AM Worship: Each Sunday morning begins with a worship service at 9:30 a.m. in the Chapel at the American School for the Deaf. Our intent is to put forth worship services which give people a big view of God. We desire for people to see something of the grandeur, majesty, glory, holiness, and love of God. Our prayer is that people will leave each service deeply impressed with a greater understanding and experience of our great, Triune God. Pastor Baker is currently preaching a series of sermons from the book of Ephesians.
Nursery Nursery care is available for young children (newborns to 5 years old). (We encourage children 3-5 years old to stay in the first part of worship - through the offertory - to slowly get the child acclimated to worshipping.)
Sunday School: We currently have six classes available for children and two classes available for adults. These classes meet after the morning worship service. More classes will be added as needed and as space allows. We believe the Sunday School hour is a vital part of any church, not only for needed Biblical instruction but also as a means of developing a loving and caring community of believers.
Area Groups: Sunday evening meetings are held at various locations around Hartford, West Hartford, and the Farmington Valley. The purpose of these Area Group meetings is to allow people from the varied communities to meet in homes with people living close to them. There will be discussion of the morning sermon, praying for one another, and seeking to meet one another's needs as they arise.
We see Sunday evening as a vital part of our ministry. We are intent on loving one another as the Bible so clearly commands us and we believe this format will assist us greatly in this regard. Children will meet with their parents in these groups, along with singles, college students, and teens.
Authored by Al Baker. For more information about Sunday worship, email Al at al.baker@christcpc.org
Our youth ministry exists to POINT students to Jesus Christ by
EQUIPPING them to understand God's grace in every aspect of life, to
EXPERIENCE ministry, to INTERACT with other believers, and to
MAGNIFY the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Our youth group name at Christ Community Presbyterian Church is
The S.A.L.T. Block
(Matt. 5:13 - "You are the salt of the earth")
We desire to be a fellowship of student believers who:
Serve others
Adore God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
Learn about who God is and what He's done for us in small group Bible study and larger group teaching
Tell others about what God has done for us by the work of His Holy Spirit
For pictures, upcoming events, and leader information, visit our youth website at www.saltblock.org.
For more information about the about The S.A.L.T. Block or our Youth ministry, email Peter Martin at peter.martin@christcpc.org.
In our diverse musical expressions of worship at Christ Community Presbyterian Church, we strive for excellence and maximum participation through the following activities…
“Sing, all you who are upright in heart!”
Psalm 32:11b
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”
Psalm 150:6
As John Calvin rightly observed, the congregation is the church’s “first choir.” The music ministry of Christ Community Presbyterian Church is rooted in our shared singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We use the Trinity Hymnal as well as more contemporary settings of scriptural praise.
“I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks.
The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God.”
Singers age 12 and over are invited to join our Choir, as we prepare anthems and other liturgical pieces for Sunday morning worship. We draw upon four centuries of choral literature—from Thomas Tallis to John Rutter.
The Bible frequently describes the playing of musical instruments as direct expressions of worship (2 Sam 6:5; 1 Chron 23:5; Ps 150:3-5) and as accompaniment for songs of praise (Isa 38:20; 2 Chron 5:13, 30:21).
Orchestra
This ensemble of all kinds of instruments accompanies much of our congregational singing. Whether you’re a young person in a school band, a performance major at the Hartt School, or someone who simply loves to play, you are invited to join us.
Handchime Choir
Handchime ringing doesn’t require much musical training or even the ability to read music (although a good sense of rhythm is important). Since each player is responsible for his own note or two, attendance at every practice is important—and lots of fun. Handchimes are especially well suited to young people who may have had some piano or other music lessons, but would be more comfortable playing as part of a large group.
Authored by Brad Smith. For more information about the music ministry, email Brad at brad.smith@christcpc.org
Christ Community Presbyterian Church began as a three-family Bible study in September 2001 in Simsbury. God had relocated two families from the south and led them to worship at the Presbyterian Church of Manchester (PCM), some 40 minutes away. At PCM they met another couple who had been moved to Avon after living in Manchester for fifteen years. As an extension of God’s kingdom in the Farmington Valley, PCM began a Bible study with the three families in September, led by Pastor Mark Scholten.
In January 2002 the three families became the church plant “launch team.” They developed an identity (Farmington Valley Reformed Fellowship), a vision statement and created a web page. The vision was “To establish a PCA church in the Farmington Valley.“
A public Bible study began in April, in a town hall conference room. By June the three families grew to eight and with encouragement and financial support from Manchester and the denomination’s local presbytery, the families created and distributed a church plant profile.
In the fall of 2002 God used his servant Preston Graham, a pastor and church planter in New Haven, to challenge the launch team’s vision, and in December the group lifted their eyes from their Farmington Valley vision and crafted this broader vision statement: To initiate a PCA church planting movement impacting the metro region of Hartford and the Western part of Connecticut, beginning with establishing an anchor church west of the Connecticut River.
By January 2003 the launch team had interacted with eight pastors, predominately young, seminary graduates with 3-5 years of experience. None completely “fit” the profile which sought an experienced pastor prepared for intellectual battle in this religiously skeptical, highly educated, affluent area. Believing He was redirecting their plans again, the team invited a young, heavily-recruited, church planting school graduate, to visit the area. The visit was favorable but the candidate needed time to consider other opportunities.
Meanwhile, out on the barrier island of St. Simons, Georgia, an experienced church planter and articulate senior pastor, Al Baker, and wife Wini, were seeking God’s will for the next phase of their ministry. They had served for 10 years at Golden Isles Presbyterian Church and started two other churches and a Christian school. He was often the key-note speaker at mission conferences in the US and overseas. But they believed their gifts could be used in a different, broader context now. What would the Lord have them do to minister the good news of Christ: go overseas, stay in the US, go to an established church, start another church……..what context and where?
As they prayed during the fall of 2002 Wini remembered meeting Preston Graham while visiting a friend in New Haven during the summer. In passing, Pastor Graham mentioned the church planting opportunity in Hartford. In January 2003 Al called Preston for more details, then Al called the launch team and emailed his resume. The launch team saw an experienced pastor, prepared for intellectual battle and an evangelist.
The Bakers believed God may have been calling them to the northeast, once a bastion of belief, but now ……..and after a visit the area in late January – punctuated by two blizzards - and much prayer, the Bakers accepted the challenge. In February Al recruited a music minister, youth director and college ministry director; in March Al and the families selected the name Christ Community Presbyterian Church and in June Al moved to the area.
The first worship service was held Sunday evening, August 17, 2003 in the Chapel of First Church of Christ, with 61 attending. Services were moved to the American School for the Deaf chapel in September. The first morning worship service was September 14, with 41 attending. Twelve families were committed to the work and mission of “To promote a Biblical vision of authentic Christianity by planting churches – throughout Connecticut – where people delight supremely in God.”