With deep sadness, we share that our beloved friend and member Danni Bangert died on March 11, 2026. Danni was a member of First Cong for over 50 years. We hold her husband of 68 years, Merv, and daughters, Lesli and Lari, and their families in our hearts and prayers. A Service of Thanksgiving for Danni will be held at First Congregational on Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel. There will be a reception after the service in the Standish and Heritage Rooms.

Stu Cummings, a founder of Go Electric Colorado and guest speaker at last month’s CAT forum on home electrification, is offering First Cong members a special showing of his home’s energy modifications and cost savings on Saturday. June 6 from 10:00 a.m.-noon in S. Boulder. Please stop by 1105 Toedtli Dr. and bring your curiosity and questions! Bonus viewing: Stu’s garden, certified by the Colorado Native Plant Society.

For more information, contact Pat Whitaker.

Help us honor the people in the United States affected by gun violence and elevate the voices of advocates who are taking action to demand an end to gun violence. Because orange symbolizes the value of each person's life, we wear orange to call an end to gun violence. Please join our Gun Violence Prevention (GVP) Ministry all weekend and on Sunday by wearing a scarf, pin or other orange item to worship on June 7.

Everyone is invited to join us for our annual Spring Picnic immediately following the ARTS Camp Musical at our 10:00 a.m. Worship service on Sunday, June 7. BBQ sandwiches (pork, chicken, and a vegan option), pasta and green salad, baked beans, dessert and beverages – all provided for you by our Board of Community Life. Please feel free to bring a lawn chair as sometimes we fill up all the seating. All are welcome and warmly encouraged to join us for food, fellowship, games, and a playground for the kids. Hope to see you there under the picnic shelters!

We are eager to hear the results of our feasibility study late next week. If you are the penultimate procrastinator, you do have one more chance to participate. And, we encourage you to do so because the more voices the better! A shortened paper survey will be available both in the pews on Sunday and at the picnic after church this Sunday. Thank you to all who have participated.

Our work with Fellowship Development, the consultants guiding our Capital Campaign Feasibility Study, is nearing completion. In the coming weeks, members of our Planning Team will host several opportunities for the congregation to hear the results of the study, ask questions, and learn more about possible next steps in this season of discernment for our church’s future. Please join us at any of the following gatherings:

Sunday, 6/14: 8:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. | Standish Room

Monday, 6/15: 8:30 a.m. Monday Breakfast, Doug’s Day DIner

7:00 p.m. Board of Management Discussion and Vote

Wednesday, 6/17: Church Council Discussion and Vote

Friday, 6/19: 7:00 a.m. Men's Breakfast | Standish Room

7:30 p.m. Zoom (Meet ID: 834 5532 0822, Pass: 112283)



Sunday, 6/21: 8:45 a.m. | Standish Room

Sunday, 6/21: Congregational Meeting, 11:15 a.m. | Sanctuary & Zoom (Meet ID: 846 6662 2944, Pass: 907860)



Thank you for the thoughtful participation that has shaped this process. We hope you will take part in these important conversations together.

In 1987 First Cong became an Open and Affirming Congregation, meaning we invite and affirm our LGBTQ+ siblings into membership and leadership. To live into that covenant, we invite everyone to participate in Boulder PRIDE on June 13, 2026. We need volunteers to help host and welcome people at our booth (library parking lot) AND we need 600 frozen freezer pops. You can sign up for both in the Link after worship

or email Carmen Valdes to become part of the First Cong PRIDE Booth Team. 

Each year during PRIDE Month First Congregational Church celebrates PRIDE during at a PRIDE Sunday Worship service. You will hear from LGBTQ+ and Allies Ministry Members as to the importance of belonging to a faith community where everyone is welcomed and affirmed. At this service you are invited to wear your rainbow bandanas and other rainbow clothing to show love and support for our LGBTQ+ Siblings.

The congregation will for important Congregational Meeting on Sunday, June 21, immediately following worship. at 11:15 a.m. At this meeting, the congregation will vote on whether to move forward with a Capital Campaign this fall and will also vote to affirm the members of the Selection Committee for Associate Minister. Childcare and activities for children and youth will be provided during the meeting. As we continue discerning our future ministry, your presence and participation are greatly valued.

At the end of April, Rev. Linda Kowatch announced her retirement, effective January 31, 2027. We are grateful for her years of faithful ministry among us and we are now beginning the process of searching for a new Associate Minister. This is a shared undertaking involving our congregation, the Rocky Mountain UCC Conference, and the national setting of the UCC. Our Personnel Committee has met with Linda, reviewed and updated the position description, and discussed the search process with Church Council and Rev. Erin Gilmore, our Transitional Conference Minister. Pastor Chris, the Moderators, and several members of the congregation are drafting the Church Profile – an extensive introductory document required as part of the search process – which will be posted nationally for prospective candidates to review.

Pursuant to our Constitution, the Personnel Committee and Church Council are recruiting members for a Search Committee, with the goal of electing Search Committee members at the Congregational Meeting on June 21. Additional information will be shared at that meeting and at a forum on Sunday, June 28, at 8:45 a.m., before worship.

We enter this season of transition with gratitude for all that Linda has given our congregation, and with trust that God is already at work preparing the way forward. We invite your prayers as we discern together.

You are invited into a papier-mâché workshop where personal symbols take shape - small, tactile stories of identity, memory, and what we hold sacred. Guided by Sue Allman, church member and gifted art teacher, we gather in creative community where paper and paste become possibility. We return midweek to add color and bring them to life! All ages welcome – children, youth, adults, whole families. No experience needed, only curiosity and a sense of playfulness. Lunch and dinner provided. Register here.

A service of gratitude for our country and its professed ideals, tempered by honest reflection and a renewed call to justice, humility, and love. Together, we will consider both the promise and the unfinished, complicated story we inherit, seeking the courage to meet the future with clarity, responsibility, and hope. We are honored to welcome longtime member and former Congressman David Skaggs as preacher, with music offered by our Brass Quintet. Following worship, David will lead a Congregational Conversation.

Contemplative Camp has been an annual event for more than 40 years. Experience a week of learning about, and practicing contemplative prayer (also known as Centering Prayer or meditation) in the beautiful natural setting of La Foret Conference & Retreat Center near Colorado Springs. There are also opportunities for reading and discussions, walking the labyrinth, and hiking. Comfortable accommodations are available in the new Lapp Lodge. Visit the La Foret website at or talk to Bob von Trebra for more information.

After standing vacant since last September, our Carriage House is once again under lease. Unless Ventures, a Boulder-based venture capital firm focused on industrial innovation, advanced manufacturing, and climate technology, has signed a one-year lease with an option to extend for an additional year. They were introduced to us through Gibbons-White, the church’s facilities management company, and are moving in this week. With downtown Boulder office vacancies near 30%, we feel especially grateful to welcome a new tenant whose work resonates with our values and brings creative energy to this unique space.

If you are new to the church and want to learn more about its programs and groups or if you’re a long-time member with knowledge to share, the Navigator Program can help! The Membership Committee will link new members with long-time members who will help them learn more about First Cong’s boards, committees, ministries, and small groups. Our goal is to integrate new members into our church community. For more information or to become part of the Navigators, contact Nancy Wade.

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