First Congregational Church in Bristol
An Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ
You are invited to the Church School Sunday celebration of our amazing children and our delightful teachers, who meet up most every Sunday for some straight talk about why we are all here on this earth — and some fun time making crafts.
And following that, everyone is invited to the All Church Picnic out on the courtyard lawn, hosted by the Christian Education Committee. Lots of good food and good conversation with friends. What could be better? See you there.
Come to help, or come for soup, or both! Many thanks to Blount Soups for their generous donation of delicious soups, available to anyone who comes. We could use a few extra hands to help. See you there.
The life and times of Rev. Henry Wight, founding pastor of our July Fourth tradition, will be the topic of the Bosworth Lecture Series on Thursday, June 11, 6:30pm, at First Congregational Church, (FCC), in the DeWolf Room. The event is free and open to the public.
Members of the church, Dyan Vaughan and Rei Battcher, will explore the life and times of Rev. Wight, who presided as the sixth pastor of the town’s founding church for 44 years after serving in the Revolutionary War. The Historical Properties Room at FCC, which exhibits relics and documents from this era, will be open on this occasion.
Rev. Wight was outspoken in the areas of religion, education, civic life, and politics, and his daily journals chronicled life in Bristol from 1784 until his death in 1837. In 1785 he started the tradition of reading the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, which continues to this day, making it the first patriotic exercise in the history of the country.
In conjunction with the Fourth of July Committee, and in tribute to the 250th Anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, Ms. Vaughan, Mr. Battcher, and the Rev. Nancy Hamlin Soukup invite FCC members and the larger community to learn about the life of this patriot and preacher, to see how he was shaped by the Revolution, and to discover how his views influenced the Town he loved. The lecture will conclude with excerpts from Rev. Wight’s Patriotic Address from July 4, 1809, read by Mr. Steve Brosnihan.
The Roswell S. Bosworth Jr. Lecture Series is presented by the Men’s Club, a local organization that pays tribute to its founding member, former editor and publisher of the East Bay Newspapers, with lectures of interest to the public. FCC collaborates with the Lecture Series to hold the annual June lecture at the church.
Since the early morning fire last Halloween, the Facilities Committee has overseen a massive amount of cleaning and rehabilitation throughout the church complex. Soot and smoke were professionally removed from all of the spaces including the entire Sunday School wing and the sanctuary. Then the DeWolf Room was painted, the sound baffles were cleaned, and new carpeting was installed. The Wardwell Room and vestibule were repaired and painted, and new tile floors were installed. In the area of greatest damage, the church kitchen which was completely destroyed, the first task was to empty the space of all the appliances and furnishings.
After stripping back all of the walls and ceiling to the studs, it was discovered that the roof of the kitchen space had been damaged by the fire and had to be replaced. Then the plumbing and electrics were replaced, insulation laid in, and dry wall began to be installed.
It won’t be long before FCC Bristol has an entirely new, professional kitchen. We’re looking forward making good use of it for many Fellowship events. There is nothing quite like cooking together and enjoying a good meal together to make friends and spread happiness.
One of the hymns we sang this Sunday was written by Isaac Watts. In preparation for the coming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Rei Battcher, Bristol historian and member of our church, took a few moments during worship to tell us a bit about Watts (1674-1748), an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. Watts was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, “Joy to the World”, and “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”. Most particularly, Rei retold the story which I (a New Jersey girl) had heard all my youth: the story of “Give ‘Em Watts” that took place at the Battle of Springfield, NJ on June 23, 1780. The picture, above, shows Rei in one of his Revolutionary uniforms with the Rev. Nancy H. Soukup at last year’s July 4th Interfaith service. And below is a photo of the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, whose minister gathered up all of the church hymnals and gave them to the Revolutionary soldiers for them to use in their fight for American independence. You can see the video, below the church photo, of Rei’s story telling and find out how the soldiers used the hymnals. It’s a good one!
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First Congregational Church is grateful to all who were able to attend our Community Asset-Mapping Forum on April 15th. We had a full house of some 30 participants who shared their goodwill and expertise with our church members, other members of the Bristol community and our Partners for Sacred Places consultants, Dana Dabek and Caroline Lauber.
The Forum began with a greeting from our Settled Minister, the Rev. Dr. Nancy H. Soukup, who gave a special thank you to Steve Knapman, the representative from the Bristol Fire Department. It is due to the speedy response and the great skills of the professionals who responded to our fire alarm on October 31, 2025, that a kitchen fire starting in the wiring of an old appliance only destroyed the kitchen. The DeWolf Room, where the Forum was held, only suffered soot and smoke damage and was ready for our community event after a professional cleaning, painting, audio system restoration and new carpet.
Our Forum attendees came from all sectors of the Bristol community—the arts, education, houses of worship, health, human services, neighborhood nonprofits, philanthropy, business, government, and the media—bringing their particular knowledge of the East Bay, their understanding of all of the assets that could be tapped and brought together to meet the unmet needs of our community. We wish we could have stayed far longer to have those conversations with each of them about what needs their organizations are facing and how our church might partner with them to meet those needs. Following this forum, our FCC Asset-Mapping Task Force has reached out individually to each of the 65+ community leaders on our list to encourage them to take the next step. That would be to discuss some of the projects their organization has been dreaming of and explore how we might partner to accomplish them.
The afternoon started with a guided tour of the spaces within our church complex that might be of use for community events, meetings, worship , celebrations or other projects our attendee organizations would like to carry out. The tours were followed by a small group brainstorming session designed to spark ideas and grow relationships among Bristol’s leaders and our church.
Each small group was asked to identify as many of Bristol assets as they possibly could and to note each one down on a colorful post-it note. After that, each group brainstormed ideas for needed projects that could move forward through the coordination of these existing area assets. This process confirmed our common belief that all of the Bristol community will benefit when we work together, creating partnerships that share our assets to address projects these organizations have been hoping to pursue.
Our follow-up to the Asset-Mapping Forum is important to us. We are eager to move the process forward, both for those who attended the Forum and those who were not able to make it. As a result of this Forum, our hope is that all of us— coming from all sectors of Bristol’s nonprofit and for-profit sectors— came to a better understanding of the economic and social value that sacred places represent in communities when those assets are linked with assets outside the houses of worship. Together, we succeeded in identifying literally hundreds of assets, both within our church and within the community. Then we brainstormed and came up with new, exciting and needed initiatives that linked a constellation of assets from all over Bristol, some to space usage of the First Congregational Church.
We are eager to hear what ideas Bristol organizations have for partnering on new projects, creating connections among Bristol’s organizations, each with their own assets, to benefit our larger community. Moving forward for us is about hearing more about each organization’s vision, how they serve the Bristol community, and how our church can support their efforts through our buildings and our members.
You are invited to be part of a worship service that is truly one of the most powerful spiritual experiences in the whole liturgical calendar–Tenebrae on April 2, Maundy Thursday. Come and experience it for yourself. Bring a friend.
WHAT IS TENEBRAE?
You’ve been seeing a flyer about the Maundy Thursday service in recent weeks. I want to encourage you to attend this moving service that leads us into the solemnity of Good Friday.
At First Congregational Church, our Maundy Thursday practice includes the reading of the Tenebrae. What is Tenebrae, which is the Latin term for “shadows”? Our worship will be centered around this ancient ritual, which chronicles the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus. As we worship, this space will grow increasingly darker as the shadow of the cross falls upon each of us. Thus, the sanctuary is cast into darkness as the readers assemble and speak. The twelve candles on the table represent Jesus’s twelve disciples; the large candle is the Christ candle.
Throughout the service, there are readings, prayers, and most important sacred music for the occasion. We are fortunate to have Nikita Zabinski, our Music Director, who has prepared a powerful blend of works by J. S. Bach and Sergei Prokofiev, and contemporary choral music by Heather Sorenson and Ruth Elaine Schram.
Additionally, special musical offerings include vocal solos by Cara Massey, Sarah Albanese, and Katherine Harcourt, as well as a featured violin sonata performed by Alexi Shabalin, violinist with the Rhode Island Philharmonic.
The service is on April 2, at 7:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary. All are welcome.
First Congregational Churchin Bristol Welcomes You to Its Holy Week and Easter Services from April 2 to April 5, 2026.
Our historic congregation has been celebrating this religious tradition for 346 years, and we feel this continuity deeply as Bristol’s oldest church and organization. We hope you will join us for this year’s services. As we say at First Congregational Church in Bristol, whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.
Come join us for a time of new beginnings, new sources of comfort and grace, new friendships.
Join us for the Tenebrae service on Maundy Thursday, with a reenactment of the last supper and special music.
Join us for a Labyrinth Walk in the DeWolf Chapel on Good Friday, a time of quiet contemplation and spiritual support.
Join us for a joyful Easter worship service, either at the Mt. Hope Boat Ramp at the 6:30am Sunrise service or the regular 10:00am service at the church — or both.
