Do you miss singing with friends? We do, too. While we know it’s not wise to sing during the COVID-19 Pandemic, we are however extremely grateful for the work of all our musicians here at First Congregational Church. A huge shoutout to our virtual choir who record a new piece from their homes each week! And extra gratitude to Rev. Chad Kidd, our music minister, who organizes it all. Check out this virtual choir performance from the first Sunday of Advent, “Canticle of the Turning.” This song retells the Song of Mary (the “Magnificat”) from Luke 1:39-55.
Pssst … do you want to join in singing in this choir too? Curious about how it works or if you can do it? Contact Rev. Kidd or let us know and you could be singing in next Sunday’s worship service!
“Canticle of the Turning” Words by Rory Cooney, based on Luke 1:46-58 Music: Irish Traditional; Star of the County Down, Arr. Rory Cooney.Arrangement 1990, GIA Publications, Inc. Permission with OneLicense.net #A712439…
You can donate toiletries by dropping them off at First Congregational Church, 25 Woburn Street, Reading, MA Monday through Thursday from 9 AM to 1 PM until Thursday, December 10. Please use the “Office Door” (the one with wreaths and planters out front) on Sanborn Street. Just inside the door are boxes labeled for our December collections.
Each Monday in Advent we highlight a mission partner, and this week we want to share a little bit about the work of Emmaus, Inc. in Haverhill, MA.
Emmaus, Inc. includes emergency shelter services, access and education towards affordable housing, prevention and stabilization services, and the D’Youville Center for Social Justice. First Congregational Church seeks to support Emmaus, Inc. and its mission to serve the unhoused, unemployed, oppressed, families and individuals needing housing and support services. Throughout the year we offer drives for collections for shelter services and promote the annual Cycle for Shelter fundraiser.
Each December we collect toiletries for the emergency shelter services at Emmaus, and this year is no different! If you have toiletries of any kind (including those little hotel samples as long as they are unused and unopened) we welcome those donations.
Each Friday we will share a devotional reflection. A devotional is something that you can use for spiritual reflection (writing, poetry, images, etc.) that help prompt your meditation, prayer, journaling, or just to ponder throughout the day.
“… an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will call him, Emmanuel. (Emmanuel means ‘God with us.’)” — the Gospel of Matthew
This week we light the first candle on our Advent Wreaths and begin our Advent journeys. As we light our first candle of Hope, we recognize we need Hope in order to have Peace, Joy, and Love. Hope gives us the ability to aspire to these other three.
This week, if you are feeling despair, anxiety, or fear from the difficulty of this year (and the uncertainty of the future), allow this light to remind you that you are not alone. Remember: the angel’s message Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds was “do not be afraid.” We believe that the Christmas message of “God With Us” (Emmanuel) is why Jesus came to be with us. He was born into a world that was also experiencing trouble, unrest, oppression, and fear. God wanted to be with us then, and God still wants to be with us in a Spirit of Hope that never dies.
Adapted from Dr. Marcia McFee’s Advent Resource
What ways are you inviting hope into your life this week? Write down a list of 5 hopes you hold in your heart today.
“Drawing Near” A Blessing for Advent
It is difficult to see it from here, I know, but trust me when I say this blessing is inscribed on the horizon. Is written on that far point you can hardly see. Is etched into a landscape whose contours you cannot know from here. All you know is that it calls you, draws you, pulls you toward what you have perceived only in pieces, in fragments that came to you in dreaming or in prayer. I cannot account for how, as you draw near, the blessing embedded in the horizon begins to blossom upon the soles of your feet, shimmers in your two hands. It is one of the mysteries of the road, how the blessing you have traveled toward, waited for, ached for suddenly appears, as if it had been with you all this time, as if it simply needed to know how far you were willing to walk to find the lines that were traced upon you before the day you were born.
As a part of our Advent Blog series, Wednesdays will feature artistic renderings of the Advent story. This week, I want to share with you “The Annunciation” by Henry Ossawa Tanner, which is one of my favorite paintings of this familiar Christian story. “Annunciation” paintings are a genre that depict the angel Gabriel sharing the news to Mary that she will bear God’s son (Luke 1:26-38).
Here in Tanner’s rendering, he steps out of the genre’s tradition which usually depicts Gabriel with wings, a dove descending, and perhaps a lily. Annunciation paintings also often picture Mary reading a Bible, praying, or often wearing the attire of a noble woman (as in many Renaissance and Reformation-era renderings).
Here, however, Tanner depicts a traditional Middle Eastern home with Mary listening closely to a soft glow of light. Here we feel like we can step into the painting and hear the conversation just as it appears in scripture. It seems Mary is just about to say “how can this be?”
Henry Ossawa Tanner was the son of an African Methodist Episcopal preacher, and one of the first African American artists to receive international recognition. He painted this piece just after a trip from Egypt upon returning to Paris. This painting is housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Take a moment to read the story from Luke while looking at the painting. Use this practice of “visio divina” to invite God near in meditation and prayer.
“Do You Hear What I Hear?” is a holiday song that feels like it might have been around forever! But did you know that it wasn’t written that long ago, AND, it was written in response to and during a very anxious time in the World? I’m finding that I’m relating to it in a new way this year – what about you?
Click the link below to give a listen as I narrate the history of this song from an article written by Richard W. O’Donnell and Gabrielle Regney in the December 07 St. Anthony Messenger. I know you’ll be singing it all season!
In anticipation and hope, Rev. Chad William Kidd Minister of Music
Each Monday we will post an opportunity to give back (call it #MissionMonday). This week, we highlight City Mission’s annual Christmas Shop, which helps provide gifts for children and families in need.
HOW TO DONATE? Donating toys, hats, gloves, mittens, clothing, books? Drop them off at the church office door on Sanborn Street from 9 AM – 1 PM, today through Thursday, December 3. There will be a box just inside the entryway to receive donations.
We will also be doing another “drive-by” collection day on Sanborn Street this Sunday, December 6, from 11:30 AM to 2 PM. Just pull up and drop off items (or volunteers can help take them from your trunk). Please wear a mask when making donations.
This year more than ever it’s important to support local businesses. But you might also want to consider buying gifts from Black, Brown, and Indigenous-owned businesses, and women-owned businesses, when possible. It’s also important that children of color receive toys and books with characters that look like them. There are some resources here, too. Here are some suggestions:
Back by popular demand, and perfect to help prepare for Christmas this December while at home, “Advent in a Bag” returns for 2020. This year, however, it will look a little different! We’re not even sure at this point if it’s a “bag” or maybe it’s a “box.” No matter what shape it comes in, we’re excited about what will be included inside to help guide you through this Advent season.
FCCR is once again collecting gently used coats for the Anton’s Cleaners coat drive. This includes coats of all types and sizes, for kids and adults. This year, due to COVID and space limitations, the FCCR collection will run from Monday, November 2, through Wednesday, November 25 only. Place coats in the box just inside the Sanborn St door of FCCR, Mon-Thurs., between 9am – 2pm. Coats may also be dropped off at any Anton’s, Jordan’s Furniture, or Enterprise Bank thru Jan 8. Alternatively, you can call the office to request information on contactless pickup.
Anton’s will clean the coats and donate them to charities that distribute them to those in need in the Boston area. These organizations include the Salvation Army, the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Rosie’s Place and the Boxford-based Community Giving Tree. Anton’s held its first Coats for Kids drive in 1994, collecting 2,000 coats. In its 15-year history, Coats for Kids has collected, cleaned and distributed a total of 620,015 coats. Last year 60,000 coats were collected, a number Anton’s hopes to meet again this year.
Annual Thanksgiving Food Pantry Drive
Sunday, November 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. you can pull up to an open parking spot on Sanborn Street and either a volunteer can take donations from your trunk or you can bring them to a table. Please wear a mask.
For people unable to participate that day, there will be a weekday drop-off opportunity on Thursday, November 19. The church’s Sanborn Street entrance nearest the office will be open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a collection box placed just inside.
Top needs include: Goya products, tea, coffee, body wash, bars of soap, shampoo, conditioner, tissues, paper towels, toilet paper, cereal, shelf stable pudding cups, and brownie mix. Reading Food Pantry also has an online Amazon Wish List.
Collection for City Mission’s Christmas Shop
Each year, City Mission in Boston distributes over 5,000 gifts & clothing items during the annual Christmas Shop. Toys, books, hats, mittens, scarves, clothing and underwear for kids & teens, and more. Donations will be available to be dropped off Monday through Thursday from 9 am – 1 pm on Nov. 30 – Dec. 3
There will be a “drive up” donation day on Sunday, December 6 from 11:30 AM to 2 PM on Sanborn Street next to the church.
Click here to read more about what items are in need this year, and how to support and empower local, BIPOC-owned and women-owned businesses. There is a great need for toys and books featuring children of color, and the website offers resources on where to find these items. …
