Sunday, December 15th, 2019 – A Healing Service
The Christmas season often brings a mixture of profound joy and a deep sense of grief: joy at the wonder in our youngster’s eyes and sadness that those we dearly love who are far away or no longer with us. Emotions are more poignant all around with struggles in relationships, addictions, depression and financial worries taking on even more meaning. Our church would like to offer you a quiet hour where you can focus your attention on our need for hope and healing. The service will start at 7:00 p.m. and everyone is welcome.
Sunday, December 15th, 2019 – Christmas Pageant
Sunday, December 8th, 2019: 1st Annual Pet Remembrance Service
The Searchers Invite Dr. Kathy Fox to Speak
Wednesday, December 11th @ 7-8:30pm
The Wednesday Night searchers will be hosting Dr. Kathy Fox from UVM to speak about why our society should be strongly encouraging our prison population to get a college education. Dr. Fox is from the Sociology Department of UVM and has spoken extensively on the subject and clearly spells out how spending money educating prisoners saves money in the long run and creates a stronger society. Dr. Fox also speaks about how educating our prisoners fulfills a spiritual role of their lives. Her presentation and Q&A has been very well received. The public is invited so feel free to invite a friend.
Sunday, November 24th, 2019: Christ the King Day
Reformation/Bible Sunday: October 27th, 2019
Reformation / Bible Sunday
Reformation Sunday remembers and celebrates our roots in the Protestant Reformation and its emphasis on allowing the word of God found in the scriptures to be front and center in our faith. Bibles were translated into native tongues and for the first time in the history of the church, every day people could read and try to understand the message that Jesus was bringing to the world. We celebrate that tradition by giving bibles out to our 3rd graders during each worship service. If you are older than 3rd grade and have not received your bible, tell Rev. Mark or Rev. Josh or Laurie and we will make sure you get one today.
Stewardship Celebration – Sunday, October 20th, 2019
One of the blessings of being a congregational church is that no one tells us what to do or believe. No bishop passes down orders or demands that we hire a particular minister. We determine what our church, minister and faith will look like. We are in charge of the faith, the building and the finances. We celebrate this self-determination in a financial sense on our Stewardship Celebration Sunday at both services. In the service everyone is asked to come forward and place your pledge or pledge acknowledgement card in the offering plate signifying your full participation at the First Congregational Church of Essex Junction. Additionally, if you’ve already returned your pledge, we have stocked the pews with pledge “tokens” (small papers) acknowledging your donation. Families may list their name(s) on these tokens so they have something tangible to deposit into the offering plate. Some people even dance on their way up since belonging is a joyful experience!
https://www.fccej.org/v5/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Artboard-9@3x-80-1030x652.jpg 0 0 admin https://www.fccej.org/v5/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Artboard-9@3x-80-1030x652.jpg admin2019-10-18 13:52:522019-10-18 13:52:54Stewardship Celebration – Sunday, October 20th, 2019
