The Rev. Dr. Brenda M. Pelc-Faszcza, Pastor

Rev. Brenda began her ministry with Canton Center Church in 2015 in a transitional capacity, serving as Designated Pastor before being called as our Settled Pastor in 2018.

Trained as a transitional minister, to guide churches through interim periods and search processes, she previously served extensively in that capacity with many UCC churches in Connecticut, as well as having served as a settled pastor in Suffield, CT and as a chaplain at Mount Holyoke College in MA in the early years of her career.   She has been a lecturer at Yale Divinity School since 2011.

Rev. Brenda, a native of Western Massachusetts, is a graduate of Smith College, Yale Divinity School (M. Div.) and Chicago Theological Seminary (D. Min.).   She enjoys reading, decorating, the beach (especially Maine), cats, and UConn women’s basketball.  She and her husband, Jeff Faszcza, have two grown daughters.

Kristen DiMattia, Office Manager

Kristen is the Office Manager at Canton Center Church and started in 2016 after serving as the Administrative Assistant at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bristol for 10 years.   Her duties here include secretarial, administrative and financial services.  Kristen graduated from Business Career Institute with a Certificate in Court Reporting.

Kristen’s oldest daughter recently moved to Tampa, Florida, and her son recently moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina. She resides in Bristol with her two younger daughters, who are attending college.  Kristen loves to spend time with her family, enjoys weekends in Lake George,  traveling to other countries and loves  to draw/paint in her free time.

Mary Lou Keefe, Music Director/Organist

Mary Lou began working here in 1989, having served in the same capacity at various other Congregational churches. At Canton Center she is in charge of three choirs: Senior, Handbell and Cherub.

She is a graduate of the Gilbert School where she was the Glee Club accompanist, Hartford College for Women(AA) and CCSU(BS) and (MS) with majors in Music Ed, piano, voice, and organ. She taught General Music and chorus to grades K-8 at the Hartland Elementary School as well as Humanities. She also taught general music to all the 4th grades at the Hinsdale School in Winsted. She has taught piano and voice privately and has also participated in several local theatre productions in the capacity as accompanist, music director or on stage.

Her outside interests include gardening, UConn women’s basketball, baking, sudoku and crossword puzzles. She is married to Pete and together they have two sons and a daughter, and four grandchildren.

Walter Bristol LeGeyt, Sexton

Walter has been our sexton for many years, taking care of our facilities and being sure our church is clean and ready for use each week by our congregation and all the other groups that use it.

He grew up in Canton, graduated from Canton High School in 1975 (where he won Canton’s first State Soccer Championship for Class S), and also grew up in this church, where he has been a member for over 40 years.

Born on Memorial Day (as was his Grandfather Mortimer), he is the fourth son of Henry and Muriel LeGeyt and is part of a deeply-rooted farming family.

Walter previously worked in construction, was Director of Public Works for the Town of Canton, and now works for Nutrien AG Solutions, a national fertilizer corporation. He is the father of three children, Zachary (deceased), Joe and Allyson.

Dr. Hollace L. Bristol, Director of Faith Formation

Hollace has a long-standing family relationship with the Canton Center Church community, going back three generations. While her roots are local, she has had a career as an educator that spans four states. She received an undergraduate degree from Tufts University and went on to receive a master’s degree from Tufts in Education. She taught mathematics at Northwestern Community Technical College for over twenty years and created a certificate program in Adventure Education, training students over a 19-credit program in the experiential model of programming. 

She moved to Flagstaff, Arizona to pursue her doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction and her dissertation focused on developing a foundation for education for sustainability supporting the practice of educating students to be stewards of the planet. She continued to integrate experiential learning into her work as Associate Superintendent of Schools for Coconino County, AZ and as an Associate for the Center of Christ Conscious Leadership in South Salem, NY.

Hollace has three grown sons and two granddaughters who all live in Colorado. She loves hiking, exploring, and continues to research and write about our relationship with the natural world. 

Karen Needham, Assistant Director of Faith Formation

Karen joined the church in 1991 with an ‘open arms’ hug by Otis Adams, which formed the first of her ‘Holy Hugging Sundays’ that she loves to share with church members. 

She has been very active with the church since joining and has held many different positions including service with Church School, Christian Education, Missions, Wider Church, and Music Committees.  She has also participated in most of the Strawberry Festivals, Chicken Pie Suppers, and many other ‘food’ events.  In addition, she is a member of the Hand Bell and Senior Choirs and plays the chimes every Sunday prior to the church service.

Karen and her husband Bill, live in New Hartford and try to travel to Lexington KY at least a couple of times a year, to visit their daughter Jenn and grandson Clay.  Karen is also enjoying her retirement via volunteering.  She currently is at the Friendly Hands Food Bank in Torrington at least three times a week.  She likes to spend her ‘down’ time reading, doing puzzles, baking, thrift shopping and hunting down library used book sales for ‘good deals.’