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Annual Report for 2020

STATISTICAL ANNUAL REPORT – 2020 
All services officiated by Rev. Laurie Krooss 
Weddings: 
Kayla Joyce Phillips and Nathan William Clark, July 11, 2020, 4:00 PM.
The home  of Miner and Deb Clark, Bondville, Vermont 

Cherise Helen Madigan and George Walker Forbes, August 1, 2020, 6:00 PM.
The  home of David and Jeanie Forbes, Green Mountain Trail, Londonderry,  Vermont 

Mackenzie Carter Prasch and Christopher Fay Dryden, August 8, 2020, 5:30 PM. 
167 Windy Rise East, The home of Mary and Bill Kayhart, South Londonderry, Vermont 


Funerals/Memorial Services: 
Deanna May Quelch Alexander, Graveside service, May 9, 2020, 11:00 AM,
River Side Cemetery, Londonderry, Vermont 

Muriel Tiepke Baber, Graveside service, July 24, 2020, 10:00 AM,
Dellwood  Cemetery, Manchester, Vermont 

Wendy Gartner Rowland, Committal Service, September 19, 2020, 1:00 PM, 
Collins Cemetery, South Londonderry, Vermont 


Membership Additions: 
Dana Avison was moved from ‘inactive’ membership status to ‘active’. 
Membership Loss: 
By death 
Elfrieda H. Molinelli, September 7, 2020 
Ruth “Ruthie” Lucille Holton Rowley, November 6, 2020  


ACTIVE MEMBERS 96 
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 2 
TOTAL ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP 98 
INACTIVE MEMBERS 95  ➢ As of 12/31/20 

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MINISTER – 2020 
A year ago - who knew?  2020 began like most year’s…we celebrate the joyous Christmas season in the  church and move right into the Annual Meeting…and so it was, and all was well! Then BAM, it was not…as you know. On March 15th we had a hybrid service – 23  people were part of worship ‘on- line’ and 28 in person and then by March 22 we  were on-line only.  2020 is divided into two parts – pre-pandemic and the pandemic (mostly the  second one.) 

January – March 15  Church life as usual! We had worship in the Sanctuary! And coffee hour! And  Sunday School! And an Annual Meeting in person! (Remember that, the in-person  thing? Yes, I miss it very much too.)  

March 22-December 31, 2020 
Worship 
Church life very much NOT as usual. THANK YOU Jeff DiStasio and Bob Lenskold  for making it possible for us to worship via YouTube on-line (live stream) each  Sunday and also a ZOOM coffee hour after worship each Sunday. 2  Due to special circumstances Jack Connolly and Mike & Dale Malekoff would  come on Sundays to worship in the Sanctuary during the summer months.  After I returned from my time away in Aug-Sept. we returned to VERY limited in  person worship, a maximum of 12 people in the Sanctuary. However, this was for  a few weeks only from October 18th – November 15th. We returned to on-line only  worship on Sunday, Nov. 22 due to an increase in Covid cases in VT.  Laity Sunday (9/13) was especially terrific (I worshipped on-line in Maine!) A  highlight was the sermon shared by Confirmands Dylan Burrow and Grace  DiStasio. 

Faith life 
At the beginning of the Pandemic Paul Alcorn, who is a retired Presbyterian  Minister, offered to do some video reflections to share with the church. Paul and  his wife Shodie retired from Bedford Village, NY a couple of years ago and live in  Ludlow. Both are blessings to our church. The short video reflections were  comforting, inspiring and uplifting. They led to Holy Week reflections, a Pentecost  video and daily Advent devotionals which was TERRIFIC and then a lovely, lovely  Christmas Eve service. THANK YOU PAUL! 

Confirmation 
I met 3 times/month via Zoom with Grace and Dylan for Confirmation from May  to August and it was great. We read the Gospel of Luke together and spent lots of  time on Psalm 66 and Psalm 100. They WILL be confirmed in 2021! 

Pastoral Care 
Pastoral Care has been spotty at best during the pandemic. I have had a few  socially distanced visits and tried to touch base by phone.  

Events to note 
We hired a new Church Secretary in March, Betty Peters, who has been a  wonderful addition to our church staff. 3 

In May we hired a bookkeeper through the Lawrence Reed CPA firm in Chester  which has been a great help to our Church Treasurer. 


No Whale of a Sale this year although miraculously we still managed to realize  over $4,300 in income (THANK YOU Judy Brownell, Susie Cooley and Deb  Hazelton!) and thank you to all who donated items, STORED ITEMS IN THEIR  BARN! And those who came and shopped. 


The Trustees prepared a very thoughtful Covid appeal letter to which our church  family and friends responded in amazing fashion – a total of $13,350 was  received! 

No Christmas Bazaar either…and yet we still managed to realize over $1,500 in  income (THANK YOU Judy Brownell, Susie Cooley and Deb Hazelton!) and thank  you to all who bought the beautiful wreaths that were made! 

Also… 
In 2019 I was asked by the VT Conference of the UCC to be a ‘Clergy Coach.’ Our  church is considered a vital church. (Thanks be to God for that!) I am currently in  the second year of coaching a minister who is (relatively) new to VT and new to  small church and small-town ministry. This involves a phone call every month. 

The Neighbors Pantry has been distributing twice each month since April in a  drive thru manner. Helping to make this happen, along with the backpack  program, has been a huge part of my time and ministry in 2020. 
Two other commitments:
serve on a local social service board called ‘Just  Neighbors’ and am the secretary for the Cemetery Commission for the Town of  Londonderry. 


In 2021… 
Confirm Grace and Dylan (really). 

Continue to work with the Safety Committee, Deacons and Church Council on how  and when to worship in person.

Work with the Deacons on a more structured visiting/check in system with folks in  the church and community. 

Update the website 

Come up with something creative to do on-line for Lent (with Paul Alcorn’s help!)

Re-start Women’s Bible Study 


Gather with folks in our church interested in social justice conversations

Continue with Jeremiah Burrow’s ‘Way of Council’ gatherings 


Think about ways to engage folks who are new to the church and only part of us  ‘virtually’ – how to engage? 

Sunday school and kids… Activities? Ideas? Engagement? 

Hear these words from the Prophet Isaiah: “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now  it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” 

May God be with us in all the new that God will do and may we seek always to be  faithful in responding to God’s call!  

​Respectfully submitted,   Laurie Krooss 


ANNUAL REPORT BOARD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION - 2020 
Christian Education conducted online Sunday school classes for 8 weeks  during the COVID19 pandemic, via Zoom. We began in March 2020 and wrapped  up in May 2020. The number of participants ranged anywhere from 3 students to  13 students, and we had lots of fun as well as an active dialogue.  After taking a break for the summer months, we surveyed parents to see if  they wanted us to resume online Sunday school in the fall. The general consensus  was that parents were already facing challenges with regular school classes being  5  conducted online, and that they’d like to give their children a break from the  computer screens on the weekend. So, Sunday school remained on hiatus  throughout the autumn. When in-person worship resumes for the church overall,  we will make efforts to resume Sunday school at that time.  We’d like to extend a heartfelt “Thank You” to Stephen Lyon for his years of  participation in Christian education for our young people and wish he and his wife  Beda the best in their new home in Colorado. His dedication and enthusiasm for  teaching Sunday school will be missed!  Respectfully submitted,  Birgit Sutter-Davis for the Board of Christian Education  Dylan Burrow  Jack Lincks  Donna Madison 

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF DEACONS -2020 
The Deacons this year have included, Val Austin, Judy Brownell, Susie  Cooley, Joel Kuhlberg, Hal Nelson, and Betsey Lenskold, chairperson. Our  meetings have been through conference calls which seem to have been working  out fairly well. Val, Joel, and Hal will be leaving at the end of the term. Betsey left in mid-November and Susie Cooley will fill in as chairperson.  This has been a most interesting year trying to work out new ways to  function for both worship and outreach to our members. I would like to thank our  board for their adaptability and creativity. I also wish to especially thank Paul  Alcorn who helped make the Lenten period- which was quite stressful to us all have some special meaning to keep us focused. His many devotions were a  wonderful addition to our worship experience.  Paul also has been a fantastic contributor to our on-line worship  experiences. The Advent devotions were so very meaningful. The pre-recorded  6  Christmas Eve service was an especially worshipful time-especially for those of us  who had moved away from our beloved church family. MANY, MANY THANKS  PAUL!!!  As far as outreach, a list of shut-ins and folks living alone was given to each  deacon who was asked to reach out with phone calls and/or cards and emails. We  have made arrangements for “non techies” to receive hard copies of Laurie’s  sermons.  As far as worship, we tried to maintain some of our beloved traditions.  Before Covid 19 “struck” we were able to have our lovely Ash Wednesday service;  some of the readings for the stations had been rewritten and updated. Laurie  continued to present the symbols on our Lenten banner. There were no palms  available this year. Neither were we able to distribute Spring flowers as they were  not available and there was great hesitation in going to visit folks, which is an  important part of that ministry. Laurie offered a lovely Tenebrae service via YouTube. We were able to have our carnation cross out in front of the church and  got great comments from the community about it. No Sunrise service was held.  We discussed various modes of having our worship services and feel that  having the YouTube invitation which Laurie sends out, allows us to still have  privacy about our prayer concerns. Folks have been asked to send prayer  requests to Laurie prior to the service. Laurie is offering a “virtual communion”  with each of us providing our own elements at home.   We had planned on trying to have an outdoor service in our parking lot, but  the weather did not cooperate. We were just beginning to offer in-person  worship to a few folks at a time when the Covid 19 virus infection rates increased  so we went back to the on line only worship.   During Laurie’s well-earned and much deserved sabbatication, (a few  weeks in August and September) Susie Cooley and Betsey Lenskold shared the  welcoming of our guest pastors, all of whom were quite open to our worship  format. Ministers who were welcomed included Bruce Lee Clark, CJ King, Gil  Healy, and Paul Alcorn. Laity Sunday was able to be continued. A few of the  7  deacons shared the various parts of the service and we were especially delighted  to have our confirmands Grace DiStasio and Dylan Burrow share the reading of  the scripture and giving of the message.  Plans for the Thanksgiving service and Christmas Eve services required  more creativity. We tried a joint zoom Thanksgiving service with the Baptist  Church; Poinsettias were delivered as usual; Becky held a zoom carol sing; The  Christmas Eve service was pre-recorded with wonderful congregational  participation.   Things discussed and postponed due to the Pandemic:  -All church gathering  -A commissioning of Deacons- Having Deacons wear name tags in order to  identify them as “welcomers” for new-comers.  -Going with Laurie on pastoral visits  -Appearance by Village harmony  -Pulpit exchange  In conclusion, I hope that the Board of Deacons were able to make their presence  felt by reaching out to the members of the congregation with increased phone  calls, emails, and occasional snail mail contact.   Betsey Lenskold, chair (retired) 

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES - 2020
A Year That Will Not Be Forgotten!  
The year started out with the usual Trustee concerns of managing the  accepted budget (once again the church members came through with a  8  wonderful 2020 Stewardship Campaign), keeping the church clean, the boundary  line and some personnel concerns. Gil Healy joined the Trustees and at our initial  meeting, we were all reminded of our duties, by Laurie through the By-Laws.  March saw the Pandemic hit and things changed; our meetings went to  Zoom and we still faced the same concerns that we started the year with, only a  different approach was necessary. As was noted in our minutes, it continues to  amaze us all as to how Pastor Laurie keeps all those balls in the air and the church  continues to do so very much for its members and the community.  The Gardens looked especially beautiful this Spring and Summer Thanks to  Mark Wright and his Rugg Valley Nursery crew along with the church’s Garden  Committee. Thank you all.  After hard work by our dedicated Pastor, and search Committee of Bill  Cooley, Martha Dale and Skip Raymond, we now have a wonderful church  Secretary in Betty Peters. There was little progress in finding a church Treasurer;  however, we did hire an accounting firm from Chester and this gave Liza Dee  some relief. Thanks so much to Liza for sticking with us for the entire year and we  will have a church Treasurer after the 1st quarter, 2021.  We now have a new Sound System for the church. Thanks goes to Bob  Lenskold for being the driving force and getting this accomplished and to the  Thrifty Attic for providing the funds. Also, we expanded our video capability in the  church thanks to Bob Lenskold and Jeff DiStasio and our Virtual Sunday Services  have been just amazing.  Boundary Line: We have filed a Motion for Summary Judgement and await  the ruling from the court on this. It has been a long year with this case and  hopefully the judge will rule in the church’s favor and we can move on with the  designated boundary line that has been contested for over 3 years.  A Safety Committee was formed and has been very active keeping up with  all the Covid -19 regulations and making sure the church is always in compliance. 9  Our Project List continues to guide the actions to keep our properties in  good repair and functioning. We did some major work on the Peck House,  installed a propane heating system in the Parsonage and kept up with keeping the  church sanitized, clean and in good repair along with the parking lot drainage that  was open to the street.  The year ended on a high note with an amazing 2021 Stewardship  Campaign that produced over $111,000 and this enabled us to put forth a budget  that was in balance, although we sadly had to hold the line on salaries.  The Board of Trustees changes its make-up for the coming year as Stephen  Lyon, moves to Colorado, Bob Lenskold, moves to New Hampshire, Mike  Malekoff’s term ends as does mine. I personally want to THANK all of the Trustees  for their hard work over this past year and for those moving on for all their  dedication and willingness to “Step Up” when the need was there. It has been  challenging, frustrating at times, however FUN to serve as Chair of this wonderful  group of Christian people.  Respectfully Submitted,  Skip Raymond, Chair, for the Board of Trustees  Ron Bacon  Gil Healy  Bob Lenskold  Stephen Lyon  Mike Malekoff  Kathy Pellett  ANNUAL

REPORT OF THE MISSION COMMITTEE - 2020 

Guided by God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the Mission Committee of  the Second Congregational Church, pursuant to the church's by-laws, in 2020  provided funding to programs and people in need internationally, nationally and  10  locally. Members of the committee: Jeanne Zammataro, Heidi Root, Beda Lyon  (part of year), Penny Bobar, Paul Alcorn (part of year) and Laurie Krooss (ex  officio).  During the pre-pandemic, January 2020 Annual Meeting, the congregation  approved the largest budget ever for the committee; and prior to mid-March,  friends and members of the congregation supplemented the budget through the  mission envelopes in the pews. Fortunately, through the generosity of members  and friends, the committee was able to fully allocate its budget. However, the  committee decided to not hold the annual Lenten Change Challenge until worship  could resume in the sanctuary; little did we realize how long that would be. As  described below, the pandemic affected the operations or increased the needs of  various organizations, yet regular needs continued. The committee responded to  organizations in both situations.  In addition to supporting Amber and Dea Burrow's pre-pandemic mission  trip to Kenya with the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Youth Group, the committee  funded the following organizations in 2020:  Camp Agape is a camp for Vermont children seven to seventeen having one  or both parents who have been or are under the supervision of the Department of  Corrections. Camp Agape holds its camp at Bethany Birches in Plymouth, VT, and  is sponsored by the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church and the  Episcopal Church. Responding to the pandemic, Camp Agape had one session  for campers 11-17, as campers that age were expected to handle COVID 19  protocols better than younger campers. Bethany Birches is a perfect location for  a camp observing these protocols, because all meals are cooked and eaten  outdoors around a campfire, the cabins are well ventilated and only have a few  campers each, and rainy day activities happen in an unenclosed pavilion.  www.campagapevermont.org   Dismas House is a transitional home in Rutland, VT for furloughed inmates,  who are still under the supervision of the Department of Corrections, that seeks  to reconcile such individuals to society and society to such individuals. In past  years, the committee's contributions funded dinners cooked and shared by  11  various members and friends of the congregation with Dismas House residents  and staff. In mid-March, Dismas House suspended its volunteer programs, so the  committee's funds were dedicated to providing Dismas House with the cost of  one dinner a month. https://dismasofvt.org/rutland-dismas/  After the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ canceled its  April, 2020 Annual Meeting at Lake Morey Resort, the committee contributed to  the Fund for Lake Morey Resort's Hourly Workers which was set up to help  mitigate the economic hardship resulting from the resort's hourly workers loss of  income from the pandemic.  Windham County Safe Place is a child advocacy center affiliated with  Vermont Children's Alliance which provides assistance for families who  experience domestic abuse of children. www.vtchildrensalliance.org  The committee contributed to the challenge grant for Our Neighbor's  Pantry as the Pantry responded to food insecurity resulting from the economic  dislocation of the pandemic by holding bi-monthly distributions and increasing  the scope of the backpack program.  Kenya Dryland Education Fund, headquartered in Manchester, VT, focuses  on educating girls in Northern Kenya, including necessary financial aid to students  and infrastructure resources for schools. https://kdef.org/  The committee contributed to the UCC offering for One Great Hour of  Sharing. The UCC utilizes the One Great Hour of Sharing offerings from its local  congregations to respond to worldwide emergencies, chronic poverty, and  violence, including in the United States. Examples include; restoration of water  and sanitation infrastructure, education of girls and trafficking victims, and  restoration of homes destroyed by hurricanes.  Simply Smiles works with impoverished children and their families and  communities in Oaxaca, Mexico and at the Cheyenne River Reservation in South  Dakota. As many Lakota children need foster care, Simply Smiles is in the midst of  creating a Children's Village on the reservation to provide homes, schools and  other services for these children. The committee's contribution went to  12  construction costs; operating cost will be covered by the state of South Dakota.  https://www.simplysmiles.org/crst-childrens-village.  Doctors Without Borders (https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org) provides medical aid where it is needed on an independent, neutral and impartial  basis. Partners in Health (https://www.pih.org) collaborates with national  governments to provide care and strengthen public health systems in areas  including cancer and chronic disease, child health, emergency response,  HIV/AIDS, maternal health, mental health, and tuberculosis. The committee's  contributions were dedicated to the COVID 19 medical efforts by each  organization.  The Pan American Development Foundation is dedicated to serving  vulnerable people in Latin America and the Caribbean through sustainable  community development. Our contribution went for water and infrastructure  needs in response to the 2019 hurricane. padf.org  The committee contributed to the United Church of Christ Disaster Relief  Fund which maintains local partnerships around the world through which the UCC  provides both immediate disaster assistance and long term disaster recovery  assistance, including in the United States.  The committee also contributed to the International Rescue Committee  (www.rescue.org), which provides refugee assistance worldwide, especially  important during a pandemic, and to Church World Services  (https://cwskits.org/) clean-up bucket program, which provides immediate  assistance of cleaning supplies for individuals affected by natural disasters.  Normally, the CWS model is to have local churches put together clean-up buckets.  However, given Covid 19 safety precautions, CWS is currently requesting  monetary contributions.  If you would like more information on any of the organizations the  committee supported, please use the link, where provided. If you have any  questions or would like to recommend an organization for the committee's  support, please contact Pastor Laurie Krooss (lkrooss@yahoo.com)  13  Respectfully submitted,  Jeanne Zammataro, Chair 

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MUSIC COMMITTEE - 2020 
Music lifts us spiritually: we sing hymns of praise, hope, remembrance and  thanks. We recognize messages from the Bible in so many of our hymns and  songs.   Familiar music will often bring us a feeling of peace, a source of solace.  Music may inspire.  Music is very good for one’s health.  Since March 2020 here at the Second Congregational Church our Sunday  worship services come to our homes via YouTube. During that precious time  together we hear wonderful music and we can sing too!   Though the congregation cannot sing together in the sanctuary we’ve been  most fortunate to have the continued and passionate leadership of Becky Graber  who has introduced us to new ways to share music and has encouraged us to  participate during Sunday services and beyond.  We’ve also heard hymns and music brought to us by individual church folks:  Val Austin, Jeff DiStasio and Betsey Lenskold.  The sanctuary piano has had its tuning. And to add, our marvelous digital  Rodgers organ has on occasion been “operated” by a church member to bring  music to our Sunday service... always on cue and in key!   Becky and Laurie brought the joy of a virtual “carol singing gathering” via  Zoom to our homes. Where, after a warm hello, we sang loud and clear with  Becky leading just as if we were out caroling about the neighborhood.   And, without doubt, the entire ‘Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and  Carol’s was sheer delight!  The Burrow family sang, “O Come, All Ye Faithful”.  The DiStasio family sang, “Angels We Have Heard on High”, with Grace DiStasio  accompanying her family on the piano. 14  Val Austin and Jeff DiStasio sang “O Holy Night”.  Beda Lyon sang ‘Silent Night’.  Becky sang and played.   Sebastien Dostal played the piano for us as well.  The church Sanctuary was very festive with the familiar Nativity banners,  beautiful in their simplicity - a lovely Christmas tree and poinsettia display - gentle  candlelight too.  I add this to the music report because as we sang/ listened to the  wonderful Christmas music and message from our home, it felt as if we were  inside the serene setting of church. A joyous Christmas Eve indeed!   Now we look ahead to the day when we can celebrate together within the  sanctuary. Becky playing the organ or piano, and from the choir loft, the choir  leading us with their voices, the congregation, hymn book in hand, joining  in. And perhaps one day even a soloist or guest musician ...  But I close this report knowing that for time being Sunday worship and  music will still come into our homes via YouTube.   A huge thank you to those who devote time and technical talent to make  our Sunday services possible.   Respectfully submitted,   Helen Savio for the Music Committee  Valena Austin  Amber Burrow  Becky Graber  Patty Pettit 

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NEIGHBORS PANTRY -2020 15  16 17
​To be added...


ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE - 2020 
As the 2021 Stewardship Campaign closed, the annual Stewardship effort  has to be judged an amazing success. Over $111,864.00 in Estimates of Giving  have been received along with over $5336 committed to support OCWM. In  addition, over $4300 one-time cash gifts arrived in Estimates of Giving envelopes.  18  In this year of the pandemic with so much in turmoil and with many of our  community really in need of help as never before, it is gratifying that so very many  have extended themselves in generous ways.   Along with initiatives to enhance the backpack program and double up on  the Pantry distributions, our small Vermont Church has never been so generous.  Each pledge or actual gift of cash contributed to a wonderful, record setting,  Stewardship effort. Every call for additional outreach or program throughout the  year has exceeded its goal every time.   We are collectively and quietly doing what Christians are called to do.  Beyond money, everyone contributes as best that they are able, so generously  with time and talent to enable our small Vermont Church to make a difference in  our community. As a community of faith we try to be faithful Christians both by  our actions and our thoughts.   The Stewardship Committee articulated the need and people responded.  We, the Committee, are profoundly thankful.   Respectfully submitted,  Dick Dale, Chair  The Stewardship Committee: David Davis, Bill Elio, Guerrino Savio, Laurie Krooss  (ex officio) 

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SAFETY COMMITTEE - 2020 
Once upon a time within a small church congregation fairly close by, there  was a committee of stalwart folk in charge of protecting the people and their  worship space as they gathered on Sundays. Originally known as the Emergency  Preparedness Committee, it consisted of Stephen Lyon, Birgit Sutter-Davis and  Laurie Krooss. This group dealt with issues such as fire safety, proper signage,  19  building egress as well as others and had made many enhancements for the  safety and comfort of the beloved community.  Early in the year 2020 the name of this group was changed to the Safety  Committee. The new name was shorter, clearer of purpose and as it turned out,  somewhat prophetic….For in the land there arose a virus. Many places went into  lockdowns and congregate worship was suspended for a time in hopes of  suppressing the contagion. Thankfully, technology operated by loving members of  the congregation such as Jeff DiStasio, Bob Lenskold, Paul Alcorn and others  allowed worship and meeting to continue unabated. In addition, Jeff DiStasio  became a member of the Safety Committee in mid-March.  Happily, the lockdowns and other public health measures from the CDC and  the state produced a reduction in illness and in May, the church council gave the  Safety Committee oversight of a possible re-opening of the building to in-person  worship. Val Austin joined the committee around this time as a representative of  the Board of Deacons. Sadly for us, Stephen Lyon and his beloved Beda moved to  Colorado depriving the group of his wise counsel. Joyfully, Kathy Pellet came onto  the committee representing the Board of Trustees...Wisdom regained.  Now complete, the committee began its work of balancing the continuing  need for social distancing, masks and cleaning protocols against the longing of the  congregants to be together in worship and work.   Always, always, the safety and health of the congregation remained the  paramount concern. Re-opening began very cautiously and slowly during the  summer with frequent meetings to discuss CDC and state guidelines as they could  be applied to a weekly gathering. The guidelines were strictly observed and a  close eye was kept on case numbers. The people tentatively rejoiced and dared to  hope they might once again worship together in their lovely building, but it was  not to be. Once again, the spiky nemesis Covid 19 stalked the countryside.. As  summer waned, the committee was forced to again suspend in -person  gathering...and so to this very day worship and much work of the church carries  on in virtual space.  BUT! The people rejoice in their worship and in each other because God's  love cannot be stilled… and they will LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!! Respectfully submitted by, 20  Val Austin on behalf of the Safety Committee   Birgit Sutter-Davis  Jeff DiStasio  Kathy Pellett 

HILDA DAVIS SCHOLARSHIP ANNUAL REPORT – 2020 
The Hilda Davis Scholarship was awarded in June 2020 to Mieke Hance,  who lives in Chester, Vermont, and is a graduate of Green Mountain High School.  In addition to being an accomplished musician, and active member of the  Ludlow Baptist Church, Mieke is an Emergency Medical Technician for the Chester  Rescue Squad. She is now a student at Pensacola Christian College in Florida, and  plans on her studies leading to a career in medicine.  Thank you to all on the Hilda Davis Scholarship Committee, who continue to  bring this outreach to young people throughout our Christian community: Kathy  Pellett, Beda Lyon, Judy Brownell, Skip Raymond, Laurie Krooss, David Davis and  Birgit Sutter-Davis.  Respectfully submitted,  Birgit Sutter-Davis  On behalf of the Hilda Davis Scholarship Committee

tel (802) 824-6453   |   PO Box 77  |  2051 North Main Street   |   Londonderry, Vermont 05148

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