Worship Services
Believing Jesus the Christ to be the head of our church and our personal Lord and Savior, we see worship as the heartbeat of our church life.
Worship is our opportunity to give thanks to the God who has sustained us and who guides our lives into the future. In worship we exalt God and rejoice in what God is doing for and through us. In worship we hear God's Word fresh each day and discover ourselves better prepared to live our daily lives.
Sunday Worship
- Sunday Mornings (10:00am September-June, 9:30am July and August)
- Sacrament of Communion: Celebrated the first Sunday of each month
- Sacrament of Baptism: Offered most other Sundays
- Sunday School (10:00am) - Nursery to 8th grade
Special Worship Services such as Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday are offered at different times.
Our Staff
- Pastor, Rev. John Hamilton (Monday–Friday 10:00am-2:00pm)
- Christian Education, Libby Maxwell
- Director of Music, William St. Laurent
- Organist, Saundra O'Malley
- Church Secretary, Alisa Bullard (Monday-Friday, 8:30am-12:00pm)
- Sexton, Jim Croak
About Our Church (click on these links to take you to any topic)
A Brief History. Our church was gathered in 1736 as the South Parish of Dedham. Through the years our story has reflected America's story. Our fortunes ebbed and flowed with the Great Awakening and Enlightenment and as populations surged around wars and discoveries. Through it all, we moved from ‘Parish Church' to ‘Congregational Church' to ‘United Church of Christ.'
Our historical room is home to several "finds", among them being the pulpit chair of our first pastor, the Rev. Thomas Balch, and Boy Scout memorabilia from the first Boy Scout Troop in America, begun by our Rev. Arthur Howe Pingree in 1910. We have pictures of all but one of our pastors and solicit your help in finding a picture of the Rev. Jabez Chickering, our second pastor and founder of the town's circulating library.
We celebrate the church we have been and the great mosaic of personal stories, which comprise her story. We also celebrate the spirit of God who led our foremothers and fathers and who leads us still.
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Polity
- Being a Congregational Church means 'authority' resides within the gathered people. We have no head but Jesus Christ and recognize no hierarchical authority. Each church within the U.C.C. is autonomous. While we value our fellowship with our sister churches and respect the guidance our Area and Conference Ministers offer, we hold steadily to the autonomy of the local church and the authority of the gathered congregation.
- We are also a Covenental Church. Because each member has a full share of authority and responsibility for the church we must rely upon one another to uphold the covenant between us. That covenant is:
Belief
Essentials of our Faith. We in the United Church of Christ celebrate the rich diversity of religious experience people bring to our church. We treasure that diversity even while recognizing the need for a mutual sharing of core beliefs. We have a saying: "Unity in essentials, diversity in non-essentials." The trick, of course, is knowing the difference.
The following paragraphs outline some of those themes which provide a foundation for our life together and suggest some beliefs we consider essential.
Regarding God. We are a Trinitarian church. By that, we mean we know God as Creator/Sustainer, as "the Word made flesh" in Jesus of Nazareth, and as the Holy Spirit indwelling us today.
Regarding the Bible. We are a people of the book. We believe God speaks to us fresh each day but we also believe God's timeless Word comes to us in and through the Holy Scriptures. We are not inclined to interpret the bible literally but hold it to be the Living Word of God spoken to us in our time and into our changing circumstances. We are guided by this Living Word in all our belief and action.
Regarding Jesus. We believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God as described so well in the opening chapter of St. John's gospel. We believe Jesus came that we might have abundant life. Certainly it is necessary for judgment to be a part of Jesus' invitation to us. After all, a person dwelling in darkness must acknowledge the difference between light and dark before he can move toward the light. Nonetheless, we see Jesus as primarily showing us the light of God's love and inviting us to accept the health and wholeness (salvation) he offers.
Regarding Church. We believe God calls us into community. The church is that community of people who have responded to God's call, affirmed the Lordship of Jesus, and received the sacrament of Christian baptism. The church is both world-wide and local. On a world-wide basis it transcends man-made lines and labels, building a fellowship amongst all who love God and seek to be good neighbors. In our U.C.C. each local church is autonomous, acknowledging no head but Christ. That means there is no significant authority but God over any local church body. In our tradition the clergy (men and women) are respected spiritual leaders, people of faith who care for and guide their congregations. Final authority, however, abides in the congregation, not in the clergy. It is the members of each congregation who have the final say as to such things as programming, finances, identity of the local church, and personal belief. We believe the people, not the clergy alone, have the Spirit of God upon them and are the Living Body of Christ.
Regarding Morality and Christian behavior. We are more inclined to model rather than legislate Christian behavior. We respect one another's spiritual journey and recognize that Truth has many voices. We are principled but open to those voices other than our own. As our forefathers and mothers taught us, "There is yet more light to break forth from God's Holy Word." We are, therefore, often in prayer, seeking God's guidance in the living of these days and longing for that unity which comes with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
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Community Outreach
A nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry, Habitat for Humanity works with volunteers of all faiths to build simple, decent and affordable homes in partnership with those in need. Families purchase the houses at no profit, through interest-free loans. The driving force behind the organization is it's volunteers. The First Congregational Church of Norwood is happy to have several people who participate in this worthy endeavor.
Some of the latest houses being worked on in this area are located in Attleboro, Framingham, Fall River, Fitchburg, Lowell, Braintree, Lynn and Worcester.
For more information, visit the Habitat for Humanity website at: http://www.habitat.org/ .
The Norwood Ecumenical Food Pantry currently serves about 250 families with new clients arriving at the door each week. The Pantry is supported by donations from many different organizations and individuals. Volunteers help pack and distribute the food. Click here to visit Project Bread and their network of Food Pantries in Norwood and surrounding communities.
The Clergy of Norwood each cover certain Nursing Homes providing pastoral care and services of worship.
Our inner city ‘mission arm', The City Mission Society provides a variety of self-help and advocacy programs. Click here to visit Massachusetts Conference UCC outreach
Our Board for Christian Service supports a variety of other programs both local and global from clothing drives and Christmas stockings to single parent support programs and ministries in Haiti and Africa. While the largest gift is made through the U.C.C. "Our Church's Wider Mission" other gifts are earmarked for relief and hunger funds. If you would like specifics on any of our outreach ministries, please contact us. Or click here to visit Massachusetts Conference UCC homepage
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