This Advent season Brookmeade is excited to be bringing you Advent liturgy, artwork and resources from “A Sanctified Art”! The theme this year is: “How does a weary world rejoice?” Advent Calendars and Daily Devotionals are available for pickup in the front foyer of the church building. For those who prefer digital access, we will be posting daily Advent Calendar prompts on our social media (Facebook and Instagram) starting 12/1. You can also contact the church office (or check your weekly email) to receive digital access to the daily devotional. We can’t wait to share this unique resource with you all as we enter the season of Advent.

From the Sanctified Art website:

“We are a team of artists in ministry who create multimedia resources for worshiping communities of all shapes and sizes. We work collaboratively to bring scripture and theological themes to life through visual art, poetry, liturgy, curriculum, worship installation art, coloring pages, graphic design, and more.

We founded A Sanctified Art with dreams to fill the Church with more art, inspiration, creativity, and God-breathed mystery. Our mission is to provide spiritual nourishment for church leaders and the communities they serve. We’re committed to expanding imagination around the divine image and providing resources with inclusive and affirming theology.”

For more information about A Sanctified Art, visit their website!

Click HERE to listen to a curated playlist by Sanctified Art on Spotify: “How Does a Weary World Rejoice?: Songs for Advent and Christmas”.

Fresh Greens Needed! PINE BRANCHES – FERN BRANCHES – MAGNOLIA BRANCHES – HOLLY BRANCHES AND MORE! Anything we can wire to grapevine wreaths to decorate for advent. Please bring cuttings to the church by 9:00 AM on Saturday, November 25th, 2023.  

Then stay, for the annual Hanging of the Green! WE WILL DECORATE OUR BUILDING FOR THE ADVENT SEASON! Fun will be had as we make wreaths with fresh greens. We will laugh, sing Christmas carols and have snacks as we decorate the sanctuary, fellowship hall and the halls with our creations. We can’t wait to see you there!

This year Brookmeade resumes a long tradition of having a Thanksgiving Day Potluck Luncheon for those who can come to the church @ 2:00 PM. For those who can come, a sign-up sheet will be in the long hallway of the church, or call the church office to join the fellowship of that day. Marylou & Bert will be supplying the turkey, and so sides & desserts are needed. Sponsored by Brookmeade’s Fellowship Team.

Friday, Oct 27th, Halloween-Fall Fest Party
Excitement is building for this Friday’s Halloween-Fall Fest Party at Brookmeade @ 5:30 PM! Our first since the pandemic! The Fellowship Hall will be transformed into a magical place with a decor of illuminated Halloween pumpkins, ghosts & goblins! We’ll start off with pizza, including a gluten-free, vegan option. Lisa & Jerry K. will be bringing homemade chili and a Fall Corn Casserole. Marylou K. will be providing homemade pumpkin pie, and Adora R. will be bringing a homemade CokeCola cake. During the fellowship & feasting, we will have pumpkin carving by those who want to participate in that. We’ll then take the nearly-created Jack-O-Lanterns outside to illuminate the night around a fire pit to roast wieners & marshmallows and to make S’mores. An apple-bobbing contest will also occur for the adventurous who don’t mind getting wet! Costumes welcomed. Everyone is invited to bring family, friends, and neighbors!

Every year, generous members order beautiful poinsettias to dedicate to loved ones and decorate our sanctuary for the holiday season. We are now accepting orders for 6 inch ($10) and 8 inch ($17) poinsettias in red or white. We ask folks to take their poinsettias home after the Christmas Eve service. You can find order forms in the front foyer or just contact the church office to place your order no later than Sunday, October 22nd. Thank you!

Our Learn & Grow class meets on Sunday morning at 9:15 am.
Starting on October 15th, Learn & Grow will begin a series by one of Brookmeade’s favorite teachers, Amy-Jill Levine. The series is Signs and Wonders: A Beginner’s Guide to the Miracles of Jesus. The lessons will include:
October 15: “Take up your pallet and walk”: On the Role of Caregivers (Mark 2:1-12)
October 22: Stilling the Storm: Attending to Nature (Mark 4:35-41)
October 29: The Feeding of the Five Thousand (or More): The Centrality of Bread (Luke 9:10-17)
November 5: A Bleeding Woman and a Dead Girl: The Importance of Women’s Bodies (Matthew 9:18-26)
November 12: A Two-State Miracle: Seeing Again (Mark 8:22-26)
November 19: The Raising of Lazarus: Taking Death Seriously (John 11:1-44)

Every year, Brookmeaders participate in the “Out of the Darkness” Suicide Awareness and Prevention Walk sponsored by the AFSP. To participate you can join the walk, or donate to the cause! The walk will be held at Centennial Park on Sunday, October 29th at 2 pm. To find out more about AFSP, click HERE. To learn more about the walk click HERE. To join Team “All Are Welcome Here” click HERE.

On Friday, October 27th @ 5:30 PM, Brookmeade Congregational Church resumes our first Halloween-Fall Fest Party since the pandemic. Brookmeade has a long history of having a Halloween-Fall Fest celebration, and so we take up again a long tradition! We’re expanding this year’s festival with invitations to Holy Trinity Community Church and Howard Congregational Church, and to the general community as well via Facebook. As the Nat King Cole song said of Christmas, this celebration is for everyone, for “kids from one to ninety-two”! We’ll start the evening off with pizza, including this year a gluten-free pizza crust option. Then proceed with some fun activities: Pumpkin carving, an apple-bobbing contest, a fire pit roast of marshmallows & weiners, and S’Mores making. A great celebration is planned! Costumes welcomed!

Our next trip to the Project CURE Warehouse (2300 Clifton Ave.) is scheduled for Saturday, October 7th from 9:30 am – 12 pm. We will be sorting medical supplies. Newcomers are very welcome! For planning reasons we need a head count for our group prior to volunteering. Please RSVP to the church office ASAP if you plan to attend. Thanks and see you there!

Neighbors in Need (NIN) is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). Two-thirds of this 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 through grants. Neighbors in Need grants are awarded to UCC churches and organizations doing justice work in their communities. These grants fund projects whose work ranges from direct service to community organizing and advocacy to address systemic injustice.

Brookmeade will be collecting for the NIN offering through Sunday, October 1st. You can give a check to the church (please designate NIN in the memo line) or give online via Tithe.ly (choose NIN offering in the drop-down menu). Thank you for helping support the UCC’s justice ministries!