Church Service Schedule
Church services begin each Sunday at 10:00 AM to thank God for His helping us move creatively through the week just ended and to ask His continued guidance in the upcoming week. Coffee hour follows the service in the room to the rear of the Church sanctuary.
Sunday School
Sunday School classes for Nursery through 5th grade take place on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM. Child care for infants and toddlers is also available.
2020 January
Worship Schedule
- 10 a.m. Worship Service
- Service will be held in our air-conditioned lounge on hot Sundays
- Nursery and toddler care to age 3
- Message for children
Most Sundays:
- Cool refreshments after worship
- Activity bags for children
- Talented musicians each week
Next Sermon:
January 5
Epiphany Sunday - Holy Communion
Holy Communion is open to all who seek God
and are drawn to Christ, regardless of denomination.
The bread used is gluten-free.
Rev. Bob Faulhaber preaching
“Amber Alert”
Matthew 2:1-12
Bernie Trafford, reader
January 12
Baptism
Rev. Bob Faulhaber Jr. preaching
“A Voice, A Dove, and an Offer”
Matthew 3:13-4:11
Ben Moreland, reader
January 19
Second Sunday after Epiphany
Val Seaver preaching
“What Are You Looking For?”
John 1:29-42
Kevin McCaffrey, reader
January 26
Third Sunday After Epiphany
BIBLE SUNDAY
[Third graders receive Bibles]
Rev. Bob Faulhaber preaching
“State of the Church Address 2020”
Matthew 4:12-22
youth reader
AFTER WORSHIP
Baked Potato Luncheon
[sponsored by Senior High Youth Group]
~ free will donation ~
Annual Meeting after lunch
2019 Annual Report
The annual meeting was Sunday, June 2, 2019.
Click here to read the Report.
Partnership Sunday
Interested in joining our church or
want more information?
Give Pastor Bob a call at 860.295.0432 or
call the church office at 860.295.9050
Second Blessings Thrift Shop
Remember us! Tell your neighbors, friends, relatives!
We’ve restocked with lots of new items for Winter
and just in time for the new year!
Open for collection and shopping in January:
Fridays 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sundays 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Follow the link below to go directly to our storefront to see what we’re selling. Feel free to buy!!
Can you help? We are looking for more volunteers. We are also looking for quality items for this season.
Questions? Please contact Joyce at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or Jessica at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Pastor's Message... HAPPY NEW YEAR!
January 2020
Sometimes you have to forgive yourself before you can offer it to someone else. And then all you can do is hope and pray they offer it back to you….
My baby sister and I had a little unkind moment between us recently. It’s happened before, and we always seem to survive it. I think it’s because neither of us needs to be right, and the other in the wrong. It’s more like a tussle between two feral cats that happen to be brother and sister. For a few very loud seconds there’s a lot of screeching and howling, and then we both go to our corners to lick our wounds. Soon thereafter, we either offer our apologies or insist one isn’t necessary, and then move on as though nothing really happened. There’s only 3 of the 4 siblings left, and two of us had close calls the last few years, so we’re very aware of how short life can be, and how little the things that set us off actually matter. Which brings me to that forgiveness thing…
It all began when I showed up to pick said “baby sister” up to take her to Sloan-Kettering Memorial Hospital in NYC for a radiation treatment on her spine, where her cancer had spread. It was the day after Christmas, so we didn’t anticipate much traffic. I arrived about an hour before we had to leave so we could take our time loading up the car. She doesn’t move very fast for someone half my weight. The only problem was, her 18-year-old son’s truck was parked behind her car in the driveway, and that was the car we were taking. Rumor has it he was up all night playing video games [what 18-year-old isn’t?] and by 10am he might have only been into his first hour of sleep. Try waking ME up after 1 hour of sleep and see what happens. Anyway…it took about half an hour to finally wake him up, before he stumbled out into the driveway with ONLY a pair of pajama bottoms on. But in that half an hour it involved banging on his door several times, multiple promises that he was awake and, on his way out, 12 car horn honkings, two angry calls to his cell phone, and a partridge in a pear tree. Finally, it was either me or my terribly frail baby sister who was going to have to go back in the house and wring his neck. I drew the short straw….on purpose. I wasn’t pretty.
Now I want to say that I was “pastoral” when I headed for his bedroom door after screaming his name at the TOP of my lungs from the BOTTOM of the stairs, but I’d be lying. Instead, I threw open his bedroom door [in a very dramatic fashion] and began what can only be described as “bellowing”. In my defense, I don’t remember much of what I said to him. I might have been speaking in tongues for all I know. But it was serious enough to cause him to suddenly leap out of bed. Maybe my sister could have warned me that he sleeps “aux natural” so that I don’t have to now pay for therapy??!! Anyway, I got back in the car and just nodded my head a few times when baby sis asked me if he was coming down to move his truck. The rest of the day went well. There was no traffic to speak of, we sang to the radio together [or I did and she slept], I found a pizzeria to get a slice of NY style pizza while she was in treatment, and on the way home we even stopped at a White Castle. It was a nice day all in all.
My mistake, when I delivered “baby sis” home safely, still hurting from her treatment and the long car ride, was to tell my brother-in-law how our morning began. I don’t THINK I tried to cause all hell to break loose, but I could be wrong. My sister didn’t need the drama [you hear me gentlemen?] and to tell the truth, my nephew wasn’t intentionally trying to push all my buttons. I probably should have been more gentle waking him up [maybe a spray bottle of ice water perhaps?]. To make matters worse baby sis called me on my way home to tell me she didn’t appreciate my being a “snitch”. My blood pressure probably shot to 4100 over 90, and I might have begun speaking in tongues again.
Listen to me carefully. I might not have been wrong, but I definitely wasn’t in the right. I don’t know who I forgave first, my nephew, my sister or myself, but forgiving EVERYBODY was the only way to work this parable out. We all had dinner tonight at Foxwoods to celebrate a birthday and the completion of her radiation treatments. It was like nothing had ever happened. That’s forgiveness.
in the spirit,
Bob Faulhaber
Contact Us
Congregational Church of Marlborough
United Church of Christ
35 South Main Street – PO Box 57
Marlborough, CT 06447
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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An Open and Affirming
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| Rev. Bob Faulhaber Jr | Senior Pastor |
| Senior Pastor’s Office | 860.295.0432 |
| Senior Pastor eMail | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
| Val Seaver | Pastoral Intern |
| Church Office | 860.295.9050 |
| Alice Rowley | Church Administrator and "Echoes" Editor |
| Church Office email | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
| David Mulligan | Music Director |
| Gwen Lawson |
Christian Education Director |
| Scott Reid | Senior High Youth Director |
Coming Up...
Sunday, January 26, 2020
(storm date February 2)
after Sunday worship
273rd annual financial meeting of the Congregational Church of Marlborough
Note: The election of new officers and board and
committee reports will be at the annual meeting in May.
LUNCHEON
Approval of 2020 Budget
2019 Statistics
2019 Report of the Treasurer
All are invited
baked potato luncheon, prepared and served by Senior High Youth Group members.
ªProceeds from free-will meal donations will benefit the 2020 Mission Trip
TBD
Let’s go to the movies!!!
We will find a date and a good show to see at the Gallery Cinemas in Colchester.
Do all your amazon shopping at amazonsmile.com!
Sign in at Amazon using http:// smile.amazon.com/ch/06-1038392
Then make your Amazon purchases as usual.
Then, Amazon donates .5% of your eligible purchases back to us!