Volume 9/ Number 2 / February 2008

Speaking Pastorally… “Crosses are for bearing in the marrow

of the bone, deep down channels of the brain,

bruising knees and elbows, hands and blistered heels,

until they finally wear you into the image that was set and then

reset within the garden.” - J. Barrie Sheperd

The season of Lent is almost here and will begin with our Ash Wednesday Service on February 6 at 8:00 pm. We will begin a new series of sermons entitled: The Cross of the Uncrowded Way: Difficult Disciplines of Discipleship. Several chapters from Richard Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline will be helping to frame our weekly themes of Lent. Here is what our Lenten journey of worship will look like:

February 6 Facing the Cost of Discipleship (Ash Wednesday) Luke 9: 51, 57-62

February 10 Welcome to Central Avenue (Prayer) Psalm 63: 1-8, Ephesians 2: 13-16a, 16: 10-18a

February 17 A Study in Transformation: But This I Know (Study) Isaiah 35: 1-7a, John 9

February 24 Till by Turning, Turning We Turn ‘Round Right (Simplicity) Psalm 62, KJV Mark 10: 17-22

March 2 The Way of the Yield Sign (Submission) Acts 5: 27-32, Mark 8: 34-38

March 9 Sharing the Shadows (Confession) Psalm 32: 1-5, Philippians 2: 1-11

March 16 The Touchstone of Thanksgiving (Worship) (Palm Sunday) Luke 19: 28-40, Philippians 3: 12-21

March 23 Sunrise Service – Sunrise Surprise (Easter) Mark 16: 1-8

Festival Services – The Glory of God’s Great Glue (Celebration) Colossians 1: 15-20, Matthew 28: 1-10

I hope you will take on the challenge of diving deeper in your discipleship during this coming Lenten season… you’ll be glad you did… and so will God!

See you in worship!

Greenwich, FIRST CONGREGATIONAL United Church

Connecticut CHURCH of Christ

Old Greenwich, FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH United Church

Connecticut OF GREENWICH of Christ

M EETINGHOUSE M ONTHLY

2 The Meet inghouse Monthly

Church Committee - first Monday of the month (except Feb. 11)

Confirmation - Tuesday evenings

Membership Committee - first Wednesday of the month

Hats Off! - Thursday mornings

Chancel Choir - Thursday evenings

Nights Off - third Monday of the month

Trustees - third Wednesday of the month

Church School Task Force - last Wednesday of the month

Parish Life - as needed when planning an event

Regularly Scheduled Events in the Life of Our Church:

Year-end Update on First Church Electrical Usage

Our pro-active approach to reducing First Church electrical consumption really paid off handsomely in 2007. In December of 2006, we took advantage of Connecticut Light & Power’s Small Business Energy Advantage program. This program provides a monetary incentive to retrofit the buildings with new, highly efficient lighting. All old fluorescent and most incandescent bulbs and fixtures were replaced with new, highly efficient lighting. The CL&P incentive paid 44% of the cost and two dedicated and supportive First Church families paid the remainder of the costs. In addition, we installed motion detectors to control lighting in most of our bathrooms. At the end of 12 months these changes have resulted in a 21% reduction in kilowatt usage vs. a year ago and a 17% reduction in cost! Further, because of these reductions, we were able to take advantage of CL&P’s Summer Saver Rewards program. This resulted in a 20% rebate of our July, August and September electric bills. Combining all these efforts has resulted in a savings of over $5,000 in our electrical costs vs. a year ago. Obviously, air conditioning also utilizes electricity. During the 2000 “Shelter Strong” renovations, new and efficient air conditioning was installed in all our meeting rooms and the church office area. Each meeting room’s air conditioning can be, and is, turned off when rooms are not being used. This, plus our careful monitoring of thermostat settings, has helped keep air conditioning costs in check. George Handley, Business Administrator

JESUS 101

ANNOUNCING the perfect follow up to the popular Bible 101

series! The title of the new series is Jesus 101 (Saving Jesus). Saving

Jesus is a just released DVD–based program that is an exploration of

Jesus Christ for the third millennium. It is similar in format to the

Living the Questions series of a few years ago. Led by Marty Berlin

with the assistance from time to time of David Young or Dan England, it involves learning and discussion after viewing a DVD

segment. Featuring some of the leading religious voices of today such

as Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan and Hans Kung, the series

seeks to answer such questions as: “Who was Jesus?”, “What can we know about Jesus (and how)?”, “Who killed Jesus (and why)?” and

“What do words like incarnation and atonement mean and how have

they been understood through the ages?”

Please join us in the lounge for five weeks beginning Tuesday, Feb.

12 at 7:30 pm or for the repeat of the program the following Sunday, Feb. 17 at 11:15 am.

Our hope and pledge is that you will go away with a greater and more satisfying understanding of Jesus, the center of our faith.

FAITH AND THE WORKPLACE

If you have ever desired to connect your faith life and work life,

please consider joining others who share the same concern in the Church Lounge on the first Thursday of the month beginning

February 7 from 7-8 am. David Young will facilitate the gathering,

which will explore how faith and Christian principles can play an

important role in decision making and work throughout the week. A light continental breakfast will be offered and the sessions will end

promptly at 8 am to allow for commuters and others to begin their

workday in a timely manner. No reservation is required, simply come as your schedule allows.

3 The Meet inghouse Monthly

"BIBLE IN YOUR MAILBOX" Following the success of Bible 101, Dan England is going to try something new and a little different: "Bible in Your Mailbox," that is, your e-mail box. The planned launch is February 26, 2008, but given the nature of technology and human beings, we may be lucky to get it going by Christmas. Anyway... "Bible in Your Mailbox" is an e-mail-based Bible study for members and friends of First Congregational Church. Each week, Dan England, the church's Interim Associate Pastor, will send out a brief commentary on a Scripture passage -- by popular demand, a passage from Romans -- that we will work through. The commentary will be sent at the rate of one a week to everyone who signs up,. Participants will be self-selected by submitting your e-mail address to a yet-to-be determined address. Your e-mail will only be used for this Bible Study and kept in confidence by the administrator. When you get the week's commentary from Dan, you can read it, print it or ignore it. If you don't have time to get to the commentary or if you come into the series after it has started you can see past "Bible in Your Mailbox" comments on a special page on the church's Website. (More on that later.) If you want to, you are invited to join in discussions, questions, insights and comments about the "Bible in Your Mailbox" by using a blog through the link below. For those unfamiliar with blogs (Web logs), comments are simply posted in order and you are invited to respond to or interact with fellow BIYM bloggers. Dan England will monitor the blog and will occasionally offer comments when it seems appropriate. Of course, if you have a question that you don't want to post to the blog, you can e-mail Dan directly at dengland@fccog.org. The hope is that the blog will yield lively -- but, naturally, polite -- discussion of the book we're studying. The comments can be of a personal nature ("I was struck by the writer's use of the emotion in this verse...") or academic ("A commentary I use said about this passage...) or just about anything else. The link below will take you to the blog site called "FCC Bible in Your Mailbox." Here's how it works.

1 Go to http://fccbibleinyourmailbox.blogspot.com/.

2. Choose "Post a comment."

3. If you have a Google Account, type in your e-mailbox and password. If you don't just create one. (You can then use it for anything you want to do on Google. Don't worry, you won't get mail or commit yourself to anything. It will just allow you to make comments on our blog -- and for that matter, other blogs if you get into this thing.)

4. Post your comment. Others will post theirs, and we're off and running. The advantage of this way of study is that we can go as slowly or as quickly as we want to. If we hit a particularly nettlesome passage, we may want to spend proportionately more time in the blog discussion. Also, you can read Dan's commentary at your leisure and participate in the blog or not, as you will. For those without e-mail, the weekly commentary will be made available each week in hard copy at the church each Sunday. We will also work out a way for non-e-mailers to get their comments to someone who will post them on the blog. This is an experiment and we'll see how it goes. We can modify it, expand it, contract it, scrap it or just about anything else we want to do because that is the nature of experiments. With luck it won't make a loud noise and result in black smudge marks on the ceiling, but you never know. Anyway, watch for announcements in the bulletin on how to sign up.

4 The Meet inghouse Monthly

Honduras

A very excited group of travelers from First Congregational Church will be venturing to Honduras on February 14, 2008. This group has signed up with the Solidarity Program, an organization that the United Church of Christ has worked with before, to go and do some much needed work in this country. The group will be traveling to Tegucigalpa, Honduras on Thursday where we will join with the representatives from Solidarity. While in this city, we will be visiting the Theological Community of Honduras and helping them to build a wall on their property. Then we will travel to the village of San Juan Bautista in the Pespire region to help with needed repairs to a local school. This school serves 152 students in grades 1 through 7 and an additional 22 preschoolers as well. They are in desperate need of roof repairs, floor repairs, repainting and installation of doors and windows. We will have our work cut out for us! We are also bringing down some school supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste to hand out to the local children. We will be able to live among the people in the village, staying at one of the homes of the local bodega owner, and maybe even get a game of football in with the local children!

The group is extremely excited for this adventure and consists of: David Young, Debbie & Steve Crawford, Nancy McClennan, Scott Witmer, Russ Berdoff, Matt Berdoff, Alex Pugliese, David Fraser, Sophia Allocco, Caroline Glover, Kelsey Ingraham, Kendall Witmer, Chelsea Bacon, Caroline McClennan, Lindsey Hascher, and Kristen Morris. Please keep the group in your prayers that we will have a safe and successful trip.

MUSICAL SHORTS

Erik Kroncke, the bass section leader in our Chancel Choir, has been awarded The American Wagner Association Award, 3rd Prize, in the 2008 Wagner Division of the Liederkranz Vocal Competition. He will receive the cash award of $2,000 at a special concert at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on March 29. He will be singing in that program as well.

Music for Good Friday On Good Friday, March 21, the Chancel Choir will present Dale Wood’s stirring Service of Darkness, musical meditations on the seven last words of Christ. Occasional choristers are welcome to join us for this moving experience. To that end, the first 45 minutes of six Thursday evening (7:30 to 8:15) rehearsals beginning on February 14 will be devoted to this music. Talk to John Stansell if you are interested.

GLOBAL WARMING EVENT A SUCCESS (sort of)

On Wednesday, January 30 approximately 75 people gathered in the Church Auditorium to participate in a live Web cast of the “2% Solution” sponsored by Focus the Nation. Over 1700 colleges and universities across the country participated along with numerous churches, synagogues, mosques, and civic organizations. Unfortunately, when it came time for the viewing, there was so much demand on the originating Web site that most viewers (including us) experienced technical difficulties and could not receive the program. It was disappointing, but not discouraging because the group felt inspired to continue to get involved and make a difference. On the plus side, Congressman Shays, all three of our town Selectmen, our own Lile Gibbons (State Representative for the 150th District) and the Conservation Director for the Town of Greenwich were all there to add to the conversation and emphasize the importance of the issue.

The “2% Solution” web cast is now available at www.earthdaytv.net and everyone is encouraged to see it! If you would like additional information and would like to learn how to get involved, either visit www.focusthenation.org or e-mail David Young at dyoung@fccog.org and he will see that you receive the appropriate information on what he believes is one of the defining issues of our time.

Pictured from left to right are: David Young, Lin Lavery,

Peter Tesei, Peter Crumbine and Christopher Shays

5 The Meet inghouse Monthly

SUNDAY AFTERNOONS LIVE 2008 CONTINUES

Our wonderful winter series of Sunday afternoon musical programs is off to a great start. On January 6, pianist Andrew Armstrong both charmed and dazzled a capacity audience with his unassuming commentary and virtuoso playing. On the 13th a large group enjoyed the smooth sounds of cabaret singer Cookie Tho-mas. On the 27th the unique sounds of PERCUSSIA (flute, harp, marimba, vibraphone and small percussion instruments) delighted all in attendance.

Here’s the February line-up:

February 3 Broken Reed Saxophone Quartet

February 10 Vocal ensemble Musica Plenti

February 17 Violinist Sarah Geller with pianist Wenhan Anderson

February 24 Baritone Thomas Woodman The Broken Reed Saxophone Quartet calls its arrangement of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons FOUR SEASONS, FOUR SAXES, NEW FOUR-CASTS, and it will be interesting to hear what these four jazz musicians, Charley Gerard (who did the arrangement), Jenny Hill, Alden Banta and Tom Olin, bring to this popular classic. Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, the vocal ensemble Musica Plenti calls its program OPERALIVE! They will brings us music from many well-known operas (Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, Cavalleria Rusticana) as well as selections from The Merry Widow, Kismet and Candide. Violinist Sarah Geller will be joined by pianist Wenhan Anderson in a performance featuring Beethoven’s Sonata No. 1 in D Major, Ravel’s Posthumous Sonate, and selections from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, including “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “Summertime,” and “Bess.” Baritone Thomas Woodman, a son of this congregation, will feature Robert Schumann’s song cycle Dichterliebe, and will also sing opera arias and musical theater selections. The programs begin at 4 pm, with tea, hot chocolate and cookies served from 3:30. Seating is at candlelit round tables. You will love the magical atmosphere! We will ask you to consider a $15.00 individual or $25.00 family contribution to help pay our expenses.

6 The Meet inghouse Monthly

FEBRUARY IN THE CHURCH SCHOOL

FIFTH GRADERS SPEARHEAD “BUILD AN ARK” FOR HEIFER INTERNATIONAL Our 5th Graders have begun an ambitious project of raising as much money as possible for four weeks during Lent for

the benefit of Heifer International. The mission of Heifer International is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. Since 1944, Heifer has helped 9.2 million families in more than 125 countries move

toward greater self reliance through the gifts of livestock and training in environmentally sound agriculture. The impact

of each initial gift is multiplied as recipients agree to “pass on the gift” by giving one or more of their animal’s offspring,

or the equivalent, to another in need.

Each First Church family will receive an Ark Box to fill and a four week calendar to follow with cues as to how to fill the

ark. The oldest and only children will receive the materials for their families between January 27 and February 10. Then the project begins on February 10. Arks should be returned to Church School between March 9 and March 23. On

March 30, we will dedicate our offering in the Daniels Center.

SECOND GRADERS AND THEIR FAMILIES LEARN ABOUT THE SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION Through a three part program, parents and their children learn about the meaning of communion through discussion and teaching, personal expression in the process of making a family Communion banner and participation in a special

worship service during which some children take Communion for the first time. The service is on Saturday, February 2

at 4 pm in the Meetinghouse and everyone is invited.

THIRD GRADERS PREPARE FOR THE ANNUAL BIBLE BREAKFAST!

Hold the date and time—March 2 at 9 am!

CHURCH SCHOOL CHILDREN MAKE HEALTHY VALENTINES FOR “LOS AMIGOS” IN HONDURAS

7 The Meet inghouse Monthly

When our mission team to Honduras arrives at its destination, among the many necessities they will deliver will be

carefully packed “Healthy Valentines”. These “goodie bags” of toothpaste, toothbrush, and small school supplies will be made especially personal by the valentines cards our children have made for each bag. In addition to the Healthy

Valentines, the Church School obtained Bible Story books in Spanish for the Church School in Honduras

LOOKING AHEAD...

FEBRUARY 3 - Regular Church School 5th Grade cooks for Soup Kitchen during class

FEBRUARY 5 - Confirmands Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper 6:30 pm

FEBRUARY 17 - Family Worship – No Church School

FEBRUARY 24 - Worship in the Daniels Center and Regular Church School

FEBRUARY 29 - Women’s Ministries Hosts Family Movie Night

WOMEN’S MINISTRIES

Hey moms, dads, kids, grandparents and friends! Hold the date! Leap Year Night! Grab a pillow, blanket and wear your comfy pajamas. Women’s Ministries will be holding a family movie night on February 29, 2008. We will be showing two movies (PG and G) in the Daniels Center and the Auditorium. It will be a fun night for all who attend. Details are still being set, so there will be more to come.

8 The Meet inghouse Monthly

Volunteer Opportunities at Domus’ Trailblazers Academy,

A Project Supported by First Church Christian Outreach

The First Church Christian Outreach Committee has granted $6,000 to the Domus Foundation of

Stamford to support its Lion’s Den before-and-after school program at the Trailblazers Academy charter school. In

addition to the financial support provided by the Outreach Committee, First Church members may wish to consider

becoming involved in numerous volunteer activities that are ongoing at the Academy.

Trailblazers Academy is operated as a partnership by Domus Foundation, the Stamford Public Schools, and

the City of Stamford. It is home to 150 students in grades six, seven, and eight who had not been successful in

traditional school environments and needed a different learning environment to reach their potential. Domus

supplements the Trailblazers curriculum with the Lion’s Den Program, which enables students to meet with certified

teachers on homework challenges and provides enrichment and academic activities in literacy, team sports and

the arts.

Volunteers at Trailblazers do one-on-one mentoring, tutoring either at school or in the Lion’s Den,

coaching or advising teams and clubs (chess, drama, backgammon, etc.), conducting lifeskills classes (computer,

interviewing, financial responsibility, etc.), administering reading tests, tutoring for standardized test preparation,

conducting cultural exchange days including presentations about the volunteer’s home country, and organizing

academic games such as Jeopardy, geography bees, math Olympiads, just to name a few activities. There are always

opportunities to create holiday parties or celebrations of the students’ academic successes, which are often

very impressive.

For more information about the Lion’s Den, Trailblazers Academy, and volunteer opportunities, please

contact Jim Schaffer at Domus, jschaffer@domuskids.org or 203 554 0869.

9 The Meet inghouse Monthly

T h e R u m m a g e R o o m Valentine’s Day is almost here. Please come visit The Rummage Room. If you are able to volunteer, please call 637-1875 as your help is needed. The following items are on the wish list: a crib, jogging stroller, baby gate, changing table, sewing machine, wireless laptop, men’s leather jacket - size 44 and a pressure cooker.

Sales Hours: Mon.-Fri.: 10-5; Sat.: 10-1 Donation Hours: Mon.-Thurs.: 9-5; Fri. & Sat.: 9-1

RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE

Saturday, February 2, 2008 8:30 am - 1:30 pm

Sponsored by Women's Ministries and the Wellness Committee, FCCOG-hosted blood drives are a favorite among

blood drive connoisseurs. We are especially well known for our deviled eggs.

Donors are urged to give a unit of blood which can save up to three lives in our local hospitals. If you are 17 or older

(no upper age limit) and in good health, you are probably eligible. To assure adequate staffing from the blood center in

Farmington and to help with a smoother flow of donors, please call 1-800-GIVE LIFE to make an appointment to donate. And, here’s the secret to a speedy donation: make your appointment for late morning or noontime, after the

early morning rush is over. (We promise not to run out of food!)

If you can help by bringing prepared food, please call Parish Nurse Sue Asselin at extension 21. There is also a signup sheet in the church office.

10 The Meet inghouse Monthly

From the Parish Nurse… Matters of the Heart by Sue Asselin, RN If you’re a fan of the TV show ER, by now you may have picked up enough medical jargon to know that an MI is what most people refer to as a heart attack. It really stands for myocardial infarction, meaning lack of oxygenated blood flow to the heart muscle. What ever you call it, recognizing the symptoms and getting help fast can save someone’s life. If the blood supply to the heart is cut off (from a blockage in a coronary artery) an MI results. Cells in the heart muscle that don’t receive enough oxygen begin to die. The more time that passes without treatment to restore blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart. Know the Signs and Symptoms of a Heart Attack: ♥ Chest Pain or Discomfort - Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. ♥ Pain or Discomfort in other areas of the Upper Body - This can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, in the back, neck, jaw, or stomach. ♥ Shortness of Breath - This often comes along with chest pain or discomfort, but can occur before the chest discomfort. ♥ Cold Sweat, Nausea or Light Headedness. If you think that you or someone else is having a heart attack call 911 immediately. One’s chances of surviving a heart attack are increased if emergency treatment is given as soon as possible. Our church’s automatic defibrillator and our CPR training program are additional measures we’ve taken to ensure help is here at the church while waiting for EMS to respond. We are fortunate that our town has met certain standards that deem it a Heart Safe Community and that Greenwich Hospital in 2004 was approved to offer emergency angioplasty, a life saving procedure that restores blood flow to the heart and minimizes the damage of a heart attack. Risk factors of heart disease and heart attack include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, and stress. Diet and lifestyle changes can help control many of these risk factors. Come and learn about the ounce of prevention at FCCOG’s annual:

Cooking for the Heart heart-healthy pot luck dinner. Wednesday, February 13, 6:30 to 8:30 pm (snow date is February 14)

The Wellness Committee invites you to try a variety of heart-healthy recipes, while hearing Dr. Adam Messenger and Dr. Steven Murphy discuss behaviors that prevent heart disease and related complications. Dr. Messenger practices Internal Medicine and is a Hospitalist at Greenwich Hospital. He also holds a masters degree in pharmacology. Dr. Murphy, Chief Resident at Greenwich Hospital, is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics and the American Academy of Pediatrics. These doctors are devoted to preventing heart disease through community education and share a passion for encouraging others to make positive life style changes. Participants who bring a dish may keep a copy of Cooking for the Heart cookbook. Call Sue Asselin, Parish Nurse at extension 21 to register and discuss recipes.

Parish Nurse Hours: Tuesdays 9:30-5:00, Thursdays 9:30 to 3:00, and most Sundays 9:30 to 12:00

Helpful web resources for Heart Disease prevention:

Center for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov/cvh American Heart Association: www.americanheart.org National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: www.nhlbi.nih.gov National Heart Attack Alert Program: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/nhaap Greenwich Hospital Patient Education: www.greenhosp.org/ps_education_cardiology.asp

11 The Meet inghouse Monthly

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS

02/01 Janice Riddell

02/01 Marilyn Olsson

02/01 Nicholas Tagliarino

02/01 Gregory Riddell

02/01 Sophie Waine

02/02 C Webb Williams

02/02 Hayden Witmer

02/03 Cynthia Cooke

02/03 Stanley Rawn

02/03 Elizabeth Baker

02/03 Matthijs Hoekstra

02/04 Judson Saviskas

02/04 Jack Sweger

02/04 John Norrgard

02/04 Nancy Pierson

02/04 Lissa Arnold

02/04 Clark Shaw

02/04 Anne Johnson

02/05 Barbara Crilley

02/05 Elizabeth Kreuter

02/05 Karen Taggart

02/05 David Schrohe

02/05 Lisa Flanagan

02/05 Kelly Anne Boles

02/06 Carolyn Colegrove

02/06 Nathaniel Willard

02/06 Kate Bonnell

02/06 Kelly Dodd

02/07 Allison Ariyibi

02/07 Robert Phelps

02/07 William Graham

02/07 Drew Mohn

02/08 Fred Richards

02/08 Peter Scopelliti

02/09 Michaela S Fossum

02/09 William Osgood

02/09 James Dunn

02/09 Anne McGonagle

02/09 Juliet Primo

02/09 Katherine Sweet

02/09 Alex Leidy

02/09 Haley Norrgard

02/09 Chloe Kimberlin

02/10 Leon McKenzie

02/10 Dr Brenda Stiers

02/10 Cheryl Osgood

02/10 David Scopelliti

02/10 Allison Whittemore

02/10 Jordan Reiss

02/10 Chris Hallowell

02/10 Matthew Thomas

02/11 Sally MacDougall

02/11 Valeri Primo

02/11 Matthew Pruner

02/11 Cate Ebersole

02/12 Janet Sotzing

02/12 Rebecca Jewett

02/12 Matthew Shattuck

02/12 Kristen Morris

02/12 Morgan McGonagle 02/13 Rev Sarah-Anne Colegrove

02/13 Elizabeth Olson

02/13 Thalia Anderen

02/13 Britt Carnegie

02/13 Dylan Rose

02/14 Oliver Servadio

02/14 Mario Lotufo

02/14 Dawn Hewitt

02/14 Edward Thomas

02/15 Jeanne Boyer

02/15 Caryn Jacoby

02/15 Andrew Scrivan

02/15 Julia Blandori

02/15 Sarah Cioffari

02/15 Joseph Claps

02/16 Andrew Hanson

02/16 Courtney Griffin

02/16 Shaw Speer

02/16 Patrick Condon

02/17 Matthew Hoster

02/17 Emma Nicole Kirchner

02/18 Mark Mohn

02/18 Melinda May

02/18 Alexander Dadzis

02/18 Tom Grunow

02/19 Richard Derr

02/19 Lisa Norrgard Miller

02/20 Virginia Low

02/20 Janet Savage

02/20 Andrew Wall

02/21 Betty Sleath

02/21 Harold Kneen

02/21 Jefferson Watkins

02/21 Katharine Derr

02/21 Charles MacDougall

02/22 Frank Quinn

02/22 Daniel Shanks

02/23 William Boles

02/23 Gary Lico

02/23 Katherine Scrivan

02/23 Samantha Stone

02/23 Taylor Ingraham

02/24 Sallie Williams

02/24 Jean Simpson

02/24 Louis Paris

02/24 Robert Small

02/24 Daniel Wurst

02/25 Joan Osgood

02/25 Michelle Young

02/25 Susan Rohrer

02/25 Rebecca Marlowe

02/25 Becki Burdick

02/25 Carly Jenkins

02/26 Michael Lamie

02/26 Juliette Brindak

02/26 Arthur Berman

02/26 Brandon DelCristo

02/27 Barbara Trepanier

02/27 Rick Borman

02/27 Megan Shattuck

02/27 Elizabeth Beam

02/27 Sophie DeLeo

02/28 Peter Benedict

02/28 Brooks Hall Edwards

The deadline for the submission of

material for the March

Meetinghouse Monthly

is the 15th of February.

LIFE EVENTS

Baptisms Weddings No January Baptisms No January Weddings

Deaths Robert G. Pearson—January 1 Kim B. Reynolds—January 17

Kenneth Fay McCann—January 19

12 The Meet inghouse Monthly

The First Congregational Church of Greenwich Nonprofit Organization 108 Sound Beach Avenue U.S. Postage Old Greenwich, CT 06870 Bulk Rate Phone: (203) 637-1791 PAID Fax: (203) 637-1540 Permit No. 17 www.fccog.org Old Greenwich, CT Change Service Requested

IN THIS ISSUE

Electrical Usage, Adult Education... 2 “Bible in Your Mailbox”……….….3 Global Warming, Honduras…....… 4 Sunday Afternoons Live.…………..5 Church School………………... 6, 7 Outreach…………………………. 8 Blood Drive………………..……...9 Parish Nurse……………………..10 Birthdays / Life Events…………...11

First Congregational Church of Greenwich

Ministers: The Members of The First Congregational Church of Greenwich

Senior Pastor: David D. Young, dyoung@fccog.org

Interim Associate Pastor: Daniel B. England, dengland@fccog.org

Minister of Pastoral Care: Ronald E. Halvorsen, ronh@fccog.org

Director of Music/Senior Organist: John Stansell, drjohn@fccog.org

Associate Organist/Director: Terence J. Flanagan, terryf@fccog.org

Directors of Youth Ministries: Steve and Debbie Crawford, dhbocc@optonline.net

Director of Church School: Rosemary Lamie, rosemaryl@fccog.org

Director of Membership: Ginny Breismeister, ginnyb@fccog.org

Parish Nurse: Susan Asselin, susana@fccog.org

Pastors Emeriti: Thomas L. Stiers and Sally Colegrove

Worship at First Church

We hope that you will join us as we conclude our Winter Sermon Series entitled:

A Place For You: Winter Journeys in Christian Foundations

and begin the new Lenten Sermon Series at our Ash Wednesday Service on February 6 at 8 pm.

There are many opportunities for adults as well as children to participate in the life of the church.

The 10 am Service is broadcast live each week on WGCH 1490 AM Radio. In addition, the service

is available through the church’s web site, www.fccog.org, where a bulletin can be found as well as a link to the live broadcast.

The church offices will be closed on Monday, February 18 for President’s Day.