Next Week atFirst Church

ANNUAL WOMEN¡¯S RETREAT

November 16, 17, 18

This year¡¯s retreat theme is Down by the Water: Refresh and Renew and is being held at the Mercy Center in Madison, CT.  Our experienced retreat leaders are Loretta Symons and Ann Aramini. Both have led numerous retreats with organizations such as The Spiritual Life Center in Bloomfield, the Insight Meditation Society, St. James Church in West Hartford and the Mercy Center. Women can attend the entire weekend from early Friday evening until Sunday at 11:30 a.m. for $196 double occupancy room or $237 for a single room. Cost includes Saturday meals and Sunday breakfast.  To reserve space contact Judy Robertson at 225-1124 or  at judy1rober@sbcglobal.net by October 16^th. Full payment is due by November 1^st. Women can attend the Saturday program only from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Please let Judy know by November 1^st if you would like to attend on Saturday only. 

WOMEN¡¯S DISCUSSION GROUP BAKE SALES

Please support our upcoming bake sales being held on October 28^th and November 11th. Proceeds go to scholarships to enable women to attend our annual women¡¯s retreat. 

YOUTH NEWS

Calling all youth group members¡­

We have the annual Fall Church Picnic to help with. There will be pumpkin painting and some face painting as well as some fall crafts.

 But¡­ you don¡¯t want to miss ¨C

Lucky

The clown and his helpers; who can make almost ANYTHING out of balloons!  Wow, see you there!

Mark your Calendars- Upcoming Dates;

October- Snack Prep- Flythe Family

10/14- 2^nd hour fall picnic, Youth running games

Regular meeting 6-8:15

10/21- No evening Youth meeting

          2^nd hour Bake sale for Damu- Flythe Family

10/28-Haunted Fireside Manor- Halloween Party 7-8:15

~  CHURCH PICNIC!!  ~

Please join us for fellowship and great food at our annual fall picnic on Sunday, October 14^th in the Fireside Room directly after church.  Baked ham, rolls and tossed salad will be provided.  Please bring your favorite side dish to share if your last name falls between A - R, and a dessert if you are S ¨C Z.

Hope to see you there.

A REQUEST FOR EVERYONE¡¯S COOPERATION

We have had to place two emergency service calls on our copying machines in the office in less than a week, because of breakdowns which occurred during use by well-meaning but untrained parishioners. The small copier in front of the mailboxes (but outside the copy room) is available for everyone¡¯s use.  If you have a larger printing job or special needs, please see me and I will get the job done for you.  Thank you for your understanding.      ¨C Jim Gower

SUNDAY LIGHT NEWS

A little about our speaker this week:

Jermiel Smith - Is a Youth Pastor from  New Life Ministries right here in downtown New Britain! I met Jermiel this past summer at the Hartford Project and he was a blessing to work with and his joy and faith is so contagious! He has a great faith story which he will share with us. He also is a brand new father.

Come on out to Sunday Light and meet Jermiel you will be glad you did!

Mark your Calendars for:

FAMILY SUPPER NIGHT 5PM October 21

Free will donation gladly accepted!

Join us for some great food and fellowship!

Upcoming dates for October

14- Music of our talented Youth Band/ Guest speaker Jermiel Smith

21- FAMILY SUPPER NIGHT 5PM-Music of Red Letter Day/ Sue Prichard

28- Music of Soulmates/ Sue Pritchard

NEW NEWSLETTER INFO!

Many thanks to Judy Robertson who has stepped forward and offered to produce First Church News for the time being!!  If you have articles or notices that you would like to include in the newsletter, please e-mail them to Judy at judy1rober@sbcglobal.net. Deadline is NOON on Monday for that week¡¯s newsletter.

Jim Gower

~ SOCIAL AND SERVICE  ~ 

Even if you have never come to a Social and Service meeting, you might want to come join us on Tuesday evening October 16^th at 7:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room.

The Rev. Carol North is our speaker and she will be presenting some of the Anniversary Committee¡¯s findings on this church¡¯s history.  You will have ample opportunity to share some of your favorite church stories, too. Come enjoy good food and great fellowship as we discuss our heritage and what we have learned that guides us for the future.  

TRICK OR TREAT FOR UNICEF!

This will be a very busy Sunday! Following the children¡¯s message, we will go to Chapel and meet a new character from the Bible. He has quite a story to tell you! You will also be receiving your UNICEF boxes for trick or treating.  It¡¯s a great way to help children all around the world. Then after church there will be a picnic with delicious food and lots of fun things to do!

A couple of reminders for you and your parents:

If they haven¡¯t registered you for church school, the forms will be in Fellowship Hall after worship.

Each week we will collect the offerings that are brought to church school. At the end of the school year that money is used for one or more mission projects determined by the children. If you would like envelopes and don¡¯t have them, please let me know.

Since we have completed our workshops about Noah and the Ark, I would like to thank the people who participated in making that rotation a success: Julie Zink, Samantha Armitage, Julie Lavigne, Carolyn McElravy, Gina Ohanesian, Kim Perrotta and Dave Anderson. Hope you enjoyed it!

See you Sunday,

Sharon Chamberlain, Coordinator of Christian Education

First Church of Christ                              New Britain, CT

October 10, 2007

Dear Friends,

There are two major points of call on this part of the trip that I would like to tell you about. The first is the island of Patmos. This is the island where John was exiled and wrote the book of Revelation.

Revelation is one of the least read or understood books of the Bible, at least by mainline Protestants. Revelation is a vision of what would happen at the end of time. John did not think of himself as a prisoner, rather, he thought of himself as a theologian, poet and pastor (Revised Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination). There is a monastery at the top of the island where monks continue to live and work. The view from the top is spectacular.

The second port of call is our only stop in Turkey. In the modern port of Kusadasi, we board a bus to take us to the ruins in Ephesus. During Paul¡¯s time, Ephesus was a seaport, but the sea has receded several miles. The ruins in Ephesus are said to be some of the best in the world.

Paul planted many churches in Turkey; remember all those hard to pronounce names in the Pentecost story? They were Ephesus, Pergamum, Philadelphia, Smyrna, Hierapolis, Colassae, Perga, Lystra, Antioch to name a few.

This has been an exciting pilgrimage/sabbatical and one that I will remember for the rest of my life.

 Keep the faith,

Sue 

FIRST CHURCH NEWS

Vol. 55, No. 48

From Your Anniversary Committee: