May 6, 2010

Dear Friends,

This has been a busy and rewarding year for First Church. There were many instances where our Church has made a difference in our community and world and our congregation continues to be energized by mission and outreach. In fact, I am heartened by the fact that when our church leadership sets a goal, the congregation almost always surpasses that challenge. From our goal to raise $10,000 for Haiti (which was quickly surpassed) to our goal to raise $500.00 for our participation in the recent Foodshare Walk (which ultimately totaled nearly $2000.00 with partial corporate matching) it is inspiring to me that we put our money where our mouths (hearts!) are and support worthy causes. This is especially true because we are in the midst of a recession which makes our support more challenging but all the more important.

Of course, our outreach is not all about dollars. Our Church has continued to strive in helping others through many programs such as: (1) Heads Up! Hartford; (2) our annual Back Bay Mission trip; (3) coordination of a twice monthly mobile Foodshare van at First Church; and (4) family mission immersion days. The list goes on and on—from supplying backpacks with food for children in need to collecting 900 books for a magnet school in Enfield.

We have also celebrated the 15 year milestone of our Church’s proud pronouncement that we are an opening and welcoming Church. A physical realization of that pronouncement—namely our Universal Access entrance—has been completed which includes a number of handicap parking spots on the Hale House property. We have been waiting a number of years to make First Church easily accessible to young and old and this design provides for a park-like and communal setting for church gatherings. Thanks to Marie Balsara and the hard work of a group of member volunteers, this dream is now a reality.

As I look back over this past year for First Church, I am particularly proud of how our Congregation responded to our Stewardship Campaign in the midst of a recession. Because of your support, our Stewardship Campaign surpassed $709,000 in pledged amounts which marks an important fundraising milestone for our Congregation and hopefully sets the stage for future stewardship drives as we continue to strive to do more. Our Congregation approved a 2010 budget with significant budget cuts including the unfortunate discontinuance of our longtime crossing guard Bob DiBella. These budget cuts are difficult but without your generous support of our Church they would have been more significant and, therefore, we are thankful that you joined us in concluding that First Church is worthy of our support. It is my hope we can continue to lift up stewardship so that our many ministries and programs can continue to touch the lives of our members and so that we can collectively make a difference outside the walls of our Church.

Thanks to the many First Church volunteers whose contributions are so essential to sustaining this vibrant community of which we are a part. Thanks to our many First Church volunteers who teach our children, visit our older members, and give their time and talent to help support our many internal and external initiatives. We look forward to the return of our Senior Pastor following his sabbatical and appreciate all of our staff pitching in to keep the trains running on time during his absence. As we move forward, I want to thank Frank Scalia and Cindi Bates for agreeing to serve as our next President and Vice President. We are lucky to have two such capable people volunteer their time and talents and I trust they will lead our Church as we continue to strive to do more.