It is a tradition in many churches to hold an installation service when someone is appointed the senior or settled minister of a church. The service honors the start of a new ministry and gathers the congregation, local clergy from the denomination, and pastoral leadership from the association to formalize this new relationship between Settled Minister and congregation.
Now, my ministry at FCC is not new. I have been with you since November 2023—first as a Designated Term Minister and then as a Settled Minister since January 2025. So why do this service? I thought a long time about this and decided that the installation is a time to celebrate our congregation as it swings around to the first anniversary of the fire, to honor the resiliency of the congregation, and for me to say thank you to all of you for inviting me to serve with you as a community devoted to God’s love and Jesus’s way in Bristol and beyond.
This has been an even more poignant time for this celebration because of our church’s place in the history of our country—now 250 years old, and Rev. Henry Wight’s role as the sixth minister in beginning this country’s first Patriotic Exercises. So, the installation on October 4 will be more than a recognition of me but rather a time to step back, take wonder in, and rejoice in First Congregational Church and its historic 346 years and all of you.
Please save the date, Sunday, October 4, 2:00 p.m., in the sanctuary.
Blessings, Rev. Nancy
