News

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…

How often during this pandemic have we dreamed about, talked about, and planned for the new beginning that is coming when the grip on the pandemic loosens?  How often have we been ready to resume our most cherished traditions only to face a new wave, a new challenge, a new variant?  Are we there again? …

Are you still waving your palms and proclaiming hosanna with your lives? Are you still waving your ribbons and proclaiming resurrection with your actions? Our faith is a beautiful tapestry of truth woven into story across generations to influence how we live today.  It is a way of living that places emphasis on both remembrance…

Photos! Star of the Show– The Capital Campaign Kickoff Event was a resounding success.  It was well-attended by about seventy members and friends, as well as by many more who were there in spirit.  One of the main reveals was learning, through a clever interactive game, the total amount raised by the campaign in Advance Gifts.…

Hello Stockbridge Festival Choristers, current, past and future! We continue to follow the COVID-safety protocols of First Congregational Church, so we will delay our start date to Sunday, February 27 (not the announced Jan 30) to be ever vigilant. Rehearsals on Sundays, 1 to 3pm.  Concert date will remain Saturday, April 30, 5:00pm, with dress…

Please see the latest devotional, for April 14 – April 17. Lenten Devotional, March 2 – March 10 lenten devotional, March 11 – March 17 lenten devotional, March 18 – March 20 lenten devotional, March 24 – March 28 lenten devotional, April 14 – April 17 Friends, The project of gathering stories to form Forty…

Maundy ThursdayGather with Jesus and the disciples in the Upper Room to remember the story of deliverance and to prepare for Christ’s passion.  The gathered service at tonight at 7:00 p.m. will include communion and Luke’s telling of the story.  Coinciding with night fall, the Tenebrae tradition will bring the story to life.  As different voices from the congregation read the…

Do you feel it yet?  We have spent Lent abiding in hope.  Can you see it glimmering on the horizon yet?  Has it made its way to abide in your heart, your imagination, or your yearnings?  Do you notice a change in your step or your behavior?  If not, there is still time, for Lent…

Hope. Worship during Lent will be grounded firmly in hope. The Old Testament stories drip with hope and they will be the basis for my preaching. The Gospel stories reveal hope through the stories of Jesus, and they will be front and center in our time with the children (of all ages). Music will include…

This year we bring the lens of hope to our Lenten work of prayer, reflection, and preparation.  It is a theme that resonates through the Biblical story and in our own times too.  Hope was in the whispers of the people of Israel who dared to wonder if Jesus was the one to bring restoration…

Catch up on the mid-winter news! The memory of the joy and gift of Christmas is still fresh. There are hopeful signs that even this current wave of the pandemic may be receding.  How will we individually and collectively be prepared to open to the new possibilities already here and that might be just around…

The January 23 worship service focused on the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in particular the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”  It was written in longhand on April 16, 1963. Confined to his cell for participation in non-violent demonstrations against segregation, Dr. King was responding to a public statement…