Our Church Family

In Memoriam

Gail G. Covert, 86, of Endicott passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 13, 2022. She is survived by her children Tracy Covert de Cuevas (Ruben), Adana Brauer, Denton H. Covert III (Jacqui), and Cameron Covert. She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren Valentina (Andrew) and Ruben, Sydney and Chloe, and Brenden and Griffen. Gail also treasured her relationship with her best friend and confidant Judy Stento and her beloved cousins Richard Young and Diane Lattimore. Gail was predeceased by her parents George and Janice Grineff and her brother Douglas Grineff. Gail attended UNC Women’s College Greensboro and the University of Pittsburgh and was a graduate of Harpur College. She taught Social Studies/History in the Vestal School District for 30+ years and loved the interaction with her students and was an inspiration to many. Gail had a strong commitment to her community, serving as President of the Vestal Historical Society, running the Vestal flood center, and serving as a Deacon at First Presbyterian Church in Binghamton. An avid reader, Gail enjoyed the discussions and friendships in her book club, OBC. Gail enjoyed shopping, travel, and skiing the Alps. Her guilty pleasures included lobster, jelly doughnuts, Byrne Dairy ice cream sandwiches, and Joey’s frozen custard. She loved baked goods and especially missed Wagner’s on Seminary Ave. and Katz’s Bakery in Liberty, NY. Gail loved her dogs, and her family will always remember the funny voice she used to speak to her pets. She had a passion for gardening and spent endless hours tending to her plants, creating bouquets from her flowers and harvesting vegetables to eat and share with her family and friends. In her memory, donations may be made to the Broome County Humane Society or Vestal Dollars for Scholars.

Join Us for Worship — in person, online, or over the phone

We worship together on Sundays at 10:00am, both in person in the sanctuary and online. The service is livestreamed on our public YouTube Channel, our Zoom room, and our website, and is also accessible on YouTube any time. Those who can’t access the worship videos online can call in on the phone to listen live on Sunday mornings, using the Zoom information listed below. So if you are not ready or able to come “in person”, you are welcome to participate as you are able.

If you’re joining us in person, here’s what you need to know:

We wear masks and keep social distance, and the pews are marked to help us sit safely. We keep the inside doors open throughout worship, and air filtration units are deployed throughout the sanctuary to enhance your safety.
Pastor Kimberly removes her mask while preaching and leading prayers, to accommodate those who rely on lip-reading to assist their auditory processing.
Printed worship guides are placed by each door for you to pick up on the way in, and the hymns are printed in the worship guide.
Offering plates are placed by the doors of the sanctuary, but we do not pass them during the offertory. You are still invited and welcome to use our online giving portal or to mail a check to the church.

Everyone is welcome to join us as we pray, hear God’s word read and proclaimed, share our joys and concerns, and experience worshipful music. All of our musicians are fully vaccinated, and the singers/instrumentalists at the front of the sanctuary are at least 15 feet away from the first row of pews.

If you’re worshipping with us online, all of the hymn music and prayer words are shown on the screen, and live captioning is used for other parts of the service such as the sermon and the Prayers of the People. If you watch on a small screen and need the printed version of the worship guide, it is available for download from our website each week, or it can be mailed to you upon request if downloading/printing is not an option.

If you have been missing the time of shared prayer, join us at 9:30 before worship — either in the Chapel at church, or on Zoom — for a time of sharing and praying for the needs of our community. After the prayer time, you can stay on Zoom or switch over to the YouTube channel.

To join the Zoom room online, go to upcbgm.org/zoom

To call in: Dial 1-646-558-8656, then enter Meeting ID: 865 274 8433 #

It would be good to have you with us.

From Generation to Generation, We Tell the Story

The stories, scriptures, and traditions of the Christmas season have been passed down to us throughout the generations. Many of us enter this season with a swell of memories and emotions as vast as the cultural and religious rituals this holiday holds. Like a tapestry woven throughout time, the Christmas story weaves us in — to remember how God has shown up in the past, to continue the work of collective liberation, to behold the presence of God in flesh and bone.

Our Advent theme is also a call to action: What are we being called to generate or bring forth? What have your ancestors and those who have come before you passed on for you to continue? Considering the many ways we embody, remember, and tell the story of Christ’s birth, which rituals hold the most meaning for you? What about this season will you pass on to the next generation?

From Generation to Generation… reminds us of the ways our lives, histories, actions, and stories are interconnected and woven together. The work of God is always unfolding — in and through us. This Advent, may you remember that you belong—to a story etched into the wrinkles of time, to generations that have come before and will come after, to a love that won’t let you go.

Nov. 27 — First Advent: There’s Room for Every Story Focus Scriptures: Matthew 1:1–17; Isaiah 2:1–5
Matthew begins the story of Jesus with a genealogy that goes back to Abraham. Embedded in that genealogy are stories of triumph and hope, but also of grief and loss, exploitation and despair. Because there is room in God’s love and God’s economy for every story. God’s promises have come to every generation, in every human condition, and as we retell the old, old story, we remember anew that there is room for our stories as well.

Dec. 4 — Second Advent: God Meets Us in Our Fear Focus Scriptures: Luke 1:26–38; Isaiah 11:1–10
“Do not be afraid,” the angel tells Mary when she receives the news that she is to bear a child. This phrase occurs more times than any other in the Bible. From generation to generation, God shows up in the midst of our fear and uncertainty and confusion and calls to us with these words. They carry a promise, not that we will be free from trouble or pain, but God will never leave us alone. The promise gives Mary the courage to say “yes” to God, and through the ages our ancestors in faith have responded to God’s calling and God’s promise. We hear the words again in this season of uncertainty and confusion, and remember anew that we can trust God to be with us as we work for a realm where peace and freedom reign.

Dec. 11 — Third Advent: We Can Choose a Better Way Focus Scriptures: Matthew 1:18–25; Isaiah 35:1–10
Joseph also hears the voice of the angel saying “do not be afraid.” The voice of the angel gives him the courage to turn aside from a path that makes sense in the world he lives in and live into a future that he cannot control. He stays with Mary and they form a nontraditional family, following God’s call to choose grace over condemnation. Our ancestors in faith have sometimes chosen the better way, and sometimes not. In our world today, what are the choices that we lead us to the holy way?

Dec. 18 — Fourth Advent: We See God in Each Other Focus Scripture: Luke 1:39–58
Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, perhaps to share the waiting time together. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks a blessing upon Mary as her own child leaps and kicks within her womb. She sees how God is at work and names it out loud. This connection inspires Mary to sing her radical hymn of praise, declaring how God’s liberating love remains steadfast throughout the ages. From generation to generation, we can see how God is at work in our relationships. The way we see the divine in each other affects how we live and move in the world. When we view every human being as a child of God, we generate a different world.

Dec. 24 — Christmas Eve: We Tell This Story Focus Scripture: Luke 2: 1–20
We tell this story every year. We tell this story because it illustrates so clearly God’s desire to be in relationship with us. We tell this story because we, too, are invited to come to the manger and witness the miracle of birth. We tell this story because it brings us hope and good news—hope especially for those deemed powerless, unworthy, or unwelcome. We tell this story because it is a story we need to hear again and again, to pass along this good news and to continue to thread together the generations with hope.

REMEMBER THAT ON CHRISTMAS DAY AND NEW YEAR’S DAY, OUR WORSHIP WILL BE ONLINE ONLY.

Session Highlights

by Andy Chadwick, Clerk of Session

While small, Session has been busy during October and November. Some of the actions taken include:

The Christmas and New Year’s schedule was approved:
» Saturday, December 24 – Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion service at 4pm
» Sunday, December 25 – prerecorded music service, online streaming only
» Sunday, January 1 – prerecorded meditative service, online streaming only
Session approved the closing of the church building between Christmas and New Year’s; very little takes place during that time and all our tenants are off. It will be a paid vacation for hourly staff.
Session voted to offer space to a therapy group for formerly incarcerated sex offenders from 10:30am to 2pm every other Friday.
Bovina United Presbyterian Church was looking for approximately 100 copies of the blue The Presbyterian Hymnal, of which we have many. Session approved donating the hymnals, including an accompanist version and several large-print editions.
Session has been diligently working on the 2023 budget.
Aaron Whitney reported on the November 12 Presbytery meeting. The 225th General Assembly proposed a number of constitutional amendments. While most of them are minor wording changes, there are several that could have a larger impact on churches; Session will be discussing these in the next couple of months.

Please don’t hesitate to ask any member of Session about what we’ve been doing!

Boxing up the hymnals that we donated to Bovina United

Our YouTube Channel

Did you know that you can “subscribe” to the UPC YouTube channel? Did you know that it won’t cost anything, and that when we have 100 or more subscribers, we get access to some special “perks” as a content creator?

Here’s how it’s done:

Open YouTube to one of the United Presbyterian Church recordings, by following this link (https://youtu.be/nn8ZBeTU0kw) or searching on YouTube.
Scroll down under the video until you see:

United Presbyterian Church of Binghamton

There’s a button over here that says “SUBSCRIBE”. Click on the button.

That’s it!

Supporting Our Mission and Ministry

Online Giving: We are able to receive tax-deductible contributions online through our website (upcbgm.org/giving/donate). Contributions can be made by E-check or credit card, and can also be set up as a recurring gift.

We encourage you to lift up in prayer how God will use you to bless UPC in fulfilling our mission to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.

Get Involved!

Our church teams are always welcoming new team members. If you’d like to help with or learn more about the workings of the church, talk to one of the pastors or the elders on Session: Card Committee: Suzie Raboy; Finance, Lou McKeage or Andy Chadwick; Personnel, Lou McKeage; Worship & Music, Suzie Raboy or Andy Chadwick.

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