Holy Week & Easter 2026

Holy Week & Easter 2026

by | Mar 5, 2026 | News

AT-A-GLANCE:
Palm Sunday, March 29: Parade at 9:00am | Service at 10:00am
Maundy Thursday, April 2: Service at 7:00pm
Easter, April 5: Sunrise Service 6:30am | Family Service 10:00am

Palm Sunday, March 29, 9:00 a.m. parade and 10:00 a.m. worship service
On Palm Sunday we’ll again celebrate Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem with a New Orleans brass and percussion ensemble, starting with our annual parade around the neighborhood. (Gather at 9:00 to join us in the parade.) The musicians will stay for the service and join the choir in a selection from Handel’s Messiah.

Maundy Thursday, April 2, 7:00 p.m.
During this somber service, we partake in Holy Communion as Jesus did with his disciples, and we remember Christ’s betrayal, trial, and crucifixion through a series of scripture readings and hymns, while slowly extinguishing the light in our sanctuary. When we leave, in darkness, we do so with the hope for Christ’s triumphant return on Easter morning

Easter Sunrise Service MOVED TO CRAWFORD’S FRONT STEPS, April 5, 6:30 a.m.
Join us if you’re able on Crawford’s front steps where we will celebrate Christ’s Resurrection with a service of Holy Communion and a few well-known hymns. If the weather is uncooperative, we will move inside. Please join us after the service for a light breakfast in Gifford Hall.

Easter Service at Crawford, April 5, 10:00 a.m.
For Easter, a brass quartet will help us sound the Resurrection in collaboration with the Chancel Choir, including an open-sing of the Hallelujah Chorus! This service will be followed by Easter games and goodies in Gifford Hall for all children in attendance.

Dwelling Place

by | Mar 2, 2026 | Uncategorized

Two months in a row – January and February – our nights to serve dinner to guests of the Dwelling Place were canceled when snow emergencies in Woburn forced the Woburn UMC (home to the Dwelling Place) to remain closed. Dwelling Place provides hot meals on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, so there were other nights to get hot meals there. They’ve also installed a community refrigerator behind the church, where those in need can find donated produce and other perishable groceries.

On March 23 – which would be our next opportunity to serve and hopefully one that won’t get snowed out – the Interact Club from Winchester High School will serve dinner instead. Stay tuned for our next planned menu in April.

What Do You Believe?

What Do You Believe?

by | Mar 1, 2026 | Sermons

This Sunday’s sermon will be an introduction for what we’ll be talking about for the rest of my time at Crawford. We’ll be looking at different Christian beliefs—from official church doctrines to Biblical foundations to things that are more cultural beliefs that sprang out of various religious tenets. My goal is not to proclaim what you should believe but to help us all look inward and do a bit of digging to discover what we actually do believe and where that belief came from for each of us.

– Pastor Anne

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Black History Month: Courageous Love

Black History Month: Courageous Love

by | Feb 12, 2026 | Conversations

Rev. Dr. Liberato (Levi) Bautista, Church and Society’s Assistant General Secretary for United Nations and International Affairs, offers his reflection on 2026 Black History Month and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr ‘s Holiday.  The photo above is of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, being congratulated by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Harold (left) and His Majesty King Olav V (back to the camera) in Oslo, Norway, December 10, 1964. Dr. King is joined by his wife Coretta on his left. photo by Associated Press

“Now that the remembrance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 2026 holiday is over and the celebration for Black History Month is here, I’d like to take a moment to reflect: What does love really look like when fear fills our headlines and racist injustice influences our systems?

“Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day last month, we remembered not just a dreamer, but a dedicated justice advocate—someone who organized, negotiated, marched, prayed, and sacrificed for the vision of the Beloved Community. Dr. King showed us that peace isn’t just the absence of tension; it’s the presence of justice. February’s Black History Month also carries that truth with many stories of struggle and progress by Black people against incredible odds. That truth continues to guide us today.”

Read the full article on the UMC Justice website, HERE.

Systems-Thinkers Seminar, Sunday, 2/15

by | Feb 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

Led by Rev. Dr. Rand Peabody

VIBRANT congregations are attentive to what is required for healthy SYSTEMIC functioning.   Every “Body-of-Christ,” we could say, has its underlying “metabolism”!

Yet we tend to bring much more focus to the spiritual and structural aspects of church life than we do to the systemic dimensions that are essential to maintaining such a healthy metabolism.

Rand Peabody will draw on his experience as an Interim Pastor in fifteen UCC churches to present what healthy systemic functioning looks like in congregations such as ours at Crawford.  He will also offer examples of “Christian Conflict Management.”

Don’t miss his after-church “Systems-Thinkers Seminar” on Sunday, February 15th.   The program will begin approximately fifteen minutes after the end of the service, and aim to finish at noon.