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Beaver United Church of Christ
Welcome to Beaver Church!
Worship materials and videos… click here
Videos of past services – click here
Wednesday on–line fellowship… monthly @7:00 PM via Zoom
Worship with BUCC on–line – click here

Beaver UCC

We are a community of caring individuals brought together by a common bond – love!

Our congregation is composed of people from all walks of life who come together to offer healing and comfort, learning and encouragement - much like a family. We welcome all, and believe that extravagant hospitality is central to the role of our church.

At Beaver UCC, we strive to help our members grow spiritually, while at the same time understanding that everyone has their own spiritual path. Our church is a place where you can think for yourself while differing views are respected. It is our hope that through education, fellowship, and service we can, as a community, come closer to God and each other.

Since our founding over 200 years ago, Beaver Church continues seeking to offer an atmosphere of informality, spontaneity, fellowship, and fun. We hope our Church is a place where you and all will feel both welcome and comfortable.
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About Our Church

Sunday School Program

Nursery
Meets: Upstairs each Sunday after the children’s moment, year round.
Main Teacher: Hayden Rauls
Ages: Infant through Pre-K
This class is for our youngest students and there will be a combination of play and some instruction depending on the ages present.

Young Learners
Meets: Upstairs each Sunday after the children’s moment, September through May, with a one month break around Christmas.
Main Teacher: Sarah Hogan
Ages: K through 4th grade
This class is for our younger learners and will be focused on instruction and lessons. Material will be taught from a children’s story type Bible. Children less comfortable with working on lessons might wish to stay in the nursery, and those that are more advanced might wish to go to the older class.

Children’s Bible Study
Meets: Upstairs each Sunday after the children’s moment, September through May, with a one month break around Christmas.
Main Teacher: Brittany King
Ages: 4th through 8th grade
This class will be a Bible and faith study where children will read scripture lessons from the Bible each week and study them. Children will also learn about Christian faith themes present in the topics and readings for the week. Readings should somewhat overlap with the readings given in the service. As children reach the point where the curriculum or discussions seem less challenging, then they are encouraged to stay in service, attend the Adult Bible Study, and seek confirmation with the Pastor when ready. During breaks, children will be asked to stay in service.

Adult Bible Study
Meets: In the fellowship hall each Sunday at 9:30 AM, September through May.
Main Teacher: Pastor Brian
Ages: Youth and Adults
This class will be a Bible and faith study each week led by Pastor Brian. Jr. High and Sr. High youth and Adults are encouraged to attend.

Services Provided by Beaver UCC

Prayer List and Card Ministry
Do you know someone who would appreciate our prayers, receiving a card from us, or having Pastor Brian visit with them? Please let us know. The Prayer List and Card Ministry will never be published on our website, although it will be included in our monthly newsletter.

Weddings
Beaver UCC offers wedding services including space rental, pre-marital counseling, and officiating for both members and non-members. Please contact the pastor for more information.

Funerals
Our church offers support in any way we can to assist those who are grieving the passing of a loved one. Funerals are generally held in the sanctuary and a meal is provided by the church afterwards.

Confirmation Classes
Confirmation classes are held each year for teenagers who wish to join the church and know more about their faith. Classes generally start in September and culminate with confirmation in May.

Counseling
The church offers pastoral counseling for members and non-members. Please see the Pastor’s Page for information on office hours.

Accessiblity
Beaver Church is wheelchair accessible with elevators. Sound reinforcement devices are available for the hard of hearing as are signers for the deaf. Please let us know if you have any special needs.

Beaver UCC Choir

Beaver Church Sings!
Music is an important component of worship at Beaver Church, one that lifts our spirits and helps us rejoice in God and with each other. Everyone is invited to participate in Beaver UCC’s choir - all you need is an appreciation of music and a desire to learn. We also encourage any and all musicians who wish to share their talents with us during worship. If you would like to join the Beaver Church Choir or provide accompanying instrumental support during a service, please contact our choir director or Pastor Brian.

Adult Choir
Beaver UCC’s Adult Choir provides music for each worship service from September through May, plus a special service on Christmas Eve. Practices are held following Sunday Worship in the church sanctuary.

Community Service and Support

Service is just as important to Beaver Church as fellowship.

Weekly contributions of food and clothing are taken to local food pantries and service organizations for those in need. Volunteers plan special activities for residents of nursing homes, while the congregation as a whole makes Christmas brighter for folks by sponsoring food and gift drives each holiday season.

Members of our congregation also support a variety of other charitable causes with time, money, and in-kind donations, including
Heifer International, the Dayton Food Bank, the Salvation Army, and the Connor Puckett Fund.

The United Church of Christ

The religious heritage of the
United Church of Christ (UCC) stems from the great traditions of the Protestant Reformation - Lutheran, Calvinist, and Congregational. These traditions were brought to America by Protestants fleeing persecution in Europe.

Four religious traditions, including the German Reformed, of which Beaver UCC was part, united in 1957 to become the United Church of Christ. Today, any local church or denomination is welcome to apply for membership in the UCC.

Beaver Church's services feature a combination of formal and informal worship. Our service includes communion on the first Sunday of the month, and all are welcome to participate.

Worship

Beaver Church's weekly worship service is held in our Sanctuary each Sunday at 10:30 AM. Find Beaver Church

Our 10:30 AM service is also offered on
Facebook Live, YouTube, and, for those who might wish to participate outdoors, is broadcast on 96.1 FM in our front parking lot.

The weekly bulletin (downloadable) and links to each Sunday's scripture, for your reference and study,
are available here as well as a link to the Sunday 10:30 AM service video for later viewing. Our on-line Calendar page also lists the current status of activities and events at our church.

Activities, Events, and News

Church News and Announcements are listed here as well as in our Beaver Church Newsletter available here each month.

  • The Pastor's Peace

    Pastor Brian's thoughts and musings...

    I’m beginning to feel a bit like a broken record when it comes to loss. After coming back from the funeral of a long-time family friend, another friend, a close friend to Amelia and me, died suddenly from cancer at the age of 56. He didn’t know he had cancer until he was admitted to the hospital, and then he died less than three weeks later. Frankly, I’m getting quite tired of cancer and all of the horrible destruction it has caused in our congregation and everywhere. Even though I am still middle aged, I am reminded of my own mortality when events like this happen, and understand that no days are guaranteed for myself or those whom I care for. I have to be honest and say that not only am I tired of cancer, but I’m just emotionally tired, period. My prayers recently have centered around just needing some time away from grief. I am not alone in this, and I don’t even have it as bad as some other people I know. None the less, enough is enough.

    I’ve been thinking about Matthew chapter 14 recently. After Jesus hears about the death of John the Baptist, he tries to take personal time. I take comfort in the fact that even our savior needed a break and went off into the mountains to be by himself. Of course, he didn’t get much time before everyone came to find him, but the important part is that no matter who you are, it is natural to need time to process and focus on what is going on in your life, to take a break. I think we often don’t allow ourselves to do that. We perhaps think it’s important to do this or that, but what is actually important is us and what we need physically and emotionally just to exist. It is no accident or coincidence that one of the ten commandments is to keep a Sabbath day. How many of us have kind of skipped over that one, myself included?

    At the end of November, we will be starting a book study on our tendency to be addicted to hurry, as the title states. I think it will be helpful for me and hopefully others as well. Despite all of the difficulties lately in my life, there have been a number of blessings and wonderful things too. If I don’t stop to appreciate those, then I am not only missing out on the time I need to cope with life, but as well on the gifts God has given me. “Stop and smell the roses” might seem cliché, but there is truth to the fact that all of us need to indeed stop everything now and again, just as God has commanded us to, and just as Christ did by example. If we do this, we might even experience something as wonderful as a rose in the process.

    Peace and Blessings,
    Pastor Brian

  • Covid Reminder

    A reminder that Covid numbers are up, and so please stay safe with precautions. Some in the church may, for instance, not feel comfortable holding hands or sharing lunch, and we ask that this be respected.

  • Poinsettia Orders

    Our sanctuary will be made beautiful this Christmas season with the addition of poinsettia plants that you provide each year. These plants will be in the sanctuary through the Christmas Eve Service. At the conclusion of that service, take your plant with you to beautify your home.

    ⤵️ Download Poinsettia Order Form


Watch Past Worship Services
Videos of each week's service are available – click here. Sermons from past years are available on The Pastor's Page™.

Daylight Saving Time Ends - November 5 - 2:00 AM
Standard time returns on November 5, 2023. Remember to set your clocks BACK one hour on Saturday night. This is also a great time to replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Operation Christmas Child (A Holiday Charity Program) - November 5 through November 12
We will be working with Samaritan’s Purse again to send shoebox-sized gift packs to children around the world for Christmas. We will be providing boxes and instructions, which will be available Sunday Nov. 5th through Sunday Nov. 12th at the church. We would ask that you bring all of the completed boxes to church by Sunday Nov. 19th.

Annual Volunteer Award - Vote November 12 through November 26
Beaver church sure does have a bunch of great people who volunteer and do many things for the church. A number of years ago we started an award to be given to a new volunteer each year. Our voting box for this year will be in the sanctuary from November 12th through November 26th and each person at the church can write down on a piece of paper who they think the volunteer of the year should be. If you are not attending the church services in person and want to vote, you can email your vote to Pastor Brian. All votes must be placed by November 26th. Please note that prior winners cannot win again, you can only win once. Below is the list of prior winners, so please do not vote for them.
Prior Winners:
Bob & Ruth Tobias; Kristine Petrick; Martha Stevens; Don & Sharon Parkison; Byron & Anne Kulander; Steve Filer, Bob Willhelm, Alan & Shirley Nelson; Melissa Baumbarger; Jeannette Papajcik; Dean Severtson; Karen Barger; Alice Clausing

Cookie Walk Fundraiser - November 18 - 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
As many of you know we are doing a cookie walk and bake sale fundraiser on November 18th from 10am to 5pm. Please tell everyone you know about the event. Below is info for the event:
Volunteer Signup: We have placed a volunteer signup sheet in the sanctuary under the clock, please sign up if you can.
Cookie Deadline: We are asking that all cookies for the event be brought to the church before 8pm on Friday November 17th. There is room in our freezers for cookies brought even earlier. Please write down on the container or with a piece of paper what type of cookies they are.
Pre-Setup: We will be doing an initial setup for the cookie walk on Friday the 17th from 6pm-8pm. We will be arranging tables etc. There will be slots for this on the signup sheet. Please note that cookies will not be on sale until 10am on Saturday.
Day of Setup: We will meet at 8am on Saturday the 18th to put all the cookies out and do the final setup. There will be slots for this on the signup sheet.
Cookie Walk: The cookie walk will be from 10am to 5pm on November 18th, and we will have slots for this on the signup sheet. Optional Bake Sale: For those that want to bring other baked items, we will have a table of baked goods. Please bring your items and suggested price either between 6pm and 8pm on Friday the 17th, or between 8am and 10am on Saturday the 18th.

Washington UCC Christmas Drive - donations through November 26
We will be collecting new, unwrapped, toys and children’s clothing for our sister church in Cincinnati. Washington UCC is located in the Camp Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati, a very poor community that struggles with many basic needs. Washington UCC is a mission church that provides many services to this in-need community, including an opportunity for parents in the community to come and “shop” for Christmas gifts at the free event offered by the church and stocked by donations from area churches. We will be collecting these items in the “cry/comfort-room” of the church. We will collect toys and clothes until November 26th. One note on toys, they have requested no toy guns, knives, or other violent items due to the environment of the neighborhood. If you wish to donate money instead that is very much appreciated as well. You can write a check to Beaver Church, and then the church will combine everyone’s donations and give the funds to Washington UCC.

Book Study: Addicted to Hurry, Spiritual Strategies for Slowing Down - November 29 thru December 13 - 7:00 PM
Our new book will start on Wednesday November 29th, and will continue on Wednesday nights at 7PM for three weeks, ending on Wednesday December 13th. The book we are reading is Addicted to Hurry: Spiritual Strategies for Slowing Down by Kirk Byron Jones. We will meet online each Wednesday via Zoom, and the Zoom link will be sent out each Wednesday via the all-church email list. Pastor Brian will have enough copies of the book, so please see him for a copy. A bit about the book: A much-needed resource that debunks the "need for speed" mentality that so many people have embraced as a part of their everyday lives. This book goes beyond social and psychological analysis to include spiritual perspectives on the dangers of letting hurry become a chronic condition. Each chapter includes helpful questions that allow readers to identify their current pace of life and assist them in cultivating their own sacred, savoring pace.

November 29 - Chapters 1-3
December 6 - Chapters 4-7
December 13 - Chapters 8-10



Beaver Church Beavercreek, Ohio