Category: Expired-Events

Next Sunday, October 18, we will have our annual “Church Has Left the Building” experience when we don orange vests with the church’s name and move beyond our church walls to help our community. This year, we will be walking around town in teams to help clean up the streets in our neighborhood. Each year, our children have been doing this work. This year, our adults will join them in a very visible display that First Congregational Church cares about Bristol. In addition, Chuck Ramos is organizing a team to go to homes of some of our members where help is required with specific house projects. For those who need volunteer options with fewer steps, join Rev. Nancy in the DeWolf Room to write cards to our homebound members and others we know who need our support at this time. So, come to the DeWolf Room on Sunday, October 18, to get your visit, join a team, and do some good work for our neighbors and friends.

My Installation as the 26^th Settled Minister of First Congregational Church in Bristol took place on Sunday afternoon, October 4, and was a spirited worship service. (Feature photo: (l-r) Members of Rev. Nancy’s family—Monique Pete, Catherine Craig Soukup, Betty Soukup Blackburn, and Rev. Nancy; and the Rev. Darrell Goodwin, Executive Conference Minister, SNEUCC.)

I am very thankful for the work of the Deacons both to make possible the service and the reception.

Two anonymous donors helped to provide the catered food and beverages, and members of the church provided wonderful sweets. More people attended the service and reception than anticipated, filling the Sanctuary and the DeWolf Room for the reception.
 
There were surprises all throughout the afternoon. One of the most significant is that our Executive Conference Minister, the Rev. Darrell Goodwin, appeared to join the service. He had been preaching at Edgewood Congregational Church in Cranston, and my colleague the Rev. Bill Sterrett mentioned that our Installation was happening that afternoon. Darrell decided to stay in RI, along with his husband, and his 6-month old daughter, Kyrie, in order to attend our service.

Another surprise was the beautifully decorated Sanctuary and DeWolf Room. Barbara Watts surprised us with gold pennants in both rooms and other gold decorations on the tables in the DeWolf Room. Celeste Bernardino and Susan Morettini brought gorgeous flowers from their gardens to add to the decorations in the DeWolf Room.
 
My friend, Professor Charlotte Carrington-Farmer, provided a message that spoke directly to the need to understand our history in order to embrace our spiritual future.

Many have commented on how much they appreciated her words. Her message was recorded by Dr. David Weed of the Sowams Heritage Area Project and will be added to our website. Thanks to Nikita Zabinski and the FCC Choir; the music was amazing from start to finish, which ended with a rousing rendition of “Oh Happy Day.

“Thanks” is not enough for all that so many did to make this a special day for me and the entire church, especially the Deacons gift to me—a beautiful stole that I will wear for many years to come.

Blessings, Rev. Nancy

Worship service: Rev. Dr. Nancy Hamlin Soukup;

Scripture: “Romans 13:8-14” ;

Scripture: “Matthew 18:15-20” ;

Message: “Rising from the Rubble—25 Years since 9/11”

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Worship service: Rev. Dr. Nancy Hamlin Soukup;

Scripture: “Romans 12:1-8” ;

Scripture: “Matthew 16:13-20” ;

Message: “Loose Lips Sinks Ships”

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It is very exciting to give you regular updates on the progress with the kitchen. This coming week, we will enter a new stage of the recovery from the fire. We will have kitchen furniture and the salvaged kitchenware arrive at the church. A small team of members will be working in the Diman Room over the next week to receive and assemble the kitchen rolling tables and shelving. Next Thursday, August 27, PuroClean will be delivering the 52 boxes of salvaged kitchenware from the fire to unpack and begin to place back in the kitchen.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! We will be having an Unpacking Kitchenware Party on Saturday, August 29, from 9am-12pm in the Diman Room. We hope we can get 8-10 people who can help unpack the boxes and organize the contents of the boxes in the restored kitchen. If you can’t spend the entire three hours, then perhaps you can do hour and a half.
Contact Rev. Nancy at 401-338-4606 or nhsoukup@gmail.com to let her know you will join the party. This is the time we REALLY need your help.

Blessings, Rev. Nancy

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

Worship service: Rev. Dr. Nancy Hamlin Soukup;

Scripture: “Romans 8:35-39” ;

Scripture: “Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52” ;

Message: “The Small Difference”

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