Luke 18: 1-8
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper
Next Sunday is an important moment in our life as  a church.  On Consecration Sunday we will gather together here for a time of worship and celebration.  We will make our commitments to our church for the upcoming year.  We will gather together for a meal and for fellowship.  Some folks will be here who haven’t been here in quite a while.  Some folks will be here wondering what this is all about.   I hope you will be here, ready to celebrate the good things God is doing through us. (more…)

Today, I took Buster for a walk – it was sunny, but there were some clouds off to the west. Sure enough, the clouds opened up on us and we got a bit wet. At first, this annoyed me. But because the sun was still shining, and because of some sort of prism effect I remember learning about in high school, I was blessed with a nice image on the way home:

Luke 17: 11-19
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper
Back when I was in school, I once had to take a history test.  I remember this test because I had not adequately prepared for the test.  I woke up nervous – thinking about how I was going to get through the test.  I don’t think they do this any more, but it was a multiple choice test, and there two essay questions.  When I got the test, I looked it over and realized how little I knew.  So I did the best I could.  If I wasn’t sure of an answer, I generally went with the first choice, because I had heard that doing so generally worked out.  I made up creative responses to the essays, that were at least written well, if full of misinformation.  And I kept going back over everything until the end of the class period when the teacher called for us all to turn in our tests.  Oh well, I thought, what can you do?  I did all I could.  I turned in the test and went off to my next class.
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Last year, we joined a Volunteers in Mission team to the Hurricane-Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast. Members from our church included Otis Cox, Carolyn McGahie, Rob Miller and Pastor Bryan Hooper. We not only provided meaningful assistance to folks who have lost almost everything, but we all were transformed by a powerful experience of ministry and mission.

New Volunteers in Mission trips for the Gulf Coast and other areas are forming. Please click here and look for the Volunteers’ Corner if you would like to learn more.

Our own Music in the West End hosted about 150 excited and enthusiastic first and second graders from Noah Webster MicroSociety Magnet School in our sanctuary on Friday, November 9th.  Anne Marie Mulhearn, director of the Slobodkina Foundation, was on hand to perform the  musical version  of the delightful children’s book “Caps for Sale,” written by Esphyr Slobodkina. Principal Dee Cole of Noah Webster School made a surprise appearance as the peddler during the performance. A grant from Music in the West End made this gift to the children possible...Kara Sundlun, anchor of the new “Better Connecticut” on WFSB television, was present doing several interviews and filming some of the presentation for later showing.

Luke 17: 5-10
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper
Today is a day when we express great expectations. If you think about the message of Holy Communion generally – but certainly on World Communion Sunday – the message is always one of unity – that we are all part of the same body. Today, millions of other Christians all over the world will take the bread and drink from the cup. And from a theological point of view, we understand that it is the same cup that we will drink from here this morning – it is the same bread that we will break. And yet if you think about the history of our church – just the last few years, never mind the last thousand years, it is a history of division and disagreement and argument and schism. Even in the New Testament, there are clear signs at these earliest moments that the church would not be as united as we would like.
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Our sanctuary is enhanced by flowers on the altar and near the lectern for worship each Sunday.  Please sign up now for the upcoming date you would like to honor or remember a loved one.  The cost is $30 and you should note “Flowers” on the memo line of your check….An arrangement of artificial flowers is available, with the $30 being given to a mission program of your choice within the church.