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Please welcome Rev. Patt Kauffman to our Christian Education Team! She is our new Children's Ministries Coordinator! Check out 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

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2nd CT Conference Revival Revive your soul at the 2nd Annual CT Conference Revival Conference. October Oct. 13-15, 2016. We are looking to get a group together to attend. Click below for more details and RSVP to the church office if you would like to go with the group.  

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October 2
October 9
October 16
October 23
November 6
November 13

Part 4: The Church as a Healing Community 
Part 5: Privilege and Power
Part 6: The Gospel of Individualism
Part 7: Solidarity with the Oppressed
Part 8: Hope for the Future

Part 9: Communion as Healing

Prudential Council met on Wednesday, September 14^th.  We were pleased to welcome Bill Shepherd to his first meeting and thank him for joining the Stewardship board.  It was also a joy to have Maureen Matthews with us, representing the Missions board.
 
Pastor Todd shared results from the Meet the Minister meetings earlier this year.  51 people participated in the focus groups.  Top answers to the question “What brought you to FCC” included (1) congregational/UCC heritage or loyalty or commitment to FCC (34 responses); (2) good relationship with the pastor (23 responses); (3A) Open & Affirming, although some noted the need for more education about this (17 responses); (3B) Community engagement/missions, including Thanksgiving dinner and Pilgrim Tower (17 responses); and (4) our “warm welcome” (16 responses). 
 
Top answers to the question “What are your hopes and dreams for FCC” included (1) more young people, families and children and changes to youth programs and church school (23 responses); (2) grow the church so that it is here for the next generation and can support greater missions work (21 responses); (3) new worship experiences, “spiritual vitality, “bridge worship and outreach”, “updated language”, “lively music” (12 responses); (4A) preservation/survival of institution/building (11 responses); (4B) spiritual and organizational change (11 responses); and (4C) Work on relationships/covenant/conflict (11 responses).
 
We reviewed a first draft of the 2017 budget, and the budget committee continues hard at work to finish the proposed budget before our fall budget meeting on October 30^th.  Special thanks go out to David Vintinner for sharing his spreadsheet wizardry and institutional knowledge in this process, and to Pam Shadford and Anne Mochulsky for “translating” our old reporting formats to the new Quickbooks format.
 
Lisa Bauerle reported that the building committee anticipated receiving quotes for all facets of the project within a few weeks, and then they would need to meet to review proposals and determine what will fit within our budget for renovations.  We expect to hear an update from the committee at the October 30^th congregational meeting. When you see the members of the building committee, Lisa Bauerle, Peter Birch, Pam Riley, Pam Shadford, and Diane Sileo, please be sure to thank them for everything they are doing! 
 
Steve and Betty Ayres, Kathie Laug, Lynne Koellner and Virginia Atkinson are all on board our inventory team who will take stock of the church’s belongings throughout our building and decide what to keep and store, sell, donate or dispose of before the demolition and renovations begin. We can use more volunteers for this work.  And don’t worry, we plan to hire movers to do the manual labor!  We just need help inventorying and categorizing our belongings.
 
Plans are underway for continuing our worship services, office functions, Thrift Shop, Downtown EATS, soup kitchen cooking and Rainbow Café and Yeah groups during any time that we are out of our building during construction.  Outreach groups like AA, Alanon and OA also would be temporarily relocated.
 
The new parking tags are working well to reduce unauthorized parking in our lot.  Many new people have come into the church office to sign up for monthly parking!  Thank you to Lydia and our Trustees for organizing the new system.
 
The new Sunday morning study on Unity is off to a great start.  Thanks to Maureen Matthews and Denise Gajadhar for organizing us and for everyone who is faithfully participating in the conversation.
 
Pastor Todd has been with us for six months now!  We’ve accomplished so much, yet there is more work to do.  How have these six months been for you?  Any and all feedback is welcome – please share it with Pastor Todd or Rob Godzeno.

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Anne Firmender,  Anne Mochulsky,  Corrine Taylor, Jean Meyer,
Maureen Matthews , Warren Richardson, Katie McAllister, Pastor Todd Yonkman

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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

“Hear my teaching, O my people; incline your ears to the words of my mouth… that which we have heard and known, and what our forebears have told us, we will not hide from their children. (Psalm 78:1,3)
 
Teaching our young means teaching the church – to learn what God desires of us and how to live a godly life, is the joy and obligation of the church. 
 
I am honored to be with you as we start this journey; to help our young grow in their faith and love of Jesus Christ and His church is a calling that will enrich and enable our children their entire lives.
 
I am sure many of you remember with fondness a favorite Bible verse, or a silly song that still taught so many truths about God’s love for us, or a friendship; begun so many years ago as together you learned all about faith.
 
We will be doing a new/old thing – teaching, yes, but in new ways so that our children can use all their senses as they learn.  There will be opportunities for our children to touch, to see, to explore, to taste, to smell, to ask, to lead, and to listen. We will invite them to bring their entire selves to the experience!
 
And, we are going to help parents and church members be teachers to our children, to share their stories and their faith, and together, build a community of love and sharing and being – one in Christ, and one in each other.
 
We can’t do this without your help!
 
I invite you to speak to members of the Christian Education Board about how you can help:
 
Lisa Bauerle                  lisabauerle@gmail.com;            Jen Godzeno                 jbso06@gmail.com
Jill Shepherd                 jillshepherd@me.com;               Warren Richardson      203-327-4905
 
We will need dreamers and lovers of the Word and creative folk who will bring their richness and diversity to what we will be doing on Sunday mornings.
 
There will be more information shortly, and please look for more discussion about what our program will look like. I look forward to meeting you all, and sharing with you my passion for teaching our children.
 
To God Alone the Glory!

Children’s Ministries Coordinator

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Thrift Shop September Hours: 
Thursdays: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Saturday, October 15: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
 

The Thrift Shop has returned to our regular schedule Thursdays 10:00 a.m.to 3:00 p.m. and the 3^rd Saturday of the month 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  New volunteers are always welcome and appreciated and we are delighted to welcome our newest volunteer Priankha Singh. 
    
On Saturday, September 17^th we set up shop on the front lawn to join the downtown festivities.  We could not have done this without the help of volunteers, Pam Shadford, Daniel Cheyne, Corrine Taylor, Priankha Singh and committee members, Elfriede Mallin, Pam Riley, Jean and Bob Meyer, Anne Firmender and Kathie Laug.  Thank you all so very much for your help. 

Special notes of thanks to Pastor Todd who attended our August meeting we appreciated his spending time with us, Peter Birch who helps move many boxes to and from storage and often offers our morning prayer and Bob Meyer for making sure our sign is always on the lawn each Thursday and then returned in the afternoon!
 

Our September expenses are as follows:
September donations:
$100 worth of clothing to those in need
$20 New Christmas decorations to the Deacons
$275 to Laura Sage who selected warm coats, jackets, sweaters, boots, and blankets to take to the Standing Rock protestors.
10 Scrapbooks to the Backpack Blessing

September expenses:
$500 to Louisiana flood victims
$199.99 for Lynne Koellner (reimbursement) purchase of new food processor for the kitchen
$500 First Congregational Church - Outreach Mission cooking for New Covenant House

 

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BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

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