Our Mission Statement
We are a friendly, caring Christian community responding to the love of God through Jesus Christ by:

*   Opening ourselves to God and to all people...

*   Participating in worship that gives meaning to our lives...

*   Nurturing and supporting each other in our spiritual journeys...

*   Ministering to the needs of others...

*   Seeking to discern God's purpose for our lives as we strive to live within our Christian values...

 

 
Mailing Address
First Congregational Church of Glendale
United Church of Christ
2001 Canada Blvd.
Glendale, California 91208

 
Email Church Office
fccmorgan@sbcglobal.net

Email Interim Minister
fccgminister@sbcglobal.net

Telephone
818-243-2100

Fax
818-243-2239

Office Hours
Tuesday - Friday
9:30am - 3:30pm

 

Welcome
From Our Interim Minister

     Whoever you are, 
                         wherever you are on life's journey, 
                                                                        you are welcome here!

Each Sunday, we worship God and seek meaning for our everyday lives. Music and prayer, scripture and stories, fellowship and the sharing of joys and concerns bring us together as God's Beloved Community.  We welcome people of all faiths and denominations.  Your presence with us is a gift and we look forward to finding out who you are.

For over 90 years, First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Glendale has been a warm and friendly place to worship God and gather for family activities.  Our ministry is carried out in a diverse and pluralistic world.  We are faithful to our traditional purposes, we are also open to new ways of approaching the Divine and reaching out to others with compassion.

Our congregation, which has its roots in the historic Protestant Congregational tradition, is comprised of worshippers from almost every Christian denomination and background - and some from other faiths.  Our gatherings include members, friends and newcomers, those who have been a part of the church most their lives and those who are just discovering the hospitality of this congregation.

I hope that you find the information on this website helpful (feedback is welcome) and invite you to come and share in our worship, fellowship and outreach.

Blessings and Peace,
The Rev. Anne G. Cohen, Interim Minister

 

Our Members

We are members of the United Church of Christ which is a united and uniting church: united because it has brought together various denominations and uniting because we welcome all people to join in our community of faith.

Our local denominational office, the Southern California Nevada Conference U.C.C., is located at 2401 N. Lake Ave., Altadena, CA 91001.  Our Conference staff and network of church congregations in Southern California and Nevada support each other and share resources as we participate in the work of the church: worship, education, social justice and crisis prevention & response.

 

Church History

The First Congregational Church of Glendale has served this community since 1911.  The church building on Wilson and Central was dedicated in 1923.

We have been members of the United Church of Christ since 1961 and welcome people of all denominational backgrounds.  The United Church of Christ represents a merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.

In August, 1963, property was purchased on Canada Boulevard where our current church building was constructed in 1969.  The building was dedicated on October 17, 1976.

A dream came true with the ground breaking on August 31, 1997, for the construction of a Fellowship Hall, three classrooms and kitchen.  On November 15, 1998 we dedicated this new building.

We have a strong, common center of faith in God, enriched by a great diversity of theological, ethnic and historical backgrounds.

 

 

 

 

 THE REV. ANNE G. COHEN, Interim Minister

Dear Members and Friends of First Congregational Church of Glendale 
United Church of Christ,

The Board of Deacons is very pleased to announce the hiring of our new Interim Minister, the Rev. Anne Cohen.  When we began the search for the Interim Minister, we were looking for a pastor with specialized training in interim ministry and experience in leading congregations through times of transition.  Anne has a passion for Transition Ministry, with over 20 years of experience. 

Many in our congregation may remember her leading some workships during our last interim time as we developed our mission statement and church profile.  She believes in working collaboratively with the congregation, is very orgainized, and will be great working with the boards, committees, and the congregation.  She has a very warm and friendly personality and a great sense of humor.  We are very excited to have Anne, her husband John, and son Peter joining our church family.  Her first Sunday with First Congregational Church will be May 11.

Biographical Notes
Anne Gleaves Cohen was ordained by the United Church of Christ in 1987 and serves in the Southern California Nevada Conference as an Interim Minister with churches in transition.  Educated at Oberlin College (OH) and theSchool of Theology at Clarement (CA), she is also accredited as a Professional Transition Specialist (PTS) with the Interim Ministry Network (IMN in MD.)

She is married to John Dobbins, Electronic Resources Coordinator and Reference Librarian at Occidental College.  They met at the college while Anne was serving as Interfaith Coordinator and College Chaplain for four years.  In October of 2006 they adopted Peter at the age of 2 weeks.  He is the love of their lives and keeps them on their toes!  They all live in a California Bungalow in Pasadena (though not in the "Heaven" section) and love the diversity of culture and food available within a 10 block radius.

An excerpt from her Ministerial Profile may give you an idea of her approach to ministry with our church.
This "Family Business" - my inheritance - continues to intrigue and lure me into a life's work.  Transition Ministry, in particular, is an expression of my reverence for the evolution taking place throughout communities of faith.  Jewish scholars have pointed out that God's name in Hebrew is in the future tense, "I Will Become What I Will Become."  Jesus and his followers - and Gandhi and his followers showed the world that "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."  And my Voluntary Simplicity Circle has taught me that it is more effective to work toward a positive vision of the world as it operates out of our Core Values - than it is to work against the perceived negatives of the past or present.

So Ministry - Interim Ministry as I see it is a collaborative venture founded on faith in God's good intentions for us, a sense of perspective about our shared history and identity, and creative thinking about who we are becoming.  It is an intertwining of work, worship and play that explores the meaning of our lives, our purpose, the sacred story that will be our legacy to guture generations.  It is a ministry that teaches us to articulate our unspoken core values, reveals our Interbeing (interconnectedness) and reinvents the Beloved Community of Christ as a Transformational Institution in the world of our time.

Your Board of Deacons

*****

HOW IS INTERIM TIME DIFFERENT FROM ORDINARY TIME?

Some of you may wonder how Interim Ministers are different from Installed Ministers. We do many of the same tasks - preaching, teaching, pastoring, emptying the trash. Interim Ministers also do specific tasks to prepare a congregation for the next phase of its life. Some churches are preparing to close or merge with another congregation. Some congregations are changing the focus of their mission or their style of worship. Some congregations are hoping to continue on the same trajectory - keep momentum going toward agreed upon goals. And most congregations have a variety of ideas about what the future holds - what it should look like - how they are to address the apparent challenges. Interim Ministers do their best to offer tools for discernment and a variety of ideas and possibilities for the congregation to explore.

The Alban Institute studied churches going through ministerial transitions and found that five basic Developmental Tasks - if addressed - strengthened the congregation for their next stage of existence. Those tasks include:

1. Coming to Terms with History (facts, feelings, stories, myths, memories, legacies?)
2. Discovering a New Identity (who are we NOW, does perception line up with reality?)
3. Strengthening Patterns of Lay Leadership (empowering individuals, boards, officers, new and old members to take responsibility for the shape and spirit of church life)
4. Strengthening Denominational
Relationships (wider church connections, identity)
5. Preparing for New Ministerial Leadership (grieving the loss of the depart ing minister, developing gratitude and openness for a new minister to be called)

Hopefully, my training (with the Interim Ministry Network - an Alban Institute project) and experience will be of service as the congregation moves through these tasks - many of them simultaneously. I will lead a series of meetings and workshops that will aid you in discernment. I will work closely with your church leadership in accomplishing all of the above in a manner true to who you are or hope to be or both. And together we will give your Ministerial Search Committee a clear idea of who you ARE and of the leadership style, theology, worship style, personality and spiritual scope of the person you want them to invite as your next Installed Minister. Your honesty, participation and enthusiasm are crucial to the process - in order for the Search Committee to make a good match. Input from every individual will be requested and gratefully received. The process may take a year or two - so your patience is also welcomed.

Please feel free to ask questions, to challenge decisions, to pray for me and for the congregation in the next weeks and months. Your disagreement and critique are welcome - especially if you are kind and gentle in your presentation. True dialogue is when all parties come to the table open to being changed or influenced by others. May true dialogue prevail in our partnership during this Interim Time!

Peace, Anne