First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
Worship and Prayer...
God
Numbers from one to ten, however, are called
"God." In other words, counting to ten you would
say, "God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God
God." It is possible to distinguish among these
numbers by the tone in which each is pronounced.
"God," for example, corresponding to our "five,"
is pitched relatively high on the musical scale,
and accordingly sounds an inquisitive, even plaintive,
note. It is in sharp contrast to the number corre-
sponding to our "ten," which has a slightly accented,
basso finality, thus: "God."
--Annie Dillard
We gather for worship at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. A typical service lasts just over an hour. If you come early, you'll find us gathered for coffee in the "Cafe Congo" area - just up the stairs from the sanctuary, where the church offices are located. You'll have a chance to meet people and pick up information about the church there, too.
About 200 of us will be present on a typical Sunday. About 25 of us will be children. About half of us will be under 45 years of age. Some of us will be dressed up, but most of us will be dressed very casually.
We value creative expression and take great joy in the design of our sanctuary which enables us to experience God's presence through the visual arts. We change the liturgical art for each season.
Two Vocal choirs, a Percussion choir, a Gospel choir, and a Handbell choir provide music for the Sunday service. We have great diversity in our music, ranging from gospel to folk to classical to global music! We use piano, drums, guitar, organ, violin, cello...
We have an inlaid Amiens Labyrinth in the sanctuary. Some folks like to come to the worship space early to walk the labyrinth prior to the worship service. You can also find a labyrinth in our parking lot and we invite folks to walk that labyrinth any time.
We celebrate communion on a monthly basis - the first Sunday of each month. All people are welcome to share in communion, whether or not they have joined the congregation.
For Children
Childcare is available for children under 5 from 9:30 a.m. until noon.
Children gather at 9:45 a.m. for Sunday School classes in their own room (Classroom "C" - just down the hall from the Cafe Congo area). The room is decorated with art and fabric to parallel the liturgical art in the sanctuary so children have a chance to discuss what they're seeing and experiencing in the large worship space. Children's Sunday School takes each Sunday (summer, too!) We incorporate Bible stories, yoga, worship time and discussion into each class.
A Children's Sermon is part of each worship service. Following the children's sermon (typically scheduled about 15 minutes into the worship service), children have the opportunity to go downstairs for supervised activities in the Fellowship Hall. They can be picked up there following worship.