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Minister: The Rev. David McLean Jones
Choir Director: Margery Heins Sexton: Chris Haddad Bookkeeper: Bing Waldsmith Church Officers Moderator: Nancy Marshall Clerk: Wendy Prée Treasurers: Ann Gibson & Marie Fuller About our minister: On Sunday, July 14, 2019, the congregation voted to call David McLean Jones to be our pastor. Rev. Jones was raised in rural Ontario, Canada, and has a Master of Divinity from the University of Toronto. Previously, he served at the Riverside United Church of Christ in Jacksonville, Florida, where his focus was community ministries. “Mainline Protestant churches have tremendous work to do in the coming years and decades,” Jones told our congregation. “The UCC is especially well positioned to accomplish this task given its progressive credentials, community focus, and history of thoughtful, effective ecumenism.” Reverend Jones was ordained on October 4, 2020. View his Service of Ordination on YouTube here. View his Service of Installation, September 25, 2022, on Zoom here. About our choir director: Margery Heins has served as Choir Director at First Congregational Church of Ashfield since Easter, 1997. She also directs the church's Youth Choir, which sings, usually together with the Adult Choir, at various times throughout the Choir season. Margery has also been the conductor of the Greenfield Community College Chorus since the fall of 2001, and she is known in the Pioneer Valley for her voice teaching and direction of the Recital Chorus. In the past, she led choirs at North Congregational Church, Amherst, and Second Congregational Church, Greenfield, and she also conducted the Greenfield Chamber Singers and children's choruses. She has been singing her whole life, and is active with the American Choral Directors Association. About our organist and choir accompanist: John Rondeau grew up in Uxbidge, MA in a musical family. As a child, he took piano and loved singing. From there, he attended classes at both Boston University where he studied with Chloë Owen, an internationally renowned soprano, and the New England Conservatory. Since then, he has taught piano, led choirs, and accompanied musical theater productions. He is a member of the American Guild of Organists. Music is John’s ministry. "Because music is so powerful, I believe strongly in the role the church can play socially. There are a lot of hurting people in our world who need to find a place where they will be loved unconditionally. Churches provide that shelter, and music can be a conduit for the grace of God. |
Rev. David Jones with his wife Caity Mans
Choir Director Margery Heins
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