Denominational Connections
  First Congregational Church is in fellowship with a body of churches whose history is a long and illustrious one, going all the way back to the earliest days of colonial New England and beyond. The Pilgrims who came to the South Shore of Massachusetts in 1620 and settled the town of Plymouth were Congregationalists, part of an irenic Calvinist group called Separatists in their native England, who felt led of God to separate themselves from the Church of England and its then very authoritarian episcopal form of government. The story of the Pilgrims and their legacy is wonderfully told in The Congregational Way of Life by Arthur A. Rouner, Jr., and The Lord’s Free People by Harry R. Butman, both of which are available in our church’s Crombie-Matheson Memorial Library. A capsule history of American Congregationalism, and other pertinent information about the Congregational Way, can be found in a series of essays titled The Congregational Way Series, on the Web site of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches: www.naccc.org.

First Congregational Church is an active part of the National Association (NACCC), which was formed to ensure the continuation and integrity of the Congregational Way at the time of the formation of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in 1957. The NACCC, through its national Annual Meeting, provides opportunities for local Congregational churches to come together for mutual support and the support of Christian mission. Today, the NACCC has some 475 member churches with a total membership of about 60,000. Its headquarters are in suburban Milwaukee, where it maintains national offices, agencies and resource personnel to help member churches in their respective ministries.

First Congregational Church also enjoys close fellowship with its sister Congregational churches in Somerset County: the Solon Congregational Church, The Church of Christ of The Forks and West Forks, the First Congregational Church of North Anson, the Skowhegan Federated Church, and the First Congregational Church of Norridgewock. The churches meet together periodically for worship and fellowship, and the pastors meet on a regular basis for breakfast and conversation. Together we form the Somerset County Congregational Fellowship, with roots going back to the Somerset Conference of Congregational Churches, formed in 1829.

The “continuing” (non-UCC) Congregational churches in Maine constitute the Congregational Christian Council of Maine (CCC/ME), which currently consists of forty member churches spread across the state. The CCC/ME maintains a state office in Portland. Like the NACCC, it enables its member churches to come together for mutual counsel and fellowship at semiannual spring and fall meetings. The Maine State Pilgrim Fellowship is the youth arm of the CCC/ME, and meets concurrently. In addition, the CCC/ME provides a very special outreach to youth and adults through Camp Winniaugwamauk (“Camp Winni”) in Brooksville, a facility shared with The Community of Christ, where the CCC/ME conducts a lively and engaging camp ministry for two weeks every summer.

The CCC/ME maintains a Web presence at www.cccme.us.

 
 
Ecumenical Fellowship
  First Congregational Church enjoys very warm and cordial relationships with St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Parish in Bingham and with the Bingham Church of the Nazarene. The churches hold union services on special occasions, and the clergy frequently work closely together to help spread God’s Good News in Bingham and the surrounding area, as well as to help meet the needs of local citizens.  
Missions
 
Missions are a vital part of First Congregational Church’s outreach. Through the NACCC, the church supports a number of missions and institutions in Maine, elsewhere in the United States, and around the world, including the Seafarers’ Friend Society in Boston, the Bulgarian Congregational Churches, Piedmont College, the Maine Seacoast Mission, and the Bread of Life Christian Mission in suburban Tampa. In addition, we provide financial support for Bangor Theological Seminary, Church World Service (the hunger relief arm of the National Council of Churches), and the Bingham Area Food Pantry, and Congregational missionary Dr. Kaarina Ham, a childhood friend of our Minister, who serves with Christian Leadership International in Armenia. Our monthly Diaconate Fund offering, received on every Communion Sunday, provides monies to help local individuals and families who have emergency needs.
  
   
  Dr. Kaarina Ham
  Missionary to Armenia
Return to Main Page
© First Congregational Church, Bingham, ME