Worship & Communion 10:30 a.m.
Sunday School & Child Care 10:30 a.m.
Coffee Hour After worship
Vibrant Community
Welcome to First Church Amherst! No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, we are glad you are visiting us and look forward to greeting you in person.
What to ExpectFirst Churchers are a family and community that seek to identify how “God is Still Speaking” in our lives, our community, and our world at this time in history.
Who We AreHow does a weary world rejoice? How do we rejoice if we’re tired or discouraged or worse? These are important and life-giving questions—because the world is weary. Because wars, injustice, and the challenges of our own lives can wear us down.
But the Word became flesh and moved into our neighborhood, into our messy lives and our broken world. And because God’s Love is for us and chooses to be with us, we can experience what the old carol calls “the thrill of hope” and receive the gift of considering anew how to live—not only during Advent, but always.
During Advent we’ll also enjoy lots of story-telling, candle-lighting, carol-singing, and community-building. Advent is an invitation to be still, a divine summons to acknowledge the holy longings in our hearts, a gentle wake-up call to wonder and waiting, and holy permission to simply revel in God’s love for us and our world.
Advent is also a great time to come back to church, young ones in tow: to bask in the light, be fed by soaring music, hear the story as if for the first time, share the joy, and attend special events. We look forward to celebrating the season with you!
Friday, December 1, 5:30 + 6:30 Family Advent Party + Greening of the Sanctuary
December 3, First Sunday of Advent We Acknowledge Our Weariness
December 10, Second Sunday of Advent We Find Joy in Connection + Trimming the Tree
December 17, Third Sunday of Advent A Service of Lessons & Carols
We Allow Ourselves to Be Amazed
Thursday, December 21, 7 o’clock Longest Night Service + Bonfire
December 24, Fourth Sunday of Advent We Sing Stories of Hope & Make Room
Christmas Eve: 4 o’clock Pageant Service
9 o’clock Meditative service with Communion
We’d love to see you and your critters on the Amherst Common of Saturday, October 14 from 10a to noon.
We’ll be blessing four-leggeds, two-leggeds, and winged creatures–and their humans, too!
Hope to see you there!
Click here for more information about Holy Week and Easter at First Church.
It brings us great joy to celebrate the seasons of Advent and Christmas, and we’d love to share that joy with you! Here are some of the special events coming up:
December 4, Second Sunday of Advent God Meets Us in Our Fear + Trimming the Tree
December 11, Third Sunday of Advent We Can Choose a Better Way
December 18, Fourth Sunday of Advent We See God in Each Other + Lessons & Carols
December 21, 7 o’clock Longest Night Service
Christmas Eve: 4 o’clock Pageant Service
9 o’clock Meditative service with Communion
Christmas Day, 10:30 Short, joyful service on Zoom
Except for the late Christmas Eve and the Christmas morning services, all services are both in person and live-streaming on our YouTube channel. The late Christmas Eve service will be in person only, and the brief Christmas morning service will be offered only on YouTube.
We are so excited to be celebrating Easter in person for the first time since 2019, and we would love to welcome you to this special service!
The service begins at 10:30, and will feature majestic organ pieces, two anthems sung by the First Church Choir (their first time singing in worship since 2019), Communion, a special children’s sermon, Sunday School and, at the end of the service, an outdoor egg hunt for children.
Masks are required, but we have found that continuing to wear masks for a while longer helps us all to feel Covid-safe and makes it possible for more vulnerable folks to worship with us in person.
The service will also be live-streamed on our YouTube channel, but we’d love to see your face!