Current Issue |
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Staff |
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Eric S. Anderson Minister of Communications and Technology 860.761.7102 webmaster@ctucc.org |
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Andrew Page Media Assistant 860.233.5564 drewp@ctucc.org |
HARTFORD -- Back in November, Andy Boisvert of Midlothian, Virginia, informed me that he owned a memorandum book used during the Civil War by Chaplain Joseph Hopkins Twichell. Twichell later became the first pastor of Asylum Hill Congregational Church and was a close friend of Mark Twain. A letter from Twichell to Harry Hopkins, a seminary friend and chaplain to the Washington hospitals, was inserted in the book. 04/12/2010
CLEVELAND -- The United Church of Christ will debut the viral launch of the next "God is Still Speaking" commercial called "The Language of God" on April 16th. The April 16 kickoff is a first for the UCC, relying exclusively on social networking and the church's best communicators, its own members, to spread the message. 04/12/2010
DEEP RIVER -- After thirty years service, it seemed unlikely that much would surprise the Rev. Timothy Haut, but it turned out something could: his own parishioners at the Deep River Congregational Church UCC. During the coffee hour between services on Feb. 28th, the congregation pulled its surprise, honoring the three decades they have enjoyed his leadership as pastor. 04/12/2010
FARMINGTON -- In May 2008, First Church of Christ, Farmington was designated a Global Mission Church in partnership with Global Ministries, Inc. As part of our application, we submitted a three-year plan to enhance and expand our awareness of and involvement in global mission, including a plan to resettle a refugee family in our community. In the fall 2009, we decided it was time to initiate the project. 04/12/2010
HARTFORD -- As I prepare to retire as your Conference Minister, it is difficult to find words for all that is welling up inside me. Let me begin by saying thank you -- for your calling and electing me to serve in 1996, for your graciousness toward my leadership even as we have had to face difficult decisions and challenges, for your personal support and prayers, for your adventurous spirit, and for your faithful conviction about Christ's ministry through our shared life. 04/12/2010
HARTFORD -- Time has changed David Bowie, it has changed me, and it has changed the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. And, like Bowie, I find myself similarly unable to trace time. 04/12/2010
HARTFORD -- In times of transition and transformation in our lives, these particular verses, culled from Psalm 27, give us a steady hand on the spiritual tiller. In my days, I have known times when all I could do was rely on God's light and salvation, on God's readiness to receive my inquiries and to shelter me in my days of trouble. My hunch is that you have known those days too. 04/12/2010
MIDDLESEX ASSOCIATION -- On January 31, 2010, eleven Middlesex Association churches participated in a mission event to raise awareness for homelessness and collect food, clothing, blankets, and shoes to donate. The churches met for some educational programming in the evening before heading into the single digit temperatures to attempt an overnight sleep out. 04/12/2010
GALVESTON, TX -- In February, a group of twenty adults from the Congregational Church in South Glastonbury (CCSG) traveled to Galveston, Texas to help with the rebuilding efforts ongoing since Hurricane Ike in 2008. During the week, the group made significant progress on repairs and reconstruction to one church and four homes in the storm-ravaged area. This was the fifth consecutive year CCSG undertook such a trip, continuing their strong commitment to being a church in mission. 04/12/2010
MIDDLEBURY -- Pastor Appreciation events usually celebrate the ministry of one of a church's ordained leaders, but in Middlebury this winter one minister took the phrase in reverse. On the evening of January 15, around 100 members of the Middlebury Congregational Church UCC filled the Fellowship Hall for a meal prepared by their pastor, the Rev. Dr. Kenneth J. Hoyt. 04/12/2010
SHARON -- Silver Lake Conference Center Work Projects is a new Facebook Group you can be a part of to keep in touch with volunteer work projects at the Lake. If you want to help in the building and maintenance projects at Silver Lake this is the group for you! 04/12/2010
HARTFORD -- The Connecticut Conference United Church of Christ will hold the Spring Session of the 143rd Annual Meeting at the First Congregational Church of Madison, UCC, on May 8, 2010. Keynoters the Rev. Dr. Steve Sterner and the Rev. Cameron Trimble, along with a small host of workshop leaders, will help delegates and participants explore what it is to be the vital Church of Jesus Christ in the strange environment of contemporary society. 04/12/2010
GUILFORD -- In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us that in between our coming from God and our return to God, we have not only a birth from the womb, but we must also have a second birth -- a spiritual birth. He says we do not know when that Spirit will come or from where. Last summer, while at Silver Lake, that Spirit came to Rachel Garcia. 04/12/2010
CLEVELAND -- What do Christians do? How do they learn about God, God's creation, and their place in the world? How do they make choices amidst all the options? How do they deepen their relationships with family, friends, strangers, and their Creator? A comprehensive new resource from the United Church of Christ and Pilgrim Press promises to explore those questions and offer practices to deepen the life of faith. 04/12/2010
FAIRFIELD -- Lots of churches think about having additional worship services with an imaginative, contemporary feel to them. "I would encourage them not to give up," says the Rev. Dr. David Johnson Rowe of the Greenfield Hill Congregational Church UCC in Fairfield. "I never thought it would be Friday night!" 04/12/2010
NEW HAVEN -- Refugees are people without a place. Fear of persecution drives them from the homes. They are nation-less, threatened, and vulnerable. Yet, churches like First Church of Christ, Farmington UCC and the Congregational Church of Brookfield UCC are taking great efforts to offer extravagant welcome toward these displaced brothers and sisters. 04/12/2010
TRUMBULL -- As the children head down to Sunday School following the children's sermon, a young voice rings through the sanctuary, "Yeah! We have computers today." In fellowship hour, a parent tells me that they had planned to sleep late that morning, but the kids wanted to come to Sunday School. During the week, an office volunteer commented, "I don't know where all these children came from. Isn't it wonderful?" 04/12/2010
Click on one of the links below to download and view an archived edition of ConnTact, the Connecticut Conference's newspaper.
