Ministry Reports

Card Committee

The Card Committee continues its mission to support and strengthen our church family by acknowledging special events, milestones, joys, and concerns. This includes births, baptisms, birthdays, deaths, illness and injuries, surgeries, challenges, travels, graduations, new jobs, retirements, thank-yous, moves, anniversaries, and other occasions and situations.

From June 2023 through May 2024, the Card Committee sent 480 cards to church family and friends. In addition, the committee:

sent special holiday cards (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter) to our homebound members, those who worship with us from afar, and Sunday School-aged children and youth;
updated address and birthday lists (do we have yours?);
provided monthly reports of committee activity to the pastors, Session, and UPC Office;
and welcomed Margaret Sands to the committee.

The Card Committee relies on old-fashioned snail mail to recognize special occasions.

The committee welcomes additional “card senders” and encourages anyone wishing to join the group to contact the church office or one of the members listed below. Also, we encourage church family and friends to let the committee know of any special occasions, milestone events, and birthdays.

Card Committee Members: Cindy Chadwick, Margaret Davis, Jenni McKeage, Lana Ogden, Suzie Northrop Raboy, Margaret Sands.

Nearly 500 cards were sent to friends and family over the last year.

Community Kitchen

Our Community Kitchen ministry is in its 20th year. We started serving a free weekly dinner in 2005, and in 2020 during the pandemic we expanded our operations to offer a free food pantry, incorporating our monthly hygiene products “Care & Share” project into the new food pantry. We partner with the Broome County Council of Churches’ CHOW (Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse) program, the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, and the United Way of Broome County to help those in our community who grapple with food insecurity.

Each Tuesday evening, we serve a free community meal to anybody who wants to sit down and enjoy some good food and good company. So far this calendar year, we have served 1,982 adult meals and 68 children’s meals in the Tuesday Community Meal. VINES continues to cook for the community meal whenever there is a 5th Tuesday of the month, which happens four times a year. The rest of the time, we rely on volunteers to do most of the work. We need around a dozen people each Tuesday to prepare the meal, serve our guests, and clean up afterwards. We’ve been blessed with many new volunteers in the last twelve months and were delighted to partner with the SUNY Broome Culinary Institute in March.

On March 19, the culinary students from SUNY Broome planned, cooked, and served the meal. It was exciting to see them in action!

Our food pantry is open on Wednesdays from noon to 5pm. Since January, the pantry has served 927 families or 1,986 individuals. We allow our guests to choose enough food for 3 days and they can come once a week. When we can, we increase the allowed amount to enough for 5 days for each family. The choices always include proteins, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and grains, and some hygiene products.

On pantry days, we have sandwiches available for any homeless or hungry guest. On average, we usually give out 4 sandwiches each Wednesday.

The Food Bank of the Southern Tier launched a pilot program this year to provide emergency food bags for people who are homeless or in temporary housing. We give out about 30 bags a month.

In February we started to make and give out “emergency food bags” to anyone that is hungry, unhoused people, and those living in hotels. These bags include nutritious snacks, some microwaveable meals, individual tuna fish and peanut butter, as well as flatware and a microwaveable cup. These have been given to 164 individuals so far.

Clothing, linens, blankets, and towels are available to give out when needed.

Panera Bread in Johnson City donates leftover bread products to us every Monday night. Employees from ACBC collect donations throughout the week from various stores and eateries and share this wealth with us all week.

Over the last twelve months, we’ve had to make some hard choices in the face of higher need and rising expenses. Last summer, the emergency funding that agencies received during Covid was discontinued, and at the same time, welfare recipients’ benefits were cut, and grocery prices were going up due to inflation. We had to change some of our procedures to control our expenses, because the grants and free food being provided to us by CHOW and the Food Bank were reduced. We stopped offering seconds at the meal, and ended our takeout option which we had begun to offer in 2020. We had to set limits on pantry items, and could no longer allow pantry clients to shop for another person or household. We also discontinued the monthly hygiene day. We now offer hygiene items on pantry days when they are available, dependent upon receiving donations of personal care products. This has helped us to serve our regular local clients better since we no longer have people coming from all parts of the county just to get free stuff on the hygiene day.

Between January and May 2024, all the programs have cost $26,109.16. Of that sum, $22,567.71 has come from grants and donations, the church expense is $3,541.45. This year we were blessed by a grant from the United Way of $20,000 to be spent by July. As of the end of May, we have spent $11,000 of this grant, and we will be sure to spend the rest by July.

Community Kitchen Ministry Members: Regular volunteers include Dave Beers, David Berti, Stacy Bush, Andy & Cindy Chadwick, Kay & Ed Corcoran, Dave & Margaret Davis, Josh & Lisa Dolphin, Tori Douglas, Joe Faraci, Ann Garcia, Megan Geir, Marilynn Guinane, David Jones, Karen Mayonie, Bob McCarthy, Ken Mebert, Julie Njoroge, Charity Outman, Suzanne Northrop Raboy, Jeff Rake, Ann Scala, and Joe Young. Staff support: Sherry Conklin, Community Kitchen Coordinator; Alex Hayes, Kitchen Staff.

Our food pantry occupies the north wing of Fellowship Hall.

Hospitality Team

As we all know, there are a variety of details and tasks before, during, and after in putting together a meal for a group, small or large. The Hospitality Team was developed in part to help organize and facilitate our church family gatherings that include a meal and/or refreshments and desserts.

This past spring, the committee was instrumental in hosting (and all that entails) in two different Life-Celebration luncheons. Going forward, we have begun and will continue to celebrate our church family birthdays each month. Please let us know if you would like to host or help with a specific birthday Sunday. We are a growing team that is open to new team members and suggestions.

Hospitality Team Members: Cindy Chadwick, Sherry Conklin, Sally Hunt, and Suzie Northrop Raboy.

Property Team

The Property Team strives to have us be good stewards of the physical resources that we have so that we can continue to be a place for God’s mission in this community. That job entails:

Making sure the building is welcoming, clean, and safe — for worship, programs, and mission that takes place here.
Being consciously ecologically-minded in the ways in which we manage the building.
Working to keep what we have in good working order, making repairs as necessary, and upgrading what does not meet new standards.

Three major projects were accomplished this year to help our building become more functional and welcoming for our members, mission, and guests.

One of those was the renovation to the middle of the first-floor bathrooms, the former women’s bathroom. The mastic that held the tile to the floor had failed and tiles were coming up, making it unsafe. After thinking about this project for several months last year and doing some research, Ken Mebert was able to contract with a company to re-tile the floors.

In the meantime, we were told that we were awarded a grant from the United Way that Pastor Kimberly had applied for in December of 2022 to provide a drop-in center with computers and a case worker. After she applied for the grant, we then were asked by ACBC to think about providing space for a shelter, and the drop-in center grant was forgotten about until last June — when we were awarded the grant! Pastor Kimberly talked with United Way, since the original drop-in center was no longer an option because we did move forward with the UP Center shelter. United Way worked with us and provided funds that still could be used in ways to help the community!

One of those ways was to fund putting in a shower in the bathroom we were already planning on working on. It was decided to put the shower in the corner where one of the sinks used to be. The counters were showing their age from years of water, so it was good to replace the counter with a waterproof one. The shower has been an immense blessing to people who stay here overnight, and the UP Center staff is coordinating its use very well.

First-floor bathroom renovation: before, during, and after.

Another part of the grant money was used to upgrade our WiFi network so that we could provide WiFi in more parts of the building for staff, members, and guests. It has been beneficial to our guests who need to use the internet to sign up for benefits, apply for housing and jobs, and to keep in contact with their loved ones. And it is more secure, with a guest network that anyone in the building can use, and a separate private network for staff use that keeps our files and printers walled off from the public. New WiFi pucks were placed throughout the building and a new network hub was mounted in the office.

Left: New and more powerful access points in the basement make it possible for our kitchen volunteers and staff to make and receive WiFi calls and messages. Middle: The tangle of ethernet cables and stack of network switches has been tamed and streamlined with a new network hub. Right: Signs are posted throughout the building offering free public WiFi to anybody who needs it. We have more than enough network capacity to support the increased use during the week thanks to the high-speed upgraded internet that we use for livestreaming on Sundays.

The third major project that we accomplished this year was putting a new coating on the deck leading to the parking lot. The coating that was on the concrete had come to the end of its life and was coming apart. This left openings where water was getting in and eroding the concrete underneath. It took over a year to find a company that could remove the old coating and put a new one down. Ken finally found one and work began this spring. It was loud for several days while they ground it off. And then we had to be patient with the rain and wait for good weather to pour the new coating. But at the end of May, we were able to close that entrance for a couple of days during nice weather and the new coating was applied. It should last many years.

This summer we are scheduling our mason to come back and work on re-pointing the brick in several places of the education building where the mortar has deteriorated and is letting water into the building. He will also fix the water leaking into the basement along the wall.

Property Team Members: Chris Burger, Ken Mebert, and Pastor Becky Kindig; Bill Sands, adjunct consultant.

The new coating on the patio looks great!

Sewing Group

During the annual reporting period of June 2023 to May 2024, members of the Sewing Group continued to meet every week, even during the summer months when many groups are on hiatus. Major activities continue to be designing and sewing quilts, and creating other items for the community.

In 2023, the group distributed 39 quilts, 16 “carry bags” for use on walkers, and assorted hats, scarves, mittens, stuffed animals, pillows, shawls, and blankets to area nursing homes and community groups. Throughout the year, quilts were given to new babies, Camp Sunshine in the state of Maine (a retreat center for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families), and members of the congregation and friends of the church who were in need of a quilt for emotional warmth.

The Sewing Group’s mission hasn’t changed in the more than half-century that the group has been active: to help others by providing items of comfort throughout Greater Binghamton and beyond. Members worked on projects at home and met every Wednesday in person at the church or via Zoom to keep in touch with each other and provide updates on current happenings within the church family. Even when some of our sewing group members relocated during the winter months, they stayed in close contact with the Binghamton group via Zoom, and worked tirelessly before they headed south so that the group had plenty to work on over the winter.

A sampling of the colorful creations of the Sewing Group.

Quilts galore and other items were blessed in the sanctuary in November 2023.

June 2023 – May 2024 Activities:

Members worked at home or met in person at the church, creating 39 quilts and 16 walker “carry bags”.
Janet and Len Hoover arranged to have all of UPC’s sewing machines cleaned, tuned, and repaired so they would be in top working order.
In December 2023, quilts, walker “carry bags,” scarves, hats, and other items were distributed to Home Instead, Good Shepherd Fairview Home, Willow Point Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Hilltop, Elizabeth Church Manor, the YWCA, and the NoMa (North of Main) community center in Binghamton’s First Ward.
Quilts were provided to Camp Sunshine in the State of Maine, arranged by Chris and Cindy Burger.
Hats and scarves were provided to our UPC lobby community and guests at the Food Pantry.
Donations of fabric and yarn were sorted and organized for future use; items not suitable for the Sewing Group were recycled or “free-cycled” to local non-profits.
The group said good-bye to member Marian Timson, who moved to Arizona in March.

Sewing Group member Ellen Hancock-Berti sorts items for distribution in the community.

Future Plans: The group will continue its mission of crafting comforting and functional items for those throughout the community, in addition to accepting and sorting fabric and yarn donations. Gratitude from recipients continues to be strong as witnessed by the thank you notes received. The group is always seeking new members, regardless of prior experience or skill level. For more information, please contact the church office or one of the group’s members.

Sewing Group Members: Cindy Burger, Cindy Chadwick, Ann Cobb, Ellen Hancock-Berti, Jean Hill, Janet and Len Hoover, Marian Timson, and Nancy Walter; Pastor Kimberly Chastain and Pastor Becky Kindig. We are joined most weeks by Alan, a friend of the church who participates via Zoom.

Cindy Burger created a quilted wall hanging which was given to VINES as a “housewarming” gift when they moved into their new building this year.

Worship and Music Team

Team Purpose: To oversee and coordinate all aspects of United Presbyterian Church’s worship services.

Our congregation continued to worship both in-person and online throughout this year. We still have a healthy online presence, and it is wonderful to have the choice of different ways to access worship. It provides us with a way to hear from members who are doing work farther afield, as with the Tucson Samaritans, and spiritually connects us with homebound members in our corporate worship.

This past year UPC offered YouTube viewing, the Zoom Room, the 9:30 Prayer time, and our after-service Coffee Hour. We continued to include as many people as possible from our congregation in our worship services through musical offerings, as liturgists, and as participants in the services.

Worship Highlights of June 2023 – May 2024

Pentecost, June 4th, 2023: Pentecost was told by a mash-up of stories from Acts 2. We also had our annual Church Picnic. This day could be dubbed as “windy Pentecost” as we gathered, trying to keep everything from blowing away. We celebrated our 10 years together as UPC! We had a good time looking back on our decade together, and recounting all of our fondest memories.

From Pentecost through November 23rd: Pastor Kimberly preached a series on the whole Gospel of Matthew. It provided us with a more in-depth way of reading scripture, and a better understanding of the context of the times in which it was written.

June 18th: Becky Mebert gave a very informative talk about the journey she and Ken took on the Civil Rights Trail in the South. She shared a compelling pictorial narrative of their insights with us in our worship service.

For our Hiroshima/Nagasaki Remembrance service, anti-war banners were hung from the balcony.

August 6th: We had a Hiroshima/Nagasaki Remembrance with Veterans for Peace. We heard from guest speakers Jack Gilroy and Jim Clune. In preparation for the event, our church made many origami peace cranes, which colorfully decorated the church!
September 3rd: Josiah Rwabukwisi was baptized, and we received Vicky Brown into membership.
September 10th: Dave Ruston gave us some general information into the crisis of migrants at the southwestern border, and why we have this crisis. He talked to us about his and Greg’s assistance with the Tuscon Samaritans’ important work, placing water bottles in the desert, and providing resources for migrants once they crossed the border. In the sanctuary, several of our members established a “Corner of Hope”, a memorial in front of the sanctuary for migrants who died in crossing the desert.

November 5th, Feast of All Saints/Bouquet of Remembrance Sunday: We continued our tradition of remembering those who had died this year and in the past, with flowers for a big bouquet in the front of the sanctuary.
November 12th: Dr. Rose Niles spoke to the congregation about Project Regeneration, an intentional process of strategic planning over the next five years. This also involved a workshop after the service, leading us in a time of conversation and exploration of our values, mission, and core beliefs.

December 3rd, the first Sunday in Advent: The Sanctified Art curriculum was based on Luke, with the theme “How does a Weary World Rejoice?”.

December 24th, Christmas Eve Sunday: We had two services on this 4th Sunday of Advent.

In the 10am morning service, we had a “pick-up Christmas Pageant”. It was a more informal service, in which all ages could participate. We donned hats or masks for all the characters in the manger scene, including the animals.

The 4pm service was a more traditional service of lessons, carols, and “Reflection” by Pastor Kimberly. The lovely musical offerings were from Aimée Backus and Arianna Windsong on flute and Austin Shadduck on the shakuhachi; the United Ringers handbell choir; Aeden Hickey singing a solo, with Becky Mebert on piano; Christmas “Brass” with Riya Bolander on tuba, Sara Lieberman on trumpet, Nathan Raboy on trombone, Phil Westcott on saxophone, and Aimée Backus on flute; the UPC Children’s Choir; and the UPC Choir.

January 7th, 2024, and throughout the Season of Epiphany: Pastor Kimberly preached on the theme, “Our Stories of God’s Faithfulness”. Prior to this series, Pastor Kimberly had asked us to reflect on the Bible stories that we remember the most.

February 14th, Ash Wednesday: The pastors offered “Ashes To Go” at the university from 10am to noon. We worshiped at 12:30pm and 6pm, both in the sanctuary and streaming on YouTube.

February 18th – March 17th, Season of Lent: Pastor Kimberly preached on the common practices, language, signs and symbols of our faith, in order to understand and deepen our identity as children of God. We looked at practices of our faith such as baptism, communion, confessions of our faith, remembrance of Jesus’s death and resurrection.

February 25th: We did a “remembrance of our baptism” Sunday. The children had a great time, dipping their paintbrushes in water and sprinkling the congregation.
March 17th: The Flute Studio of Binghamton Faculty and friends (Aimée Backus, Amelia Baran, Teresa Deskur, Stephany Marilley, Lindsey Williams, & Ariana Windsong) treated us to some lovely Irish music for St. Patrick’s Day Sunday.

March 24th, Palm/Passion Sunday: We celebrated the Palm Sunday half of the service with our yearly palm parade, and observed the Holy Week Passion for the latter half of the service. The beautiful musical offerings were: The UPC Choir; Robert Manners, vocal solo; Ernest Backus, percussion; Adrian Finney, tuba; Sara Lieberman, trumpet; Zeke Merlis, cello; Elikem Nyamuame, drums; Nathan Raboy, trombone; Phil Westcott, saxophone; the United Ringers handbell choir; Phil Westcott (again!), vocals and guitar; Starletta Noll-Long, vocals; and Becky Mebert, piano.

March 28th, Maundy Thursday: We gathered in the Upper Lounge for a worship service, which included a soup-and-bread potluck, communion, and reflective music offered by Margaret Davis, violin; Lana Ogden, recorder; and Claude Cornwall, piano.

March 31st, Easter: We had a joyous service together, with communion, wonderful music from the United Ringers handbell choir, Riya Bolander, Sara Lieberman, Robert Manners, Becky Mebert, Starletta Noll-Long, Nathan Raboy, Phil Westcott, Aimée Backus, Ariana Windsong, Austin Shadduck, the United Ringers handbell choir, and the UPC Choir. The children exited after the service to enjoy their annual Easter Egg hunt out on the front lawn.

April 14th – May 12th, Eastertide: Pastor Kimberly continued preaching on the practices of our faith (through music, fasting and praying, keeping the Sabbath, and tithing).

May 19th, Pentecost: We celebrated Pentecost inside in the sanctuary this year (as opposed to the windy one outside last year). We celebrated our togetherness as a church with communion. We also received Charity Outman into membership on this day, and had a celebration of May birthdays after the service.

Thank you from the Worship Team! We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our pastors, musical directors, musicians, choirs, and UPC’s wonderful tech team: Scott Kindig, Ken Mebert, Sara Lieberman, Chris Burger, Andy Chadwick, Aeden Hickey, Emily Hugenbruch, Matt Johnson, Shawn Landon, Dave Ruston, and Felix Rwabukwisi. Worship services would not have been the quality they were without their skills and their ability to change with UPC’s needs!

Musicians for worship services: We are blessed to have a talented and dedicated vocal choir under the leadership of Music Coordinator Aimée Backus, supported by accompanist Becky Mebert and section leaders Riya Bolander & Victoria Barics (soprano), Starletta Noll-Long (alto), Austin Shadduck (tenor), and Ernest Backus [summer 2023] & Robert Manners [fall 2023–present] (bass). The United Ringers handbell choir continues to grow and flourish under the direction of Austin Shadduck. And our congregational singing has been enhanced throughout the year with flute accompaniment by Aimée Backus and Arianna Windsong alongside the piano or organ, with vocal support from our choir section leaders. Over the course of 2023–2024, Aimée Backus secured many talented people from our congregation and community. Among them have been: musical offerings by children in our congregation (i.e. children’s handchimes); special vocal contributions from David Berti, Aeden Hickey, Sharon Landon, Ken Mebert, Catherine Micalizzi, Mackinaw Shutt, Judy Westcott, and Phil Westcott; and instrumental solos, ensembles, or accompaniment including Riya Bolander, tuba; Claude Cornwall, piano; Margaret Davis, violin; Henry Deuel, saxophone; Adrian Finney, tuba; Sara Lieberman, trumpet; Zeke Merlis, cello; Justin Miller, euphonium; Elikem Nyamuame, drums; Lana Ogden, recorder; Nathan Raboy, trombone; Austin Shadduck, shakuhachi; Mike Timson, trumpet; Alex Westcott, drums; Phil Westcott, guitar & saxophone; and the Flute Studio of Binghamton Faculty and friends (Aimée Backus, Amelia Baran, Teresa Deskur, Stephany Marilley, Lindsey Williams, & Ariana Windsong). We also welcomed substitute accompanists on several occasions when Becky Mebert was away: Carol Bartlett, organ; Andy Chadwick, organ & piano; Linden Foster, organ; Jean Herman Henssler, organ; and Cathy Murphy, piano.

Current Worship & Music Team Members: Suzie Northrop Raboy, chair; Andy Chadwick, Margaret Davis; Music Coordinator Aimée Backus, Office & Technology Coordinator Scott Kindig, Pastor Kimberly Chastain, Pastor Becky Kindig.

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