Our Church Family

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.

Everyone is invited to join us as we pray, hear God’s word read and proclaimed, share our joys and concerns, and experience worshipful music.

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

Air filtration units are deployed throughout the sanctuary to enhance your safety. If you have any symptoms of a potentially contagious illness, we ask that you put on a mask to protect those in our congregation who have compromised immune systems.
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 invited and welcome to use our online giving portal or to mail a check to the church.

If you’re worshiping 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 sharing of joys & concerns. 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.

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.

Music at UPC

Music is an important part of our coming together at United Presbyterian Church. We are excited to make music with every resource that we have, and to use a variety of styles — not all at once, but intermingled. What emerges is a vibrant worship service with music that includes everyone who wishes to participate.

UPC Choir: Wednesdays, 6:30–7:30pm in the Music Room. The vocal choir provides music for worship most every Sunday. We welcome new members at any time, and we would love to have your participation. It would be good to have you with us!

United Ringers handbell choir: Sundays, 11:30am–12:30pm in the Sanctuary. Our handbell choir plays 2–4 octaves of Malmark handbells and handchimes, providing music for worship about once a month. If you’re interested in learning how to play handbells, please inquire. New members are always welcome! No previous experience needed. No auditions to start. If you can count to 4, you can learn to play!

We also invite instrumentalists and vocalists who’d like to share their gifts to talk with any of our music leaders about providing special music for worship — you can call the church office, email music@upcbgm.org, or speak with them in person after worship.

Children in Worship

“Let the little children come to me…” —Matthew 19:14

We are glad to have children and families in the congregation, and we welcome and encourage them to be in worship with us. We truly believe that a community of faith is made up of people of ALL ages. There is a PrayGround space with coloring sheets and quiet toys in the front of the sanctuary, which can be used there or taken to another pew if that is more suitable to the family’s needs. Sunday school materials are mailed to our families once a month to do together at home.

There is also a nursery space at the end of the hall at the front of the sanctuary that is open for use with a parent or guardian. It has a changing table, a rocking chair, and some toys appropriate for children ages two and under. There is a speaker in the room so you can listen to the service. Please let us know if you have questions.

Donations Needed

Although we don’t officially have a community “clothing closet”, we do make donated items available during our weekly Community Pantry hours on Wednesdays. Right now we’re in need of men’s clothing, adult coats, and adult gloves.

We accept donations of new or gently used items — please don’t donate items that have holes in them, broken zippers, or other damage. You can bring donations to the church office weekdays between 9am and 3pm, or contact Community Kitchen coordinator Sherry Conklin (meal@upcbgm.org or 607-722-4219 ext. 209) to make other arrangements.

Congregation directory — 2025 update

We’re starting the process of updating our congregation’s “Family & Friends Directory”. Everyone is encouraged to provide a new photo of you (or your family), and to give us any updates to your addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. The photo does not need to be a “formal” portrait. It can be a candid photo or even a selfie. You can email the photo to the church office or text it to 607-218-4636. Or ask Scott to take a photo of you at church.

We also like to celebrate your birthdays! We publish the month & day in the directory and the newsletter, and our Card Committee sends out birthday cards as well. We don’t need to know your year of birth if you don’t want to share it — though it is helpful info for the Clerk of Session to have for our annual statistical reports to the PC(USA).

New information for the directory can be provided to the church office in writing or via email, or submitted via our website at upcbgm.org/directory. Please turn in your updates by Tuesday, January 7, 2025.

Session Highlights

by Andy Chadwick, Clerk of Session

While the last newsletter described a number of activities that Session is involved in, the list this time is significantly shorter. That doesn’t mean Session hasn’t been busy!

The primary focus of Session the past couple of months has been finances — specifically, developing the 2025 budget for UPC (we’re almost there!). The costs of operating our facility and the programs we’re involved in approaches $1,000,000 a year! A sampling of costs includes facility operations (building maintenance and repair, utilities, personnel costs), our programming (worship and music, personnel costs), and our internal and external mission programs (Community Meal and Pantry, the Card Committee). Our staff are dedicated to their work, but it couldn’t all happen without the support of the congregation!

In the process of preparing the budget, Session reviewed the Personnel Committee’s updated Position Descriptions — what used to be called the Office Manager is now titled the Office and Technology Coordinator. Compensation recommendations were incorporated into the budget.

The Annual Congregational meeting to discuss the budget and renew our covenant with our pastors will take place February 2, 2025, following morning worship. More information will be distributed in advance of the meeting, once the last few remaining budget numbers are finalized. Mark your calendars! Your participation is vital to the ongoing life of the congregation!

Please don’t hesitate to talk to any member of Session if you have questions or would like further information.

Let’s Celebrate YOU and Each Other!

As Presbyterians, we know that fellowship and food are part of our DNA. With that in mind, and the assumption that most of us like cake, we’re honoring birthdays once a month for all who were born that particular month.

“Birthday Sunday” celebrates with cake and other goodies, including gluten-free options. We gather in Fellowship Hall on the basement level following the 10 am worship service; we hope you’ll watch the announcement insert in the worship guide for upcoming birthday Sundays. Please join us for “your” month and those of others so we can help fellow church family and friends begin their next 365-day journey around the sun in style.

Cake, anyone?

Gluten-free options are always available on Birthday Sunday

A variety of treats await the congregation.

Sara Lieberman and Phil Westcott do the honors of blowing out the candles.

Sally Menges celebrates her November birthday on Birthday Sunday.

If you’d like to help bring this bit of sunshine to our fellowship time, consider joining the Hospitality Team. In addition to Birthday Sunday, the Team helps plan and implement memorial service and funeral meals, special occasion snacks and other events. If you’re interested in serving on the Team, or assisting the Team with specific things on an as-needed basis, please reach out to Sherry Conklin, Sally Hunt, Cindy Chadwick, or the church office.

Hope to see you soon for sweets and treats, fun and fellowship.

Renew, Revise, Refresh!

The Personnel Team has been busy this fall reviewing position descriptions for all jobs held by church staff. The years go by quickly, and some of the descriptions were indeed overdue for revision so that each one accurately reflects the positions at hand. For example, the COVID pandemic prompted the addition of several changes in job responsibilities based on how we manage the building, how we provide our community meal and food pantry services, the need to livestream our Sunday services, and the use of Zoom and other technologies. Changes in and additions to our music program also prompted some position description “refreshes”, as did the establishment of the UP Center in our building. While still a work in progress, all position descriptions are on target to be completed for January 2025.

Annual check-in meetings with individual staff members were also completed this fall, providing an opportunity for feedback. Additionally, the Personnel Team provided input to the Session regarding budget recommendations for the coming year.

The Team is pleased to assist with UPC employee-related matters, and welcomes your involvement. If you’re interested in helping, please contact Pastor Kimberly, Cindy Burger, Cindy Chadwick, or the church office.

No Email, No Social Media, No Texts

While technology has many advantages such as efficiency, speed, and the ability to communicate in short snippets, there’s nothing like receiving a message where pen met paper. There’s joy and a bit of excitement associated with special sentiments that were signed, sealed, stamped, and sent, found in the mailbox among catalogs, sales fliers, solicitations, and oh, yes — bills.

The Card Committee endorses the tradition of snail mail, and encourages you to let us know of birthdays, special occasions, deaths, joys, challenging times, concerns, illness and injuries, surgeries, retirements, graduations, new jobs, births, baptisms, anniversaries and any other situations where some words of celebration or encouragement might be welcomed by you or others. Please be sure we have your most recent contact information, which can be provided to the church office.

Connections are extremely important in our mission to support and strengthen our network of church family and friends by acknowledging life events. If you’d like to assist, please contact the church office or one of the members of the Card Committee (Cindy Chadwick, Margaret Davis, Jenni McKeage, Lana Ogden, Suzie Northrop Raboy, and Margaret Sands). Cards, return address labels, and postage are all provided.

Supporting Our Mission and Ministry

Online Giving

We are able to receive tax-deductible contributions online through our website (upcbgm.org/give). 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!

Without any doubt, the ministry of our congregation depends largely on the dedication and selfless contributions of volunteers — the incredible individuals who give generously of their time, energy, and unique talents. Here are some ways you can help us do Christ’s work in our community:

Community Meal & Pantry: Each Tuesday at 5pm, we offer a sit-down meal that is free for anybody, serving about 100 people a week. Volunteers are needed during the day on Monday and Tuesday to help with food preparation, and on Tuesday evening to serve the meal and clean up afterwards.

On Wednesdays from noon to 5pm, we run a free food pantry that also offers personal care & hygiene items when they’re available. Volunteers help staff the pantry, and donations of non-perishable food and personal care items are always welcome.

Contact Kitchen Coordinator Sherry Conklin for more info: meal@upcbgm.org

Worship services: You may not have noticed how many people are involved in our Sunday morning worship services, but most weeks there are at least a dozen of us, and often there are more than 20: folks who read prayers and scripture, greet visitors, share musical talents, operate technology, set up refreshments, help serve communion, or contribute their ideas and support behind the scenes. If you’d like to take part, contact Worship Team chair Suzie Raboy or the church office: office@upcbgm.org

Other ministry teams: 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: Campus Ministry, Pastor Becky; Card Committee, Margaret Davis; Community Outreach, Pastor Kimberly or Sherry Conklin; Finance, Andy Chadwick; Hospitality, Sally Hunt or Sherry Conklin; Personnel, Cindy Burger; Property, Pastor Becky; Sewing Group, Cindy Burger.

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