First Congregational Church of Southington First Congregational Church of Southington

We welcome our own Amy Webb to the FCC pulpit this week.  Amy is a Member in Discernment in the Central Connecticut Association of the UCC as she discerns her call to ordained ministry, and she just completed a Master of Divinity degree at the Boston University School of Theology.  Her sermon will be based on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, which focuses on what is eternal, not what is temporary.

For the next few weeks, we will explore a few passages from 2 Corinthians, one of the letters in the New

Testament written by the Apostle Paul.



Paul loved the people in the church he started in the Greek city of Corinth, but he couldn’t get them to

love one another. They fought. They were talented, gifted people, but they couldn’t get along. They

argued over which spiritual gift was greatest. They argued about who got to sit at which table when

they served communion. They fought about everything.



So here is their problem: they were majoring in the minor stuff and not paying attention to the major

stuff. This Sunday we will talk about how to figure out the difference between the minor stuff and the

major stuff. I hope you will join me!

Sunday was Pentecost—the birthday of the church. We had a special Pentecost worship service

to conclude the celebration of our 300th anniversary. We welcomed the Executive Conference

Minister of the Southern New England Conference of the UCC, the Rev. Darrell Goodwin, as our guest

preacher.  The Rev. Goodwin is the first Executive Conference Minister of the SNEUCC, a new

Conference formed by the merger of the historic Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island

Conferences in 2020. As the Chief Vision-Keeper, he is responsible for guiding the Conference and its

affiliates to have a positive and lasting impact in our world.



The Rev. Goodwin is a member of the United Church of Christ Board, the UCC Council for Health and

Human Service Ministries, and the Global Ministries Board. He brings to his varying leadership roles

extensive experience in pastoral ministry and higher education.

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 15:57



What a joyful celebration we had in worship on Sunday, May 5! And the celebrations continued for those who joined us at the Aqua Turf on Monday. There was much planning behind the scenes for the 300th Anniversary celebrations and the hard work of the committee paid off. We are looking forward to the culmination of the festive activities on Sunday, May 19 with our town-wide block party!



This Sunday, May 12 we will gather for worship at 8:00 AM in the Chapel and 10:15 AM in the meetinghouse. The Scripture reading is selected verses from 1 Corinthians 15. This section of Paul's letter to the Corinthians includes a strong rhetorical argument for the bodily resurrection.



As I study this passage, I see several connections to my recent trip to Chicago. I was in Chicago with NGLI (Next Generation Leadership Initiative), a program of the Pension Boards. The purpose of our trip was to reflect on Church Vitality. I will share more about the people I met in Chicago and the lessons I took away from my time there in my sermon on Sunday.

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.    ~1 Thessalonians 1:2-3



It’s finally here—our 300th Anniversary.  We will celebrate with several special events during May, including our worship service this Sunday.  There will be special music, and greetings, and guests.  It will be a wonderful day!  I hope you will be here in the meetinghouse for this great celebration.



As we celebrate, we will remember what counts.  According to Paul, the great apostle who started the church in Thessalonica to which he wrote the letter I quoted above, what count are your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.



Yale University history professor Jaroslav Pelikan once said, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead.  Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”  On Sunday we will celebrate the living our 300-year history, but we will not worship it—it is not an “ism.”  Rather we will celebrate how our tradition points us fully in to a future where God is still speaking and dream about how we, the First Congregational Church in Southington, will continue to evolve into an inclusive community of faith that will be a beacon of light in Southington and beyond for the next 300 years!

A simple question from one of the most recognizable passages in the Bible, the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Christ tries to guide us with a seemingly simple answer, but are we following in our daily lives? The FCC Board of Deacons have reflected on this over the last several months and are hoping you will join us this Sunday at 8:00 a.m. or 10:15 a.m., as we offer a Deacon-led service, including personal reflections on this question.