Welcome to Faith United Church
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.
Sunday Worship
Worship Service: 9:15 am
Coffee Hour/Fellowship: 10:20 am
Adult Study: 10:45 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
Due to the pandemic, events that would have been held in the church building have been cancelled, postponed, or moved to Zoom. Please check the announcements below.
Our next Open Dialogue is scheduled for March 21st. The topic will be "The role of forgiveness" We will meet after the service on Zoom.
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.
Special worship services during Lent
We will be celebrating Palm Sunday with a worship service on March 28th on Zoom at 9:15 am. If the weather permits, palms may be picked up in the church parking lot for about an hour following the service. Please remain in your vehicle.
Maundy Thursday will be observed on April 1st with the congregation being invited to gather for a time of fellowship via Zoom at 6:00PM to virtually share some soup and bread together or any other food. At 6:30 the virtual service will start and will include the Lord’s Supper.
On April 4th Easter will be celebrated during our regular 9:15 AM service and will include communion. Pastor Andy will conduct the service from the church sanctuary. Please join us via Zoom or Facebook Live.
Future Plans for Reopening
On Monday October 12, 2020, the church Commission met to discuss possible plans for reopening our church building. After taking into consideration the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in Oswego County, the State and denominational health and safety guidelines, and the limited capacity of our church sanctuary, the Commission made the following decision.
- The church building shall remain closed to in-person worship services until the end of April this year. We will continue to worship via the video conferencing app Zoom for the foreseeable future. The Zoom worship service shall continue to be a "combined" service for people in both the Bristol Hill and Faith United congregations. People without an Internet connection can participate by calling in. See below.
- We encourage those participating in church programs and in committee work to do so remotely using Zoom, email, telephone, or by other means.
- We will look again at the possibility of reopening the building later in the year, but always with the health and well being of our congregation in mind.
The One Great Hour of Sharing Offering
Donations toward the One Great Hour of Sharing offering will be received through March 28, which is Palm Sunday. You may mail in your donation or you may choose to give electronically. If making an e-donation, please type in "One Great Hour of Sharing" on the "notes" line. If you are writing a check then please write "One Great Hour of Sharing" on the memo line of your check. Thank you.
Adult Study
During this season of Lent, the Adult Study sessions at Faith United will focus on a Thoughtful Christian series entitled "Seeking the Intercultural Church". Churches all across the country hang out their "All Are Welcome" signs. Nevertheless, churches are still one of the most segregated places in America. What can we do to really make a difference? The author insists that we need to stop "making assimilation the cost of fellowship". This study is Biblicaly based, drawing upon Paul's letters to the Galatians, as well as others. Certainly, Paul was at the forefront of bringing a set of faith practices that we now call Christianity from it's roots in Jewish culture into the wider cultural spectrum of the Gentile regions he journeyed to. As we know, Paul was quite successful. What can we learn from him as we 21st century folks try to make our churches more inclusive? Please join us. The same Zoom link that gets you into regular Sunday services will work for those wanting to participate in Adult Study.
Faith United Church makes donations to Human Concerns and Blessings in a Backpack
Recently, Faith United Church has delivered donations of food items to the Human Concerns Center of Oswego as well as to Blessings in a Backpack. The photo below show members of Faith United helping with the packing of food items for Blessings in a Backpack at the Church of the Resurrection. These food items are distributed to needy children and their families through the public school.
Our COVID-19 response
We live-stream our worship service
Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, we are currently unable to host traditional in-person worship within our building. However, you can join us from wherever you may be for our Streamed Worship Service via the Zoom app.
Discussion groups are on-line.
You are welcome to join our Sunday Adult Study discussion session via Zoom. Please send your request to faithunited1@gmail.com. In return, via email, you will receive discussion materials and a Zoom link for the session.
Our church's Spirituality Group is also meeting remotely via Zoom. For more information please email: secretary@faithunitedoswego.org
We accept electronic donations.
Our building may be temporarily closed, but the church's work continues and we still have to pay our bills. We encourage you to continue to submit your contributions (offerings) to us. You may send them to us via the U.S. postal service or electronically.
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 9:15am Sunday morning.
There are two ways to join:
1. Click on the following link from your smart phone or computer: https://zoom.us/j/207196571
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