FAT SUNDAY PREPARATIONS BEGIN

WOODBURY—The Woodbury People of Faith will sponsor the 2nd annual “Fat Sunday Dinner” fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina relief in the Gulf Region from 4 – 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11. All proceeds will be donated to Habitat for Humanity-Operation Home Delivery, specifically to be used in three Gulf states to rebuild houses.

The dinner will be held at Woodbury Mitchell School cafeteria with continuous serving of food, including southern baked chicken, pulled pork, and rice & beans, macaroni & cheese, to name a few menu items.

There will also be continuous live entertainment provided by local area musicians, including Root 6, Dan Platt & Bob Radovich, the Nonawaug High School Jazz Band, and Two Percent. Mardi Gras style parades will be held, with prizes for the best costumes awarded.

Tickets are on sale at the following Woodbury locations: Canfield Corner Pharmacy, Woodbury Drug, Video World, and Theo & Gretchen’s, as well as from the member congregations of Woodbury People of Faith. Advance sale tickets are $20 for adults, $8 for children 12 and under, and $50 for a family of four or more. Tickets at the door will be more.

Woodbury People of Faith is an interfaith organization to provide opportunities for better faith understanding to our community and to host interfaith events for the people of the Woodbury area. Member churches include St. Teresa Roman Catholic, St. Paul Episcopal, North Congregational, First Congregational, Mattatuck Universalist Unitarian Society, B’Nai Israel Synagogue, Woodbury United Methodist and Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church.

For additional information on Woodbury People of Faith or its activities, go to www.woodburypof.blogspot.com or contact:
Charlie Rutledge, 203-948-1125 or Vincent Kennedy, 203-263-7226

St. Teresa's Men's Club Presents Donation

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Men's Club presented a contribution to Woodbury People of Faith. Tom Amatruda (right), Men's Club president, presented co-chair Charlie Rutledge of Woodbury People of Faith a check which will be used to carry on the interfaith work of the organization.

Faith Summit - First Church - 4/30/06

WOODBURY - First Congregational Church of Woodbury and the Woodbury People of Faith presented "Back to the Garden: Legacies of Adam and Eve," a faith summit, on Sunday, April 30, at First Congregational Church, 214 Main St. South.

The Garden of Eden narrative is found in Christianity, Islam and Judaism. All three Abrahamic traditions wrestle with issues of authority, power and relationship with God; all three struggle with the implications of sin and the fall. Much human conflict and the sense of obedience to God begins in this primal story found in the Bible and the Quran.

Three distinguished Hartford Seminary professors took part in the summit.
Presenting were Abdullah Antepli, Imam, chaplaincy coordinator for Hartford Seminary; Kelton Cobb, professor of theology and ethics, and Yehezkel Landau, faculty associate in interfaith relations.
After the presentations, coffee and refreshments was served, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Presentation of Check to Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries

The Woodbury People of Faith co-chairs Charlie Rutledge (left) & Vincent Kennedy present a donation to Mike Gaynor (center) Community Relations Director for GWIM. The donation was from funds raised by the CROP Walk held in Woodbury September 2005.

A bit of the Big Easy makes way to Woodbury

The Beignet Chef's
The rest of the pictures: http://www.dennisyates.com/Album2/

Monday, February 27, 2006
BY TOMMY VALUCKAS
Copyright © 2006 Republican-American
WOODBURY -- Eleanor Allen had never made jambalaya before, so she was as curious as anyone as to how the spicy Creole fare would be accepted.
"I haven't tasted it yet, but it sure smells good," the St. Paul's Episcopal Church parishioner said. "We'll find out soon."

She need not have worried as the New Orleans staple, as well as the pulled pork barbecue, corn bread and beignets, were all a hit Sunday afternoon during the first "Fat Sunday" celebration sponsored by the Woodbury People of Faith. In addition to the foods, the Mardi Gras-style event featured musical entertainment and costume parades, all bringing a touch of the Big Easy into the Woodbury Middle School cafeteria.

The primary purpose of the gala was to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. "This is to be in solidarity with New Orleans at this time," said the Rev. Craig T. McClellan, minister at North Congregational Church who was master of ceremonies, looking dapper in a black bowler and colorful boas. "The devastation has been so great. The mission must be ongoing."

The eight congregations of People of Faith will send proceeds from ticket sales to affiliated relief efforts in the Gulf Coast region. St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church, for instance, will be assisting a St. Teresa parish in New Orleans, while North Congregational will help the Biloxi Back Bay Mission in Mississippi.

"I think what's been so rewarding is that the churches have continued to cooperate" beneath the People of Faith umbrella, said J. Charlie Rutledge, co-organizer of Fat Sunday with Vincent Kennedy. Both men are parishioners of St. Teresa of Avila.

Rutledge said the concept of such an event started with the Rev. James Wheeler, rector at St. Paul's, but when its potential of being a unifying force and beneficial initiative was realized, it was turned into a townwide affair.
"We have people coming in from all over the area to help," said Kennedy.
Rutledge said they expected at least 200 people to attend over the course of three hours, but it was possible as many as 300 could show up, which would make Fat Sunday "highly successful." Advance sale tickets ranged from $8 for children and $20 for adults, to $50 for a family of four or more.
Sarah Peterson, 8, a third-grader at Mitchell Elementary School, was helping out at a make-your own-mask youth booth. She said feathers, jewelry and marking pens made for the best creations, with gold and purple being necessary colors.

First Selectman Dick Crane, resplendent in gold cape, feathery mask and a red king's crown, was parade marshal and periodically led a slithering line of costumed youngsters, who dispensed beads and replica coins, amongst the tables crowded with diners. "A lot of credit goes to the churches for doing this," he said. "It was a lot of hard work."

Rutledge said a steering committee is "reinvigorating" the People of Faith group, which next plans to host a Muslim imam, Jewish rabbi and a Christian cleric for an interdenominational program April 30.

Woodbury Fat Sunday Celebration Celebrities & Planners Get in Costume

Pictured in costume for the Fat Sunday fundraising dinner are Marianna Daniels (left), Carla Preiman and Dick Crane (second from right) - First Selectman of Woodbury & Grand Marshall of the event, and Rev. Dr. Craig McClellan (right) - Senior Minister of North Congregational Church & Master of Ceremonies of the event.

Fat Sunday will be held from 4-7pm on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Woodbury Middle School. It will feature New Orleans style food and entertainment with proceeds going to Hurricane Katrina relief. Ticket purchases are tax deductible.

There will also be continuous live entertainment provided by local area musicians, including Joe Beck, the Nonnewaug High School Jazz Band, and other local talents. A Mardi Gras style parade will be held each hour.

Woodbury People of Faith presents donation to Community Services Council

The Woodbury People of Faith co-chairs Charlie Rutledge(left) and Vincent Kennedy present Sandy Ingellis, Executive Director of the Community Services Council a donation.

The donation was from funds raised by the CROP Walk held in Woodbury September 2005.

2nd Pulpit Exchange - 1/29/06

The pictures are of Rev. Jim greeting parishioners after the 10 am service at First Church.

On Sunday 1/29/06, Rev. Dr. Jim Wheeler of St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Rev. Mark Heilshorn exchanged pulpits. Rev. Mark was at the 8 & 10 am service at St. Paul's and Rev. Jim was at the 10 am service at First Church.

The pictures are of Rev. Jim greeting parishioners after the 10 am service at First Church.

Pulpit Exchange Sunday 1/22/06

On Sunday 1/22/06, the first pulpit exchange occurred between St. Teresa's Catholic Church and North Congregational Church. The Rev. Dr. Craig McClellan, and Fr. Bob Kwiatkowski spoke from the pulpits. Attached are several pictures of the day taken at North Church and the Republican American article.

Vince & Liz Kennedy w/Fr. Bob, Charlie Rutledge, & Rev. Craig

North Church Parishoners w/Fr. Bob, Charlie Rutledge, & Rev. Craig

Fr. Bob, Charlie Rutledge, & Vince Kennedy


Woodbury pastors trade places
Monday, January 23, 2006
BY MARRECCA FIORE
Copyright © 2006 Republican-American
Unity.
The two pastors participated in the Woodbury People of Faith's first pulpit exchange of the new year. As part of the exchange, McClellan delivered the sermon at St. Teresa's 9 a.m. Mass and Kwiatkowski shared the gospel with members of North Congregational Church at its 10:30 a.m. service.
"It's exciting that in a world that can be so tragically divided by religion and prejudice that we can be here together in the unity of Christ," said McClellan, during the morning service at his church.
Not only did the two pastors celebrate Sunday services at each other's church, but a handful of parishioners also marked the exchange by attending services at one another's churches.
Charles Rutledge, a member of St. Teresa and Woodbury People of Faith, joked that standing before a Congregationalist congregation was a daunting task for a Roman Catholic."

"I went to Catholic school with the nuns who would tell us that Catholicism was the one true religion," Rutledge said. "I remember going home and asking my mother if that meant that my dad, who's Episcopalian, was not going to heaven. And mother said no. It meant that we all worship God, we just do it differently. And yes, we are all going to heaven."
Woodbury People of Faith was formed in 1999 to unite churches throughout Greater Woodbury, Rutledge said. Eight parishes belong to the group. In addition to pulpit exchanges, the group organizes ecumenical events throughout the region.
Long before People of Faith, as Rutledge and Kwiatkowski pointed out, Woodbury had a long ecumenical history. After all, It was North Congregational Church that raised the seed money to start St. Teresa of Avila Church.
"More than 100 years ago, Michael Skelly came to Woodbury to work as an apprentice blacksmith," Kwiatkowski said. "And the blacksmith said he would train him, but he would have to attend North Congregational Church while he was an apprentice. He agreed."
As soon as he became a blacksmith in his own right, Skelly began walking 12 miles every Sunday to Waterbury to attend a Catholic Mass.
"And they really felt bad for him," Kwiatkowski said. "Finally, they said enough, we will help you build a Catholic Church in Woodbury. And they contributed substantially. They put their money where their mouth was."
That was in 1903. In 2003, St. Teresa parishioners paid forward the gift North Congregational once gave them, by donating $17,000 to help Christ the Savior Orthodox Church of Woodbury build a church of its own.
"The more we work together, the more our hearts will begin to change," Kwiatkowski said. "Jesus prayed we'd all be one some day. We've come a long way. But we still have a long way to go."