Dear WCC,
Grace and peace to you whom God holds in inestimable love and delight!
We are working as a staff to adjust to our “new normal” and have some
updates to share with you on ways to stay connected through this season
of social distancing.
1) SUNDAY WORSHIP – we will continue to offer live streaming of worship
on the church’s Facebook Page at 9:45 AM on Sundays. You DO NOT need to
have a Facebook account to access the live service, and if you miss it
in “real time” you can go back and watch it later. (It stays up on our
Facebook page for posterity!) The church’s Facebook PAGE (not group) is:
www.facebook.com/WestbrookCongregationalChurchCt/
Scroll down the newsfeed and find the service at 9:45 AM.
2) WEEKLY SMALL GROUP- as our in person Lenten groups have gone on
hiatus till we can regroup in person, Mairi and I will be offering an
alternative six-week, online small group on Wednesday nights at 7 pm. We
will use Zoom (a videoconferencing service) to gather online. The
weekly small group will be a “Lectio Divina” type Bible Study on Psalms.
(See attached handout for the description of group Lectio that we will
use). To join the group use this link: zoom.us/j/126200609 or let me know and I’ll send you a reminder email. We will start meeting on Weds, March 25 and meet for six weeks.
3) FAMILY MINISTRIES: Mairi is putting together a bunch of ways for
families with children and youth to stay connected and engaged in faith
formation over this time of no in-person Sunday School or youth groups.
– There will be prerecorded video of a Children’s Message and a Sunday
School lesson for each Sunday that parents can access and share with
their children. Mairi has created a separate, dedicated Family Ministry
Facebook page where all these will be posted and archived. Here is the
link that page: fb.me/wccfamilies
– Mairi is creating a “Live (Weekly) Story Hour” to gather in “real
time” which will be led by Faith Formation staff/volunteers. Time/dates
TBD.
– Mairi is exploring with SYNC and Senior Youth Group members/leaders ways to stay in touch over the distance. Time/dates TBD.
4) (NEW!) LIVE DAILY PRAYER: because we want to stay connected more than
ever! Mairi and I will be leading a daily prayer at 11:45 AM every day
(except Sundays) for 15 minutes via Facebook Live. Again, go to First
Congregational Church of Westbrook, CT Facebook page and scroll down for
the Live post. For those who join live there will be a chance to offer
up your prayers in real time. For those who access it later, you’ll be
able to enjoy daily prayer whenever is convenient for you. Daily Prayer
will begin on Thursday, March 19
5) LECTIONARY LUNCH: the new in-person Bible discussion group will go on
line on Tuesdays at Noon. This group was suggested/created by John
Noyes and Rev. Jan to dig deeper into the Sunday scripture readings than
a 15 minute sermon can go. We’ll post and discuss the Bible reading
from the previous Sunday. This will be another Zoom group. Use this
link: zoom.us/j/327460011 or let me know if you’d like to join and I’ll send you a reminder. This will start on March 24.
6) STAYING CONNECTED BY PHONE: The Deacons and I are putting together a
list of folks who may or may not have computer access to keep in touch
with by phone with regular check in calls. If you’d appreciate receiving
or making such calls please let me know.
7) DON’T FORGET OUR LENTEN DEVOTIONAL! An existing online resource! If
you’d like to receive it and haven’t joined yet, please let me know. I
STILL NEED about 25 devotions to get through Easter Sunday. PLEASE SEND
YOUR SUBMISSION TO ME as soon as you can! I’m attaching the suggested
guidelines for writing a devotion to this email.
8) TECH SUPPORT! If you have any “tech anxiety” about joining or
participating in Facebook Live or Zoom meetings please let us know.
Mairi or I will be quite happy to walk you through how to access either.
They are really quite “user friendly” once you know what you’re doing!
Friends, here we are in the wilderness. God’s people have been on this
terrain many, many times throughout our sacred history! God is with us
even now, even here. We have not wandered out of God’s reach even though
we are six feet from one another. This may even be a time of special
connection as we go out of our way to stay connected to one another
across the social distance. I will sending out regular updates as
opportunities arise or needs change.
Grace&Peace, Rev. Jan
First Congregational Church of Westbrook, CT
United Church of Christ (UCC)