Did you know that we are on YouTube???

Visit our Youtube channel and see recorded sermons from Pastor Doug Williamson.

www.youtube.com/@firstcongregationalchurchofW.B

Easter Plants

Each year we decorate our sanctuary with beautiful Easter lilies, tulips and hyacinths for Easter Sunday. If you would like to purchase a plant In Memory Of or In Honor Of a loved one, please pick up a form on Sunday, return it to Nancy Arsenault with your payment and your dedication will appear in our Easter morning bulletin (10 am service).

Once that service has ended, we ask that you take your plant home. Please leave this form and your payment (checks made to First Congregational of W. Brookfield and write -Easter plants on the “for” line) with our Church Flower Coordinator Nancy Arsenault or contact Bonni Holmes at fccwbworship@gmail.com for a form. Deadline is Sunday, March 15TH.   The plants available are: Lilies, Tulips, Daffodils and Hyacinths. The lilies are $15 and the tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are $10.

Bible Study

Our six-week Bible study will begin on Wednesday, April 8 and run for six weeks.  We will gather at 5 p.m. each week, begin class at 5:15 and end at 6:30.  If you would like Pastor Doug to order the book for you and have not yet told him that, please let him know by this Sunday morning, March 8.  The book that we will use is Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by New Testament scholar Dr. Amy-Jill Levine. Doug will order the books and let everyone know what the cost will be for each book (no shipping costs if we order as a group).

Maundy Thursday

We will be having a Maundy Thursday service of worship in our sanctuary on Thursday, April 2 at 7 p.m., and we have invited folks from the George Whitefield United Methodist Church to join us for that service.  The service will last about 40-45 minutes and we will invite everyone to stay after the service to share in a quiet time of fellowship over a simple dessert before heading home.  Karen Andersen has graciously volunteered to make that dessert, Indian pudding (with ice cream), a confection that is quintessentially New England, dating back to the first European settlers in the Plymouth colony learning to make it from the Native Americans living in the area. Please consider joining us that evening for a special time of worship and fellowship.

Good Friday

Pastor Sandy the George Dam of Whitefield UMC will lead a cross walk, with devotional readings, around the West Brookfield Common beginning at 12 noon on Good Friday, April 3.  The walk will begin from our church lawn, and all members of our congregation are welcome, as are all members of our wider community.

Easter – Sunrise

We will be joining friends from George Whitefield United Methodist Church for an ecumenical Easter Sunrise Service of worship on Foster Hill Road at 6:15 a.m. that morning (timed so that we experience the sunrise at 6:24 a.m. as we are singing an opening hymn, accompanied by Mike Spencer’s trumpet).  That service will be followed by breakfast at our church, as our United Methodist friends cooked last year, and Karen Andersen has graciously agreed to coordinate the breakfast.  Our 10 o’clock worship service on Easter morning will include communion.  We look forward to celebrating the joy of the resurrection together that morning!

Prayer Requests

Please continue to keep Dave and Joan Fitzgerald in prayer as Joan continues in hospice care at home.

Pastor Doug’s Office Hours:

• 3/20 – Friday -NO OFFICE HOURS
• Wednesday hours will be by appointment, and I can be available by appointment on other days by calling my mobile phone at 913-387-9947.

Sharing Cupboard Needs:

The Sharing Cupboard always needs mayo, mustard, ketchup, canned carrots, cookies, crackers cereal and coffee. Thanks to the wonderful community outreach, our shelves are well stocked with other items. Please leave all donations in the donation box at the church entry.  Thank you.

Brookfield Farmer’s Market

Did you know?

….Our church is host to a fabulous farmer’s market each Wednesday afternoon from 3 – 6 in our Fellowship Hall!

Some of the fresh and delicious fare at the market include a wide variety of mushrooms, micro greens, fresh eggs, incredible bread, beautiful bulbs and flowers, a plethora of vegetables, fresh baked goodies, imported coffee, kombucha, honey, maple syrup, ice cream, grass-fed meat, hand-crafted jewelry, wooden bowls and cutting boards and even more!  Stop in sometime and enjoy one of West Brookfield’s hidden treasures! (Hidden right inside our church!)

(Time is running out to shop the market – Last one is Wednesday, March 25th!)

Have a wonderful weekend.

Bonni Holmes
Church Secretary