BCCnewsletter

Dear Members and Friends,

It’s not always possible to capture everything about a church’s life in numbers and words bound between two covers. But the contents of this Annual Report do remind us of all that goes on in our life over the course of one year.

Behind and beneath these words and numbers are the nuts and bolts efforts of our members and friends without which all the life and ministry of this congregation could not happen. The Bridgewater Congregational Church was blessed in 2007 with your generous gifts of time, treasure and self. Those gifts and our faith in God make it possible to look forward to 2008 with strength, continuing vitality, and hope.

2007 has also been a year of soul-searching for our church and for me. It has been the good kind of soul-searching, the kind that brings understanding and growth. The Church and Ministry Covenant Committee (CMCC) was formed early in the year to examine and address concerns about my ministry and related concerns about the health of our church. The congregation participated in the process through the All-Church Evaluation, summertime cottage meetings, and January’s Church Forum.

The work of the CMCC and Church Council has been marked by discussions that have been open and honest. The progress we have made would not have been possible without their deep affection for our church and their personal investment in courageously addressing difficult areas of concern. I believe that, through the work of this last year, I have grown as a person and as your minister. I also believe that, through this work, we have grown as a church in ways that cannot be represented by words or numbers, but in ways that can only come by finding our way through, going deep, and searching the soul.

As I write, it is the beginning of the 100th observance of The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In their Pastoral Letter to member denominations, the Christian Conference of Connecticut spoke of the “challenge for diverse individuals to live together in unity. Paul urges the congregation [in Thessalonica] to ‘Be at peace among yourselves.’ He does not ask them to be alike, but rather to allow the variety of gifts among them to enrich the whole community…. We must ache with a deep passion for what we hold as true, while developing a profound respect and forbearance for that which is held passionately by others.”

One of the greatest gifts God has given our congregation is the spirit of unity that transcends our
differences and celebrates our diversity. That gift, and your gifts, and our faith in God will bring us many more blessings in 2008.

Yours in Ministry,

Annual Report of The Board of Deacons

It is hard to believe an entire year has gone by and we are in 2008. But 2007 was a busy year for the deacons and our church.
Sharon Harvey and Larry Miller joined the board in January. 2007 started off with an Epiphany celebration organized by Candy Smith. A great bonfire of Christmas trees in our parking lot was followed by stories, the crowning of kings and epiphany traditions from other countries. Kevin Hawks selected the largest tree trunk and carved a beautiful cross for our church which we used during Lent.

Peter and the deacons also started what we hope will become a tradition at our church – Fat Sunday! It was great fun for kids and adults alike. We ate chili, listened to some awesome music from some very talented musicians (some from our church!),the kids marched around and we all had a wonderful time all leading us into the season of Lent. We had our first Ash Wednesday service in 2007, hopefully another tradition.
The deacons and Peter worked together on rearranging some parts of the worship service. Announcements are now at the beginning of the service so that we will not be distracted later in the service from worship and prayer. Other small changes were also initiated.
2007 saw the deacons putting together a supper before the Tenebrae service on Maundy Thursday. It was a simple, quiet gathering helping to recreate the feeling of the Last Supper. Truly meaningful for everyone who was able to be there and (hopefully another tradition!) we will plan to do this again in 2008.
Easter Sunrise and the Easter service were beautiful……cold at sunrise, but brave souls always come out to sing and worship and remember why it is that we are Christian people. The 10:00 service was filled with gorgeous music from our choir and bell choir and a wonderful sermon from our pastor.
Our church continued the tradition of a Wednesday night service before Thanksgiving day. It was small as always, but really appreciated by those who came including some of our soon to be new members. We had five new members join our church at the December 23rd worship service.
The Christmas Eve services rounded out our church year. This year we had an inter generational Christmas pageant at the 4:00 service and some of our young people sang and played for the music prelude that started at 3:30. The 7:30 prelude included beautiful music from our choir, our bell choir and guest organist Howard Rovics. The church seems to practically jump with excitement at the Christmas Eve services and this year was no exception.
I thank the board of deacons with all my heart for their wonderful spirit and work this year. Any and everything that came our way was tackled by this dedicated group with thoughtful conversation, caring and the spirit that keeps our church such a special place.
Respectfully submitted,Chris SmithSenior Deacon

Annual Report of the Clerk


Active Members
12/31/06 227

Transfers (4)
1/31/07 Diane Monti-Catania
Joseph Catania
Joseph Catania, Jr.
Andrew Catania

New Members (5)
12/23/08 Nancy Evans
William Kavanek, Jr.
Jeanne Paparazzo
Jessica Stewart
Theolene Woods

Active Members
12/31/07 228

Note:
A careful review of the Clerk’s records, lists in the Church Office, and an unofficial 2002 list of members was conducted in 2007. It revealed that the official records of the clerk show an additional 34 members, bringing the total to 262. Previous reports of the Clerk were based on total members from the unofficial 2002 list. The Board of Deacons will review this new list in 2008 to determine if the count should be adjusted downward.

Total Members (according to Clerk’s records and pending the Deacon’s review): 262

Baptisms (2)
8/19/07 Lydia Elizabeth Cox
9/2/07 Flynn Ayres Carney

Marriages (2)
2/3/07 Kathleen Thomas and James Spegnola
9/22/07 Courtney Brown and Theodore Vanasse


Respectfully submitted,
Caren C. Vickery, Clerk