Newsletter January 9

New Britain artist, and fellow parishioner, Amy Belliveau, is our January artist featured at the First Church Gallery. Her exhibit of clay tiles and slabs is inspired by quilting patterns and motifs, and the beauty of nature. The exhibit dates are January 6 - January 31 with an opening reception on Sunday, January 13, 2008 from 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Jeff and Mary Goodwin came to us in September because our Music Director, Jim Gower, was listening when fellow employee, Mary, was speaking about trying to find a suitable church for her family. Jim invited her to bring them to First Church, and the rest is history.

Part of that "history" is the absolute delight that their children Benjamin, age 10, and Hannah Rose, 9 in March, expressed after their first visit to Sunday School. These two definitely were responsible for bringing their parents back the next time, and again and again! Thank you Ben and Hannah!

Jeff has worked as a paving contractor for Tilcon for the past 14 years and oh, he regularly bicycles 100 miles! When Mary isn't working at Crate and Barrel, she enjoys gardening, aquatics and cooking. Welcome, Goodwin family. We're glad you've joined us!

Our Youth Group is in charge of registration this year! Theme this year is "Superheroes; Need One, Be one!"

1/27- 2^nd Hour "Souper" Bowl grinder orders. Regular meeting from 6- 8:15 pm.

Thanks to Chuck Ericson for a very soothing service last Sunday evening. It was fitting to have a friend of Pastor Sue's do the music and message for her last service with us.

January 13th- the music of Shawn Mangan. Help us welcome our new settled Pastor- the Rev. Jack Cook.

The Cooperative Nursery School of New Britain will be holding an Open House on Tuesday, January 22^nd from 6:00 to 8:00 pm (snow date January 23^rd). Interested parents are welcome to bring prospective students to meet the teachers, tour our classrooms, and meet current parents involved in the Cooperative Program. The nursery school has a two day a week 3-year old program, a four day a week 4-year-old program, and a four day a week 5-year old kindergarten readiness program. Applications will be available at the Open House. A deposit is required to register your child. For more information, contact Andrea Cofrancesco at 829-1617 or visit ww.nbcoop.org.

January 6 - Arthur Yeterian, husband of Mary & brother of Mabel Yeterian. Funeral will be Sat. Jan 12^th at First Church @ 11 am.

This Sunday will be special for a couple of reasons. First, our new minister, Rev. Jack Cook will be here leading Sunday worship. Children should plan to go into the sanctuary with their families. I do believe they will have a chance to "chat" with Rev. Cook during the Children's Message!

Second, when the children leave the sanctuary they will go to the Chapel - where Moses will be coming by to continue his story. I'm guessing that he might want to see what you remember from his first visit? who raised him as a child or how many plagues were there? Better brush up!

In case I didn't say this enough on Christmas Eve, all of the children who participated in "'Twas the Night Before the Birth Day" deserve a great big BRAVO! Each and every one of you did a wonderful job - including our prop man Brendan Conry whose name did not appear in the program. Imagine if we could have practiced more than one day!

Join us January 13^th! Our new settled pastor, Rev. Jack Cook will begin his ministry with us and lead our worship service. We are full of hope and joy as we welcome the Cook family and take the next step of our faith journey under new leadership. Be sure to invite your friends back, wear your nametag, and introduce yourself!

If you need to reach Rev. Cook after church hours, he may be reached on his cell phone at (832) 248-5520. This is a temporary number - once he is settled into his new home, he will have a local phone and a local cell phone number. These numbers will be published in the newsletter when available. His e-mail at the church is RevJack830@snet.net.

First of all?an enormous THANK YOU for the wonderfully warm welcome you've extended to us and your truly extravagant hospitality?the cards, the letters, the calls, the gifts, the goodies, the offers of help. We appreciate your many kindnesses! You've made us feel like family already!

And second, what a joy it is to be among you, at long last! The journey was long but good and safe, and we are happy to be back "home" in New England. Thank you again for the opportunity!

These first few months of ministry with and among you will be focused on tasks of "orientation"?e.g., beginning to learn names, finding my way around, coming to understand the unique "culture" and "personality" of this congregation of ours?how we do things, what traditions we cherish, our dreams and visions for the future.

But most of all, I hope to begin what I consider the foundational task of ministry?relationship-building. I want to get to know all of you, and I hope all of you will want to get to know me. To that end, I invite and encourage your invitations to visit with you?in your homes, your offices, in the church office, perhaps over a meal. I'm sure there will be opportunities in the near future to visit with you in small groups, but I cherish this even more personal nurturing of individual pastoral relationships.

And please know that I am especially pleased that on our first Sunday together we shall celebrate liturgically "The Baptism of Christ"?the beginning of Jesus' ministry as God's Messiah and the beginning of our ministry together as people and pastor?the identification of Jesus as God's Beloved Child and our identification as God's Beloved Children. What a great way to begin this glorious journey! Come, let us travel together!

This week the subject is the newspaper (we skipped anything about Christmas since the early Congregationalists didn't believe in celebrating an essentially pagan holiday). People who wanted to read the news had to get papers from other cities-such as New York or Hartford. Church member Mary R. Eno (b. 1785) rode horseback to Hartford to pick up several of these from the post office there, as there was no post office as yet in New Britain. In 1831, the publication of a bi-weekly periodical was begun here by a few young ladies, among them church member Nancy Smith. The articles in "The Shepherdess", as it was called, were mostly on moral and religious subjects. Later the four-page journal included notices of important events with short comments on them. Publication was suspended when Ms. Smith got married in 1832. In 1850, when the parish of New Britain became the borough of New Britain, the first of many local papers was started, but not until 1880, with the establishment of the Herald, did any of these papers last more than a few years.