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STEEPLE SOUNDS

July 2025


We are a Christian community of people who are reaching out to our neighbors, 
at home and abroad, sharing our faith and our resources.

 

Central Square Congregational Church, UCC, of Bridgewater, Massachusetts is an open and affirming
church. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.

 

Rev. Beth is on sabbatical for the month of July. 
We are happy to introduce our sabbatical pastor, Rev. Andrew Heintz.

 

 

Andrew Heintz is an ordained UCC minister and serves as a full time hospice chaplain and as associate pastor at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Newton Lower Falls. Andrew is passionate about helping people meet God in prayer and worship, entering the stories of our faith with creativity and imagination. Andrew received his Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his Master of Sacred Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary. Andrew is an ordained UCC minister and serves in the community as a hospice chaplain. Originally from Oxford, North Carolina, Andrew loves living in Providence, and he enjoys spending time in nature and playing music.

Rev. Beth's Recipe for Summer!

Tue, Wed, Thu, 9am-1pm

and by appointment

Remote worship on Facebook and YouTube

Sunday Worship will continue to be livestreamed from the Sanctuary at 10 a.m. 
Use the link on the homepage of www.csccucc.org to access Sunday worship, or visit our Facebook page. Past worship services are also available in both places.

NEXT CABINET MEETING is Wednesday, August 20, 7pm

Monthly meetings of the church leadership are held in the Fellowship Hall. All church members are also welcome to attend.

 

CARING FOR OUR COMMUNITY

Do you need a meal, a call, spiritual care, or even just a prayer or a chat?

Contact the Pastor, a Deacon, or a member of our Care Team.

 

CSCC Deacons
Deb Sorgman – debsorgman at gmail . com

Anne Malmquist - amalmquist at comcast . net

Cristi Ciaramitaro

Savannah Wells, Jr. Deacon

Liam O'Connell, Jr. Deacon
 

CSCC Care Team
Carol Chaffee  *  Bev Mitchell  *  Rev. Beth Stotts  *  Nina Gabel-Jorgensen

Contact the church office if you need us!

 

The Bridgewater Food Pantry, hosted and supported by CSCC, is open Thursdays, 10am-1pm, and the first Mondays of the month, 6-7:30pm (except holidays). All Bridgewater residents who are in need of food are welcome.


If you are a Bridgewater resident unable to come to the food pantry, but are in need of food, please contact the church office by email (office@csccucc.com) or phone (508-697-6016) and arrangements will be made for you.

 

CSCC Team Leadership 2025-26

Spiritual Engagement Team Leaders:

Linda Chipman, Deb Sorgman, Eric Stotts

 

Congregational Engagement Team Leaders:
Carol Chaffee, Natalie Muurisepp

 

Property & Finance Team Leaders:
Patrick Donahue, David Hanson, John Sharland

 

Community Engagement Team Leaders:
Heather Ciaramitaro, Stephanie Holmgren, Terry Reynolds

 

VENMO!

We continue to make it easier than ever to contribute to CSCC. The church accepts donations via Venmo! Aim your phone camera below, or use the Venmo app to send your donation to @cscc-ucc

 

Did you know that Venmo has lower fees to the church than Paypal? So if you can't decide which one to use, choose Venmo.

 

 

 

Coins for Kids Church : July 6

 

Don’t forget to bring your spare change for the Coins for Kids Church collection ! This helps to pay for Kids Church supplies and teaching materials.


We normally collect it on the first Sunday of the month, but feel free to bring it on any Sunday!

 

Summer time!!  For the months of July and August, as was in June, the after-worship fellowship time will be on a volunteer basis. There will be a sign up sheet on the bulletin board nearest the kitchen for those who may want to choose a Sunday to host fellowship time. It is summer so keep it simple. Lemonade, iced tea or coffee and water are all that is needed. 


There may be some baked goods in the freezer marked for summer coffee hour so help yourself. Be spontaneous and if you choose to host fellowship time, please make an announcement in church so others will know to go downstairs or head out onto the lawn for catch up conversations. 
Connie Chandler

 

The annual meeting was held on Sunday, June 8. The following business was conducted:
• The annual report was approved unanimously.
• The proposal to become a W.I.S.E. congregation was approved unanimously.
• The slate of nominees was approved unanimously.
• The 2025-26 budget was approved by majority vote.

 

Big shoutout to Carol Chaffee and all who contributed to the potluck lunch!

Everyone Loves A Parade!

 ...including Central Square Congregational Church. We will have a tractor and wagon float again this year as we join the community to celebrate the Fourth of July. Please consider participating to exemplify WHO WE ARE!


More details to follow in our weekly blast as we get closer to the date but we meet at Harrington Hall on Grove Street between 9 - 9:30 AM to decorate the float. If you have extra decorations you would like to share, please let Carol Chaffee know. All ages are welcome as we can accommodate everyone.


Contact Carol Chaffee with questions, galchaffee@gmail.com.


Congregational Engagement Team, Community Engagement Team
Spiritual Engagement Team, Property and Finance Team

 

 

The church building will be open to the public during the 4th of July parade, for access to the restrooms.

This item does not appear in the printed copy of the July Steeple Sounds.

 

Just announced! FREE concert!

Local classical pianist Aaron Wonson will be presenting a FREE concert on FRIDAY, AUGUST 1 at 7pm at Central Square Church. With degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the Jacobs School at Indiana University, Aaron is currently pursuing his DMA in piano performance and education at Boston University. He is a 26-year-old Bridgewater native, and will be presenting a program of Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, and Ravel. Free will offering will be accepted but not required, and a basket raffle will also be held! Contact the church office r visit www.csccucc.org/events for more information.

 

For a sample of Aaron's work, visit his YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@airwonson 

July services will be in the sanctuary, but August 10-31 will be outside!

Our Summer book study for July/August is the book "Good Soil" 
by Jeff Chu.

About Jeff Chu and "Good Soil"


Jeff Chu is a writer, reporter, and editor, including Editor-at-large at Travel+Leisure. He was a teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church in North Carolina, and a parish associate for storytelling and witness at the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley in California. 


Ph.D. student in theology at the University of Stellenbosch. Minister of Word and sacrament in the Reformed Church in America (RCA). Cook. Gardener. Author of “Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America”, and co-author, with the late Rachel Held Evans, of the New York Times best-seller “Wholehearted Faith” . He has also served as co-curator, with Sarah Bessey, of Evolving Faith. He is a resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his husband and he moved in 2020.


Prior to that, while a seminarian at Princeton Theological Seminary, he worked as a farmhand at PTS’s Farminary. Don’t be deceived: when he got to the Farminary, a 21-acre experiment in sustainable agriculture that doubles as the world’s best classroom, he notes: “I didn’t know anything about farming and I had more experience killing plants than nurturing them. But my work there changed me. That land taught me about the story of life, death, and new life that God has written into creation.”


“Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand,” is his memoir about his time at the Farminary, and was published earlier this year.

 

A colleague of mine recently retired and she shared this excerpt from Robert Fulgham’s book as a farewell to all of us in the company.  I felt it more than worthy to share with all of you.
Carol Chaffee

 

“All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:
    Share Everything.
    Play Fair.
    Don’t hit people.
    Put things back where you find them.
    Clean up your own mess.
    Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
    Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone.
    Wash your hands before you eat.
    Flush.
    Warm cookies and milk are good for you.
    Live a balanced life- learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every 
        day some.
    Take a nap every afternoon.
    When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
    Wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody 
        really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
    Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die.  So do we.
    And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all –  LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and             politics and equality and sane living.

 

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.


And it is still true, no matter how old you are – when you go out into the world, 
it is best to hold hands and stick together.”   Robert Fulgham

 

Saturday, July 12, 9-2

 

On Saturday, July 12th there will be a community yard sale at CSCC, from 9am to 2pm!


Tables are available to rent at $25 each and are limited. All proceeds from rentals will be donated to CSCC. If you are interested you can reach out to Jenne Foronjy in the church office or email at jenneforonjy@gmail.com. We are planning on having a bake/snack sale if anyone would want to donate and/or help sell those, too! 


(Rain date: July 26)

 

Please Note: Rev. Beth will be on sabbatical for the month of July.

 

Just a reminder! SUMMER HOURS start on July 1st!

We will be open 10 -2 on Wednesdays! (closed on Saturdays) 
We will go back to our regular hours on September 3rd.

 

In addition to our clothing, housewares, craft supplies  and books, we now have a kids corner. Come in and check it out. Lots of toys and books. Something for most every age. 


We  greatly appreciate all donations and they will be  accepted on Wednesdays 10-2 during shop's summer openings. We are currently accepting up to 20 summer items per visit. Please do not leave bags in random places elsewhere in the church. We keep our prices low and have half price sale items monthly. 


Lots going on this summer! If you could spare an hour or two we can always use an extra pair of hands. Doesn't matter whether you come to shop, donate, volunteer, or visit, all are welcome at Central Closet Thrift Shop. 


As always thanks for all you do to help make the shop so successful. 
Connie,  Sandy,  Jane,  Lynn and Gail 

Stop by and see the Kids Corner at the thrift shop!

Central Square Congregational Church, UCC, joyfully welcomes the newest (and hottest!) member of our church family: Boiler Grace.


Installed on May 22, Boiler Grace joins our family weighing in at a heavenly ton and measuring just the right size to keep us all warm with love and steam!
Proudly delivered by the dedicated team at Forni Brothers Inc., Boiler Grace will begin her ministry—faithfully providing warmth, comfort, and well-regulated heat to our sacred space this coming fall.


Please join us in giving thanks for this much-needed addition to our congregation’s infrastructure. She may be made of metal, but her warmth is divine!


“Behold, I make all things new.” – Revelation 21:5


If you’d like to contribute a baby gift, please see our Amazon wishlist! (www.csccucc.org/giving)

Needing Help is Nothing to Be Ashamed Of
by Sheri Turner

Romans 5:5 (NIV)
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

 

Every time I fail at something I try to do, I need to remember this verse from the Bible. I fail a lot too, and I have a deeply self-critical streak that often brings me down. Reading this verse reminds me that there is no shame in failing. God loves me whether I fail or not. He pours his love into me so I can share that love with others; love is why we were created. We are imbued with God’s love in our very souls. Our job as lovers of God, is to find a way to share that love in as many ways as possible with as many people as possible, so they too can share God’s love.


My latest failure? Teaching my dogs to get along. Some of you may know that I have three dogs. Cosmo, Wanda, and Bitsy. Cosmo and Wanda get along famously. They love to wrestle, they both love to chase squirrels (although they have no idea what to do with them when they catch them). Cosmo and Bitsy get along together. They will cuddle from time to time and understand and respect each others’ boundaries. Wanda and Bitsy? They would kill each other on sight if they could. 


Recently, for the second time since they both joined our family, Bitsy and Wanda attacked each other. Both dogs needed veterinary attention. I have been trying since 2022 to broker a peace between the two girls, with no success. It’s doubly frustrating because I work with dogs. I am a dog sitter and dog walker.  When I can, I offer suggestions to pet owners about ways they can get their furry companions to cooperate and behave appropriately. I don’t feel I am an expert by any means, but I have had dogs for years and know what has worked with mine. I am always trying to learn more about their behavior and what I can do to make families who have dogs lives better. Acting humanely and with love is key. 


Part of acting humanely is setting your ego aside. Accepting your limitations and admitting you need help when you hit a dead end. I am trying to do just that. I love my dogs very much, and that is why I have to admit I can’t help them alone. My failure (this time) was thinking I didn’t need help. I have hired an expert who is scheduled to start working with us soon. I should have done this a long time ago, but I thought I could manage it on my own. I struggled for two years trying to manage. We tried muzzles, but the dogs hated them so much they rubbed their faces on the ground enough to make themselves bleed. We tried managing their encounters with leashes, but that just meant they couldn’t reach each other to do harm; they would still try though. Neither of them would approach each other calmly or even just walk by and ignore each other. No, they were out to kill each other when they thought they might reach one another. So we crate and rotate them. One dog spends 2 hours in the kennel while the other dog is out free. We switch them approximately every two hours so no one is locked up for long. They both have time to roam in the yard, they both have access to water. They are fed in their kennels to avoid fights over food. Toys like lick mats are provided for mental and tactile stimulation. Despite that they still don’t get along. 


God allows us the time, grace, and space to make decisions about when we have failed and when we are ready to accept the help we need; when we are ready to set our egos aside and admit we don’t know how things work as well as He does. When something is not working the way you had hoped it would, are you ready to accept His outstretched hand? Are you willing to admit He knows better and is there when you need Him? This time I am. Hopefully next time I will be too, but only time will tell that.

 

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CSCC Cabinet Meeting – Minutes
June 18, 2025 at 7pm

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 by Anne Malmquist, Moderator. 

 

Pastor Beth Devotional - Read “Jesus gave Peter a job”. Who loves us? How can we help other people?

 

Note on behalf of Reverend Beth regarding the Calendering meeting: We NEED a SCRIBE to do the calendaring. Need a separate person to make the updates to the Church calendar.

 

Cabinet members in attendance:
Anne Malmquist, Moderator; David Sheibley, Treasurer; Nina Gabel-Jorgensen, Clerk; Terry Reynolds, Community Engagement; Pastor, Beth Stotts
    • Property and Finance missing, Spiritual Engagement missing, Congregational Engagement missing

Other
Connie Chandler; Gail Wright; Jenne Foronjy - taking notes for Google calendar

 

May minutes
Not enough for a quorum to vote on the May Minutes

 

Update on Pastor’s report
• WISE went through
• Major cleanout of the classroom with Dylan, the amazing high school student. Dylan texts Pastor Beth twice a week requesting volunteer hours for school. 
• Donation of paint to repaint the room. Paint has arrived. Taking a picture of the mural so we can make a poster of it and move it around as needed. 
• Still working on prayground. Wedding coming up.
• Reverend Andrew coming on the 29th to help smooth transition.

 

Treasurer’s Report - Dave Sheibley
1.    A couple of nice donations in the last month.
2.    5k over budget in May!!
3.    June is better than normal as well
4.    $600 in dues
5.    In pretty good shape

 

Community Engagement Report - Terry Reynolds
1.    Partnership opportunity with Catholic Charities - refugees placed in this area. Eventually they will be placed in Brockton. In the meantime they will need clothing, etc.
2.    BBA - Christmas on the common.
3.    Yard Sale in the Fall - September 13th? Discussion regarding July 12th Yard Sale in addition to September. Terry will let us know. September 13th is open. October has a rummage sale.
4.    Magical event planning is underway.
5.    September 27th harvest fair discussion.
6.    Doors open on July 4th for restroom use.

 

Calendering 
1.    Spiritual Engagement - nothing quite yet for the calendar. Overarching dates - Lent, Easter, etc.

 

Highlights:

JULY
1.    Thrift shop open until 2pm on S
2.    Yard Sale
3.    No cabinet meeting

AUGUST
1.    All Sundays in August will start at 9am

SEPTEMBER
1.    Food pantry on 9/1 needs follow up
2.    9/5 community meal
3.    Thrift shop back to regular hours
4.    Back in the sanctuary
5.    20th Kid friendly event (hoe down)
6.    26th Adult event maybe swap with the 20th (line dancing)
7.    27th Harvest Fest

OCTOBER
1.    10/3 Community Meal
2.    Neighbors in need offering
3.    Adult fundraising event 10/17
4.    Rummage sale 10/18
5.    Worship World Communion Sunday 10/5
6.    Magical event on the 25th

NOVEMBER
1.    Zoom five wishes on 11/2 DST worship
2.    11/7 Church fair
3.    11/8 Tukey supper
4.    11/15 fundraising kid friendly
5.    11/22 Food sorting of donations
6.    11/30 first Sunday of Advent

DECEMBER
1.    Christmas on the common on 12/7
2.    Wedding on 12/6 in the church.
3.    12/13 adult fund raising event
4.    Kid friendly fundraiser on 12/20 (grinch??)
5.    Third Advent - Music Sunday
6.    Fourth Advent - Christmas pageant
7.    Thrift shop closed last week of December

JANUARY
1.    Community meal fund
2.    Window Poutine 1/12
3.    Kid friendly fundraiser 1/17
4.    Changing Gala to January
FEBRUARY
1.    Heifer Sunday 2/8
2.    Community meal 2/6 Pizza competition
3.    Sleepover 2/21
4.    Ash Wednesday 2/18
5.    2/22 First sunday of lent

MARCH
1.    Community meal on 3/6
2.    3/21 kid friendly
3.    3/27 adult friendly
4.    3/29 Palm Sunday
5.    3/8 Daylight Savings time

APRIL
1.    4/11 Rummage sale
2.    No Thrift shop on 4/11 and 4/8th
3.    Five wishes on 4/4 - Holy Saturday
4.    Sunrise service 4/5/2025 630am
5.    National Burrito Day on 4/4 Holy Burrito
6.    4/25 second Kid sleepover
7.    4/24 Adult activity
8.    4/18 Alice in Wonderland High Tea

MAY
1.    Community Meal
2.    Guild Banquet
3.    Annual Reports due on 5/15
4.    Kid friendly funding gardening
5.    5/24 is Pentecost
6.    5/31 Ashley is getting married

JUNE
1.    Annual meeting on 6/14
2.    Jenne is graduating!!!!
3.    Calendaring date 6/17

 

Other business
Capital campaigns going on. 

 

Pastor Beth ending prayer 
Meeting ended at 8:15 PM
Next meeting is August 20th, 2025

 

For the current CSCC calendar of events, click here: CALENDAR


 

Church Administration
Pastor: Rev. Elizabeth Stotts, csccpastor at hotmail.com

Office Manager: Jenne Foronjy, office@csccucc.com
Minister of Music: Julia Scott Carey 

Director of Video Evangelism: Paul Holmes
Treasurer:  David Sheibley 

Communications Coordinator: Diane Sheibley

Kids Church Director: Eric Stotts

Office email: office@csccucc.com
Office telephone:  (508) 697-6016
Website:  www.csccucc.org
Facebook pages: facebook.com/csccuccbridgewaterma (main page), facebook.com/groups/801550253194149 (youth page)

Instagram: @centralsquarechurch 

Venmo: @cscc-ucc


Steeple Sounds submissions deadline is the 15th of the month prior to publication.

 

Amazon Shopping!

Shopping on Amazon and feeling generous? Check out the CSCC Wish List, and drop an item in your cart for us! CLICK HERE to take a peek at our Amazon wish list. (Whether you buy these items at Amazon or at other stores, this is what we need!)