2020 Annual Report - Wellesley Village Church

Professional Staff ReportsInterim Associate Pastor,Congregational Care &EngagementDiane SeabornThis has been a year of truly ‘reimagining our faithjourney together’ and finding new ways of “beingchurch.” I feel particularly grateful for the innovative,collaborative team of pastors, musicians, administrativestaff, sextons, and countless layfolk, who work togetherto create pre-recorded, online worship that sustains theSpirit and keeps us all connected. Now in my final yearas Interim Associate Pastor for Congregational Care andEngagement, the following ministries with VillageChurch have been my focus.Congregational CareCaring Connection has continued to provide a vehiclefor member care through committed lay leadership,focused mainly on the coordination of meal delivery forthose facing illness or a season of grief. The Befriendersministry expanded its reach within the congregationthis year, with a greater number of ongoing, longlasting relationships of support, while simultaneouslydeepening our Befriender team’s skills of holy listeningand ministry of presence. Befriender-Befriendeematches have continued in the form of phone calls andoccasional, COVID-aware, physically-distanced visits;our Befrienders also continue to gather monthly as agroup, virtually, to offer care and fellowship to oneanother. At the beginning of the pandemic and again, asthe summer approached, Befrienders divided up thedirectory and made phone calls to every household ofVillage Church, checking in with our faith communityand extending God’s hospitality by asking, “How areyou?” At Easter, Befrienders wrote and mailed cards tomany in our community who were feeling especiallyalone. In the fall, after All Saints Sunday, ourBefrienders delivered remembrance bags to those wholost a loved one this year, offering another form ofprayer and the love of God. Senior Life: while in-persongatherings were no longer possible, seniors of VillageChurch were still able to stay in touch with one anotherthrough the launch of “Seniors Connect” on Zoom.Meeting regularly online throughout this pandemic, our8seniors have been able to check-in with each other,offer one another fellowship, and feed the deeplonging to remain connected in such an isolatedtime. I also continue to shepherd a ministry for‘walk-in’ and cold call needs from the broadercommunity, using allocated funds from the BabsonWeber Mustard fund for grocery cards andfinancial assistance with needs such as utilitypayments. Meg Sweeting has been a source ofenormous support to me in this ministry, throughher regular presence at the church, answeringphones, and helping me to connect folks in thecommunity with the help they need. She does sowith great compassion for others.EngagementAlthough Village Church could not offer its annual,Community Ministry-led events such as HarvestFest and the “Share the Dream” luncheon, ourCommunity Ministry deacons remained innovativethis year. Community Ministry deaconsparticipated in writing “Cards of Love,” notes thatwere sent to members within the church andbroader communities, expressing gratitude for oneanother during these trying times. Our September“Welcome Sunday” outdoor gathering was hostedby the Community Ministry deacons, who assistedwith set-up, distribution of masks and handsanitizer to attendees, and partnered with GaryArthur and Village Table, who provided delectablesnacks for the gathering. This generated at-willdonations and increasing awareness of the new,growing Village Table ministry. Finally, on thefourth Sunday of Advent, our Community Ministrydeacons delivered Christmas card notes, eachaccompanied by a beautiful poinsettia, to 65church members in Wellesley and surroundingtowns. Epiphany small groups: In November, Irecruited a small number of faithful and Spirit-ledvolunteers to lead small groups in spiritualpractice during this season of Epiphany. As wewalk with the light of Christ over these wintermonths, over 40 participants will enjoy theintentional community and spiritual enrichmentoffered through these weekly gatherings on Zoom.Thanks be to God! I look forward to continuing a

Professional Staff Reportsstill-unfolding journey alongside the faithful andspiritually curious community that is VillageChurch!Group met Sunday evenings in small groupsaround fire pits in the cloister garden.In Christ,DianeFamily Life @ Village ChurchMichaela McDonald,Director of Children’s MinistryRev. Pam EmslieAssociate Pastor, YouthProgramsDr. Kevin J McDonald,Director of Youth MusicThe beginning 10 weeks of 2020 were business asusual. Children’s Church, Youth Music, and YouthPrograms all met weekly in their usual rhythmswith well over 100 children and youthparticipating each week. March brought Covid andwith it the schools temporarily shut down and sodid our programs. Shortly thereafter, we began tomeet with our children and youth via small groupsover Zoom and continued through the end of theprogram year in May / June. Youth Sunday was avirtual service in May with youth and youthmusicians leading the service. High School YouthGroup met outside when possible over thesummer.In the fall, when Covid restrictions eased a bit, webegan to reimagine our programs and began tohold them all outside! On Sunday mornings,Children’s Church met in 2 sessions on thecourtyard side of the church and Middle SchoolYouth Group met on the cloister garden side.Youth Music rehearsed Wednesday eveningsoutside and even drew community interest whenthey heard the piano playing. High School YouthConfirmation, which new this year, continued fromspring into the fall, held Confirmation Sunday inOctober. The service was in the sanctuary with justConfirmands and parents in attendance. Theservice was prerecorded and virtually shared withthe congregation the following Sunday. MidNovember, we returned to zoom gatherings for allprograms. In December, we could not have ourregular Youth Music Sunday, telling the Christmasstory with the Youth Choir and instrumentalists,so in its place, youth and youth musicians led avirtual Advent worship service reflecting on thefour candles of Advent. The Children’s ChristmasEve pageant was prerecorded (while wearingmasks and socially distancing) in the sanctuaryand aired as part of the Family Christmas EveService on Christmas Eve. Youth music has beenreimagined with rehearsals outside and overZoom. Several virtual choir videos were createdwith our youth singers and have been part of our10 am virtual worship services.While we are happy that we are still able to gatherwith our groups, it is important to note the lossthat we feel by the changes brought about byCovid. Our groups are strong communities thatsupport each other in joy and fun and also in thehard times. But not being together regularly inperson is difficult on us all. We feel the loss ofmissed retreats, activity nights, rehearsals,gatherings, and the service trip which could nottake place. We look forward to when we cangather together again in person as we are called todo as Christians.We want to thank all those who journey alongsideof us to make all this possible - we can’t do it alone.We want to thank our Family Life Deacons, ourChildren’s Church volunteers, and Youth Programadvisors for your steadfastness and dedicationweek to week. We thank our colleagues for your9

Professional Staff Reportssupport and care. And thank you to theCongregation for your incredible commitment tonurture our children and youth in faith.were transformed by the love wewitnessed flowing between the childrenand their Tia caregivers and staff and allwho support FHC.In Faith,Michaela, Kevin, PamPastoral Resident,Sean Patrick CoadyDear Village Church family,Greetings and blessings to you on this new year. AsI reflect on the unique and challenging year of2020, I am deeply grateful for you and ourcongregation. Together, we have reimagined whatit means to be church together by leaning into ourmission to deepen our faith and our connectionswith God and one another through “innovativeworship,” “intimate communities,” and“intergenerational ministries.” I am proud of theways we have adapted worship to reach folks intheir homes and adopted Zoom for our ministriesand small groups to convene together, stayingemotionally and spiritually close to one another,even as we are physically distant. Here are a fewhighlights from 2020:In January, I collaborated closely with churchmember Trond Undheim in creating aconcept for a new worship service, calledChrist and Music Jam, which centersaround lay musicians making musictogether. Although this project has beenput on hold, we had several jam sessionsand came up with a format and a vibe thatwe think will appeal to many when we canreconvene.In February, I had the great joy of travelling toEcuador with fourteen other VillageChurchers for a weeklong stay at the ForHis Children orphanages in Quito andLatacunga. During this trip, our groupgrew close to one another, as our hearts10Then came March and a global pandemic, asnew CDC guidelines and social distancingprotocols prompted us to reimagineworship, the center of our life together asa church. On March 15 we livestreamedfor the first time from the Chapel, and onMarch 22nd we created our first prerecorded virtual worship service. I havehad quite hands-on learning experienceplaying a central role in organizing,planning, and producing our pre-recordedworship videos.In April, I gratefully and happily accepted anoffer from the Pastoral ResidencyCommittee to extend my PastoralResidency to a third year, to try to createstability for our congregation in a timewhen our lives were upended.Over the summer, I spearheaded our SummerWorship program, which focused on thetheme of “Finding Our Place.” It was adelight to work with our lay preachersand liturgists and musicians to createmeaningful, meditative, and naturefocused worship services.For my final “capstone” third year as aPastoral Resident, Senior Pastor Rev.Sarah Butter and I came up with a plan forme to serve as the Lead Worship Pastor. Ithas been a great learning experience tolead our weekly worship planningmeetings and oversee the design andproduction of our virtual worship videos.In September, I began serving as thepastoral liaison to the Worship Deacons.And in October, working closely with HR, Icreated a job description for a VideoEditor, received applications, andinterviewed our final candidate. It hasbeen wonderful to work with and

Professional Staff Reportssupervise Alyssa Glantz, who has done anexcellent job editing our worship videosthroughout the fall and winter. And I mustextend a special thanks to Gary Gillis, whoheroically led our video editing efforts asa volunteer up until this fall, and whosefaithfulness and creativity has greatlyenhanced our worship videos.Your brother in Christ,Sean PatrickRev. Sean Patrick Coady, Pastoral ResidentPastoral Resident,Bob FeenyLooking back on 2020 is a time-altering, mindbending project—January 2020 feels a world awayfrom where we are now. Despite all the hurdles ofthis year, however, it has been another year ofpowerful ministry here at Wellesley Village Church(and the Congregational Church of Weston), and Iam immensely grateful to have been part of it.I have continued to assist in the Vision 2020effort, helping in the effort to create a newwebsite, under the leadership of churchmember Sue Grant. Check out our newwebsite! It is a beautiful and faithfulrepresentation of our church community,designed primarily for visitors to get toknow us better.Our partnership with The Congregational Churchof Weston (CCW) has deepened in ways beyondwhat we had imagined. In addition to housingboth Pastoral Residents in the parsonage (whichwe effectively refer to as The Residence), CCW hasshifted to a 9am Zoom worship service in order tobetter welcome Village Church folks. It has been ajoy to share worship with both congregations.While everyone agrees that we long to be back inperson, this time of virtual worship has enabled usto be together in creative ways that would havebeen difficult to imagine under “normal”circumstances.I continue to assist Rev. Pam Emslie in leadingHigh School Youth Group on Sundayevenings, and I am continually impressedand inspired by our youth, who havesacrificed so much during this time ofpandemic.I also continue to help lead the BeFrienderMinistry with Rev. Diane Seaborn, KimReohr, and Susan Sullivan. I have been soproud of our BeFrienders and the widenet of care that they have extended to thecongregation through phone calls, notes,Remembrance Bags, and listening.On December 13, I was ordained as a ministerto the UCC over a hybrid Zoom/YouTubeservice. I am grateful to each of my fourpastoral colleagues for joining me in theChapel at Village Church helping to offerliturgy, as well as the incredible VillageChurch musicians who offered their giftsfor music. I am also grateful for myhusband, Steven Belnavis, foraccompanying me at each step of thisdiscernment journey, and presenting mewith my first stole. And I am grateful tomy whole Village Church family for yoursupport, encouragement, and love. Thankyou, thank you, thank you!On a personal note, this has been a year oftremendous professional growth. I was ordainedin August, and have continued to navigate what itmeans to live more fully into my ministerialcalling. As our congregational tradition knowswell, the work of discerning one’s call cannothappen without a community of faithful people.Cheers to all of you who have remained flexibleand connected to the Spirit as we’ve movedthrough this challenging year!In Christ, BobRev. Bob Feeny, Pastoral Resident11

Professional Staff ReportsDirector of Music,I have completed my 35th year and continue to befulfilled to this day.David CarrierMy thanks and appreciation to all of you.Sincerely,Dear Village Church friends,David CarrierOur last day in the choir loft on March 8, 2020 wasfilled with choir members, and we had a fullcongregation and a busy coffee hour. How couldwe know we would not be together in person afterthat day?In spite of our limitations, we were able towelcome Ed Broms as our Associate Director ofMusic and include him in our weekly virtualmusical offerings. Ed and Kevin McDonald worktirelessly with youth singers and instrumentalists,working and recording behind the scenes.Our choir stays involved through prerecordedplatforms, and we also gather on zoom to check inwith each other.I was able to play an anniversary recital thanks tothe technical savvy of Leif Hille and Sean PatrickCoady. Brad Harding was instrumental in gettingthis recital off the ground. It was an honor to playand also to receive such wonderful words fromSarah and Brad, and to receive a plaque in myhonor which now is attached to one of the organcases. Thank you everyone who helped make thishappen.Kevin McDonald led a carol sing with Leif andChris Toppin Riordan managing the technology.Kevin’s background on each carol brought them tolife in a new way. I know you join me in thankingKevin for all he does for Village Church.A few days before Christmas we had an openchurch with me playing the organ for the duration.I understand it was very meaningful for those whoattended.12

Officer ReportsModerator,hole in my pocket since the previous Sharing theDream Service. “Call for a coffee” was penciled onthe back. So I called Rev. Groover and we talked onthe phone and I offered him a quiche(yes, I bake).Shortly after, I baked a mushroom quiche and Amyand I drove to meet him in a parking-lotequidistant for both of us. After catching up a bit,all of us behind masks, Rev. Groover surprised merecalling the verse from Esther 4:14 that headlinedthe Village Church 2003 capital appeal: For Such aTime as This. He reminded me that God putspeople in places at times not for the reasons theythink but for God’s reasons. Fate rarely gives usthe year we expected.Leif HilleModerator’s Reflection -‘For I know the plans I have for you’ declares the LORDJeremiah 29:11.Life is what happens to you,While you're busy making other plans."Beautiful Boy” John Lennon“L'enfer, c'est les autres” - “Hell is other people'' isa line from French Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’sfamous existential play “No Exit”. In the play,three sinners’ souls share a drawing room foreternity as each-others’ torments. The reader isgiven a thru-the-keyhole window into theirexistence. Sounds familiar. Over this year, I wassurprised in the number and variety of creativeways people have found to reach out, breachingtheir confinements and boundaries. People joinedtogether across space and even time in service,celebration, music and worship despite the thingsthat held them back. It is this indomitable Spiritdriven human urge to congregate and sharesuggests that Sartre may have gotten it exactlywrong. If you’re in doubt, look at any of VillageChurch’s past-year of musical collaborations orscan the internet for roommates across the globerecreating famous art masterpieces from theirconfinement (#betweenartandquarantine) or eventhe recent re-emergence of 19th centurycollaboratively-sung sea-shanties virally . The Spirit is alive and it is inPeople.Rereading the 2019 Annual Report I was struckhow it seemed that we were heading into a prettyawesome 2020 at Village Church. What a greatyear to be lucky enough to be the Moderator. Weknew the plan for the year: full-steam aheadimplementing Vision2020 ideas we’d spent ourvaluable time developing over the preceding year.Well! This year was many different things to manypeople but “as-planned”, it was not.So what was 2020 for us at Village Church? Toalmost all it was mostly surprising. Surprisinglylonely. Surprisingly close-quartered. Surprisinglyrighteous. Surprisingly unjust. Surprisingly violent.Surprisingly altruistic. Surprisingly divided.Surprisingly musical. Surprisingly faithful. Each ofus knows in our hearts how it surprised them inbig and little ways. I want to identify to you theways in which I was surprised and some ways Iwasn’t.For Such a Time as This. The pandemic shutdownsstarted about a month after the start of myModerator tenure. By early May after a couplemonths cooped up, the isolation was shifting fromweird curiosity to grating grind. It had still seemedwe’d be out of it all by late spring, early summer atworst. I’d had a business card from Rev. Dr. GregGroover of Charles Street AME church burning a“We’ve never done it that way before” are sevenwords dreaded by pastors and progressiveorganizers alike. The statement is the sadtestament of the naturally ossifying nature of13

Officer Reportsbureaucracies which are created initially to propelgroups’ missions and eventually end-up stymieingthem. Here 2020 surprised me again. You, thepeople of Village Church, did things differently anddid so with gusto. You attended services, joinedmeetings, created and participated in small-groupssupporting each-other and your communities. Youcreated a whole new ministry to safely andtogether cook meals to feed those in need. The listgoes on. Throughout the year I was immenselythankful that tradition and convention bent-theknee to necessity allowing us to thrive throughnew and inventive ways of being Church.scribes, approximately 270 people participated inthe small group sessions to answer thesequestions:Who are we? What are our core values?What is our purpose? What is God calling us tobe?What do we want to create together? What isGod calling us to do?The output was distilled in a two-part process: AVision Summit was held in November 2019 where36 guides and scribes met to faithfully sharecongregational input; and, at a Writing TeamWorkshop where a small group prayerfullyincorporated our answers to the three questionsinto the following value/vision/missionstatements:I want to close with how this 2020 year was notsurprising to me. The faith and strength of theVillage Church. You are a reflection of thestatement that we are so much more together thanthe sum of our individual selves. You have inspiredmy own faith-growth. Your flexibility and get-itdone will has made it a joy to serve throughout myModeratorship. Thank you for trusting me at thehelm of this ship through this stormy year. I lookforward to working together with you as weweather the end of this pandemic as well as thesubsequent healing and rebuilding of our broadersociety.Vision: Grounded in Christian love, we boldlyreimagine our faith journey together.Mission With open hearts and minds, WellesleyVillage Church welcomes the curious, the seeker,and the sure. Inspired by the Spirit and guided bythe love of Jesus, our innovative worship,intimate communities, and intergenerationalministries deepen our faith and compel our servicein God’s beautiful and broken world.ValuesVery Respectfully,(BE)LOVED: by God at every age and stage of life;Leif Hille, 2020 Moderator(BE)LONG: we welcome, affirm, and connect;(BE)COME: we question, learn, and grow;(BE)FRIEND: the neighbor, the stranger, the earth;Visi

1960 Elizabeth Goodhart 1960 Jacqueline Griffiths 1960 Bobbie Jean West 1960 Gustaf West . Rev. Dr. Sarah Sarchet Butter Dear Village Church family, Early in 2020, we presented the Vision, Mission, & . chaired by Craig Stirrat, Athene Sirivallop and S