living in spirit committed to service open to all · living in spirit committed to service open to...

JANUARY 2015

Living in SpiritCommitted to ServiceOpen to all

Sunday 10 a.m. Worship in the Meeting House

January 4Communion Sunday

Nanette Pitt preaching

January 11Geordie Campbell

preachingBlessed and Bold

5:00 Taize in theChapel

January 18Geordie Campbell

preachingMartin’s Prayer Book

Remembering the dream of

Dr. Martin LutherKing, Jr.

January 25Michael Piazza

preaching

5:00 Celtic Evening Eucharist

in the Chapel

Mark your calendars for January 24 and 25, when Mike Piazza, Director of Congregational Vitality for the Center for Progressive Renewal, will be with us. The Center for Progressive Renewal helps churches like ours discern a sustainable future in the dynamic world in which we live. Mike is the Center’s driving force. His biois at www.progressiverenewal.org.

You may recall from our meeting last June that we suggested a multi-dimensional approach to help guideus to a more sustainable future, and we are right on track. We first looked at our demographic and financial challenges over the next 10 years and concluded that we will have a substantial pledging deficit. To meet this challenge, we decided to:

� Polish what we have – we have streamlined and polished our services and they are better attendedthan they have been in years. Additionally, a work group will be proposing ways for us to be morehospitable to potential new members.

� Increase our presence – we have offered a number of exciting community events, including An Evening of Elegance, Bishop Spong, the Festival of Trees, Run Boy Run, Arts in the Center and thesummer concert series.

� Use our assets more effectively – we have initiated a Congregation-wide dialogue about how we canbetter manage and use our endowment and generate additional income from our building.

We can be proud of all that we have done in such a short time, and we are now ready to begin the next stepto a sustainable future. As we discussed in June, we need more members contributing more time, talent andmoney to the ministry of this church. Mike, an expert on church growth, can help us discern how to do that inthis rapidly changing world. He will explain his approach on:

How to become a church that can adapt in a rapidly changing world

How to unleash our creativity and innovative spirit

How to focus on the things that really matter

How to think about hospitality in our community

How to communicate and market our church effectively

How to best use technology

How we can lead ourselves through these exciting times

Mike’s advice will be important for all of us to hear. Please be on the lookout for more information as weget closer to the date.

Looking forward with you,Forward in Faith Coordinating Work-group:Jim Boratko, Geordie Campbell, Suzanne Carnes, Bob Izard, Court Lewis and Nanette Pitt

Forward in Faith–The Next Step

HappyNew Year!

F IRST CHURCH T ID INGS • WWW.WHFIRSTCHURCH.ORG • JANUARY 2015 • PAGE 2

CHURCH BULLETIN BOARDAND FAMILY NEWS

DEATHS� Our longest-tenured member, Merle Beeney, passedaway peacefully on

November 23. Merle joined thechurch by Confirmation in 1933 atfourteen years of age! A service to celebrate her life was held on Monday,December 1.

� We remember...Suzanne Nardi,

in the passing of her grandmother; Liz Kuhn,

in the death of her mother; Patti Malihan,

in the loss of her brother;Linda LaCasse,

in two family deaths in two days: her father-in-law and his brother.

Reach OutA column from Service & Outreach

Special Offering:South Park Inn

This month, the FourthSunday Special Offering willgo to South Park Inn. SouthPark Inn assists homelesspeople to improve their lifesituations by providing tem-porary and long-term hous-ing and supportive services.www.southparkinn.org

Service and Outreach sponsors a spe-cial offering, the fourth Sunday of everymonth, to benefit a service organization thathelps those in greater need than ourselves.In this time of economic uncertainty, wehope you will be able to support those whomost need our help. And, if you support or-ganizations that need the Church’s widersupport, please let us know.

To make sure that your contribution isproperly allocated, make sure to check theReach Out box on the common envelope.Thank you for your support.

Thank you to everyone who madeChristmas brighter for children served byCovenant to Care. Through our Share-A-Gift drive, you provided holiday gifts for47 needy children in the Hartford/ NewBritain area.

In addition, the hat and mitten

“Warm Things” tally from our collection,as of December 12, was:� 135 hats� 61 pairs mittens/ gloves� 12 scarves� 1 snowsuit� 7 jackets� 3 pairs snowpants/ windpants� 6 women’s coats� 8 pairs socks

Thank you for your generosity! Do-nated clothing was given to two socialworkers for distribution to their clients.

Patricia Malahan, Director • Email: [email protected] • (860) 232-3893 LIBRARY HOURS: Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. – noon.

HOLIDAY HOURS: The Library will be closed January 1-3.

You are Invited to A Special Evening ofWorship & Retreat: February 27 & 28

Rabbi Rami Shapiro will be with us on Friday evening for a specialevening of worship and fellowship; he will also lead a retreat on Saturday. Hewill share a variety of texts and practices from the world’s religions to facil-itate an exploration of the five questions at the heart of the spiritual search:Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? How should I live? And Why?

Rabbi Shapiro is an award-winning author of over two dozen books on religion and spir-ituality, including The Sacred Art of Loving Kindness and Perennial Wisdom for the SpirituallyIndependent.This interfaith program will be open to the community. More details to come!

Awakening the Spirit Meets Mondays at Noon

On Monday, January 12, we will begin our discussion of Rabbi Rami Shapiro’s recentbook, Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent, in anticipation of his visit herewith us in February. Copies of the books are available in the library. Please bring your lunch;beverages and dessert will be provided.

Food for Thought Meets First Thursday of each month at 5:30. January 8

Our book is The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Windowand Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson. Confined to a nursing home andabout to turn 100, Allan Karlsson, who has a larger-than-life back story asan explosives expert, climbs out of the window and embarks on an unfor-gettable adventure involving thugs, a murderous elephant and a veryfriendly hot dog stand operator. Copies of the books are available in the li-brary. Please bring a light dinner; beverages and dessert will be provided.

A Brighter Christmas

Do you have news of a birth, baptism,death or celebration?

If you have an announcement to share, pleasecall the church office: 860-233-9605.

Living in SpiritCommitted to Service

Open to AllRev. Dr. C. Geordie Campbell, Senior Pastor

Rev. Nanette Pitt, Acting Associate Pastor Suzanne Nardi, Administrative Assistant

12 SOUTH MAIN STREET WEST HARTFORD, CT 06107

www.whfirstchurch.org P: 860-233-9605 F: 860-232-8183

J.P. WEBSTER LIBRARY 860-232-3893Patti Malahan, [email protected]

NURSERY SCHOOL 860-232-2106Ruthie Johnson, [email protected]


UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

“Like” us on Facebook

First Church Nursery School is sohappy to have been a part of the first (ofmany, I hope) annual Festival of Trees. Wegave our children little previews and, in turn,many families came to tour the extraordi-nary display. We look forward to next year!

This year, our FCNS families donatedfood items for the Covenant to Care Thanks-giving baskets, food items for our Food forFriends buckets, Christmas gifts for childrenfrom the Gift Tree, and warm clothing to theMitten Drive. We are so happy for their par-ticipation and for the opportunities FirstChurch offers to share our blessings.

This month, we will begin to collecttoiletries for the residents of South Park Innin Hartford. This will be our 8th year ofbringing several large boxes of items suchas toothpaste, tooth brushes, shampoo, de-odorant, notepads, pens, soap, combs,brushes, lotions, etc. Since we try to deliverthe items close to Valentine’s Day, we call

this project our LOVE COLLECTION. As al-ways, we are deeply appreciative for dona-tions from church members, as well asFCNS families. You will find special boxes,decorated by our children, located through-outthe building for dropoff. Thank you inadvance!

We have welcomed our new BusinessDirector, Linda LaCasse, to our nurseryschool team and are thrilled to have herhere!

Registration for 2015/16 is going well.We are fortunate to offer quality programsfor Infants through Pre-K 5s. Our teachersare experienced, loving and nurturing. Weuse Creative Curriculum and Gold Assess-

ment, which focus on the importance of in-dividual differences and building on themfor success in learning. Our Extended Careis consistent throughout the day. Theteacher and her staff who have worked witha child all day will be continuing throughclosing. Tell your friends about us!Blessed to be here, -Ruthie Johnson, Education Director

Hoping the afterglow of Christmas is with us all!

Three Kings Day willbe Celebrated

You are invited to join us as we mark Three Kings Dayduring our monthly Taste of Heaven Coffee House gath-ering on Friday, January 9, 2015, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the

Auditorium. The holiday (which fallsannually on January 6), marks thebiblical adoration of baby Jesus bythe three Kings, also referred to asWise Men or Magi. According to theGospel of Matthew, they found the di-vine child by following a star across

the desert for twelve days to Bethlehem. Suggested dona-tion is $10. For tickets, call 860-965-0635 or email Manantial de Gracia Pastor Maritza at:[email protected].

Manantial De Gracia (Spring of Grace) worships in The Chapel on Sunday mornings at11 a.m. and they welcome First Church members.

January 25 @ 4 p.m.The Arts in The Cen-

ter Series continues witha performance by VoceConcitato, a five-memberearly vocal chambermusic ensemble. Suggested Donationis $10. Kids free with food donation.

ARTS IN THE CENTER

Troop 12 Boy Scouts meet weekly on Tuesdays from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at First Church’sYouth Room; we welcome all boys 11 to 17 years-old. You may contact Scoutmaster FredBrown at [email protected] for more information.

Troop 12 Scouts have wound up their Popcorn sales fund raiser. We thank all FCCCmembers for their purchases.

We began our cold-weather camping in November at Camp Workcoeman. There wasno snow, but the temperatures got down very low at night, making us happy to have ourwarm sleeping bags and tents. We are begining our training for February’s Klondike Derby.

Troop 12 Scouts continued to earn a sizable number of merit badges in the past weeks,including Engineering, Electricity, Radio, Fire Safety, and Cycling.

It was fun to attend Connecticut Science Center’s Scout Day on Saturday, December13th. We visited a number of great exhibits, including Sight and Sound, Forces in Motion,Sports Lab and others. The favorite exhibit may have been Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body. As the name implies, the exhibit included a large number oftopics about the human body in language that was both scientific and related to young peo-ples’ understanding.


Troop 12 News: January

Troop 12 Scouts at the Connecticut Science Center on Scout Day.

Communications at First Church

TIDINGS Submissions are due on the 14th toJoy Taylor: [email protected].

SUNDAY NOTES & WEEKLY EMAIL Submissions are due each Wednesday by noon

to Gerry Whitehead: [email protected]

Men’s Group to meet on Tuesday,January 20th. at 7:30 a.m. in the

John P. Webster LibraryAll men in the church – and interested friends and guests from other churches and

faiths – are invited to a meeting of The Journeymen, the church men’s group, on Tuesday,January 20th at 7:30 a.m. in church library. We meet each month to share conversationsabout life, faith and our spiritual journeys. In December, Rabbi Alan Lefkowitz joined us todiscuss the Jewish liturgical year. We hope to have additional programs on issues and topicsof interest; we welcome your input and ideas.

Join us for coffee, refreshments and conversations as we discuss possible programs for2015. All men are welcome.

For information, contact Joe Tobin, 860-916-1923, or [email protected].

We are the Temple of the Living God. Glorify God in your body.

(2 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Corinthians 6:20 NRSV)

YOGASponsored by the

Christian Education Ministry of First Church

Please join us for Meditative Yoga!Take a break from the stress of life and

connect with your body, mind, and spirit.Through yoga postures, breathing, and meditation techniques, quiet your mind

and learn to hear the quiet voice of spirit,while strengthening your body.

This gentle Kripalu yoga class, taught by Nancy Murray, RYT, is appropriate for

students at all levels, including beginners.

Midwinter series starts the week of January 5.

Three different six-week classeswill be offered:

Tuesdays: 7:00pm – 8:15pm Wednesdays: 9:15am – 10:30am Thursdays: 9:15am – 10:30am

Treat Yourself to Yoga in the New Year!

Please call Nancy Murray, 860-521-8186, for more information, including

suggested donation, or to sign up.


Growing Faith at Home: Let’s Fill an Ark!

This winter, First Church will kick-off a church-wide fundrais-ing effort to support Heifer International. This international, non-profit organization, founded by Dan West in 1944, is firmly plantedin the idea that we are all responsible for each other. As stated ontheir website, “Small sparks create big fires. Together we are thecatalyst to help others help themselves. Our power lies in the beliefthat every person is in charge of his or her future. We are all changemakers. In the broadest sense, Heifer believes that hard work willbring about a better tomorrow and solutions for poverty. And thatit will take all of us collectively to create sustainable change.”

Our children will have the opportunity to learn more aboutthe mission of Heifer, the animals they provide, and the idea thateach and every one of us, including kids, can make a difference! I hope you’ll join in with your kids in learning, fundraising, andsupporting this very important cause. Together, we can fill an ark.Materials to support your efforts at home will be coming!!

–Dawne Quinn

CHURCH SCHOOL NEWSDuring the month of January, our K-6 Faith Journeys program ro-

tation unit will be Seasons of the Church Year. This four-week unitwill explore the cycle of special days and seasons in the church thathave their origin in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Eachweek, the children will visit workshops that will cover colors, symbols,stories and traditions, as well as hymns. This unit will culminate withan all-generations worship service on February 8th.

Our 7th and 8th graders will continue with Connect Unit 2, ThePromise. They’ll explore the stories of Jacob and Esau, the twelvesons, and Joseph.

The three and four year-olds will explore lessons on the WiseMen, Jesus’ Baptism, The Disciples and The Lord’s Prayer.

Middle School Youth GroupIt is hard to believe that2015 is already here!There has been a lot offun so far and a lot moreto be had in the newyear! Meetings will beheld on January 11 and25 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. inthe Youth Room, so savethose dates. MSYG is

open to all Middle School age youth and is a very welcominggroup so please come! -Ric Barry

The first and second grade class created a starry night background for theirnativity project. PHOTO BY DAWNE QUINN

Do you Follow us on Facebook? If you are new to Facebook, please look up “First Church of Christ Congregational” and “like” us to stay informed, be inspired,

and view some great photo galleries. The Communications Ministry has been adding to the page, and they will be adding pro-fessional photographs by Todd Fairchild to further illustrate the vibrancy of First Church. If you are unfamiliar with how Face-book works, please talk to Ginny Vocelli, Amy Melvin or Joy Taylor.


12 SOUTH MAIN STREETWEST HARTFORD, CT 06107

JANUARY 2015

January 255 p.m. in the Chapel.The Celtic Evening Eucharist is acandlelit service with beautifulCeltic music, prayer, reflection andHoly Communion.

CelticEvening Eucharist

TaizéWorship Services

Co-sponsored by:

January 115 p.m. in the ChapelTaizé Worship is an ecumenical, contemporary,contemplative service withsong, silence, scripture andprayer. The quiet, reflectiveservices are a lovely interludein our busy lives.

Invite your friends! The services are open to the wider community.

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