Next Week atFirst Church

Following Week at First Church

FIRST CHURCH SOFTBALL NEWS

First Church won its May 28^th game by a score of 20-18 with a come from behind extra inning victory over St. Anne's.  On June 2, we won our game by a score of 35-3 and Wednesday's game was rained out.  Upcoming schedule:

Monday, June 9             At Walnut Hill Park                       

Wednesday June 11       At Walnut Hill Park

Monday, June 16           At  Chesley Park

Wednesday, June 18      At Chesley Park

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

On Sunday, June 22nd, we will have our Annual Meeting immediately following the worship service. Please note that  committee reports are not needed now- an Annual Report will  be published for the January 2009 Annual Meeting.

Judy Robertson, Council Secretary

SOCIAL AND SERVICE

The Social and Service picnic will be held on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room.  Hamburgers and hot dogs will be provided.  Please bring a side dish and join us for an evening of fun!

Mabel Yeterian, Chair

YOUTH NEWS

What fun we had this past Sunday! The Youth Group helped with the Ice Cream Social, serving and helping out with games and the pie eating contest.  Thanks to all who participated in the fun and games. John Thomas Sr. and Mark Ohanesian were good sports, being challenged in the pie eating contest by some youths!

Then? Crazy Bus! This was our last event of the year and was a Scavenger Hunt of sorts. We split into 2 teams with five fun tasks to perform:

1) Each team had to pick one person to dress up;  a boy as a girl, and a girl as a guy. Then we went to five church members houses (all 21 of us!) to collect a previously arranged item of clothing, one for a boy and one for a girl. Thanks  to Marietta Guidone & Ed Grikis, Jack & Nancy Cook, Sharon & Mike Chamberlain, Dave & Sue Anderson, Peter & Amy Belliveau!

2) Each team had to pick a team member to lead a quick, silly follow the leader? at Walnut Hill Park's playscape! Complete with team member in tow who is dressed up!!

3) At Stop & Shop, we congregated in front and sang Jingle Bells, loud and proud and quickly left. What fun!

4) Each team's person who was dressed up (Jack Mangan looked lovely in his moo-moo and Olivia Ohanesian looked dapper in a red sport coat and top hat) had to go into CVS and ask for a certain "medicinal" item and say, "Thank you".

5) An eating contest at MacDonald's. We cheered on Emma Bartlett and Caitlyn Schulz. Emma won in a frenzied finish, to chants of Chew, Chew, Chew!

Why all this silliness? To teach, of course! To teach teamwork, to teach how to select team members to use their personal gifts to complete a task, to teach the kids that they will survive doing things outside their comfort zone! Lastly,  we did this because it was silly fun!

Thanks to the drivers, Kathy Thomas, Gina Ohanesian, and Sarah Flythe. 

Next up - The Hartford Mission Project June 24-28^th,

We are staying in a Salvation Army on Barbour Street and serving God at the Hispanic Senior Center, Hartford Rescue Mission, South Park Inn Shelter, Christian Medical Fellowship, Peter's Retreat, CT Commission of Addiction and Recovery and a street fair called, "Love Wins on Barbour Street?" This year's mission team is Amber Smith, Emma Bartlett, Jen Thomas, Tori Anderson and Paula Bartlett. 

DONOR OF 50 SHARES OF EXXON-MOBIL STOCK-PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF!

Any member or friend of the church who made a donation of 50 shares of Exxon Mobil on or about March 12, 2008, please leave a message with Kristine in the church office.   Because of privacy laws, banks and brokers will not give us information about donors or the origins of the stocks. In order for us to avoid this problem in the future, we need your help.  If donating stocks, please notify Mike Gorzoch, Maria Simao or Sylvia Lucas.  We will assist you in making the gift and make sure that all parties involved have the information they need. We look forward to helping you. 

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UPDATE

As of May 31st, $485,589 in capital campaign pledges had been received (out of total pledges of $782, 213).  We have spent $343,381 and have $142,208 on hand to help begin the next phase of our projects.  July statements will provide information about the first year of the three year capital campaign.  Please remember that our ambitious plans cannot be completed without your help. Thank you for your generosity.

Campaign Follow-Up Committee 

IN OUR FIRST CHURCH FAMILY ?

Turner Lindsay Booth, great grandchild of Peg Booth, was born on May 24, 2008. 

NOT IN MY WILDEST DREAMS . . .

did I expect Children's Sunday to go so smoothly! Many thanks to all who helped and a very special thank you to the "characters", who all claim to have lost 5 pounds wearing their costumes that very hot morning! And a special thank you to Morgan Chandler, who assisted in our workshops this year. I apologize that her name was omitted from our volunteer recognition list in Sunday's bulletin.

I hope that you will all stop by my office and see the beautiful picture of Noah's Ark that Julie Zink created, using the children's fingerprints to be the animals on the boat. I love it!

This coming Sunday we will celebrate the men of our church, "cooking" up a special gift. I'm sure that you will all want to come and see what it is!

As we settle into the lazy days of summer, please don't be a stranger to First Church. There will still be plenty to do here on a Sunday morning. And don't forget "Bible Camp Olympics" July 14 - 18^th. Registration deadline is June 16^th!

Have a safe and restful summer,

Sharon Chamberlain, Coordinator of Christian Education

Please note that beginning June 15^th, the Toddler Room will be open during worship; and there will be structured activity for children through 5^th grade.

BLOOD DONORS NEEDED

As we approach summer, the Red Cross is asking for the support of churches, in an effort to maintain an adequate blood supply for our state.  To keep hospitals at a safe inventory, they must collect 650 units of blood each day in Connecticut, and this is difficult during the summer months.  For more information, please contact Matt White at (860) 284-7049 or by e-mail at whitemaa@usa.redcross.org.

First Church of Christ                                     New Britain, CT

June 11, 2008 

Dear Friends,

I intend to use the "relative respite" of June to take advantage of two continuing education opportunities that are available at nearby Hartford Seminary. The first is scheduled for June 11-12 and is entitled ? "Church Challenges: Ecclesiology and Leadership Today." The purpose of the program is to explore contemporary challenges faced by congregations and denominations through the insights of church leaders and scholars. Among the topics to be discussed will be: ecumenical agreements, interfaith practices, structures of the church, evangelism and mission, links between the local and global church, church in the public sphere, and emerging challenges for the future. The first day will feature leading judicatory leaders in Connecticut in a panel discussion; our own Conference Minister Davida Foy Crabtree will be one of the participants. The second day includes two scholars discussing their recent writings on matters facing the church and how these intersect with recent developments in the field of ecclesiology. It should be a fascinating two days!

Please remember that June 15 is Father's Day, and please don't let us fathers feel slighted by the usually much-higher worship attendance on Mother's Day!

And please remember also that on June 22, I have my second baptism in this church (but not another Jack!). We shall baptize Alyvia Nilah Pienkowski. Following worship that day is our abbreviated annual meeting for the purpose of voting on a proposed six-month budget that will take us from July 1 to December 31, 2008. In our return to a calendar year of operation, our next annual meeting will be on January 25, 2009.

See you in church! Blessings always!

Jack

FIRST CHURCH NEWS

Vol. 56, No. 20

SUMMER HOURS AT FIRST CHURCH

Beginning June 30^th, summer office hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday.  The church will also be undergoing renovations, so please call before stopping in.

First Church Gallery will be closed for the summer, due to renovations, and will reopen in September.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRADUATES!!

Courtney L. Abraham, daughter of Debbie and David Abraham, and granddaughter of Stanley and Barbara Helberg, graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with a Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology.

Katelyn Anderson, received her Master's degree in Special Education from University of Connecticut with a graduate GPA of 4.0. She expects to spend a year as a professional nanny somewhere outside of CT.

Samantha Armitage, daughter of Leonard and Betsy Armitage, and granddaughter of June McCarthy, will be graduating from Bristol Central High School and attending Eastern Connecticut Sate University in the fall. Sam wants to become a high school English teacher.

Melanie Abena Boakye, daughter of G. Kingsley Boakye,

will be graduating from Bristol Eastern High School and has been accepted into the Pre-Communication program at the University of Connecticut for the fall.

Sarah Duncan, daughter of Michael and Anne Marie Duncan, and granddaughter of Ted and Ann Duncan, graduated from Providence College, summa cum laude, with a B.A. in Political Science. She will be working at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Adam Fraprie, grandson of Frank Fraprie, graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a B.S. in Computer Engineering. He is interviewing for a job on the west coast and in Florida.

David Joyce-Grikis, son of Sarah Joyce-Grikis, will be graduating from New Britain High School and attending Westfield State College in Westfield, Massachusetts this fall.

Jaclyn Elise King, daughter of Nancy King and granddaughter of Elise King, graduated from Wagner College, cum laude, with a B.A in Theater and Speech. She is planning to live and work in New York City and has interviews and auditions lined up.

Nick Mangan, son of Shawn and Tracy-Lee Mangan and grandson of Charles Mangan, will be graduating from Newington High School.

Laura E. Najarian, daughter of Robert Z. Najarian, graduated from Sacred Heart University with a Master of Arts in Teaching. She is a 3^rd grade teacher in the Wolcott school system.

Kristen Paskewich, daughter of Joni Anderson, graduated from St. Joseph College with her degree in nursing and is an RN, BSN.