special collections – 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. Thu, 22 Apr 2021 18:24:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://i0.wp.com/fcc-winchester.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/cropped-cross-2.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 special collections – We are the First Congregational Church in Winchester https://fcc-winchester.com 32 32 71464776 Easter Offering https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/easter-offering/ Tue, 30 Mar 2021 14:31:08 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=10641 Dear Members and Friends of First Congregational Church:

 

Happy Easter!  He is risen!  

 

There has never been a better year to shout that from our houses, rooftops, and across our gradually opening town.  Jesus brings hope and light and love right into life’s realities.  It is a gritty story that takes the mountains and the valleys of our journey and transforms those into possibilities and life and purpose.  He is risen.  There is dawn that makes sense of the darkness and shines light on our path.  Alleluia.

 

As the world brightens and with the hope and power of the Resurrection, this year’s Easter offering will support Boston Rescue Mission, a wonderful local organization that directly serves the homeless.  The Boston Rescue Mission transforms lives by empowering individuals experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless to achieve and sustain life skills necessary to become more self-sufficient.  Some of their programs include:

  •  Preventing homeless through job readiness, counseling and sobriety programs, and food pantry services
  • Paws for Serenity- a program in association with Tufts to provide animal support services to those in Boston Rescue’s residential sobriety programs
  • Shelter services and rehousing programs
  • Spiritual development opportunities with Bible study, worship, and mentoring

 

Many of you saw the powerful documentary by artist Willie Baronet called Signs of Humanity, exploring interrelated themes of home, homelessness, compassion, and humanity.  We also had the opportunity to talk directly with Willie as a church Zoom event to learn from his experience.  Later this fall, Ripley Presents will host an art installation of Willie Baronet’s homeless signs in Ripley Chapel.  It is one more reason this offering to Boston Rescue Mission resonates with us as we live out our faith in our community.

 

We are happy that our Easter giving can directly support services and support to the homeless of Boston.  Thank you for caring for those in need and their journey forward. Checks can be mailed to the office, written to FCCW with “Easter Offering” written in the memo. Donations through PayPal and Venmo also gratefully accepted.

Your Outreach Committee:   Laura Bailey, Sarah Girotti, Julia Daggett, Janet Vaughn, Betsy Goodell, and Will Burhans

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