Welcome to Faith United Church
An Open and Affirming Congregation
Faith United is a multi-denominational (PCUSA and UCC) community of believers serving in the lake shore community of Oswego, New York. Our Mission to the community is an active focus on both physical hunger (Souper Bowl of Caring, collections of food for our local food pantry) and spiritual needs (weekly and special worship services) and a church building that is totally handicap accessible, hearing amplified, and ecologically friendly.
Results of our congregation's vote on
the Open and Affirming Covenant Statement
The congregation of Faith United Church voted on March 24, 2024 overwhelmingly in the affirmative to approve and affirm the following covenant statement:
The Faith United Church (PCUSA & UCC) of Oswego, New York, is called to follow Jesus’ way of love, justice, and inclusion. We base our beliefs upon the Holy Scripture which states “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13:34-35} There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. [Galatians 3:28] We do this by:
· facing issues of faith openly and honestly
· nourishing the spirit of God within us all
· creating a caring community that celebrates human diversity
· respecting the wisdom of other religious traditions
· working with others to create a just society
· promoting the sustainable and equitable use of the earth’s resources
To that end we receive with respect, and nurture with intention, the gifts of all who come to us on the journey of faith. We invite everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, physical or mental challenges, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, to join us in the life and leadership of our congregation, and in our ongoing commitment as an Open and Affirming Congregation.
Weekly Adult Study sessions during the Lenten season
During the season of Lent, adult study will focus its discussions on the Lenten devotional booklet Into the Deep. Adult study meets at 10 am before the worship service in the church sanctuary. To join us on Zoom, please use the Sunday service Zoom link.
New Zoom link for Sunday Worship
Recently, our Sunday Service Zoom link was compromised. We now have a new link. To obtain the new Zoom link, please contact the church office. Thank you.
Open Dialogue sessions will resume in the Spring
We are planning another series for the spring of 2025. On March 2, guest preacher Barbara Toll led a discussion of the significance of Faith United's one year anniversary of becoming an Open and Affirming church.
Our Community Garden: Making plans for next year's growing season
Thanks to everyone that has made our community garden's first year a great success! It's not too soon to be thinking about next year.
Our Worship Time
Beginning Sunday, April 24th , 2022 – Worship service will begin at 11:15am
- Open dialogues and Christian Education will begin at 10:00am
In order to facilitate growth and innovation, the Commission of Faith United Church has adopted a Sunday worship time of 11:15 am. The Commission’s goal of adopting an 11:15 am worship service is to allow additional time for members and friends to gather on Sunday. Activities previously done after worship service (Christian ed, open dialogues, etc.) will be held prior to the service allowing for additional community building time. After consultation and agreement with Bristol Hill Church (Volney) regarding Sunday worship times, Pastor Andy will perform the early morning service in Volney.
Proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws have been ratified.
At a special meeting of the congregation of Faith United Church on March 26, 2023, all of the proposed changes to Faith United Church's Constitution and Bylaws were accepted by unanimous vote. The revised documents have now been posted to this website. Click here to see them.
Sunday Worship
Worship Service: 11:15 am
Coffee Hour/Fellowship: 10:45 am
Adult Study: 10:00 amFor a sample bulletin from a recent Sunday worship service, click here.
To listen to recorded sermons,
How to Find Us
Our street address:
Faith United Church
12 Mark Fitzgibbons Drive
Oswego, New York 13126
Upcoming Events
Adult study meets most Sundays after worship from September until June. During the summer, we meet once a month during July and August, at which time we discuss our summer reading. We are currently discussing the essays within the Lenten devotional booklet Into the Deep.
The April meeting of the book group will be held on the 11th at 2 pm. We will be discussing By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult.
Announcements
We Have a Method for Making Electronic Donations to Faith United Church
The Presbyterian Foundation, in cooperation with Vanco Payment Solutions has provided us with a new way to make electronic donations to Faith United Church. With this new method, you now have to ability to schedule regular automatic donations, or to make individual, one time donations to the church's general fund, to the building fund, or to the special offering fund, (any or all of them) as you wish. For details, please see our donation page.
Hybrid worship services are now being offered
Ever since Sunday, May 2, 2021; the Faith United community has been able to participate in Sunday morning worship service via Zoom and in-person. Full guidelines for in-person worship are posted below.
Please keep an open and flexible mind as we continue to transition into the post pandemic world. We will be requesting constructive feedback to make the worship service as meaningful as we can for ALL participants.
We have learned a lot during the past year of online worship. The most important lesson has been that we are a community that is no longer confined within walls. We have had visitors, long distant relatives, and snowbirds join in worship from coast to coast. Our goal during this time of transition is to create an experience that universally connects those in-person with those online. This means the sanctuary will have the necessary technology to accomplish this goal. The technology used at present will most likely not be the final setup for our future worship experience. As we have demonstrated form the beginning of this pandemic, we are willing to experiment, listen, try, and grow during this process.
Guidelines for in-person worship
Regarding Church building COVID guidelines: It is our intention to follow the CDC guidelines regarding masks and distancing.
Mask wearing is now optional inside the building. Anyone who wishes to wear a mask will not be discouraged from doing so.
Worship service will be conducted in a “hybrid” manner (people attending via Zoom and/or physically). These guidelines will be reviewed at each Commission Meeting and updated as the CDC and New York State Health Department COVID-19 guidelines evolve.
Stay Home If:
- You have a temperature of 100.4˚ or higher.
- You have other symptoms of illness. (CDC Guidelines)
Cough or Chills
Shortness of breath or Muscle pain
Difficulty breathing
Sore throat
Fever
Loss of taste or smell - You have been exposed in the past 5 days to someone with COVID-19 or COVID-19 symptoms or have tested positive for COVID-19. If there is any chance you might be a risk to others, please stay home.
When Coming to in-person Church:
- In consideration of the latest CDC guidelines, mask wearing is now optional for people attending indoor gatherings, such as Sunday worship. Even so, if you do not feel well, please stay home and join us on Zoom.
- Hand sanitizer continues to be available in the dispensers on the way in and out of church.
- WAVE. Please do NOT shake hands or hug. Do not assume the other person is comfortable with physical contact, even if you know they are fully vaccinated.
- Please use a tissue or otherwise cover your mouth/nose if you cough or sneeze.
In-Person Guidelines:
- In-person attendees will “sign-in” upon arriving at the building for Sunday morning service (This information will only be used if someone attends service who tests positive for COVID-19). This is in lieu of our former practice of "passing the friendship pads."
- Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the building.
- Offering plates will be available at the sanctuary exit. If you wish to make an offering, simply drop your donation in the plate. This is in lieu of our former practice of passing a collection plate.
- In-person singing of hymns by congregants is permitted.
- Music will continue to be a significant part of the service. We have not yet transitioned back to a full choir. Our music will either be prerecorded, or a soloist may be used in-person with physical distancing.
- All words for hymns and readings will be printed or projected.
- Coffee hour refreshments have been re-instituted on a limited basis. Pre-packaged food and drink are available for those more comfortable with that option .
- Communion elements will be served individually so as limit person to person contact. Pre-packaged elements will continue to be available. The practice of intinction has been indefinitely suspended.
NOTE:
If anyone who attends worship tests positive or develops symptoms, please call the church office without delay.
News from Discipleship Committee
- The Discipleship committee always welcomes your suggestion for additional fellowship events throughout the year..
Adult Study
Adult study meets most Sundays at 10 am in the church sanctuary. During Lent we will be discussing the essays in the Lenten devotional booklet Into the Deep.
From the Mission Committee
The Neighbors in Need/Peace and Global Witness special offering will be collected on World Communion Sunday, October 6. Two-thirds of the UCC's Neighbors in Need offering goes toward advocacy, programming and grants that support mental health initiatives. The other third supports the UCC's Council for American Indian Ministries. The offering is used to create and further projects that promote peace and understanding. Half the money goes to work with partners around the world by the Mission Agency. Our local church is able to retain 37.5% of the PCUSA part of the offering. We have chosen the Child Advocacy Center because it unites the two parts of our offering: childhood mental health and peace and justice in people’s lives. The remainder of the offering goes to mid-level councils for peacemaking on the regional
Letters to our representatives in congress are needed
The Mission committee is encouraging our congregation to send letters to our Senators and Congress person to vote to pass the farm bill coming up soon for votes. The bill has many provisions to ensure that families have access to nutritious foods that they can afford. A letter station is in the Narthex. The table has addresses, sample letters, envelopes and stamps to complete this campaign. You may take materials home with you, but let us know if you wrote a letter and how many.
The Fitzhugh Park Elementary School Scholarship
Faith United Church is now sponsoring a scholarship for a graduating Oswego High School senior who attended Fitzhugh Park Elementary School. The Mission Committee is pleased to announce that Kiara Barton has won this year's Fitzhugh Park Scholarship offered by our church to an Oswego High School senior who attended Fitzhugh Park Elementary School. The scholarship is for $250.00. Kiara plans to study physical therapy. We all wish Kiara well with her future plans.
News from the Finance Committee
Beginning in August, Canale Accounting Service has taken over bill paying for the church. They were already doing our payroll and taxes. Barbra Wall has assumed responsibility as Church Treasurer. We want to again express our deep appreciation to retiring Treasurer, Juanita Tschudy, for her many years of dedicated service to our church.
Rebekah Prosachik is the new church attorney and Russell Gettman has just updated the survey of the church property. We are moving forward with the sale of a 50 foot wide strip of our land behind the warehouse to Tony Pauldine who plans to renovate the warehouse as a wedding venue and needs the extra land for parking. In exchange, he will provide a variety of services for our community garden project.
The Shineman Foundation awarded our church a $5,000 grant to support our community garden project. The Foundation and it’s hundreds of grants benefitting the Oswego community are another huge legacy of the generosity of life long members of our church, Barbara and Dick Shineman.
Leslie King has taken over administration of both the Building Fund and the Great Commission Fund. We want to express deep gratitude to Ted Sivers who oversaw both of these funds for many years.
David King
For the Finance Committee
A Message From Our Pastor, Andy Hinman
Welcome to Faith United Church of Oswego. As the new settled Pastor, my goal is to continue this congregation’s long standing commitment of providing congregants, visitors, and those longing for acceptance an open and welcoming experience.
We are all in various stages of navigating a life journey that will contain all kinds of obstacles, some of which may shake our core beliefs. However, in those times of hardship God is present placing loving miracles to lift us up and remind us that we are unconditionally loved and accepted. As a community that accepts and reciprocates the teachings and love of Jesus Christ, Faith United is a safe haven free of judgment in which all can come together to live in the renewed hope of Christ.
In the safety of community, we have the opportunity to learn Christ’s teachings while applying what we learn to our own lives.This means that we must be open to being uncomfortable at times, as we realize that we are ever changing individuals exploring and uncovering the talents God has placed within us, sharing those gifts with the community and world around us to uplift and build up those in need.
How to join Sunday morning services on Zoom
If you would like to join our new live stream service offering, please join us at 11:15am Sunday morning.
There are two ways to join:
1. Contact the church office (315 343-3480) and ask for the new Zoom link for Sunday services.
a. If you have not used the Zoom application in the past, you will be asked to download and install this free application.
b. Once Zoom has been installed, you will be connected to the worship service (you may have to re click on the above link if you are not automatically joined)
c. You will be prompted whether or not you would like to share your video and audio; this decision is completely up to you and will not impact your ability to see or hear the worship service.
d. I am sorry that we will not have live support available to assist you during this process, but please email me with questions or difficulties you encounter so that these can be addressed for future services.
2. Join the worship service over traditional phone service (no video but you will be able to hear the worship service) Warning: long distance charges may apply depending on your phone plan!!
2. Join the worship service over traditional phone service (no video but you will be able to hear the worship service) Warning: long distance charges may apply depending on your phone plan!!
a. For this option, please dial one of the following numbers and follow the prompts:
i. Dial by your location
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 301 715 8592 US
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US
Meeting ID: 207 196 571
How to Find Us
Faith United Church is located on the south side of Mark Fitzbibbons Drive next to Oswego Middle School. Our building is totally handicapped accessible with off-street parking available.
Working Hours
Secretary: Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri. 10am - 2pm
Where are we?
12 Mark Fitzgibbons Drive
Oswego, NY 13126
Phone: 315 343-3480
secretary@faithunitedoswego.org
faithunited1@gmail.com