MEDITATIONS AND MUSIC

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OUR MEDITATION AND MUSIC VIDEOS

First Church in Jaffrey reaches out each Friday with video meditations including music to sing along with, scripture readings by Lisa Bostnar, a meditation offered by Pastor David Felton, and music with visuals. Below please find our latest 6 videos. Click the button below to view all of our Meditation and Music Videos.

NURTURING “COMMUNITY”
IN NEW WAYS

Our weekly meditation videos bring First Church friends and members together, even while we are apart…. Here we share some of the comments received about this new way of connecting and keeping in touch.

Comments:

“My girls would usually be off at college now.  But they’re home with us.  We plan a specific time on a Sunday morning to sit together and watch the First Church YouTube for the week, sing along with the hymn if we know it, listen to the Scripture and David’s comments, and enjoy the special music.  Afterwards we share thoughts about what we’ve just heard and what these mean to us.  Thank you for giving us this opportunity to be together as a family, both the wider one and our own.”

“What a surprise and pleasure to encounter our ‘summer friends’ as readers for the beautiful Lessons-and-Carols video!  Even though I didn’t get around to looking at this until several days after Christmas, the time didn’t matter.  The Lessons-and-Carols was so meaningful, and beautifully done, I shared the link with a good friend who is one of the Trustees at the church I attend in winter.  Will see you all again this summer!”

“The Taize video you created back in the fall has become part of my meditation time each day, even now.  Thank you!”

“Putting an arrow on the line of the hymn so we can follow where ‘we’ are is a great idea.  I’ve started doing that for the Zoom broadcasts we send out from our church.”

“Our videos are so professional compared to what I see coming from other places.  Bravo!”

“David’s message was ‘Just What I Needed’ once again… all the time!”

“Look at all the coverage we’ve received because of these videos:  not just the local paper but Keene and even a picture on the front page of the Concord paper, with advisory to read the article on page 3.  Wow!  Maybe other people will look us up, with their feet, once we get past this virus????”

“Is there anybody else who might like to contribute in some way?  We’ve discovered at Christmas we can record a Zoom conversation.  Ideas are welcome!”  

“Bible study and other meetings are taking place with Zoom.  It’s not quite the same as being together in one room, but it works.”

Our Most Recent Meditaions and Music

Third Sunday in Advent 2021 – The Ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge

 

2nd Sunday of Advent – Look to the East

 

The FIRST Sunday in Advent 2021

 

Decorating a New England congregation’s church for Advent and Christmas

Thanksgiving at The First Church in Jaffrey NH

Late Fall Southwest New Hampshire

 

SUMMER AND FALL MEDITATIONS & MUSIC

Since the middle of Lent, First Church in Jaffrey has not been offering live Services. The church has been closed, but we have created video meditations with music weekly. You can see and hear these meditations and music by clicking on the underlined links below.

Twenty Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Twenty Third Sunday After Pentecost

Twenty Second Sunday After Pentecost

MEDITATIONS CONTINUED

Twenty First Sunday After Pentecost

Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost 

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost 

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost

Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Eighth Sunday After Pentecost

Seventh Sunday After Pentecost

Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

Third Sunday After Pentecost

Second Sunday After Pentecost

First Sunday After Pentecost

Pentecost

SEASON MEDITATIONS & MUSIC

The Seventh Sunday of Easter

 The Sixth Sunday of Easter

MEDITATIONS CONTINUED

The Fifth Sunday of Easter Mothers’ Day

 The Fourth Sunday of Easter

 The Third Sunday of Easter

 Second Sunday of Easter 

 Easter Meditations and Music

Rev. Steve Miller
And Wife Dr. Jill Tyler

The Rev. Steve G. Miller started his ministry at The First Church in Jaffrey in January 2022, after a unanimous vote of approval by the congregation in October of 2021 when he visited and conducted worship. His wife, Dr. Jill Tyler, will join him in the First Church parsonage after she retires in May as professor and chair of the University of South Dakota (USD) Communications Department. Currently Leah and Luke Summit (Steve and Jill’s daughter and son-in-law) and the Summit’s two boys are staying with Miller while the young family looks for a house in the greater Boston area.

“I am very excited about getting to know all the people in Jaffrey, the church and the wider Jaffrey community!  I’ve met neighbors walking my dog and playing in front of the parsonage with my two grandsons, who are ages 2-1/2 and nine months.”  Miller confessed: “I’m a bit of a schmoozer.”

For the past 26 years Miller was the senior pastor at the United Church of Christ-Congregational in Vermillion SD.  Originally a New Englander, Miller grew up in  Worcester, MA, in what is now the United Congregational Church.  Miller shared, in his first Sunday leading worship at First Church: “I used to come up here to climb Monadnock as a kid.  It’s like returning home.  I love the mountains, the trees, the ponds and rivers – it’s beautiful here.”

A man of many interests, Miller spent five years studying Lakota spirit, language and music. He invited the Lakota community to hold sacred ceremonies at the UCC church. Speaking for the Lakota community during a farewell gathering honoring Miller, one participant observed that he and Steve have been friends for years and call each other “Kola,” the Lakota term for brother.

At this same event Miller was honored by the Vermillion Community Theatre with a poster of six photos of him in community theater productions that was headlined “Actor, Playwright, Songwriter, Musician, Director of Spirit” in appreciation of his and the church’s support in helping the theater build a center for performing arts at the Vermillion high school.  A devoted baseball fan, Miller was a leader of the Vermillion Youth Baseball Association for players 5 to 12 for many years.

The title of teacher also belongs in Miller’s repertoire, as demonstrated by his popular “World Religions” course at the University of SD.   The University’s provost Kurt Hackemer observed that an important Miller offering was titled “The Pipe and the Cross,” about the intersection of Christianity and native spirituality. “So many students considered this THE great class, the best class that they ever had at USD,” the provost added.

Steve Miller graduated from Springfield College in 1981. He began studying at Yale Divinity School and transferred to the Pacific School of Religion, where he received his Master of Divinity degree in 1987.  He served churches in Bethlehem, CT and Gilman, IA before going to Vermillion in 1995. Rev. Miller has also been involved with Shem Center for Interfaith Spirituality in Oak Park, IL for more 30 years through retreats, conferences, and classes.

Please come to First Church in Jaffrey at 10:30 on Sundays and meet Steve Miller!

Gene Faxon
Minster of Music

Gene brings his experience with teaching music and his expertise on the organ, piano, and harpsichord. He leads the choir as well as organizes special musical worship and other church events. Gene is also an accomplished recorder player.  During the pandemic Gene and three ladies have become a harmonious quartet.  We enjoy their offerings on multiple occasions during our services.  The congregation joins this group in singing Taize chants and hymns selected from the Pilgrim Hymnal and the New Century Hymnal.

Judy Lessard
Administrative Assistant

Judy brings her corporate experience. Working with our pastor and music minister, she creates the worship bulletins, sends out e-blasts, and monitors phone calls and church email. Working with our treasurer, she maintains the QuickBooks database and generates financial reports. Working with the communications team, she creates, prints, and distributes the church newsletter.

Officers

In late January 2022, First Church heartily welcomed (bottom row)  Roy Lake, Pam Hill,  David Bliss and Janet Grant as new Trustees.  Nancy Elder-Wilfrid is the new Clerk and in the top row is Ann St. Cyr Gordon (Treasurer) and Sam Greene Moderator.

Officers:

Sam Greene, Moderator
Ann Gordon, Treasurer
Nancy Elder-Wilfrid, Clerk

 
Trustees:

David Bliss
Janet Grant
Pam Hill
Roy Lake
Tom Warren
Dan Wilfrid