Table of Contents 

1) Message from the Conference

2) Latest News

3) Around the Conference 4) Prayer Concerns

5) Save the Date & Cont. Ed Resources

6) VTCUCC Classifieds

7) UCC News

DEADLINE for E-Kit News must be received by Tuesday of each week. Please send any and all information please email: admin@vermontucc.org

Message from the Conference

Dear Beloved Community in the Vermont Conference,

On this week’s Clergy Call, one of the things we talked about was the power of blessing. Many of our churches participate in various blessing rituals such as blessing of the animals, blessing of backpacks, even blessing of Halloween costumes. Blessing rituals are gaining renewed attention within faith communities, offering a meaningful way to affirm God’s presence in everyday life.

Blessings serve as sacred pauses, moments when the ordinary is named as holy. They create space for gratitude and a chance to ask for God to be with us in all the spaces of our lives. These are often opportunities to invite the community in to our space or to go out into public spaces simply to bless and make real the power and presence of God-with-us.

There are so many opportunities to bless: births, marriages, anniversaries, the start of a new school year, times of planting and harvest, a mission trip, the commissioning of volunteers or a team going out to witness for justice and stand with the vulnerable. These practices affirm that God’s Spirit accompanies us in both the extraordinary and the everyday.

How is your congregation blessing the life, work and witness of members, friends, children, youth, elders and members of your wider community? How can you reimagine your ministry to include even more opportunities to bless? By doing so, churches can nurture spiritual resilience, deepen communal bonds, and remind us all that God’s grace is abundant and ever-present.

Bless you at the turning of the season, the return to work and school. Bless you in your everyday life and in your ministry. Bless you on good days and hard days. Bless you as you reach out with kindness and love, with boldness of witness. Just - bless you!

Lynn

_{Latest News}

NOW REGISTERING FOR FALL 2025

UCC Faith and Theology in the Public Square

FINAL WEEK TO REGISTER FOR FALL 2025

In this time of turmoil, as lay leaders and clergy we may find ourselves in the position of needing or wanting to present a theological understanding different from those currently impacting our nation's internal and external affairs. Inherent in who we are as a denomination and leaders of it is the biblical call to be active in advocacy alongside of the most vulnerable members of our communities and to be mindful at all times of how our language might impact those who are victimized and marginalized by our society.

In addition to exploring the theological underpinnings of progressive Protestantism, this course will engage learners in exploring the impacts of how they write and speak theologically. Join is in building confidence and clarity in how we address the moral issues of our times.

This fall course is being instructed by the Rev. Dr. Gail Kinney and will be held in person in West Lebanon on Sept 6, Oct 4, Nov 1, Dec 6 from 9am—4pm. Cost $350 (some scholarship assistance may be available —connect with the VT Dean for Ministry21 for more information https://vtdean@min21.org.)

Here’s the link to the course description on the Ministry21 website: https://www.nhcucc.org/ministry-21/ucc-faith-and-theology.

Ministry21 is a collaboration of the Vermont and New Hampshire Conferences, and is partially funded through the generosity of the Brown Endowment of United Church Funds. 

From UN NEWS: “According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform, 2 out of 3 famine thresholds have been reached in Gaza: plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition…there is mounting evidence that “widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease” are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths - the 3rd famine indicator.

‘It's clearly a disaster unfolding in front of our eyes, in front of our television screens,’ said Ross Smith, UN World Food Programme (WFP) director of emergencies. ‘This is not a warning, this is a call to action. This is unlike anything we have seen in this century.’”

~

There aren’t a lot of organizations or agencies that are known to be operating effectively in Gaza at this time. The situation is simply too chaotic and too much relies on the political will of the Israeli government and military to allow the delivery of food aid. Below are some suggestions of places to start looking. 

UCC Opportunities:

·      UCC Palestine Israel Network (now known as the UCC Movement for Palestinian Solidarity)

·      UCC Urgent Appeal for Gaza 

·      UCC Global Ministries and Churches for Middle East Peace

NON-UCC ORGANIZATIONS:

·      American Near East Refuge Aid (ANERA)

·      Heal Palestine

·      Palestine Children's Relief Fund

·      UNRWA USA National Committee

OTHER FOOD RELIEF AGENCIES:

·      World Central Kitchen

·      Doctors without borders (MSF)

WEB SITES FOR RESEARCHING NON-GOV’T ORGS.

·      Charity Navigator

·      GuideStar

·      GiveWell

WORLD COMMUNION RESOURCES FOR LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS!

AROUND THE CONFERENCE

(Please let us know what your Congregation is up to by sending an email to VermontConference@gmail.com .

You may just see yourself or someone you love in the eKit or our Facebook page!)

Good News! We have been accepted for this year's pride parade! Will will be participating in the Pride Parade as the churches of the Vermont Conference and we are inviting all our ONA churches to bring their banners and celebrate together. We need a project coordinator or such to be there physically for the parade itself and be a point of contact for our churches! We have 10 churches signed up with us! Line up begins at 10 am. Please let us know if you are able to be that person by contacting Jackie Lingelbach at jlingelbach@vermontucc.org. If you haven't already added your church now is your opportunity to do so!

The Parade will again end at the Burlington Waterfront Park where we we will have a tent and table to share with folks glitter blessings and other things. Rev. Laura Engelken our new ONA Coordinator is in charge of that and you can reach her at revlaurambucc@gmail.com to help support that event.

United Church of Ludlow Disaster Hub

We at the United Church of Ludlow have completed our Disaster Hub and are ready to get them where needed should a disaster strike in Vermont. Thank you for the $3000 grant that helped us complete the hub. We will likely continue to add a few more buckets and supplies as we can. 

Bible Camp and "Blessing of the Backpacks" at Stowe Community Church

JWM Recommends Ways to Amplify our Presence around Justice

Many people of faith in the Vermont Conference of the UCC are extremely concerned about the assaults on social justice by the present federal administration. Many of our Vermont churches are taking action to witness to our faith values and to speak out against these injustices, from rallies in Montpelier to weekly roadside demonstrations in local towns.

The Justice & Witness Ministries (JWM) Committee encourages all UCC members in Vermont to strengthen our outreach work and to emphasize our faith-based public witness. Upcoming opportunities are the Labor Day rallies on September 1 and the Burlington Pride Parade Festival on September 7. If you attend these rallies, please indicate that you are UCC and that you’re speaking for our church’s faith and values. A suggestion is to attend the rallies with other congregation members and carry signs identifying your congregation and your faith.

JWM also encourages observance of Sun Day, a time of action to support clean energy, over the September 20-21 weekend. To help us prepare, JWM is sponsoring a webinar on Thurs, Sept 4 at 6:30 pm (please see the related article in this week’s E Kit). Additionally, JWM is planning a webinar to follow up on the presentation by Rev. Marvin Ellison and Rev. Carter Heyward on our response to Christian Nationalism on Thurs, Oct 16 at 6:30 PM. Details on how to register for this webinar will be in a future E Kit.

Now is the time for all of us to get involved in action for justice!

UCC resources

VT UCC resources

Pastor Cordelia's Retirement Celebration

Please join us for Pastor Cordelia's retirement celebration on Sunday, September 14 from 2:00PM - 4:00PM EDT at the Fellowship Hall Congregational Church of South Hero, 24 South Street in South Hero, VT.

Please RSVP before September 7th, 11:45PM to longmiddleton@comcast.net.

*Monetary donations made payable to Congregational Church of South Hero

**Personal cards or notes- bring to church office or reception

***Bring or send to church office to arrive by Sept. 7th

PEACEABLE VERMONT ACTION

Peaceable Vermont Action (PVA) will host an event at 1:00pm on Sunday, September 14 featuring the speaker, Ataya Ben Abba. Ataya Ben Abba is an Israeli contentious objector. For more information, please see:

https://mailchi.mp/refuser/resisting-warand-apartheid-from-within-the-green-line-to-the-west-bank-gaza18118622?e=9e20d2fae2.

Windham World Affairs Council (WWAC) and Action Corps are partner organizations with Centre Church who are co-sponsoring. Centre Church is co-sponsoring for the following reasons:

1. The July 2025 United Church of Christ resolution in support of the Palestinian civilians in Gaza: https://www.ucc.org/general-synod-passes-declaration-for-an-end-to-genocide-in-palestine/

2.  Centre Church is a Just Peace Church; for over thirty years, the Just Peace Church pronouncement has inspired a grassroots movement of UCC congregations committed to corporately naming and boldly proclaiming a public identity as a justice-doing, peace seeking church. For more information see: https://www.ucc.org/just-peace/

3. Centre Church will co-sponsor with Action Corps, Peaceable Vermont Action (PVA), Windham World Affairs Council, and other organizations.

Help with Research Project about Healthcare Access in Vermont

Rev. Laurie Krooss, pastor of Second Congregational Church in Londonderry, VT is asking for our help on behalf of her son, Matthew, who is a med student at UVM:

My name is Matt, and I am a third-year medical student at The Robert Larner College of

Medicine at the University of Vermont. As a native Vermonter, I am passionate about

rural healthcare in our amazing state! I am helping UVM's Center for Biomedical

Innovation to assess the need for remote health technology in rural areas of Vermont. If

you have 10 minutes, please read about our project and take our survey about your

experiences and opinions on remote health technology!

Project information:

We are the Center for Biomedical Innovation at the University of Vermont. Our mission

is to design, evaluate, and deploy health technologies and systems with a focus on rural

healthcare. Your input will help us understand the healthcare needs and opinions of

rural Vermonters. This survey aims to assess your attitudes towards healthcare

accessibility and the implementation of health screening technologies at easily

accessible public sites in rural community settings. Examples include general stores,

libraries, schools, houses of worship, and town halls - all with provision for privacy. Your

responses are anonymous, and recorded information is deidentified. This information

will contribute to improving healthcare services in your community.

Take our survey:

https://redcap.link/UVM-SPHT

PRAYER CONCERNS

Our hearts are with The Rev. Tracy Weatherhogg and her family following the unexpected death of her husband, Rev. John Weatherhogg, this week. We ask that you keep them in your prayers. We will share additional information as we receive it.

Please hold Rev. James Semmelroth Darnell, newly called pastor of the Barre Congregational Church, UCC, and his family in your prayers. James' father died July 24th.

Please keep family, friends and the larger community in your prayers at the sudden loss of the Ven. J. Stannard Baker. Stan was a Cathedral Deacon at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Burlington and an Arch Deacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont. He was a gifted psychotherapist. Stan and his husband, Peter Harrigan, were part of the original six plaintiffs in Vermont’s historic civil unions law in 2000. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Our dear friend and colleague Carrie Bail's husband, Darius Jonathan, is in urgent need of a kidney transplant. You can make an incredible difference by considering becoming a living donor or by simply sharing his story. Please visit nkr.org/XAX634 to learn more about Darius and how you can help save a life. Let's spread the word and help him find his match! #KidneyTransplant #LivingDonor #HelpDarius #MedicalFundraiser #ShareToSave

Save the Date & Cont. Ed Resources

Apple Crisp Day - Fall Open House on the Mountain (September 27th)

RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/v8zvWCrX9MKwGHrr7

The site and trails will open for your enjoyment starting at 9am and ending at 5pm. 

You are welcome to come on your own, bring a friend, or bring your family! Come enjoy the foliage from a rocking chair on Madison Porch or take a hike up to one of the ledges and take in the view from up there. Bring everything you need for a picnic lunch, a book, a craft, your hiking boots, a musical instrument, or whatever else you need to make your day enjoyable. Horton Center will provide restrooms, coffee/tea/water, and delicious homemade apple crisp, of course! 

Pieceful Quilting and

Yoga and Meditation on the Mountain: September 5th-7th

Pieceful Quilting Info Packet 

Yoga and Meditation on the Mountain Info Packet

There will be two retreats going on simultaneously during "Work in Progress Weekend" at Horton Center: Pieceful Quilting and Yoga and Meditation on the Mountain. Regardless of which retreat you register for you are welcome to pick and choose activities from both program offerings to take part in. All retreat attendees will enjoy meals all together as well as some activities such as morning watch and evening campfires. We will practice welcoming and inclusive community building among all who attend the weekend! 

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Home   About Us    Programs   For Authorizing Bodies     Contact Us     Donate    

What is the Bible? begins September 17, 2025

Using the student text What is the Bible? as the foundation, from the Exploring the Bible Dickinson Series, Rev. Anne Robertson (author) introduces participants to the Bible in its many contexts: as sacred story and as literature, as moral guide and historical guide. Participants who complete this course will be prepared to continue their Biblical journey with the Old Testament and New Testament courses based on the other volumes in the series.

PATHWAYS Fall 2025 Schedule, Six-week courses

What is the Bible? (Dickinson/MBS)                        9/17/2025

Professional Boundaries and Ministerial Self-Care  9/17/2025

New Testament Hermeneutics                                  10/8/2025

Practicing Our Faith in the Public Square                 10/8/2025

Living the Heart of Progressive Christian Theology 10/8/2025

Ecological Theology                                                 10/8/2025

Preaching Liberation Theology                                 10/8/2025

Introduction to Spiritual Health (Pastoral Care)       10/15/2025

Go to the PATHWAYS website (pathwaystheological.org) to learn more and to apply for this and other courses.

UCC MESA Trainings – Boundary Training for Ministers in Specialized Settings with Rev. Tara Barber and Rev. Anissa Glaser-Bacon

Sept 4, 2025, 6:00pm-9:00pm 

This training is open to ministers serving in specialized settings throughout the United Church of Christ. Serving in specialized settings requires particular attention to boundaries within the ministry setting and home church that are challenging and different from those serving as local church pastors. This training will focus on matters that relate specifically to issues that these ministers face, providing opportunities for clergy to reflect on best practices and growth in their practice of ministry.

REGISTER HERE

UCC MESA Trainings – Boundary Training for Retired Ministers with Rev. Tara Barber and Rev. Melanie Oommen

Sept 24, 2025, 1:30pm-4:30 PM 

Maintaining healthy boundaries is challenging at any stage in ministry and it is particularly tender and difficult attending to boundaries as we transition out of our last call, and while in retirement. "A Sure Foundation", "The Ministerial Code" and Rev. Dr. Bruce Epperly's new book, "The Jubilee Years" along with case studies, will provide the content of this training. Rev. Tara Barber will offer this focused Boundary Awareness Training for those entering and living in retirement. Note - This training completes individual requirements for boundary training ONLY WHEN authorized by a local Committee on Ministry. Participants must be able to use zoom chat and breakout room functions.

REGISTER HERE

 Welcome, Farewell, and Blessings

Pastoral Transitions

Pastor's Death

August 19, 2025

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Reverend Robert Maury Hundley on Monday, August 18, 2025.

Rev. Hundley’s life was defined by his commitment to his faith and community. A graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1969, he was ordained on November 8, 1970, with his ordination sermon delivered by UCC President Avery Post and his seminary classmate, Scudder Parker. He was ordained at the Second Congregational Church of Hyde Park.

His ministry spanned 55 years and included many roles:

• Instructor and Chaplain at Johnson State College in Vermont.
• Associate Clergy at the Manhasset Congregational Church in New York.
• Chief of Staff of the Narcotics Committee for the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Chaplain at the Soldiers Home, Silver Spring, and Bethesda, where he served with some Episcopal Churches at the invitation of UCC Clerics & Episcopal Bishop Nathan Baxter and Bishop John Chane.

We recently celebrated his 55 years of ministry at this year's the Annual Meeting.

Our hearts and prayers are with his wife, Joy, and his family and friends during this difficult time. We will update you when we have more information.

Sincerely,

Paul

We are saddened to share the news of the unexpected passing of Rev. John Weatherhogg. Please hold John's wife The Rev. Tracy Weatherhogg and his family and friends in your prayers during this difficult time. A celebration of his life is being planned on Saturday, Aug. 23rd at 2 pm at Grace Church, Rutland. We will provide more details as they become available.

VERMONT UCC CLASSIFIEDS

YAMAHA BABY GRAND PIANO LOOKING FOR A HOME

Looking to give away a Yamaha baby grand piano to a passionate instrument lover who will take good care of it!

If interested, please contact here

The Vermont Conference Seeks Disaster Response Coordinator

The Vermont Conference is seeking a dedicated individual to serve as our new Conference Disaster Response Coordinator. This vital role is central to our mission, ensuring that our churches and communities are prepared to respond effectively in times of crisis and natural disasters.

The Disaster Response Coordinator plays a key role in coordinating efforts with local churches, providing resources and training, and liaising with the national United Church of Christ (UCC) Wider Church Ministries. This position is essential for mobilizing our collective efforts to offer support, hope, and resilience to those affected by disasters.



Although this is a volunteer position, there are funds for supplies and for reimbursement for travel expenses, including getting to national training and support events for Conference Disaster Ministry Coordinators. There is also a commitment by Conference staff to recruit a small Task Force to work with the Coordinator.

This is an opportunity to make a tangible difference in the lives of many and to embody our commitment to care for our neighbors in their greatest time of need. If you are passionate about community service and disaster preparedness and response, we encourage you to consider this important role.

For more information on the role and to apply, please contact Rev. Dr. Lynn Bujnak (lbujnak@vermontucc.org, 802-505-3980).

Mission and faith identity support:

Applicants should demonstrate full support of the mission, values, and faith orientation of the First Congregational Church of Essex Junction, UCC and the United Church of Christ as a welcoming, historic, and progressive Christian faith community. The applicant will unreservedly support the church’s identity as an Open and Affirming (i.e. LGBTQ+ affirming) congregation. For more details regarding the position, please visit our website: https://www.fccej.org/v5/who-we-are/work-with-us/ FCCEJ is an open and affirming church, serving all in the spirit of Christ.

Please send resume and cover letter to: welcome@fccej.org

FOR MORE CONFERENCE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

For the latest news click here

The Online Learning Platform of the United Church of Christ

Important Announcement Regarding Federal Grants 

The United Church of Christ's Office of General Counsel has issued an important notice for all local churches considering applying for federal grants, including the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Recent changes to grant terms and conditions may include requirements that could impact a church's ministry and theological positions.

These new terms may require recipients to cooperate with immigration officials, avoid promoting certain diversity and equity programs, and refrain from participating in boycotts related to Israel.

It is crucial for local churches to review all grant terms carefully to ensure that accepting federal funds does not compromise their mission or the principles of the separation of church and state.

For more information and to read the full article, please follow the link below.

Join the Movement toward Racial Justice

The United Church of Christ invites you to participate in the Join the Movement Campaign, a three-year initiative that recognizes local churches’ works towards racial justice. Together, we can advocate for all people to live without acts of violence or structures and systems that harm God’s human creation.

How to Contact Vermont Conference Staff

Conference Minister: Rev. Dr. Lynn Bujnak at: lbujnak@vermontucc.org

Associate Conference Minister: Rev. Paul Sangree at: psangree@vermontucc.org

Ministries Coordinator ackie Lingelbach at: jlingelbach@vermontucc.org (search & call, ministerial standing, pulpit supply list, etc.)

Office Administrator: Jenni Grout at admin@vermontucc.org

(event registration, financial, governance other business)

Disaster Ministries: disasterministries@vermontucc.org

Dean of Ministry21: Rev. Susie Webster-Toleno at: VTDean@min21.org

Connect with us on:

visit our website at http://www.vermontucc.org/