Our Latest News and Activities
Sunday, August 7, 2022
Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Please join us for worship at 8am at Chandler Hovey Park

Note: there is ONE weekly worship service this summer.

Scripture and Poetry Lessons:
Matthew 16:13-19
and
The Magnificent Frigatebird By Ada Limón
The use of this story in our worship service is permissible under US copyright law
(17 U.S.C. § 110(3))

Rev. Lindsay Popperson's Sermon:
"Who You Really Are"
Summer Worship at Chandler Hovey Park Sundays at 8am

We are gathering for worship at the Marblehead Light at Chandler Hovey Park at 8am every Sunday morning, as long as it’s not raining. If it is raining, our service will be held in the Sanctuary.

We are very grateful to members of our Community Life Ministry Board for providing Coffee Hour refreshments after our summer services.

Online worship: We are unable to livestream from the Lighthouse, so each Sunday's worship service will be recorded and posted on the website, YouTube, and Facebook by 5pm each Sunday.

Capital Campaign
Discussion - today
August 4 - 2:00 pm Parish Hall

We are holding discussion groups to get feedback and alternative ideas from parishioners about raising the capital funds needed to repair and maintain our church property. In addition, we will discuss the current status and proposed plans for mounting a church campaign. The first discussion group was very constructive and took place after church at the lighthouse on July 24. Please join Betsey, Sally, Stow and Mark for the next one on Thursday, August 4 at 2:00 pm in the Parish Hall (with our new air handling system). If you can't make it this Thursday, we will be arranging a few additional discussion groups, with the next one on Zoom later in August. If you want to make sure you are included in the future, feel free to send your name to Betsey Halbert at halbertbam@gmail.com. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
Glimpses of Grace

"This is What Church Looks Like"
Painting by Marcia Hostetter

Marcia was inspired by our summer worship services at Candler Hovey to paint this beautiful scene. Thank you for sharing with us, Marcia!
******

A great gift of summertime is the chance to break our routines and for time to relax and recharge our spiritual batteries. Whether we get away or enjoy a "stay-cation" at home, hopefully we get a chance to breathe deeply, enjoy life at a slower pace, and notice things we don't usually notice. We get glimpses of grace we're often too busy to see.
  
This summer let's share some of those glimpses of grace. While you enjoy the season's beauty, take a picture of an inspiring place or a person or thing, along with a sentence or two that tells how it touched you. Email it to the church office (office@onchurch.org) with "Glimpses of Grace" in the subject line. We'll share as many as we can in this space each each week.
Confirmation Summer School

Following the success of last year's summer confirmation program, the church invites its middle schoolers to join Dee Burgett and Rhod Sharp after the lighthouse service at Chandler Hovey Park for an 8-week open air confirmation summer school that began Sunday, July 10. Everyone from rising 7th graders to rising 9th graders is invited to join in.

In a relaxed atmosphere students will meditate and then tour one of the best known if least understood books of the Bible, Genesis. We remind students that it could be hot! Bring a cooling drink, something to sit on like a chair or a pillow and perhaps a hat.

There is no minimum attendance requirement, but we hope it opens the door to a more normal two-term year of confirmation classes starting, God willing, in the fall and concluding with a confirmation service in the spring. No registration needed. Questions to deeburgett@comcast.com or sharp.rhod@gmail.com.

ONC Reading and Discussion Group
Wednesday, August 17th 
 
The next meeting of the Old North Reading and Discussion Group on Preserving Our Democracy and Environment will be on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, from 8:30 to 10:00 AM. This is the latest of a series of meetings on this subject that have been hosted for all by the ONC Men’s Group. The discussions are supported by background reading. You are invited to participate regardless of the amount of your preparation or whether you have attended a previous meeting. For the August meeting we will discuss Stephen Hawking’s book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, and Yale Professor Timothy Snyder’s very important book, On Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from the 20th Century.
 
The meeting will be held on Zoom. To join the meeting, click on 

To use your telephone for audio, dial 929-205-6099 and follow the prompts with Meeting ID 835 8768 5467 and Passcode 701929.  
 
Monthly Bell Ringing to Bring Awareness to Climate Change

ONC and several other churches that are part of the Marblehead Ministerial Association continue with the ringing of their bells at 11am on the 11th of the month for 11 minutes to call attention to the need to take 11th hour action about the climate crisis. In doing so, we are joining this important initiative which was started earlier this year by churches in Cambridge and Cape Ann to ring their bells on the 11th of each month.

The United Nations Climate Report issued in February found that climate change is happening even faster than anticipated and drastic action is needed now. Coastal communities such as ours are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

How you can make a difference:
  • Contact your elected officials and urge them to support environmental initiatives.
  • Research environmental positions of candidates this Fall. Vote accordingly!
  • Walk, Bike, Carpool & use Public Transportation whenever possible.
  • Turn off your computer and appliances when not in use.
  • Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
  • Visit http://www.sustainablemarblehead.org/in-your-home for more ideas for reducing your carbon footprint.

Anyone wishing to volunteer as a monthly bell ringer for climate action should contact Mimi Hollister (mimi.hollister@aol.com or 781-910-2376).
Give to Old North While Shopping

Use smile.amazon.com when shopping at Amazon and 0.5% of your spending amount will be donated to our church (subscription and digital purchases are excluded). Instead of going directly to www.amazon.com, go to smile.amazon.com and login with your normal User Name and Password. Make sure that you confirm First Church of Christ in Marblehead as your selected charity. If not, enter “First Church of Christ in Marblehead” in the text box and click “search” then confirm your selection. You will only have to do this once – your selection will be saved with your account. Easy!

To use Amazon Smile on your iOS or Android Amazon app, open the app and then open the Main Menu. Scroll down to Settings and tap on Amazon Smile. Follow the onscreen instructions to turn on donations from orders placed on your phone.
Church Building Access and Summer Office Hours

The church office is now on summer hours. The office will be staffed Tuesday morning from 10-noon and on Wednesday and-Thursday from 9am-noon. If you have an emergency outside of office hours, please send an email to office@onchurch.org
Contact Us: 781-631-1244
Email: office@onchurch.org

Church Address: 35 Washington St., Marblehead, MA 01945
Mailing Address: 8 Stacey St. Marblehead, MA 01945