 I am truly excited to announce to you that the Reverend Mary Nelson Abbott has been called as the new regional minister for the South Central Region of the Connecticut Conference. Mary comes to us from the Malletts Bay Congregational Church where she's serving as pastor in Colchester, Vermont. Mary's been involved deeply in the life of that congregation, but also in the Vermont Conference over the years that she has served there. She's a graduate of Grinnell College and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. She's a lifelong United Church of Christ member and as such she brings deep commitment to our core values as a church. Mary is a part of the 2030 clergy network, those who are in that age range, and is a UCC presidential fellow. She brings a wealth of gifts and skills to this particular position she understands, much about the changing nature of the church, those values that we stand for. She's an outstanding communicator, a deep listener, and builds relationships with those with whom she works. She's expressed a good and strong desire to work in our staff team environment and so we look forward to welcoming Mary again. She begins on February 10th of 2014. You surely will want to meet Mary as we look forward to her ministry unfolding among us.