Boards

Congregational Life Board

The members of the Congregational Life Board are responsible for overseeing our worship services, and fellowship events, and the decorating of our beautiful sanctuary.  This Board works with the Minister to enhance the spiritual life of the Church by preparing the Lord’s Supper, assisting with communion and baptisms, visiting the sick and homebound, and sponsoring retreats. 

As part of their responsibility for worship, Congregational Life members support the Music program, its staff, and volunteers.  Congregational Life makes recommendations on musical instruments and has maintained our spectacular Hooks and Hastings organ (rebuilt by Aeolian Skinner in 1959) in top condition.  In the fall of 2007, the Board helped our Music Director, Mark Cherry, to secure a Knabe Grand Piano for use during services  This wonderful piano, which was once owned by a renowned opera singer, was headed for oblivion until it found a home at First Church.

Congregational Life members also bring meals to the homebound, organize ongoing Adult Fellowship activities (see the photos throughout this website), help other Church groups with their events, and sponsor delegates to the Fairfield East Association and the Connecticut Conference.

If any of these activities particularly appeals to you, please call or email JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING for more information.  

Church Council

In the Congregational Church, the congregation is responsible for the most important decisions in the church. The church Council is responsible for acting upon the wishes of the congregation and it is responsible for coordination between the Boards and Officers of the church.  At First Congregational Church of Danbury, Council has eight members, elected by the congregation annually: The Moderator, Treasurer, Clerk and chairpersons of the church Boards. The Boards are Congregational Life, Christian Education, Outreach, Church Resources and New Member Growth.

Council has the responsibility to ensure that the church is fiscally healthy, not only today, but far into the future.  This means that it must implement accounting safeguards, ensure proper handling of church assets and find ways to raise more funds as needed.

Today, we are blessed with a beautiful sanctuary located in the center of downtown Danbury on the corner of West Street and Deer Hill Avenue.  The church seats 600 people, a spiritual and lovely building representing hope and redemption to all who enter. 

A few of the actions Council has recommended and implemented are:
 

1. Sponsor events at the church like concerts, topical lectures, discussions, films and performances.  We want to make our church a community gathering center for people from all walks of life to come together share ideas, learn new things, and enjoy God’s great gifts;

2. Consultations with the Mayor’s office, other religious organizations and businesses about sharing our space;

3. Elimination of the paid assistant pastor’s position – we now use volunteer interns from Yale Divinity School.  They have fresh ideas, are well trained and enthusiastic about the position;

4. Reduced bookkeeping and insurance expenses;

5. Closed the building two nights a week to conserve energy.

If you have ideas for helping us to maintain and grow our mission to be of service to our community, please share them by emailing the church office at JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING .  Our church thrives when we all work together!

Church Resources Board

Church Resources is responsible for the assets of our church: the physical structures and property, memorial funds and our Endowment.  It makes recommendations for the use of funds, sets the procedures for the Treasurer, and proposes the annual budget for approval by the Church Council before the Church’s annual meeting.  This body is also charged with conducting our Stewardship campaigns, encouraging members to donate time, talent and money as they are able. 

Church Resources makes recommendations regarding the church Secretary, Financial Secretary and custodial employees to the Church Council.  In addition, they develop the personnel policies for the entire Church staff for approval by Council.

Estate planning is a critical aspect of Church Resources’ function and a very complex subject these days.  Nevertheless, for the health of our church and our mission, we need to ensure that we educate everyone as to how they can best give when their time comes – and that no gift is too small!  These gifts are crucial to the long term survival of a church like ours with spectacular assets to maintain like our sanctuary, grounds and musical instruments.  With regular and sufficient income from trusts and endowments, we can put more focus into our mission to service our community, and less into fundraising.

If you have questions regarding Estate Planning, please contact Pastor Laura Westby at 203.744.6177 or email her at JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING .

New Member Growth Board

One of the things every successful organization needs is fresh ideas and people to make them happen.  The New Member Growth Board at First Congregational Church of Danbury is dedicated to making sure that every new person walking through our doors is greeted the way Jesus would have met that person - with “extravagant welcome and hospitality” – no matter who they are or where they come from. 

But NMGB doesn’t just greet new people – they are also charged with getting new people to our doors – a tall order in this age of so many secular distractions from spiritual pursuits.  The members of the NMGB are examining ways to make sure people who are seeking a fuller spiritual life find their way to us.  Currently these activities include:

•  Keeping in touch with new people coming to church;
• Answering visitors’ questions about our church, beliefs, activities and congregation;
• Following up with new people to invite them to become members;
• Finding sponsors for new members;
• Developing new newspaper advertisements;
• Ordering signs to inform the community of our activities
• Re-designing the website to be more modern, informative and inviting to our Internet visitors. 

If you are new to our area or you are thinking about returning to church, please try us out.  We will welcome you warmly, answer your questions, and generally make ourselves available to help in your spiritual journey.  You will find that we are a fun-loving group working together to do service in our community and our congregation.