Lent is often seen as a season of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. In the early church, Lent was a time to prepare new converts for baptism.  Today during Lent, Christians focus on their relationship with God; an intentional time for self-examination and reflection, often choosing to give up something or volunteering and giving of themselves for others.  

Lent has traditionally involved fasting, however, our 2017 Lenten Educational Series, Our Lenten Table, is all about eating.  Eating with Jesus. Eating with others. Gathering around the Jesus’ Table. Our Lenten Table is about coming together around the table of mercy, justice and grace. We will eat together, worship together, and learn together. We invite you to join us around the table on Wednesdays or Sundays (depending on the week), to participate in an educational series exploring the different facets of our Open and Affirming Statement*. Through thoughtful presentations and panels we will explore: Age, Disability, Mental Illness, Sexual Orientation, and Race.
Our Lenten Table: Sharing Potluck Meals
One of the ways we are extending love and hospitality to one another will be by eating a meal together before our Lenten programs. On March 5, 19, 22 and April 5 these will be potluck-style meals in Memorial Hall, and we encourage you to prepare a dish from your cultural background to share with the group. This will be great opportunity to learn about the beautifully diverse cultures represented at FCC and in the greater community. The meal on March 29 will be our Lenten Luncheon (suggested $5 donation). Please sign-up outside Pastor Ron’s office.

Our Lenten Table at Home
Even beyond our own educational and worship opportunities, over these next 40 days we encourage you to invite people to your own tables. To whom might God be encouraging you to extend hospitality? Perhaps, someone of another race, gender, cultural/religious background? Perhaps the new family down the block? Perhaps your co-worker who has different beliefs/opinions than yourself?

Disability and Faith Communities

Sunday, March 5 - 5:30 p.m.
We will begin this program with a potluck supper in Memorial Hall. Please bring a dish to share and call the church office 860-628-6958 or sign-up outside Pastor Ron's office to RSVP.

Gabrielle M.W. Bychowski, presents a workshop on disability and faith communities. The hour workshop will examine traditions of disability in Christian thought and literature from scripture to Medieval Scholasticism and C.S. Lewis to Marvel Comics. The event will include community discussion about experiences of faith and embodiment, working towards a more accessible church community. Youth and adults welcome!

Gabrielle M.W. Bychowski is a doctoral candidate at George Washington University, author of "Mad for Margery: Disability and the Imago Dei in the Book of Margery Kemp." She teaches courses and lectures internationally on disability, gender and embodiment, consults for the National UCC Mental Health Network, and has been invited to the White House to advise on policy regarding disability rights. She is fiancee to the Rev. Rachel J. Bahr, and mother to Clementine and Elanora Bahr-Attamasie. She is grateful to share her gifts with the FCC community.

Mental Health and Faith Communities

Sunday, March 19 - 12:45 p.m.
We will begin this program with a potluck brunch in Memorial Hall which is wheelchair-accessible. All are welcome. Please bring a dish to share and call the church office 860-628-6958, sign-up outside Pastor Ron's office, or click the button below to RSVP.

Sarah Lund is passionate about loving her family, God, and being part of faith communities. Her mission is to join with others to spread hope and love to people in pain and on the margins. Sarah is an ordained minister and has served as pastor to churches in Brooklyn, NY, Minneapolis, MN, and New Smyrna Beach, FL. She served with Kent Siladi as Regional Minister in the Florida Conference of the UCC, holds degrees from Trinity University (B.A), Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div), Rutgers University (MSW), and McCormick Theological Seminary (D.Min) and serves as a Vice President for Christian Theological Seminary (www.cts.edu) in Indianapolis. Sarah received the Bob and Joyce Dell Award for Mental Health Education from the United Church of Christ Mental Health Network in 2015 for "her outstanding authorship and leadership in breaking the silence about mental illness in family and in church and offering healing and hope." She is Vice Chair of the UCC Mental Health Network. Sarah is national speaker and author of highly acclaimed Blessed are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence about Mental Illness, Family and Church(Chalice Press, 2014). Sarah blogs at sarahgriffithlund.com and tweets @revlund.

​Several copies of Rev. Sarah's book are available at the Southington Library, and copies will be available for purchase following the program on March 19.

Sexual Orientation and Faith Communities

Wednesday, March 22 - 6 p.m.
We will begin this program with a potluck supper in Memorial Hall which is wheelchair-accessible. All are welcome. Please bring a dish to share and call the church office 860-628-6958, sign-up outside Pastor Ron's office, or click the button below to RSVP.

Our program will be comprised of panelists who span the spectrum of sexual orientation and gender identification, speaking from their experience as they have created affirming, supportive spaces in their own faith communities. True Colors is a non-profit organization that works with other social service agencies, schools, organizations, and within communities to ensure that the needs of sexual and gender minority youth are both recognized and competently met. The organization has been spotlighted by both national and local media for their expertise in LGBTI youth issues.

Aging "On Purpose"

Wednesday, March 29 - 1:00 p.m.
This program will take place in Memorial Hall which is wheelchair-accessible following our 12:00 p.m. Lenten worship service and our 12:30 p.m. Lenten luncheon (suggested $5 donation.) All are welcome. Please call the church office 860-628-6958, sign-up outside Pastor Ron's office, or click the button below to RSVP.

Growing older changes things: our physical beings, our outlook on life, our wisdom.  Does that mean your purpose has to change along the way?  We’re older, but we aren’t finished: there is still work to do.  It might look different than we thought it would, but that’s okay. Join Southington Care Center exercise physiologist Mark Colello as he discusses how physical changes can affect our mindset and vice versa. Celebrate how what you have to offer can change along this journey called life.

Honest Conversations with
Our Muslim Neighbors

Wednesday, April 5 - 6:00 p.m.
We will begin this program with a potluck supper in Memorial Hall which is wheelchair-accessible. All are welcome. Please bring a dish to share and call the church office 860-628-6958, sign-up outside Pastor Ron's office, or click the button below to RSVP.

Who are our Muslim neighbors? What do they believe? How do extremist actions worldwide affect them? Hear Connecticut Muslims share their stories, and respond to questions such as:  Why don’t we hear moderate Muslims speak out against extremism? Why do some girls and women wear Muslim dress, and others do not? What does the Qur’an really say about people of other religions? American Muslims don’t have all the answers, but our guests will respond out of their own experiences, raising issues that concern them as well as us. (Presented in cooperation with CT Council for Interreligious Understanding (CCIU).)