This Advent marks our 31st year supporting Alternative Gifts International (AGI), with over $212,000 given. Shop the Alternative Gift Market during coffee hours in the Link to “gift” support for global causes. AGI funds clean water, food security, and education – small gifts make big change. Also featured: Noor El-Salam for refugee children in Lebanon, Kenya Education Foundation, and local partner Mindful Works with handcrafted gifts that empower lives.

The McMane Arts Ministry presents an Advent Art Brunch Series – an imaginative journey of art and spirit with Waverly Matthews. Through the lens of a mysterious Renaissance nativity, we’ll explore how the Christmas story calls us to notice the Christ child within. Join Waverly for an encounter with the beauty, mystery, and meaning of this sacred season. A light brunch will be served.

Kids and families may pick up an Advent Kit in the Sanctuary Narthex to celebrate at home. Included are materials for you to make your own advent wreath and daily devotional cards.

What Do You Fear? Insisting on Hope this Advent: A Daily Devotional of art, poetry, and reflections invite you into the Scriptures of Advent and Christmas. A special e-reader edition is available now here. Print copies are available now in the Sanctuary Narthex, just in time for the beginning of Advent.

Advent Photo a Day 2025 Facebook Group, Join now

Deepen your Advent engagement by joining the Advent Photo a Day 2025 Facebook group. We’ll follow a calendar of daily word prompts drawn from our Advent Devotional. Participants then post a photo or short video (one they have taken or have found) that connects to or reflects their experience with the daily word. Join the group here. Moderated by Phil Braudaway-Bauman.

Support the Memorial Flower Fund with donations in your loved one’s name. The Fund provides poinsettias for Sundays in Advent as well as flowers for the chancel on other Sundays, and potted plants at Easter. The minimum suggested donation is $20. Names of those being remembered or honored this Advent will be printed in the bulletin on Music Sunday, December 14. The deadline to receive donations is Wednesday, December 10. Click here to give or put a memo for Flower Fund on your check.

Inside you’ll find the season’s unfolding story – Advent events, Music Sunday, the Alternative Gift Market, our Christmas Eve Pageant and Candlelight Services, Epiphany Brunch Church, The Narrative Project, and a study series ahead of the MacKenzie Lecture with Erica Chenoweth. Pick up a copy in the narthex or read it online here.

Join us for our 4:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service and bring the story of Christmas to life in our intergenerational pageant! Children, youth, adults, and whole families are encouraged to participate. Rehearsal will be held on December 21 after the 10:30 a.m. worship service. Don’t miss this chance to share the joy and wonder of the season – sign up today!

Thanks to the generosity of the First Cong community, our Thanksgiving Food Drive, which concluded Sunday, November 16, was our largest ever! We collected nearly 1,500 lbs. of food and household supplies, which we donated to the food pantries run by Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) and Boulder County AIDS Project (BCAP). This final Food Drive of 2025 was a moving expression of love for all God's children in our communities, helping those who do not have sufficient resources to feed themselves and their families.

Bring joy to children and families across the region who need a little extra assistance. Contact L’Shawn Howard at the Family Learning Center to receive a gift list in support of a family and drop gifts off at the Center at 3164 34th Street by December 16. Or make a monetary donation of $200 directly to the Family Learning Center and they will send Holiday Helpers to shop for you.

Join us on Sunday, 12/7, at 9:00 a.m. in the Standish Room for a forum with our Community Partner Together Colorado. The Social Justice Coalition at First Cong partners with Together Colorado to advocate on many issues in Colorado and throughout the Colorado legislative season that align with our covenants. You won’t want to miss this as we set our agenda for advocacy in 2026 and beyond. Together Colorado is a multi-faith network that spans 220 congregations and faith leaders across the state. Contact Jean Nelson or Linda Kowatch.

Are you new to First Congregational Church and hoping to get more connected? Join us after the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, December 7, in the Heritage Room for coffee and conversation. You’ll have a chance to meet some of our ministers and leaders, ask questions, and learn about the many ways you can participate in our life together, including joining us as a member.

Let’s kick off December with a Christmas Party! All youth grades 6-12 are invited for a night of cheery fun including improv games, a white elephant gift exchange, and a pasta bar. All youth are invited to bring a small gift (under $20) for the gift exchange and to be ready for a night of goofiness and laughter! See you there!

Join a vibrant evening of music, poetry, and community at the 4th Annual Kwanzaa Celebration, hosted by CU’s Center for African and African American Studies (CAAAS). We are honored to be among the event sponsors, supporting this joyful celebration of African American heritage, creativity, and unity. The evening will feature performances by CAAAS artists-in-residence: Maputu Mensah, Marcia Douglas, and Hugh Ragin.

Join us for St. Lucia’s Day, a cherished Swedish festival of light in winter’s darkest days. Honoring Lucia, a 3rd-century martyr whose name means “light,” the tradition blends Christian legend with Nordic solstice rites. A girl in white, crowned with candles, leads a procession singing traditional Swedish songs, filling the Sanctuary with warmth and song.

What better way to kick off Jingle Mingle than being a part of Boulder’s Lights of December Parade! All ages are invited to join as we walk in the parade, spreading wintery cheer and inviting people to Jingle Mingle. Bring something delicious to share for a potluck dinner at 4:00, then we'll don costumes and get ready to join the parade beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Click here to register. Contact Lianna Campos with any questions.

As the Lights of December Parade winds down, we open our doors to invite the city to join us for Cookies, Cocoa, Cider and Crafts. Congregational Bells will be ringing! Everyone is welcome whether or not you go to the parade. Join us for a Jingle and Mingle.

Cookie Donations Needed; If you would like to donate 2 or more dozen

colorful Christmas cookies, please contact Marj Fowler. We need 25 dozen cookies!

Gather in the Chapel for a quiet, reflective service of Advent Scripture and poetry, extended moments of silence, gentle carols, and soft prayers. Let your spirit rest and listen in the stillness of the season.

Keep your coat and mittens on and your voices ready! We’ll walk together to the Pearl Street Mall with Lianna Campos, spreading Christmas cheer through song, then return to Plymouth Hall for

hot apple cider.

“Gaudete” – Latin for “rejoice” – marks the third Sunday of Advent, a joyful midpoint in our season of anticipation. Celebrate the joy of Gaudete with our Chancel Choir and musicians as they present carols from Piae Cantiones (1582), beautifully arranged for choir and woodwinds by Anders Öhrwall. Rejoice with us in song, hope, and hearts made ready for Christ’s coming.

Advent shimmers with twinkling lights and cheerful music, yet for many, the season also brings shadows – grief, loneliness, weariness that can make the joy of Christmas feel distant. On this evening near the Winter Solstice, the Longest Night, we gather in gentle community to honor the fullness of our hearts, both bright and blustery. Surrounded by Scripture, poetry, soft carols, and the glow of candlelight, we make space to name our pain, seek hope, and embrace healing together. A simple soup supper follows in the Standish Room.

4:00 p.m. | Sanctuary

Family Worship with Pageant and Congregational Strings

7:00 p.m. | Sanctuary and Online

Candlelight Worship with Chancel Choir and Congregational Bells

6:45 Musical Prelude

9:00 p.m. | Sanctuary and Online

Candlelight Worship with Brass Ensemble

8:45 Musical Prelude

Preparing the Ground: Conversations Toward Nonviolent Change

and Public Faith – Register Here!

SOULCOLLAGE® – A Fun, Positive Way to Gain Insight

Register Here!

The Narrative Project of The Christian Century

Register Here!

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