Worship ~ Sundays at 10AM See you in church! Pastor Mike Bennett

We are at a unique time for our
congregation – a new senior minister, a new
year and a convergence of challenges and
opportunities – and the Pastor Parish
Relations Committee invites every member
and friend to help us bring all of these forces
together to form a new era in the history of
First Parish Church.
Officially, the role of the Pastor Parish
Relations Committee is “… nurturing the
pastor, the relationship between the pastor
and the congregation, and clarifying the role
of the pastor.” The committee fulfills that
responsibility by:
1. Assisting the pastor in becoming better
acquainted with the church, its members,
and the community.
2. Assisting the church in maintaining good
relations between the pastor and parish.
3. Serving as an advisory group to the pastor.
4. Identifying areas of conflict in an early
stage and assisting the parties involved in
resolving their differences.
5. Providing a written evaluation of pastoral
performance for annual consideration by the
Council and Human Resources Committee.
This year’s Pastoral Parish Relations
Committee members are Don Beddie, Diane
Fiske, Mary Norris and Kristin Simunac. As
one UCC source points out, one of the
hardest jobs of a PPRC member is getting
started. The committee must learn quickly to
trust one another and to be honest without
being threatening or intimidating. Since the
committee is not a legislative body that can
vote on behalf of the church, we have to rely
on good and open communication with all
parties – congregation, church governance
and the pastors to build that trust. We are
blessed to have already begun a comfortable
and trusting relationship.
Communication is the key to success of
any Pastor Parish Relations Committee. One
of the ways we hope to keep communications
flowing, open, and going two ways, will be to
engage as many as possible in learning about
the challenges of the ministerial vocation and
career, the ways in which dynamic lay
leadership can support our pastoral team and
the different ways of addressing the kinds of
questions which most often lead to a disconnect
between pastor and parish. Keep yourselves
open to learning and watch for different study
opportunities this year.
In the meantime, if you have any concerns,
questions or ideas, please feel free to contact
any of the PPRC members. We will listen and
respond appropriately.
Don Beddie, Chair of the PPRC
NEIGHBORS IN NEED OFFERING
This offering will be taken on Sunday October
7 th . Neighbors in Need (NIN) is the annual
offering to support ministries of justice and
compassion throughout the United States. It
includes the Council of American Indian
Ministries, justice and advocacy efforts and
direct service projects funded by the UCC’s
Justice and Welfare Ministries.
On Sunday afternoon, October 21, the DARLA
(Dover Area Religious Leaders Association) group
is again sponsoring a Dover area family crop
walk to raise funds internationally and locally to
provide food for the hungry. Crop Walk is a
program of Church World Service International.
Sign-up sheets to walk will be available at the
church as well as the opportunity to pledge for
the walkers. For those who wish to get a head
start on this event, go to www.cropwalk.org and
click on New Hampshire, and then click on the
Dover Crop Walk. You will then be able to sign
up for walking and for pledging online. It is our
hope that this will be a family event and families
will sign up to walk and get pledges
together. For those not walking, we hope for
your support through pledging and donations for
those who are walking. Erin Pender is the
contact person in our church for Crop Walk.
Funds raised in this years’ Dover Crop Walk
will be shared between Dover Children's
Home, Dover Cooperative ministries, and
international needs.