News & Announcements
Advent and Christmas 2023
How 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
Blessing of the Animals
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!
Holy Week and Easter Schedule 2023
Click here for more information about Holy Week and Easter at First Church.
Advent and Christmas
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.
Easter is Almost Here!
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!
Lent 2022: Made for Glory
For we are what God has crafted, cerated in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand to be our path.— Ephesians 2:10
By tradition, Lent is a season of intentional focus on spiritual healing and renewal, a holy invitation to draw closer to God by following Jesus’ path of self-giving love. The Year W lectionary readings we’ll be using this season also invite us to consider and celebrate how we fit into the big picture of God’s extravagant love, which is to say: what our lives and our church are meant for.
These are the same questions we have been asking in our Alive with Purpose process. What joy there will be in bringing together in one rich season the gifts of Lent, our personal faith journeys, and the discernment of our purpose as a church!
There’s much more information about this in this Register and to come—about a Lent Challenge, Lent Lunches, a Lent Bible Study, reflection questions, and an inspiring touchstone. The heart of our journey together will be the time we spend in prayer, worship, and holy conversation. Please plan now to take on the challenge, and to participate in as much as you can!
(All services and events will be offered in a hybrid format, with in-person participation strongly encouraged and online options available via YouTube or Zoom.)
Ash Wednesday, March 2, 7 p.m.: Made for Wholeness
First Sunday in Lent, March 6: Made for Partnership
Second Sunday in Lent, March 13: Made for Good
Third Sunday in Lent, March 20: Made for More
Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 27: Made for Love
Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 3: Made for Joy
Palm/Passion Sunday, April 10: Made for Redemption
Maundy Thursday, April 14, 7 p.m.: Made for Communion
Good Friday, April 15: Made for Faithfulness (location, time, and format TBD)
Easter Sunday, April 17: Made for Life
