The beautiful Advent banners decorating the exterior of our church were created by Julie Rodriguez Jones, a member of our church family for over 50 years. She was baptized here and received her 4th grade Bible with Barbara Robinson and Virginia Miller, legendary Sunday School teachers. She was married here and raised her son Ross with us. Her mother, Alice …
“Now More than Ever” Stewardship Update
The Stewardship Finance & Administration (SF&A) Ministry wishes to thank everyone who has committed to being a sustaining giver for the coming year. As of December 2nd, the church has received 147 commitments totaling $598,350 in sustaining giving commitments for 2021. We are budgeting $650k for next year, and hope to receive information on all remaining commitments by December 10th …
Resonance presents Elizabeth Forsyth: Toccatas and Tunes on Dec. 5
NEW DATESaturday, December 5, 2020, 3:50 pmOn YouTube Join Elizabeth Forsyth for a melodic romp through the organ literature, with works by C.S. Lang, Peter Warlock, Adolphus Hailstork, Robert Schumann, and Richard Elliott! Half of your donations for this concert will go to HOPE (Homeless Outreach Program for Education), which is part of the Berkeley Public Schools Fund. They secure housing …
Secret Santa Round Robin!
Fill Out Form by Sunday, December 6 To make this strange Christmas season a little more festive in a socially distanced way, we are doing a Secret Santa Round Robin! To participate, fill out this form by this Sunday, December 6. By midweek, you will be given the name of someone else in church, and their preferences. Buy or make …
Postcards from the Mental Health Ministry
Faith, Hope, Love, and Beauty Look in your mailbox in months to come for real postcards being sent during this time of social distancing and virtual get-togethers. We all need messages of faith, hope, love, and beauty during this challenging time. May these postcards be an inspiration to you. If you do not wish to receive the postcards, contact Louise Halsey …
Advent Wreath Lighting: COVID Crafting Edition
Beloved, each week during Advent and Christmastide we’ll be lighting the Advent wreath at church, like always, in this time of preparation and anticipation. The Advent wreath, with its four candles (hope, peace, joy, love) and its ring of evergreen is a practice dating back to the Middle Ages, rich with symbolism of eternal life (the greens) and God’s light …
Welcome our Newest Members!
On Sunday, Oct. 25, the First Church Berkeley community welcomed these new siblings in Christ to our beloved church family. David & Jennifer A. (he/him/his) (she/her/hers) David and Jennifer are newer parents to toddler Theo and also have two cats and one dog that fill out their busy household. They have been coming semi-regularly to First Church since Palm Sunday …
Praying Together in Advent
As COVID numbers are on the rise again and we need to stay more distant to stay safe, we are experimenting with ways to be together across the distance. One offering this Advent is the ancient practice of “praying the hours” together. Our updated version of this will be to sign up to receive texts at set times during the day with …