Looking for occasional substitute helpers with our youngest children

We have wonderful staff who teach and care for our children during every church service. On occasion, one of those workers needs to be absent, especially in the summer months. To make sure we always have coverage, we are looking to build a pool of church members who can be called upon to help. If you can be part of this pool, please talk to Sarah Colson or email her at noramomma@yahoo.com.

2026 Stewardship Campaign: 

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

We often look to our church’s hymns to inspire us to root ourselves in our faith, to be attentive to the needs of others, and to give expression to our faith through our actions. A nineteenth century hymn tune and text remind us that our faith has been growing and bearing fruit for many years: “Come, O Thankful People, Come” will be the opening hymn on November 1st. The familiar hymn tune BEACH SPRING will grace our going forward to receive Communion, as we sing “turn our worship into witness.” Words written in 1979 by Fred Pratt Green will remind us, as we sing the closing hymn, to share the fruits of our labor with our neighbors. The Welsh traditional melody AR HYD Y NOS will sound forth as we raise our voices in thanks to God!

Are You Interested in Learning More About Joining First Church?

Please join us for an informal Inquirer’s Gathering in the JFO Room following the worship service on November 1st. 

Wherever you are on your faith journey, your questions are welcome, and conversation is invited.

ALL are invited!

We look forward to seeing you!

The church will receive new members on November 15th.

Call for Chefs: Wednesday Night Chili Cook-Off!

Warm up a chilly November evening by sharing your best chili recipe! We need 6 volunteers to bring a crockpot full of chili for our supper on Wednesday, November 18.

• To sign up to bring chili: Email lrslocum@gmail.com (the first 6 responses get the chef spots!). Linda Slocum will confirm with you. 
• Please specify: Let us know if your chili is vegetarian or what meat it contains.
• Bonus: Providing a crockpot of chili counts as your meal donation, and cooks can take home their leftovers, if any, for the freezer or another meal.

Pull out your favorite recipe and let’s find out whose chili Wednesday night supper folks prefer!

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.

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!