Conway Village
Congregational Church
May 2024
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Conway Village Congregational Church
Votes to Reopen the Upper Floor of The Brown Church Building
At a Special Meeting, called to order by Moderator Carl Vitters following the Sunday worship service on Sunday, April 21, 2024, the Church leadership confirmed that a quorum was met. The traditional Con-gregational Meeting involved receiving information from Trustee, Anne Getchell and Trustee, Nancy Divine, as well as Pastor John Hughes. The various options offered in a pre-mailing were thoroughly explained before a vote was taken on the future of the Brown Church.
It was rewarding to see our church members, through their prayers and reflections, come to a unani-mous decision to continue the presence of the Conway Village Congregational Church on Main Street, as well as continuing to offer its unique missions of Pantry, Dinner Bell, and its outreach for the Health and Welfare of the Mount Washington Valley. May God continue to bless the church’s future with generosity, compassion, and abundance.
From Brian Wiggin’s social media post following the April 21st meeting:
“Congratulations to the Brown Church for their traditional congregational meeting this morning … After wonderful infor-mation was given, it was voted to rebuild our church in increments as can be afforded. Our first step is to raise the funds nec-essary to reinstitute the heating system so the Dinner Bell and Food Pantry can be resumed – two signature outreach pro-grams of the church. After a two-hour discussion, it was rewarding to see our members come together not only for the Brown Church but for the community. Lots of prayers will be needed along the way and we thank all of you.”
May News from the Deacon’s Bench
As I prepare to write this piece for 2024, I am rereading prior pieces that I’ve submitted. Funny, as most of what l had planned to send for the newsletter has been written before and is still appropriate. Changes. They are constant. We should expect them and be flexible with addressing them. Ha ha ha that sounds easy, right?
Not always so, to be sure. Some changes are planned and expected where other changes sneak up on you leaving you unprepared. Revelations –“Behold I make all things new”. So much can be said about “newness”. What this means to me is that God makes a new day, every day. How we deal with this daily “newness” is our own to define and learn from.
By the time this newsletter “goes to press”, our special meeting will have been held and our decisions on how the congregation will move forward will be known. The package sent out by the trustees has a lot of important information included. Many hours were spent obtaining all the data and figures to present many scenarios of what could be possible as well as what might not be attenable. My personal thanks and im-mense gratitude go out to the trustees, particularly Nancy Divine and Anne Getchell, both of whom have carried many reins for such a long time in an effort to assist us all to understand the monumental tasks at hand that we, as a congregation, need to attend to.
God’s guidance will grace us as we make tough decisions.
Blessings to all,
Louise Saxby
Conway Village Church Diaconate: Co-Chairs: Louise Saxby and Judy Workman, Beth Campbell (Secretary), Jill Reynolds and Charles Monaghan.
Welcome Deb Arnold!
I have been attending CVCC since August 13, 2023.
It is such a warm, friendly, God-Loving church!
Your Community Outreach is what originally drew me to come, as well as God’s prompting. I thought to myself, “They are the REAL DEAL, doing the work of Jesus”!! So I just want to let you know how much you all mean to me and how you have made me feel so welcome and at home from the very start!
On Sunday April 14, 2024 I became a member, being welcomed into God’s Family at CVCC.
Thank you for allowing me the privilege to be a part of you all!! The roses given to me for joining were so beautiful, kind and thoughtful! I will always remember how special you made me feel!
God’s Blessings, Deborah (Deb) Arnold
Thank you American Legion Post 46 of Conway!
A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Conway American Legion Post #46 for hosting the Fish Fry on April 19th to benefit our Church. By 4 pm, the facility was bustling with attendees, making parking and seating a scarce commodity. The fish was delicious, and the desserts were both tasty and abundant. As the dinner drew to a close, there was jubilation as it was announced that this was their most successful Fish Fry Fund-raiser to date, with a preliminary count of 225 dinners sold.
Our gratitude extends to the talented bakers within our church community. With just a Wednesday email requesting desserts, they not only filled the dessert table but also provided the most diverse and delicious assortment of treats ever seen at these dinners, according to one regular attendee.
We extend our thanks to all who dedicated their time and effort to make this event possible. At The Brown Church, we understand the immense effort involved in organizing such dinners. The donation jars were put to good use, amassing a total of three hundred and sixty-one dollars.
To everyone who attended, indulged in a scrumptious meal, enjoyed the company of friends from the com-munity, and supported our church in the process, we are truly grateful.
TRUSTEES TIDINGS
It has been a long winter with the cold, storms, wind and flooding. The Brown Church lost the use of its building in December. We have many dedicated church members and a lot of work and planning has been going on behind scenes. Work has been done to keep the church services going every Sunday at the Majes-tic, work in cleaning up the food pantry and work on details of the options available to the church after the flooding. All meetings have been held in peoples homes, over coffee or a meal at a local establishment.
Spring brings rejuvenation to many and the Brown Church got a feeling of rejuvenation on April 21st. The Trustees and Council have been working on the options available to the church. At the Special Meeting on the 21st, we were able to present information to the congregation and have a vote on next steps. We are very appreciative of the 35 members who attended either in person or on zoom. We heard from many of you and thank you for sharing.
On the 19th, the American Legion held their monthly Fish Fry to benefit the church. It was the biggest turn out they have ever had. Folks expressed their support to see the church re-open. For the last 5 months, the word on the street has been, “please open and bring the pantry and the Dinner Bell back”, You can’t leave the village”, The Brown Church does so much.”
The unanimous vote (with 2 abstentions) at the April 21st meeting was to restore the church to pre-flood conditions . What does that mean? We will need to get the water turned back on and upgrade some wiring to have the Dinner Bell and the Food Pantry run out of Fellowship Hall. Both will need to replace refrigera-tion, supplies and food inventory. We will need to replace the heating system and add a new hot water heat-er. We do hope all this can be done over the summer, so that we can make our apple crisp for the Fryeburg Fair. We will be working with Bergeron Technical Services to begin the planning process.
We will need funds and hope the community will see the importance of the church and help us continue our missions and re-open. Donations can be made to our GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-brown-church-flood-recovery or send checks to the Conway Village Congregational Church PO Box 333 Conway, NH 03818
Elevating Outreach
The Outreach Committee met in April. We discussed what we wanted to focus on in 2024. It is hoped that the Food Pantry and Dinner Bell can re-open in early summer. Funds will need to be raised to open the church so they both can start back up.
Paul and Sylvia Weld attended the meeting to give us an update on the Food Pantry. Since the lower level can not be used, the plan is to to run the pantry out of Fellowship Hall. They will begin planning a layout for shelving and refrigeration. It is possible that electrical upgrades will be needed, we are waiting for estimate.
Anne has met with Dinner Bell folks to discuss what is needed to re-open. They will need running water, gas hook up and replacement of refrigeration units.
John Hughes recently met with folks from the NH Conference United Church of Christ ( After the April Outreach meeting). They talked about helping the church with a “ hands on project “. They felt they would
like to inv olve a missionary group from Connecticut who will be coming the last week of June. This idea could also be shared to local groups. An example is replacing damaged siding on the church.
What will be needed, and is essential, is having someone from the church who has the time and knowledge to act as a foreman, listing materials needed, and oversee the work. We don’t know if the church will be open, but if you are interested in helping, let John know.
The Outreach Committee is allocated $2,000 in the church’s operating budget. We would like those funds to be used locally.
If anyone is interested in serving on the Outreach Committee, please let
one of us know.
Outreach Committee: Anne Getchell, Charlyne Gray, Marilyn Hughes, Charles Monaghan
May Worship
May 5th—5th Sunday of Easter – Communion
Scriptures: Psalm 98 Acts 10:44-48 John 15:9-17
Sermon: “That Love may be Complete”
May 12th—6th Sunday of Easter – Mother’s Day
Scriptures: Psalm 1 Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 John 17:6-19
Sermon: “Like Trees Planted by Streams of Water”
May 19th—Pentecost Sunday
Scriptures: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b Romans 8:22-27 John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15,
Sermon: “Do You have an Advocate?”
May 26th—Trinity Sunday
Scriptures: Psalm 29 Isaiah 6:1-8 John 3:1-17
Sermon: “Here am I; Send Me”
