Here is the link for today’s service on YouTube
July 11 Service
Here is the link to today’s service, like and subscribe
July 4th Service
The link to today’s joint summer service with the congregations in Brandon is https://youtu.be/QK0nXJsrXmQ. The preacher today is Laura Hargrove (First, Brandon). The service was recorded during the week. I will be the preacher next Sunday.
July 4th Worship Service – YouTube
Service June 27
Announcements June 27, 2021
THE 5TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
27 June 2021
Online – Today’s service will be our final service by Zoom before the summer, and hopefully also, for ever! The link to the Zoom meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84737316742?pwd=ZjZWYTgyTzBWR2RkZ1BOUy9nVlVuUT09. The link to the recording on YouTube will be e-mailed out following the service, as usual, along with a copy of the service script. Many thanks to Raymond and Margaret Reichelt for hosting these services by Zoom for the past two months, and to Debbi Miles for typing the words of the hymns each week!
Summer Services – In July and August, we will be participating in joint online services with First Church and St. Andrew’s Church in Brandon, as we did last summer. Those services will not be held by Zoom (live), however. Rather, they will be recorded ahead of time each week, edited together, and uploaded to YouTube. The YouTube link will be sent out by e-mail every Sunday morning (along with the service script), so that those who wish to can watch the service at or around our usual service time of 10:30. Hard copies of the script can be printed and mailed out to anyone who would like them. If you would like to receive them, just call John at the church office. We will resume worship on our own on the Labor Day weekend (5 September), and hopefully, we’ll be able to worship in person again by then!
Summer Service Schedule – Our summer services will be led jointly by Glenn Ball, Laura Hargrove, Kathy Lancaster, and John, as vacation schedules permit. The schedule of preachers will be as follows:
July 4 – Laura August 1 – Glenn
11 – John 8 – Kathy
18 – Laura 15 – Laura
25 – John 22 – John
29 – Glenn
The ministers will also take turns leading the other parts of the service, which means that John will take part in leading five of the nine services, not just the three services for which he will be the preacher. Kathy Lancaster (Youth and Family Worker at First, Brandon) will lead Children’s Time most Sundays. Piano accompaniment for the hymns will be provided by Leanna Mitchell (First, Brandon) and our own Margaret McNutt-Reichelt. We will be using scripture readings from the Revised Common Lectionary throughout the summer.
Vacation Schedule – John’s vacation dates this summer will be 12-18 July (1 week) and 26 July – 15 August (3 weeks). As usual, he will give the Session members a list of ministers who will be available to provide emergency pastoral care while he is away. If a pastoral need should arise, please contact your elder or Raymond Reichelt (clerk of Session – 239-5359) to find out which ministers are available to assist you.
Service June 20
Announcements June 21, 2021
THE 4TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES SUNDAY
20 June 2021
Online – We will continue holding our Sunday services by Zoom, live, at our regular time of 10:30, this Sunday and next (the 27th). Each week’s service is recorded and then uploaded to YouTube, for the benefit of those who are unable to join us in real time. Each service is now being saved for two Sundays, at which time it is deleted from the YouTube channel. The link to the Zoom meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84737316742?pwd=ZjZWYTgyTzBWR2RkZ1BOUy9nVlVuUT09; it is the same every week. The link to the recording on YouTube is e-mailed out following the service each Sunday, along with a copy of the service script; that link is different every week. In addition, hard copies of the script can be printed and mailed out to anyone who would like them. If you would like to receive them, just call John at the church office.
Summer Services – In July and August, we will be participating in joint online services with First Church and St. Andrew’s Church in Brandon, as we did last summer. Those services will not be held by Zoom (live), however. Rather, they will be recorded ahead of time each week, edited together, and uploaded to YouTube. The YouTube link will be sent out by e-mail every Sunday morning, so that those who wish to can watch the service at or around our usual service time of 10:30. We will resume worship on our own on the Labor Day weekend (5 September), and hopefully, we’ll be able to worship in person by then! The summer preaching schedule is currently being worked out, as well as the vacation schedules of the three ministers (Glenn, Laura, and John).
This Week in First Church:
– Thursday, 7:00 p.m. – Session meeting, by Zoom
Announcements June 13, 2021
THE 3RD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
13 June 2021
Online – We are continuing to hold our Sunday services by Zoom, live, at our regular time of 10:30, for the time being. Each week’s service is recorded and then uploaded to YouTube, for the benefit of those who are unable to join us in real time. Each service is now being saved for two Sundays, at which time it is deleted from the YouTube channel. The link to the Zoom meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84737316742?pwd=ZjZWYTgyTzBWR2RkZ1BOUy9nVlVuUT09; it is the same every week. The link to the recording on YouTube is e-mailed out following the service each Sunday, along with a copy of the service script; that link is different every week. In addition, hard copies of the script can be printed and mailed out to anyone who would like them. If you would like to receive them, just call John at the church office.
This Week in First Church:
– Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. – Bible study, by Zoom (final session)
Summer Services – The Session has decided that we will not have in-person services in July and August, even if they are permitted. Instead, it has accepted an invitation extended by First Church and St. Andrew’s Church in Brandon to participate in joint online services with them, just as we did last summer. Hopefully, in-person services will again be permitted by the Labor Day weekend, so that we can resume our normal worship routine in September! John hasn’t yet chosen his vacation dates yet; that will depend on when Laura Hargrove and Glenn Ball are taking their vacations.
Announcements June 6, 2021
THE 2ND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUNDAY
6 June 2021Online – We will continue holding our Sunday services by Zoom, live, at our regular time of 10:30, for the time being. Each week’s service is recorded and then uploaded to YouTube, for the benefit of those who are unable to join us in real time. Each service is now being saved for two Sundays, at which time it is deleted from the YouTube channel. The link to the Zoom meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84737316742?pwd=ZjZWYTgyTzBWR2RkZ1BOUy9nVlVuUT09; it is the same every week. The link to the recording on YouTube is e-mailed out following the service each Sunday, along with a copy of the service script; that link is different every week. In addition, hard copies of the script can be printed and mailed out to anyone
This Week in First Church:
– Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. – Bible study, by Zoom
– Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. – F&M Committee meeting, by Zoom
Summer Services – The Session, in its meeting on the 27th of May, decided that we will not have in-person services in July and August, even if they are permitted. Instead, it has accepted an invitation extended by First Church and St. Andrew’s Church in Brandon to participate in joint online services with them, just as we did last summer. Hopefully, in-person services will again be permitted by the Labor Day weekend, so that we can resume our normal worship routine in September!
Announcements May 30
TRINITY SUNDAY
THE 1ST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
30 May 2021
Online – We will continue holding our Sunday services by Zoom, live, at our regular time of 10:30, for at least today and next Sunday (6 June). This means, then, that next Sunday’s service will definitely not be a Communion service. Each week’s service is recorded and then uploaded to YouTube, for the benefit of those who are unable to join us in real time. Each service is now being saved for two Sundays, at which time it is deleted from the YouTube channel. The link to the Zoom meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84737316742?pwd=ZjZWYTgyTzBWR2RkZ1BOUy9nVlVuUT09; it is the same every week. The link to the recording on YouTube is e-mailed out following the service each Sunday, along with a copy of the service script; that link is different every week. In addition, hard copies of the script can be printed and mailed out to anyone who would like them. If you would like to receive them, just call John at the church office.
This Week in First Church:
– Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. – Bible study, by Zoom
No Outdoor Service – Due to the ongoing pandemic and the necessary restrictions, we will again be unable to have our annual Outdoor Service and Barbecue — for the second year in a row. We normally have it on the second or third Sunday in June.
The Christian Year – Today is Trinity Sunday (the First Sunday after Pentecost), a festival that highlights the doctrine of the Trinity — the teaching that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Actually, this doctrine (official church teaching) is not explicitly taught in scripture; in fact, the word “Trinity” itself is not found in the Bible at all. Rather, this understanding of God evolved in the early church, through a long period of reflection and debate on the relationship between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Church leaders held a variety of opinions on this question, much too complicated to explain in a couple of paragraphs!
In order to be faithful to the Old Testament, it was imperative that Christians continue to believe in the existence of only one God, not three separate Gods. And in order to be faithful to insights from the New Testament (particularly in the Gospel of John), it was necessary that Jesus and the Holy Spirit be regarded as part of God, not just as beings that God had created. Eventually, the doctrine of the Trinity emerged — the teaching that God is a “Trinity” consisting of three “persons”, the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. It was formulated gradually, in a series of church councils held in the cities of Nicaea (in the year 325), Constantinople (381), and Chalcedon (451). This understanding of God is unique to the Christian faith, and is still accepted by Christian churches of all denominations today.
The symbolic color for Trinity Sunday is white, signifying joy and celebration.