Community Life and Care
We are, and want to be even more fully, an inclusive Christian community where all are welcome unconditionally, where we increasingly connect with each other in meaningful and personal ways, where we care for each other, and where we share and explore our faith journeys, experiences, doubts, fears, visions, and hopes with each other and have fun together.
If you are interested in any of the following Teams and want more information, please email the contact person or the coordinators listed.
Our Teams
Responds to & organizes assistance for persons in need.
Nancy Brose, Dorothy Creswell, Ann Grose, Vicki Kemper, Ginny Kendall, Nancy Luce, Dusty Miller, Linda Smith, Cynthia Wade
Prepares and hosts Sunday morning coffee hours after worship.
Melanie Blood, Carlton Brose, Connie Conn, Marie-Dominique Corbiere, Linda Smith, Bonnie Stretch.
Joan Lindeman, Gail Weirick
Designs and works on our website, media publicity & other ways of making our church visible.
Webmaster: Tim Coppolo
Tim Coppolo
The Healing Circle Singers meet every Wednesday,from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Hawley Room.
We gather to sing simple healing songs and be present to those who would like to receive healing energy, through hands-on healing or simply being lifted up in our hearts.
Whether people are there for specific support, or our energy is focused on the wider community and world, healing is needed. Where two or three are gathered with open hearts, there will be blessings.
Come as you are. Bring someone you care about. This circle is open to all, not just those in our church community, although we will start there. Children and teens are welcome, if they come in a spirit of respect and concern for others. They may have friends whom they want to do something for and don't know what to do. This is a way to respond.
Dorthy Creswell, Dusty Miller
Hospitality Team - Prepares and hosts refreshments for celebrations, memorials services and other special events.
Nancy Brose, Ann Clark, Connie Conn, Ann Floyd, Linda Smith, Marylou Sullivan, Jennifer Unkles
Designs & works on effective internal communications processes including E-mail, the newsletter, bulletin boards & other methods.
Tim Coppolo, Betsy Howlett, Ruth Morse, Bonnie Stretch, Jean Thompson, Lydia Vernon-Jones
The Men's Breakfast is open to all men of the church who are able to meet at 7:15 in the morning on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month in the Hawley Room. A short devotional period is followed by a check-in. This is a time to share what is happening in our lives and what our concerns are. Conversation includes individual reflections (one of the understandings is "what is said here is in confidence"). Breakfast is simple--hot drinks, juice, fruit, and rolls/donuts--prepared on a rotating arrangement with each member who is able, taking a turn. To help defray the cost a donation of two dollars is suggested.
For more infomation contact:: Bill Rowell, Jr.
Plans and organizes annual winter uplift--the intergenerational Merry Musical Show. More
Dorothy Creswswell, Louise Harper, Maryelise Lamet, Savanna Ouellette.
For many years a group of folks has met every month to six weeks on a Friday evening to do just that. We start with a potluck at 6:15, with ample time to talk with friends, both old and new. We have an e-mail announcement system, sending announcements of dates and locations. Joan Langley keeps the list up-to-date. If you would like to be on the list, contact Joan. If you want more information, contact either Joan or Savanna Ouellette.
Knitters and non-knitters alike are invited to join the Prayer Shawl Ministry team of knitters (and talkers!). We meet nearly every month to work on a shawl or do other knitting or handwork as well as to share some of our favorite devotional material, or to help each other out with knitting and yarn tips. Even if you cannot knit you are welcome to join us. To find out when and where we will meet, please contact: Nancy Brose at cnbrose@verizon.net or 256-8425 or Cynthia Wade at pagewade@juno.com or 584-2315.
This team makes and distributes shawls for persons experiencing illness or other stressful situations.
Nancy Brose, Connie Conn, Ann Grose, Melissa Kroodsma, Sarah Mager,Linda Smith, Cindy Stahler, Cynthia Wade
Katie Tolles
The top of our home page states, “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome here”...and we mean it! As part of the United Church of Christ, we are people of God’s extravagant welcome. The goal of the Welcoming and Membership Ministry Team is to receive people into the First Church community as Jesus would...without reservation.
The whole First Church congregation is involved in the ministry of welcoming by...
- offering a personal welcome to visitors, showing them around the church, and introducing them to others,
- making our building more inviting to visitors and more accessible to all,
- formally committing ourselves welcoming all persons, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status, ethnic background, age, sexual orientation, nationality, marital status or physical or mental ability
- letting the larger community know more about who we are and what we offer,
- grappling with what “welcome” really means, and
- doing MANY other large and small things to extend the welcome of Jesus to strangers, friends, and neighbors in Amherst, western Massachusetts, and far beyond.
The Welcoming and Membership Ministry Team has three main focus areas: organizing the welcoming of visitors; building and maintaining connections between visitors and our ongoing members and friends; and inviting those who wish to join our congregation into official membership.
Welcoming On Sunday mornings, greeters give a warm “hello” to each person who comes into the church. Visitors receive a special welcome from greeters, with an offer of a nametag and an invitation to join them at the fellowship time after the service. During the service, visitors are welcomed again with a gift of homemade bread.
Connections Our team further extends the First Church welcome to visitors through a follow-up letter from the pastor, and a phone call or email message from a team member to anyone who indicates that they are looking for a church home. This no-pressure contact gives an opportunity for a visitor to ask questions, and for us to offer friendship and resources, such as information about areas of a visitor’s interest (e.g., Bible study, choir), invitations to church events, and connections to their geographic “clusters.”
The geographic clusters are our members and church friends grouped by the town or neighborhood in which they live. The Welcoming and Membership Ministry Team is responsible for locating a convener/coordinator for each of more than a dozen clusters and offering that person ideas and support, if needed. The clusters are diverse and flexible to meet the interests of the people involved.
Membership Our congregation is honored when people feel led to official membership in First Church, sharing their faith journeys and covenanting with the church community to “walk together in all God’s ways.” Periodically, the Welcoming and Membership Ministry Team, in collaboration with Pastor Vicki, invites people who are interested in becoming members to attend a short series of get-acquainted gatherings. We assist the pastor in planning the worship service in which new members are brought into the congregation, and we stay in touch with new members, helping them to find the ministry team(s) that best fit their gifts and interests.
If you would like to share your ideas and energies with our team, contact Gail Weirick.
Carlton Brose, Ann Grose, Joan Langley, Jennifer Unkles, Lydia Vernon-Jones, Gail Weirick
