TABLE OF CONTENTS

VISION STATEMENT & BEHAVIORAL COVENANT 2

MINUTES OF JANUARY 28, 2017 ANNUAL MEETING 3

REPORT OF THE …

PASTOR – Pastoral Reflections 5

CLERK 7

TREASURER AND ASST. TREASURER 8

HISTORIAN 10

BOARD OF DEACONS 11

BOARD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 12

BOARD OF MISSIONS 13

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

FINANCE 16

STEWARDSHIP 17

PROPERTY 18

COLLECTOR 19

LADIES AIDE 20

SLATE OF NOMINEES 21

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF SOMERSVILLE, UCC

VISION STATEMENT

We will be a faith-based church welcoming diversity, empowering the individual, growing in faith and doing God’s work in the global community in unity and love.

BEHAVIORAL COVENANT

We will follow a process that includes unconditional listening and time to collect

thought, enabling all individuals to comfortably express their opinions.

Our actions and demeanor will support and empower all participants.

All opinions will be welcomed, reflectively considered and respected.

Opinions will be expressed with humility, self-control, gentleness, and

kindness.

We will look for common ground as we search for consensus, and we will

respect that consensus.

We will affirm by our works and actions our common goal to serve God.

Congregational Church of Somersville Annual Meeting Minutes – January 28, 2017

Members Present: Re. Van Keuren, E & M Morrill, G. Farnham, G. Liberty, J &

M Collins, C. Holloran, J & R Bruch, D & P Pinney, S. Miller, P. Forbes, L. Arnone, A Ceppetelli, Y Wood, E. Hancock, D. Pendleton, D & P Scully, L. Longueuil, U. Orduz, B. Moran, S Flynn, J. Ewing, S. Bracken, S. Kennedy, L Bortfeld, W Steely Others Present: K. Yacashin, T. Hancock, W & A Winters, one other The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM by Linda Longueuil, moderator and Pastor Van Keuren offered an opening prayer. The Behavioral covenant and Vision Statement were read in unison. Linda welcomed all and stated it has been a quiet year with no major crisis. She extended thanks to all those who have served and those coming onto boards and committees. The roll call of members was taken with 30 members present and responding with a verse of scripture; 13 others had verses read in their absence. The minutes of the 2016 meeting were included in the report booklet; a motion was made, seconded and carried to accept the minutes as printed. Reports of the Board and Committees (additional comments)

Pastor – Pastor Graham stated that 2 of the verses recited during roll call will be included in the service tomorrow morning. He is thankful to be here. As an alternate topic, October 31,1517 – we will be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the protestant reformation this fall and he hopes to make it exciting and invites anyone to help plan events.

Treasurer – Angela enjoyed working with Syd Cohen and looks forward to working with Chuck.

Deacons – Patrick extended thanks to Miriam Cohen, as well as Jason Robidoux, for their assistance in streaming worship services.

Missions – There are a lot of workers behind the scenes i.e. Bill & Ulysses for the coordinating the pumpkin sale, Everett & Millie for lugging tables and chairs for the ice cream social; Linda for her dedication to Kiva

Trustees o Finance – the budget closed with a $3300 deficit; not the $5047 as

anticipated. There was no withdrawal from the endowment during the past year

o Stewardship – All were thanked for their dedication for doing God’s work. We now have 41 pledging units totaling $79,812.

Vote on Slate of Nominees

Dave Pinney made a motion to accept the slate as presented; seconded by Jack Collins; motion carried. Other Business

Lani Bortfeld asked that we all think about evangelism – we need to reach out to new people and share the good news. The ideas of being a big brother or big sister to new folk was suggested as was using a pictorial directory or bulletin board with head shots and names or name tags.

There being no other business to come before the membership, a motion was made by Sean Kennedy to adjourn at 7:43 PM; seconded by Gen Farnham; motion carried. All formed a circle to sing “Blest Be the Tie”. Respectfully submitted, Ruth M. Bruch, Clerk

PASTORAL REFLECTIONS

Dear Friends in Christ, In the Greek New Testament, a charism is a spiritual gift – literally the word can be translated as a “gift of grace.” It’s where our word charisma comes from. A charismatic person is one to whom we are drawn because of the gifts that person displays in his or her life, although in popular usage the word over time has become less spiritual in its meaning. There is a particular triad of charisms frequently emphasized beyond all other gifts of grace, especially by the Apostle Paul and his students. They are faith, hope, and love.

Faith is living with grateful fidelity in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is our Christian response (by the grace of God) to God’s acts of forgiving us all our sins and reconciling us to God.

Hope is the joyful confidence we embrace knowing that we are moving toward God’s will for us. It is our Christian response (by the grace of God) to God’s acts of choosing us to be partners in God’s work in the world and leading us to times and places where we can live out our callings.

Love is caring deeply and unconditionally for God, others and self. It is our Christian response (by the grace of God) to God’s acts of giving us Jesus in love and for creating us in the divine image, for God is love (1 John 4:8).

Faith, hope, and love are gifts of God given to us so that we can respond more fully to God’s grace and experience the abundant life God offers in Christ Jesus. A way to think of it is that one divine gift (such as being forgiven, being called to walk with Jesus, or being created in God’s image) begets yet other gifts from God. Gift begets gift begets gift. That’s the way it always is with God. That has not only been true in 2017, but it will be true in 2018 and forever. Thank you for displaying the many spiritual gifts I have been privileged to witness among the Congregational Church of Somersville (UCC) in 2017. May charisms abound all the more as we live in 2018 in faith, hope, and love. Yours in Christ, Graham Van Keuren

p.s. Included with this letter is a coat of arms designed for our church by an anonymous member or friend at a Reformation quincentennial celebration event

last fall. Note how this coat of arms also stresses that we are community of faith, hope, and love. Thank you to the unknown artist for his or her work and to all who made beautiful coats of arms for us at that event!

2017 VITAL STATISTICS

New Members Pat Liberty Losses 14 members removed from the roles by the Board

of Deacons due to inactivity

REPORT OF THE TREASURER

Please find below a summary of our Operating budget actuals through the end of 2017, as well as our recently approved 2018 Operating Budget. As noted in the Finance committee report, we were richly blessed this year by the generosity of our congregants, Ladies Aid and other friends of the church. Additionally we were able to reduce our operating costs through the generous time and effort of our committees, and Graham's spouse Eric Elley. Thank you all!

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF SOMERSVILLE

2017 Actuals and 2018 Budget

2017 2018

Actuals Budget

Income

Collections

Loose

1,835.97

2,000.00

Pledges

85,367.00

88,000.00

Total Collections

87,202.97

90,000.00

Dividends

544.57

550.00

Donations

13,135.00

10,500.00

Endowment Input

5,000.00

9,000.00

Fund Raiser

22,180.78

19,200.00

Miscellaneous

867.95

520.00

Total Income 128,931.27 129,770.00

Expenses

Bank Service Charges

187.20

200.00

Christian Education

1,318.90

1,750.00

Total Committees

1,135.17

1,250.00

Total Compensation

81,547.68

82,150.00

Total Fees

7,655.00

8,563.00

Fund Raisers

3,230.78

3,100.00

Miscellaneous Expense

710.50

570.00

Total Mission Outreach

5,710.21

6,100.00

Total Office Supplies

2,886.13

3,880.00

Total Repairs and Maintenance

6,568.01

8,500.00

Total Telephone Expense

1,579.46

1,750.00

Total Utilities

12,746.45

12,270.00

Total Expenses 125,275.49 130,083.00

Net Operating Income

3,655.78

(313.00)

REPORT OF THE HISTORIAN

150th Anniversary Coming up

The Congregational Church of Somersville was organized and established January 4, 1871. This means that in 2021 we will be celebrating our 150th Anniversary. This will be here before we know it. On Saturday, May 13, 2017, I attended the annual UCC Historian Meeting at Rocky Hill Congregational Church. As usual it was a very interesting and informative gathering. We began the meeting by singing Hymns written in the 1700 or 1800s based on the Psalms.

Archives "101" was presented by Jessica Steyler, Church Historian from the Congregational Library in Boston. Because of her talk, I decided to put our records in some sort of order. I have taken over the closet in the Library/Office/Meeting Room and have cleaned out records and financial reports that are outdated and not important to our church history. I have most of the photos in order by year. If anyone has other photos, please put the year that they were taken and names of the people in the pictures on them. Other church related articles, I plan to put in folders- also by year. Very old articles important to our church history, that are not replaceable if there is a fire, will be given to the Connecticut Historical Museum for safe keeping. There are still some old duplicate Spires and bulletins in the closet in case anyone would like go through and read them. It is fun going through the old memories. Since Ruth Bruch has copies of the Spire and bulletins in her files, I will eventually throw them out. Trying to decide what to keep, what to throw out, and how to store it, is a very time consuming job and I'm afraid I have only put a small dent into our historical record keeping. If there is anyone interested in helping, please contact me.

Respectfully submitted, Johanna Karbonic, 860 763-1717

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF DEACONS

Following the annual meeting in January, 2017, the Board welcomed new members, Mavis Collins and Elaine Hancock at the February meeting. A chair and secretary were elected. Delegates were named for nominating and Pastor and Music Director Personal Growth Plan committees. Lenten, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services were scheduled and enjoyed by all who attended. We continue to discuss ways to support those in the congregation that have physical and/or spiritual needs. Our church family welcomed Pat Liberty as new member in June The Community Thanksgiving service was held at our church this year. Other pastors, choirs, speakers and Somers First Selectman participated. The event was well attended and enjoyed by all. Sadly Worship services came to an end with the closing of Blair Manor-however we were asked to an additional service at Evergreen Healthcare-Ministering to a different resident population. Advent services started on Wednesday November 29th concluding with the Christmas Eve Candlelight service. Thank You To: All volunteers from the congregation who participated on leading worship during Graham’s vacation weeks. All who made improvement to our worship space (Lighting and fans in the sanctuary) and upgrades to our livestreaming capabilities. Also, thanks Jason R for being our streamer. All the best on your new career. Welcome Eva C who in embarking on a new endeavor.

Respectfully submitted, Board of Deacons

Marj Butler, Ardie Carey, Johanna Karbonic, Pat Pinney, Mavis Collins, Elaine Hancock

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

2017 was a great year for Christian Education board members and the many volunteers who helped to make each event a special occasion. In January the annual Christmas/Epiphany Pageant was held during the church service. Many church members and friends worked together to put up the set. Sharon Miller, Marj Butler, Marilyn Hare, Sarah Flynn, Pat Pinney and Lani Bortfeld worked with the children to make this event a success! In February the annual Souper Bowl of Caring was held and the children collected generous donations in soup pots at the end of the church service. In June we celebrated Children’s Sunday with a child-friendly worship service, followed by a potluck. Everyone enjoyed food, games and fellowship. Five youth enjoyed time at Silver Lake for a wonderful summer camp experience. The summer also included an exciting Vacation Bible School theme which focused on the cultural practices in Peru, and taught the children about the importance of clean water for healthy living. The children learned about water pollution which exists both in foreign countries and in local CT towns. Lani Bortfeld and Sue Wavada organized a wonderful group of volunteers who assisted with this event. Rally Day was held in September with a child friendly service followed by an intergenerational game day, complete with cake and ice cream. In the spirit of giving and in effort to learn about the needs of communities in other countries, the Sunday School classes collected enough money to purchase rabbits and ducks through Heifer International. The C.E. Board would like to sincerely thank the teachers who generously offered their time and talents this past year: Marj Butler, Marilyn Hare, Sarah Flynn, Lani Bortfeld and Rich Carey.

Sincerely submitted,

C.E. Board members Sarah Flynn, Chairman Marilyn Hare Lani Bortfeld

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MISSIONS

In 2017, thanks to the hard work and generosity of our congregation, the

Missions Outreach Board was able to donate to many different organizations reaching people in need in our community and throughout the world. Because of your efforts, your gifts were sent to the following:

January- Fisher House February- Souper Bowl of Caring March- One Great Hour of Sharing April- Loaves and Fishes May- Church World Service June- Strengthen the Church July and August- Ice Cream Social September- Heifer International October- Unicef November- Neighbors in Need December- The Christmas Fund

Throughout 2017, Missions sponsored the following: Food Share distribution (bi-weekly) as well as collections made

for All Saints food pantry (on-going) The Pre-Easter Bake Sale Card Sale for Church World Service Our annual Ice Cream Social The Pumpkin Sale, featuring pumpkins kindly donated by the

Cohen family Our Angel Tree benefitting children in Somers Church Without Walls- Graham preaches on the fourth Sunday of

each month. The Missions Board provides 30 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 80 snacks and 80 pieces of fruit.

This year the Board also partnered with the Deacons to provide hearing

devices for our worship services. Lastly, Our Sole Hope project was postponed to 2018 because we had to order new kits, which have recently arrived. On an on-going basis throughout the year, the Missions Board makes loans to entrepreneurs throughout the world through the KIVA Foundation. These loans are coordinated by former Missions Board member, Linda Longueuil. We thank Linda for her continued help with this worthy cause. During 2017, we made 17 loans through KIVA. Sixteen loans were repaid during the past year and we experienced a loss of $57.14 as a result of currency exchange rates. As of 12/31/2017, we had 20 open loans.

We would like to offer a special thank you to Marge Morgan for the time

she spends cleaning out and organizing the articles of clothing left in the St Pauly bin located in our parking area north of the parsonage. The sale of these items to St Pauly Textile helps to raise, on average, over $100 per month.

We thank so many of you, the church parishioners, for making our little projects big successes! We genuinely thank Pastor Graham for being with us in our missions journey. His expertise and support made a huge difference!

Respectfully submitted, Jan Ewing, chairman

REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE

The 2017 Congregational Church of Somersville Finance Committee was supported by the following members: Angela Ceppetelli (ex officio), Syd Cohen (ex officio), Graham Van Keuren (ex officio), Jack Collins, Dave Pinney, Chuck Elwood (ex officio), and Dan Scully (Chair)

The committee held eight (8) regularly scheduled meetings for the Jan-Dec 2017 period and one (1) e-meeting.

Syd Cohen’s Assistant Treasurer term expired after our March 2017 meeting; we welcomed Chuck Elwood as Syd’s replacement as Assistant Treasurer at the April 2017 meeting. The committee wishes to thank Syd for her hard work, diligent efforts and contributions to the committee during her term. Highlights for the 2017 period of Finance Committee activities & accomplishments include:

Monthly financial statement review and execution of asset / liability sheets and financial statements.

An internal audit was held at the February 2017 meeting. Random audits for the months of February, May, and October 2015 and 2016 were successfully reviewed by the committee members.

Our Treasurer developed a more detailed and comprehensive balance sheet for monthly financial planning and reviews.

The committee maintained the monthly collections status / visibility chart that was initiated in 2016.

The 2017 fiscal year closed successfully with a surplus budget against plan.

Electronic “e-giving” with ACH through Van-CO at donate.somersvilleucc.org continued to have a positive impact our monthly collections in 2017.

The 2018 budget was presented and approved by the congregation on 12/10/17.

The 2017 fiscal year closed with a surplus of $3,655.78 vs the approved deficit value of $5,128. It is important to note that we achieved this surplus with only a $5,000 withdrawal from our endowment vs a budget amount of $9,000.

THANK YOU to the efforts of our entire Congregation.

The Finance Committee wishes to extend a special thanks to the Ladies Aide, Ruth Bruch, and all the hardworking supper volunteers and coordinators, and Bobby Bourque. I would like to especially thank the Finance Committee officers and members for their continued dedication and hard work that without; we would not be the strong faith-based church that we are today.

God’s grace and blessings be with you,

Daniel P. Scully 2017 Finance Committee Chairman; Congregational Church of Somersville

REPORT OF THE STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE

The Stewardship campaign for 2018 pledges to the church officially ended on

December 17th, 2017. Response to 2018 calendar year pledges from the

congregation’s members and friends was very good.

The theme was “The Way to Jesus – Journey to Generosity”, provided by the

UCC. This year, the materials were received electronically from the UCC and

were printed by Ruth Bruch.

Our five week campaign ran from November 12th thru December 17th. Posters

were displayed in the church and pledge cards were mailed to all members and

friends of the church.

This year, progress of pledges received were posted in the 5 weekly Sunday

Bulletins during the campaign instead of using a wall hanging as we’ve done in

the past.

Additional pledge cards were placed in the Wood Chapel.

Pledges were received by mail to the Collector, the Sunday collection plate, or

placed in the Collector’s box in the library.

We celebrated all pledges received at a special coffee hour after service on

December 17th.

Final figures for pledges reported by the Collector as of January 14th, 2018 was

34 households pledging $73,288.

We encouraged members and friends to use the church’s electronic Giving

website for their church donations: http://donate.somersvilleucc.org/

Members and friends can sign up or make changes to contributions at any time

during the year.

Stewardship thanks everyone who submitted a pledge card and thank you to

those who don’t submit a pledge card but make regular donations throughout the

year.

Thank you letters and reminders were mailed out in January.

We celebrate your generosity to the church!

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon Miller

REPORT OF THE PROPERTY COMMITTEE

During the past year the following major projects were completed:

o The church worship area has had new ceiling fans with LED lights added. We also removed and replaced the old chandelier. This also provides updated LED lighting.

o We continue to update and improve the live streaming equipment. o The rear porch of the parsonage has had new support posts and railings

added. The normal maintenance and upkeep continue as needed. The committee is thankful to all who pitch in and help with our tasks. Without you, much work would not get done. In fear of missing some who helped, I will not specify names; however, you all know who you are, so thanks again!

We look forward to serving you this coming year. Your property committee, Rich Carey

Everett Morrill

REPORT OF THE COLLECTOR 2017 Income

Missions Pledges Loose Total

1st Quarter 873.00 13,564.00 377.25 14,814.25

2nd Quarter 1,049.00 15,917.00 606.00 17.572.00

3rd Quarter 808.02 12,686.00 482.50 13,976.52

4th Quarter 613.75 18.037.00 370.22 19.020.97

Year End 3,343.77 60,204.00 1,835.97 65,383.74

1st Quarter

Month Missions Pledges Loose Total

January 207.00 5,940.00 173.25 6,320.25

February 417.00 4,137.00 75.00 4,629.00

March 249.00 3,487.00 129.00 3,865.00

Totals 873.00 13,564.00 377.25 14,814.25

2nd Quarter

April 463.00 5,916.00 295.00 6,674.00

May 453.00 6,985.00 122.00 7,560.00

June 133.00 3,016.00 189.00 3,338.00

Totals 1,049.00 15,917.00 606.00 17,572.00

3rd Quarter

July 32.00 5,268.00 254.00 5,554.00

August -0- 2,893.00 162.00 3,055.00

September 134.00 Heifer 641.52 Hurricane

4,525.00 66.50 5,367.52

Totals 808.02 12,686.00 482.50 13,976.52

4th Quarter

October 176.75 8.421.00 131.22 8,728.97

November 127.00 3,898.00 91.00 4,116.00

December 310.00 5,718.00 148.00 6,176.00

Totals 613.75 18,037.00 370.22 19,020.97

Direct deposit pledges via Vanco are shown in the Treasurer’s statement and

totals donated to various 2nd Mile Missions collections are shown in the Missions

report.

Respectfully submitted,

Patrick Forbes, Collector

REPORT OF THE LADIES AIDE SOCIETY

During 2017, the Ladies Aide Society participated in several activities.

First there was a Valentine's luncheon provided by some of the men in our

church. The food and service were wonderful. The slate of officers was set

during January with the installation of officers taking place in February. Plans

were made for the events sponsored by Ladies Aide for the remainder of the

year. We had a senior luncheon in April which is always enjoyed by the folks in

town. In April, we assembled 240 hygiene kits and delivered them to the depot in

Meriden. We applied for a grant through Church World Services for $250 which

helped defray the cost of the shipping for the kits. The Blacksmith Shoppe

reopened in May and experienced another very successful year. In May we had

a pizza luncheon and then assembled 22 May baskets which were taken to

Meals-on-Wheels for delivery. Baskets were also delivered by ladies in our

group to friends of the church. Ardie and Rich Carey once again hosted the

annual Ladies Aide picnic in June at their home. In September, the ladies

attended a luncheon at The Grapevine in Longmeadow. A good time was had

by all at both events.

In the fall, Church World Services put out a call for clean-up buckets which

were in demand due to the hurricanes experienced in the south and Puerto Rico.

We committed to 6 buckets and, once again, we were able to apply for a $250

grant which was used for shipping and to purchase some of the items. The

annual soup-a-thon usually held in the fall was postponed until February 2018.

In November, we had Holiday Treasures which included the annual Thanksgiving

bake sale, second-hand Christmas items and Attic Treasures. Many thanks to all

who contributed to the success of this event by baking, donating second-hand

items, and spending time working to prepare and staff the event. We closed out

our year with a Christmas pot luck luncheon.

Ladies Aide fulfilled their financial pledge to the church. In addition, we

purchased 3 new roasters to be used for the suppers, 7 tables to be used for the

ice cream social, and the new chandelier for the sanctuary. Ladies Aide also

paid for the repairs to the parsonage porch and made two donations to Meals-on-

Wheels.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Longueuil, President

SLATE OF NOMINEES

* NEW NOMINEES TO BE VOTED ON

One Year Positions Clerk *Ruth Bruch Treasurer *Angela Ceppetelli Asst. Treasurer *Sydney Cohen Collector *Patrick Forbes

Two Year Positions

Christian Ed Lani Bortfeld (term remaining thru 2018) *Sarah Flynn Missions Syd Cohen (term remaining thru 2018) Jean Langan (term remaining thru 2018)

*Allison Matczak *Linda Longueuil

Nominating Shirley Bracken (term remaining thru 2018)

*Serena Robidoux Stewardship *Deb Robidoux (replace. candidate thru 2018) *Sharon Miller Property *Kathy Yacashin (replace. candidate thru 2018) *Dan Scully

Three Year Positions

Moderator *Rich Carey Deacons Pat Pinney (term remaining thru 2018) Johanna Karbonic (term remaining thru 2018) Mavis Collins (term remaining thru 2019) Elaine Hancock (term remaining thru 2019) *Wayne Steely *Serena Robidoux Finance David Pinney (term remaining thru 2018) Jack Collins (term remaining thru 2019) *Chuck Elwood Christian Ed Marilyn Hare (term remaining thru 2018)