You Are Welcome Here…


Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ
131 Middle Road, Sayville, NY, 11782

Sunday Worship, Bulletins, eChimes, Announcements and Videos:
Livestream – YouTube Channel

A Time for Passage
Pastor Ray’s Retirement Sunday
January 28, 2024
Today’s Bulletin


Office Hours – by Appointment; eMail Office (631-589-1519)
Office Hours – M-F 9AM – 4PM
The Latest eChimes and Archives: chimes.org

Prayer Requests: eMail
eChimes: Submit Announcements: eMail


Celebration of the Life of Robert Pierce
Watch Broadcast Saturday, January 13, 2024 10:30 A.M.

Bulletin Collection of Stories


Baptism of
Rome Luca Minerbo
January 7, 2024


Roxanne Sally York & Joseph Daniel Sferra
Wedding Celebration
Saturday, January 6, 2024
4:00 P.M.


Sylvia Ann Harenberg
Please use the link to view:
Celebration of Life

Saturday, January 6, 2024
10:30 A.M.


2023 Annual Report (Updated on December 19, 2023)
Includes 2023 Budget and 2024 Approved Budget

Our Church Constitution


Our Church Covenant
Written by the Congregation in 1976

In response to God’s love, we covenant with each other…
to be faithful to the demands and inspiration of the eternal spirit,
evealed in the event of Jesus Christ; to accept and respect each other 
with love and concern in our worship and witness;
to reach out with the courage  of our convictions
in the cause of justice, liberation, and equality for all.
In this, we covenant to keep the  ultimate promise:
“I care, I am with you.”


2024 Sunday School Schedule

2024 – Stewardship & Pledge Letter



The 32nd Victorian Tea is Done!

Bulletins, Videos, and More…

Thank you to the amazing “Tea Team”, our congregation, and all who attended and supported this major event and gathering! Well done to all. If you weren’t able to make it this year, we welcome you contributions for this important ministry in the life of our congregation. Want to buy chances? Stop by on Sunday for worship at 10 and one last hour of chances before the drawing! You can donate online here or send us your gift.

Again, thank you all for your prayer and support and especially to our Committee who is absolutely amazing!


Robert Pierce Memorial and Celebration of Life
will be Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 10:30 A.M. at
Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ
Robert’s Obituary


Our Gun Safety Legislation Committee leads a signature mission of Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ. This last week, as gun violence roared in Maine and through our country, our front lawn of crosses and Stars of David stared down on everyone who passed with the question: “When?!” When will “Enough be Enough”, as our added signs say. And until we break through the last bit of resistance to change, we have to keep at this; in every way we can; with every action; large or small; and – yes – with every prayer for compassion for the growing and already enormous community of victims of gun violence and for inspiration for the actions that we can take. We must stay awake, focused and we now ask for your participation:


Time to Act & Here’s How:      www.giffords.org/comment
“The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is currently seeking public comments on proposed changes to regulations that govern gun sellers. The proposed changes aim to close what has become known as the “gun show loophole”. Federally licensed firearms dealers are required to conduct background checks on their potential customers and keep records of all transactions. However, many people who sell guns through online classified ads, at gun shows and through word of mouth claim to be hobbyists or collectors are not required to be licensed and therefore do not perform background checks. 
 
“The new rules would clarify the circumstances in which a person is “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms and thus required to obtain a license and run background checks. They are meant to implement the changes outlined in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed by President Biden in June 2022 and was the nation’s most significant gun-control legislation in 30 years. 
 
“The Gun Legislation Committee strongly supports the proposed changes to the regulations and believe they will go a long way to increasing background checks. We would like your voice heard on this issue. Please go to www.giffords.org/comment or click on the image and follow the instructions there to submit your comment to the “ATF”.

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Saturday, August 12, 2023

Dear Friends,

I am writing to share some news with you. At today’s Leadership Board Meeting of Deacon Elders and Trustees, I expressed my intention to retire on February 1, 2024 after seven years as pastor at Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ.

There will be much to share in the days ahead as we move toward the next leadership for this congregation, however – I wanted you to hear this from me. And I want you to know what an enormous privilege of a gracious God it has been to serve here as your pastor.

I have no plans, other than to return to White Plains and to be still for a while. (We’ll see how that works out!) It is a time in my life where, again, I place myself in God’s hands, trusting in the call that has led me here and is calling me now, as God has before.

In our library, a letter hangs with a picture of John A. Peter, Jr. our minister from 1990-1993. I have read his letter to the congregation often and felt close to him, even though I only knew him through so many of you. In part the letter that he composed as he prepared for the next phase in his life, reads as follows:

“In today’s world, people move more than they used to move. This fact poses a considerable challenge to community life, because communities need some people to stay put, at least physically, to tell the newer members what happened before, and why it worked or didn’t, or where we keep the garbage bags and who to talk to when you can’t find the costumes. But communities also need change.”

Yes. We also need change to embrace the vibrant Spirit as it stirs us (often in challenging ways) to new dimensions in our congregational and personal lives. Changes small and as big as this are hard and messy and exciting and emotional and… much more. Still, without change, I would not have been here and served the longest of any role in my life as an ordained minister. What a gift to have been with you for more than 10% of my life! (To date, that is!:)) And what a privilege it will be for you to share your lives and this congregation with who it is that is on their way here to you!

I look forward to these next months together and the next thing God will be doing for us all, as we share this time, as we always have, with one another.

More to come,

With love,
Ray

Updated July 11, 2023

www.echimes.org

July 11, 2023 – eChimes Newsletter

Dear Friends,

When we were in the thick of the effort in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to make the church’s constitution fully welcoming and inclusive, I often wondered how people who knew so little about what it was to be gay — seemed to know so much about me. Those who were allies “knew that they really didn’t know” what it was to be queer. What they knew was that the treatment we were experiencing was wrong. And they stood with and for us, as this congregation has always done.

But, those who blindly oppose – those folks are different. They seem to believe they know everything about us. So much so that they feel empowered to label us, vilify us, condemn us, create laws to punish us, usurp our parental and guardianship rights and mobilize fear and harm against us. All this for one reason only — to ensure their power and our subjugation.

There are genuine disagreements people have based on many things. I am not really writing about that here. I am writing about people who “oppose” others with falsehoods and the abuse of their authority to weaponize fear and achieve their supremacy. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to tease apart the “questioning, ‘opposing’ and fear”. Anti-trans groups know that and will use the confusion to their advantage and to the disadvantage of our trans families and friends.

In our congregation and others, we keep the light on the beauty and rights of all God’s creation. For those of us who are Trans/Queer – we know the hatred in very real ways; we know the very real dangers. Every day. That’s why the love and activism of allies is so important. When someone or some government seeks to divide groups of people – it is only for one reason: to move them under the government’s control or to marginalize them out of existence. And it is the love and resistance of others who refuse to let that happen – that makes the difference.

I ask that each of us continue to support our Trans Community by staying informed, following the legislative efforts that are a “last gasp” of those who realize their hatred will not last, and contribute to those whose lives and organizations are dedicated to making sure that none of us are forced back into the closet based on fear and real threats to our very being.

“Trans Rights are Human Rights”, which means they are all humans’ rights. Any diminishment of such rights diminishes us all in ways that are antithetical to the love of God we are called to embody and share.

Thank you for your love of God, in all the ways you know God, and for your unconditional expression of that love and your support for all those who need to know they are not alone or forgotten.

Especially that person you are about to call…

As a Trans Ally and With Love,

Ray (he, him, his)


Independence Day, July 4, 2023www.echimes.org

“Here I Am. Send Me.” Echoes of those willing to give their all for freedom, independence. For the right to be who God created us to be.

“Independence Day! Free at last!”, the revelers likely shouted, on that day of signing the Declaration of Independence, some 12+ generations ago. Did they understand? From that day forward we would be responsible for ourselves. What would that mean? Independent, responsible, caring for one another in ways that history barely records elsewhere. The United States of America, the “Beacon on the Hill”. We, now the The Lamp” that would later be illuminated in the words of Emma Lazarus:

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Shared struggles create powerful bonds. Finally able to “breathe” when the knees of oppression are forced off our souls – we want that for everyone. We become grateful, generous, inclusive, compassionate, loving.

Maybe, maybe it’s that simple. Perhaps the foundational idea that stirs all other ideas is that we should be free to breathe, bringing oxygen and light to our bodies and spirit in the ways God has created us to be–and being with one another in such magnificently radiant prisms of light. Holding such a lamp together. Showing the way with a clear and reliable beacon of love.

If one were to start a nation with that in mind, wanting to get that message across to all who would hear, it very well might begin with these opening words of the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [human beings] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

And closing with this statement from the same document:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Twelve+ generations from its signing, our advances have been profound, in spite of those who see freedom as a “power of separation” from one another; a competition — for reasons that really have no reason.

“Hosanna” was not a stadium cheer for a winning independence team, but the Hebrew word for “Please help us”, cried out to Jesus over 100 generations ago, as he set his face to Jerusalem. “Help us, we, the huddled masses yearning to be free…”

On this Day of Independence and Remembrance…

May we hear the “Hosannas”;

May we lift our determined spirits in answer to the cries;

May we celebrate our legacy and participation in freedom for all, bringing our light, our soulfulness, our “spark of the Divine” to one another and the world;

May we console as we are sickened again by another mass shooting, fortified by incomprehensible ideologies that freely comingle independence with violence and oppression.

And in response to the “Hosannas” we hear, let us speak another Hebrew word in prayer: “Hineni” – “Here I am. Send Me.” And may we follow…

Friends, may the joy of our shared spirits and faith that sees the light in one another, even through the most challenging of times…be with you – and those you will call today, to wish them your love.

Yes, Happy Fourth of July, as our freedom from all that oppresses others and the independent spirit to stand for those in need continues…into this: our generation.

With love,
Ray

Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ
www.sayvilleucc.org


If you would like to help prepare baked goods for this sale, pleas contact Sue L. or Ray!



You are Invited!

If you are tired of feeling heartbroken,
frustrated, and powerless at the report
of yet another mass shooting;
if you believe in the sanctity of life
and that we are here to care for one another;
if you believe we must do something –
we invite you to join us.


Our Mission Statement:
Our faith calls us to speak out against gun violence, ban assault weapons and protect our children. We advocate for Federal Legislation that will require mandatory background checks, red-flag laws, a 30 day waiting period and secure gun storage.

To find out how you can help or for further inquiries please contact the church office at 631-589-1519 or email us at faithinaction@sayvilleucc.org

Official Press Release:

SAYVILLE CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
STRONG GUN LAWS SAVE LIVES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
SAYVILLE, NY, June 1, 2023 

‘They were out shopping.’ So began our pastor’s message on Sunday morning, May 7, 2023. He was referring to the victims of the latest mass shooting that had occurred the day before. This time at an outlet center in Allen, Texas. People going about their everyday lives. Another day, another town – another shooting. Nine lives brought to an abrupt end, the youngest a three-year-old boy, nine families left to grieve and feel the emptiness of their loved one’s absence. All at the hands of an extremist with an assault rifle. 
 
How do we respond to another round of senseless violence? How do we resist the numbing of our hearts and minds that can result from the sheer impact of so many mass shootings? What can be done? Today the Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ released the following statement:
 
Our faith calls us to speak out against gun violence, ban assault weapons and protect our children. We advocate for Federal legislation that will require mandatory background checks, red flag laws, a 30-day waiting period and secure gun storage.’
 
Statement of Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ
 
The congregation has placed a combination of 120 wooden crosses and Stars of David on the front lawn of the church, along with a sign stating: ‘GUNS KILL 120 PEOPLE EVERY DAY IN THE USA’. A banner has also been hung across the front of the church stating our strong belief that: ‘STRONG GUN LAWS SAVE LIVES’. In addition, the church will be participating in National Gun Violence Day activities the weekend of June 2 and is committed to long range goals and activities to bring an end to the scourge of gun violence. 
 
The epidemic of gun violence in our nation affects all Americans. It is not a partisan issue. We believe that within the extreme positions on the margins of the gun control debate, there is room for concerned people to come together to enact reasonable, common sense gun laws. Laws that can help our children, loved ones and neighbors stay safe in our schools, places of worship and communities. 
 
If you are tired of feeling heartbroken, frustrated, and powerless at the report of yet another mass shooting; if you believe in the sanctity of life and that we are here to care for one another; if you believe we must do something – we invite you to join us.
 
To find out how you can help or for further inquiries please contact the church office.
Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ, 131 Middle Road, Sayville, NY 11782
www.sayvilleucc.org
 
Ray Bagnuolo, Pastor, Contact: 631-589-1519

Why Wear Orange?

WHY ORANGE:  On January 21, 2015 Hadiya Pendleton marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. One week later Hadiya was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago. Hadiya’s childhood friends decided to commemorate her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves from others.

“Wear Orange” began on June 2, 2015 what would have been Hadiya’s 18th birthday. Since then, “Wear Orange” has expanded to a period of three days each year. National Gun Violence Awareness Day (the first Friday in June) and Wear Orange Weekend (the accompanying weekend). 

Orange has become the defining color of the gun violence prevention movement

Visit us at www.sayvilleucc.org


PRESS RELEASE: A Call to National Sanity

Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ
El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio
A Call to National Sanity

[SAYVILLE, NY, AUGUST 7, 2019] Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ refuses to accept that we are powerless in the face of continued violence and insanity with regard to weapons and accessories intended for war now regularly used against our families, friends, neighbors, communities and nation. For years, this congregation has continued to speak out and take public action against the sales of these weapons and the violence they cause. 

As a congregation, we resist the numbing of our minds and hearts that results from the sheer impact of so many mass shootings. We speak out as a community of faith, believing in the love, respect and dignity we have been given to share with one another. We will continue to expose the slow conflation of murder and death in our nation, robbing us of the sacred natural passage associated with human life and replacing it with fear and mistrust of the other. We will not cower nor be forced into isolation or reactionary/transactional responses that diminish our lives together and our role in caring for one another.

Our congregation has again placed wooden crosses on our lawn to bring attention to the lives most recently lost in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. Further, we believe there is no faith tradition, no concept of God or belief systems that call any us to lift weapons against one another in the ways we have witnessed too many times.

Therefore, we call for the full and complete ban of weapons of war and their accessories until the underlying conditions that cause these senseless murders across our country have been resolved.

We ask for continued prayers to encourage, strengthen and inspire our nation in ways that end the insanity of gun violence in our communities.

We pray more for all those who awaken absent their loved ones because of the delay in ending this insanity.

Two Minute Video Available at: www.acalltonationalsanity.com


Black Lives Matter – Sayville, June 7, 2020
https://youtu.be/UewUD8Nxv6M

A short video from June 7 Black Lives Matter March in Sayville, NY
An estimated 4,000 people protested and marched

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SAYVILLE CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHUCH OF CHRIST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 29, 2019

Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ
“Respect for All”

[SAYVILLE, NY, JULY 29, 2019] Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ will post banners on its church property encouraging “Respect for All” as part of the Church’s covenant and commitment to justice and liberty for all. The banners will feature the four congresswomen of color recently called out by the President of the United States as being un-American.

In extensive conversations about expressing our voice in a manner that fosters conversation rather than confrontation, church members sought to highlight basic values that have widespread appeal and have frequently been lost in our national discourse. Respect is one of those values, fundamental in our interpersonal relationships in a complex society, as well as deeply rooted in our Christian faith tradition (as well as that of many other faith traditions).

In our congregation, we believe in the practice of “welcoming the stranger; extending hospitality whenever possible; welcoming all and loving God and one another.” All that to say, we have respect for each other and our shared humanity, created by God in all the ways God may be known.

Like most others, we share disagreements with every politician, whether those seeking office or current office holders. As a congregation, we side with no particular politician and believe deeply that our nation’s policies must be based on respect and valuing others for who they are, regardless where they come from – or what they may believe.

God calls us to love one another and we believe that begins with having respect for each other, especially those with whom we may have the greatest disagreements. Our shared faiths can model the way forward when all other paths seem filled with obstacles.

We are created to be who God has made us to be, one. We resist attempts to make us behave or respond in kind to what we see as discouraging, divisive and dangerous, in all the ways that may be true.

We believe that God is still speaking in our world; that with respect and an openness to hear one another we can find common ground to love and serve those who need us most and teach our children well.

For more information please contact Ray Bagnuolo (church pastor) at 631-827-8611 or email ray@sayvilleucc.org. Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ is and Open and Affirming Congregation located at 131 Middle Road, Sayville, NY 11782. For more information visit our webpage at www.sayvilleucc.orgor www.facebook.co/sayvilleucc


New Members Joining Our Congregation on January 29, 2023

Congratulations Matthew!
Confirmation Sunday, Sunday, February 5th


The Annual Meeting of Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ
Sunday, December 11, 2022 at 11:15 AM
In-person and Online at www.echimestv.org
Annual Report Docket


Let these smiles warm and brighten your day!

Twenty-seven years ago, Suzanne – and I suspect many of you – were awarded a signed certificate such as this, expressing sincere gratitude for your deep commitment to social justice resulting in Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ declaring itself “Open and Affirming.” Thank you, Suzanne, for sending this to us, as a reminder of our collective ability, and in particular this congregation’s faithfulness, to change the world around us – starting with ourselves. And, thank you to all who continue this tradition and commitment to love and justice and mercy, as we care for each other and those around us during this time, as well. “Rock Stars and Prophets”, I say. You are all “Rock Stars and Prophets.”

 


Thinking about becoming a member of
Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ?

These documents and infortmation may help you in considering membership. There is more in how we read these documents and what they mean personally and corporately – but it is a place to start. And whether you are a member or join us as you do, we are grateful you are here and you are so welcome! Feel free to contact our pastor Ray Bagnuolo with your questions or for more information.

So You’re Thinking About Joining The Church – from the United Church of Christ

Understanding the Congregational Way – National Association of Congregational Church


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Suffolk County News Article on Our Church
September 10, 2020
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Ray Bagnuolo, Pastor – July 23, 2019
eChimes Newsletter

Dear Friends,

At times in its history, the ancient Roman Empire attempted to squash out the rapidly growing “novelty” religion of Christianity. Leadership did so by using ordinary incidents of Christianity’s practices and blowing them out of proportion. First, they falsely interpreted the incidents. Then the interpretations were generalized, as if they were happening everywhere or would be soon. All this created fear, if unevenly in the empire, with greatest effectiveness in the most populated areas. To keep it going and spread chaos further, officials would fan the fear they created with wildly exaggerated untruths, giving emperors public support and willing collaborators in torturing and executing those who refused to deny Jesus Christ and pay homage to gods of the empire…(more pdf version for printing)


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Our Friend Carroll M. “Kim” Swezey – Insert

The Queen Arrives at the 27th Annual Victorian Tea! – Video

Inside the Organ, November 2018 with Paul Elsener – Video

A Brief History of Sayville Congregational Church In Movie Format

Introduction to the Pipe Organ – Handout – Here