 |
|
Rev. John W. Collins, Interim Senior Pastor
Reverend John W. Collins, Interim Senior Minister
John began his ministry at the Monroe Congregational Church on February 1, 2011. He has over 33 years of experience in ministry, including 21 years as a settled pastor at the Lordship Community Church, UCC. His focus has been on interim ministries since 2003, serving three different congregations in our conference, most recently the UCC church in Southington. He describes his own strength in interim ministry as one who can bring a “non-anxious” presence as he provides pastoral care and prophetic guidance to our congregation. John and his family live in Stratford.
|
 |
Rev. Jennifer M. Gingras, Senior Pastor Elect
Pastor Jenn grew up in Madison, Connecticut and attended the North
Madison Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. She spent much of her youth at Silver Lake Conference Center, which is still her spiritual home-away-from-home. After a 12 year career in marketing and administration, she began following a call to ordained ministry. Jenn attended Hartford Seminary and then Yale Divinity School while working full time and attending to the needs of her family. As an in-care student, she served the Trumbull Congregational Church UCC as Director of Christian Education and did her C.P.E. residency at Norwalk Hospital in the oncology and E.R. departments. Jenn earned her Masters of Divinity at Yale in 2007 and was called as the Associate Pastor of the Monroe Congregational Church, UCC.
After almost five years of service as the Associate Paster, Jenn was
called by unanimous vote of the gathered church body to be the 50th
Senior Pastor in the fall of 2011. This decision followed a year-long
process of prayerful discernment and the dedicated work of a search
committee. She is one of the first internal candidates to make such a
move in recent years within the United Church of Christ. Jenn is also
the first woman to serve as Senior Pastor at the Monroe Congregational Church in their nearly 250 year history.
Jenn's passions in ministry include prophetic preaching, emerging
church worship and developing future church leadership and empowering youth and adults to serve God through mission and outreach programs. She currently serves the wider church as a member of the board of directors at Silver Lake Conference Center. She is also a shepherd in the CT Conference T.A.W.F.G. (Thinking about Working For God) program and the Fairfield East Association’s Committee on Church and Ministry. She is looking forward to the challenge of leading a multigenerational program sized church in a dynamic 21st century faith landscape. Her interests include drumming, playing the violin, gardening and the visual arts. Jenn lives in Trumbull, with her husband, Clark, and their teenage children Cady and Zack.
.
|
 |
Will Duchon, Music Director
Will’s love of music began early, when at the age of seven he began taking piano lessons from Mr. Robert Canfield, a graduate of the famed Julliard school. He earned a BFA and an MFA in performing arts from SUNY Purchase (1992) and has been teaching private piano lessons since 1980. Will has also taught undergraduate classes in Music Theory and Solfege at SUNY, and has served in music ministry at the Memorial Community Church of West Harrison, NY and the Pleasantville Presbyterian Church in Pleasantville, NY.
He is the father of two grown children, Matt and Lauren, and the proud grandfather of Olivia. Will is also a broadcaster for WMNR-FM Fine Arts Radio . His program airs each Friday evening from 6:00pm until 11:00pm, to the delight of choir and church members alike.
|
|
Melissa Rosenberg, Administrative Assistant
Melissa grew up in Yonkers, NY. Before coming to work at the Monroe Congregational Church, she was an office administrator at Good Directions, a copper weathering store. Melissa is responsible for managing the office, which includes answering questions about church life, keeping track of events in the life of the church, producing our print and web communications, and many other important tasks.
Melissa is currently enrolled at Charter Oak State College where she is attending night school and pursuing a bachelors degree in either child development or counseling. She spends her free time with her extended family and her favorite nephews. She is married to James and lives in Danbury, Connecticut.
|
 |
|
|
|
