THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF DARIEN UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

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1 THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF DARIEN UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST Parish Columns Q Inside this issue: Call to the Annual Meeting: Part II 2 In Brief 2 Darien House Tour 3 Music At First 3 Board of Outreach 4 In May We Help 4 Open Door Shelter 4 Easter Meal Thank You 5 One Great Hour of Sharing 5 Associate Minister Search 5 Women s Association 5 Church School Sunday 6 3rd Grade Communion 6 Vacation Bible School 6 Church School Teachers Needed 6 Confirmation Kickoff Confirmation Class of Church Calendar 8 MOJO, Revisited I was wistfully remembering my first sermon with you after arriving just over three years ago. I titled it, Finding Our Mojo. It was about cutting through the underbrush to clear the way for a thriving First Congregational Church, Darien to emerge. I still believe in that language and plan. We were in a spiritual trough, like most churches during the watching and waiting of an interim. But good things can come out of difficult waiting periods, such as rediscovering spiritual hunger and refusing to take our blessings for granted, as they finally arrive. I tried to dissuade us from believing that we can rebuild our spiritual home through big, showy, glamorous grand gestures. For example, we had wonderfully good publicity in the local press last Holy Week through the coverage around the Cross Walk. Was that a good thing? Yes. Impressions of churches form and accumulate. Was that a decisive thing? No, rather than grand gestures, church renewal is more about shoring up spiritual foundations so that we can build and extend upon a solid basis. People in this lonely world yearn after genuine community. We have had a lot of reconciliation in the last three years. A community that can forgive will always be able to find its way forward. People always seek communities of full reconciliation, because they hardly exist anywhere. We have built momentum toward loving God and neighbor in the shape and way of Jesus, whether we mean working with local mission agencies or traipsing abroad to build homes with the poor. I felt something turn within us at the start and end of Epiphany, as I preached interpreting what does it mean to be God s beloved children? And what does it mean to treat others as such? Such a vision took us to the heart of the matter, to the heart of Jesus message, and the heart of our work in ministry. Those words challenged us, rejoiced our hearts, and defined our purpose. Sharing our belovedness in Christ is the passion and truth around which we organize all others. Recently, I have seen more signs of finding our mojo than any time since becoming your pastor. We still have a long way to go, but being able to affirm that rejoices my heart. A few glimpses... We just received 16 new members, and we could receive another half-dozen right now. Confirmation Sunday reveals how many participate in passing on our faith to our young. We have more small children in our Nursery during worship than within recent memory. With half of the Two s Program children from FCC, we are building bridges. No few have already been asking, eager to explore a mission to Costa Rica with Habitat. We have initiated a new Weds. Bible Study for newer members, with an eye to autumn. God increased our giving 6%. We hope to consolidate those gains, attracting new givers. We ve already come a long way. This was the last paragraph of my January, 2012 sermon. We will know we ve found our mojo as we experience ourselves as God s beloved children. For as experience and share that belovedness, we can endure long silences, low cycles, even plagues. Our real mojo is living out our belovedness in Jesus Christ. Such a life can t help but brim with passion and celebration. Isn t that the church you want? Are you ready for some joy? Amen.

2 Parish Columns Page 2 Q THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF DARIEN 14 Brookside Road Darien, CT Phone: info@uccdarien.org Website: CLERGY AND STAFF Dale Rosenberger, Senior Minister DRosenberger@uccdarien.org Daniel Hague, Music Director DHague@uccdarien.org Max Pakhomov, Organist MPakhomov@uccdarien.org Dennis Hanlon, Church Administrator DHanlon@uccdarien.org Teri Manning, Nursery School Director fccns@sbcglobal.net Karen Hansen, Treasurer KHansen@uccdarien.org Kate Nelson, Church School Director KNelson@uccdarien.org Justin Inners, Youth Minister JInners@uccdarien.org Sally Bassler, Lay Minister of Pastoral Care sbassler13@gmail.com Jerzy Karnowski, Nursery School Custodian PARISH COLUMNS STAFF Kathy Cramer, Editor Nancy Sheed, Communications Chair Call to the Annual Meeting A Call to the Annual Meeting You are hereby called to the Annual Meeting: Part II Programs of The First Congregational Church of Darien, United Church of Christ. This meeting is scheduled for Sunday, May 17, 2015 immediately following our 10:00 a.m. service of worship. The purpose of this Congregational meeting is to: * receive the 2015 nominating reports, * receive committee program reports, and * address any other business or concern relating to the life of our parish, which may properly be brought before the assembled Congregation. Childcare will be provided during the meeting. Constance Moore, Clerk In Brief...Church Announcements Summer Service Hours begin June 28 Starting on Sunday, June 28, through the month of August, we will be holding one Church service each Sunday, at 9:00 a.m. Our Nursery will remain open all summer and will be staffed to accommodate families with infants and toddlers, up to age 2. Please join us for these pleasant air conditioned summer services, followed by lemonade on the lawn! FCCNS Messy Art Show After the service on May 10, take a peek in the Chapel to see the collective work from all 110 students of our Nursery School. This is the 5th Annual Messy Art Show. To submit information, send an to: ParishColumns@uccdarien.org SUNDAY SERVICES 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Church School and child care available during the 10:00 a.m. service CHURCH OFFICE HOURS Tuesday Friday, 8:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.

3 Q Page 3 Parish Columns FCCD House Tour - June 4 Party and Silent Auction - Friday, June 5 The House Tour Team is working hard lining up sponsors and local homes as well as the party details (including a Silent Auction). Currently the House Tour is slated for Thursday, June 4 with the Party planned for Friday, June 5, invitations being sent out shortly to the community at large so buy your tickets now. If you would like to help, the team has advised that we are in need of the following: 1. Silent Auction Items: If you have connections to Sports Events, TV shows, Concerts, Tickets of any kind (airline, movie, etc.) they will be put them to good use helping to raise funds for Person to Person. 2. Visit our Web Page or like us on Facebook (Darien House Tour). Contact: Heather Raker HRaker@me.com or Karalesa DeFabio at Karalesa@gmail.com Music At First At First Congregational Church we are lucky that the renowned concert pianist Max Pakhomov serves as our organist. As in years past, Max is blessing us this year with a classical music piano recital, which will occur this Saturday, May 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the Meetinghouse. Max will be performing selections from Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann-Liszt and Scriabin. The concert will be followed by a special reception in his honor. The concert is free (with a good will offering benefiting Inspirica) and we will be requesting a modest donation at the reception to cover the cost of the wine and food.

4 Parish Columns Page 4 Q Board of Outreach News In May We Help... The Board of Outreach has two wonderful opportunities for the Congregation to help others for the annual In May We Help campaign. Come experience the true meaning of outreach by signing up to help at one or both of these wonderful opportunities. Person-to-Person Postal Food Drive: Saturday, May 9, 12:00 noon - 5:00 p.m. The FCCD Team (all ages welcome!) will help sort food coming in from the Postal Workers Drive at Person-to-Person in Darien. The FCCD Team will work from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. any amount of time you can offer will be helpful. Any questions please feel free to contact Mariann Bigelow at bigelow3@optonline.net. Person-to-Person is a volunteer-driven, community-supported agency which, through the sharing of goods and talents, responds to individuals and families who lack the basic necessities or resources to improve their lives. More than 90% of all donations go directly to programs. Sound Coalition: Saturday, May 30, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. FCCD will team up with other Congregational Churches in our area as the Sound Coalition to help build with Habitat for Humanity in Bridgeport on May 30. Habitat for Humanity is building homes this year and we will be working on their 200th house to date! No skills required just a hard work ethic and willingness to help. We will meet in Bridgeport at 8:30 a.m. and end around 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. Must be 16 or older. Please contact Heather Raker hraker@me.com if you are interested in helping. Open Door Shelter Dates Please note that we could still use more helping hands to help with the cooking and serving at the Shelter - this is very rewarding work. If interested, please contact Heather Raker at hraker@me.com Cooking: Thursday, April 30 8:00 a.m. at First Congregational Church of Darien s kitchen Serving: Friday, May 1 11:45 a.m. 2:00 p.m. at Open Door Shelter Cooking: Sunday, May 30 11:00 a.m. at First Congregational Church of Darien s kitchen Serving: Monday, May 31 11:45 a.m. 2:00 p.m. at Open Door Shelter Most of the families and individuals who come to Open Door Shelter arrive with almost nothing, and depend on community donations for household goods, food, and other necessities. There is a particular need for department store or grocery gift certificates, kitchenware, baby clothes and supplies, and disposable items such as soap, toothpaste, and paper products. Donations can be dropped off at Open Door Shelter at 4 Merritt Street in South Norwalk. FoodFirst Sunday: May 3 and June 7 Don t forget Food First Sunday and place your donations at the front of the Church at our Communion Table. Put these dates on your calendar the need remains high. Spaghetti, Macaroni & Cheese (no Lasagna) Jello and other puddings Dry Beans - any kind 1 or 2 lb bag Dry Milk, Qt. Packets Cooking Oil 24 oz or smaller White rice 1 or 2 lb bag Jelly all kinds 18 oz or smaller Canned Fruit Dry Cereal Sweet Toilet Paper Peanut Butter Bar Soap Ready Mix Pan Cake Mix 14oz Shampoo Syrup 14 oz or smaller Toothpaste Oatmeal Packets Juice or Juice boxes

5 Q Page 5 Parish Columns Thank you for the Easter Meal Distribution The First Congregational Church of Darien was successful in providing Easter Dinner to 204 families at the Norwalk Emergency Shelter (which included hams purchased by FCCD along with all of the fixings and hams donated to FCCD by Palmer s Market). We want to send out a special note of thanks to Palmer s Market for helping to make this Easter Dinner donation possible. Easter Offering As you know, the Board of Outreach elected to split the Easter Offering collected to be 50% to our Church and 50% to the Youth Mission Trip coming up in June We are so thankful to report that from the generosity and spirit of the holiday, we were able to allocate $1790. to our Youth Mission Trip this year. One Great Hour of Sharing As part of our Annual Collection for the One Great Hour of Sharing on March 15, the Board of Outreach is happy to report that we were able to send in a donation of $796. to support this Global Fund, managed by the greater UCC. We are so grateful and proud to be part of this wider mission. Associate Minister Search What do you most value in an Associate Minister for our Congregation? As our Church begins the process of identifying an Associate Minister, the search committee invites you to an 11th Hour following the 10:00 a.m. service on Sunday, May 3. We ll introduce the committee members and briefly outline the process, then get to the main purpose to hear your thoughts on the qualities and qualifications you would like to see in the Associate Minister. So, get a cup of coffee and then join us in the Morehouse Room at around 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, May 3. If you can t attend, we also welcome your comments at jonbigelow@thayerpond.com. Women s Association May will be a busy month for the Women s Association. The group just completed a fun day walking the NY Highline and enjoyed getting close to nature in the middle of a major metropolis! Night Owls will hold their annual Cinco de Mayo dinner. This year s festivities will be held on May 6 at 6:30 p.m. in Parish Hall. The final dinner before a summer break will be held in June. Come join the festivities! Special kudos to Debbie Nelson for taking over the organizing of these dinners we have had great times this year. Also many thanks to Ruth Anne Ramsey, who had headed this group for many years. All the gardeners have waited a long time for spring to arrive. Now that it finally has, the group is feeling generous and want to share some of their plants. Join us for a Plant Exchange on Friday, May 8, 5:00 p.m. at the home of Michael Chiodo, 57 Old Farm Road. Get out to your garden and divide those perennials! Even if you don t have any plants to share, come get some of Michael s! On Sunday, May 17, after the 5:30 p.m. service, come here a presentation by Mark Chiodo on hiking the Appalachian Trail. There will be lots of photos, hear some trail tales, and sample trail food (supplemented by pizza). It was a life changing experience for Mark. Read in the Church bulletin and on the WA bulletin board for more news!

6 Parish Columns Page 6 Q Board of Christian Education News Church School Sunday, June 7 Church School Sunday is coming! All children ages 3 through Grade 7 will be running the entire service together. This is a wonderful event, where our Congregation s children can really shine. Parts will be given out on May 10 and May 17. We will be practicing in the classrooms on May 24 and May 31. We need ALL children there for at least three out of the four weekends. Immediately following Church School Sunday, the Board of Christian Education will host a picnic on the front lawn. See you in May for practices! If you have any questions, please see Kate Nelson, Church School Director or her at KNelson@uccdarien.org. 3rd Grade Communion, Sunday May 3 Over the past couple of weeks, the third grade class has been learning about the importance of Communion. With two special classes and their very own intimate meeting with Rev. Dale Rosenberger, they were able to see first-hand how it is all done. This Sunday, May 3, our Third Graders will remain in the Meetinghouse for Service and receive communion with everyone in the Congregation. Do not miss this special event! Vacation Bible School - June FCC is hosting its very own Preschool Bible Camp for the second year. This VBS will be held on Monday, June 15, through Wednesday, June 17. Our children will be exploring God s Mighty Power by heading off to Mount Everest. It will be loads of fun! Please see Kate Nelson at KNelson@uccdarien.org if you would like to help out during the scheduled days. Church School Teachers Needed for As this Church School year comes to end, we are preparing for the next school year. We are looking for volunteer teachers in all classrooms. Please know that anyone can volunteer, not just parents. The children will be learning songs, listening to bible stories, and are guided by you, the teacher, in a lesson that is already planned for you. And with our new format, you ll be spending even less time in the classroom. Please contact Kate Nelson for more information at KNelson@uccdarien.org. Confirmation 2015/2016 Kickoff - May 13, 7:30 p.m. As we turn our attention to our next class of confirmands and share with you the exciting news that confirmation will begin this year in May. This is an important change we are implementing in the year ahead, offering confirmands a full year (instead of eight months) to complete the required program elements. Scheduling is always a challenge especially in our busy lives with sports and arts and school and everything else in between. As such, we have created a schedule that allows for flexibility while still being one that is rich and reflective. Classes with Reverend Rosenberger will begin in September, but 7th graders embarking on the confirmation journey may begin working on all other program requirements now. We re hoping our confirmands learn that they belong to something larger than they are and that they learn how this Church works through experience. We are excited about the rising 8th graders and have these names on our list for the Confirmation Class: Max Berry, Christopher Bergwall, Matthew Bergwall, Will Hamson, George Hult, Samantha Lindell, Brianna Lyons, Kerry McDermott, Wally McKeon, Tatum Petti, Sophie Pullen, Owen Sheed, and Tre Tucci. If there is someone you know who would like to join the Confirmation Class or you know of someone that we may have missed (unintentionally!), please let one of the members of the Coordination Team know. We invite all those interested in learning more about the Confirmation Program to come to a kickoff ice cream social on Wednesday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Circle Room. For more information, contact our Confirmation Co-Chairs Tracey Berry, tbcb@optonline.net or Ellen Kirby, ellenevents@juno.com.

7 Q Page 7 Parish Columns Confirmation Class of 2015 The Confirmation Class finished their year with several interfaith visits. Thank you to Emily Fox for organizing that important part of the Confirmation year. Next, the confirmands and other Church members filled the helium balloons for our Meetinghouse Easter Services. The 500 balloons were blown up, tied with ribbon, and placed in the Meetinghouse. Thank you to the Barnards for organizing our confirmands around this project. Also, the group collected tennis white apparel and rackets for Norwalk Grassroots Tennis. Thank you to the Cators for organizing and distributing to that worthy organization. The Confirmands attended a dessert event with their family and their mentor during which they reviewed their faith statements. Then they read their faith statements to the Congregation and were welcomed into our Church on Sunday, April 26. Thank you to Karen Brennan who organized our dessert event for all who attended. A special thank you goes out to all of the Confirmation Class parents and mentors for making this such a successful year. Congratulations to the Confirmation Class of 2015 on a job well done! Confirmand Cameron Gayle Appleby Christian Joseph Barnard Ellie Brennan Elizabeth Clay Cator Lindsay Story Cator Tyler Morrison Cramer Anna Katharine Fox Matthew Freeman Jack Knowlton Gabriel Samuel Gleason Lauren Winingder Sulger Nicholas Van Ingen Victoria Van Ingen Douglas James Werner Mentor Lisa Wist John Wygal Annette Madden-Kline Kelsey Cochrane Nancy Sheed Dave Miller Leila Wetmore Langdon Van Ingen Lou Converse David Young Anna Denoyer Tripp Freeman Missy Almy John Bassler First row, l to r: Tyler Cramer, Vivi Van Ingen, Christian Barnard, Cameron Appleby, Doug Werner Second row, l to r: Ellie Cator, Lindsay Cator, Anna Fox, Lauren Sulger Back row, l to r: Jack Gabriel, Nicholas Van Ingen, Ellie Brennan, Matthew Freeman (missing from photo, Sam Gleason)

8 Parish Columns Page 8 Q Church Calendar Notes May 2: Music At First, 7:00 p.m., Meetinghouse Max will be performing classical pieces during this free concert. See page 3 for additional information. May 9: Postal Workers Food Collection, 12:00-5:00 p.m., Person-to-Person All ages welcome to help sort the food that the Postal Workers have collected. May 17: Annual Meeting: Part II-Programs, 11th hour, Meetinghouse Please join the Congregation as we hear the nominating and various Church committee reports. May 30: Sound Coalition-Habitat for Humanity, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Bridgeport, CT Habitat for Humanity is building homes this year and we will be working on their 200th house to date! No skills required just a hard work ethic and willingness to help. May 30 and 31: Cooking/Serving for Open Door Shelter, 11:00 a.m./11:45 a.m., various Cook in the Church Kitchen or Serve at the Open Door Shelter. See page 4 for more information. June 4 and 5: Darien House Tour, various homes Get your tickets now for the Darien House Tour and After Party. Detail on page 3. THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF DARIEN UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 14 Brookside Road Darien, CT Phone: info@uccdarien.org Website: NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID DARIEN, CT PERMIT NO. 51