June 2, 2024

Bulletin

Music

Prayers of Intercession

(new names added will be in red)

To view the live-streamed 10 AM service, please use one of the links below.

Youtube Link

Facebook Link

The Children's Faith Formation News and Information is updated weekly!

PROFESSIONAL NURSERY CARE NOW AVAILABLE!

Professional nursery care is offered each Sunday during the 10 am Worship Service.

• The Nursery opens 9:45am (15 minutes before service) until 11:15am (15 minutes after service)
• Two experienced and trained nursery staff members are on duty each Sunday.
• There are age-appropriate toys and activities.
• The room is refurbished, clean, and comfortable.
• There is a secure check-in and check-out process.
• Because of food allergies, no snacks are permitted, but water is welcomed.



For more information, please call the Church Office at 203-272-5323.

It's time! The Strawberry Festival is Saturday, June 8, and your participation will make it a success. Volunteering is a fun way to connect with both church and community! 

Volunteers are needed both Friday, June 7 and Saturday June 8 - and there is something for everyone. Link to the signup sheet is HERE. 

Sign up can also be done in person at church on Sundays through June 2, or by emailing Kirsten Sullivan

 Come be part of the fun!

If anyone has a Strawberry Festival yard sign at home would they kindly change the date and place in their yard.

Butterflies to Benefit Chrysalis Shelter

The Easter butterflies that have graced our sanctuary for the last few years are now available for your donation.

It's easy to donate:

*with cash into the money boxes

*checks made out to 'First Congregational Church'

with "butterflies" in the memo line

*on our website, firstcheshire.org, under the

"donate" tab

Every butterfly that goes out into the world means a sign of hope and a new life for those seeking shelter from domestic violence.

300^th Anniversary Ten Bell Rings for the 10 Year History 1744-1754

Ringing the Bell for Week 28, June 2

is Joellen Jason

The church population rapidly increased, with the bounds of the parish then extending as far west as the center of Prospect. Rev. Samuel Hall continued to serve as Pastor.  Sunday worship services took place in the morning and afternoon. 



Sabba-Day houses were built on the Green, at the rear and south of the Second Meetinghouse. These twelve by twelve structures featured a chimney and fireplace at one end; some were raised on posts to provide shelter for a horse. The houses offered worshippers a place to warm up from the morning service and enjoy a meal before going back for the afternoon service. A typical lunch included bread, cheese, doughnuts, apples and cider. 

Sunday Volunteer Opportunities



Every Sunday there is a need for Greeters, Worship Assistants/Lay Leaders and Ushers.

If you can help with greeting and/or assisting at worship, please use the buttons below to sign up.

If you can assist with Ushering, please contact Nancy Stover (email link on tab below) for more information.

Highlighting Andie Mackey of the Chancel Choir

Andie’s love of music started in her teens and she later joined her High School choir. Prior to joining the Chancel Choir earlier this year at First Church, she sang with Another Octave, Connecticut Women’s Chorus.

Spanning a 49 yr. career in health, almost exclusively in a diverse Home Health Care market, as a consultant, Andie served her last 6 yrs. providing end of life hospice education, till retiring in Feb. 2024. 

Making Cheshire home after marriage to Ted,  a life long resident, Andie is blessed with a son, Nate.

Her loves include travel, beaches, cooking, decorating, collecting old things and people.  

Yard Goats Game

Sunday, June 30 at 1:10 PM 

Tickets are available to be picked up during Fellowship hour on any Sunday in June or you can call the office to make arrangements to pick them up there during the week. Tickets are $15 each and can be paid with cash or check made out to the First Congregational church with Yard Goats in the memo line.

Native Plants for

Every Landscape

June 5 at 6:30 PM

Ever wonder how to make your yard more enticing for pollinators? And have it look great, too? Ever wonder what some of these plants you've heard about look like and how they would fit into your landscape?

Come hear a talk by Holly Kocet on June 5, at 6:30 pm at the First Congregational Church. This presentation is chock full of photos of native plants, shrubs, trees and grasses, and will illustrate the versatility of native plants in a variety of landscape situations. Whatever your landscape needs, there is a native plant to fill it. 

Holly Kocet is founding member of Protect Our Pollinators and chair of the Newtown Conservation Commission. She is a Certified Advanced Master Gardener with the University of Connecticut, (2011) and past president of the Garden Club of Newtown. Holly spent seven (7) seasons working Earth Tones Native Plant Nursery in Woodbury where her love of native plants grew with an understanding of the important interconnected relationship with our pollinators.

Protect Our Pollinators is a small non-profit group based in Newtown that seeks to increase awareness of threatened pollinator species including native bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators. Education on harmful pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides) and their effects on pollinators, birds and other wildlife and their habitats is their primary focus. They provide information on invasive plants and encourage planting of native species for pollinators and other wildlife.

Easy to Compost: Composting food waste has lots of benefits. Chiefly, it protects the climate by reducing methane emissions from landfills and at the same time makes lots of rich soil. Some people would like to compost, but can’t have a proper pile or bin at home. No problem! In Cheshire, there’s the Boulder Knoll Community Farm composting area, where anyone can drop off food scraps in the group’s large composting tumbler. It’s located at 875 Boulder Road, quite near the Wallingford town line. Friends of Boulder Knoll advise that vegetable and fruit peels, eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds, uneaten breads, pasta, moldy fruits, and rotten vegetables may be composted there. What shouldn’t go in the tumbler are bones; uneaten meat, fish, and dairy; and paper products, plastic, rubber bands, bags, ties, and stickers. (Even “compostable” utensils and plates shouldn’t go there.) There are so many benefits to composting that everyone ought to participate – and now, at Boulder Knoll, more people can.



For more information about our church's Eco Action Team, email Anne McNulty or Karen Schnitzer.

June 2 - June 9 Calendar

Sunday, June 2

10:00 am  Worship and Church School

11:00 am  Fellowship, Parish Hall, hosted by Membership Ministry

11:15 am. 300^th Anniversary Committee, Chapel

12:00 pm  Pride Event sponsored by Cheshire Human Services, Green

5:00 pm    Stepping Stones, Parish Hall

5:00 pm    Middle and High Youth Groups Top Chef, Parish Hall

5:00 pm    CAFÉ Conversations, Chapel

6:30 pm    End of year dinner for Sunday evening programs, Parish Hall

Tuesday, June 4

11:00 am  Elim Park Communion

2:00 pm    Parish Care, Library

7:00 pm    Caring Ministry, Chapel

7:00 pm    Eco Action Team, Whiting House

7:00 pm    Special Church Council Meeting, Parish Hall

Wednesday, June 5

12:45 pm  Caring Crafts, Parlor

3:30 pm    Staff Meeting, Library

6:30 pm    CT Native Plants Presentation, Parish Hall

Thursday, June 6

7:00 pm    Presidents Meeting, Whiting House

Friday, June 7

11:00 am  Chapman School Historical Tour

Saturday, June 8

10:00 am  Strawberry Festival

Sunday, June 9 – Appreciation Sunday

10:00 am  Worship and Church School

11:00 am  Fellowship, Parish Hall, hosted by Church Council

11:15 am  After the Amen with Pastor James, Chapel