Struggling to Maintain Your Mental Health?

Continuing to do God’s work while we are apart from one another.

• We hosted another successful food drive for the Williston Community Food Shelf and collected over 1,200 pounds of food and hygiene products!

• Easter goodies were delivered to our Sunday school children & youth. We are looking forward to the day we can celebrate again in person!

• Our youth raised $725 for Souper Bowl of Caring! Way to go, team!

• Valentine Cookie Extravaganza – Fourteen fabulous cookie bakers made and delivered dozens of cookies to local agencies, schools & medical practices in appreciation for their service to our community.

• Our children and youth created a special video to spread the love this Valentine’s Day!

• Thanks to the generosity of our community, we collected over 244 hats, mittens, scarves & socks for the Williston Community Food Shelf; 22 homemade lap quilts, which are being donated to Sleep in Heavenly Peace; 40 plus homemade kid themed pillow cases – also going to SHP; many winter coats, boots & other clothing items going to the Habitat Restore. Thank you for sharing the warmth!

• Here at WFC, we have an amazing staff. Several members of the church separately contributed to overflow these baskets with goodies to show our appreciation for them this Christmas.

• In the time of the pandemic, our annual Giving Tree took on a different look. But the generosity and response of the congregation remained just as strong. 84 gift cards for 42 children were delivered to ten families at Williston Central School on Tuesday morning. Thank you for making this a Merry Christmas for so many in our community.

• Even though we are physically separated, our youth and children still came together virtually for our annual Christmas pageant!

• When we heard the Shelburne Community School was in need of masks for their students, we donated 30 masks to help out.

• Even though we had to cancel the Williston Town Tree Lighting event this year, we still made sure the Christmas tree would shine brightly in the town gazebo to bring hope during this Advent season!

• Thanksgiving Basket Drive – 80 cars came through our parking lot to drop off food donations. 27 baskets were assembled for families in need in our Williston schools. 2 trunks full of addition food were taken to the Williston Community Food Shelf. Thank you once again, Williston!

• Halloween 2020 brought us Drive Up Trick or Treating! We loved sharing our costumes and candy with our community!

• We had our first ever Front Porch Bible Dedication Sunday! Three of our Sunday School students received their Bibles from Pastor Paul and the Education Committee. A celebration will be held when we are able to meet in the church building again.

• Our community food drive was a huge success! We delivered 1,850 pounds of food to Williston Community Food Shelf!

• How do we respond to racism? Increase awareness of the history of African Americans in Vermont. Reg Melrose shared the story of Newell Langley, a Vermont farmer and Civil War soldier at Morse Cemetery where he is buried. This community event was well attended in person and on Facebook Live.

• “Back to School Bags” were delivered to our 30 Sunday School students! Each bag had a personalized bookmark, mask and some other goodies to start this unique school year off right! We are proud of our students!

• Six Merry Mask Makers from our congregation donated 500 handmade masks to the Williston schools for students to have at the start of this new and very different school year.

• Several members of the congregation joined in a send off for Dylan before undergoing a procedure in Boston. Even a pandemic cannot stop the love, support, prayers and air hugs we are sending to this family! Dylan Strong!

• Each week we host a congregational conversation through Zoom entitled “How We Respond to Racism.” At each session, Thursday night at 4pm and 8pm, we share videos and have an open discussion about how we respond to racism in society and in ourselves.

• Members of our church have been volunteering with Williston Central School’s free summer meal program for all kids in town. Three times a week the school hands out about 560 meals. Each bag pictured has 2 breakfasts & 2 lunches for one child.

• We have distributed cookies to thank our community leaders for their hard work.

• On June 21st at noon, our bell rang out for 8.5 minutes in memory of George Floyd.

• Several members of our congregation have been sewing masks for front line workers and those in need.

• Our congregation, led by our Missions Committee, continues to provide meals for Dismas House once a month. https://dismasofvt.org/

Online

Just as our worship services have been live-streamed to Facebook during the pandemic, we will continue to live-stream them from the church sanctuary at Facebook/WillistonFederatedChurch going forward. This will allow us to continue to welcome to our worship service those who are far away and those who prefer remote worship.

For the Children – Sunday School Materials

In Person

Masks will be required for in-person worship. Social distancing will be maintained. Outdoor activities for school aged children will be available during service. In case of inclement weather, activity bags will be available for children to use in their seats. Nursery services are available for the youngest children.

Worship, COVID, and Safety at Williston Federated Church: A Doctor Answers a Parent’s Questions