"No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here."
First Congregational United Church of Christ is an Open & Affirming community
SUNDAY WORSHIP 10:30 AM
NURSERY AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 10:30 AM
From Pastor Jay:
John 14:15-21 is part of the farewell discourse of Jesus to the disciples. Since Sunday is Mother's Day, our text contains a wonderful motherly promise of Jesus: "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you". He will fulfill this promise through the Spirit - the Advocate; the Comforter - the Paraclete in Greek - the One called alongside to help. The Sanctuary Choir provides music; Diane is liturgist; and JJ & Ziggy share a Mother's Day message with the children.
MOTHER’S DAY
We often forget the radical roots of Mother’s Day. Far from being an intimate celebration of family life, Mother’s Day had its origin in work for justice and peace. It all started in the 1850s, when West Virginia women's organizer Ann Reeves Jarvis held Mother's Day work clubs to improve sanitary conditions and try to lower infant mortality by fighting disease and curbing milk contamination, according to historian Katharine Antolini of West Virginia Wesleyan College. The groups also tended wounded soldiers from both sides during the U.S. Civil War from 1861 to 1865. In the postwar years Jarvis and other women organized Mother's Friendship Day picnics and other events as pacifist strategies to unite former foes. Julia Ward Howe, for one—best known as the composer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"—issued a widely read "Mother's Day Proclamation" in 1870, calling for women to take an active political role in promoting peace. Around the same time, Jarvis had initiated a Mother's Friendship Day for Union and Confederate loyalists across her state. But it was her daughter Anna who was most responsible for what we call Mother's Day—and who would spend most of her later life fighting the limitation and sentimentality of what it had become. (Ann L. Hanson, UCC Justice and Witness Ministries)
First Congregational Church of Prescott, United Church of Christ, is an Open and Affirming congregation. We include all persons without regard to age, race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender identity, faith, marital status, or personal ability. We welcome all to share the celebrations and challenges of our congregation. No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.
