Established 1675
Telephone: (203) 265-1691 ¤ FAX: (203) 265-0693  ¤
Church E-Mail: firstchurchwlfd@snet.net

Welcome to the First Congregational Church of Wallingford website. To visitors, members, regular attendees and friends, we extend a warm welcome and our hope that you will find this website and the information it offers concerning the church, its ministries, activities, staff and outreach both easy to use and helpful. If you have Acrobat Reader, you can read our church newsletter, Spire. The Church's Monthly calendar of activities is also available. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

News
It Only Happens Every 100 Years …

Into these hills and valleys long ago
Came pioneers of faith with vision clear
Of farms and towns and neighbors living so
That village, home, and church might flourish here.
God grant such vision now to us, we pray,
To make their dreams our own in this new day.
- Jane Parker Huber

“In the year 1670 a man of fifty-seven years old, with his wife and five children, came to Wallingford and built a log house at the northwest corner of the present Main and Ward Streets.” Nathaniel Merriman (b. June 2, 1613 – d. February 13, 1694) was a founder of the town of
Wallingford and of First Congregational Church. He served the community as its first town clerk and his home was used for church services in the years before the first Meetinghouse was built.

On June 4, 1913, his descendants held a reunion in Wallingford in celebration of his 300th birthday and a collection of papers presented at the reunion were published. This year marks the 400th anniversary of his birth and plans are underway for a reception and presentations at Wells Fargo Bank (the former St. George’s Inn), ceremonies at the Center Street Cemetery, and a reunion luncheon at Zandri’s Stillwood Inn on Saturday, June 1, 2013.

On Sunday June 2, 2013, we will welcome Merriman descendants to our 10:00 AM worship service. This is also our Confirmation Sunday and the worship plans are shaping up for a service that will include some colonial elements as well as our traditional Confirmation service. We will celebrate together with our guests the past and the future of the church that our Founders and their faith descendants have helped to build.

Following the service we will have a special reception in Congregational Hall to welcome our Confirmands and special guests.

We are aware of some of the Merriman descendants who are still very active in our congregation. There may be others. If you are a descendant of Nathaniel Merriman or are interested in more information about the reunion activities, you may contact Peter Merriman
(pamerriman@gmail.com or the website: www.2013merrimanreunion.com)

Watch for more information of ways you can help make this an unforgettable “once every 100 years” event and save the date – Sunday, June 2, 2013.

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In Search of Christian Origins
An “After Easter” Adult Study
On Wednesdays - April 3 through May 22, 2013
9:00 a.m. in The Meetinghouse, 35 South Main Street

Rev. Margaret Jay will facilitate the journey as we go In Search of Christian Origins. We will use portions of a dynamic Biblical Archeology Review DVD Lecture Series taught by James H. Charlesworth, Professor of New Testament and Director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary, as we focus on two key questions for the study of Early Christianity:
• How did the Palestinian Jesus Movement develop within the vibrant but highly factionalized world of First and Second Century Judaism?
• How did this once obscure and insignificant sect evolve into a movement that was able to not only expand far beyond its Jewish roots, but also become the dominant religion of the Roman Empire?

http://youtu.be/osc0yiLsnpw
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Stewardship for 2013
Delight in Giving

(click the picture)

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Book Group
Books and Beyond will meet the 4th Tuesday of the month (September – May, not including December) 7:00- 8:30 pm in the Guild Room at church. A list of books for our first year is listed below.

May 28, 2013 Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
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American Cancer Society's Relay For Life

Our First Church team, Linda's Angels. Relay For Life of Meriden-Wallingford on Friday, May 17, 2013.

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Youth Group News

Mission Trip 2013

Women are needed for this year’s
Mission Trip. No need to worry about the
long car ride because it’ll be at nearby
Keansburg, N.J. Get to know the youth and
the people of Keansburg. It may not be a vacation,
but memories will be made that you will
keep forever. Just ask someone who’s gone
before and they will say the same. Please see
Glenn Root if you have a week (July 7-13) to make
the Senior High’s Mission Trip even more
Amazing. We’d love to have you!!!
There are still some spots open for youth to go
as well!!
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Sr. High Youth
Meets Sundays at 6:00PM
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Jr. High Youth
Meets every 2nd and 4th Sunday from 4:00 - 6:00PM

Glenn Root, Minister for Children and Youth.

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The Bawa Health Initiative
For the Village of Bawa, Cameroon, Africa

The Board of Community and World Service has not lost sight of the great need for medical and health assistance in Africa. Dr. Dennis J. Richardson along with Dr. Blaise Dondji, and Reverend Margaret B. Jay have undertaken the mission of helping the village of Bawa by:

• Providing primary health care to the residents of Bawa (we have begun the building of the Health Care Clinic). See our Web or Facebook page for more pictures.

Continuing Clinic Construction w/ Roof (your continuing financial gifts do help, but more $$ are needed to complete this valuable project. Please help us!)

• Reducing the prevalence of infectious diseases
• Supplying clean drinking water to all residents
• Educating the general public about infectious diseases in the developing world

For further information (this is our latest Newsletter) on this wonderful project, and also see the NEW BAWA Health Initiative web site. You may contact Rev. Margaret Jay by calling the church office at 203-265-1691 and leaving a message. You may also mail donations to: Bawa Health Initiative, Inc., P.O. Box 432, Wallingford, CT 06492. With your continued support, we can make a difference in the village of Bawa in Cameroon.

We are also on Facebook (search for BAWA Health Initiative page).

PLEASE SUPPORT THIS WORTHY EFFORT. HELP SAVE LIVES. THANKS!
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In 140 characters or less, how would
you describe the First Congregational Church of Wallingford to an interested stranger?

Among the responses shared:
Our church is not only the foundation for our beliefs in the Lord, but also the sanctuary for our people, our family. In one simple, but powerful word our church is HOME.

High on a hill in Wallingford, there is a pointy church, with warm, inviting, giving families, that welcome with generous loving arms all those who come to us.

The First Congregational Church is a warm inviting place that reaches out to the community with an abundance of support.
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Holy Joe's Cafe

Holy Joe's Cafe is a Coffee House Ministry – United Church of Christ military chaplains have found an old way to invite soldiers in Kuwait and Afghanistan into a safe and informal place where they can receive spiritual care and good coffee. We also have a Facebook page (click here).

Holy Joe's Cafe / First Congregational Church, UCC has been selected to represent the Northeast Region of the United Church of Christ at the General Synod in Tampa, Florida based on our Coffee House Ministry supporting deployed Chaplains and their Troops.

Read the entire article on the UCC website. Click here.
Read the CT Conf. article about Rev. Sholtes. Click here.

Help Support the Ministry of UCC Chaplain
Nancy Johnson– Sabedra Chaplain

Nancy Johnson-Sabedra, a member of Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ, is currently serving as the chaplain for the Unit Ministry Team (UMT) for the 85th Combat Operation Stress Control (COSC) unit. The 85th COSC is deployed into nine teams with the task of preventing and treating combat stress of United States soldiers throughout the area of operations in Afghanistan. Much of her time is spent with battlefield units - on the road visiting and supporting UMT chaplains and the men and women they serve. As the UMT for the 85th COSC, Chaplain Johnson-
Sabedra has a responsibility for the spiritual care, morale and welfare of all the soldiers in the unit.
Chaplain Johnson-Sabedra needs our help. The coffee ministry of Holy Joes Café, by providing a safe space and a “good” cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate is an invaluable partner in dealing with combat stress and providing pastoral care to our service men and women. Holy Joes Café is currently seeking funds to supply 22 Keurig coffee makers. Your donations and support are needed and appreciated in this important mission. Thank you!
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The Prayer Shawl Ministry is a dedicated group of women who knit shawls and prayers together for those in need of healing. "Part of the journey of prayer and faith is to recognize that we may never know how our love and care will touch or change another person's life. Instead, we are invited to offer others our compassion and let whatever needs to happen, happen. There is an old saying: Our hands are God's hands." Through the shawl-knitting ministry we can learn to trust the truth that God works through us when we care for our friends and strangers alike.

The instructions for both Prayer Shawls, as well as numerous patterns for baby blankets, exist on our website www.firstchurchwlfd@snet.net.

If you have a need for a Prayer Shawl for a friend, family member or for yourself, please do not hesitate to contact the ministry (Kathryn Janis) through the office (265-1691). If you are not connected to First Congregational Church in Wallingford, CT please follow this link for a Prayer Shawl Ministry in your area. Click here.

If you have created a Prayer Shawl or Baptismal Blanket, please drop it off at the church office ~ there will be a sign-in sheet to identify who made the shawl, the color of the shawl, if it is intended for someone or if it is meant to be used by the ministry in the general shawl cache. There will be a Prayer Shawl basket for new shawls and blankets that need to be blessed at the church office.

The next Prayer Shawl Ministry meeting will be
May 20, 2013.
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Upper Room Devotional Booklets are in the Narthex literature rack in both regular and large print editions.

========================================================== We would also like to assemble an "All Church" email list. If you are a church member, please send us an email.
Send to: firstchurchwlfd@snet.net

Thanks!

==================================================================== Have you been e-spired? If you would like to receive your Spire as an email document...let us know. Email
(firstchurchwlfd@snet.net)
and say yes! To the e-spired…Thank you.
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Soul Boosters

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