14 Laban Ainsworth Way, Jaffrey, NH 03452
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 delay 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 Taizé 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’m started doing that for the Zoom broadcasts we send out from our church.”
“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 an advisory to read the article on page 3. Wow!”
“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.”
The First Church in Jaffrey is a 241 year old congregation, located in the historic Jaffrey Center at the foot of Mt Monadnock in southwestern New Hampshire. We are a 76 member church, offering a ¾ time position for a settled pastor; compensation follows NH guidelines and includes a parsonage.
Jaffrey is a small-town setting with a strong sense of community, located in a lovely part of the state, with many hiking trails, lakes and historic buildings. We are within an hour and an hour-and-a-half of the many resources in Boston, Worcester and Amherst, and close to several area colleges. Many cultural opportunities are available in Jaffrey and neighboring communities.
First Church has a history of strong lay leadership and we are seeking a pastor who will work with us to discern the church we are called to be. We are an older congregation, with pastoral care being an important part of our ministry. We envision a pastor who brings strong scholarship in theology and Biblical studies and is able to relate this knowledge to the issues we face in our daily lives. We are theologically progressive and open to different experiences of worship that help us deepen our faith and draw us into the world.
If you are interested in learning more about First Church, our website is https://firstchurchinjaffrey.org/welcome/, and our church profile is available through UCC Ministry Opportunities, New Hampshire Conference.
NEWS
First Church in Jaffrey is resuming outdoor services
First Church in Jaffrey is resuming outdoor services one step at a time. The first step is the Pentecost service scheduled for presumed good weather at 10:30 on Sunday, May 23. It’s too early in this unpredictable COVID variant time to state the precise COVID prevention guidelines. After assessing the latest COVID trends and the weather forecast, we will make an announcement by email and telephone tree on Friday, May 21 if there are changes in plans. Our expectations are that we will still require masks. People who live together may sit together, with social distancing to others. We expect to do contact tracing by asking each person to sign in. We hope the attendees will be...
PREVIEWS, July 23, 2021
Dear Friends,
To bring you up to date:
1) Live worship will take place this weekend in the sanctuary, 14 Laban Ainsworth Way, Jaffrey Center…The service begins at 10:30 and music for meditation begins five minutes or so beforehand. Please join us. This weekend we will not be offering a video recorded at the worship service.
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, July 18, 2021
Dear Friends,
back to depending upon videos 😊
Last night’s weather brought road wash-outs all over this area, preventing folks from leaving their homes! Let alone, shutting off roadways with deeply undermined footings not easily repaired. We offer empathetic prayers across the Atlantic to the many caught with far more desperate situations in the Low Countries of western Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium!
After almost 16 months of sharing with one another thru media-distance with music, messages and images, we have rejoiced in physically being together for the second week in the same physical space! So we have very much missed all who could not join this morning because of flooding, major road-wash-outs and related safety insecurities.
Fortunately, Gene Faxon quickly set up a video camera in the back of the Sanctuary part way into the service. This has enabled recording of portions. For reasons of privacy and discretion, any need-mentions of specific members of the congregation and other individuals brought forward in concern have been excerpted in this public setting. We hope you understand the need for such discretion.
CONSTANT INTERRUPTIONS !
Just when you want to concentrate, there is an abrupt clanging in your ear — an interruption…. And it happens, NOW. To defuse … or to listen? Perhaps this video offers possibilities for our times.
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, July 12, 2021
Dear Friends,
Returning to Sanctuary worship certainly offered a spirit-filled gift this weekend! For those of you not able to attend, or those who would enjoy a reprise, here you can enjoy the voices and the cadence of our traditional gathering using the link below. Unfortunately, camera focus leaves a bit to be desired, but the music and words are what is significant to share with you. Returning to Sanctuary worship
Join us again in the Sanctuary next Sunday and those following! Worship begins at 10:30 preceded by music for mediation opportunities. As you will encounter in the video, the organ, harpsichord and our small choral group enrich our in-person gathering of community/friend/family that is The First Church in Jaffrey
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, July 2, 2021
Dear Friends,
As we encounter this holiday weekend, celebrating the birth of our country, let us consider:
What’s NEXT ?
We don’t know! Perhaps we think we do, but most of the time … what comes next is not expected. Called for is: coping, creativity, willingness to engage in change… What’s next asks for willingness to learn, to grow from experiences… and to create new history. What’s next ?
Jesus came home
How easy it is to assume that someone is the same as they were a long time ago! Some folks are more interesting now; some are quite the same, which isn’t necessarily bad, but if they are different now… well, we need to see that. When Jesus came home…all wanted him still to be the neighbor’s kid! He’d moved beyond that. coming home a grown-up
Draw us in the Spirit’s Tether
On days when we wish to move to a quieter place, to be in communion with wider things, we sometimes seek doors. Here is one.
Draw us in the Spirit’s tether
This weekend is, we hope, an opportunity to say farewell to our video meditations as we resume in-sanctuary worship! Please join us in Jaffrey Center at 10:30 a.m. on July 11th, and Sundays hereafter. Of course, if circumstances require adjustment, we will change. Now unable to share with us in person, you will be able to encounter Zoom recordings of the live worship service on our Website about 24 hours after the worship service has taken place. Shakedown may involve a few glitches, as that often happens. So be patient and work with us as we make transitions.
Blessings and rejoice that we are able to gather together in person within this beloved home, the sanctuary of The First Church in Jaffrey, NH beginning July 11, 2021. We hope you will be in person on this occasion, too!
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, June 25, 2021
Dear Friends,
The meditation this weekend is for all of us, especially because each of us is IMPORTANT:
WHO TOUCHED ME?
This message speaks of the importance of each one of us, whether poor, weak, unknown or mighty. Listen, be moved, be encouraged, be lightened. WHO TOUCHED ME?
COME UNTO ME
We do sometimes feel weak or heavy-laden. Where, then, is there rest? This music by L. Nickel shows the way. COME UNTO ME
DON’T FORGET to stop by First Church Friday afternoons this summer between 2 and 4 p.m. and purchase a home-made pie for your weekend enjoyment. Proceeds will support community organizations and projects, especially affected by Covid in this area.
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, June 18, 2021
Dear Friends,
WORSHIP this weekend is special, and the music will reach your souls…
For NEXT weekend, June 27th join us in person under the crabapple tree beside the sanctuary at 10:30 ! If rain, we’ll be in touch with alternatives.
THIS SUNDAY’s video IS SPECIAL: Music for your meditation
Music reaches the soul… and finds its way into parts of the brain that stay with us all our lives long. Even when speech disappears, we can sing, and we DO. If you’re of a mind to sing vigorously — which the Covid Virus restrictions have confined of late — GO FOR IT — right now… in your private space(s)…. Here! Musing for you meditation
Meditation through MUSIC – June 19-20, 2021
Prelude: Variations (organ)
Welcome: Sharing a Psalm about music
Hymn: Pilgrim (red) #155 — All Glory, Laud, and Honor vs. 1, 2
Anthem: Lux Beatisima by H.Helvey
Lord’s Prayer
Anthem: Ubi Caritas by M.Durufle
Hymn: Pilgrim (red) #366 — God of Grace & God of Glory vs 1, 4
Anthem: The Road Home, arr. S.Paulus
Fare You Well this Father’s day
Postlude: This is my Father’s World (piano)
Blessings, be well, reach out with spirits renewed by the voices and messages shared this weekend ….
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, June 11, 2021
Dear Friends,
The visual and verbal messages shared this week bring up feelings I encounter when putting on a “new pair of glasses” whose prescription has been ground for how my eyes see now! OH ! The world is suddenly brighter, clearer, encountered with more perceptive eyes than I’ve had for a while. 😊
MUSTARD SEED VISION
Tiny things become greater things, we hope. This meditation video opens with thoughts for humans and the video shares white-tailed deer fawns so small they are no taller than nearby ferns in a New England world… The messages for humans: find courage to grow from personal small thoughts and hopes …. Grow, with thoughts, music and sights. That’s the message here. Mustard-seed VISION
DONA NOBIS PACEM
Give us peace! Yes, give us a peace we each individually need… and give peace in places we know have need. Shed peace, too, where there are real needs we do not know. Dona nobis pacem
May these already warm days bring us into a summer of reunions, rejoicing, and renewal!
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, June 4, 2021
Dear Friends,
If you are in town this weekend, do join us in person for worship and fellowship June 6, 2021! We will gather out-of-doors at First Church at 10:30 a.m. Invite friends, family, guests to gather with us, too.
In addition to what will be approximately bi-weekly outdoor services, we will continue each week to send meditation videos enabling you to ‘worship with your friends’ any day of the week, and picking a time that meets your hopes and needs.
This weekend the messages and music via YouTube are:
SOMETHING NEW
Make something new rather than using old stuff – oh, why bother! Perhaps Covid 19 calls us to reach beyond ‘old’ and build a ‘new’ familiar? Share here as we move toward what we need to learn for now. Carry the old when healthy; seek the new when needed. Sing along My lord, what a MORNING ! Something NEW
My lord, what a MORNING!
Open your eyes and heart, to a day of opportunity, sharing, affection, enlightenment… Oh, Lord, what a morning! And it’s yours… My lord, what a MORNING!
Be well, share your thoughts and hearts with others, be blessed in so doing,
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, May 28, 2021
Dear Friends,
This last weekend in May 2021 is both welcome and can be poignant. We jump at this space in the calendar to escape the Covid Pandemic life-style. At the same time, Memorial Day weekend provides opportunities for looking inside ourselves, for appreciating those we have loved and those who have influenced our lives: family, friends, teachers, mentors, colleagues.
With such thoughts in mind I encourage you to seek out moments to use the messages shared here in song, spirit, and thought.
BORN from above
The extended meditation begins with a hymn not previously known to any of us in this project. And we all agree: it is to savor, and to use again.
Lisa Bostnar’s scripture reading for this meditation was recorded in the midst of mighty wind and rain, which you will encounter through the window behind her… an appropriate juxtaposition to the passage she shares with us.
In his meditation this weekend, David Felton reminds us that the book of John is not a literal history, but a poetic sequence of images presenting human conditions. So, David asks that we shift from a literal hearing to one emphasizing the broader implications of this ‘picture’ John paints. BORN from above
God so loved the world
This passage in Stainer’s Crucifixion is well known, a favorite of many. Familiar, or if new to you, listen. The music is rich in meaning and delicious to the soul. God so loved the world — a gift for Memorial Day 2021
Be safe, be with loved ones in spirit this weekend, perhaps there is a way to share in common space! Blessings to each and all of you, we extend…
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, May 21, 2021
Dear Friends,
Greetings as we celebrate Pentecost, May 23, 2021 !
May those of us able to gather in person under the Crabapple tree be wrapped in the arms of the First Church Sanctuary, Parish House and Parsonage at 10:30 this Sunday, special for multiple reasons !!!!
May those unable to be physically among us know that you are present, too, part of this community in spirit and affection !
Throw open your hearts, smile, rejoice! Music and spoken words shared here will raise your spirits with laughter, insight and moments of shared experience(s).
Dem Bones TRANSFORMED !
Resurrections occur in ways we can expect, like tulips emerging in the spring, and in unpredictable ways! This video mixes images, music and thoughts in the ‘unpredictable’ mode. Play along! You will recognize the scenery, if not in your immediate neighborhood, then encountered in your spirit. Dem Bones TRANSFORMED!
Dem Bones
Those dry bones gonna walk-around! OH, Yes! Be spiritual bones or of human flesh…in the spring of 2021, we gonna WALK AROUND and smile! Dem Bones
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, May 14, 2021
Dear Friends,
Here we are, a week speeding up to Pentecost, the birthday of THE CHURCH. Messages shared on the website/YouTube this week focus on what it means to ‘be in one with others’ when there are so many others. And what does it mean: to be THE CHURCH! Listen, think, ponder, question…. Think what we will celebrate next week as Pentecost 2021?
ALL BE ONE
Words, life emerging in and within the landscape of our lives and surroundings, seeking renewal…scenes, music and experiences shared here provide soul food for today. Nit-picking isn’t what God is about, David Felton reminds us in his wonderfully whimsical way. David focuses on what makes us ONE! To be ONE
SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, FALL AFRESH ON ME
In this spring of 2021, take advantage of music to open your heart, however that may be desired. Be renewed after this hard winter. Breathe this music and message in… to sustain. Spirit of God descend upon our hearts
IF YE LOVE ME
A comforter? Not that one on your bed, but the one for your heart! Thomas Tallis, an English musician of the late 1500s is totally contemporary today in words and in musical challenge. Listen, absorb. Be comforted and encouraged. If ye love ME
I close today’s eblast message with a recent communication from my friend Takouhi, a refugee to Canada thirty years ago. This Armenian-Lebanese woman speaks from personal experience:
God is not only with us, but God is the Path we journey upon. Even when we are uncertain what is ahead, uncertain of our capabilities, God shows up and reminds us who we are and where our roots come from…. Beloved, continue to be Rooted in Love, United in the Body of Christ, and Encouraged to run the race, doing the work at hand. We may think sometimes that things are IMPOSSIBLE, but in that silent, darkest moment, God says, “I’M Possible through you!” Amen.
Rev. Takouhi Demirdjian-Petro May 9, 2021 —
Takouhi Demirdjian-Petro was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon in an Armenian Family. In 1986, the Canadian Government granted permission to Lebanese citizens to enter Canada to find refuge and call it home. She currently serves Grace United Church of Canada, Gananoque, Ontario. On May 28, 2011, Rev. Takouhi became the first Armenian female minister to be ordained in the United Church of Canada.
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
PREVIEWS, May 7, 2021
Dear Friends,
Greetings and, yes, hugs of affection on this early May weekend of 2021! Even though we may not be the ‘hugging type,’ this world around us has gotten to the point of longing to wrap arms around those we care for, especially in these days as spring calls us: AWAKEN!
May we, therefore, share a special ‘meal’? …One that is as close to pot-luck as we are able in these days of “virtual” communication? Do, sit at the table of Christ, and share together what is offered here!
LOVE one another
The best soup ever is a mixture…so is LOVE! Welcome this savory, deeply needed mixture of heart shared through the meditation/music team at the First Church in Jaffrey NH… Visions of spring slowly emerge in May 2021 explored by music and insight worth sharing. LOVE given
Ave Verum — Love of God
Is it a surprise that “Mother’s Day” appears on the calendar as spring emerges? Hope, love, renewal… THESE are what we celebrate, especially in this tribute by Mozart to what LOVE means…. Ave Verum — Love of God
Blessings, smiles and emerging hope as the greens ripen and plants emerge…
Carol Hess
Moderator, the First Church in Jaffrey
CARE AND PRAYER
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” John 14:15-17
The Holy Spirit has often been described as the Spirit of God, of Love, that human beings make manifest among one another. In this spirit, the Caring Circle relies deeply on the Holy Spirit as we seek to offer support to members, friends, and those in our wider community who are in need.
THE GREAT TAPESTRY THAT IS
FIRST CHURCH IN JAFFREY
We recognize that we each are on our own spiritual journey, a journey that will not end here. As members and friends of this church we pledge to be companions as we journey for as long as we travel together in this place. We do this by respecting each other’s understanding of and relationship to Jesus of Nazareth, whom some of us call Christ, while acknowledging our commitment to the broader fellowship of the United Church of Christ and the wider Christian family. ALL questions are welcome here!
