PROGRAMS FOR ALL AGES
Music & Choir
GCC’s music program is central to the life of the church. GCC has a long tradition of offering a wide range of hymns, anthems, and instrumental preludes and postludes, with musical fare including old and new hymns, African American spirituals, newly composed spirituals, early American shape note songs, gospel, old and new classical music, and choral arrangements of songs from gifted contemporary singer/songwriters.
Sunday Services
Each service starts with an instrumental prelude, followed by the choir director leading the congregation in “paperless” singing. Several congregational hymns are sung during the service, and the choir sings two anthems. Hymns and anthems are typically accompanied by piano or organ, but they may also be joined by trumpet, trombone, flute, accordion, guitar, banjo, percussion, and/or fiddle. The service ends with the accompanist performing a short postlude while the congregation quietly listens, helping to transition from the service back into daily lives.
Choir
Sunday choir attendance is usually between 15 and 25 singers. The choir rehearses on Sunday morning from 8:45 to 9:30 for the 10:00 am service. It is a “drop-in” choir: anyone who shows up at 8:45 am on a Sunday is welcome to sing in the service.
Most of the choristers choose to be on the GCC choir email list. The choir director sends an email on Friday or Saturday with information about the pieces that will be sung on Sunday. Anyone who would like to be added to the choir email list can contact Peter Amidon at amidonpeter@gmail.com.
GCC choir directors have composed many choral arrangements specifically for the GCC choir, and numerous videos of the choir singing these and other anthems are archived on GCC’s Youtube channel. Here are a few:
Sunday School
The engagement of young children, from infancy through elementary school, is nurtured as a vital and cherished part of church life. On Sundays children remain in the church service until the children’s story, which is followed by a hymn that the children join in singing. All children are then escorted downstairs, where younger children are supervised in the toddler/preschool classroom and older children meet with teachers in the Sunday School space.
The Christian Education Director manages the development of Sunday School curriculum with input from the Christian Education committee. During the summer there is no formal curriculum; however, supervised child care is provided for children of all ages, including outdoor play when weather permits.
From time to time, the Christian Education committee and Director plan for and oversee family-oriented activities that take place outside of Sunday morning worship time. These activities serve both as opportunities for church families to get together and as outreach to families in the wider community.
Youth Group
Young people ages 13 to 18 from the greater Brattleboro area are invited to participate in a multicultural interfaith youth group. The group typically meets on the first Sunday of every month for 2 to 3 hours of food, friendship, and service in the fellowship halls of area congregations or at service project sites.
The purpose of this group is to build a multicultural community through friendships, fun, and service. Church affiliation or attendance is not expected, though numerous religious organizations in Windham County support the effort by hosting the group on a rotating basis and ensuring that all can participate, regardless of their spiritual affiliation or their ability to pay or fundraise.
Each gathering typically features a short community service project for which the youth may receive credits toward the 40 community service hours required for BUHS graduation. If there is both interest and commitment, the group can travel to more distant service sites in the US and abroad, building leadership skills and social justice.
In the past decade, youth performed community service in places as diverse as New Orleans, Kenya, St. Croix, El Salvador, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. To ensure wide participation, the group conducts fundraisers leading up to each trip keeping out-of-pocket costs low. A Spring 2025 trip for hurricane and poverty relief activities in Asheville, North Carolina, was a resounding success.
Click here for a short video about the Asheville trip with youth participants’ reflections on their experience.
For more information about the youth group, please contact Nanci Leitch at (802) 258-8348 or email nanci.leitch@gmail.com.
Prayer Shawls
The Prayer Shawl group meets in the Houghton Room on Mondays at 3:00 pm, and anyone is welcome to come knit or crochet a prayer shawl. We have yarn, needles, and patterns. The shawls are given to those in need of comfort, healing, and peace. Each shawl is blessed by the group on the occasion of its being given to someone.
JOIN OUR FAITH COMMUNITY
Looking for a place to call home in your spiritual journey? Guilford Community Church invites you to become a part of our family. Our supportive and caring congregation is committed to walking together in faith, hope, and love. Join us as we learn, serve, and grow in the grace of God.
We are a member of the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC).