News

Each Thursday, the First Congregational Church sends out an email filled with news about the church community. You’ll find a message from Rev. Brent Damrow and discover ways to participate in the life of the church.  Interested? Sign up with this form.  We look forward to sharing news with you.

Call for Singers Stockbridge Festival Chorus – Spring 2023 REQUIEM by John Rutter – with small instrumental ensemble and organ Sunday, April 23, 3:00 PM Rehearsals: Begin Sunday, February 5, 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Rehearsals will take place every Sunday until the concert (no rehearsal on Easter Sunday, April 9). Two additional Saturday rehearsals will…

I hope to engage with many more of you who find yourself suddenly transported by Scripture to a brand-new world this Epiphany Season.  I hope that together we might pause long enough not just to watch that world pass by, but to inhabit it – even if just for these short, fleeting days.   Peace and…

Inspired – Small Groups Rachel Held Evans (1981-2019) is a treasure.  She is known for her books and articles about faith, doubt, and life.  She has been featured in everything from the Washington Post and NPR to BBC and Christianity Today.  She served on President Obama’s Council of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  She was a great…

Keep up on all the church news! download January newsletter

The Christmas Fund/Veterans of the Cross is an annual United Church of Christ offering that supports our UCC clergy, both retired and active. It provides financial support in emergencies and augments the pensions of those who do not receive enough to live on. I have seen the impact of this fund in my work visiting…

Dear Families, What a joy to have twenty-two children this past Sunday here at 4 Main Street.  Thank you to everyone who helped plan all of the events and engage the children.  We love our children and see them as the future not just of this church but this way of life, this understanding of…

News, photos, and more! download december newsletter From Pastor Brent’s message: Happy New Year!  By the time you receive this newsletter, a new liturgical year will already be underway.  The church year starts, wisely so, with Advent – a return to an amazing story of faith.  It is a story replete with stunning imagery.  It…

It was a night of storytelling, singing, all-around merriment (and pies)! Saturday, November 5 at 6:00pm. Written and hosted by David Anderegg, the evening will feature an illustrious cast of musicians and actors.  Proceeds will benefit the preservation of the historic 1824 building of the Congregational Church in Stockbridge. For more information and livestream link,…

Lots of news! download November newsletter From Pastor Brent’s message: Dear Church Family, By the time you receive this, we will be closer to Christmas looking forward than we are to Labor Day looking backward.  Even closer to the moment you are reading this letter is the beginning of Advent.  Take a deep breath, relax;…

Lots of news and announcements! DOWNLOAD OCTOBER NEWSLETTER From Pastor Brent’s message: Dear Church Family, I love seasons.  I love the seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter because they invite us to notice particular gifts of each.  They draw our attention to blessings and gifts that make up the whole of life and that…

As with many things these days, the All-Church Picnic felt all the more wonderful because of its absence over the last two years. Over twenty church members, family, and friends joined our hosts Kay and Neil Holden and Tracy Schneyer at Mohawk Lake on the last Sunday of July. The sky was blue, the water…

The Language of the Heart This Fall, you are invited to come together in an exploration of not just one of the most beloved parts of the Bible, but also one of the most important.  This study will focus on the Psalms as living treasures that can and do speak truth into our times.  There…

Have you picked out your outfit yet?  Have you imagined where you might sit?  Have you thought about who you are looking forward to seeing or maybe bringing?  Have you been told that you are off the hook for making lunch reservations afterward? I hope so, but if not there still is time (although not…

FOOD, FUN & FELLOWSHIP Don’t miss this special Sunday with music, song and the start of Sunday school and fall activities! Kids!  The children will come to the tent after the Children’s Time for a mixer: kids and teachers will learn fun things about each other.  After the church service we will have fun activities:…

Walter Brueggemann maintains that Sunday morning is central to the life of the church.  One of the reasons is that collective worship, study, and fellowship are foundational for us to become the body of Christ.  Another reason, though, is that it stakes a claim on the importance of our church family to our lives.  It…

In 1988, Anne Hutchinson participated in the US-USSR Bridges for Peace.   This is the first of a series about mission trips organized by the church over the past decades. In early summer 1988 I was asked if I had a passport by a member of the Mission and Action Committee. When, I affirmed that I…

George Gershwin penned this song, made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, in 1934!  What does this song have to do with the Board of Growth and Fellowship?  Well… Summertime brings us the opportunity to gather outside with a cool glass of lemonade and catch up with friends! Summertime means lots of visitors to the Berkshires –…

It is easy to feel discouraged right now.  It is easy to find ourselves disappointed that our world is incredibly complicated right now.  Our faith, though, reminds us that God is still speaking.  Hymns remind us that God is making all things new.  Easter reminds us that new life can come from seeming dead ends. …

Worship of God is the core of all we do in church. Thought-provoking, dynamic, beautiful and forward-facing, our worship always aims at this question: what does God ask of us in this place and time? Each week’s sermon is available on the website here.  Typed transcriptions, links to the scripture readings, and video clips from…