This Week At First Church

A JOYFUL COMMUNITY - DIVERSE IN SPIRITUAL BACKGROUNDS & BELIEFS

THIS WEEK AT FIRST CHURCH

IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION

Senior Pastor's Message
New Website
Community Hour Sunday
Annual Quilt Raffle
Women's Fellowship Luncheon
Easter Egg Dyeing And Hunt
Holy Week And Easter Schedule
Ted Lasso Faith Formation Classes
Church School
Rise Against Hunger May 4
Upcoming Events
Community Corner
Regular Weekly Happenings

6 A.M. Sunrise Service Bulletin

9 a.m. & 11 a.m. Easter Sunday Bulletin

Click on the image above to see our Sunday Bulletin

SENIOR PASTOR'S MESSAGE

Greetings Friends,

On that first Easter morning, even Jesus’ closest friends weren’t sure what to believe. They were amazed, but not yet convinced. And maybe that’s where faith often begins: in wonder, in questions, in hope that dares to rise.

Join us this Easter Sunday as we step into the mystery of resurrection together—whether you come full of faith, full of doubt, or somewhere in between.

Christ is risen! Come and see.

Pastor Patrick

WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE!!

We’ve launched a fresh, user-friendly website built just for churches—with more space, better organization, and tons of helpful features. Whether you’re looking for past sermons, bulletins, or full services, it’s all right at your fingertips—beautifully organized and easy to navigate. Check out what’s new and different below!

New:

· Our website is hosted by Subsplash, which specializes in church websites. AND they give us 1 TB (i.e., gobs) of space.

· MEDIA - from one webpage for a sermon you can now see a short description, date, speaker’s name, access the Sunday bulletin, the Friday email before it, audio of the sermon, and video of the full service. You can filter the sermon list by speaker, topic Bible book or search for any keywords. We are in the Narrative Lectionary* series now. There will be others later. (* https://wordtoworship.com/lectionary/narrative )

· Full Sunday service and other videos are embedded on webpages to be less distracting, but they will also continue to be on YouTube and Facebook.

· Some older sermons and music will be in "Archived Favorites". Feel free to suggest favorites of yours to add here if you don’t see them.

· You can download apps for our website for iPhone or Samsung cell phones from Apple or Google Play, respectively.

Different:

· ACS* on the menu far right is the same as "MYFIRSTCHURCH". (Our theme allows only a logo in the page header, so that link is now on the menu with a shorter name. ACS is the platform that hosts MyFirstChurch. (*ACS stands for Automated Church Systems.)

· For the same reason, the Preschool link is now under About Us on the menu.

· The Search Bar is now in the middle of the page footer. It's different in that the search results are not on a new page, but rather in a box below the search bar.

· There are more photos throughout the website since we have so much more space and photos are appealing.

ANNUAL QUILT RAFFLE FOR THE WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP

It’s April and that means the annual quilt raffle to benefit The Women’s Fellowship is just around the corner. Tickets will be sold at community hour, the church front office, and The Rummage Room. Tickets are $5 and the drawing will be held on May 3rd at The Women’s Fellowship luncheon. Get your tickets soon!

WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP LUNCHEON AND ANNUAL MEETING

Calling All Women of First Church - join us on Saturday, May 3 at 11:00 a.m. for our Women's Fellowship Annual Meeting and Luncheon. We are looking for women who would like to get involved in planning our next year and serving on the Women's Fellowship Board. Please see us at the next Community Hour where you can also make your reservation for the Annual Meeting luncheon.

The fee for the luncheon is $25 - cash or checks made out to: Women's Fellowship FCCOG. For questions you can email Car Westbrook HERE.

Some of our other upcoming events include our Summer Socials planned for the fourth Monday of June, July, and August - June 23, July 28, and August 25-beginning at 5:30 pm at the Sue Baker Pavilion at Greenwich Point with rain dates are the following Tuesday evening.

EASTER EGG DYEING AND HUNT

TED LASSO FAITH FORMATION OPPORTUNITY

CHURCH SCHOOL

CHURCH SCHOOL RESUMES APRIL 27

ALL AGES WORSHIP (AAW)

AAW is a Sunday morning experience for the whole family of faith

to sing, pray, hear stories and partake in communion together!

May 20 – Music Sunday

RISE AGAINST HUNGER SUNDAY MAY 4 AT 10 A.M.

RISE AGAINST HUNGER MEAL PACKING EVENT

SUNDAY MAY 4 AT 10 A.M.

During our morning worship time, we will pack 20,000 meals to support Rise Against Hunger’s vision of a world without hunger, which distributes meals in 38 countries to schools, health clinics and communities hit by disaster. The meals help keep children in school and aid communities in the short term as they develop long term food security.

The cost of underwriting The Rise Against Hunger meal packing and the meal packing event will be our 2025 Lenten Offering and Lenten Project. Please join us for a fun, energized, music-filled morning when we will experience the joy of working together to help the least among us! Bring friends to show them First Church in action!

Scan the QR code below to offer your support to our Lenten Offering/Project which helps cover the costs associated for this important outreach program. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

UPCOMING EVENTS

COMMUNITY CORNER -

HAPPENINGS IN OUR FIRST CHURCH BUILDING

STICK YOGA: Saturday mornings, from 10.30 - 11.30am

FREE TRIAL CLASS for members of First Church and after that $20 per class.

Bamboo stick yoga is a captivating fun way to explore stretching, balancing, conscious breathing and coordination, using a long light (bamboo) stick. It improves spatial awareness, posture, mobility and a mind-body connection, releasing stress. Supporting flexibility, stability and ease in our bodies, appropriate for any age. Some movements come from a Qigong method.

Please bring a yoga mat, and a yoga stick. You can purchase one online (e.g. the Karma Heart Yoga Stick), or make one, or use a broomstick. The stick should be approximately as tall as you. It could also be helpful to have a blanket if you like support for your head or knees. Email teacher Herma Hale for more information: hermahale@hotmail.com

TAI CHI: We meet at the First Congregational Church of Old Greenwich 9:30am Monday or Thursday (with advance sign up). All monies go straight to First Church. Please sign-in before class. Contact Will Morrison for more information: wdmorrison@gmail.com

This week’s classes

Monday, 9:30 - Drop-in / Fundamentals Form
Thursday, 8:30 - Drop-in / Fundamentals Form Pls confirm your attendance in advance

Next week’s classes

Monday, 9:30 - Drop-in / Fundamentals Form
Thursday, 8:30 - Drop-in / Fundamentals Form Pls confirm your attendance in advance

New joiners:

Where: 108 Sound Beach Ave, Old Greenwich. Enter the church’s parking lot from Forest Avenue and park anywhere. Please give the parents dropping off their children lots of room.
Which entrance: Enter through the door labelled Church Offices noted by the arrow. Once inside, go up the stairs immediately to your left which lead directly to the Auditorium, where we will be playing.

REGULAR WEEKLY HAPPENINGS

Bring your little ones to church -

we completely EMBRACE them.

At First Church, we believe the way we welcome children in worship directly affects the way they respond to God, to the church, and to one another.

To welcome children as they are in worship, we have our PrayGround, located in the Chapel (front right side of the Meetinghouse), where children and others of all ages can engage in worship through movement, sensory materials, and prayerful play.

The presence of all God’s children is a gift to the church, which offers hope for all.

Scan the QR code to access PrayGround FAQs and Helpful Tips.

FCCOG VOLUNTEER SIGNUP CENTER - One location for all volunteer sign ups!

We have consolidated all volunteer signups for all Committees and events at FCCOG. This will help Committees fill volunteer needs and will help volunteers easily signup for projects and events of interest.

There is a link on the FCCOG website homepage titled

FCCOG VOLUNTEER SIGN UP CENTER

This link will also be publicized in every Friday e-blast and the Sunday Bulletin. You can also access the Volunteer Signup Center by scanning this QR Code.

Thank you so much for the time you give volunteering for First Church!

GET YOUR FAMILY WEEKLY CHURCH SCHOOL &

RYM (REGIONAL YOUTH MINISTRY) NEWSLETTER

Using your smartphone camera, scan the QR code here to sign up for our weekly Family Ministry newsletter. You can read about Church School, Regional Youth Ministry, and more!

FIRST CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

The Church Offices are open regular hours, M to F, 9 am to 4:30 pm. Please remember to make an appointment with any member of staff you wish to meet with. Find staff contact details here.

THE RUMMAGE ROOM

The Rummage Room is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,

11 am to 3 p.m., for shopping and to receive donations. Come and see us!

NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR DONATIONS

Every donation directly helps those in need.

This basket is in the Meetinghouse near the front door, and donations can be dropped to the Church Office. Most needed items include canned meat, cereal, canned fruit, canned vegetables, and shelf-stable milk.

CALL TO OFFERING, OR USHER

We have a sign-up-page to read scripture, usher, or read a call to offering. All of the previous individual pages are now combined in one, with tabs at the top of the page to flip between each signup.

Simply click on each to navigate to the appropriate signup. To access that signup, click here