A Note From Pastor Lauren

I N S I D E t h i s i s s u e

THE CRIER A PUBLICATION OF COLCHESTER FEDERATED CHURCH

MARCH 2020 VOL 13 #3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1 Pastor Lauren’s Note

2 Prayers

3 Celebrations

4 Worship Information

5 Sunday School

6 Thank you

7 Note to Members

8 Announcements

9 Calendar

10 Cover Page

Ministers:

All of the Members of the Church are called to serve in

daily life.

Staff:

Rev. Lauren Lorincz, Pastor

Kimberly Lewis, Music Director

Nicole Hosford, Office Manager & Christian Education Director

Tom St. Louis, Treasurer

Dave Hock, Custodian

Colchester Federated Church

60 Main St., Colchester, CT. 06415

Office Hours M-F 9 AM—1 PM

Phone (860)537-5189

Email/Website: cfc06415@gmail.com colchesterfederatedchurch.org

Dear CFC Church Family, Here's some updated information to share regarding our beloved church: 1.) Worship will be Virtual Worship until further notice Deacons and our Church Staff will be looking at guidelines from the CDC, the State of Connecticut, the Colchester Public Schools, Town Hall, etc. to determine when it is safe for us to gather in person. Right now, the CDC rec-ommends that groups of 50 or more should not gather for the next 8 weeks which would mean we could be back to worship in person in May, but that is not guaran-teed. Please go on our website (and Pastor Lauren will continue to send you Sunday morning e-mails) to view Virtual Worship. Any Prayer Requests may be sent into Pastor Lauren (lauren.lorincz@gmail.com) by Tues-day, though remember that anyone can view Virtual Wor-ship on our website and your Prayer Request would there-fore be public information. https://colchesterfederatedchurch.org/worship-sermons 2.) CFC is now closed to the public until further notice As Pastor Lauren wrote in an e-mail to the many Commu-nity Groups that use our church building yesterday, "This was not an easy decision to make as we take seriously our commitment to provide a welcoming place where people can come for community. However, we made this decision knowing that at the moment we cannot guarantee your safety in our space knowing that some groups are larger than 10 people, COVID-19 can survive on some surfaces for up to 2-3 days, and some people may come to our church in good faith while not yet showing symptoms of the virus and inadvertently expose their entire group. We are doing our part to 'flatten the curve' and not overwhelm our hospitals with very sick people in need of help all at once." 3.) CFC Ministry meetings will be virtual meetings Diaconate, Discipleship, and Stewardship will continue to meet, though it will be virtually. Bible Study will resume when our church re-opens to the public. 4.) Nicole will be managing the Church Office from Home Nicole will maintain our regular Office Hours of Monday-Friday, 9-1 working from home. If you call CFC (860.537.5189) during our normal hours of operation, Ni-cole will answer as she's figured out call forwarding! Our preferred forms of communication with one another is calling on the phone, sending an e-mail, text, etc. Remember that we are being encouraged to "Stay

Safe, Stay Home" by Governor Lamont as of 3/24/20. 5.) Pastor Lauren will be working from the Parsonage Pastor Lauren will maintain her current schedule of Office Hours on Mondays 9-2 and Wednesdays and Thursdays 9-12. Fridays continue to be her day off. On Tuesdays, she will be working to get her sermon written. Though all of this will take place at the parsonage! The safest way to be in touch is virtually, so feel free to call, text, or e-mail should you wish to connect: lauren.lorincz@gmail.com and 330.524.0786. 6.) Diaconate is working on a Congregational Phone Tree Our Deacons will be calling our church members and friends during this time when we are physically apart to check in and stay connected. If there are needs you have with groceries, Nicole will help coordinate folks to shop for you. If you would like to be added to the list of people who could shop for others, please let Nicole know (cfc06415@gmail.com). If there are spiritual needs (or any other needs you may rather share privately with Pastor Lauren), the Deacon who calls will relay that mes-sage. And of course, you can always call her directly. 7.) Nicole is working on virtual Christian Education offerings Nicole will continue to send our church families resources to have CE activities in your homes. She has also created a Facbook group called CFC Sunday School. And in the days ahead, she will be working on meeting with our fami-lies over Zoom. 8.) Giving to our church You can mail your pledges to the Office and we have elec-tronic giving through PayPal on our church web-site: https://colchesterfederatedchurch.org/giving We are also aware of the economic uncertainty facing many and understand that we will give as we are able. As plans evolve and change, as we continue to monitor what's hap-pening in response to COVID-19 both nationally and locally, our church will respond and communicate our plans with our church fami-ly. We are all doing our best in uncertain times and extending grace to one another as we figure out paths forward will help us all get through. Remember that God is with us, and though we are apart physically right now, we are not alone. Love, Pastor Lauren

March 2020 Volume 13 Issue 3 1

For those who are ill or recovering:

Barbara Bosse

Jason Clarke

Julie Clarke

Sadie Dombrowski

Nancy Dooley

Joan Frantzen

Joseph and Mary Hamel (Shelly Hirsch’s parents)

Frank & Lillian Lavech

Wildred Marvin

Sara McCarvill

Karen Monteleone

Dot Olson (Barb Bosse’s mom)

Bonnie Rebillard

Teri Sawchuk

Amanda Skoglund

Odessa Turner

Rex Walden (Karen Briggs’ Son-In-Law)

For those who are grieving the loss of a loved one:

The Anderson Family (Hosford, Caronna, McGuire)

Kurt Frantzen (and his siblings Jeff Frantzen & Shari Bennett)

For those friends in Assisted Living, Rehabs, and Convalescent Homes:

Prayers for Hanmok Church, our Korean Partner Church.

Prayers for all those who are providing care for family members.

Prayers for all those who are grieving.

Prayers for all who are in recovery and struggling with sobriety.

Prayers for all those separated from their families.

Prayers for our country, its leaders and for peace here and in the world.

IN OUR PRAYERS

April 2020 Volume 13 Issue 4 2

CELEBRATIONS

04/05 Sean Stevens 04/08 Evelyn Plecan 04/10 Ryder Hlasyszyn 04/13 Chester Anderson Necia Stopa 04/14 Timmy Anderson Gerry Caron

04/17 Wendy Moores 04/22 Jason Clarke Valerie Furman Cora Rago 04/26 Rosie Bosse Sara McCarvill Barbara McKelvey 04/28 Allison Capasso Patience Collins

04/27 Jim & Liza Ringuette

We are very thankful to so many people in our church community…

… To Amy Domeika and Avis for organizing the Pancake Supper. And to Deborah Howard and Ray Wagner for being the cooks.

… Thank you to Caroline and Katie Fraiser for decorating the envelopes for our Matching Funds Campaign. … Thank you to all those who donated supply items to our Sunday School Program. … Thank you to Dolores Sawchuk, Jeannette Tomlinson and all those who helped with the funeral reception for Alberta (Anderson) Murphy-Mader. … Thank you to Tom St. Louis for editing our virtual worship services. … Thank you to our congregation for all the love and support you have shown one another during these difficult and un-certain times.

We thank those who check on and open/close windows and doors… for those who bring in paper

goods to offset our expenses, and for those who donate their time and efforts to maintain and repair our buildings and grounds.

April 2020 Volume 13 Issue 4 3

WORSHIP INFORMATION

April 5 Matthew 21:1-11 April 12 John 20:1-18 April 19 John 20:19-31 April 26 Luke 24:13-35

February Year to Date

Total Pledged $10,903.00 $21,806.00

Total Received $9,900.00 $19,355.00

Difference $(1,003.00) $(2,451.00)

Percent Received 91% 89%

Giving Update

April 2020 Volume 13 Issue 4 4

Virtual Worship

All worship services will be Virtual Worship until further notice.

Please visit our church’s website at www.colchesterfederatedchurch.org

and click on the Worship & Sermons tab.

- April 5

- April 9

- April 10

- April 12

SUNDAY SCHOOL

The annual Christmas Pageant will be held on December 22

during worship.

March 2020 Volume 13 Issue 3 5

Intergenerational Preparation for Lent

The members of CFC both young & older, took part in a couple of activities to prepare the congregation for Lent.

Each congregant painted a cross on a muslin cloth using ashes made from last year’s palms.

This cloth was then placed over all of our Alleluias that were put away.

We will celebrate and release the Alleluias once we are able to worship together in person!

THANK YOU

April 2020 Volume 13 Issue 4 6

Dear CFC Family,

It is with a grateful heart that we send this note. Your thoughts and prayers have brought us such comfort in our time of loss. Alberta loved coming to the Holly Fair and running into Church members around town. In her final year, she was blessed with visits at the nursing home from many of you. Our family is grateful for these moments. On the day of her funeral, the Christ light in all of you shined upon us through your making of foods, your hugs, your words of com-fort, and your care for us as we grieved. Thank you for being the amazing Church you are and walking with us in our time of need.

From Alberta’s loved ones,

The Anderson, Hosford, McGuire & Caronna Family

THANK YOU! Thank you to Katie and Caroline Fraiser for all the hard work they put into making the

envelopes for the Matching Campaign! You can pick up one of these amazing dona-

tion envelopes in the sanctuary! (when we are back together again physically)

NOTE TO CONGREGATION

April 2020 Volume 13 Issue 4 7

A MESSAGE FROM OUR ASST. TREASURER

Greetings fellow members / friends of the Colchester Federated Church! I pray daily that you're all weathering this pandemic storm well and that this note finds you in good health and spirits! While the church is indeed closed to the public as recommend by state / federal health offi-cials, most of our expenses continue. I am writing to encourage you to consider mailing your weekly/monthly pledge or offerings to the church, at the address below or to donate online through our website: https://colchesterfederatedchurch.org/giving. Your volunteer Treasury team of Deb Howard, Tom St. Louis and myself have been get-ting together (staying at a safe distance and with plenty of hand sanitizer!) to make a weekly deposit of any income / donations received during the week, as well as issuing checks, to help keep the church operational and solvent. Of course, if you've been furloughed or oth-erwise displaced from your job during this difficult time for our world community, I fully understand that this request may not be possible to fulfill. For those of us who are fortu-nate to still have a paycheck coming in, however, please prayerfully consider this request. COLCHESTER FEDERATED CHURCH 60 Main Street Colchester, CT 06415 Attn: Treasurer Stay strong and stay healthy! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Tom (tstlouis06415@gmail.com) or myself (sbradstreet@snet.net or 860-908-6386). We WILL get through these trying times together, with the support of each other and the strength of God. Wishing blessings to you all, Steve Bradstreet Asst. Treasurer

ANNOUNCEMENTS

April 2020 Volume 13 Issue 4 8

SNEUCC RIP MEDICAL DEBT CAMPAIGN

One of the first justice actions we will take as the new Southern New England Conference is to work to-gether to make a difference in the lives of those saddled by medical debt in our region.

Medical debt is a huge problem, causing the poorest among us to cut back on some of the most important necessities in-cluding food and clothing while simultaneously putting them at risk of having needed heath care services refused. It is also a problem that can be addressed. With every $100 we raise, we can eliminate $10,000 in medical debt in some of the neediest Southern New England communities, including Springfield, MA, Bridgeport and Hartford, CT, and Provi-dence, RI. We will do this by working together with New York-based nonprofit, RIP Medical Debt, the same organiza-tion that worked with Chicago area churches to erase $5.3 million in debt and with St. Louis area churches to erase $12.9 million there. The deadline for contributions to this initiative is Friday, April 17 (The Friday following Easter). We will post updates and lists of donors on this site as we move toward our goal and our deadline. To donate individually visit this website https://sneucc-reg.brtapp.com/ripmedical ________________________________________________________________________________ Background Information: The following is from the RIP Medical Debt website's FAQs: Who qualifies for debt forgiveness? When we purchase a portfolio of medical debt, we abolish debt for individuals who:

• Earn less than 2x the federal poverty level (varies by state, family size).

• Debts are 5 percent or more of annual income. Facing insolvency — debts are greater than assets.

We only buy debt that has been pre-qualified by our partners to meet at least one of these three criteria. We never collect on debt we purchase, only forgive it. Do recipients of debt forgiveness have any adverse consequences? No. With your help, we abolish medical debt permanently. Recipients have no adverse tax consequences, obligations, or strings attached. For those whose medical debts are forgiven, the forgiveness is a gift from a detached and disinterested third party (RIP) as an act of generosity, so forgiveness of the debt does not count as income to the debtor. We will not file a Form 1099-C with the IRS.

UPCOMING CHURCH EVENTS

All of our church sponsored events are in a holding pattern currently until we know when it's safe to resume being

together in person again. As we get clarity, we will send out information to you about events like the Spring in Bloom Vendor Fair, Tag Sale, Matching Campaign, etc.

APRIL CALENDAR

April 2020 Volume 13 Issue 4 9

Colchester Federated Church

60 Main St Colchester, CT. 06415 Phone: (860) 537-5189 www.colchesterfederadtedchurch.org