Our coat give away

This morning we hosted our Annual Coat Give Away. This year we set up in front of the church and pulled out dozens of coats and sweaters, shoes, mittens, gloves and assorted other goodies. We laid everything out on tables and waited for folks to drop in. We gave away quite a bit of stuff and over thirty families took advantage of our offerings.

Thank you to those who helped today: Erica Corbett, Michelle Chaffee, Sharon Fishkin, Cheryl Dimmock, Kelly Bolin, Robert Phillips, Zelda Earle and Julie Wagner. It was a great day.

Cal

An amazing Trustee meeting

We had an amazing meeting of the Board of Trustees last night. We acted on three decisions and praised a fourth one. Yes, I said we acted on three things.

It really started last month when we approved the decision to lease a new copy machine. The next day we signed the contract with Flo-Tech and made plans to bring in a new Canon 2525 copier. After two weeks of using it, everyone was impressed. It warms up quickly, it prints right from the computer and it is very user friendly. When I asked about whether it was worth the money, Frank Royce responded that it was worth every penny.

The second thing we did last night was approve the snow plowing contract from Hyde Landscaping. After Monday's surprise 1/2 inch of snow, this decision was a no-brainer. They came back with a proposal that was slight higher than last years. Motion approved.

The third thing we looked at was a repair to the stove in the kitchen. Mark Kane had a representative form Adam's Restaurant Equipment come in to evaluate the stove. We had a bid in hand to repair it. The cost was about $573 and it was quickly approved.

The final item on our list was a big one. We finally received two bids to replace the furnace that services the chapel area of the church. We reviewed them and decided on the one we were going to take. As we discussed how to raise the money we were alerted to the fact that two major gifts were being offered to cover the cost of the conversion. So we voted to recommend going forward with the project and will call a special congregational meeting on November 28th to get congregational approval to do the work.

God is amazing and you could feel his hand at work as we went about his business last night. Thank you Lord. We hope to have the new furnace in place by the end of the year.

Cal

Wednesday nights with Jesus

I love Wednesday nights. Tonight I really felt the spirit moving around the sanctuary. Robert Phillips joined Cheryl Dutrumble and Steve Contois tonight. As they were singing and playing he offered us some back-up on the tom tom drums. It was cool.

As we entered prayer time there was a quiet acknowledgment of God's presence. We lifted up several people going through difficult times including the family of Jenna Smith whose calling hours were tonight in Jewett City. We also continued our practice of asking God's blessing on seven different families in the congregation. It was a great time.

I jumped on that in my message where I talked about the woman at the well and how Jesus helped fill the deep longing that was in her heart. He does the same for us as he gives us the living water.

Wednesday nights give us the opportunity to simply be together with God and each other in a relaxed setting. That's what makes it so special. If you haven't been to a service recently, I invite you to come and join us.

Next week Robert Phillips is going to share the message and lead the service because I have another commitment. So come and be blessed.

Cal

Pentecost revisited

Sunday is always a blur of activity in our building as we worship and praise God in at least three languages from sunrise to sunset.

We kicked off the activity with our Sunday School. Then we went all out with Worship. This week George Strouse was our worship assistant and Amy Rezendes offered the Children's Moment. I wrapped up our series on the Sermon on the Mount by talking about persecution and our faith.

After worship we had our Quarterly meeting and discussed some of the things that have been happening at church.

*We noted that pledges were behind a little bit but that was offset by the miscelaneous and regular/not pledge giving which was up.

*I shared the fact that I would be away the week of November 29 to travel to Germany with my daughter, Rachel, as she competes in the international Tap Dance Championships. Rev. Bill Huegel will be filling the pulpit for us and it should be a real treat.

*A lot of people commented on the Stewardship Brunch and unofficially voted thast we should do that again.

*We also talked about the furnaces and Dick Strouse laid out what we wanted to do. He told the group that we were looking to replace the furnace that heats fellowship hall and the chapel area with a unit that will be gas fired. It is in the worst shape of the two and can be switched out fairly easily and quickly. The other furnace is inefficient but it is in better shape and can wait a little longer. Now we are just waiting on a couple of bids to come in so we can vote on where to get the funds from.

At 12:30 p.m. Pastor Daniel Song and the members of the Korean Methodist Church began their worship. They love to sing and you can hear them all throughout the building. After worship they gather in fellowship hall for a meal. They really take the Biblical model for community to heart.

At 3:30 p.m. Pastor Jorge Morales and the folks from Buenas Nuevas start arriving for Sunday School and worship. On Sunday they finished up a little early because it was Halloween and I think a lot of folks wanted to get home. Talk about music, they really light up the neighborhood when they start singing. Their praise team does a nice job and they rock the sanctuary when they get going.

We gathered for our weekly Bible study at 6:30 p.m. but only a few of us made it this week. I thought briefly about cancelling it but didn't think Halloween would affect us that much. Of course, I do love to hand out the candy and was torn. But we went for it. We had a good discussion despite the low turnout.

So that was our Sunday at church. Praise God, it was a good day.

Cal

Norwich Baptist Habitat Build

On Saturday, October 31 we put together a crew to work on a Habitat for Humanity home in New London. Amanda Duntz organized the day. Several folks from church and members of Amanda's wider family joined us for the day. You will recognize a few people in the pictures. For example Amanda and her mom, Kathy Spielman, were there. Pete and Betsey Adams were a big help with sanding and painting. Rachel Batter and her friend Emily Hendrick worked on installing the floor boards in the kitchen and upstairs. Marc Vaillancourt and I rounded out the crew from church.

Amanda's aunts Tina and Heidi were also there to help along and they brought along their mother and Amanda's grandmother, Mrs. Spielman. She worked circles around a few of us, especially an unnamed pastor.

Cynthia Strouse dropped by in the morning with all kinds of goodies for our break. That was a special treat. Well here are some of the pictures from the day. Enjoy.

Cal

A wonderful brunch after church

I forgot to mention that on Sunday, October 24 we had a great brunch after church. It was part of the kick-off to our Annual Stewardship Campaign. Our Stewardship Committee hosted the event with some help from Rodney Green and Olde Tymes Restaurant. Rodney gave us a good deal on the basic breakfast platter and our committee served it up with coffee and a smile.

We laid out some posters around the room where people could put down their wishes for the three areas of our ministry. Then Nancy Allen, Mary Brockway and I performed a little skit that pointed out how we can be thankful for little things. It was titled, "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee Beans."

We had about 40 people stay for the celebration. A few of the things that got added to the list were ...

* renovate the kitchen
* hold a neighborhood block party
* have more pot luck suppers
* have a choir cantata
* Projector/screen for church

The list will grow in the coming weeks as people turn in their wish lists. So stay tuned.

Cal