Playgroup is back at the United Church of Northfield!!

  • Children birth - five years old

  • Each accompanied by their adult (18 years and older) care-taker

Playgroup will meet every Thursday from 10 am -11 am at the United Church of Northfield beginning on Thursday, September 12th. Run by the Family Center of Washington County and hosted the the United Church of Northfield.

July 22, 2024- The Church Vitality Committee drafted the following Statement of Purpose July 17, 2024: “Meeting in faith, honoring diversity, transformed by love and kindness, serving the community with joy.” This will be presented to the Church Council on July 23, 2024. This meeting will decide how we move forward in the adoption of the statement. The full congregation will be involved.

The Church has a lot going on with three new Ad Hoc committees recently formed to look at the church during this period of transition where we are actively planning and shaping our future. There will be weekly updates and church engagement which is vital to the whole process so please participate and be actively engaged.

Pastoral Search Committee:

Catherine Howard

Judy Howard

Laura Ranker

Dex Rowe

Lauren Howard-Chair

Church Vitality Committee:

Debra Maloney-Evans

Mary McDaniel

Karen Taylor

Laura Ranker

Dex Rowe

Peter Evans

Elizabeth Redmond-Chair

Multi Church Collaboration Team:

Elizabeth Redmond

Lauren Howard

Laura Ranker

Peter Evans-Chair

Below is a synopsis of the focus for the three committees. All three committees are integrally connected and their work will overlap, giving deeper meaning and strength to each.

CHURCH VITALITY, “VISION TEAM”

Following up on a March 9, 2024 workshop on church vitality sponsored by the Vermont Conference of UCC, the TEAM is working with coach Rev. Paul Nickerson in a structured coaching process to develop a church purpose statement, vision, and action plan. Congregational and Community engagement are integral to the process and outcomes.

PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE

The Pastoral Search Committee is charged with the work involved with calling a Pastor to serve the church. This includes developing a church profile for use in the Call for a Pastor. Congregational and Community engagement are integral to this process. The Pastoral Search Committee will review candidate profiles, conduct interviews, and select a candidate for consideration and vote by the membership of the UCN.

MULTI-CHURCH COLLABORATION TEAM

At the same time The United Church of Northfield is beginning the process to call a new settledminister, other churches in our region are about to do the same thing. Does it make sense for us to team up during the search process to maximize our efforts, create a shared ministry and work more collaboratively? The TEAM is exploring these questions and what a model for shared ministry may look like.

The Pastoral Search Committee wants to hear from you. A questionnaire has been developed to gather your wishes for the next Pastor and how you envision the United Church of Northfield. Your response is important to us and valued as we develop the Church Profile for calling our next Pastor. Please take the time to complete the questionnaire when you receive it. The Questionnaire has been sent out electronically and, for those needing a hard copy, by Postal Mail. Paper copies are available in the church sanctuary as well. Please contact Laura Ranker if you need a copy. The fillable pdf can be returned to the church electronically by using the email address of lranker@myfairpoint.net

Hard copies (paper copies) can be mailed to the church using the UCN, PO Box 188, Northfield, VT 05663 or you can leave your completed copy in the marked basket in the church sanctuary.

We ask that you return the questionnaire no later than Sunday, June 23rd

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Howe’s Hall Restoration News

Nov. 1, 2021

by Peter Evans, Chair of Howe’s Hall Restoration Committee

I met with Chris Hill from Engineering Ventures two weeks ago and he has come up with a final plan to shore up the sanctuary floor from Howe’s Hall ceiling. When he did the original drawings, he only could see part of the structural support and so once we had the entire ceiling out, he came back to update his original work. Some of that work has already been done thanks to my son, Jackson who worked with me on Monday, October 18th, to add some structural members above the kitchen serving window, with the balance coming as soon as funds permit.

The floor has been installed in the bathrooms, closet and kitchen. Once the work is completed in the sanctuary floor, Country Floors will return to complete the installation in the hall.

Delary's will be installing the bathroom and kitchen fixtures this week and the port-a-let is scheduled to be removed this week as well.

The most recent grant application to the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation was completed and submitted by Debbie Maloney-Evans. We should know in December whether we will be funded to restore the windows in the hall and vestibule.

Insulation work continues this week with a completion date of another week or so. Almost all of the perimeter walls have been filled and once that is completed, work will begin in the space above the sanctuary. This work was partially funded by a matching grant from Vermont Interfaith Power and Light, Katy Gerke Memorial Program. Our deepest thanks to them.