Each week during our "Share the Message, Share our Message" campaign, a member of our congregation will share their message about why First Congregational is such a special place. Some of these messages will be archived on the menu to the right.
Why I Call First Congregational “My Church”.
-Carol Burnett
 I have been coming to First Congregational for over 3 years now. I love many things about being part of the church. But to use one term to describe some of these things; First Congregational serves many needs for me.
First, it serves my need for spiritual growth and furthering my faith journey. Hearing thought-provoking and meaningful sermons and getting to know others here and hearing about their personal theologies, and faith journeys, all of this encourages me to push myself in my thinking about my faith. I am very fortunate to have participated in the Courage to Lead program, as a congregant of this church. It has been a wonderful experience and has given me the tools and confidence to understand my spirituality and to grow toward being a whole, authentic person, a difficult and ongoing voyage. As a facilitator in the Sacred Conversations group, I continue that work for myself and for others.
Second, First Congregational serves my need as a caring human on this earth, to provide service for others, an important part of my personal theology. I have many opportunities to serve those in this community and around the world; Crop Walk, Westcliff Elementary backpack drive, the Church World Service school bag drive and Family Pathfinders, to name a few. I also have enjoyed serving this church on the Christian Service Committee. The continued success of this church is important to me, as a beacon of truth and love in this world.
Finally, First Congregational serves my need as a parent to give Jackson a place for spiritual growth and development in a church which is free of the hypocrisy I have experienced and heard about in other churches. Here the open heart and mind is truly honored and encouraged. He also learns about serving others with opportunities to give back such as Crop, serving breakfast for the homeless with the youth group and giving his service to a church that he truly loves.
"A community of Faith"
Phil Burnett
When asked to describe why I love this church, I have to start with the people- we are a community of faith; a community of diverse individuals and talents. You can see this in the strength and resonance of Tants’ voice as he reads the scriptures. It is the energy and industry of Malcolm- who you can see working in the garden just about any time you come up the driveway. It is the enthusiasm of young people like Jordan and Alyssa, and the wisdom and faithfulness of our elders like Dorothy Blackman. It is in the hard work of people like John and Han Will. If you’ve ever been here on a church workday, and seen Han Will in a long skirt, standing in a flowerbed swinging a pickaxe in 100 degree heat, you’ve seen the glory of God- that’s for sure. And if you participate in the Crop Walk, you’d better step lively, or you might see Helen Bernardez lap you.
The walls of this building hold a special place in our hearts, but they are not the church. The church is this collection of people of all ages, sizes, races, backgrounds, and faith traditions who have bonded together to be a caring community and to continue the work of that radical from Nazareth- the work of peacemaking and social justice, of forgiveness and grace. We stand with each other in that work, in joy and in sorrow, in birth and in death.
For those of you here today who are visiting, know that we proclaim nothing less than that the Living God has the infinite capacity to love unconditionally every person on this planet. Because we are loved, we, in turn, model this love for you. We hope that you will continue to be with us- we would be lessened without you. I can promise you that you will be welcomed extravagantly; that your gifts and talents, whatever they may be, will be celebrated.
Thank you all for the love and friendship you have shown me and my family, and may God continue to bless our community and our mission. |
