SHELBURNE — On Sunday, May 31, Robbins Memorial Church of Greenfield will have an outdoor hymn sing at 10 a.m. on Kimball Hill in Shelburne, weather permitting. There will be a violin accompanist providing music. Any who wish to attend may join the caravan leaving the church parking lot at 9:45 a.m. to go up to Kimball Hill in Shelburne. Worshipers will need to bring their own chairs.
On Sunday, June 7, services in the church sanctuary at 55 Munson St., will resume at 10 a.m., with COVID-19 precautions observed.
ASHFIELD — The First Congregational Church (UCC) of Ashfield recently responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by donating 65 N95 masks to Overlook Visiting Nurses Association and Franklin/Baystate Medical Center. “These masks were a part of a Church World Service project,” said Minister David Jones. The Ashfield church continues to meet via Zoom every Sunday at 10 a.m. To receive the Zoom meeting invitation and interactive bulletin, contact Wendy Prée, clerk, at wendypree@gmail.com, or 413-628-3875.
NORTHFIELD — This Sunday at First Parish of Northfield, Unitarian, the young people in the Religious Education program will lead the service with the theme “Why Be Kind?” The service will commence at 9 am by internet video conference using the same connection link as on previous Sundays. To obtain the link, please send a message to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com requesting a copy.
NORTHFIELD — Community Bible Church will hold morning (11 a.m.) and evening (6 p.m.) drive-in services at 24 Main St. in Northfield this Sunday, May 31. All are welcome. Please remain in your cars and tune your radio to AM1500 to listen and participate. The 30-minute service will included music, prayer, Scripture reading and the continuation of a Bible lesson entitled, “Jesus Tells a Story about Love”
Contact Bob Emberley at 603-903-4836 or rwemberley@gmail.com for more information.
SHELBURNE — The First Congregational church of Shelburne’s written worship resources and video service will focus on Pentecost this Sunday, May 31. These resources are provided on our church website www.shelburnechurch.org and by the church email. For assistance accessing these resources, contact our church clerk, Diantha Wholey, at 413-625-6592.
EARTHSPIRIT COMMUNITY has moved all of its gatherings and rituals online until at least September, reports Jennifer Bennett
ATHOL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH: The Rev. Dr. Candi Ashenden reports, “After much prayer, discussion, sharing of information and conversation, Athol Congregational Church has decided not to reopen until Sunday, Sept. 13. Our conference has advised churches to wait until after Sept. 1, and we felt that reopening for worship on Labor Day weekend, should it feel safe to do so then, might pose a conflict for those who might, for the first time in a long while, be able to gather in a larger group with their families. We value our faith community and their families and we want to wait until we can reopen safely, and we want our members and friends to choose to return. Our reopening task team has determined that the best way to do that is to seek to create meaningful and more in-depth online services over the summer (that we hope to continue in the fall), and then to re-open our doors on Sunday, Sept. 13.
“Between now and then, our team will continue to work to create a reopening strategy that will address sanitizing public spaces, how to share communion and collect offering, how we might gather in our sanctuary at 6-foot distances should that still be appropriate, how we should handle music and more. Our elders, our disabled and our vulnerable members are our priority, and we want to come back when the most of us will be able to safely return, for we are less than whole if any of our beloved members and friends cannot be with us. God has entrusted us with care of God’s people and we take that privilege and responsibility seriously as community faith leaders.”
CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH: The Rev. Dr. Megan E. Leary reports, “The Central Congregational Church in Orange has agreed to hold off until June 1 to discuss next steps. I don’t think we will open our building for worship anytime before July 1, and most likely after that.”
■“FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF MONTAGUE, 4 North St., will not have worship in the sanctuary until at least Father’s Day, June 21. We feel this will give us time to see what the area does with the allowed openings and ensure attendees are safe from any spikes in the virus,” Mark Fisk reports.
“We are certainly not closed. Sunday services are available by email. We urge folks to stay in touch with each other.”
BLESSED SACRAMENT PARISH in Greenfield opened for weekend Masses on May 23 and for daily, 9 a.m. Masses on May 25.
HOLY TRINITY PARISH of Greenfield, will open for Mass on Sunday, May 31, and Monday, June 1, for daily morning Masses. In both Parishes, we are following the guidelines of the state, town and diocese, reports Monique Richardson, administrative office assistant.