Category: News

Council President Amy Halt and Deacon Katherine Harcourt rewrote Clement Moore’s classic Christmas poem to answer our children’s many questions about the church’s recent fire. They turned it into a stirring message of communal caring and action that brought the FCC church family together to meet the challenge of unforeseen disaster. So, with municipal police and volunteer firefighters, instead of shepherds and their sheep,

and with church members responding to an early morning fire, instead of 3 wise men, the words of the revised FCC Night Before Halloween Christmas Pageant, are printed below for your pleasure.

If you would like to see the pageant, click the start button on the video below.

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Christmas pageant

Twas the night before Halloween
And all through FCC
Not a creature was stirring
Not even mice in the pantry.
The kitchen was dark
and the dishes were clean,
The children were home asleep
Dreaming of candy on Halloween.
The dishwasher was silent,
Asleep, until “zing” . . .
Was it a power surge that kindled
a flame that made the alarms ring?
And Reverend Nancy in her kerchief
And Nikita wearing his cap
Had been all settled down
For their Hallows Eve nap
When on the church lawn
There arose such an uproar
As the Bristol police and fire department
Tried to get in the door.
The fire alarm was sounding,
Smoke was billowing out
Of the kitchen which was burning.
But thankfully its doors were shut.
The moon that rose over
the bell tower that night
Illuminated all those
Who came to battle the firefight.
But what to their wondering eyes did they see
When the kitchen doors were opened
Exposing all of the casualties?
Well, that wooden coffee cart,
So little and stout,
Was untouched by the flames.
It had no embers to rout.
More rapid than eagles
Some church members came
When called by emergency
Responders by name.
Now Sandie Campbell,
Now Charlie Tupper,
Now Roger and Donna Dubord too.
And Rev Nancy
broke speed limits.
She practically flew!
To the top of High Street
On a night in the fall
They came straight away rapidly fearful of all.
As dry leaves in the yard fluttered on by
What a relief it was to see the bell tower standing so high.
In such a twinkling, life’s hurdles are rough
And FCC has known challenges more than enough.
Yet we drew a collective breath
As we all stood around
In the yard on November 2nd,
what hallowed ground.
What to do, what to do, when trouble’s afoot?
Nancy cursing the stove didn’t cause
All to be covered in soot.
There was so much to do with the upcoming season  
-- Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Jesus is the reason!
We had community commitments
And the Harvest Bazaar
What about the Cookie Walk?
Well now we weren’t going far!
But a church is not just made
Up by a building.
It’s the people within
It’s the love. It’s a feeling.
A church should spread the message
Of God’s love sent down
In the form of a baby.
Not a king with a crown.
So instead of lamenting,
We all went to work.
No time for fomenting.
We didn’t go berserk.
We just relied on the strength
Of God’s love in each other.
With the helping guidance of
Reverend Nancy, Roger, and one another,
We adapted and changed
Our plans to accommodate
The repairs to be made.
We did not curse fate.
So now we all can exclaim:
We have seen God’s love in spite
Of our Halloween Eve!
Merry Christmas tonight!

On November 30th we celebrated the First Sunday in Advent. The first Advent candle — the candle of Hope — was lighted. The worship service was led by the Deacons, as our minister, the Rev. Dr. Nancy H. Soukup, was indisposed. Our hearts and minds turned in anticipation toward the long-expected birth of the Christ child with hope — with trust — for a world where peace reigns, where swords are turned into plow shares, where nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.

The Deacons provided personal reflections on what “Hope” means for them. The choir provided “Three Shaker Songs,” ending with the gentle and affirming melody “Tis a Gift to be Simple.”

We invite you to join us in worship and in fellowship through this season of Advent.

Help us put your entire donation to work by mailing a check to the FCC office at:

First Congregational Church
The Fire Restoration Fund
281 High Street, Bristol, Rhode Island 02809

If you choose to make an on-line donation to the Fire Restoration Fund,
use the button below:

First Congregational Church, UCC, in Bristol, RI is reaching out to ask for your help. Our church kitchen burned down on Halloween night. It is totally gutted. The fire started in a seldom used dish washer. We were fortunate that our fire alarm system connects directly to the Bristol Fire Department. So firefighters arrived quickly. Two other blessings kept the fire from spreading beyond the kitchen—the doors between the kitchen and the rest of the building were closed and the fire began in an appliance that backed up to the 1856 Sanctuary’s exterior stone walls. So while serious smoke and soot damage affected the entire building, we truly feel blessed that no one was hurt, only the kitchen was totaled, and the damage can be repaired. Our immediate need is for $10,000 to cover the insurance deductible – an unforeseen cost that was not in our budget. We hope you will support our efforts as we recover from this fire. All contributions are gratefully received.

The professional “disaster cleaners” are working to open up the Sunday School wing, the sanctuary, and the DeWolf Chapel by Christmas. The kitchen, which must be totally replaced, will take a bit longer. This has happened at the busiest time of year during the holiday season when we hold some of our most important fundraisers for our annual budget. We are finding ways to carry out our missions and events in spite of the fire, but we could really use your help in meeting all of the unbudgeted expenses that unfold after a major fire.

First Congregational Church in Bristol has been serving the East Bay community in Rhode Island since its founding in 1680. During those 345 years, our church family has faced many challenges and grown stronger and more resilient as we have worked together to rebuild, repair, and refine our faith and commitment to God’s work.

If you have ever worshiped at First Congregational Church in Bristol, or attended the candlelight Christmas Eve service, or if you have enjoyed our award-winning “Stone Church Coffee House” monthly folk music concerts, or come to our Harvest Moon Bazaar – an event that is now in its 96^th year, or our Christmas Cookie Walk, or if you are a history buff or in love with historic architecture, we invite you to contribute to our newly established Fire Restoration Fund.

Fire does not just destroy. It can transform, it can illuminate, it can inspire. While we share the decades of memories of our church family’s fellowship in that now smokey and darkened kitchen, we look forward to the brightly restored kitchen that will surely arise from the ashes. We thank you for any gift you feel able to make toward the restoration of our church building.

On Thursday, November 13, the Deacons of the First Congregational Church worked with the Blount Soup Company to give away 300 pints of delicious soup to anyone who showed up, as well as to organizations around Bristol who serve low income clients.

Volunteers from the church set up shop at the front gates of the church property, having received cartons of Chicken Noodle and Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice soup donated by the folks at Blounts in Warren and labeled for Panera. Some was taken up to the Benjamin Church Senior Center to be distributed among clients at their facility. Some was taken to the Franklin Court Senior Residence. Most was given to individuals from all around the East Bay who drove up and made their choice. Some even went to passersby who were walking their dogs. Who doesn’t like a delicious bowl of hot soup on a crisp autumn day?

By 2:30pm, all 300 pints of soup had found new homes with people who will enjoy the generosity of the Blount Soup Company. We thank everyone at Blounts and all of the church volunteers who made this fun event possible. And that includes Lynne, who provided a delicious chili and cornbread lunch for all of the volunteers. We’re looking forward to doing this again.

The Special Service of Thanksgiving for our church that took place this past Sunday, November 2, was not because it was November and the 3rd Thursday is coming up. Our congregation held this special worship service in the courtyard because we had a fire on October 31 that destroyed the kitchen. We feel so grateful that no one was hurt and that the fire was contained to the one room. Until the facility has been professionally cleaned by specialists who deal with “disaster cleanup,” everyone is staying out of the building. Hence, our worship service on the lawn.

The sun was shining and keeping us all warm in spite of the brisk autumn temperatures. The Rev. Nancy H. Soukup opened the service with a lengthy announcement, explaining what had happened and how fortunate we were that the seemingly flimsy swinging doors that separate the kitchen from the rest of the church complex managed to contain the fire. Members of the congregation’s Facilities Committee and others arrived on the scene and were able to confer with the Bristol firefighters who came in the middle of the night to put out the flames. How fortunate we are that we have an alarm system that is connected directly to the emergency fire responders. We are so grateful to the firefighters for their extraordinary service to our church and to our community.

Roger Dubord took up the mic to provide more details about the speedy assessment and plans to get our kitchen back into shape for our fall events.

The singing of “Amazing Grace” and “We Are One in the Spirit,” acapella, brought all of the members together in thanks for the preservation of our historic sanctuary, chapel and Sunday School buildings. First Congregational Church, Bristol’s founding church in 1680, has faced many challenges in its 345 year history and, with God’s Grace, we have grown stronger in our faith and thankfulness as we have come together to meet them.

FCC last built a float for the July 4th parade back in 2005. (You can see a video of that float in the “Our History” page of this website.) Led by our 350 Fund mission statement, we were determined this year to reach out to the wider community. Along with our project offering water and bathroom facilities to all parade goers, we decided to again build a float for the July 4th parade. The journey from idea to finished product was eventful — mostly filled with kind people offering their time, their skills and their hard work to turn the idea of our church into a message that would reach out to the thousands of people lining the parade route.

The idea to again build an FCC float for Bristol’s Fourth of July parade was raised at the launch of the 350 Fund on Pentecost 2024. Only this time we were determined to design the float to be used year after year, taken apart for storage in the church basement and reassembled each July. Member and architect Alan Berry immediately stepped up with an offer to design a “to scale” model of the historic Norman sanctuary and bell tower, the first “stone church” in Bristol. Here are a few pics of the transition from design to raw plywood, timber and paint on the lawns and in the basement of the church, to a fully built float standing proud on the flatbed.

ELJ Construction, Inc. kindly agreed to provide a truck, driver and flatbed. Then a construction team, painting team, decorators, and marchers were all recruited. The lawn and basement of the church were chosen as the best site to build the float.

Once the platform, frame and lightweight panels had been cut and assembled, the team of painters got to work. Rolling on primer and top coat, detailing every roofing slate, sponging on every stone, painting in every window pane and doorway.

One by one, the panels were completed.

The walls, the bell tower, the roofing, the buttresses, the platform on which the entire structure would sit.

Banners were designed and made by Hill House Graphics. Flags, buntings and Astroturf were purchased. Everyone worked hard for several weeks in June to build, paint, haul all the pieces of the float up out of the basement to assemble on the flatbed, and finally to decorate the flatbed.

And early on the morning of July 4th, an imposing model of our church rolled away on its flatbed trailer from the grounds of the church to join the 33 other floats, the marching bands, the town dignitaries and all of the other hundreds of marchers who made up the hours-long parade that moved along the red, white and blue center lines of Hope and High streets on a bright, sunny day following a night of intense thunder storms on July 3.

Here is a video of the FCC float as it slowly moved along the parade route, led by our stalwart banner holders, Sam and Brady, and our team of marchers. Many thanks to everyone who created this church float and marched along with it on July 4th!

On the afternoon of Sunday, June 29th, First Congregational Church hosted the 2025 Interfaith Service, part of Bristol’s Fourth of July celebrations every year. This event brings together clergy from the town’s houses of worship in a patriotic, multi-denominational prayer gathering. The service began with rousing bagpipe music from a Highland Piper, the Town Cryer, the trooping of the flag by uniformed members of the Bristol Train of Artillery, the Miss Fourth of July winners, town dignitaries and religious leaders marching down the aisle.

The Rev. Dr. Nancy H. Soukup, Settled Minister of First Congregational Church welcomed attendees, while Nikita Zabinski, Director of Music, and the church choir provided spirited music throughout the service.

Spiritual leaders from all of Bristol’s houses of worship joined in delivering a moving liturgy that explored the contemporary significance of our nation’s founding principles and spiritual beliefs.

The 2025 Interfaith Speaker was Father Robert Marciano who presently serves as Pastor of Saint Kevin Parish and school in Warwick and President Emeritus of Bishop Hendricken High School, Warwick. Father Marciano also serves as Chaplain to the Warwick Police and Fire Departments.

FCC is Bristol’s “founding church,” the establishment of which in 1680 enabled the founding of the town of Bristol in the same year. Rei Battcher, a Bristolian, historian, librarian, historical reinactor, and genealogist, and Rev. Soukup read the entirety of the Declaration of Independence, whose stirring text takes on added meaning in a time of challenge to our democracy.

During a reception following the service, FCC refreshments included a cake celebrating the successful completion of the church’s Fourth of July float, a “to scale” model of the historic 1856 sanctuary and bell tower. Rei Battcher provided insights on the role that FCC minister the Rev. Henry Wight played in Bristol’s Fourth of July celebrations.

Rev. Wight, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, led the way in establishing what are now known as “Patriotic Exercises” – back in 1785. These Patriotic Exercises focused on remembering, honoring and celebrating all that the Revolutionary War veterans had done in establishing our then new nation. Each year after 1785, on the 4th of July, Patriotic Exercises were held to honor the work of those who founded our nation. Rev. Wight himself was the Patriotic Speaker at the Patriotic Exercises for over 40 years. Each year, Bristol begins its famous parade with the Patriotic Exercises, which is why Bristol can claim the oldest 4th of July Celebration in America.

Ever since Alan Berry, our architect, finished the designs for the new FCC Bristol Fourth of July Parade float and Jim Sapp ordered in all the wood and other materials to build it, a busy and talented team has been measuring and cutting and nailing and screwing it all together right on the church side lawn. As of Sunday, June 15, we now have a totally built 10 ft. church tower and a completed church skeleton that looks just like Notre Dame Cathedral! Just another day or two of work and the model of the FCC sanctuary and tower will have its plywood walls applied and be ready for the painters to begin painting on all the stones, windows, doors and roofing slates. Yeah!

A special thanks to Alan Berry, who not only drew up the “to scale” plans for the float, but also cut almost every piece of the complicated structure. Many thanks to our Construction Team, including Alan, Jim Sapp, Chuck Ramos, Ron Gamon, John Tyler, Caroline and Robert Jacobus, Paul Temple and Roger Dubord. Thanks also to Jim and Caroline who have procured all the needed materials for the float and decorations as well as the truck and trailer to pull it. If I have missed anyone, please forgive me.

Plus, a special thanks to our sponsors, ELJ Construction Supplies, who are providing us with a driver, truck and flatbed trailer on July 4th, and Hill House Graphics who donated their design time to improve our church banners.