News and Info
from First Congregational Church of Battle Creek
Hello, friends! I write bearing greetings from the wider United Church of Christ. As many of you know, I spent a week away earlier in January attending an annual training with the Next Generation Leadership Initiative (NGLI). Read on to hear more about what I learned—and how it might just change your life, too.
Read MoreWe like to talk about compassion, service, justice, equity, and wholeness. We strive after these virtues in our lives, and with starry-eyed hope believe that we can change the world. But it’s not that easy, as most of us have already figured out. That’s where our Epiphany season teaching series picks up.
Read MoreWho is Jesus to you? Son of God? Savior? Master teacher? Misunderstood prophet? Failed revolutionary? Dangerous nobody?
Maybe you're not so sure of what to make of the whole "Jesus" thing. Maybe part of you wants to have a connection with this person, but the behavior of so many of his contemporary disciples turns you off. Maybe you too wonder and grieve at how his radically inclusive message has been forgotten while pundits and politicians have turned him into a piece of slick political branding or a weapon of oppression.
It was never supposed to be this way. Is it possible to fix it?
Read MoreLast week, I finished my final exams for courses in Hebrew, Church History and the Hebrew Bible at San Francisco Theological Seminary. In many ways, it feels surreal to attending seminary/graduate school (online). Seminary has always been something on the horizon. To find this opportunity in the midst of so much happening in the world (global pandemic, social unrest, etc.) feels even more significant. Many years ago when I began to feel called to ministry, I could never have expected
Read MorePut your body
where your soul feels alive.
Give yourself permission
to take up space there.
Stay, as long as it takes.
Read MoreThere is no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn. They are displaced from their home, journeying to fulfill their civic requirements to be counted in the census. And yet, the time comes to give birth where they are, and so a humble home is found.
Read MoreJust before Advent began I made the somewhat slapdash choice to take a break from Facebook and Twitter for the Advent season in order to give my frazzled nerves a chance to reset and quiet down…
Read MoreLongtime FCC member Dorothy Frey passed away November 6th, 2021. The family will receive friends 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Monday, December 13 at Farley Estes. A memorial service will be held 12:00 noon Monday, December 13, 2021 at Fort Custer National Cemetery.
Click here to view the obituary and more details.
Read MoreOur community partner, Charitable Union, seeks to provide clothing, bedding, menstrual products and small household items at no charge and connect people to resources in the community. They operate just a block from our building on Calhoun Street.
They currently have several open positions, both paid and volunteer.
Read MoreSue Day was one of the most positively realistic people I have ever encountered at First Congregational Church. She had a sharp wit, a beautiful smile and a firm grasp on the realities facing our world today. In my conversations with her, I was always struck by her pragmatism
Read MoreIn September, Battle Creek Public Schools notified it’s families that due to logistical slowdowns caused by supply chain issues, the food they had planned to be served for the month may not be available as planned. They asked families to donate snack foods to fill some of the gaps in their breakfast and afternoon snack menus. First Congregational Church also provided additional support with donations of snacks to both Post Franklin Elementary and Fremont International Academy.
Read MoreThe Fremont Garden, a community based neighborhood gardening initiative, was awarded a $4,000 grant from the Michigan UCC Conference Innovation Awards. These grant monies will be used to install city water hookup at the Fremont Garden to make watering much easier! Currently, a volunteer uses water from a neighbor’s home and hauls drums of water from
Read MoreJoin us for a special Stewardship Sunday on October 31st! We will be hosting Olive Chin Baptist Church, which meets in our Chapel each Sunday and enjoying lunch together after. Lunch will be provided by Chef Cherry Vassar and everyone is encouraged to bring their own tableware. If you forget the tableware, we will have paper products available. A menu will be provided the week prior with vegetarian and gluten free options available. If you have a specific dietary need we can accommodate, please reach out to the Church Office.
Read MoreFirst Congregational is supporting Post Franklin Elementary School for it’s Socktober Sock and Underwear drive. Donations of new socks (children’s sizes small or medium) and underwear (sizes 4-8 or XS/S/M) can be placed in the donation bin outside the sanctuary.
Read MoreAt First Congregational Church of Battle Creek, we seek to embody God’s love here on earth in real and practical ways. If we are to live into our mission, God’s love cannot simply be an intellectual exercise or something we sing and pray about each week. So what is it, then, that motivates and enables us to show up in real and vital ways as a faith community? Ask yourself: what roots you here?
Our Stewardship theme of “Rooted in Love” draws inspiration from
Read MoreIf you would like to embody God’s love through hospitality on Sunday mornings, here are a few ways you can help with fellowship time after worship:
Read MoreWhen you come in the doors or log on to Facebook for Sunday worship at FCCBC, what goes through your mind? What inspires you, excites you, challenges you, and motivates you to walk your faith more deeply throughout the week? How does worship help you to embody God’s love?
Read MoreRead More“Apprehend God in all things, for God is in all things. Every single creature is full of God and a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature—even a caterpillar—I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature.”
