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UNITED CHURCH OF HINESBURG

P.O. Box 39, 10570 Route 116, Hinesburg, VT 05461

ANNUAL REPORT for 2015

Presented at the February 14, 2016 Annual Membership Meeting

Contents

Minutes of the United Church of Hinesburg 2014 Annual Membership Meeting ................................................................. 2

United Church of Hinesburg Ministry Teams and Committees .............................................................................................. 4

Finance and Stewardship ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

Trustees ................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Membership Care ................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Christian Education ................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Missions & Social Justice Committee ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Worship ................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

Spiritual Formation ............................................................................................................................................................... 11

Staff-Parish Relations ............................................................................................................................................................ 11

Auxiliary................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Report of the Pastor .............................................................................................................................................................. 12

SCHIP ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

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Minutes of the United Church of Hinesburg 2014 Annual Membership Meeting

February 8, 2015 Please sign in to register your attendance. – See attached. Call to Order and Welcome Yvonne Whitaker, Council Chair Opening Prayer Rev. Jared Hamilton Election of Recording Secretary

Motion to elect Phil as recording secretary moved and seconded – Passed unanimously Approve February 9, 2014 Annual Meeting Minutes

Motion to approve the minutes and seconded. Passed unanimously

Receive Reports for 2014

Treasurer - Yvonne Whitaker o Pleased about the offerings reaching what we budgeted o Used music fund to help cover expenses for music o Still under our expenses – fortunate we have our investment funds to help us cover some of

expenses where appropriate

Trustees – Andy Seaton, Chair; Phil Pouech, Treasurer o Andy gave an overview of Trustee work including some of the significant activities this last year o Pastor Jared stated that he and Leah feel blessed with the parsonage improvements which

makes their lives easier and more comfortable

Ministry Teams and Committees o Meaghan shared information on the Missions Fun Run project: Hearts for Hunger 5K/1K. Will

be held Saturday, May 16th. Would appreciate help with publicity – handing out flyers. Last year raised $4800 for food backpack program.

o Lori reminded us about monthly community meals. Continue to work on getting outside organizations to organize meals

o The congregation gathered sleeping bags for The Safe Harbor program, which was a success.

Pastor - Jared Hamilton o A report was included in the packet. o Some highlights included rebuilding of the Organ. The organ is a treasure for our community o Continues to attend meetings and participate in some way with all three of our associated

denominations o Attending Next Generation Leadership Initiatives (NGLI) which started in 2014. o Lastly Jared said how much he and his family feel so accepted and comfortable.

Actions for 2015

Approve Bylaw changes

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o One of the goals from last year was the Safe Church program, which was put into place. A second goal was to review our by-laws. This was done with a committee and we are presenting proposed changes for approval.

o Yvonne highlighted changes proposed to the by-laws. There was some discussion about the new Pastor care three-member committee Discussion about communication committee being eliminated and now the

responsibility of the Administrative Assistant. It was brought up that the Church Council should develop a policy or procedure on how communication is done, especially in a crisis.

Suggestion to make a diagram or chart to show all the different committees and what they do. Agreed the council would take this up

o Motion to approve the amended by-laws was made and seconded. Passed unanimously

Elect Lay Leadership for 2015 o Some slight changes were made to the nominations for all the committees o Motion to accept the lay leadership as presented and corrected. Seconded. Passed

unanimously

Present and affirm 2015 Goals o Pastor Jared told a story to highlight how we might not be engaging the wider community. The

need to do this is key in our 2015 goals. o Pastor Jared went through the mission statement and the goals.

Suggestion to have some type of “suggestion box” and also develop a plan which outlines our long-term capital improvement plan

Discussion about Socially Responsible investments. Council would like to have some help in deciding the direction to take in SR investments.

Acknowledged that this church plants a lot of seeds (ex. Food shelf) that extends into Hinesburg. We need to continue to plant seeds to see what grows up.

o Moved and seconded the goals as presented. Passed unanimously.

Adopt 2015 Budget – Yvonne o Yvonne reviewed highlights o Some discussion about apportionments. o Motion to approve and seconded. Passed unanimously

Other Business

Other business from the floor o None

Adjourn with Blessing

Motion to adjourn, seconded and passed

Pastor Jared closed with a blessing Respectfully submitted, Phil Pouech, Secretary

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United Church of Hinesburg Ministry Teams and Committees

Christian Education

Lead, plan and share faith with children through our Sunday School program.

Finance

Oversee budget.

Missions & Social Justice

Plan and implement projects to relieve human needs, locally and beyond.

Nominating

Recruit leaders and members for all church roles and committees.

Membership Care

Reach out to members at times of particular need; new member orientation; maintain membership rolls.

Spiritual Formation

Develop small groups and activities for spiritual growth.

Staff-Parish Relations

Foster relations between the congregation and the pastor and staff members; perform annual performance

evaluations; recruit temporary staff as needed.

Stewardship

Develop year-round stewardship activities.

Trustees

Oversee church buildings and properties.

Worship

Coordinate worship with the pastor; consider and implement new forms of worship and special services; enlist

worship service participants; oversee music programs.

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Finance and Stewardship

The theme for our Stewardship Campaign this year was ‘Irregular Pieces, Beautiful Whole’, recognizing that we bring together pieces of ourselves and through our dedication, generosity, diversity, creativity, inclusivity and resourcefulness, create something beautiful. Our new stewardship quilt wall hanging is a symbol of that coming-together and serves to remind us that each of us, no matter what size, shape or color, has a place at of the United Church of Hinesburg. To create the quilt, pieces of fabric were mailed with the annual stewardship letter. Each week for the four-week pledge drive Elizabeth Sabens sewed the fabric returned with pledge cards onto foundation fabric, creating six quilt squares. The squares were embroidered by Nancy Bell, Peg Pratt, Lia Cravedi and Yvonne Whitaker, Elizabeth joined the squares together, and Sandy Milbank finished the quilt and made it ready for hanging. The quilt now hangs in the sanctuary.

We celebrate another “record year”, with $100,810 in offering in 2015. We are fortunate to have investments that provide interest and dividend income which can be put toward the church expenses. The Auxiliary contributes a portion of the funds raised through the Holiday Bazaar and May Plant Sale and the Salad Supper, silent auction and Chicken Pie Supper also help to support the church budget.

A significant portion of our budget covers salaries, utilities and administrative expenses. All of these costs support the basic functions of our church, Worship and Spiritual Life, Christian Education, Pastoral Care and Fellowship, and Mission and Outreach.

In addition to the funds distributed by the Missions ministry team for the support of missions, both locally and internationally, our church makes annual contributions to our three denominational conferences:

• New England Conference of the United Methodist Church (World Missions, New England Missions and Ministry Support). A sampling of the work these mission shares support includes undergirding UMCOR so that disaster relief can be delivered, funding Health Clinics, Africa University, scholarships for students around the world, 3 camps and a conference center, the training and development of missionaries.

• Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ - Our Church’s Wider Mission: Sixty-five percent of OCWM giving remains in Vermont for ministries to and on behalf of the local churches. Thirty-five percent goes to the United Church of Christ for ministry in the United States and in the world.

• American Baptist Churches Vermont and New Hampshire

Submitted by Yvonne Whitaker

Trustees

Church and Parish House

The previous 2 years we have had problems with the church basement flooding. Last summer, the source of

the problem was identified as a plugged foundation drain pipe on the north side of the church. Unfortunately

unplugging the pipe would not provide a permanent solution. A new foundation drain pipe was installed to

drain towards the soccer fields. Many thanks to Doug Olufsen for his donation of time and equipment.

The outside lights around the church windows were inoperative and were removed.

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Parsonage Improvements

The final phase of the parsonage was completed which included new fixtures and floor for the downstairs

bathroom and repainting of the upstairs. We also had to replace the dishwasher and the screen door. The

drain pipe that serves the Parsonage has been plugged several times over the last couple of years. We believe

we have found and repaired the problem. Many thanks to the volunteers who helped with the painting and to

Randy Warren for his donation of labor and materials to install the dishwasher.

Baptist Lot

Matt Sayre and Jared continue to work on concepts for the Baptist Lot. We plan to have options by the end of

the year.

Farmer’s Market

The Lion’s Club farmer’s market was held on the church grounds again during the 2013 season. The Lion’s

Club donates 20% of the vendor rental receipts to the church.

Snow Removal

Doug Olufsen has agreed to plow and sand the church parking lot and parsonage driveway this winter. A team

of volunteers continues to keep the walkways clear.

Investments

Ensure investment strategy is socially responsible, appropriate and yielding beneficial results.

Ongoing Activities

In addition to the above special projects, the Trustees continue to coordinate the snow shoveling and lawn

mowing schedule, oversee and fund the church insurance, make sure all lights, smoke detectors, fire

extinguishers, etc. are maintained and in working order, and respond to any other property-related issues.

Looking Ahead, Trustee Goals for 2016…

Develop calendar of annual maintenance or to do items.

Have Sanctuary and Parish House accessed for ADA accessibility

Perform another energy audit.

Pass title for Vestry to town.

Trustees: Andy Seaton, Chair; Wes Ashe, Dick Bell, Phil Pouech, Reggie Robinson, Chip Foutz, Laurie Danforth,

Bob Forauer, JP Hong and Matt Sayre

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Membership Care

This past July our committee attended a retreat lead by Pastor Jared. "Called to Care: A Program for Lay

Spiritual Caregivers". We will in no way be filling in or doing visits for the pastor but supplementing and

providing extra care to those in need. We will "tread lightly" and not overstep our bounds. It is our intention to

extend greetings and company to those in our church family who cannot attend church regularly and would like

to be included through the Membership Care Committee.

After much back and forth with attendance methods, it's been decided that the red attendance books are after all

the best we can do to get a usable count of attendees at our services. Also, this method provides us with contact

information from visitors and updates from current attendees and members. Our attendance numbers are great

and continue to increase. Great news!!

We had four baptisms this year, two children and two adults. Our new member Sunday in October was very

joyous and successful. A few days before the reception service on October 11th, the seven new members and

their sponsors were treated to an orientation dinner at The Hinesburgh Public House. It was a wonderful

"getting to know you" gathering.

We look forward to a new year of serving our church by continuing our card sending mission, updating the

church directory and offering a new member Sunday in the fall.

Respectfully submitted,

Your Membership Care Committee and Dianne Hall, chair

Christian Education

VISION: Our Christian Education committee provides leadership, creative energy, spiritual direction and guidance while promoting congregational unity and involvement in teaching and supporting our children and youth in their journey of faith. Looking back over the past year, our congregation and Christian Education programs can proudly celebrate many successes. New families with children continue to join us in worship on Sunday mornings to participate in our vibrant Sunday school program, mission/outreach programs, wonderful music productions and excellent nursery care.

As a “caring community”, we have also been exploring new activities and opportunities for our children and youth to grow and learn by “experiencing” their faith. For example, our children are learning how to care for themselves through yoga and care for others through their involvement in mission/outreach programs.

We are welcoming Mary Hong, as a new member to our Christian Education Committee. Some of the highlights of this past year are outlined below:

We have nearly 40 children currently active in our Sunday school and nursery programs. In the Fall, Pastor Jared organized and presented a World Religions Program for our older youth on

several Sunday evenings. This was well attended by 8 of our youth and was a great opportunity for all to join together for dinner followed by a time to explore other faiths.

With assistance from Andrea Morgante, our older youth spent several Sundays in the fall tending to the Linden trees that were re-planted a few years ago.

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Our “Small Wonders” Nature camp was very successful with over 20 children from our congregation and the community attending the week-long camp.

We continue to offer monthly Sunday School/youth events which have been well received. Examples include: ice skating, movie night, game night, cooking decorating, and Green-Up day.

Our children and youth again hosted the FREE Community Meal in March - setting up, cooking “breakfast for dinner”, serving and cleaning up.

Many of our Sunday School children and youth participated in the Missions Committee’s Fun Run in May, collecting pledges for the Vermont Foodbank.

Our children participated in 2 performances (Spring and Christmas), as well as several choral presentations throughout the year. Our Christmas performance was a new twist on the traditional Christmas story that was very fun and worked well for our children and youth of all ages. A new baby in our congregation, Bennett Main, made his debut as Baby Jesus.

The youth have been singing with the choir on the first Sunday of the month since October. In November, we began offering yoga during Sunday School with Ashley William-Wenschhof. We will

continue to meet once every other month for the remainder of the Sunday School year. Our children assembled beautiful Easter baskets which were delivered to homebound church

members; we potted flowers for Mother’s Day and baked/decorated cookies for Father’s Day, we baked and decorated cookies for the Missions Committee’s Christmas baskets; we made decorative hot cocoa gifts in a jar to sell at the Holiday Bazaar.

GOALS: Our Christian Education goals for the coming year are as follows: 1) Continue to develop and define the roles and responsibilities of our CE Coordinator position 2) Promote growth and retention in our Sunday school and older youth programs by:

a. Offering monthly intergenerational fellowship, outreach and missions activities for children and older youth

b. Inviting and recruiting additional congregational members to assist as Sunday School leaders and nursery assistants

c. Offering Summer childrens’ program(s) (One Room Schoolhouse and/or VBC) and Fall Confirmation Class for older youth if there is interest and support for these programs from our congregation

3) Provide ongoing education and awareness about our Caring Community Policy 4) Continue to solicit feedback from families by way of a survey

Respectfully submitted by Eileen Ashe Christian Education Committee members: Eileen Ashe, Chair; Heather Roberts, Christian Education Coordinator; Theron Main, Renate Parke, Howdy Russell and Sharonlee Trefry

Missions & Social Justice Committee

2015 Year in Review The overall component of our missions continues to target hunger relief. We believe that having a secure food source is an essential component of social justice. We have committed our efforts locally, nationally and globally. In addition to this, we created a subcommittee to discern our intention to pursue a global church partnership with another congregation. We have determined to move forward with this process.

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COMMUNITY MEALS: In 2015 we sponsored 9 Community Meals and provided vouchers for two meals which have traditionally been fundraisers for the church (salad supper/chicken pie supper). This is our 4th year with this mission. We have made significant progress this year in terms of greater community involvement! Donations from this event to the Hinesburg Food Shelf totals: $1,371.90. We changed our name from FREE Community Meals to The Open Table Diner seeking to diminish any stigmatism that may exist with the word “free.”

HEARTS FOR HUNGER III: Hosted the 3rd annual Hearts for Hunger Fun Run to benefit the VT FoodBank Backpack Program (to serve food insecure VT children), raising $6,500 and creating a fun family activity for 130 members of our community. Our efforts in 2014 allowed the Backpack program to be expanded to two communities in VT, Bennington and Troy! YOUTH IN ACTION: Sponsored our 5th annual Youth in Action Service, an event to celebrate and acknowledge the volunteerism of our youth. SOCIAL JUSTICE: We have discerned the importance of writing a statement of social justice which expresses our commitment to be inclusive of all, see “A Statement of Solidarity with our Muslim Neighbors,” on the church website. Events to follow this will continue in 2016. VT FOODBANK HUNGER CONFERENCE: Sponsored 2 people to attend the VT Foodbank Hunger Conference, May 2015; from this, the attendees came back to church and reported on their findings. NEW(er) MISSION: Donated 22 sleeping bags to Safe Harbor Program (which serves homeless population), taking in $816.00 in donations. DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: Donated $500 to the UN World Food Programme, specifically earmarked for hunger relief following the earthquakes in Nepal. SALVATION ARMY: Participated in Salvation Army bell-ringing December 2015. DECEMBER FOOD BASKETS: Assembled and delivered 17 food baskets in December with specific outreach to families at Hinesburg Community School and Champlain Valley Union High School. VERMONT INTERFAITH POWER AND LIGHT: A donation of $175.00 was made to Vermont Interfaith Power and Light which “seeks to educate faith communities and individuals about the threat that global warming presents to Creation and Earth, and to engage communities of faith in promoting energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy as a solution.”

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VERMONT REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM: A donation of $175.00 was made to the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program. “In the neighborhoods across Vermont, we open doors for uprooted people, helping the world’s most vulnerable rebuild their lives. We are part of a nationwide network that breaks through social, cultural, and economic barriers so previously interrupted lives can flourish. The first welcome begins with navigating American culture, laying solid foundations for a fresh start, and making essential community connections to successfully integrate into our community.” OUTREACH 2015: Community members requesting assistance from the church (for fuel assistance, electricity, phones, etc.), served 22 families, total contributions $2,754.14. The Missions and Social Justice Committee continues to be deeply appreciative of the continued support of mission work by our wonderful congregation. We also give special thanks to those who worked tirelessly at some of our more labor intensive events like the Hearts for Hunger Fun Run, community meals and participation on the global church partnership committee. We thank you! Warmly, Lori P. McKenna, Chair

Worship

Our year has been varied, successful and sad in the passing of Carolyn Wood who was our organist for the past ten

years. We had Tim Woos for several months and now have Andrea Haulenbeek playing the organ and Barbara

Herrington playing the piano. We have had several musicians during our Sunday morning worship services.

We had our Laity Sunday.

We had a talent Sunday with a lovely display of things people made.

We did a Memorial Day service with the other churches.

We did a Christian Unity Sunday with St. Jude’s Church and also our Good Friday service with them.

We had Lenten Vesper services each Wednesday evening during Lent.

Our Maundy Thursday observation was held with a light supper in the Osborne Parish House followed by a service in the

church.

Our Christmas Eve services were once again well-attended with about 170 at our 6 o’clock service and about 50 at the

10 o’clock service. We did something different this year by adding a huge beautifully- decorated tree up where the altar,

pulpit and lectern usually are. Our decorations included purple additions to our pillar candles. This was all

enthusiastically received by the congregation.

Some of our musical highlights included: A hymn sing, the hand bells being played for the first time in about 20 years

(and a great job by all who played), a jazz Sunday with two outstanding musicians, a contemplative service with

Margaret Roddy playing the clarinet, a Chocolate Service with Marcus Schreckhaas from Germany who has joined us

several times this year. We have enjoyed the youth who sing with the choir once a month.

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We are looking forward to many more new and exciting things happening at the United Church of Hinesburg!

The Worship Committee

Spiritual Formation

2015 Members:

Rev. A. Wayne Schwab

Nancy Bell

Sue Barden

Elizabeth Sabens

Ann Carter Zadig

2015 marked a year of transitions for the Spiritual Formation committee. Tasked with providing adult faith formation

programming, the committee put together a series of offerings for the congregation including Practicing God-talk, Book

groups, Bible Studies, an oral history project and a fall retreat at Rock Point in Burlington.

Wayne Schwab led Practicing God-talk from January through the summer. During each monthly session, people

gathered to discuss an article relating faith to everyday living. The book group also met monthly with a break during the

summer. Books were varied with some recommended by Pastor Jared and others chosen by the group. Books included:

Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor, An American Gospel by Erik Reece, and Discovering Black

Vermont by Elisa Guyette just to name a few.

We are thankful that Elizabeth Sabens stepped in as acting committee chair when Wayne became ill. Along with keeping

us on track, Elizabeth led the charge in developing an oral history of the United Church of Hinesburg. During the

summer, several members of the church met and put together a timeline of memories of UCH, memories that span 80

years or more. We look forward to continuing this project in 2016. Elizabeth was also instrumental in putting the fall

retreat together with Pastor Jared. This year’s retreat was entitled: For the Beauty of the Earth: Faith and Creation Care.

The retreat center at Rock Point offered a wonderful place to explore nature and space for quiet reflection.

Our committee retreat focused on Corinne Ware’s book, “Discover Your Spirituality Type.” As we progressed through the

year, we felt that it would be important for us to enter into a time of discernment in 2016 to explore what the spiritual

needs of the congregation are, and how we, as a committee can best meet them. We hope to elicit ideas from the

congregation and formulate programming that meets the needs of folks wherever they are in their journeys of faith.

We are extremely thankful for the work of Nancy Bell and Elizabeth Sabens over the years. Nancy stepped off the

committee in mid-2015 and Elizabeth at the end. Sue has served as a constant throughout this transition. We are also

thankful that Anne Carter Zadig joined us during the fall. Her insight has already been felt.

With regards,

The Spiritual Formation Committee

Staff-Parish Relations

The Staff-Parish Relations committee's main objective is to foster constructive communications between the congregation and its pastoral and professional leadership and to implement the congregation's responsibilities for the well-being of the Pastor and staff. We make a recommendations to the finance committee for salary and benefits for all staff.

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We procured a new cleaning contract at a sustainable cost to maintain the appearance of the church buildings and enhance the congregation’s ministry of welcome. Proprietors Pride was hired in February of 2015. In 2015 we crafted a review process for all employees including the pastor with input from all committees. We reviewed all employees in the months of October and November of 2015. We reviewed all job descriptions and they are all up to date. We created a survey in August to get the pulse of our congregation and to understand what our Church community feels our Church does well and what areas we need to improve. Improvements are being made regarding communication responsibilities between the committees and the congregation and sharing the responsibilities of each committee to the congregation as well as making continuous improvements where suggested. Respectfully submitted, Laurie Danforth, Deanna Utter, Ellen Dooley

Auxiliary

The Auxiliary was formed in 2007 and was the evolution of the group originally known as the “Women’s Union”. The Women’s Union was organized generations ago with founding families of our church and was comprised of very faithful and strong women. The coffee hours, prayer chain, funeral receptions, annual plant sale and holiday bazaar were just a few of the wonderful deeds the women of our church organized over the years.

Our calendar of events that have involved our church community within 2015: Hosting two of the monthly community dinners

World Day of Prayer Plant and Bake Sale

Silent Auction

Holiday Bazaar Christmas Breakfast Celebration

The important aspect to remember is our church community comes together in contributing to all the above events. We enjoy together our fellowship and sense of camaraderie. We value our time and lasting friendships. We thrive more than ever now with our Ministry Teams and Committees. We sincerely appreciate our very special women, men and families who join in.

Report of the Pastor

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you see it? - Isaiah 43:19

What did we get ourselves into in 2015? There were Sundays when the Sunday School program ran out of room.

We tried new worship styles in our worship services. The community came together to run for hungry kids and

raised over $6,000. Youth encountered world religions. We explored a global church partnership. This is how we

tried to live into the mission of the United Church of Hinesburg in 2015, “To build the beloved community, the Body

of Christ, for God’s mission of love and justice.”

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The goals set forth in “Engage 2015” helped to guide our work as we engaged the church and church leaders, the

community, and the wider world. To support these areas of focus, I met regularly with committees and provided

retreats for the Mission and Social Justice, Membership Care and Spiritual Formation committees. We continued to

explore different faith formation experiences including Bible Studies, Book Groups, and a retreat at Rock Point in

Burlington. With the help of many, we investigated uses of the Baptist Lot, began our oral history project, brought

back Harvest Festival events to the church, and put together a wonderful summer nature camp for 20+ kids.

Heather Roberts, our Administrator and Christian Educator, has been instrumental in keeping us on track and up

to date on all that happens at the church.

We have seen our share of joys and sorrows in worship this year. Carolyn Wood, our organist for over ten years,

passed away in February. We miss her great skill, her funky sense of humor and her joy. We have had several other

accomplished musicians step in during the year and we are thankful to Rufus Patrick, our Music Director, for

continuing to find talented folks.

Beginning in September, we started a new music program that explored different styles of worship. German folk

music, jazz, and contemplative music aided us in our worship services. In December we dusted off the hand bells

for a truly wonderful service. We have also seen youth sing with the choir on the first Sundays of each month, a

welcome addition. During the year we celebrated the baptisms of J.P. Hong, Abby Trutor-Mead, Aengus Mead and

Miles Hamilton. Many new members joined the church in the fall, and we were reminded that our church is part of

a global community when we celebrated October’s communion service in English and Swahili. Our church

continued to strive to be welcoming, a hallmark of our faith community.

Financially we are sound but not sustainable. We came in under our projected 2015 budget of $137,985 for both

income and expenses. Roughly 75 percent -$101,000 - of our revenue came from pledges and weekly collection

with the rest – 25 percent – coming from interest and dividends on investment funds, the church Auxiliary and

rentals. When markets perform well, this arrangement is manageable. When the markets perform poorly, as they

did in 2015, we are forced to spend down principal to make our budget. This is an issue we will watch closely in

2016.

Personally, I want to thank the church for the care and support we received with the birth of our third child, Miles.

This is a generous and hospitable community of faith and we are thankful to be a part of it.

As we begin 2016 with new goals and challenges ahead of us, I am confident that we will continue to faithfully

search out the new things that God has in store for us.

Blessings,

Reverend Jared M. Hamilton

Pastor

SCHIP

Shelburne Charlotte Hinesburg Interfaith Projects, Inc. (SCHIP) was formed in 2003 by ten faith communities in the three towns with the intention of working together to raise funds for grants to improve the lives of neighbors and strengthen the communities. Funds are raised through the operations of SCHIP’s Treasure Resale Shop where donated “gently” used clothing and household items are sold. The representative of United Church of Hinesburg is Kristi Johnson. She would be happy to answer any questions you may have.