Author: Caroline

After the dark shadows and solemn music at the Maundy Thursday Tenebrae service, the family of worshipers on Sunday were filled with the joy of renewed life and fulfilled promises at the two Easter morning services. More than 30 souls from both FCC Bristol and the wider community gathered at 6:30 AM at our new “sunrise” location at the Bristol Boat Launch on the eastern shores of the Bristol peninsula.

The grey sky lightened as the sun shone through dramatic clouds over the bay. Birds sang and treetops swayed in the early morning breezes. Led by the Rev. Dr. Nancy H. Soukup, worshipers shared hymns and hopes for the healing of the world.

At the Easter morning service in the flower-filled sanctuary, the welcoming greetings of “Christ is Risen” and “Happy Easter” were followed by loud trumpet blasts and voices raised in praise. The Prayer of Invocation declared the hopes of all present: “Creator of Life, in raising Christ Jesus up, through, out of, and beyond the chains of death, You opened for us the way to eternal and abundant life. May our Alleluias on this day float high above the ceiling of what we think we know and transcend to the heaven of what we believe—and thus live. Raise us up! Renew our lives! Resurrect our dreams! Through Jesus Christ our Living Savior.”

After the sermon from Rev. Soukup, entitled “Through Jesus We Behold All of Humanity,” the service closed with a prayer of dedication and Holy Communion: “Let us remember that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes early in the morning. May these gifts of blessing be a sign of the love, light, and glory of our redeeming God who has created a world of abundance with all that we need. May we remain thankful for your generosity, O God.”

The full worship service in the sanctuary can be viewed here.

During worship on Sunday, March 30, 2025, Rev. Nancy Soukup and Chair of Stewardship Caroline Jacobus dedicated the memorial window plaques that have been installed on 9 of the 20 window sashes in the sanctuary. The happy coincidence of March 30th being both “Mothering Sunday” and the date of our Annual Meeting gave to this occasion the double significance of our gathering together to recognize the many roles that our church plays in our lives.

First Congregational Church in Bristol is our spiritual home and Mothering Sunday represented a celebration of our homecoming. So it was just the right day to be dedicating the memorial plaques, some in remembrance of beloved family members, some in celebration of our church family. And it was just the right day to recognize those families in our church who so kindly donated toward the preservation of these windows.

Many may remember the old windows in various shades of lavender and pale blue that used to grace the sanctuary walls – with the drafty winter winds blowing in, and the cracked glass, the panes falling out, and the wood dried to a gray brittleness. In 2021 we were fortunate to find New Outlook, a firm of expert historic window preservationists – and we launched a capital campaign which raised $158,000 to fund the restoration of the most damaged windows, those on the south side. Now these windows are weather-tight, the wood frames are sturdy, the glass is flawless. The light shines through to illuminate our lives and our minds, to bring in the nurturing warmth of the sun. Or, as one of our donor families decided to have engraved on their plaque: “May the blessing of light be upon you: light on the outside and light on the inside.”

As each family thought about the words they wanted engraved on their plaque, their hearts were moved to consider what was truly important, whose names did they want to send into the future for generations to see, what hope or message in their lives did they want to memorialize. And there was such variety in what they chose to celebrate: the birth of a grandchild, or the joy in relationships with their children, the appreciation that was felt for the love and support they had received from their parents.

Others celebrated the deep love and appreciation a husband feels for his wife.

Still other plaques call for us to celebrate our joy in preserving the history of our church – another simply celebrates the love that binds together all the members of our FCC family, to make a difference.

I invite all of you to take a tour of the memorial plaques the next time you are in the sanctuary. There are currently 7 plaques on the south facade and 2 plaques on the north facade. There are still 11 window sites remaining where a memorial plaque could be placed. If you feel inspired to create your own memorial plaque, just contact Rev. Soukup or Caroline Jacobus and we can make it happen.

Our Annual Meeting on Sunday, March 30 provided the fitting opportunity to give a huge Thank You to our dear friend Ron Grant. Ron has faithfully served as our talented and caring audiovisual master of LiveStreaming for more than 12 years. Each Sunday he has arrived early, made sure the sound and video systems were set to go, and skillfully managed the changing sound and camera settings throughout each service.

Then he would go home and edit the recording of the service video each week to a perfect hour-long program and drive it over to the local TV station so that our weekly service could be viewed by both Internet and TV audiences. This labor of love started on the first day he walked into the sanctuary and was asked by Bob Wilson if he knew anything about audiovisual systems. Well, yes he did.

Rev. Nancy Soukup presented Ron with a celebratory plaque acknowledging his long years of volunteer service to FCCBristol through his audiovisual ministry and a token of appreciation from his church family.

Thank you, Ron, from the bottom of our hearts, for faithfully showing your love every week. For more than 12 years, you have given your church family hours of your time and talent to help share our message of love to members who could not attend worship in person and to open our arms to members of the wider community. You have truly embodied our church watchword: “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”

Every time you shop at Clements Marketplace or Stop & Shop in Bristol, you can help us raise funding for FCC Bristol. Each of these community markets has a donation program based on the collection of receipts. All the details are included in the two flyers in this post.