Join us for Advent & Christmas 2025
Advent is a special time within the church when we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas. Through Sunday morning worship, special prayer services, and other activities at First Congregational, we hope to enrich your experience of this sacred season and give you opportunities to experience the living God in a new and vital way. Please join us!
First time visiting us? Read about what to expect at a typical service.
Learn more about this week’s worship service and access our livestream link.
Worship Services
Hanging of the Greens
November 30, 10:00 AM
Lighting of the 1st Advent candle, the candle of Hope
At Advent, we enter into a 4-week season of waiting and preparing for Christ’s coming at Christmas. It’s a season of evergreens and wreaths, of lights and colors, of gifts and sacred story. Join us on Sunday for our annual Hanging of The Greens worship service at 10 AM in the sanctuary and online and learn about these traditions in an interactive festive family service for all.
Advent Worship:
December 7, 10:00 AM
Lighting of the 2nd Advent candle, the candle of Peace
Lessons & Carols
December 14, 10:00 AM
Lighting of the 3rd Advent candle, the candle of Joy
Please join us for our annual Festival of Lessons and Carols, a beloved Advent tradition from England wherein God’s word is proclaimed and contemplated in word and song: a special sequence of readings, prayers, choral anthems, and congregational carols. This year, we present Britten’s iconic and celebratory Ceremony of Carols – beloved for its exquisite beauty, intelligence and pure sentiment. A Ceremony of Carols consists of eight polyphonic settings; these eight carols are bookended by statements of the Gregorian chant “Hodie Christus Natus Est” (“Christ is born today”), and midway through the set is an astounding interlude for harp solo that features this same plainchant tune. The carols themselves show a remarkable diversity of styles, from the jubilant exultations of “Wolcum Yole” and “Deo Gracias,” to the pastoral and lyrical “There is no rose” and “Balulalow,” to the martial urgency of “This Little Babe” and its ever-expanding canon. The piece is one haunting, vibrant, gorgeous, lovely, and meditative whole, marked by concision of composition and a rich, sophisticated harmonic palate…read more
Service of Light
Thursday, December 18, 7:00 PM
The Service of Light, held in Ripley Chapel, is a beautiful reflective ritual of prayer, candle lighting, readings and music that acknowledges the darkness and difficulty of the season for many and calls forth a Christmas hope that is deeper and more enduring than any troubles we might face Come join us to light candles in the dark and pray for the peace of a world (or a heart) in travail.
Advent Worship: A Children’s Pageant
December 21, 10:00 AM
Lighting of the 4th Advent candle, the candle of Love
Share in the love, hope, and joy of the Christmas story as the children & youth stage the annual Christmas Pageant during the worship service. Please sign up for one of the many roles here. Walk on angels, shepherds, and animals are also welcome. Contact Maggie with any questions.
Note: There will be a rehearsal for speaking parts at 8:30 AM on Sunday, December 21st. We will have bagels and breakfast treats for kids after the rehearsal.
Christmas Eve Services
Candlelight Service
Wednesday, Dec. 24, 5:00 PM
A beautiful Christmas Eve service with participation from some of our children and the traditional lighting of candles in the darkened sanctuary to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child! Join us in person or online.
Candlelight Service
Wednesday, Dec. 24, 9:00 PM
Our traditional Candlelight Service with scriptural lessons and sacred carols, special music from the choir. We’ll end the service by lighting candles in the darkened sanctuary as we sing together Silent Night, Holy Night. Join us in person or online.
Faith Formation
Christmas Pizza Supper
Friday, December 5 at 5:30 PM in Chidley Hall
Joi
n our Children and Faith Formation Ministry for a festive Christmas Pizza Supper on Friday, December 5 at 5:30 PM, just before the Town Tree Lighting. Come enjoy good food, Christmas crafts, and the joy of beginning the season together.
RSVPs are encouraged to help us plan. Feel free to invite friends and neighbors. All are welcome…the more the merrier!
Cookie Walk
Sun. Dec 14 after worship in Chidley Hall
Bakers Wanted! Junior Forum and Forum are asking bakers to donate homemade cookies or any number of specialty items such as truffles, seasonal breads, confections, etc., for their annual Cookie Walk. This fundraiser helps support the youth mission trips and service projects. Interested bakers can contact Rev. Maeve with any questions. PLEASE NO NUTS.
Youth Progressive Christmas Supper
Sunday, Dec 14 at 7:00 pm
Forum will enjoy a meal with the three courses in three different homes and punctuated with some stories, carols and gift giving to make the season bright!
Epiphany Gathering
January 4th 5:00 PM
Join us on January 4th 5:00 PM for a family-friendly Epiphany celebration. We will begin with a potluck dinner and traditional king cake and then journey through the church to find the final resting place of the star. Once there, we will share a blessing for Epiphany.
Community Events
Women’s Advent Gathering
Monday, Dec. 8, 7:00 PM, Palmer & Tucker Rooms
All church women are invited to an evening of fellowship and peaceful contemplation. As a special gift this Advent season, invite your sisters, mothers, daughters, trans and non-binary individuals and friends to join you-in person or on Zoom…Read More
Ripley Presents: The Pandora Consort
Friday, December 12, 7:30 p.m.
Ripley Chapel & Livestream
First Congregational Church is pleased to present The Pandora Consort, an early music ensemble dedicated to reimagining classical music performance by integrating multimedia and interactive elements, and by sharing music and stories that uplift historically marginalized composers, particularly early female composers.
In Hildegard Reanimated, The Pandora Consort explores the mystical visions of Hildegard von Bingen through her illuminations and music. Taking inspiration from her life, Pandora weaves them together into a splendid concert program. Working with visual artist Cate Duckwall to bring these visions to life, this concert features music from Hildegard’s vast oeuvre accompanied by artistic animations of key illuminations, creating a multimedia experience. Featuring Kendra Comstock, Angie Tyler, Gina Marie Falk, voices and harmonium…read more and purchase tickets
Service of Light: A Service of Prayer, Candle Lighting and Music
Thursday, Dec. 18, 7:00 PM
Join us for a time of prayer, candle lighting and music. Designed to move from darkness to hope, the service opens us to God’s quiet presence. Come in the face of life’s challenges, anxieties, and fears. Come when grief or loss disrupts life. Come to remember those whom we hold dear. Come during the rush of the holidays, or invite a friend or loved one facing difficulties. Read more…
Opportunities to Help Others
The Outreach Commission sponsors these annual events. Please participate in any or all of the collections as the spirit of the season moves you. Donations should be dropped off at the church.
The Outdoor Church
November 30, 2 PM
Sunday, November 30th is our church’s turn to serve the homeless in Cambridge. Please join us after worship down in the kitchen to put sandwiches together. If you are willing to bring PB&J and or Egg Salad and loaves of bread let Rev. Will know. Usually we make about 75 sandwiches. If you are willing to distribute the sandwiches in Cambridge that afternoon, please email both Rev. Will and Lisa Loughlin.
The Giving Tree
During the holiday season, our church provides gifts to some of our neighbors. This year we will provide gifts for children and youth at Woburn Council of Social Concerns and Youth Villages in Woburn. We are also collecting warm socks for the for the men and women who call the Lowell Transitional Living Center home. Read more and sign up to bring a gift
Christmas Ornament Fundraiser
The Children and Youth Faith Formation Ministry is selling custom Christmas ornaments to support service projects and mission trips for our children, families and youth. Ornaments can be purchased online for $12 and picked up at the church office during normal business hours. The youth will also be selling ornaments during coffee hour in December.
Cookie Walk
December 14, after worship, Chidley Hall
Bakers Wanted! Junior Forum and Forum are asking bakers to donate homemade cookies or any number of specialty items such as truffles, seasonal breads, confections, etc., for their annual Cookie Walk. This fundraiser helps support the youth service projects. Interested bakers can contact Rev. Maeve with any questions. PLEASE NO NUTS.
Poinsettia (Cuetlaxochitl) Dedications
A Christmas Tradition of Joy!
Orders are due by Wed. Dec. 10. If you would like to donate a chancel Christmas poinsettia as a memorial, or in honor of someone, please fill out this form. You can mail a check to the church office, use Venmo, or PayPal. (Please indicate “Christmas plants” in the memo field). New this year are special Flower Offering envelopes in the narthex and office lobby. The plants are $20 each.
The Dwelling Place
Saturday, Dec 20 at 5 PM
We support The Dwelling Place in Woburn every third Saturday, providing dinner and hospitality to those in need of a meal. Thanks for supporting this outreach to our community! Sign up as a family, find a few others in our church community to join you, or simply ‘come as you are’ and enjoy serving with others!
