First Congregational Church
Ready to Sign an Agreement!
Please keep us in your prayers.
(Posted December 5, 2024)
This Sunday’s Advent text (image above) is supposed to be devoted to peace and how we achieve it, both personally and on this tired old globe of ours. That phrase – “the way of the Lord- is IN FACT the way of peace. It takes a lot of work to prepare that path to peace, to lowering the mountains that stand in our way, and to find new ways to make straight and smooth the path on which we help deliver the Word of God to the people.
It strikes me how fitting this is right now. As our members know, since 2018 First Church has been seeking to find a way to work with a strong partner who will help us sustain this congregation. We came into existence in 1696, into a different world with its own challenges. Today we face a different future where churches no longer draw 500 people for services. This is a time when churches hold more funerals than baptisms or weddings, and when huge buildings become unsustainable if only used for church events. A new way had to be found.
So now, after almost six years of work, first with the City of Danbury, and for the last three years with builder and preservationist Robert Botelho, we are almost ready to sign an agreement with him that will allow our Congregation to:
- Worship in our Meeting House in perpetuity.
- Conduct weddings, baptisms and memorial services.
- Maintain our offices and Thrift Shop to benefit the community.
- Invite other groups to rent unused space.
In exchange, Mr. Botelho takes ownership of the property and many of its expenses, improves the existing building to make it available for nonprofits and to host concerts and cultural events, and constructs badly needed housing for senior citizens.
The best part: We all continue to walk God’s path as we have since 1696, in this historic landmark Church.
How You Can Help
We are almost there. Our goal is to have a meeting and membership vote in the next ten days. If you are a member of First Church, look for a letter, hopefully in the next week, informing you of the special meeting where you can see the Preservation Partnership agreement, ask questions, and then vote on it. If you are not a member, please keep us in your prayers as our faithful community seeks to make straight “the way of the Lord.”
Stay tuned for the announcement of the special meeting date and time.
Keep On Keeping On
Live and love as Christians.
(Posted November 8, 2024)
It’s been a long week filled with anxiety, hope and grand plans on the part of so many people, regardless of who they chose to vote for last Tuesday. It was a given that either way, a whole bunch of people would end up rejoicing, while an equally big amount would taste disappointment and, yes – concern for the future.
This Sunday is Stewardship Sunday and the end of our four-week campaign for church support. However, we will also be spending time together in our Joys and Concerns giving voice to what worries or plans we as a congregation have, to keep on providing an open door to all, and to keep on living the kind of Progressive Christianity that is the hallmark of our Congregational, United Church of Christ faith.
So be there for the Sunday Service while that “Road to Wisdom” that we’ve been studying shows us the way.
Celebrating Holidays with Empty Chairs
To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.
(Posted November 14, 2024)
One of the most endearing traditions for most families during the holidays take place when we gather as much family and as many friends as we can at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I know my own memories of these holidays start from the vantage point of me as a six-year-old, peering out from underneath the lace tablecloth where I’d hide as my mother and grandmother set the dining room table. But today that same occasion gives me an entirely different view: that of empty seats, beloved people missing from the day and from our lives. How do we celebrate without them?
Love Remains Constant
The answer is, we don’t. We include all the ones we ever loved by weaving in our departed loved ones in spirit at our Thanksgiving and Christmas events. While at our own tables we let their names enter our talk as easily as if they were passing us the yams. After all, they are as much a part of the fabric of our holiday memories as the scent of the food and inevitable arguments at the table. You see, while in the span of our lives from birth to death, it is a journey of change. But only one thing remains constant. And that one thing is LOVE.
It was Thomas Cambell who truthfully said, “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” All we love remains within us, and reminds us what celebration really is.
This Sunday at First Church is Remembrance Sunday
We bring out our Christmas trees and, in preparation before the rest of the decorations go on, we hang small pictures of the people we love but who are spending the holidays with God and the Holy Choir of angels.
Anyone can join us this Sunday. Bring a picture for the tree, and you will receive a little blue votive candle to take home and add to your holiday decorations. This Sunday is contemplative music by Doug and Ginny Hartline, but instead of sadness, it’s one of gratitude for those who forever are part of the fabric of our own lives.
Come join us Sunday at 10 a.m., leave with a blue votive candle, and be grateful for your unseen guests as the holidays arrive.
Information
First Congregational Church
164 Deer Hill Ave.
Danbury, CT 06810
Est. 1696
Phone: (203) 744-6177
Email: office@danburychurch.org
Office Hours:
Monday Closed
Tuesday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Wednesday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Thursday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Friday Closed
Thrift Shop Hours:
Saturday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Sunday Worship:
Sunday 10:00 a.m.–11 a.m.