Embedded Files
Our Life Together:
Our Sunday morning worship life and practice is the heart and center of United Presbyterian Church, and increasingly, it is the time during the week when we “make time” for our common life. We have integrated most of our Spiritual Formation practices, our potlucks, our birthday celebrations and even some of our book discussions into the time we spend together on Sundays. And in many ways, this works pretty well, because in a world which places increasing demands on everyone, it is good to feel that there is one dedicated time and space where we can explore our life together.
Our Sunday morning worship services are the focal point of our life together as a congregation.
Last year in worship, we read the Gospel according to Matthew for the entire year, learning many things we had not heard before and hearing many things we thought we knew in a whole new way. In 2024, we have been working our way through the basics of Christian faith and understanding, and on being together as Christ’s Body in the 21st century.
During the week, we gather in smaller groups:
On Mondays at 1:00pm for Bible Study. We have been reading through the New Testament in the order that it was written (we just finished the gospel of John, so we’re about halfway through).
On Wednesday mornings for our Sewing & Quilting Group. This small but intrepid crew created over 40 quilts this year, which we share with nursing homes, congregants who are managing long-term conditions, Mom’s House, and Camp Sunshine. We give a quilt to each newborn in the congregation, and the pastors keep a few on hand in their offices in case we learn of someone who needs a special gift from the church. This year we have been joined regularly on Zoom by friends who are traveling and by a young disabled man named Alan, who calls in faithfully each Wednesday at noon and seems to enjoy the fellowship.
On Wednesdays at 6:30pm for Choir practice. We have an amazing range of talent in our congregation, supported by section leaders and instrumentalists, and the choir supports and enhances our congregational worship and helps us to sing praises to God every Sunday. Choir members and friends will provide special music during the summer while the choir is on hiatus.
On Fridays at 5:00pm on Zoom for a “virtual cocktail hour”. Started during the pandemic, this is a small gathering of friends to talk about the week, share information, and stay connected to folks who can’t get here in person.
During the year, we host the Sacred Sites tour on two Sunday afternoons, giving community members the opportunity to see our beautiful sanctuary and the dedicated spaces of our education building. We provide space for community gatherings and concerts, recitals and workshops, and we enjoy the variety of opportunities to offer hospitality and support to organizations that make a difference to our members.
This year, we have welcomed two new adult members, baptized two children, wished Godspeed to a member moving to be with family, and celebrated the completion of baptism for 4 members who have joined the communion of saints. We have begun a process of discernment with Project Regeneration, a program offered by the Presbyterian Foundation, to develop a strategic plan for the future of our congregation and its ministries.
The work that we support reaches far beyond our congregation, in ministry and service that members do with community organizations and groups, in the work that goes on in our building during the week, and in the ministries and efforts that we support financially here and around the world.
Inside the building…
Inside the building…
The UP Center is our newest collaborative project to build up our community. In 2023, we converted our Library Lounge, Terrace Room, and Chapel into a 42-bed warming station, providing overnight accommodation to unhoused people 5 nights per week in partnership with the Addiction Center of Broome County. Guests arrive at 7:00pm and are given a meal, an opportunity to get clean and a bed to sleep in, then are given breakfast and sent on their way by 7:00am. The shelter staff does a minimum of 8 loads of laundry every night in dedicated laundry machines (installed in a former Sunday school room), and this winter we were able to install a shower in one of the first-floor bathrooms for emergency needs. Guests of the shelter are able to use the church mailing address to get a Sheriff’s ID card, which is a necessary step toward finding permanent housing.
The Library Lounge and Chapel have been repurposed to provide overnight accommodation to unhoused adults. ACBC’s “UP-Center” operates five nights a week with capacity for 29 men and 13 women each night.
The GED/ESL program (General Education Diploma/English as Second Language) has been housed at 42 Chenango Street since 2011; they occupy the 2nd floor of the education building. In recent years, they have added a testing center for three counties and a self-contained class for students 18 and under who were not successful in a traditional classroom. We see about 20 students daily and enjoy supporting their efforts to better themselves. Church staff and members have been invited to the graduation ceremony each year; one of our staff is a graduate of the program and another is currently enrolled.
A4TD (Associates for Training and Development) is an agency that works with older adults returning to the workforce. They have maintained an office in the education building since 2019; the program funds people in training programs at community service and other 501(c)3 organizations. The benefits work two ways: the interns gain work experience and their placement gains from the energy and assistance the intern provides. This spring we added a new intern, Vincent Pope, to work at our Welcome Desk from 10am to 2pm Monday through Friday.
The Workers Center of the Southern Tier of NY is a grassroots organization focused upon promoting dignity and human rights in the workplace in order to bring about economic justice. Serving the people in and around Broome County, WCSTNY has maintained an office in the education building since 2016.
VINES (Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments) has been a friend and co-conspirator with this congregation since 2014, building the raised-bed garden in our side yard, distributing farm shares in our lobby, cooking and serving the community meal on 5th Tuesdays, and using the offices in the lower level. They moved to their own purpose-built offices this month, but they will continue to work with us on shared projects and our prayers go with them for continued success in their work.
Through VINES’ Grow Binghamton program, urban youth learn hands-on about agriculture and participate in community outreach.
JUST (Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier) advocates for change in social conditions and institutions that contribute to mass incarceration. They have had an office with us since 2019, and offer training programs and information services onsite, as well as offering direct support to people who are incarcerated and their families and legal actions to correct abuses of the system.
We have served a community meal to all comers every Tuesday night for nearly 20 years. This was the first shared ministry of the two churches that joined to become United Presbyterian Church. Over the years, we have partnered with Texas Roadhouse, Rescue Mission, VINES, BU students, and SUNY Broome Culinary Institute students to provide nourishing meals and a respite for the weary while offering a deeper understanding of the needs of those we serve to our volunteers.
Our community meal is prepared every Tuesday under the direction of Community Kitchen Coordinator Sherry Conklin.
In the spring of 2020, we expanded our program to include a pantry. Partnering with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, CHOW, and Panera Bread, we offer community members a chance to come and “shop” every Wednesday for food, hygiene products, diapers, clothes, and basic household items like linens and tableware.
Our food and hospitality program is staffed by Sherry Conklin, a member of the congregation, and provides part-time employment to a young man with autism a few hours every week. We rely on volunteers from within and without the church community to keep these programs running, and on contributions from the congregation and community to help offset the costs of the program.
The congregation supports the program in a variety of ways, making Christmas ornaments, dyeing Easter eggs, knitting hats, scarves, and mittens, and providing cotton tube socks to add warmth and comfort to our guests.
On Palm Sunday, the congregation was invited to decorate Easter eggs in Fellowship Hall, and it was once again a big hit with young and old.
The Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley is the regional body that resources the 42 PC(USA) congregations in this part of New York state. United Presbyterian Church provides storage space and receives mail for our “office-less” presbytery. Pastor Becky and Chris Burger share the position of Stated Clerk for the Presbytery, and they work with churches around the presbytery, with the Lead Presbyter for Transformation Rev. Dr. Greg Garis, and with various commissions and committees to keep Presbyterians connected both locally and nationally. The pastors as well as the congregation are considered members of the presbytery, and we support the work of the presbytery and are supported by the presbytery in many ways.
In the Binghamton Community
In the Binghamton Community
United Presbyterian Church partners with the Family Enrichment Network to offer a program called “Walk With Me,” which provides critical services to those returning to the community from Broome County Jail. Our congregation supports a part-time case manager who works with people to help them get back on their feet and find their way. The services offered by Walk With Me include assistance with housing, obtaining valid identification, transportation, job applications, employment, support groups, peer advocacy, and mentoring.
On the Borderlands
On the Borderlands
David Ruston and Greg Patinka travel regularly to Arizona to minister with Salvavision and the Tucson Samaritans at the United States–Mexico border. This program searches for travelers in the desert in an effort to save lives at the Mexico–US border. Dave and Greg learned about the migrants who come to our borders seeking refuge and safety, and participated in the humanitarian missions that offer water and other life-conserving services to the people who are in desperate need. We now have a dedicated space in our sanctuary, the Esquina de la Esperanza (Corner of Hope), that keeps us mindful of the needs and gives us space to pray for and learn about the work and the needs.
In Ghana
In Ghana
We are grateful that our congregation includes a family connected to the Whuti-Srogboe Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana, an Ewe-language worshiping community that supports the local school and music programs for its community. We support their ministry with a contribution every year, and have sent musical instruments, school supplies, and other items to further their work.
Page updated
Report abuse