“Christ has no body but yours, no hands, feet on earth but yours.” –Teresa of Avila
The Christian faith demands that we bring all our resources to bear as we seek to walk in the way of Jesus: our hearts, our heads, and our hands. Our faith in a loving and compassionate God must ultimately find expression in the good, hard work of service and justice. People at the First Congregational Church take that calling seriously. This is one of the ways that we become the body of Christ.
Our local and global Christian service ministries are coordinated by the Board of Mission and Action. Ongoing ministries are described below, and you’ll find much more on the church events calendar, including seasonal service opportunities like the Justice Task Force, Construct Walk to Prevent Homelessness, the Christmas Giving Tree, and the Walk Out of Darkness (suicide prevention).
Explore our Service & Justice Ministries
Cathedral of the Beloved
From the June, 2024 edition of the church newsletter:
“On April 28th, we were graced with beautiful spring weather—a perfect accompaniment to the meal our church team served at Cathedral of the Beloved (COTB) in Pittsfield. Worship and lunch were held on the front lawn of St. Joseph Catholic Church on North St. Every week, year-round, COTB hosts an informal worship service followed by a meal. It offers a special welcome to those who are homeless or disadvantaged.
What is worship like at COTB? Folks arrive from all directions—some on foot, some in wheelchairs, some pushing strollers. The coffee station is often the first stop for the attendees. They particularly rejoiced over the half & half on the coffee table that day! Sitting or standing on the lawn, some of us joined with those worshipping. After music and a message, a question was posed to the group: “Why are you still here today?” Heartfelt tears and statements of gratitude poured forth from those who have, by some standards, seemingly little.
After the service, it was time for more sustenance . . . this time in the form of food! The menu consisted of beef stew (8 large crockpots’ worth), dinner rolls generously donated by Berkshire Mountain Bakery, salad, cookies, and water. Under the fine leadership of Martha Floyd, the team included shoppers on Friday, food prep crew on Saturday, and eight servers on Sunday. Many thanks to Martha & Rick Floyd, seven members of West Stockbridge Church, Beth Cilley, Terry Wise, Carl Bradford, Marion Pomeroy, Vicky Cooper, Tracy Wilson, and Cindy & Jack Brown.
We will be volunteering for this ministry again later in 2024. We hope you’ll join us! As Rick Floyd so simply and poignantly summarized, “This is church.”
Social Justice Committee
At the Congregational Meeting on February 4, 2024, the Congregation voted to approve the amendment of the Church Bylaws to add the following Article XIV, LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND COMMITMENTS
Land Acknowledgement This Church was founded in 1734 as a mission to the Mohican people with the intent that they would live and worship in harmony with European settlers. What began as a hopeful experiment led, within fifty years, to this Christian tribe being dispossessed of, and driven from, their homeland. As followers of Christ, we are called, in the words spoken by Isaiah, to “maintain justice and do what is right”. Accordingly, we offer this land acknowledgment using the language approved by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
It is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we are learning, speaking, gathering, and worshiping on the ancestral homelands of the Mohican people, who are the indigenous peoples of this land. Despite tremendous hardship in being forced from here, today their community resides in Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors past and present as we commit to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all.
Commitments The approval of this Land Acknowledgement demonstrates the commitments of The First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Stockbridge, Massachusetts to continue engagement and collaboration with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. This will involve ongoing education as we become aware of tribal issues. We respect the history and cultural significance of this land and, as stewards, intend to consult with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community prior to engaging in ground disturbing activity as described in the Addendum.
We commit, as well, to continue our own education around social justice issues and to find opportunities to provide appropriate responses and actions to build a more inclusive and equitable space for all.
On September 24, Justice Task Force was delighted to host Maggie Bennett, a member the Stockbridge- Munsee Community, who was visiting from Wisconsin. Maggie uses story mapping, a technique which bridges geographic information systems, photography, history, and archaeology, to tell the story of the travels of the Stockbridge-Munsee people. Maggie has shared her lecture, available here in a readable format. She discusses the travels of the community and the importance of Christianity in their culture.
Here is a YouTube link to the recording of her talk, where she answers many questions about tribal history, as well as current tribal life and issues:
For an excellent summary of the Stockbridge-Munsee history here, please click here. Through written material and video of tribal members as they walk Main Street, you will hear their story.
“Our Lands, Our Home, Our Hearts” – exhibit and lectures presented by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Cultural Affairs Department, summer and fall 2023 in Berkshire County.
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On April 23 we heard a fascinating presentation form Josh Hall. He spoke about the colonization of the Hudson River Valley and the Berkshires, the founding of the Congregational church in what is now Stockbridge, and the impact of those events on the local indigenous people. We encourage you to watch:
“The People of the Waters that Are Never Still have a rich and illustrious history which has been retained through oral tradition and the written word.Our many moves from the East to Wisconsin left Many Trails to retrace in search of our history. Many Trails [see left] is an original design created and designed by Edwin Martin, a Mohican Indian, symbolizing endurance, strength and hope. From a long suffering proud and determined people.”
Resources: “The Story of Stockbridge, 1789-1989” published in 1989, includes a few pages that give a useful overview of the early history of Stockbridge. There is a lot of information, both current and historical, on www.mohican.com
Pop-Up Pantry
Open 24 hours/day, 7 days a week; all are welcomed. The Pop-Up Pantry, in a shed behind the office wing at the church, is open. This outreach provides access to non-perishable, shelf stable food items to anyone in need.
Our church’s Pop-Up Pantry needs donations of canned fruit, veggies, tuna, chicken, pasta sauce, pasta, peanut butter, crackers, box cereal, box rice, mac & cheese; gluten-free items such as crackers, pasta, and mac & cheese; toiletries such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap, lotion; paper products such as Kleenex, toilet paper, paper towels; plus miscellaneous treats such as nutrition bars, cookies, bottled drinks, cooking oil, baking ingredients.
We ask that you leave these donations in the blue storage box in the back hall of the church building, not in the shed.
We need volunteers to keep things moving along smoothly. You can help in many ways, with minimal time commitment:
Volunteers to work in the building to sort, fill and label bagged food
For a list of all food pantries in Berkshire County, click here.
People's Pantry
Each month on communion Sundays (first Sunday of the month), we respond with an active prayer of thanksgiving, processing offerings of food and money which feed hungry mouths through the People’s Pantry in Great Barrington. Members of the church also volunteer regularly at the Pantry.
For information about how to donate to the Pantry, go to their website. Donations of food and funds are much needed.
The People’s Pantry Needs You …to volunteer to drive carless South County people to the Great Barrington pantry on Monday afternoons or Thursday mornings. Or to shop and deliver to their door. Quite often Anne Hutchinson hears of people who need to come to the pantry but have no transportation. Mission & Action would like to create a list of people to call upon when help is needed. Just ask Vicky Cooper, Nancy Wilcox or Cindy Brown how fulfilling it is to help people and make new friendships at the pantry! They’ve all been volunteering for years, and the need has increased. If you’re interested in getting on the volunteer list, contact Cindy Brown (email: cindytoddbrown@gmail.com, text: 413-446-2623, home phone: 413-298-5365).
Service League
With faithful dedication, the Women’s Service League fashions handmade crafts which are sold twice a year (at the summer fair and Holly Fair), all while engaging in lively conversation over coffee, tea and snacks. Proceeds from the group’s work go to support the church, the community, and the wider world. The Service League is open to women from the church and the community at large, and generally meets once a week from 10AM to 1PM.
Prayer Shawl Knitting Group
Our prayer shawl knitters engage monthly in a time of conversation and contemplation as they knit stitches of love, hope, and healing into prayer shawls which are given to people in times of trial or celebration. See the Events listing for dates and times.