2026 Stewardship Campaign: 

Rooted in Faith, Growing in Generosity; Sowing Seeds of Hope

What a journey these past several weeks have been! Through our stewardship campaign, Rooted in Faith, Growing in Generosity; Sowing Seeds of Hope, we have explored together what it means to live as people planted in God’s love. We began with Grace, remembering that everything we have is a gift. From there, we reflected on Community, Gratitude, Faith, Service, Mission, and Generosity, and most recently on Bearing Fruit, the good things that grow when we offer our lives back to God. Each week has reminded us that our giving isn’t just about numbers. It is about the life we share and the hope we sow for others.

This Sunday, November 8, we celebrate Commitment Sunday as our campaign comes to its joyful close. Please remember to bring your pledge card with you to worship! During the service, you will be invited to come forward and receive a blessing as you return your card. If you would rather not receive the blessing, that’s perfectly fine. Simply hand your card to the usher when your row is released. After worship, each family will receive a packet of native plant seeds, generously donated by Wild Ones of Greater Cleveland, as a reminder of the seeds of hope we are planting together.

If you have already returned your pledge card, thank you! If you can’t be with us on Sunday, please return your card soon, in person or by mail. Every pledge helps us plan our 2027 budget and benevolence giving with care and confidence. We are deeply grateful for each of you and for the ways God continues to use our shared gifts to grow something beautiful in this place and beyond.

Call for Chefs: Wednesday Night Chili Cook-Off!

You are invited to our final Wednesday night supper of 2026 at 5:45 on November 18. Warm up a chilly November evening with good conversation and a piping hot bowl of chili with all the fixings!

Are you willing to make a crockpot full of your favorite chili to share? Email lrslocum@gmail.com and Linda Slocum will confirm with you.

Sign up for the supper on the bulletin board in the hallway to Fellowship Hall or electronically here. On that sheet you can also indicate whether you can come an hour early to help set up or stay to clean up.

Eagle Scout Project

My name is Patrick Wilburn and I am a 17 year old from Oberlin, OH. I have been a scout for 10 years and I am now working on my Eagle Project. My Eagle Project combines my concern for helping the needy and my belief in the dignity of everyone. I am collecting toiletries and warm clothes for the unhoused living in the Cleveland area, which will be distributed through the Labre ministry at my high school, St. Ignatius High School. Every Sunday for the past 23 years, boys from St. Ignatius have distributed food and companionship to people living on the streets in Cleveland. My drive will collect toiletries and clothing items that will help the unhoused live more dignified lives on the streets. 

Myths and Hymns - Adult Education Slide Show

Following worship on Sunday, October 11, Director, Quinn Renbarger-Miller (‘27) and Assistant Professor of Theater Juliana Frey-Méndez provided some background on this Oberlin College Theater production that will be presented in the Meeting House November 11th -15th. To view the slide show from their presentation, follow this link.

To RSVP for a performance, scan this QR Code or follow this link.

2026 Advent Devotional: Suddenly

Urgent times demand God's sudden in-breaking

Mark's Gospel presents the story of Jesus at the break-neck speed of "suddenly": Suddenly Jesus was driven into the wilderness. Suddenly the fishermen left their nets. Suddenly the woman was cured, suddenly the girl woke up, suddenly the man could see.

Maybe the nativity is a "suddenly" story, too: Suddenly, a birth interrupts business-as-usual.

Molly Baskette writes in the introduction of Suddenly:

"Both human history and natural history offer this truth: things seem to change very slowly, or not at all. But then suddenly, everything changes all at once. The old world passes away and a new one is born, thanks to the labors that were happening all along."

What divine interruption does the world need?

What holy "suddenly" does your life need?

"When we worry that God is not in a hurry to answer our prayers," Molly continues in the introduction, "maybe God is answering our needs with a long slow start, and a sudden splashy finish is just about to arrive."

The Suddenly Advent Devotional includes daily reflections and prayers for the season of Advent through the celebration of Epiphany (November 29, 2026 - January 6, 2027). Suddenly also includes weekly Advent candle-lighting rituals for at-home use.

We have several FREE copies of this book on the Welcome Table. Donations are welcomed, but not required. For those that don't get a hard copy of the book, you are also able to purchase a PDF for $3.00 and/or hardcopy version of the book for $5.00 using this link. If purchasing the PDF version, please purchase one PDF per reader. Upon purchase, a link will be emailed to you for downloading the PDF. Any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the office at office@firstchurchoberlin.org or (440)775-1711.

The 9th Annual Harvest Time OBERLIN GREEN GROUP POT-LOCK GATHERING will be FRIDAY, NOV. 13, hosted by the First Church in Oberlin UCC Green Team. The DINNER IS AT 5:30, with a PRESENTATION AT 7:00 on “THE OBERLIN CLIMATE PLEDGE” by John Sabin, Holly Swiglo and Cindy Frantz. (Enter off the Asia House parking lot.)

PLEASE BRING A VEGETARIAN ENTREE, SIDE DISH OR DESSERT TO SHARE. THE KITCHEN WILL BE OPEN FOR FOOD CONTRIBUTIONS AT 5:00. So all our volunteers can listen to our special presenters, rather than doing kitchen clean-up, please bring your own table service - cup, bowl, plate, cutlery!  (If you live in a dorm or otherwise can't scare up these items, never fear, we will have compostables on hand for you. And come even if you can’t bring food.)  

The OBERLIN CLIMATE PLEDGE is a new program sponsored by the Oberlin Community Green Team, Citizens' Climate Lobby, and POWER (Providing Oberlin With Electricity Responsibly). The Pledge exists to reduce residential natural gas use, one of Oberlin's largest sources of emissions. Any homeowner, landlord, or renter in or near Oberlin can complete the Pledge to commit to decarbonize all or part of their homes and vehicles by a date of their choosing. Participants are urged to contact their representatives regarding relevant legislation and to support organizations like POWER, and it connects those who are new to decarbonization with those who have already been through the process.

For more information contact John Elder (johndelder@aol.com; 440-935-7075)

Front Row Moment

Do you like chatting with children? Are you patient and flexible? During our weekly worship service we make time to speak directly with the children - sharing how God’s love is in their lives. 

When Pastor Hill is away, we need some dedicated volunteers to spend these few minutes with the children on Sunday morning. Are you able to help out? We need 3-4 people who can rotate thru the weeks that Pastor Hill cannot be in worship. These folks would also be called upon in case Pastor Hill has an unplanned absence. 

You are encouraged to be creative with your topic. Lesson plans - very casual - are available, too. Coaching from those who have enjoyed this time with children in the past is also readily available. 

This message is coming from your Worship Committee members. Please let Miranda know of your interest! 

Thanks for considering how you will make a positive impact in the life of the children who spend some time with us on Sunday mornings!

TOTENFEST (All Saints) will be observed this same weekend on Sunday, November 22. This liturgical time of remembering those who have died in the past year can be understandably difficult for some. Alternatively (or additionally) the indoor labyrinth for Trans Day of Remembrance can provide a meaningful time of reflection and commemoration for others who have died. Please know that you are welcome to utilize the labyrinth for whatever purposes best suit your spiritual needs.

The Ministry of Hospitality 

Being able to host the After-worship Coffee Clatch is something to be proud of, for sure. It is a ministry that allows those in the congregation who want to spend time together after worship to be present with one another while, enjoying juice, coffee or water, store-bought cookies or homemade ones. If everyone volunteered... this delightful after worship time would be a time we could all count on and enjoy.

There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board in the hall into Fellowship Hall. Please sign up a couple of times over the course of a year.

Offerings can be as simple as juice or water. Cookies are nice but optional. The Fellowship Committee provides essentials like compostable plates, napkins, and cups, half and half, sugar, and juice. We keep some Gluten free cookies in the freezer, to be used during this time, as needed. If you feel like doing something more special, have at it. But, all offerings are much appreciated.

There are very clear written instructions in the kitchen and there’s no way you can make a mistake! We promise!

If you want assistance, or have a question, speak with any member of Fellowship Committee and one of us can assist you. We are Denise Capers, Rhys Price Jones, Alana Kelley, Anne McCormick, Karla Sanderson and Lori Taylor. 

First Church building rental opportunities

The First Church buildings offer numerous opportunities for meetings, rehearsals, concerts, weddings, and family events. After long study, a reasonable rental fee schedule has been worked out to offer fair use of the facility to our members and our neighbors. Large rooms (the Meeting House, Fellowship Hall, or JFO Room) and small rooms (upstairs classrooms, Room 4, Reading Room) can be reserved by the hour or by the half day. Discounted rates for church members and community partners may be available. The city of Oberlin has limited spaces available for events, and we are happy to offer our facility to help fill that need for our neighbors.

There Are Requirements for Making Submissions to our First Things First eNews!

In an effort to make our eNews more readable and shorten the length, we have created new guidelines for submitting posts! The guidelines are as follows.

1. As usual, the deadline for submissions for the upcoming First Things First is Wednesday prior to 10 AM.
2. We will not be putting in any non-First Church job postings.
3. We will not be putting in any full flyers as the submission (however, we will put in a button that links to a PDF of the flyer).
4. There is a word limit of 100 words for the text of a submission.
5. You may insert links into the text post for more information, either by button or hyperlink in the text.
6. You may insert PDFs (accessible by buttons) for more information, a flyer, or anything else that would be helpful for the post, but the document must be in PDF format. Any other document format will not be included in your submission.
7. You may send one picture that you have the rights to use (i.e. a picture that is not subject to copyright, we suggest using the site pexels.com).
8. The submission will run for a maximum of 2 weeks in the eNews. These 2 weeks do not have to be consecutive.

When sending in your submission, you must have

• The title of the post
• The text of the post (maximum of 100 words)
• Which 2 weeks you'd like for your submission to run

When sending in your submission, you could have

• If you'd like, one picture
• If you'd like, PDFs (and what you'd want the title of the button that links to it to be)
• If you'd like, the links for spots in the text post (and which word(s) you'd like to be the hyperlink or what you'd want the title of the button to be)

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we try to make our eNews experience more manageable for our readers!