Guest Pastors
March 12th & 19th
is a first-year Masters of Divinity student at Yale Divinity School. She’s a part of Andover Newton, an embedded partner on the Quad at Yale that focuses on congregational ministry. She may call Goshen, CT home, but she’s been learning the benefits of living in a city since starting her degree in New Haven. Before coming to New Haven, she earned a Bachelor’s in Biology from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and enjoys talking about botany and environmental science. Between her studies she enjoys going for walks at East Rock Park, playing board games with friends and family, reading,
March 26th
is a designer and horticulturist, and founder of CF GARDENS. In addition to all things plants, he is currently pursuing a graduate degree in theology at Yale Divinity School. Christopher is the 2023 co-chair of the Yale Graduate Conference in Religion and Ecology. The field of Religion and Ecology addresses some of the most complex challenges of our time. Complementing the Religion and Ecology programs at Yale Divinity School and Yale School of the Environment, the GCRE provides a space for graduate students to take part in the emerging field of religion and ecology as scholar-practitioners.
Holy Week - April 2nd, 6th & 9th
is a graduate of Yale Divinity School with a Master of Divinity degree. Ministry is a second career for Figliuzzi, who previously served as Cigna’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer and the Executive Director of the Cigna Foundation. Feeling the call to ministry, he stepped out of his corporate career in 2019 to pursue ordained ministry in the United Church of Christ. He has served as the Sabbatical Pastor at the Westfield Congregational Church in Danielson, CT, Resident Seminarian at First Church of Christ Congregational in Suffield, CT, and has held various positions at his home church of Asylum Hill Congregational in Hartford.
April 16th
is a beloved former RHCC Associate Pastor and Senior Pastor. She is currently retired but has been active in bridge ministry, helping congregations in the transition between pastors. She also recently stepped down as Chair of the Board of Hands on Hartford, one of our key Outreach and Witness partners, and currently serves on the development team and as a co-Chair of the auxiliary organization Friends of Hands On Hartford.
May 7th & Beyond
will be our Bridge Pastor beginning in May. His first Sunday will be May 7th. He will be with us at least until the end of the year, depending on when we call a new settled pastor. The following, (from Rev. McCarthy’s profile), is a good illustration as to why he was the candidate we invited to be our Bridge Pastor:
“I love being a pastor. I view the varied roles of pastoral ministry: pastor, preacher, teacher, administrator and community presence, as roles that can be used creatively for the nurturing of God's community. Each of these roles provides constructive opportunities for the promotion of God's realm and the building up of that excitement, that I have for God's love, in others. In reading the gospel stories, I find that Jesus used humor in his ministry to encourage his listeners to laugh as they faced the very real difficulties of life. I strive to emulate, in my own way, a ministry that pokes fun at some of the absurdities that abound in the world and laugh at the things we do to cope. At the same time, I recognize that Jesus came to heal brokenness and bring renewed wholeness and reconciliation and sometimes that requires us to shed tears for those hurt. I see it as the role of the church to
enable Christians to become a factor in the transforming change that begins with the hope that Jesus' ministry brought to us. One of the reasons I am UCC is that I am a "Congregationalist" by choice, adamantly trusting in the shared ministry of laity and clergy. I know that in any congregation there are a wealth of God-given strengths and talents that often go untapped, and I seek to discern those hidden and underutilized talents and encourage their usage.”