This week is going to start early for me with an all church leadership retreat at FCC on Saturday the 24th. Rev. Paul Nickerson, our transition coach, will be leading us in a conversation about our congregation's mission focus and helping us develop an action plan based on that mission. If you haven't signed up for the retreat, do so now! Sunday we'll have worship. Then I have a UCC clergy meeting Sunday afternoon and Monday, but I'll be back in time for Deacons Monday evening. Because of the shift in schedule, I'll be headed to Windsor Wednesday after staff meeting. 

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Please Welcome Rev. Patt Kauffman to our Christian Education Team! Please see her bio below:

To God alone the glory! I am thrilled and delighted and thanking God for the opportunity to be a part of First Congregational Church. I am looking forward to meeting all of you and learning your wonderful history and working with you and Pastor Todd as you move forward into what God is calling you to.
 
I was ordained fifteen years ago, and have served Lutheran and Episcopal congregations.  My last call (ministry site) was St. Peter’s in Port Jervis, NY. It became during my time there a welcoming and inclusive congregation, something I was eager to be a part of again in seeking what was next in my life of ministry.
 
I graduated from Union Theological Seminary in NYC; a theologically liberal institution where some of the greatest theologians of the 20^th century passed through – Paul Tillich, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King – to name a few.  It was there where I learned to speak for and advocate for the voiceless, the least, the marginalized, and to speak truth to power.

I look forward to teaching and working with the children and youth, their parents and other interested adults as together we explore: what does it mean to be a Christian in the 21^st century?  How do we put our love of God that we find in Jesus Christ into meaningful engagement with the world and the community we live in?  How do we make lasting changes for the good of all? 
 
And, we’ll have fun too!  Children and youth ministry have been at the heart of my understanding of where the church is and how we equip life -long learners and lovers of God. 
 
My husband Bill and I have four grown daughters, two of whom (along with my sister) live in Stamford – a powerful draw to this community for me! (We currently live in Newburgh, NY, overlooking the Hudson River, about an hour from Stamford). We also have two grandchildren in Stamford; I see them both in Sunday school in the near future – can we say Sunday School Christmas Pageant?!!
 
May God bless this new beginning!
The Rev. Patt Kauffman