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:
Masks are optional while our community’s reported Covid rates remain low. Air filtration units are deployed throughout the sanctuary to enhance your safety, and doors are open to the outside (weather permitting).
We will continue to have masks available, and 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 still 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 unscripted parts of the service such as the sermon and the sharing of joys and 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.
It would be good to have you with us.
To call in to the Zoom room on your phone: Dial (+1) 646-558-8656, then enter Meeting ID 865 274 8433 #
A Conversation with Ramona Auchinachie
by Pastor Kimberly Chastain
In 2019, after her beloved husband Bob had died, long-time member Ramona Auchinachie moved to Midlothian, VA, to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She has found a church home at the Brandermill Church, and called to explore how she could stay connected both to her new church family and to our congregation, and after a long conversation we decided that she will move her membership to the place where she now lives and worships, and remain on the rolls at United as an affiliate member.
As we talked, I started making notes about Ramona’s journey of faith with First Presbyterian Church and United Presbyterian Church. She joined First in 1947 by profession of faith, was married here in 1958, had both of her children baptized into the First congregation, and celebrated the lives of both of her parents in the sanctuary. Her son was married in First Presbyterian Church, and her daughter was married at West Presbyterian Church.
Ramona also served: as a nursery helper, Sunday school teacher, girls’ basketball coach, youth fellowship leader, Vacation Bible School director, Stephen minister and leader, and men’s softball scorekeeper. She has been ordained as both a deacon and a ruling elder, serving on the session for 18 years including working as a substitute clerk and chairing the Nominating, Personnel, and Finance Committees. She served on two Pulpit Nominating Committees and was the organizer of the church Rummage sale for 15 years.
In the days when women’s circles were active, she was a member of the Tappan circle and in that role, she organized food for church and presbytery gatherings, organized the Christmas decorations for many years, and was the chief cook (with Bob) for a pancake breakfast on Palm Sunday for many years.
She was active in the presbytery (regional church council), serving on the Committee on Ministry and the presbytery Personnel committee. She was invited to serve as moderator (but had to decline), worked at Conklin Presbyterian on flood relief in 2011, and served on the Committee on Consolidation that helped to bring about the merger of the First and West congregations.
She continues to be a joyous, active, engaged member of her local faith community, and we are grateful that she has found a new church home, and that she wants to stay connected to our congregation even while she is living 400 miles away!
Caring for Creation
Chris Burger was recently a guest on the Broome County Council of Churches’ “Encounter” program. He spoke on behalf of the Presbyterians for Earth Care. You can view the episode here:
For information about the Presbyterians for Earth Care, visit presbyearthcare.org.
Snail Mail Still in Fashion
The Card Committee continues its mission to acknowledge events, milestones, joys, and concerns within our church family with special greetings. This includes births, baptisms, birthdays, deaths, illness and injuries, surgeries, challenges, travels, graduations, new jobs, retirements, holidays, thank yous, moves, anniversaries, and other occasions and situations.
Members and friends of our congregation are encouraged to provide the church office with birth dates (if not already on file) so that we can be sure folks receive celebration greetings from our church family. No need to provide us with the year if you’d rather keep that to yourself!
We encourage you to let us know of any occasions to recognize, or if you know of someone who might simply enjoy receiving a special card from the church “just because.”
The committee welcomes additional “card senders” and encourages anyone wishing to join the group to contact the church office or one of the members (Cindy Chadwick, Margaret Davis, Jenni McKeage, Lana Ogden, Suzie Northrop Raboy).
NaloxBox
One of the serious problems in Broome County and in the country in general is heroin addiction, and in recent years people with addictions have faced additional danger when heroin has been cut with fentanyl. The “cut” heroin has caused overdose deaths to skyrocket. Everyone on the staff and many of our members at United Presbyterian Church have been trained in the administration of Naloxone, a medication that arrests the effects of overdose and allows the person affected to recover.
We now have a “NaloxBox” in our lobby, on the bulletin board near the doors to the deck. It contains doses of Naloxone which can be taken from the box and easily administered in case of need. It has been several years since a guest in our building has needed the help, but we are grateful that the medication is available and we are able to serve as a distribution point, through our partnerships with ACBC and TruthPharm.
If you are interested in learning more, speak to one of the pastors.
Supporting Our Mission and Ministry
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, Margaret Davis; Finance, Lou McKeage or Andy Chadwick; Personnel, Marilynn Guinane; Property, Pastor Becky; Worship & Music, Andy Chadwick.
Nominations for the Work of the Presbytery
The Presbyterian Church is a connectional system. We are able to do God’s work in the world better when we work together. Our Presbytery is made up of volunteers from many congregations who use their gifts and skills to help us all. Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders come together and serve on committees, share their experiences, and serve our congregations, pastors, and communities.
The Presbytery Nominating Committee is looking for people to serve in several areas for 2024. Our Commission on Ministry helps churches and pastors in times of transition or challenge. Our Committee on Christian Leadership Formation helps bring educational workshops for us all to learn from, and supports our lay preachers who provide pulpit supply throughout the Presbytery. Our Cabinet and Vice-Moderator help to administer our organization to keep us heading where God is calling us. Our Committee on Representation helps to ensure all voices from around the Presbytery are heard. We also need commissioners to General Assembly and to the Synod of the Northeast to represent our Presbytery.
Several members of our congregation currently serve on Presbytery committees, including Pastor Kimberly, Pastor Becky, Scott Kindig, Chris and Cindy Burger, and Bill and Joyce Donohue. If you feel the Holy Spirit nudging you to consider serving in any of these ways or others, you can talk to any one of them to learn more, or contact a member of the Presbytery Nominating Committee to talk and discern further. If you know of anyone who you feel would be a great addition to any of these committees or positions, please reach out as well. When each of us does a little bit, we can accomplish a lot for the Kingdom of God!
Email can be sent to:
JoAnn Aymar jmaymar16@gmail.com
Linda Breffle paddlerlin@yahoo.com
John Helgeson revhelgeson@yahoo.com
Lynn Reeves polygalagay@gmail.com
Bruce Gillette pastorbrucegillette@gmail.com
or call the Presbytery office at 607-323-4477.