Calendar and Announcements for the Week of May 29, 2012

CALENDAR OF THE WEEK Today 9:15 a.m. Junior Choir Monday : Junior Youth Group Fundraiser at Parade 7:30 p.m. AA (library) Wednesday 3:30 p.m. Prayer Shawl Ministry (library) 7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts Thursday 5:00 p.m. Giv2 Retreat in Hartford 7:00 p.m. Senior Choir Next Sunday 11:15 a.m. Junior Choir 11:15 a.m. Christmas Fair Meeting 11:30 a.m. Youth Ministry Team Please come to church next week to meet our new Interim Pastor, Rev. Bruce Johnson. FROM THE SEARCH COMMITTEE: Thank you – to everyone who participated in the congregational meeting last Sunday and the preceding series of second hour discussions. We on the Search Committee truly appreciate your many opinions, concerns, and prayerful visions. Thanks to you, our Local Church Profile is nearly complete, and we have a much clearer view of our congregation’s future. That future will require major commitments from everyone. We look forward to keeping you informed of our progress in the search for our next settled pastor. Blessings to you all. -Bruce Lyman THANKS TO ALL who contributed to the romping success of the Gospel Mass performance last Sunday. Ted Bradley provided an opportunity for communal excitement in a fulsome spirit of faith. We appreciate the singers who came from several other churches, including the Norwich cathedral, and our fabulous musicians – Rev. John Selders, Jr. on piano, Alvin Carter, Jr. on drums, and our own quietly dazzling Will Kirk on bass. It was an afternoon of rich blessing. Hallelujah! -Sam Lyman JUNIOR YOUTH GROUP ANNUAL MEMORIAL DAY FUNDRAISER: Come join us tomorrow, Monday, May 28th, for the annual Woodstock town parade and program. We'll meet on the front lawn of the church....a prime viewing area. The youth will be serving up grilled hot dogs, lemonade, and yummy, old fashioned, sugared donuts from Sweet Evalina's. The parade will begin at 11am. All proceeds go to support our Junior Youth in grades 5 - 8. Thank you for your support! BE ON THE LOOKOUT! GIFT CARDS ARRIVING SOON!! We are working with United Scrip to develop an on-going fundraiser for the church using gift cards. Instead of spending cash in the stores, you would use your prepaid gift cards to purchase items you are already planning to buy. A percentage of the value of your card is given to the church right up front. There is NO extra cost to you beyond the value of your card. Your spending habits don’t change but the church benefits from usage of these cards. There is nothing to lose and everything for the church to gain. We will have a table set up in Harrison Hall every Sunday in June. Stop by and learn how you can use your cards. CHRISTMAS ON THE HILL MEETING: Please Come, If You Were a Chair of a Christmas Fair Table in 2011, We Need Your Input! This Is the First Meeting for the 2012 Fair: See You on Sunday, June 10 after Church. Invite anyone who helped at your table to attend. If you have any questions, call Susan Waldron at 860-923-2887. B&B SIGN UP SHEET IN HARRISON HALL! Reservations are already coming in for the weekend of Oct. 12 & 13. Please sign up if you can help! Sunday School News Two weeks ago, 19 Sunday school children were in attendance to begin Jonah, this year’s final unit. Thank you, Diane Peterson and Brittany La Fleur for assisting the kids with their art projects that will decorate the children’s service on June 17th. Today, we will continue learning about Jonah as we prepare for the skit and service. Parents, today is also the last day to order a T-shirt for your child, so see Karen Cloutier--$5 for children’s shirts and $13.00 for adults. The CE team is offsetting the cost of the children’s shirts with money raised from the sale of the flower bulbs. If you need financial assistance, please contact a member of CE team. We would like every child to have a shirt! Friday night we enjoyed a movie night here with the Veggie Tales Jonah and the feature Whale Rider. The kids had a lot of fun. Thanks to all who attended from our church and East Woodstock. Tomorrow on the green, the Junior Youth Group will be selling delicious hot dogs in their annual Memorial Day fundraiser. Please stop by, enjoy the celebration, and lend your support. A special good bye to Pastor Mike from the CE team. The children have truly enjoyed your “Good Mornings” and your children’s messages with intriguing props. We will miss you, and we wish you all the best at your new position. Quotes from Children: “Rev. Mike, you will be missed. You are really nice!” Dustin Veach “Thank you, Rev. Mike, for being our pastor. We are sad to see you go.” Devan Veach “I will miss you.” Drew Veach

Announcements and Calendar for the Week of May 20, 2012

THERE WILL BE NO COFFEE HOUR TODAY. There will be a reception following the Gospel Mass this afternoon. CALL TO MEETING: A Special Congregational Meeting of the First Congregational Church, Woodstock, Connecticut, is called for today, following worship, to act upon a recommendation from the Search Committee to search for a full-time minister. -Diane Miller, Clerk FAMILIES WILL BE worshiping together this morning in this intergenerational service celebrating our musicians of all ages. Church school classes will resume next Sunday. ROSELAND B&B Fall will be here before you know it and preparation is already underway for the Roseland Cottage Craft Show. With your help the Church will once again provide a Bed and Breakfast service for the artisans participating in the annual show. The Artisans are selected in May and begin requesting beds from us by mid June. It’s important that I know early on who can accommodate people and how many. Last year we provided 34 people beds for the week-end and served over 50 people at our Saturday night dinner. I am looking for people willing to share their homes Friday and Saturday,October 12th and 13th. There will be a sign up sheet in Harrison Hall. Call me with any questions. -Cheryl Swenson SHARE deadline will be May 24!! Please have all articles in by then. CALENDAR OF THE WEEK Today 9:15 a.m. Junior Choir 11:15 a.m. Church Meeting 11:45 a.m. NYE meeting 4:00 p.m. Gospel Mass Monday 7:30 p.m. AA (library) Wednesday 7:00 p.m. Craft Night 7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts Thursday 7:00 p.m. Outreach

Announcements and Calendar for the Week of May 6, 2012

Welcome to Rev. LaRochelle Today we welcome Rev. Dr. Robert LaRochelle to our church for a second hour discussion after worship. Bob is an ordained minister in the UCC, pastor of the Congregational Church of Union, Connecticut, and a full-time high school guidance counselor in South Windsor. He received his D.Min. from Chicago Theological Seminary, and is the author of Part-Time Minister, Full-Time Church and the recently published Crossing the Street. Bob brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding models of part-time and bi-vocational ministry. Please join Bob and the Search Committee for this discussion, which will begin around 12:30 p.m. There will be a light lunch and an opportunity for fellowship before Bob’s arrival. Blessings and abundant thanks to all who have participated in these second hour discussions in recent weeks. We look forward to continued deliberation and prayerful guidance leading to the Congregational Meeting on May 20th. For the Search Committee, Bruce Lyman, Chairman CALL TO MEETING: A Special Congregational Meeting of the First Congregational Church, Woodstock, Connecticut, is called for Sunday, May 20, 2012, following worship, to act upon a recommendation from the Search Committee to search for a full-time minister. Diane Miller, Clerk BIRTHDAY: Our dear, longtime church member, Connie Rosenlund, will celebrate her 90th birthday on May 10. If you would like to join in sending an avalanche of cards to Connie, her address is 27 Sabin Street, Putnam, CT 06260. Connie lives with her daughter, Pam, and keeps her own shining spirit alive day by day. Furry Friends Mission Project Day Kimball Hospital The Children on the Hill will continue to collect “Furry Friends” for children who visit the emergency room at Day Kimball Hospital until May 20th. Because we are distributing them to patients at the hospital, the “Furry Friends” need to be brand new and can be as small as a beanie baby up to 15 inches. Donations can be left upstairs in Harrison Hall or downstairs on the display in the main room of the Sunday school. SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS for May 6, 2012 “A kindhearted woman gains respect.” (Proverbs 11:16, NIV) Today, our last day of the Three Women of Faith unit, the children will learn about the kindhearted Dorcas, Lydia, and Priscilla through these rotations: Storytelling with Jennifer and Emily John: Gr. 6-8 Music & movement with Maria Sangiolo: Gr. 2-5 Science/cooking with Jen Beck: Preschool-Gr. 1 Last week in the whole group gathering time, the children learned about the courage of Lydia and also of the prophetess and judge Deborah. Today in gathering time, we will connect our knowledge of Priscilla the tentmaker to Queen Esther. Thank you to Shirley Fields and Bruce Lyman for the loan of their tents for this lesson. Fun facts: • Deborah is the only female judge of the Old Testament (book of Judges). • Dorcas is the only woman named as a disciple. • Lydia is referred to as the first Christian convert of Europe. • Priscilla’s name always comes first when listed with her husband Aquila’s; this was very unusual! Women of the Bible we didn’t study: Delilah, Bathsheba, Potiphar’s wife, Jezebel. Next week, we begin the exciting new Jonah unit! Nursery: We appreciate Jennifer John, who subbed in the nursery last week, and Diane Peterson, today’s volunteer. Visit our Children on the Hill Facebook page for inspiration and “like” it. CALENDAR OF THE WEEK Today 11:15 a.m. Lunch and Second Hour: Search Comm. Monday 7:30 p.m. AA 7:30 p.m. Sr. Bells Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Council Wednesday 10:00 a.m. Staff 7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts Thursday 10:30 a.m. Bible Study Friday 4:00 p.m. Wedding rehearsal 5:30 p.m. Youth Revival (meet at EW to carpool to Hartford) Saturday 2:00 p.m. Thompson/Desealt wedding