Friday, November 4, 2011

Sunday at First Church -- Cloud of Witnesses

Worship with us
on Sunday,

November 6th,

at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time


First Church of Christ,
Congregational (UCC)
190 Court St.

Middletown, CT

With our Interim Minister, Brenda Pelc-Faszcza.
The Sacrament of Holy Communion will be served Sunday morning, using two silver Communion cups, dating from 1726-1785, during the colonial era of our church. The collection is housed at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.


Sermon: Cloud of Witnesses: One of the great texts of the Bible is Hebrews 11, which gives a long litany of ancestors in the faith who learned to trust God long before we did. At the end of the chapter, they are called ‘a cloud of witnesses who surround us,’ even now.


November 1st is All Saints’ Day in the church, a time for remembering our own cloud of witnesses, the generations before us who have marked the path, preserved the faith, kept the stories, and built the church. Somehow we are still connected, not only as grateful heirs but as the stewards – caretakers – of all they built and gave to us.

Music

Prelude: Simple Gifts, Andrew Clarke
Hymn: Forward through the Ages
Offertory: Nettleton, arr. Charles Callahan
Hymn: We Are Not our Own
Anthem: Amazing Grace, John Coates, Jr.
The Senior Choir and the Celebration Singers
Hymn: For All the Saints
Postlude: Cwm Rhondda, arr.Wilbur Held

Scripture: Reading from The New Testament: Hebrews 11 & 12, excerpted verses.

Would you like to Sing With Our Choirs For The Christmas Season? If so, we invite you to sing with our Senior Choir or Celebration Singers, or both, during our Christmas Season. Senior Choir rehearsals are on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 pm and their Christmas rehearsals are on Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov. 16, Nov. 30, and Dec. 7. The Celebration Singers rehearse on Monday evenings at 6:15 pm and their Christmas rehearsals are on Nov. 7, Nov. 14, Nov. 21, Nov. 28, and Dec. 5.

Both groups will sing this music during the Advent and Christmas season and at the Annual Christmas Concert on Sunday, December 11. If you have any questions, please contact First Church minister of music, Shari Lucas, at
shari.lucas@sbcglobal.net or at the church office, 860-346-6657, ext. 11.


Childcare is available. First Church is an Open and Affirming Church and all are welcome.

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