Announcements

• Introducing Rev. Robyn Gray, Candidate for Pastor

  Click here for a to read the announcement from our Search Committee, along with her bio.  Print copies are available on the table in the back of the Sanctuary.

  Save the Date! Candidating Sunday will be March 17, when Rev. Gray will lead the Sunday worship service.  Then we will have a special congregational meeting where we will vote on whether or not we call her to be our next Pastor.  On Saturday the 16th, there will be a social event where we will have the opportunity to meet and get to know her a little better before the service and vote. This is still in the planning stage but details will be shared soon. Stay tuned! (Especially keep an eye out for an email with info.)
• Feb 24-Farewell service for Pastor Cheryl

  You are cordially invited to the farewell ceremonies for Pastor Cheryl

  Sunday February 24th at 10:00am
  Worship service in conjunction with Youth Sunday and Confirmation
  Traditional Coffee Hour and Fellowship to follow

  Sunday February 24th at 3:00pm
  Service of Farewell and Release
  Fellowship, presentations and a meal to follow in Wersebe Hall of the Parish House
  RSVP for 3 pm Service and Reception - Click here

  Please help us thank Cheryl for 22 years of service and wish her and Scott well on the rest of Life's journey.
• Neighbors in Need (NIN) Offering accepted thru Feb 28

  The Neighbors in Need offering, supports the United Church of Christ (UCC) ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. We will accept contributions to this throughout the month of February. Special envelopes are available on the table in the rear of the sanctuary.

  Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries to fund a wide array of local and national justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects.  Through UCC.org/justice, our national Justice and Witness ministries office offers resources, news updates, and action alerts on a broad spectrum of justice issues.  Working with members of the UCC Justice and Peace Action Network (a network of thousands of UCC justice and peace advocates), Justice and Witness continues its strong policy advocacy work on issues such as the federal budget, voting rights, immigration, health care, hate crimes, civil liberties, and environmental justice.  Neighbors in Need also supports our American Indian neighbors in the UCC. 

  One-third of the offering supports the UCC’s Council for American Indian Ministries (CAIM).  Historically, forebears of the UCC established churches and worked with Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arickara, and Hocak in North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Northern Nebraska.  Today there are 20 UCC congregations on reservations and one urban, multi-tribal UCC congregation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  These churches and their pastors are supported by CAIM.  CAIM is also an invaluable resource for more than 1,000 individuals from dozens of other tribes and nations who are members of other UCC congregations in the U.S.

  Neighbors in Need helps make another world possible.  It needs your support.

  Please give generously.
• Whose Water is It? A talk at the Library on Feb 28

  RE: Whose Water Is It? Talk & Visual Presentation by the Washington Environmental Council at Gunn Memorial Library

  The Washington Environmental Council will present, as part of the Harwood Lecture Series, Whose Water Is It? What to Know about CT’s Water & How to Protect It? The talk and visual presentation will be delivered by Washington resident Hugh Rogers, a Rivers Alliance of CT Board Member. This event at Gunn Memorial Library in Washington, CT will take place on Thursday, February 28, 2019 @ 6:30pm.

  Water, one of the three, vital, natural resources, is around us, over us, in us, and beneath us. How we balance the water needs of human activity and those of the natural world will determine our present and our future. Is our water supply and quality protected? What is the State Water Plan, and what is it intended to do? Is water a public trust resource or a private commodity? And who decides? This presentation will explore these complex issues around this simple, but all important natural resource.
• Volunteer Chaperones Needed for New Milford Shelter

  The shelter in New Milford also has need of overnight volunteers.   A few of our members already do this.  If you want to hear what they have to say about it, talk with John Turner or Steve Wadelton.

  Give them a call anytime.  Contact:  Rufus at (860) 592-0142  for details.

  New Milford Homeless Shelter Coalition, Inc., PO Box 1016, New Milford, CT 06776
• Silver Lake Registration Time is Here Again!
  

  Conference registration is open and brochures with all camp conferences listed are on the literature table in the Meeting House!  Those who have attended in the past have probably received their brochures already.  If you are new to Silver Lake and will be going into 4th and up, you are elible to attend. 

  Conferences include subject matter for every interest!

  Silver Lake Conference Center, 223 Low Rd., Sharon
  
  http://www.silverlakect.org
  Registration: http://www.silverlakect.org/register
• Give to the Jack Jewett Fund for Silver Lake Scholarships
  

  Silver Lake Registration Time is Here Again!  Please help our kids who cannot afford to grow at camp for a week this summer by contributing to our Jack Jewett Fund.  Each year, this fund helps to offset some of the cost for our kids to continue to experience God in our world through lively and engaging programs, amazing social opportunities as well as spiritual growth.

  You may send your check to First Congregational Church, attn: Jack Jewett Fund, PO Box 1285, Washington, CT 06795.  Or place a check in the Sunday offering with "Jack Jewett Fund" in the memo line.

  To hear more about it, visit the Silver Lake website for information and an overview video on the home page. 
• Weather-Related Cancellations
  

  It's that time of year again!  With the possibility of weather-related cancellations, we intend to post cancellations or important Alert! here on our home page and also send out an email blast.  However, just to be safe, please tune in to WFSB / Channel 3.  Closings, cancellations, or late starts for any activities, including worship, will be posted there.