BCC 2008 SUMMER SOFTBALL SUMMARY

 The BCC – Trinity Softball Team recently completed another season! We played well in many games but the final score was frequently not in our favor! This year’s highlight was our strong play and a big “W” before the many fans who came for the food and fellowship following our June 17^th game!

 We continue to be a combined team with players from both BCC and Trinity UCC! Trinity players include:  Connie and Mark Burbey, and Todd Ruehmer.  BCC members include:  Erik and Mark Wickstrom, Ryan and Eric Jung and Eric’s wife, Katie and Eric’s friend Pat;  Debbie, Jackie and Richard Oakes, Robin DeVillbiss, Heather Moore, Stephanie Sutton, Mike Wendricks, and Bonnie Ilhardt. In comparison to past years, we had a full compliment of players for every game. Thanks to all for showing up and playing with great skill and plenty of enthusiasm!  I know we can win more games next season!

 A special thanks to the Fellowship Board for your financial support and sponsoring a “tailgate” event! The food and fellowship were great and the team was thrilled to have cheering fans in the stands!

 Finally, thanks to BCC and Trinity family and friends who came to watch us play.  It’s great having fan support to cheer us on – win or lose!

 See you next year!

NEW MEMBERS

As we have heard from a number of people who are interested in joining the church, we will soon be setting up a membership class and date to receive members. Let us know if you are interested in joining our BCC family.

CALLING ALL MEN!  JOIN US FOR BREAKFAST!

The Men’s Breakfast gathers at Maxim's Restaurant on 180th and Capitol Drive in Brookfield at 8:00a.m. on the first Tuesday of each month, much to the pleasure of those who come. 

The gathering is hereby called Men’s Fellowship Breakfast because that’s the real purpose, just good fellowship. No duties, no responsibilities, just friendly conversation about any particular subject.

Don’t worry about there not being room for you. We usually have eight to twelve who come and Maxim’s holds up to 300. They offer a grand variety of breakfasts and most are around five dollars. (Buy nine and the tenth one is free.) If you ever forget what you usually like to order, amazing Kathy, our regular waitress will be happy to remind you. She has our orders completely memorized but is open to changes.

Join us on the first Tuesday of every month -- we would welcome the opportunity to get to know you better.

REFLECTIONS FROM THE 2008 WISCONSIN CONFERENCE UCC ANNUAL MEETING

 Last June Dale and Jan Kuntz attended the Friday session of the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ Annual Meeting in Green Lake, WI.  The conference was well attended and well planned.  The business meeting provided the necessary reports, budgets, motions and pending decision items to the attendees, along with encouraging words from our Conference minister, Rev. David Moyer, and words from representatives of several UCC sponsored organizations across Wisconsin and the US.  God is still speaking to those churches in the WI Conference and it is evident in their involvement in the various senior and assisted living facilities, the support in CUE (Chicago, United and Eden seminaries), Lakeland and Elmhurst Colleges, and the Council on Health and Human Service Ministries, just to mention a small few from the list of dozens. 

 The first session laid the foundation for the work to be done during the weekend.  An overview was given for signs of conflict, causes of conflict or anxiety, language to lessen the development of conflict and the various stages and strategies for resolving conflict.  Rev. Bob Williamson from the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center was the keynote facilitator for the conference.  Throughout the weekend his intentions were to present different strategies and provide scenarios for hands on practice toward resolution.  As wild weather reports disrupted some of the proceedings of the weekend, the attendees were able to enlist some of the newly learned strategies to lessen anxiety and conflict. 

 Our own administrative assistant, Sue Hrobar, was in attendance also.  She is a member of the Committee of the Arts for the WI Conference.  The women on this committee design, create and display the back drop for the speakers’ platform (among many other things) in the large conference hall.  Each year they successfully portray the theme of the conference in a gala display.  This year the back drop was composed of four panels. Each was approximately 9’ tall and 6’ wide.  Each portrayed a Bible passage dealing with conflict.  Each panel was a paper cutting.  One of the panels was the cover for our bulletin on June 15, 2008.  The conference is blessed to have such talented members on the Committee of the Arts.  Thanks, Sue, for your hard work.

2008 RUMMAGE SALE SUMMARY

The Rummage Sale Steering Team thanks all who worked to make the 2008 Rummage Sale a success! Through all of our efforts, we raised more than $4300.  We still have a few sale items pending but anticipate the net to the Mission Board will approach $3900 after expenses.  In addition to the funds raised, our donations supported the following charitable organizations:

·         Guest House, a shelter for homeless men in Milwaukee,

·         Cloth Book Project, a mission effort in Cambodia and Laos sponsored by Rev. Patricia Lyon of Bethany Calvary United Methodist Church,

·         Sponsors of infant blankets for African babies,

·         Friends of Brookfield Library, and

·         Salvation Army of Greater Milwaukee.

This year’s Rummage Sale was truly an inter-generational event!  So many of you took time from busy schedules to drop off clothing, books, dishes and other household items; donate food; transport furniture, or just showed up every day to help prepare for the sale days.    A special thanks to the youth who helped with set-up and Saturday clean-up. We needed your strength and are grateful for the hours you donated.  While both sale days were busy, volume was likely down from past years due to the city’s restriction on sign placement.

Thanks to the Fellowship Board for serving lunch on set-up Sunday. The food was welcome as was the opportunity to rest and enjoy the fellowship of others.  Food was not an organized event this year and yet healthy salads and tasty treats were present all week long. Rummage Sale week would not be complete without eating sloppy jo’s provided by the Garvens! Thanks for this tasty and welcome donation! 

This was the second year of not opening the basement for early storage of items.  We plan to continue this policy to prevent items from being damaged by dampness and to eliminate the church being the recipient of non-salable items.  In this same period, we have gone from needing two trucks to transport unsold items to the Salvation Army to filling less than one-half truck.

The Steering Team truly appreciates everyone’s hard work, your laughter, your spirit, and your fellowship!  Thanks again…all of BCC… for your help!  The 2009 Rummage Sale dates are tentatively set for next April.

2008 Rummage Sale Steering Team,

SCRIPTURE FOR WEEKLY FOCUS:

For the month of September:

September 7^th: Exodus 12:1-14;

Psalm 149; Ezekiel 33:7-11;

Psalm 119:33-40; Romans 13:8-14;

Matthew 18:15-20

September 14^th: Exodus 14:19-31;

Psalm 114; Genesis 50:15-21;

Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21; Psalm 103:1-13:

Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35

September 21^st: Exodus 16:2-15;

Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; Jonah 3:0-4:11;

Psalm 145:1-8; Philippians 1:21-30;

Matthew 20:1-16

September 28^th: Exodus 17:1-7;

Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Psalm 25:1-9;

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Philippians 2:1-13;

Matthew 21:23-32