lent – We are the First Congregational Church in Winchester https://fcc-winchester.com A Christ-centered nurturing community, growing in faith, serving in love, welcoming all with joy. Tue, 24 Feb 2026 15:15:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.1 https://i0.wp.com/fcc-winchester.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/cropped-cross-2.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 lent – We are the First Congregational Church in Winchester https://fcc-winchester.com 32 32 71464776 Worship Service: 1st Sunday in Lent https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/worship-service-1st-sunday-in-lent/ Fri, 20 Feb 2026 18:44:39 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=27010 February 22, 2026

Join us into the wilderness of Lent as we gather for worship this Sunday and consider the scripture of Jesus tempted by the Devil according to the Gospel of Matthew. What are those temptations in our lives that we can see just a little better when we take the time to notice. The disciplines of Lent are designed to help us take that time and notice. We’ll begin our traditional Lenten practice of lighting prayer candles again and continue through the next 6 weeks. We hope you can join us on-site or on-line.

 

Download the Bulletin Here: First Sunday of Lent OOW 2-22-26.docx

]]> 27010 Lenten Series: Death and Dying Well https://fcc-winchester.com/community/lenten-series-death-and-dying-well/ Wed, 02 Apr 2025 13:59:21 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=25591 Lenten Series: Death and Dying Well

Tuesdays March 11th through April 15th
6:30-8:00pm – Tucker/Palmer Rooms

Lent is a season of humble reflection on our mortality in general and specifically the passion and death of Jesus Christ and how that speaks to our own lives and deaths. We begin Lent on Ash Wednesday with the words: “from dust you have come to dust you shall return” and 6 weeks later Lent closes with a remembrance of the removal of Christ’s lifeless body from the cross on Good Friday. The church is a unique place in our culture where death and dying is not avoided, denied, or even seen necessarily as a tragedy but held within community, ritual, and promise. 

We hope you will join us on Tuesday evenings during Lent for a light supper of soup and bread followed by reflections and conversations on death and dying well. These are the topics by date:

March 11 – Christian Theology on Death and the Afterlife

March 18 – Sharing personal experiences and perspectives on death; i.e. “Death Cafe”


March 25 – Crash course on Advance Directives with the President and CEO of Honoring Choices Massachusetts, Ellen DiPaola, JD.

April 1 – The Dying Process in our culture, what’s wrong with it and how to do it better.


April 8 – Considering your own funeral and what’s important to you.

Last Tuesday we considered all that’s involved in funeral and memorial preparation, what green burials look like in MA, what resources we have in the Reno Garden and more. Here is a document that covers just about everything you need to think about you or your loved one’s funeral.


April 15 – Jesus’ Dying and Death and what it says to us.

Please consider signing up to make a soup for one of the sessions by going to this link.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0945A5AF2BA5FCC43-55368014-lenten#/

 

]]> 25591 This Week in Worship (Sunday, March 16, 2025) https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/this-week-in-worship-sunday-march-16-2025/ Fri, 14 Mar 2025 16:53:10 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=25663 This Week in Worship

We arrive at the second week of Lent this Sunday and worship God as we hear of Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and that Jesus longs to gather together in tenderness. We’ll light prayer candles, the choir will sing Faure’s beautiful Kyrie, and we’ll hopefully find that still point amid the chaos of the world to better hear Christ’s call to us. We hope you can join us on-site or online at 10am.

Download the Bulletin Here: Second Sunday of Lent OOW 3-16-25.docx

]]> 25663 Join Us for Worship This Sunday in the Sanctuary at 10 am (March 26, 2023) https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/join-us-for-worship-this-sunday-in-the-sanctuary-at-10-am-march-26-2023/ Fri, 24 Mar 2023 15:07:00 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=23305 We are just one week away from Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. On this Fifth Sunday of Lent we stop one more time along Jesus’ route to Jerusalem where his passion will take place and witness a poignant scene as one of his best friends dies. What can we learn from Jesus’ response for our own seasons of grief when “sorrows like sea billows roll”? The choir will be singing a beautiful version of Ubi Caritas and we will again light prayer candles together for our corporate prayer time. We hope you can join us on-line or in person for worship at 10am or whenever you can catch us on our YouTube channel.

 

Download the Bulletin Here: OOW 03-26-23

]]> 23305 Join us for Worship This Sunday at 10 am in the Sanctuary or Online (March 27, 2022) https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/join-us-for-worship-this-sunday-at-10-am-in-the-sanctuary-or-online-march-27-2022/ Thu, 24 Mar 2022 16:20:04 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=16984 We hope you will join us for the 4th Sunday of Lent either in-person or online. Our guiding scripture will be the parables of Jesus in Luke 15. The choir will be doing a beautiful piece called “When Mary Thro’ the Garden Went”. Maggie will offer another Time for the Young, we will light prayer candles for the petitions and intercessions in our lives and around the world, and we will close our service with a send-off blessing to Steve and Alex Rohall as they prepare to move to Washington DC.

 

Download the Bulletin here: Fourth Sunday of Lent 3-27-22 OOS

]]> 16984 Join us in the Sanctuary at 10 This Sunday for Worship (3/13/22) https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/join-us-in-the-sanctuary-at-10-this-sunday-for-worship-3-13-22/ Fri, 11 Mar 2022 19:44:32 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=16915 Today is the ‘anniversary’ of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just two weeks ago, the massive army arrayed on Ukraine’s border started to move. This week’s scripture reflects that situation a bit with a reference to Pilot as out after Jesus’ life – much like Putin – a strong and powerful man, country, threatening a force which comes from a deeper and more spiritual place. The Good News is that there is a countering force in Jesus which promises to right injustices with the power of love. Quite appropriately, the choir is singing an anthem from the Quaker tradition where peace is always the strongest force even if it takes generations to accomplish it. Worship begins at 10:00 in the Sanctuary – which is now much warmer as we are able to close more windows without putting the choir at risk. The live stream launches at the same time. We hope to see you in person or feel you in spirit.

Download the Worship Bulletin Here: Second Sunday of Lent 3-13-22

]]> 16915 Join Us for Communion Worship This Sunday at 10 am in the Sanctuary (March 6, 2022) https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/join-us-for-communion-worship-this-sunday-at-10-am-in-the-sanctuary-march-6-2022/ Fri, 04 Mar 2022 18:33:00 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=16871 Join us for worship for the first Sunday of Lent and Communion. We’ll be returning to our tradition of coming forward to light prayer candles while we sing “Jesus Remember Me”. For those watching the livestream we will encourage you to write in the YouTube comments, the names and prayers that you are lifting up and candles will be lit for you too. Also, we’ll be closing the two windows at the front of the church (leaving the chancel window open for the time being) so it promises to be a little warmer in the sanctuary. We hope to see you on Sunday for worship!

 

Download the Bulletin Here: First Sunday of Lent 3-06-22

]]> 16871 Join Us at 10 am This Sunday for Communion Worship on Zoom (March 7, 2021) https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/join-us-at-10-am-this-sunday-for-communion-worship-on-zoom-march-7-2021/ Fri, 05 Mar 2021 19:05:55 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=10552 Join us live and on zoom this Sunday at 10 am for our communion worship service on this 3rd Sunday of Lent. We are going to do some jamming on the remarkable Psalm 19 and see how it can break us open to God’s presence in a new way. Bring to your worship space some bread and wine/juice so we can partake of communion together. After the service, you’ll be invited to breakout rooms to visit with others in the church. We look forward to seeing you!

 

Zoom Link

]]> 10552 Tuedays with Jesus https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/tuedays-with-jesus/ Thu, 04 Mar 2021 16:48:16 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=10547 Tuesday, March 9, 2021 6 pm
This Tuesday we’ll gather for our 3rd session and read the third chapter of “Trouble the Water” which leads us into a consideration of why white people and specifically white Christians and the church have work to do to address racial injustice in our society. We’ll listen and discuss while we eat together. The soups du jour are Italian Sausage recommended by Maryann McCall-Taylor and Hearty Lentil recommended by Sarah Gallop. Here are the recipes. The chapters of the book stand on their own so if you haven’t been able to attend previous sessions, there’s no problem. Join us!
]]> 10547 Worship With Us This Sunday (Feb. 28, 2021) https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/worship-with-us-this-sunday-feb-28-2021/ Fri, 26 Feb 2021 17:20:24 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=10527 Now we are really into Lent – the second week of the six weeks. In the scripture from Mark, Jesus is just beginning to prepare his disciples for what is coming. He also claims the title Messiah for the first time. Our service will begin with a video of the first lighting of the Steeple since all the work has been done and new lighting installed. We will also welcome one more member of the Rose family into our congregation. Quincey Rose was baptized this week and we’ve captured a few photos of the event. We hope that you will join us at 10:00 on Sunday morning but remember if you can’t make that time slot, you can view the video on your own schedule. We are all worshipping together whether at the same time or not.

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