the body’s immune system is weaker. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Safety During the Pandemic While the church is closed for all worship services, meetings, and events, a skeleton crew of staff and volunteers visit the church occasionally for brief periods to maintain the building, access records, and research specific financial matters - basically tasks needed to keep the business of the church moving. When it's necessary to visit the building, all visitors (including staff, volunteers, and visiting vendors) are required to wear face coverings at all times . And to assist in contact tracing (as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, Rhode Island Department of Health, and the National Institutes of Health), we have a sign-in log at the front door. Each visitor is required to sign in and sign out so we have an accurate record of who to contact in case of exposure to COVID-19. Those records will be kept until we have returned to the Meeting House. Need Something Posted? Have an event or gathering that you want us to post on our Facebook page ? While we try to make sure the big events are promoted on our page, we could use your help! If your group is hosting something that you'd like to have shared on our Facebook page, please email the details to [email protected] ​. Thank you! Reminders About Scheduling Meetings If you are the leader of a committee, group, or ministry team at Beneficent Church, please keep in mind these reminders when you are scheduling meetings and events: All gatherings are online only until we return for in-person worship (currently not expected until September 12, 2021).