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EPISTLE
Bradford Congregational Church UCC
Bradford, VT (802) 222-4034

http://bradforducc.org
[email protected]

November, 2015
Dear Church Family,
First, before you read any farther, if you have not visited our new church website,
please do so now. Here is where you will find it, although you can also do an
internet search for Bradford Congregational Church: http://bradforducc.org
Scroll through the pages enjoying the photographs and seeing all the different
features. The Publicity Committee felt enormous joy and love for the church in
putting it together, which is clear to see. We owe a special thank you to Scott
Welch for generously hosting the site and providing crucial technical know-how!
The site will remain a work in progress, evolving over time, so please feel free to
share suggestions. The Publicity Committee comprises Barb Joslyn, Storme Odell
and Bridget Peters and can be reached at [email protected].
Please keep your eye on the Calendar & Events and News & Sermons pages
both of which will be regularly adding new material.
I hope you feel as excited as I do about the site and about the church it shows us to
be. One of the most moving things to me about the church is to see the
enthusiasm with which committees and boards and individuals are diving into the
Identity and Aspiration Statement to find things they can do to help us fulfill it. It
is a beautiful vision and came completely from the heart of this congregation, so it
is no surprise that it is giving people joy to make its words come to life. One
Trustee said after we read the Statement aloud, Who would not want to belong to
that church?

It is exciting to think that as we shine a brighter light out our lighted window, the
community will begin to notice, and people will be drawn to our light, and the
growth we dream of may happen.
Please take a look at the Identity and Aspiration Statement again. It is printed on
the Welcome Page of the website. Think about what areas of it you would most
like to see increasingly fulfilled, and challenge yourself to come up with one thing
you could contribute, whether it be
simply lingering after worship to
reach out to someone who is
struggling or new, or helping out
with the community dinner or
Game Supper, or joining a
committee or board. Thank you!
The season we are entering is also
exciting. Every year I look forward
to singing the old familiar
Thanksgiving hymns and spending
a service reflecting on all that I am
grateful for that has happened in the
past twelve months. We will have that service on Sunday, November 22 nd.
I look forward even more to Advent, which will start the following Sunday, on
November 29th. To me Advent is the most beautiful and hopeful of church
seasons. It begins with the first note of O Come, O Come Emmanuel. That
hymn sets the themes and tone so perfectly, including longing but also a rejoicing
that rests solely on faitha different kind of joy
from what will come when that faith is fulfilled
at Christmas and Easter.
It is the joy of looking up at a breathtaking night
sky, so clear you can see the stars behind the
stars, and so quiet you can hear the squeak and
crunch of the snow under your feet as you lean
back to stare straight up. It is the joy of
anticipating the warmth of a wood fire and
candlelight and people you love gathered
around. There is a pain in Advent, a pain of
longing, a pain of missing what has passed and those who are gone, but it is mixed

with peace and hope and joy, based on the faith that love never ends and that the
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.
Advent is a particularly meaningful season for a church in an Interim time, and I
will do my best to make it just what you need. We will have our childrens
Christmas Pageant this year on December 13th and the traditional Christmas
Sunday on December 20th, with outbursts of Christmas joy on those Advent
Sundays, but we will also have moments of anticipationthe already and not yet
tension that is part of Advents magic.
The Diaconate received two requests to consider moving the Christmas Eve service
to an earlier hour. They were very careful in their approach to this change. First
they discussed it at length. Then they emailed the entire congregation asking for
feedback. They received strong support for the idea, but some concerns as well.
They deliberated on what they heard and decided to compromise and not move the
service time as much as they first proposed. They sent out a second email inviting
people to speak directly with a Deacon or me either on the phone or after worship.
Then they made their final decision.
As a result our Christmas Eve service will be at 6:00 PM. It will feature a
special time with the children, lessons and carols and a story by candlelight, and
will end with the traditional lighting of the congregations candles and singing of
Silent Night.
On the Sunday after Christmas, the 27th, we will have an
informal service of Carol Singing and Story Telling, with
carols by request and with published or personal stories or
poems or quotes that you bring to share.
Advent Preparation Sunday will be November 8th. We do this to help us each
reflect on the kind of Advent we want or need to have this year. If we are not
prepared, it is easy to find ourselves either pulled into the hectic pressures and
activities of the season or sad and lonely and shunted off to the side while everyone
else is busy. Advent Preparation Sunday invites us to be purposeful about the kind
of experience we want to have, and take steps in advance to make it happen. It
also is a Sunday to become more familiar with some of the Advent hymns that are
as beautiful and meaningful as Christmas carols, but less well known to many of
us.
We cannot foresee where the Interim wilderness journey is leading. The Church

Council is forming a Search Committee, but we do not know what rebirth will take
place here under the star that is rising in the east. We can have faith, though, that
the Holy Spirit will help us bring a new chapter of this congregations life into
being. We can approach it like Mary, who heard the seemingly impossible
message of the Angel Gabriel and asked, How can this be? and yet went on to
say, Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your
word. Mary and the Advent season can inspire us to do our part to bring this
congregations new life to birth.
Thank you for all that you are doing already, and the joy and enthusiasm with
which you are doing it! I am so grateful to be on this journey with you!
Hope, peace, joy and love,
Tom

New Christmas Eve Service Time

Please note on your calendars that the Christmas Eve Service
will be at 6:00 PM this year. We hope the earlier time will
enable more families with young children to attend as well as
people who have a traditional gathering that evening.

PRAYER CONCERNS
Prayer requests may be directed to [email protected]
Among those who were lifted up in prayer in the past month:
Megan Slack Martina Stever Ginny Crowe Melvin Stever
Bill and Beverly Ellithorpe Bert Stickney Read Carlan Unnamed
Eris Eastman Paul Withrow Nick and Steph DiBrizzi Les Batten
Marilyn White
Our sympathy and love to the family and friends of
four-year-old Seth

Jake Withington

Brenda Egberts father

Lectionary Readings for NOVEMBER

Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 24
Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17
Psalm 127
I Kings 17:8-16
1 Sam 1:4-20
or I Sam 2:1-10
Psalm 16
2 Sam 23:1-7
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14
Rev 1:4b-8
Joel 2:21-27
Psalm 126

NOV 1 ALL SAINTS DAY

Rev 21:1-6a
John 11:32-44
NOVEMBER 8
Psalm 146
Heb 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
NOVEMBER 15
Hebrews 10:11-14,19-25
Daniel 12:1-3
Mark 13:1-8
NOVEMBER 22
John 18:33-37
Psalm 132:1-12
Psalm 93
THANKSGIVING DAY
I Tim 2:1-7
Matt 6:25-33
End of Year B

November 29: 1st Sunday of Advent

Jer 33:14-16
Psalm 25:1-10
I Thess 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36

Our Sunday School in all its many loving forms and moments

Those who attended the 12th annual

Katrina Munn organ concert on
Nov. 1st were, from the very
opening note of the incredible Suite
Gothique, blown away by what our
organ can do at the hands of the
phenomenally gifted musician
Lynette Combs.
In addition we were treated to the
dulcet tones of the English horn
when Andrea Brightenback joined
Lynette on a series of variations on
Amazing Grace.
A few glorious moments of the J.S.
Bach Prelude and Fugue in Eb will
be on our website; please take a
listen!

Our annual Neighbors in Need Collection will be on

November 22
Information will be enclosed in your Sunday bulletin
on November 8, 15, and 22. Neighbors in Need is a
special mission offering of the UCC that supports
ministries of justice and compassion through out the
United States. One-third of the NIN funds support
the Council for American Indian Ministries (CAM).
Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC's
Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) to support a
variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and
direct service projects.
For more information see: 2015 neighborsInNeed
http://www.ucc.org/nin
NIN contributions can be made on-line at any time here.

Community Supper
has been rescheduled in November and
December due to Game Supper and the
holidays.
We will have our monthly community
supper on November 11 and December 16
at 6:00. Starting in January we will go back
to the fourth Wednesday of the month.

On behalf of the Board of Missions and Social Action Lucia and Ginny will have a
table at Midnight Madness on November 6. They will offer cider and baked
goods and talk to folks about our community supper and the 211 services available
to folks in need in Vermont. A hand out about these services will be available.
Lucia and Ginny are asking folks to bring baked good to the church by Thursday,
November 5 to share at this event.

A note about Game Supper

Hi
I am looking for volunteers to serve on the buffet line at Game Supper 2015.There
are 2 shifts. 2:15-5:15 and 5:15 to closing.
Please call me at 222-9655 or email me at [email protected] if you are
interested.
Please think about helping out this year. We are in need of all kinds of volunteers.
If you want Game Supper to continue we must have support from you.
Thanks
Storme Odell

About our Steeple, Clock and Church Building Part II

The Use of the Roman Numeral IIII
Did you notice when the new clock
face was in the vestry that at had IIII
instead of our familiar IV? I am so glad
that Joe and Doug stayed with the
historic IIII just as our original 1873
clock was. Some thought a mistake had
been made NO WAY!
Perhaps we just hadnt noticed. I know I
hadnt in the 70+ years Ive looked at
that clock!
The following is taken from an internet article
(http://mentalfloss.com/article/24578/why-do-some-clocks-use-roman-numeraliiii) by Matt Soniak
Has there always been a choice, or is it an overlooked error that's been replicated? This has
been driving me crazy for a long time, but I can't figure it out myself.
Unfortunately, this is one of those questions where no one seems to have a definitive answer,
and probably no one ever will. What we do have is a handful of competing theories, some
with plenty of holes and others that might just be true. You'll just have to pick the one that
sounds best to you and roll with it.
" Once upon a time, when Roman numerals were used by the actual Roman Empire, the name
of the Romans' supreme deity, Jupiter, was spelled as IVPPITER in Latin. Hesitant to put part
of the god's name on a sundial or in accounting books, IIII became the preferred
representation of four. Of course, IVPPITER wasn't being worshipped much by the time clocks
and watches replaced sundials, but clockmakers may have stuck with IIII just for the sake of
tradition.
" In another blow to the Jupiter theory, subtractive notation " where IV, instead of IIII,
represents four " didn't become the standard until well after the fall of the Western Roman
Empire (and the numerals we use now are an even more modern set). It's likely, then, that IIII
was used on sundials (and everywhere else) simply because that was the proper numeral to
use at the time, and not for fear of divine retribution.
" Once subtractive notation came onto the scene and a choice was available, to V or not to V
became a question every clockmaker had to answer for themselves. Some adopted the
newfangled IV because it was the new standard, but others hung on to the traditional IIII.

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" IIII might have stuck around because it's easily recognizable as four. IV involves a little
math. Yes, it's just one simple subtraction operation, but keep in mind that when subtractive
notation really caught on in the Middle Ages, the majority of people weren't literate or
numerate. Subtraction was a lot to wrap the head around. On top of that, IV and VI might
have been easily confused by the uneducated (likewise with IX and XI, which is why nine was
sometimes represented by VIIII).
" Using IIII may have also made work a little easier for certain clock makers. If you're making a
clock where the numerals are cut from metal and affixed to the face, using IIII means you'll
need twenty I's, four V's, and four X's. That's one mold with a V, five I's, and an X cast four
times. With an IV, you'd need seventeen I's, five V's, and four X's, requiring several molds in
different configurations.
" King Louis XIV of France supposedly preferred IIII over IV, perhaps for the same vain reasons
Jupiter wouldn't want two letters from his name on a sundial, and so ordered his clockmakers
to use the former. Some later clockmakers followed the tradition, and others didn't. The
problems here are that this story is told in connection with many other monarchs, and IIII was
used also in areas where there was no king with an IV in his title to object to the subtractive
notation.
" One more reason to use IIII is that it creates more visual symmetry with the VIII opposite it
on the clock face than IV does. Using IIII also means that only I is seen the first four hour
markings on the, V is only seen in the next four markings, and X is seen only in the last four
markings, creating radial symmetry. As we learned last year when pondering why display
clocks are often set to 10:10, symmetry goes a long way in the clock world.

Dan Perry III and Dan Perry IV got the clock running on August 2, 2015 at 6:00
pm. They got it striking the next night. A decision was made to have the clock
strike the hours ONLY from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm. Frankly, I will miss the
reassuring sound of it striking during the nighttime as traditionally for 150 years it
has sounded out on every one of the 24 hours. I guess this is progress!! The Perrys
got the lighting working with LED bulbs soon after. What a beautiful sight!!
Here are estimates for the cost of refurbishing the steeple, clock, bell, tower,
weather vane, finial and cresting from the Church Treasurer: $83,999.20. Of this
amount, the value of volunteer labor is estimated at $13,600 (400+ hours by Joe
Button, 6+ hours by Danny Perry III and IV, and some hours by Doug McLam).
Thanks, guys!
Funds for this came from: Act N Spire donations, $25,000 from Trust Funds, Wild
Game Supper funds, and the $10,000 voted at the 2015 Town Meeting. We have
received or will receive $5,000 from the John and Lettie Hay Steeple Trust fund.

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Arent we thankful that Julie and David will be co-chairing our 60th Game Supper
in 2015 and that Dan and Tracey Smith have agreed to co-chair with David for
future Game Suppers!! Well need that money!
Eris Eastman, Historian

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