All media inquiries should be directed to our Communications Director, Mary Ann West .

For links to some of the media coverage so far, click here.

January 2, 2012

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the members of Somers Congregational Church in Somers, Connecticut; a devastating fire last night destroyed much of their church, including their sanctuary. We hope and trust that they will be supported and uplifted by their community the way we have been supported and uplifted by ours.

http://www.courant.com/community/somers/hc-somers-church-fire-0103-20120102,0,4156290.story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVsRpzaH_io

Worship Service Update by Doug Johnston, Board of Deacons — December 30, 2011

I have some very good news to share with you: we will be staying at Temple Israel for our 10:00AM Sunday worship services. Several of us from SCC met with representatives from Temple Israel and we came to an agreement that will allow us to continue to use their beautiful worship space. In addition, we are being given the use of classrooms for our Church School, and a room (and use of the kitchen) for our Fellowship Hour.

On behalf of everyone at Saugatuck Congregational Church, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Rabbi Bob Orkand, Executive Director Sandy Silverstein, Board of Trustees President Diana Muller, Board of Trustees VP Bruce Adler and the entire Temple Israel membership for this generous offer and opportunity. The relationship between our interfaith communities is continuing to grow and prosper.

Best regards, 
Doug

Many thanks to

Randy Christophersen

Our amazing Thanksgiving & Christmas Feast Chairman

And his wonderful Christmas Feast Team:

• Paula Mikesh, Chef
• Emma Mikesh, Turkey Girl
• Bob Fox, Kitchen Manager
• Bruce Ill, Floor Manager
• Sharna Ill, Decorations Manager
• Abby Peterson, Decorations Manager
• Brad Peterson, Floor Manager

Randy Christophersen of Saugatuck Congregational Church and Sam Farina of Stop & Shop

Click here to see pictures from WestportNow.com.

We have SO many people and organizations to thank – a full list will be coming soon. In the meantime, our continuing gratitude goes out the kind and generous people of Christ & Holy Trinity Church for welcoming both our Thanksgiving Feast and our Christmas Feast into their “home”. And, as always, we are grateful to the dozens of volunteers who make it happen! (And to Larry Untermeyer, of WestportNow.com, for his beautiful pictures.)

Media Tour of the Church Interior, Thursday, December 22, 2011

On the evening of November 20, 2011 our church was devastated by a six-alarm fire. The damage to the church was extensive, but thanks to the valiant efforts of the firefighters the structure of the church was saved. We are enormously grateful to all the first responders who helped that night.

While the main damage to the church was in the rear of the building, no part of the church was untouched by some degree of fire, soot, water, and smoke damage.

We have no new information about the cause of the fire.

Since the early hours of the morning after the fire, our goal has been to move forward and continue the mission of Saugatuck Congregational Church. Community support has been extraordinary. Our regular 10:00 am service is being conducted at Temple Israel. Our 5:00 pm Christmas Eve service will also be at Temple Israel, and our 9:00 pm Christmas Eve service will be at the Congregational Church of Easton.

The Thanksgiving Feast, which has been held at Saugatuck for 41 years, was hosted by Christ & Holy Trinity Church. Christ & Holy Trinity will also host the Christmas Day Feast beginning at 11:30 am. Saugatuck Nursery School is operating at the Y; and other meetings are being held in various local venues including Westport Town Hall. Groups such as the Y's Men and the many 12-Step meetings that used church facilities have relocated throughout town.

We are working with multiple insurance companies to assess the extent of the damage.

Saugatuck Congregational Church has been a vital part of this community since 1832. The fire was devastating to our physical home, but the spirit of Saugatuck Church is very much alive. We are already in the very early phases of developing plans to rebuild our church.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the community for the extraordinary support. It reminds us of what a wonderfully caring community we live in.

View pictures and video of the church interior

• Westport News: Strong in Spirit, Saugatuck Church Shows its Fire Scars
• WestportNow.com: Heartbreak Damage at Saugatuck Church
  
• WestportNow.com: A Month Later, a Close-Up of Church Fire Damage
• CTNow.com/FoxCT: Saugatuck Church Carries On Without Building
• The Norwalk Hour: Church Officials Say Plans to Rebuild Underway
• The Daily Westport: Inside Westport’s Fire-Damaged Saugatuck Church
• Westport Minuteman: Video Tour of Fire Damage at Saugatuck Congregational Church
• Cablevision News 12 Connecticut: Westport Church Still Reeling After 6-Alarm Fire

Fire Update by John Walsh, Board of Trustees — December 12, 2011

This past week saw a continuation of lots of activity and significant progress in dealing with the myriad of issues involving the aftermath of the church fire November 20.

Cleaning of the church building is a major endeavor to mitigate the effects of smoke and water damage. Cleaning, deodorizing, and in some cases removal of floor and ceiling tiles is going on. Some areas are down to studs and joists as we look to eliminate the smoke odor. Every day the air seems better!

The insurance investigators continued their work, but did release the Choir Room. This enabled the room to be cleared so that scaffolding can be erected and tarps put down to protect the rear of the Sanctuary. The Fellowship Room remains under investigation, but we have been able to install temporary provisions to protect the boiler room beneath.

The chandelier was removed from the Sanctuary and put in storage. Scaffolding has been erected throughout the Sanctuary to enable taking down the ceiling without damaging the pews which have been fully blanketed for protection.

A very important meeting was held with the insurance companies' lead adjuster and team. We introduced our insurance consultant who we are confident will serve our interests well in this challenging process. The meeting was very constructive as we established a framework for how we will proceed to address the many issues involved.

An Architectural Committee has been established to vet architects for the design/rebuild process. Selecting an architect soon will enable us to have the design and rebuild work on a parallel track with the insurance claim ultimately reducing the reconstruction timeline.

A temporary office site very close to the church has been identified. Final negotiations are underway and should be complete in days enabling us to relocate church offices quickly.

The Saugatuck Nursery School reopened on Tuesday, December 6 at the Y while they continue to work on a longer term plan.

If you haven't been by the church recently, do so, and check out the wreaths and lights on the front door. The church is alive and shining brightly!

Make no mistake, there is a long road ahead, but we feel we have learned a lot and made significant progress in this short time. We have a sound plan as to how to move forward and are putting the resources in place to address the challenge We are heartened by the support of so many like the Y's Men who made a $3000 contribution to the church. The unity and energy of our congregation to move forward is exhilarating. We are optimistic that we are well on our way to rebuilding our church.

Christmas Eve Services

5:00PM Service and Children’s Pageant

Our 5:00PM Service will be held at Temple Israel. We have been given a new manger, and will be continuing our tradition of collecting gifts for the Norwalk Domestic Violence Crisis Center. This "Baby Gift Giving" is always one of the most special parts of this service, where the children bring forth unwrapped gifts and place them in the manger during the service. Baby gifts are greatly appreciated, especially disposable diapers.

9:00PM Candlelight Service

Our Candlelight Service will be held at the Congregational Church of Easton, 336 Westport Road, Easton. It is only 8.7 miles and 15 minutes from our own church.

The Congregational Church of Easton has special meaning for us at Saugatuck — when it was built in the 1830s, it was modeled on our own meetinghouse. To read more about the history of this very special place, read the Church History Notes (PDF) by their Church Historian, Jonathan C. Stock.

A Note of Thanks

We wish to thank everyone for their generous and heartfelt offers of hospitality during this Christmas season, including the Town of Westport and Green's Farms Congregational Church. And our continuing gratitude goes out to the congregation of Temple Israel for giving us the use of their home for our regular Sunday services.

The women of Saugatuck Congregational Church wish to thank Diana Mrotek and all the women at Green’s Farms Congregational Church for including us in their wonderful Sophia’s Circle Christmas Coffee. Your warmth, kindness and fellowship were truly a blessing to us during this Christmas season.

S = Saugatuck Church; T = Temple Israel. Click here for door-to-door directions.

Saugatuck Worship This Sunday at 10am at Temple Israel.

Thanks to the generous hospitality of Temple Israel, worship service this Sunday and throughout all the Sundays of December will take place at Temple Israel. There will be both Church School and Child Care. There will also be Fellowship Hour.

Thanks to all who have worked so hard to ensure our continuity of worship and Christian Education as we move forward.

Temple Israel is located at 14 Coleytown Road in Westport.

Volunteer to Help Saugatuck Church

We are gratified and humbled by the outpouring of support we have received from the community since a devastating fire struck our church. Many of you have asked, "How can I help?" or have offered specific donations or skill sets to assist us as we move forward in our rebuilding process. So that we may keep track of these many wonderful offers, we've established a form so that you can 'officially' register your offer of help with us.

Click here to volunteer.

Thank you so very much, and God bless.

12-Step Update: Saturday, November 26, 2011

SCC Twelve Step Meetings are being moved to the following locations. Please check with the respective locations regarding meetings and times:

Christ and Holy Trinity: (203) 227-0827
Greens Farms: (203) 227-2728
St. Luke's: (203) 226-0729
United Methodist: (203) 227-4707
Temple Israel: (203) 227-1293

Music Update: Friday, November 25, 2011

CHOIR REHEARSALS will be held in the Unitarian Meetinghouse, 10 Lyons Plains Road, Westport. Thursday nights 7:30-9:00PM. For more information and updates from Heather, click here to go to the Music section.

Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 24, 2011

Our 2011 Thanksgiving Feast was a huge success, thanks to our wonderful volunteers and the support of the entire Westport community. Our special thanks go out to the Reverend John Branson and all the wonderful people at Christ & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church who so graciously opened their doors for our feast. We will soon be posting pictures and a list of donors and “angels” who helped make this event happen, but in the meantime you can read about it here:

Westport Now: Rising From the Ashes

http://www.westportnow.com/index.php?/v2_5/comments/36092/

Westport News: Rising from ashes: Saugatuck feast shares bounty

http://www.westport-news.com/news/article/Rising-from-ashes-Saugatuck-feast-shares-bounty-2291451.php

Connecticut Post:

http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Blaze-doesn-t-prevent-church-from-serving-2291709.php#photo-1791270

The Daily Westport:

http://www.thedailywestport.com/neighbors/westport-look-good-clean-scrubbing

November 23rd Update: Communications Continue to Get Back Online!

You can now check for church news by calling the main Saugatuck Congregational Church number — (203) 227-1261. This will enable you to hear messages from SCC, as well as to leave messages that can be forwarded on to any staff member.

God bless all those who are working to bring us back. God bless our congregation.

A Thanksgiving Message of Gratitude

At this very special time of Thanksgiving, the Saugatuck Congregational Church family gives deep thanks to God for:

• The firefighters from Westport and surrounding communities who worked so hard to save as much of our church home as possible.
  
• The Westport Police Department and all the state and town agencies which spent so many hours doing what they could to protect our building.
  
• Our friends at Temple Israel for inviting us into their home and allowing us to worship and hold church school classes there this Sunday.
  
• Our friends at Christ & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church for stepping forward so quickly to host this year’s annual Thanksgiving Feast.
  
• The interfaith clergy community who joined us on the front lawn of our church on Monday night, November 21st, for a powerful and moving worship service in support of our congregation.
  
• The Town of Westport, both the leadership and our friends and neighbors, who are working with us throughout this crisis.
  
• Sarah Verasco, our Connecticut Conference Regional Minister, and all those in the UCC who have stood with us in these hard times.
  
• Our church leaders and staff, who have given more in these last several days than most of us will ever know.
  
• Friends from around the country who have written to ask one question, “What can we do?”

We are humbled and blessed.

Thanks be to God.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

For anyone who was not able to attend the worship service on our front lawn on Monday night, we were blessed to be greeted and led by most of the clergy in our community. It was a remarkable affirmation of the support we have in this town.

The work of assessing the damage and cleaning up is already going forward.  As information becomes available, we will let you know.

To repeat earlier information, the Thanksgiving Feast will go on as scheduled at 1PM on Thursday, November 24, at Christ and the Holy Trinity. Many thanks to all those who are working so hard to make this happen.

The entire story of the feast will be told later, but among the many heroes already are the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts who stepped forward on Tuesday afternoon to scrub pots, pans and utensils so that they could be usable following the fire.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Dear friends,

As many of you already know, last night there was a devastating fire in our church building.

We are clearly hurt by this, but we are also profoundly thankful that the fire did not, as we feared it might, take the entire building. We have not lost our spiritual home.

At this time, we know that there was severe fire damage to the Choir Loft, the Daniels Room, the Fellowship Room and the Nursery School. We know that the Sanctuary and the new education wing have at least sustained water and smoke damage.  At this time, we don't have more details on the extent.

We've had so many expressions of support. Sarah Verasco, Fairfield County Regional Minister for the UCC Connecticut Conference, the Rev. Jeff Ryder of Greens Farms Congregational Church, the Rev. John Branson of Christ & Holy Trinity Church, the Rabbi Jerry Wiederhorn of The Conservative Synagogue, and the Town of Westport, along with many others, have stood with us through this ordeal. So many others have come to visit or called to express their concern and support, and we know that our friends are praying for us across the state and even the entire United Church of Christ. May their prayers comfort us as we step forward.

We have spoken with our insurance provider at the Insurance Board, and they have already sent a team today. We know that we will be in a lengthy partnership with them as we look toward rebuilding.

For those costs that will inevitably not be covered by insurance, the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ has set up a donation area for anyone who wishes to contribute funds. To donate, visit www.ctucc.org/donate and fill in the box labeled "Saugatuck CC Fire Fund."

As more information becomes available, we will update our site here.

We will get through this together.

In addition, our neighbor, Christ and Holy Trinity Church, 75 Church Lane, Westport, has agreed to host the Thanksgiving Feast at 1:00PM on Thanksgiving Day. All are welcome!