Tuesday March 24, 2020
Dear church family,
Church Services will be held only online through and including Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020. This is at the direction of our local church council and at the urgent recommendation of the Southwest Conference of UCC.
This means the First Congregational Church of Flagstaff will have only online services on March 29, April 5th (Palm Sunday) or April 12 (Easter Sunday). Wednesday vesper services during Lent will also only be online. If the global public health crisis does not improve, we may need to continue online services beyond Easter Sunday.
For the time being, we should no longer stand side by side or hand in hand. We must find new ways to share our faith, our strengths and our love for one another.
In order to continue worshiping together, we will use online Facebook connections, a system that Pastor Nathan has already used. Our Vespers service on Wednesday, March 18th and the service for Sundays March15 and March 22nd were held online, using a Facebook live streaming system. Pastor Nathan led us in worship both times.
You can join fellow parishioners for future services by going online Wednesdays and Sundays (See instructions below).
Going online to view services live, in real time: Go to the church website: fccflagstaff.org and scroll down to the Facebook link. There is no need to subscribe to Facebook or to sign in. Once you’re on Facebook by using the link, simply scroll down to the videos and the live presentation. By doing this at 10:30 on any given Sunday, you’ll find the service starting live for that day. For previous Sundays, scroll down more and find each service archived and marked with a date and a title (e.g. “Sunday worship service – March 22, 2020). The March 18th Vespers service and the Sunday services beginning with March 15 can be found archived at the Facebook site. If you miss a service in the future, you will also find those services archived.
Finances: Although First Congregational Church of Flagstaff will not be conducting in-person worship for a while, the work of the church and our congregation will continue. Giving is a challenge with the new form of worship – Worship through Facebook Live at our regular gathering time of 10:30 am.
We are continuing to “Be the Church” and our staff is working hard to bring a new way of worship. We are grateful for your continued financial support.
You can give by:
1) Mailing your check to: First Congregational Church, 740 N Turquoise Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
2) Set up a one-time or recurring on-line bill pay with your bank. Have the bank issue checks to First Congregational Church, 740 N Turquoise Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86001.
From the Church Council
Wednesday March 18, 2020
Mid-Week Check-In
Online Worship Resources
Hello Church Family,
We are writing you with our hearts full of love and concern for each of you and your families at this time. There was a hush that came over my neighborhood last night at 8PM as the shops and restaurants in Downtown Flagstaff and throughout the state went dark early to honor the request of elected officials in attempt to limit the spread of COVID 19.
During these days of unprecedented disruption to our daily lives and our shard life as the First Congregational Church of Flagstaff in response to COVID 19, we are seizing this opportunity to be Church in new ways.
Online Worship Resources
We had our first online worship service this past Sunday via Facebook Live and that video will remain available on our Facebook Page.
And here is the best news—you don’t have to have Facebook to watch the video! You can view the video just by finding our page and clicking play, however you won’t be able to comment on the video. https://www.facebook.com/FCCFlagstaff/
We are doing a brief online Facebook Live ‘Evening Vespers’ styled service today featuring prayers, scripture and music beginning at 4pm so that you might be able to tap into some spiritual grounding through worship at this time even though we won’t be meeting in person.
It is difficult to set a routine schedule for the mid-week service at this time, but we will be offering Worship through Facebook Live for the next few Sundays at our regular gathering time-10:30am. W
hile we are hoping to be able to gather again in person for Easter, that decision will be made in consideration with the latest CDC guidelines and in prayerful discernment with our Conference Ministers and Church Council.
In the meantime, our office manager, Emma Jo, is giving our website a makeover! We will be including a new section for videos and other social media content so please check there regularly as well. https://fccflagstaff.org/
Sunday March 15, 2020
In consultation with our church council leaders, our conference ministers and other clergy colleagues in Northern Arizona, we have decided to postpone our Sunday Worship services for March 15th and 22nd. This is a difficult decision due to how important and special our time together on Sundays is, but we want to be abundantly cautious with ourselves and with each other as the reality of the coronavirus in the US continues to develop and expand.
The challenge at this time is: How are we Church together even when we are not gathered together?
While we hope this to be a temporary measure as we gain more information on how the virus is spread and how we can protect the most vulnerable among us, this challenge is also an opportunity for us to be particularly creative in our community.
What are the healthiest ways that you can connect with others at this time?
One way that I’ll be exploring connecting with you all over distance is to share some worship material online through our Facebook page. So now is a great time to follow us on Facebook as we will share updates and worship material online over the coming days:
Also, the church house will continue to run as an office for the time being, so please be encouraged to contact us for prayer requests or pastoral visits:
Phone- (928)-774-0890 or email- pastor.fccf@gmail.com
You can also stay connected at this time by mailing in your regular offerings, or making a special offering to One Great Hour of Sharing as we were to do over the next two Sundays:
First Congregational Church of Flagstaff
740 North Turquoise Drive
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
We are watching the developments of this public health crisis closely and we will be in regular communication with you all over a variety of platforms in the coming weeks.
For now, let us hold each other in love and light, knowing that our close bonds built through our shared discipleship have weathered many-a storm before.
In honor and celebration of our covenantal life as FCCF we will find a way forward from here together.
With you on the journey,
Pastor Nathan