The
Ministers and Staff
Email Addresses:
Denny Moon ............................denny@southchurch.necoxmail.com
Mark Diters ..............................mark@southchurch.necoxmail.com
Bruce Porter .............................pegville@cox.net
Linda
Calder .............................office@southchurch.necoxmail.com
o
Rev. Denny Paul Moon - Senior Minister
Following an extensive and thorough search, the congregation called Rev. Dennis Moon to the position of Senior Minister. Denny, as he is widely known, began his ministry at South Church on September 1, 2006. Denny’s easy-going, warm and welcoming personality, together with his years of experience in four quite different congregations, are a wonderful and impressive addition to our ministry.
Born and educated in the Midwest before moving to New England where he continued his theological education at Andover Newton Theological School, Denny has had wide experience in several aspects of Christian ministry. Deeply involved in Christian education, youth ministry and Christian camping, Denny continued to develop his interest in story-telling and music. Significant training and experience in counseling and family therapy have prepared him to serve the needs of the congregation and community. Over a span of 24 years, he served two congregations one in Massachusetts and another in Connecticut. During the last five years he served a one-year interim position, and then elsewhere in a multiple-staff congregation as an associate minister. Denny writes:
 "The
church is simply the love of God lived out between particular
people in a particular place. When this love freely flows
it creates a mutual compassion, spilling into the world,
healing injustice and conflict. We will learn more about
each other as we go.”
Denny is married to Sally, a teacher at Valley Pre-school,
and an accomplished crafter, and together they have two daughters
and a son, the youngest now a college student.
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Rev. Mark Diters - Associate Minister
 Mark
Diters was called to South Church as a Pastoral Intern while
completing his seminary studies in 1996. Two years later the
call was extended to Mark as a full time Associate Minister.
Mark graduated from Bates College in 1977 and later pursed
graduate studies at Princeton Theological School, Hartford
Seminary, and Yale Divinity School. He received his Masters
of Divinity from Yale in 1998.
Mark, his wife Susan, and their three children (Caitlin,
Sarah and Sam), and two
large dogs, live in Canton Center. Both Mark and Susan were
raised in Canton where Mark worshipped at the First Congregational
Church in Collinsville and later was a member at First Congregational
Church Canton Center. Susan is a nurse working in New Britain.
As Associate Minister, Mark's responsibilities include monthly
preaching, pastoral care, and oversight of the Boards of Christian
Education, Fellowship, Christian Concern, and Property. He
is also the primary staff assigned to provide leadership to
our Christian Education and Youth Programs.
Both as a young person and as an adult, Mark has been active
in statewide youth programming through the United Church of
Christ. He also serves on the Committee on Ministry for the
Farmington Valley Association of the U.C.C.
Mark has had a broad range of work experiences. He has been
a Program Director in Community Residences for "de-institutionalized"
mentally challenged young people and adults, for Nexus Inc.
in Woburn, Massachusetts. He managed New Britain and Howard
Dry Cleaning Corporations for 13 years upon returning to Connecticut.
Mark enjoys music, reading, movies, cross-country skiing as
well as other sports and has been active in Canton's youth
sports programs for many years. He runs for his health and
has lost some of the most prestigious races in the area. Back
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Bruce
Porter - Director of Music
 Bruce
is a native of Granby, having been born here and attending
Granby schools and Simsbury High School. In 1954 he embarked
upon six years of music education at Oberlin College Conservatory
of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, and at the School of Sacred Music,
Union Theological Seminary, New York City. He holds the Bachelor
of Music in Organ and the Master of Sacred Music.
This year Bruce marks his sixteenth year at South Church
and over fifty years in the vocation of sacred music ministry,
beginning
with St. James Episcopal Church in Glastonbury in 1952 at
age 16. In 1953-54, before attending conservatory, Bruce
held
the position he holds now, as Organist and Choir Director
of South Congregational Church under Dr. Arthur Teale, and
was honored, at that time to have among his choir members,
Bert Hall, Polly Hall, and Jerry Betts, present members
of
South Church.
In the span of years since 1954, his ministry has included
positions as Music Director at Hope Congregational Church,
Springfield, MA; United Church of Christ in Keene, New Hampshire;
and the United Church of Christ in Worcester, MA. He also
taught in the Fall Mountain Regional School District in New
Hampshire and Keene State College, Keene, New Hampshire, and
was the founding Director of the Keene Chorale from 1979 to
1984. From 1985 to 1988 Bruce was Factory Foreman at Berkshire
Organ Co., West Springfield, MA.
Bruce and his wife, Barbara (who is also an organist),
live at 118R Petersen Road in Granby and are the parents
of
four
children living in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Oregon.
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Linda Calder - Office Administrator
 Linda
began the duties of Office Administrator in June of 2005
and has over 15 years of communications and office support
experience. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree
in Business Administration from Shippensburg University,
PA. Over her 18-year career at The Hartford, Linda worked
as a claims representative, claims communications supervisor,
systems developer, marketing/communications consultant,
and then as a special education paraprofessional for the
Simsbury Public School system.
Linda and her husband, George, have been members of South
Church since December of 2002 and Linda has served on the
Board of Membership for numerous years. Linda and George
live in Granby with their two sons, Andrew and Glen.
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