by Rev. Dr. Dale Azevedo, Sr. Minister
Those of you who have been attending worship at BCCUCC since before the pandemic may remember the Sunday when I asked everyone to get up and change seats. That morning, I divided the pews into four sections and labeled each section according to a part of our mission Statement. The sections were divided as follows:
South: Worships God
South-central: Cares for One Another
North-central: Works for Justice and Peace (this was combined with Welcomes All)
North: Renders Loving Service
I asked everyone to get up and sit themselves in the section that best represented the main reason they chose to participate in BCCUCC.
What surprised us all was that all four sections ended up roughly equal in occupants. No one expected such a well-rounded representation of our mission statement among our members.
Some of us attend BCCUCC to worship.
Some of us attend to be a part of a community.
Some of us attend to witness for social justice.
Some of us attend to help others in need.
And all of us do this as a part of our relationship with, and commitment to, God.
So, I ask you, “Why do you participate in BCCUCC?” If you had to answer that question for yourself, and place yourself in one of those four categories, which one would you choose? And…once you know that, how are you living out that reason? What are you doing to live into that focus of your calling? Would you feel more fulfilled or would your relationship with church be more meaningful if you were doing more? Or something different than you currently are?
When we adopted our new church structure, we also divided our ministries into these categories; not just the four I used years ago, but six (five from our mission statement plus faith formation). And we have numerous teams each focused on a particular ministry belonging to one of these categories. For example, under faith formation we have teams that 
focus on church school, adult education, the nursery, and confirmation (among others). The idea in this new format is to provide people easy entry into a small, focused ministry that they are interested in. If you want to focus on worship, join one of our worship teams. If you want to focus on helping those in need, join one of our service teams. The choices are endless. (This is literally true because if we don’t have a team for you already, you can always start a new one!)
“But, Dale,” you ask, “how do I know what teams already exist? And how do I get involved?”
Well, I’m glad you asked! All our ministry teams are now listed on the website by category along with contact information for the team leader. You can simply reach out to the team leader and share your interest. Or, if that is a little intimidating, you can also reach out to Racquel or me and ask for help. We will gladly introduce you to someone who can help bring you along.
While we’re talking about this, I should also say a little something about our support teams. Support teams are those 
teams that do not fit directly into our mission statement but are essential to running our church and therefore are the foundation our primary ministry teams need to be successful. These teams are focused on property, finance, and administration. These teams are great for people who like doing, who like working behind the scenes, and who often have special skills like understanding numbers, working on physical projects, or helping with human resources. Not all these teams require these special skills, many just require a willingness to be a part of a decision-making process. But they sometimes appeal to a type of person who may feel called to get involved in a way different from one of our primary teams. If this is you, you are needed too!!
So, take a moment and think about why you have chosen to be a part of our church community. And then explore our ministry team list and see if there is a ministry you are interested in being a part of. It can make your participation in BCCUCC even more rewarding!!