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On September 12, we will host a Regathering Sunday like no other! It will be fully hybrid. It will be deeply worshipful. It will be a chance to come together—in-person if you choose, or online if that’s better for you, for whatever reason. It will be a regathering of our Covid-weary, connection-parched souls, near and far—a time to celebrate the Spirit and this community which sustains us. It will be a chance to come to that “strong, renewing river” of our life together in God, to come “here where the Word runs cool and deep, calm and clear, sweet and wild.”

You may not know yet whether “here” will be at 11 Garden Street or at home on a screen.  That’s okay; there’s still time to decide. With the Delta surge, we are all still wondering what comes next. Our plans are (as per Covid-usual) “subject to change.” Yet it’s a good time to recall that  “here” is where God is, which is wherever you are and “here” is wherever we can meet God together.

So, on Sunday, September 12, in the words of our beloved hymn by Kate Layzer and Peter Sykes, “Come, all you thirsty,” in-person or online. Come, whether you are new to First Church or whether you’ve been here “forever!” If you come in-person, come fully masked (those are required!). No matter where you are, come in the midst of these sweet and wild days, and regather with us in the Spirit of God’s radically inclusive love.

You can find the details of our September Sundays schedule and our safety protocols here.

In the meantime, keep us and one another in your prayers… until we can come and be together again!

Come, all you thirsty, to the river, here where the Word runs cool and deep.
Come with the outcasts, crushed and broken, come, you who rage and you who weep.

Come to the good, forgiving river, here where the Word runs calm and clear.
Wash in the truth that frees the spirit; shed the excuses you hold dear.

Come to the strong, renewing river, here where the Word runs sweet and wild.
Come by God’s gift, though undeserving; come because God has called you Child.

River of life, what deep compassion feeds your eternal mercy song?
God’s own face shines in you reflected, calling us back where we belong.

-Kate Layzer