First Congregational Church
of Ashfield
Creating Community, Welcoming All
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COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD Hilltown Churches Food Pantry Distributions: Tuesdays, 3-5 December 10 & 24, January 7 Church’s Revitalization Leadership Team As you continue to discern about joining me on our church's revitalization leadership team, I wanted to provide a few more specifics about what you can expect and what is needed. Last week I mentioned that the team will meet, beginning in January, five times over six months with a designated Conference staff person--the program "navigator". In these meetings we will cover the program curriculum, discuss what we are learning, and determine how to engage the congregation throughout this process. Each of these sessions will be held in-person at First Church, and each session is expected to last 2 hours. Every session will, in turn, generate new assignments for the group to complete. The leadership group may decide to complete a given assignment on its own, or it may reach out to the congregation (or others), depending on whatever gifts are needed. These assignments will include (among other things): gathering demographic and statistical information about the community; gathering stories and information about the people and the needs of the community; gathering stories about how the work or ministries of the church are impacting individuals, groups, and the community as a whole; reflecting as individuals and as a group, based on what is being learned and experienced; and a lot of brainstorming and sharing ideas individually, in pairs, as a group, and with the wider church in small and large gatherings. The team will make use of its own gifts and the gifts of others in the church. But it is clear, as I think about these assignments, that it will be especially important that our leadership group include those of us who are open-minded, curious, creative, and persistent. This will be a highly collaborative process, with each session depending on each voice, and each of our 'homework' assignments depending on the group's willingness to take some risks to generate excitement. And everything will need to be communicated clearly and consistently. As we discussed at our congregational meeting, this kind of undertaking is not new for our church, and it is timely. This is the work that will set us up for years to come. But as you can see, it is not a small or easy thing to do. It will need leadership. Blessings in your continued discernment, David Recording of Sherrill Hogen’s talk about her most recent trip to Palestine From Traprock Center for Peace and Justice and Sherrill: Here is a link to the talk by Sherrill on July 24th: “Let’s Talk About Palestine."We are delighted to be able to offer it to you here, in full, courtesy of Greenfield Community TV: https://youtu.be/jBjQDSp2hmM |
Hope and optimism are different. Optimism tends to be based on the notion that there's enough evidence out there to believe things are gonna be better…whereas hope looks at the evidence and says, ‘It doesn't look good at all. Doesn't look good at all. Gonna [have to] go beyond the evidence to create new possibilities based on visions that become contagious to allow people to engage in heroic actions always against the odds, [with] no guarantee whatsoever.’ That's hope. I cannot be an optimist, but I am a prisoner of hope. — Cornel West
OF NOTE:
IN PERSON & ZOOM WORSHIP First Congregational Church continues in-person Sunday services at 10AM, masks optional. Join the Sunday Zoom service here.
Meeting ID: 878 8863 1016 
Find previous recordings here.
♫ Choir rehearsal Wednesday, 12/11 ♫ ► 7 - 9:15 pm ◄ Make up for 12/4 "It’s in that convergence of spiritual people becoming active and active people becoming spiritual that the hope of humanity now rests."
VAN JONES 
Ashfield Churches Together Seek to Raise $1,000 for World Central Kitchen Thanks for helping us surpass our goal of $1000!!! DONATE! Use this link to make a donation through our ACT team effort: https://donate.wck.org/ashfieldchurchestogether.
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Creating Community, Welcoming All
Welcome
“Creating Community, Welcoming All” -- Those words sum up our aspirations for our Ashfield church. For over 250 years, we have been group of people who strive to know God — in each other, in our life together, in the wider community, and in ourselves. Read more. |
Worship
First Congregational Church of Ashfield is offering both in-person worship services and on-line access for those who wish to connect virtually. To receive information about online services, contact [email protected]. Read more. |
Spiritual Resources
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