No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!
MISSION STATEMENT: We resolve to love, unite to serve, and commit to curiosity for God IS still speaking.
Please come and join us every
Sunday for Worship at 10am
Welcome Statement
First Congregational United Church of Christ, Watertown, SD Welcoming Statement
Based on welcoming statement from Prince of Peace Lutheran, Philadelphia, PA
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Who is welcome here?
If you are Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Black, White, or multi-racial . . .
If you are three days old, 30 years old, or 103 years old . . .
If you are male or female or transgender . . .
If you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or not registered to vote . . .
If you are single, married, divorced, separated, or partnered . . .
If you are straight, gay, lesbian, or bisexual . . .
If you are Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic, or a life-long Congregationalist . . .
If you have never set foot in a church, attend only on Easter and Christmas, or attend every Sunday . . .
If you are fully-abled, living with a disability, or a person of differing abilities . . .
If you have or had addictions, phobias, mental illness, or physical illness . . .
If you own your own home, rent, live with your parents, or are homeless . . .
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!
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This congregation is committed to being a loving and welcoming community.
In faithfulness to God, and to the best of our ability, we work to provide programs, ministries, fellowship, and pastoral care to all who seek God in this place.
We dedicate ourselves to living the UCC church’s motto:
“No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!”
Pastor April Message
Siblings in Christ,
As I write this on the day after Palm Sunday, Holy Week is just beginning. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday evening services will be at 5:30 this week, and Easter Sunday morning worship will be at the usual 10 am worship time. But by
April 1st , Holy Week will be over. We’ll be in a period of “ordinary time” until Pentecost comes on May 19th.
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It might be “ordinary time,” but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot of things happening at First Congregational Church.
Confirmation is ongoing, with five young people attending regularly on Sundays after church. And for all our young people –
those from confirmation age all the way down to second grade, Placerville Camp registrations are happening in April. In
particular, if you want to apply for financial assistance from the South Dakota Conference, those applications have to be turned in by April 15th . You can find the applications just off the back of the sanctuary.
After all the work last year with establishing and training a Welcome Committee, we are now working on creating a Visitation
Committee. This committee will reach out to our sick and homebound church members by sending cards, making phone
calls, and in-person visits. If you’re interested in helping with that work, please let me know.
Finally, I want you all to be aware of something that won’t actually be happening until May. As most of you know, it’s been
a busy year for me, personally. I got engaged, and my fiancé, Amber, and I are having a baby. Well, that baby – Jameson Glen
Bartlett – is going to be arriving soon! We’re expecting Jameson to be born on May 6th , which will also mark the beginning of my going on parental leave. I’ll be completely absent from May 6th – May 19th , and for the three weeks after that I’ll be working part-time and primarily from home, though I will still be leading worship and confirmation during that 3-week period.
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If you’re interested, we are holding a baby shower at the church on April 13th at 2:00 pm, and you’re welcome to join us! If you are planning to come to the baby shower, please RSVP by April 8th so we can plan for enough food. You can RSVP to Amber at 928-713-4055.
Blessings,
Rev. Dustin Bartlett
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