thanksgiving – We are the First Congregational Church in Winchester

Join us for Worship on Thanksgiving Sunday (November 23, 2025)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 19:19:30 +0000

This Sunday is the last Sunday on the church calendar before we begin the church year at Advent next Sunday. We’ll celebrate the coming of Thanksgiving with old familiar Thanksgiving hymns and begin turning our attention toward the advent of Advent. We do this by reading in the Gospel of Luke, the birth announcement of John (the one who prepares the way for the One) which comes to Zechariah from the Angel of God (Luke 1:5-25). During the Time For the Young, the 3rd graders will also receive their gift Bibles from our community. We hope you can join us for this special service either in person or online at 10am.

Download the Bulletin Here: OOW 11-23-25 Thanksgiving .docx

Join us for Thanksgiving Sunday Worship (November 24, 2024)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 17:50:17 +0000

This week in worship we’ll sing the familiar hymns of Thanksgiving and consider how we gather around our tables in a spirit of gratitude and welcome that reflects Jesus’ way of radical hospitality. We’ll also celebrate the 3rd graders among us by giving them their first Bible, which comes with no small amount of wrapping paper! We hope you’ll join us in person or online at 10am.

Download the Bulletin Here: OOW 11-24-24.docx

Thanksgiving is only two weeks away

Sarah Marino — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 14:17:34 +0000

It’s time to sign up for a Thanksgiving Dinner at the church from 12:30pm on November 28th. We hope you will join us.

Have you started to think about arrangements for Thanksgiving? Don’t forget the option of joining us at the church for Thanksgiving lunch. You can come on your own, with family (even extended family) or friends. Any combination is welcome. We always have a wonderful range of ages. If you know anyone who will be on their own, please consider inviting them, whether or not you plan to come yourself – they don’t need to be a part of our church community. The event is free, with options to bring a dish only if you wish. Vegetarian options available – but turkey, too! We’d love to have you join us. Please sign up here today – but even if you don’t sign up, you will be welcome. And if you’d like to help in some way, please sign up here.

Questions? Please check in with Penny Sparrow, pjsparrow2@gmail.com or call 781 721 0619 and leave a message.

FCCW & FAN’s Annual Thanksgiving Drive

Sarah Marino — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 13:59:55 +0000

11/23/2024 09:00 AM – 11:30 AM ET

Admission

Free

Location

First Congregational Church
21 Church Street
Winchester, MA 01890

Description

Join FAN and the First Congregational Church in the season of giving thanks and giving back! All donations for our Thanksgiving Basket Drive will go to the Woburn’s Council for Social Concern.

FAN has committed to 50 baskets this year. We will gather on Saturday November 23rd from 9:00-11:30a at Chidley Hall at First Congregational Church to organize the donations and assemble the baskets. In order to complete this large contribution, we rely on our FAN community to donate food, time, and/or money.

Please use the links below to sign up to donate non-perishable items, your time, or money to support the event.

Sign up to donate food
Sign up to volunteer in person November 23rd
Donations are also welcome through Venmo @FANWinchester

Many thanks to our sponsors and contributing businesses who have donated to this event, including Wegmans, Stop & Shop, and Box Save. We are incredibly grateful for your support and we hope to see you on November 23rd!

Join Us this Sunday for Worship at 10 am in the Sanctuary or online (Nov 20, 2022)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 17:28:01 +0000

We have a rich and meaningful service on tap for this Thanksgiving Sunday. The Forum youth, who have an overnight on Saturday leading into the service, will contribute to our worship by creating and leading some prayers. Maeve Hammond will lead us in a reflection on Transgender Day of Awareness. Peter Owens, Janet Vaughn, and the choir will offer some lovely special music. And it’s the last Sunday of the liturgical year before we enter into Advent, which means it’s also Christ the King Sunday and Rev. Will will be preaching on a passage from the passion of Christ in Luke’s gospel. We hope you’ll join us.

Download the Bulletin Here: OOW 11-20-22

An Invitation to Thanksgiving Dinner

Sarah Marino — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 14:15:15 +0000

We have had a Covid hiatus, but we are planning to return to eating together at the church on Thanksgiving Day. We will be having dinner at the church for anyone who would like to join us. Come for the company. Come for the food. If you don’t have transportation, we will help out with that.

We will eat at about 1pm, so come from 12:30pm to relax and chat. We will be informal and children will be enthusiastically welcomed.

We had a Thanksgiving dinner for two years before the pandemic and had a wonderful time, with young and old, singles, couples and families. If you can, please let us know ahead of time that you plan to come – the sooner the better. Here is a link to the invitation. If you can’t let us know ahead, you will be welcome anyway – we have had people just show up, which was wonderful, too. And remember to tell us if you need a ride.

Perhaps you know someone who might like to come to this meal but may not receive this newsletter. Please feel free to invite them or to let Penny know so that we can invite them.

You are guests, so no contribution or payment is expected.

In addition to the traditional turkey, we will provide a vegetarian option and will aim to keep most of the meal gluten-free (some pies will likely not be gf). Please remember to tell us if you have dietary restrictions.

If you would like to help in any way, whether or not you plan to eat with us, please let us know, by following this link. It can be by providing a contribution to the food (like a pie) or helping with rides if someone needs one, or offering something decorative, or helping to clean up.

If you have questions, or have trouble with any of the links, please email Penny Sparrow – pjsparrow2@gmail.com – or call 781 721 0619 and be prepared to leave a message.

Join Us for Thanksgiving Sunday Worship at 10 am in the Sanctuary (11/21/21)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 17:58:30 +0000

Rev. Will is preaching a sermon entitled “Alive in the Age of Worry”. Members of the choir will sing a moving rendition of “Consider the Lilies” which is also based on the same scripture, Matthew 6:34. Together, we will all sing the familiar Thanksgiving hymns. Join us at 10:00 am in the sanctuary or online and praise God with your church community no matter where you are.

Here is the Bulletin: Bulletin for 11-21-21

FAN & FCCW Annual Thanksgiving Drive

Sarah Marino — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 16:17:00 +0000

November 20, 2021

9 am-12 pm

Join FAN and the First Congregational Church in the season of giving thanks and giving back! Help assemble baskets to make a full Thanksgiving meal for families in need. All donations will go to Woburn’s Council of Social Concern which serves hundreds of households in Winchester and Woburn. Sign up to donate food and/or to help assemble baskets .

Join Us for Worship This Sunday (Nov 22, 2020)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 14:54:55 +0000

We may not be singing Auld Lang Syne, but it is New Years eve on the church calendar. A new church year begins next Sunday with the first Sunday of Advent. But this Sunday is a fitting close to a challenging year. The theme of thanksgiving and serving others reminds us that despite the Covid-19 restrictions and changes to our world, we have much to thank God for. Rev. Dr. Jessica McArdle will be preaching using Matthew 25 and we will sing the familiar Thanksgiving hymns It’s true that many of us will have a different Thanksgiving than usual this year, but when we are rooted in the church year our familiar worship can keep tradition alive in our hearts. We will be prerecorded this Sunday. Join us at 10:00 a.m. and praise God with your church community no matter where you are.

Join Us for Worship This Sunday at 10 am (November 24, 2019)

Sarah Marino — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 20:09:25 +0000

As the Sunday before Thanksgiving, much of our worship will be focused on thankfulness. We will be singing familiar Thanksgiving hymns and the choir is singing a beautiful anthem of thanksgiving. In the church year – which runs from the first Sunday of Advent to the last Sunday after Pentecost – we are at Christ the King Sunday. Both the scripture and sermon will be addressing that. As we encounter Jesus as an unexpected Messiah so we will learn how Christ is unlike any notion we may have of Kings. We hope you will join us and leave humming tunes that enrich your Thanksgiving experience on Thursday.