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Board of Deacons:
Our Mission - In the
spirit of renewal and reflection,
we are committed to carrying out the
teachings of Jesus Christ through
dedicated service to the First Congregational
Church of Vernon. We resolve to enrich
our own spiritual growth through study,
worship and prayer and to nurture
that of others by example, communion,
active church involvement and community
outreach.
Historical - In the book of
Acts, the earliest days of Christ's
church, the burden of ministry was
too great for the Apostles alone to
carry. Therefore, the community of
faith chose people in whom it had
confidence and appointed them to share
in the ministry of the church. These
people were called deacons, from the
word for servant.
Deacons at FCCV
- The First Congregational Church
of Vernon strives to have 18 Deacons.
A term of service is three and two
consecutive terms may be served. After
serving two terms, a Deacon is then
ineligible for one year before they
can serve again.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Deacons guide and support the pastors
of the church. They assist with communion,
funerals, baptisms and other special
church functions. They make visits,
phone calls and send personal notes
to homebound members and those in
need.
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Board of Trustees:
Responsible for all our Church properties.
Our custodian reports to this board.
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Board of Music:
FCCV has an extensive music program
coordinated by the Board of Music.
This includes the adult Sanctuary
Choir, the Joyful Praise children's
choir and the Handbell Choir. James
Burr is our Organist and directs the
Handbell Choir that performs a few
times a year. The Sanctuary Choir,
consisting of 28 members and directed
by Mary Jo Simonds-Huneger, performs
most every Sunday. The Joyful Praise
Choir, directed by Bonnie Brenner
sings about once a month during the
Sunday worship service. In addition
to the regular worship services, there
are special performances each year,
usually at Christmas and Easter. A
concert series entitled Music @
First is also presented with performances
by vmusicians and musical groups.
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Board of Christian Education:
Provides opportunities for Christian
education for all generations in our
Church family. This board oversees
Sunday School, Vacation Bible School,
the Crib & Toddler Rooms, Confirmation
Class, Youth Groups & Adult Bible
Study.
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Board of Finance:
Responsible for the management and
use of funds and investments of the
Church; develops and monitors the
annual Church budget. The board is
also responsible for ensuring that
the offering for all worship services
is counted.
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Board of Missions and Outreach:
Our board has the wonderful role of
giving and offering opportunities
for our church family to give. Our
year starts in June, but our first
function has always been the "School
Store" on Rally Sunday in September.
We purchase school supplies for local,
needy children and donate the supplies
to the Hockanum Valley Community Council,
where these items are distributed
to those in need. We rarely have leftovers!
In November, our church family signs
up to provide Thanksgiving Baskets
to families, large and small, in Vernon.
Each year we provide dinner for approximately
80 families. Our role is to organize
the event and transport the food to
HVCC for distribution. Our blessing
is to see all the food that is donated!
In December, our Christmas Giving
Tree has tags with the name, age and
size of a local child in need, supplied
by Hockanum Valley Community Council.
Our wonderful church family picks
the tree clean of at least 150 tags.
Our board then transports these carefully
selected gifts to HVCC.
Every year, we select
a Mission Project that begins in January
or February and runs for about 10
weeks. This project is selected based
on a protocol of Local, State, National
and Global outreach. In the past,
we have chosen such projects as the
Mark Twain School,
Habitat for Humanity, Vernon senior
citizen programs, a playground in
Appalachia, the Brenner orphanage
in S. Korea, the ER & UCC Church
of Waukesha, Wisconsin that was destroyed
by fire, a reading program for kids
and parents and the Connecticut Children's
Place. Our 2007 Project was a soup
kitchen in Soweto, South Africa. Our
donations may be monetary or consist
of "stuff" depending on
how easy it is to deliver the items.
It is a fun time, as we have many
events at Mission Central during the
project, such as a Bake-off, making
drums, rebuilding a model church,
ethnic food, give-aways, and story-telling.
Our board is charged
to distribute the moneys in our budget
to charities that we select each year.
This is rewarding as well. All the
various charities, monetary and in-kind
are listed in the Benevolence Report.
Our board is responsible for the meal
at the Soup Kitchen about 4 times
a year.
We are a very blessed
board because we serve as a catalyst
for the giving congregation of which
we are a part. To be empowered to
design ways for our congregation to
give is much more than a function…it
is a joy and a blessing.
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Auditing Committee:
copy here
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Stewardship & Evangelism Committee:
copy here
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Communications Ministry Committee:
The Communications Ministry has evolved
over the years. Years ago, we provided
church services to our homebound via
telephone connections. When that proved
to be costly, the decision was made
to make audio-tapes of the worship
service and deliver them, immediately
following the service, to private
homes, assisted living centers and
nursing homes. We deliver approximately
six tapes each week. Recently, video
recordings have been added. Church
services and activities are recorded,
DVD's made the following day and the
service is broadcast over the Community
Voice Channel of Comcast Cable the
following week. This has been well
received by our homebound and those
unable to attend church due to illness.
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Flower Committee:
Beautifies the sanctuary with flowers
each Sunday and on holidays; keeps
plant arrangements and memorial gardens
in order; displays special decorations
at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Anyone may contribute flowers by signing
up on the Flower Chart posted on the
bulletin board in the Narthex.
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Furnishings & Memorials Committee:
Coordinates gifts and memorial purchases
into a pleasing and useful decor.
One interested in interior decoration
or possessing sewing, painting or
woodworking skills would make a welcomed
addition to this committee
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Memorial Gardening Committee:
Responsible for establishing and maintaining
a Memorial Garden at FCCV.
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Teaching Parish Committee:
Responsible for all aspects of the
Teaching Parish Program at FCCV.
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Ushering Committee:
Provides ushers for each church service
who perform duties appropriate for
that particular service, including
service bulletins, collection of offerings
and Friendship Registers.
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Ways and Means Committee:
We are a group of fun, creative people
who plan and execute fund-raising
events to supplement the expenses
of the church and to help meet its
budget needs. All money raised by
Ways and Means goes directly into
the General Fund of the church.
Meetings are held the 2nd Monday
of every month from September - June
at 7 p.m. in the church Library.
Once we pick a fund-raising event,
an event leader is chosen and a decision
is made as to how to implement the
event. Some of our fund-raisers are
continued from year to year and others
are one-time events. New fund-raising
ideas are always welcome. We work
together in a fun and supportive atmosphere.
While the majority of our events are
run by committee members, we welcome
anyone who would like to participate
in an event to join us. If you are
interested in being a member of the
Way & Means Committee or participating
in any way, contact our chairman,
Harry Mead or any W&M member
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Library Committee:
Provides books with a Christian focus;
works in cooperation with other boards
and committees by making shelf space
available; purchases memorial books
on behalf of the Board of Deacons
and assists anyone in search of a
particular item.
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