worship – We are the First Congregational Church in Winchester

Join us for Worship This Sunday at 10 am in the Sanctuary or online (January 21, 2024)

Sarah Marino — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 16:39:52 +0000

A fascinating little biblical story greets us this Sunday whose central character is one of God’s amazing sea creatures. The story of Jonah was important enough to be directly referenced by Jesus himself in referring to his death and resurrection. It’s a story that might ask of us: what is God calling us to, are we listening carefully to what is required, and will we follow? Join us in person or online as we worship in awe “God of the sparrow, God of the whale, God of the swirling stars”.

Download the Bulletin Here: OOW 01-21-24

Join us for Worship This Sunday at 10 am in the Sanctuary (January 14, 2024)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 14:37:53 +0000

This week, in light of MLK weekend, we consider the question Nathanael asks Jesus: “How do you know me?” How does God know you? How do others know you? How do you know yourself? During the service, we will also celebrate the Sacrament of Communion by intinction. All are welcome to Christ’s table. We hope you can join.

Download the Bulletin Here: OOW 01-14-24

Join us This Week in Worship (October 8, 2023)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 15:17:31 +0000

Jesus’ parables were intended to lead his hearers from the narrow confines of tightly held assumptions to the more spacious place of God’s vision for the world (and for their world). This week in worship we’ll place before us Jesus’ Parable of the Tenants from Matthew 21 and allow our worship of God to bring us to a more spacious place in our own lives. Join us at 10am in person or on livestream.

Join Us for Worship This Sunday at 10 am (Sep. 19, 2021)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 16:23:54 +0000

The church year is underway. We are inviting people to attend in person, (masks are required). And, if you are not ready or able to come in person, we are streaming the service live. There have been a few glitches – so we have opportunities to get better every week. This week the scripture is from Mark 9 and relates one of the several times Jesus lifts up a child as the model for discipleship. We have something to celebrate in that a quartet from the Choir will be singing. It’s not the whole group, but it’s a start. We begin at 10:00 a.m. and hope you will join us in whatever medium works for you.

Join Us for Worship This Sunday at 10 am (March 21, 2021)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 14:25:44 +0000

It’s the fifth Sunday in Lent. The scriptures – Jeremiah 31 and Psalm 51 – both deal with the Lenten theme of Sin. Which can sound like a dour and depressing service but when we engage with God about our Sin the result is a closer relationship with God and with ourselves. We will pray together, sing (apart) and praise God in the run up to Holy Week, culminating on Easter morning at 6:00 a.m. We hope that you will join us on Sunday morning at 10:00 or when you can find a quiet hour to worship.

Join Us for Worship Transfiguration Sunday, Feb 14, 2021

Sarah Marino — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 20:35:30 +0000

Join us for worship on this Transfiguration Sunday, the Sunday that leads us into Lent. We have a special guest preacher – preaching for us all the way from St. Louis, MO! – for our pre-recorded on-line service. Rev James Ross has just begun work as our new Associate Minister for the Northeast Region of the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ. Once he moves to the Boston area and our building re-opens, we will be seeing more of Rev. James as he’ll be positioned in the Association’s offices which are on our 3rd floor.

Join Us Online for Worship This Sunday (Aug 16, 2020)

Sarah Marino — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 19:02:29 +0000

We hope you’ve found that the pre-recorded nature of our Sunday worship services in this time of pandemic has still offered you a time of prayer and reflection that has enriched your faith and kept you connected to our community. We have another lovely service being pulled together with another meaningful sermon on tap, this week coming from Rob Skinner, special music from Julia and Lucy Page, a Time for the Young story from Rev. Will’s daughter, Haliana, and more special guests. Join us from wherever you are, whenever you can, but we will drop the link at 9:45 am on Sunday morning!

Join Us for Worship This Sunday at 10 am (April 19, 2020)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 18:25:42 +0000

We’ll be worshipping together virtually for this Second Sunday of Easter at 10 am. An email will be sent out about 20 minutes before the service starts on Sunday morning to share with you the link and the bulletin. We continue to reflect upon and celebrate the resurrection as Rev. Will preaches from the locked doors of his home about the disciples tucked behind their locked doors for fear of the authorities coming for them after Jesus’ death. Ben Pulaski will have another delightful Time for the Young and Judy will offer a Pastoral Prayer. We have other friends around the church community as well who will help us lead worship although we dispense with the flying eggs this time around. We hope you can join us!

Join Us for Worship Streaming This Sunday at 10 am (March 29, 2020)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 19:38:55 +0000

It’s the 5th Sunday of Lent and we’ll be streaming the worship service again from the sanctuary at 10am on Sunday morning. We approach the 5th word of the 7 Last Words of Jesus from the Cross and listen to Jesus’ gutted cry: “I thirst!” How does his thirst meet ours in this season of Lent and these days of contagion?

Again, we invite you to print out or bookmark the bulletin (Bulletin Sunday March 29 )so you can follow along and sing along with the service. And we invite you to submit prayers through this LINK to be read aloud by Rev. Judy at the “Prayers of the People” part of the service. You can submit prayers ahead of time or in real time during the 10am hour and bring a candle to your personal worship space to light along with us.

We hope you can join us so that we will all be worshipping together in Spirit once again.

Join Us for Worship & Communion This Sunday at 10 am (March 1, 2020)

Sarah Marino — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 14:38:38 +0000

We begin Lent this Sunday and our worship series on the 7 Last Words of Jesus from the cross. The first “word” is from Luke’s account of the crucifixion: “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Rev. Will’s sermon will be focused on this phrase and the choir, accompanied by the Aryaloka String Quartet, will offer the first movement of Hayden’s masterpiece “The Seven Last Words”. Since this is also the first Sunday of the month, we’ll share communion as well. We hope you will join us for this rich series of worship services leading us to Holy Week and Easter.