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 Rev.
Kathy Mallory grew up in East Haven, CT and has lived there most of
her life. She was baptized and confirmed at the Old Stone Church in
that city. Over the years, she has been in the cherub choir, junior
choir, senior choir, a teacher, a trustee, a deacon, and has filled
in for ministers, was in women's fellowship and volunteered at the
church's thrift store. She graduated from East Haven High School in
1976; while in high school, her ambitions were to be a cook for the
Army or to become married and have children. She married her husband
Bob in 1979 and they have been together ever since. Her first child
Sarah is the Director of the Hagaman Memorial Library in East Haven,
and her second child Rob is today the Inspector Mechanic at
Shoreline Aviation Seaplane Services at Tweed New Haven Airport.
She worked at Kmart
for 10 years, then left to be a full-time mom. Thirty years ago, she
began working at Blue Cross in North Haven, but also began studies
at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven where she received a
bachelor's degree.  She
was sitting in church one Sunday and she suddenly realized that she
could become a minister now that she had received an undergraduate
degree. When the time was right, God made straight her path and she
became enrolled in the Hartford Seminary Cooperative Master of
Divinity Program.
Two years of study
in Hartford were followed by two additional years at Andover Newton
Theological School in Andover, Massachusetts (she did this travel
twice a week, staying there overnight, then getting up at 5 am to
return home for 8 am work at Blue Cross). She graduated with a M.Div.
in 2017 and opted to become ordained by the Universal Life Church
online, which gave her the same privileges as a UCC ordained
minister. She has done four more units of Chaplaincy, one at
Bridgeport Hospital, and then three with Transitioning Pathways,
online and providing service for Hospice to gain practical
experience.
She is still in the
process of becoming a United Church of Christ Minister; there was a
point she was losing hope it would ever happen, but through faith
and encouragement by many of God's warriors, she has persevered and
is now the settled pastor of the First Congregational Church of
Meriden. She notes, "It is through the Grace of our Lord that He has
called and I said, 'Here I am Lord'" |
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Jurg Oggenfuss
Director of Music
 Jurg
(pronounced "Yerg") Oggenfuss has been a church musician
for 37 years. He studied organ with David Isele at the
University of Tampa, then later with Betsy Calhoun and
Michael Corzine at Florida State University. He also
studied organ with Ursina Caflisch in Zurich,
Switzerland. Jurg holds a Bachelor of Music from the
University of Tampa and a Master of Music in music
therapy from Florida State University.
 Prior
to joining the staff at FCC Meriden, he served as
organist and choir director at the Congregational Church
of Plainville for 5 years. Before that he played at
various Lutheran ELCA churches in Milwaukee, WI. He
lives in Wolcott with his husband, Richard Carsey and
their three cats, Charley, Sammy and Jonah.
During
the week, Jurg works as an APRN and owns and runs a
small medical practice in Plainville that focuses on
providing primary care, HIV, and trans care to the
LGBTQIA+ community in Central Connecticut. In his free
time, he and Richard enjoy collecting and spinning
records from the 1920s to the 1980s, traveling, taking
rides in their vintage car, and cooking gourmet meals. |
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Kristen
has been the youth programs director at First Church
since Summer of 2012. She holds a special education
teaching degree and has a masters from Southern CT State
University in emotional and behavioral disorders. You
can find Kristen teaching in
the STARS program at Maloney High School. This program
is specifically designed for students with intellectual
disabilities with a primary focus on students with
Autism. 
A
Connecticut shoreline native, Meg moved to Meriden upon
marrying her husband, Marcus. She has spent all of her
professional career managing either retail
establishments or offices when she wasn't stage managing
community theater productions.