As many of you may have seen, there have been threats of dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) via media and social media reports, the details of which are now starting to come out in more official channels.This Saturday, 12/20, please plan to attend (South Broadway & Rayleigh) a visibility event for NCAR. Organizers say, “Although we’re focusing on NCAR, this is a highly visible place to show that we demand that NCAR be saved!” Bring signs with a “SAVE NCAR” pro-science theme. For other ways to support NCAR click here.

This is the last Sunday that Alternative Gifts and Mindful Works will be open during coffee hour. Make donations to impactful projects in honor of a loved one or buy hand-crafted items where every stitch makes a difference. Gift-giving choices in the spirit of the season!

Join the McMane Arts Ministry for the final session of our Advent Art Brunch Series – an imaginative journey of art and spirit with Waverly Matthews. Through the lens of a mysterious Renaissance nativity, we are exploring 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.

Rehearsal for the Christmas Pageant will take place after worship this Sunday, 12/21. We will meet in the Grace Gallery at 11:45 and spend our time together rehearsing the brand new pageant, singing, selecting costumes, and eating pizza! Haven't signed up yet to participate? It's not too late! Register here.

4:00 p.m. Family Worship with Pageant

Mary and Joseph join angels dancing, shepherds scurrying, and magi searching to find the baby Jesus lying in a manger in a story the whole congregation will help to tell. Joyful Noise, Faith Singers, and Vocal Soloists will be joined by Congregational Strings offering special music.

Candlelight Services of Lessons and Carols at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.

Rejoice in the promise coming, the starlight guiding, the new life being born. Celebrate how God has come to be with us! In both services, our worship culminates in the soft singing of Silent Night, lighting candles, and the magnificent sounds of Joy to the World!

7:00 p.m. Enjoy the music of the season with our Congregational Bells and Chancel Choir. An extended prelude begins at 6:45 p.m.

9:00 p.m. Christmas music will be offered by our Brass Ensemble and Vocal Soloists. An extended prelude begins at 8:45 p.m.

Help us offer Christmas Eve hospitality at the 4:00 p.m. Christmas Pageant on December 24! The youth magi collect the offering during the service, but there are still spaces open for folks to welcome our many visitors to this service and hand out bulletins. Sign up here to usher at 4:00 p.m.

Each year our congregation chooses two partners to receive 100% of our Christmas Eve offering. This year we give with joy to Community Food Share and Casa de Paz of Colorado. Community Food Share fights hunger in Boulder and Broomfield Counties, providing fresh, nourishing food through 45+ partners. Casa de Paz offers sanctuary amid upheaval, welcoming thousands of asylum seekers each year with shelter, meals, travel help, and care – free of charge – believing always, that families belong together. To give click here.

It seems that the Christmas Season is too short and there is not enough time to sing some of our favorite Christmas Carols. Join us for one worship service only on Sunday, December 28 at 10:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary for The Carols of Christmas: Stories and Singing. On this Sunday we will hear the stories behind some of our favorite carols and then sing them together. Join us as we celebrate the birth of Christ during the Christmas Season.

We need volunteers to help us create a beautiful welcoming Brunch Church event on 1/4: cooks to bring in a dish prepared at home, a set-up team, and cleanup folks. A favorite Epiphany event at First Cong, Brunch Church brings us to Plymouth Hall to worship together around a shared meal of cinnamon rolls, baked frittatas, and fruit. We need your help to make it happen by baking the egg casseroles (easy recipe provided), bringing a fruit bowl, arranging tables, chairs, and place settings, or cleaning up afterwards. (Rolls and GF pastries will be made by Brunch Church coordinators.) Go now to our Sign-Up page to join the team.

Not able to join us for Epiphany Brunch Church on January 4? We warmly invite you to attend an online only concert of the best of Advent and Christmas music offered by First Cong’s choirs, soloists, and instruments. Watch your Weekly emails for January 2 and 4 or go to our Livestream page or our YouTube channel to watch the video on Sunday, January 4 at 10:30 a.m. After Sunday morning, the video will be available to enjoy anytime in our YouTube channel!

Giving statements are being emailed from the Church office. If you’re all caught up on your pledge, Rejoice! If you’re behind, consider this a loving reminder. If the statement you receive does not match your own records, or if you pledged and did not get one, please contact Julie, or 303-442-1787 x 0.

The church office is open this coming week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Christmas Eve, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We are closed on Christmas Day and Friday, December 26.

Two stories dominate American Christianity: one of decline, another of power yoked to nationalist extremism. The Narrative Project of The Christian Century magazine makes space for a truer telling – stories of faith that are alive, generous, and rooted in love. Our congregation has been selected to join churches nationwide in monthly reading circles beginning late January or early February. Together we will read, meet in small groups, and reflect on our faith. Participants receive a one-year subscription to The Christian Century. Interested in being part of a group?

Before Dr. Erica Chenoweth, author of Civil Resistance, joins us on February 13–14 as our MacKenzie Lecturer, we’ll gather for three evenings of shared inquiry and moral imagination. Together we’ll explore Chenoweth’s groundbreaking research on nonviolent movements and the courage they require. How does change take root? What does faithful public action look like now? Readings, brief videos, and guided conversation will prepare the ground. Register to participate and receive reading assignments.

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