Rev. Megan
Berkowitz
Rev. Amy
Clark Feldman
Pastor Megan
December 20 2024
Baking Christmas Cookies
Baking Christmas cookies is one of my favorite childhood memories of this time of year. My mom, my cousin, and I got to work the week before Christmas making dozens and dozens of cookies from all different recipes. We would give the cookies away as gifts and serve them as dessert on Christmas Eve, when many family and friends piled into our house for dinner after Mass. I loved it so much that when my second grade class put together a cookbook, the recipe I added in was sugar cookie cutouts, and we continued to make and decorate that same recipe for over two decades afterwards. It’s not my favorite anymore, but it still tastes like home and like tradition.
Another cousin on the other side of my family is a pastry chef and cookbook author, and she wrote about our grandmother in her latest book about cookies, sharing how her own childhood memories of baking rugelach shaped her towards the career she has now. Whether cookies, hearty Christmas dinner recipes, French toast casserole, or fruitcake, the flavors of this season take on so much more meaning: tradition, family, and care.
Fellowship after church this Sunday is a Christmas cookie potluck, and whether you bring something homemade or store-bought, I hope you also bring a sweet story of Christmases past or loved ones whose memories you carry with you in this season, to share with one another over a cup of coffee and a cookie.
Peace,
Megan
Past Posts
- From Our Pastors
Pastor Amy
January 10, 2025 Last week, nearly 40 youth came from all around Newton and Boston, almost exactly one-third from the Muslim Al-Huda Society in Chelsea; one-third from the Jewish community; and one-third from Christian churches. Learn More - From Our PastorsPastor Megan
January 3, 2025 The new year is a time when many of us choose to reflect on what is behind us and what is ahead. I have a few traditions at the new year: Learn More - From Our Pastors: December 20, 2024Pastor Megan
December 20, 2024Baking Christmas Cookies
Advent is the season of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love; it is the season of anticipation and joy in the gift of Christ we already know has entered the world and is eternally present among us; it is, for many of us, a season of parties and gift-giving and whirlwind celebrations. Learn More - From Our Pastors: December 8 2024Pastor Megan
December 8, 2024
Advent is the season of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love; it is the season of anticipation and joy in the gift of Christ we already know has entered the world and is eternally present among us; it is, for many of us, a season of parties and gift-giving and whirlwind celebrations. Learn More - From Our Pastors: November 29, 2024Pastor Megan
November 29, 2024
UCC Professional Development Program I returned last week from the fall gathering of NGLI, the UCC’s professional development program for young clergy. We gather each fall in Arizona for a time of creative learning, prayer, worship, music, and more. The setting, in the desert outside of Phoenix, is an intentional choice by the program organizers. Learn More - From Our Pastors: November 15, 2024Pastor Megan
November 15, 2024
Congregational Meeting Recap Thank you to everyone who joined in the Congregational Meeting last Sunday, and particular thanks to co-moderators Susan Hunt Stevens and Susan Gedrick for leading us, and to Jaap van Reijendam for ensuring those on Zoom could take part as well. The brief workshop Leila led on 1:1s, in the GBIO and community organizing model, gave us a tool for connecting with one another more deeply. Learn More - From Our Pastors: November 8, 2024Pastor Megan
November 8, 2024
Post Election Interfaith Gathering I want to share with you a small portion of how I opened our interfaith post-election gathering, as we prepare to gather in community together this Sunday for worship and the congregational meeting. Learn More - From Our Pastors: October 18, 2024Pastor Megan
Octoberr 18, 2024
Recent Celebrations Did you miss the recent celebrations at church? Here are some photos from our new sign celebration and the Blessing of the Animals! It has been a fall of connecting – with one another, the wider community, and God’s creation (including beloved pets like Barky, Felix, Jack, Rosey, and Lucy!). Learn More
