Volume 27, Issue 1

January 2026

Wishing you a blessed 2026!

Office Hours:

Monday thru Friday 9A - 12P

*** The office will be closed

December 26th thru January 2nd***

December Attendance

In Person + Zoom

December 7th - 38

December 14th - 39

December 21st - 58

CALL TO ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING

CALL TO ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING

Members of the Bristol United Church of Christ

are called to the Annual Budget Meeting on

Sunday, January 18, 2026 at 11:00 a.m.

The purpose of the meeting is to act on a budget for 2026.

This meeting will be in Fellowship Hall

and can be attended via Zoom.

The Zoom link information will be emailed in advance of the meeting.

/c/ Mary Kay Haines, Clerk

December 21, 2025

The Budget Hearing will be Sunday, January 11, 2026

immediately following worship service.

Please make note of these two dates on your calendar. Thank you!

THE PASTOR'S PEN

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

…He was in the world…

To all who received him, who believed in his name,

he gave the power to become children of God.

(John 1: 9-12 selections NRSV)

That’s a Christmas reading and this article is supposed to be for January and New Year’s. But here is the thing: when you read just those verses from the John, it makes Jesus sound like a one-time thing. The light was coming; that it came; that it was Jesus; and that’s the end of the story; now, everybody be happy. It doesn’t work that way though. It didn’t work that way then either. The world isn’t changed and better just because Jesus came into it. That should be obvious to anyone who looks around at the world in which we are living. If Jesus hadn’t enlightened and had an effect upon the first disciples and then they upon others, we probably wouldn’t even have a church today or even know who Jesus is. What makes Jesus’ effect on the world the big thing that it is - is that this effect continues into the present day. The light didn’t only come into the world then; the light comes into the world now.

I believe that the celebration of Christmas as only a commemoration of a one-time historical event is perhaps the poorest way to keep the holiday. I believe we need to celebrate Christmas by participating making it real in our own day and age. It isn’t only that Jesus came into the world then, but that he IS COMING into the world, into you and into me, even now.

So now it is a new year and I am still talking about the Light of the World coming into the world. I can’t stress enough that what our faith is really about is being transformed, changed, by the presence of Christ within each of us AND among all of us. If we look at the other end of John, the ending, we learn what his gospel was really about. The end of John’s gospel says that Jesus did many other signs that aren’t written about in this book. But these are written so we will come to believe in Jesus, and through that belief, come to life. (John 20:30-31 my paraphrase) Jesus came to help us all come to life. The Light of the World shines to light up the world and make it alive. This can’t be something that only happened in a single historical moment. This shining must continue. And as long as it continues, there will be life and growth. And let’s face it, our world needs that. So that means that the light can’t only come at Christmas. We need it on New Year’s too. We need it on Thursdays, and in February, and always.

So, how do we ensure that the light shines where it needs to? Well, if the light has touched us, even just a little, we need to not hold onto it for only ourselves. We need to pass it on by reflecting that Light of the World in who we are, in what we say, and especially in what we do. It is in that way that we do not simply come to church but that we actually ARE the church. It is in that way that the Light of the World may come into the world every day of every year.

Wishing you all blessed New Years. Shine!

NARRATIVE LECTIONARY READINGS 

ESTELLE'S CORNER

Please join the

Women’s Fellowship in celebrating

January Birthdays and

Anniversaries, at

Coffee Hour on 

Sunday, January 25th!

THE JOYFUL NOISE UKULELE BAND

9:30 on Mondays.

New people are always welcome. 

Contact the church office before coming so that we have materials

ready for newcomers. 

We have ukuleles that people can

sign-out to borrow.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Train up a child in the way they should go; even when they are old they will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 

“Jesus’s parables are simple and memorable stories,

often with imagery, that teach a lesson in daily life.”

During the 2025-26 Sunday School year we are going to study 13 of the Parables that Jesus used to teach important lessons about faith and living a good life.

The first Sunday of each month is Intergenerational Worship, so there will not be any formal Sunday School Lessons. Nursery care is usually offered.

We will be running our Sunday School like a “little one room schoolhouse”: Attendance, Singing, Prayer, a multi-age lesson on the Parables, independent work for the older students, and guided activities for the younger students. Each week we will have Ms. Sal leading us in song.

New students are always welcome to join us at any time during the year! 

Here is the calendar for the month of January:

January  4 – Intergenerational Sunday

January 11 – The Parable of the Rich Farmer - Mrs. Keegan

January 18 – The Parable of the Sower - Mrs. Vogel

January 25 – The Parable of the Tower Builder - Mrs. Keegan

MISSIONS

The Missions committee met on November 12th and will not meet in December. We are always looking for soup visitors. Can you visit one person a month? Soup is warm and can feel like home. If you can’t do every month, could you step in occasionally? Contact Karen MacLeod. Cindy Westfall made the soup for the Soup Visit Mission in December.  

The remainder of the Miscellaneous Missions Budget was split and given as follows:

$667.00 to Hurricane Melissa Relief

$667.00 to Fuel Assistance

$667.00 to Christmas Fund for Veterans of the Cross

Thank you to all of you who designate your giving to Missions. It truly is a rewarding ministry. May 2026 bring you all the blessings of Christ’s birth!

Jean Pothier, Sue Neiman, Karen MacLeod, Cindy Westfall

and Rev. Andrew MacLeod

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

CHURCH COUNCIL

There was no December Council Meeting

COMMUNITY

BRISTOL COMMUNITY

SERVICES

FOOD PANTRY NEEDS

More families currently in need.

Any and all donations

of food welcome!

*Spaghetti & Sauce

(NO GLASS JARS),

Chef Boyardee Meals, Baked Beans,

**Instant Potatoes & Rice

Canned Chicken, Corn, Peas,

Peanut Butter

mayo & ketchup

Shampoo, Body Wash, Deodorant,

Toothpaste, Toothbrushes

Dish & Laundry Detergent

Cat & Dog Food

Winter Closing Reminder

For All Groups Meeting at Bristol United Church of Christ

The BUCC will no longer use local school closures for bad weather as the determining factor for closing the church. Instead, the church will be available to organizations regularly using the church facilities at the group leader’s discretion. 

We do not guarantee that the parking lot will be cleared and sanded or the walkway shoveled. Please consider your group members’ safety first. Please have a clear plan for communicating your cancellation to your group members (email, telephone chain, etc.)

Please also leave a message on the church answering machine

(603) 744-8132

so that we will know of your cancellation.

*****If you have misplaced your kindle,

we found it!

Please contact Jennifer in the office*****

CELEBRATIONS

We extend our warmest welcome and invite you to join with us each week in praise and worship. 

WORSHIP SCHEDULE

Sunday Worship 10:00AM 

In-Person & Zoom

Hard copies of the bulletin available Thursday after noon in the bin on the rear walkway table.

The deadline for all newsletter submissions is the 20th of the month.

                Articles that come in after that date will be used in the following month’s newsletter. 

REV. ANDREW MACLEOD, Pastor and Teacher



Office: (603) 744-8132

Residence: (603) 217-0704

Email: pastorbucc@breezelinebiz.net 

BRISTOL UNITED CHURCH of CHRIST

“The Church on the hill”              

15 Church St.

PO Box 424

Bristol, NH 03222

Main Office Hours:    

Monday thru Friday 9AM - 12:00PM

Office: (603) 744-8132

Email: bristolucc@breezelinebiz.net

Pastor’s Hours: 

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday

9AM - 12 Noon and by appointment   

Email: pastorbucc@breezelinebiz.net