1st Congregational United Church of Christ - Charlevoix

06/09/2026

This Sunday is our 2nd week in our "Lessons from Theo" series. Toby will put the compelling main character of Allen Levi's NYT Bestseller Theo of Golden in conversation with the Jesus of the Gospels. This message will raise the question, "What if we looked at and treated everyone as having saintly potential?" Come and explore with us!

We meet at 10:30 am at 101 State Street at the church with the purple doors, just one block from the bridge in Charlevoix. In case you are wondering who is welcome to be a part of our community, the answer is EVERYONE...NO EXCEPTIONS...PERIOD! We are an Open and Affirming church. Dress casually, and we will see you next Sunday. If you can't make it in person, check out our livestream at your convenience at www.chxucc.org under Online Worship.

Please check out Toby's podcast on Spotify. It's called "Toby's Take." Give him 10 minutes, and he'll give you a whole new way of looking at things. Check out the link here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/75Em79SvErmO9mWtk0y9bi?si=e767772db87c4bc3

06/02/2026

This Sunday, Toby will begin a month-long sermon series on “Lessons From Theo” inspired by his recent study of Theo of Golden, a NYT Bestseller that points us to Jesus on most every page. Week One will focus on the healing power that our loving attention on those around us can have. Come and see just how simple it can be to change your corner of the world one person and one conversation at a time.

We meet at 10:30 am at 101 State Street at the church with the purple doors, just one block from the bridge in Charlevoix. In case you are wondering who is welcome to be a part of our community, the answer is EVERYONE…NO EXCEPTIONS…PERIOD! We are an Open and Affirming church. Dress casually, and we will see you next Sunday. If you can’t make it in person, check out our livestream at your convenience at www.chxucc.org under Online Worship.

Please check out Toby’s podcast on Spotify. It’s called “Toby’s Take.” Give him 10 minutes, and he’ll give you a whole new way of looking at things. Check out the link here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/75Em79SvErmO9mWtk0y9bi?si=e86e7192c09b4aab

05/26/2026

If you’ve been enjoying our month-long sermon series on “Struggling with Sin,” you will likely have some questions that Toby didn’t get to in his 4 sermons on this topic. That is what week five is for – Sunday, May 31. That day will be a Q&A Sunday, when, instead of a sermon, Toby will address your lingering questions on sin. Hymns will be by request. Please join us!

We meet at 10:30 am at 101 State Street at the church with the purple doors, just one block from the bridge in Charlevoix. In case you are wondering who is welcome to be a part of our community, the answer is EVERYONE…NO EXCEPTIONS…PERIOD! We are an Open and Affirming church. See you Sunday, and if you can’t make it in person, check out our livestream at your convenience at www.chxucc.org under Online Worship.

Please check out Toby’s podcast on Spotify. It’s called “Toby’s Take.” Give him 10 minutes, and he’ll give you a whole new way of looking at things. Check out the link here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/75Em79SvErmO9mWtk0y9bi?si=3f612aa1d95f4df9

Looking for a church that celebrates and includes all people, the church with the purple doors in Charlevoix may be the right one for you.

05/19/2026

This Sunday, we'll continue our series on "Struggling with Sin," turning our attention to systems that perpetuate sin and evil on a grand scale - economic systems, government systems, even religious systems. Too often Christ followers focus exclusively on personal, individual sins, while disregarding or even being oblivious to the countless unjust systems in which we participate, thereby perpetuating suffering among the most vulnerable in society. Join us!

We meet at 10:30 am at 101 State Street at the church with the purple doors, just one block from the bridge in Charlevoix. In case you are wondering who is welcome to be a part of our community, the answer is EVERYONE...NO EXCEPTIONS...PERIOD! We are an Open and Affirming church. See you Sunday, and if you can't make it in person, check out our livestream at your convenience at www.chxucc.org under Online Worship.

Please check out Toby's podcast on Spotify. It's called "Toby's Take." Give him 10 minutes, and he'll give you a whole new way of looking at things. Check out the link here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/75Em79SvErmO9mWtk0y9bi?si=d49d21fb455949a8

05/12/2026

This Sunday we will continue to explore the limitations and drawbacks of traditional understandings of sin. Our particular focus this time will be the thorny notion of “Original Sin.” Did you know that this particular understanding of inherited sin was not “original” at all? It didn’t emerge as an idea until over 400 years after the time of Jesus and wasn’t systematized into a formal doctrine until the Protestant Reformation in the early 1600s. So, what were the other understandings of sin prior to the late emergence of so-called “original sin?” Did Jesus believe that sin was passed down from generation to generation? Come and see!

We meet at 10:30 am at 101 State Street at the church with the purple doors, just one block from the bridge in Charlevoix. In case you are wondering who is welcome to be a part of our community, the answer is EVERYONE…NO EXCEPTIONS…PERIOD! We are an Open and Affirming church. See you Sunday, and if you can’t make it in person, check out our livestream at your convenience at www.chxucc.org under Online Worship.

Please check out Toby’s podcast on Spotify. It’s called “Toby’s Take.” Give him 10 minutes, and he’ll give you a whole new way of looking at things. Check out the link here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/75Em79SvErmO9mWtk0y9bi?si=4f1af8d196764b96

05/05/2026

Our journey through the traditional and alternative definitions and understandings of sin continues this Sunday. This week we’ll ask the question “Do our mistakes and missteps really separate us from God?” Does the understanding that they do line up with what we see Jesus do when he is in the company of sinners? Our congregation loves being a part of the United Church of Christ family, because in our tradition we are encouraged to ask tough questions and wrestle with the whole range of possible answers. Come and join us!

We meet at 10:30 am at 101 State Street at the church with the purple doors, just one block from the bridge in Charlevoix. In case you are wondering who is welcome to be a part of our community, the answer is EVERYONE…NO EXCEPTIONS…PERIOD! We are an Open and Affirming church. See you Sunday, and if you can’t make it in person, check out our livestream at your convenience at www.chxucc.org under Online Worship.

Please check out Toby’s podcast on Spotify. It’s called “Toby’s Take.” Give him 10 minutes, and he’ll give you a whole new way of looking at things. Check out the link here: https://open.spotify.com/show/75Em79SvErmO9mWtk0y9bi?si=7ee0694b44574c00

04/30/2026

FREE BOOK GROUP!!!

On the four Wednesdays in May (starting May 6th), from 7 – 8:15 pm, 1st Congregational UCC of Charlevoix is hosting a discussion of one of the very best books of 2025. "Theo of Golden," by Allen Levi is a highly acclaimed 2025 breakout novel, recognized as a top 20 book of the year by Book Browse and winner of their Best Debut Award. The novel, which highlights themes of kindness, stillness, and loving attention offered to others, has been a #1 New York Times bestseller and is praised for its optimistic, “most huggable” storytelling.

Our Pastor, Toby, is a voracious reader and has called Theo of Golden “the most powerful, thoughtful, and inspiring book I’ve read in over a decade – it’s exactly what we need during this era of unprecedented violence, anxiety, and despair.”

To participate in this uplifting journey, all you need to do is call (231) 547-9122 or email our office at [email protected] to sign up, get yourself a copy of the book from Dockside Books in downtown Charlevoix or Amazon (paperback is $14.98, Kindle is $11.99), and have the first 94 pages (the Prologue thru Chapter 16) read by our first session on Wednesday, May 6 at 7 pm. This experience will be hosted online on Zoom, and we will send you the link once you’ve signed up.

Don’t miss this incredible experience. It might just change your life!

04/28/2026

This Sunday marks the beginning of a new series entitled “Struggling with Sin.” The way we Christians have come to understand sin and salvation has been a struggle for a growing number of people both in and out of the Christian church. Things like Jesus “dying for our sins” or offering a “blood sacrifice” to pay for our wrongs are very troubling concepts. Then there is the whole matter of “original sin” – some sort of hereditary evil that gets passed down from generation to generation. What sense are we to make of all this in 2026? We will be facing these questions head-on during the 5 Sundays in May. You won’t want to miss any of the episodes in this exciting series.

We meet at 10:30 am at 101 State Street at the church with the purple doors, just one block from the bridge in Charlevoix. In case you are wondering who is welcome to be a part of our community, the answer is EVERYONE…NO EXCEPTIONS…PERIOD! We are an Open and Affirming church. See you Sunday, and if you can’t make it in person, check out our livestream at your convenience at www.chxucc.org under Online Worship.

Please check out Toby’s podcast on Spotify. It’s called “Toby’s Take.” Give him 10 minutes, and he’ll give you a whole new way of looking at things. Check out the link here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/75Em79SvErmO9mWtk0y9bi?si=08ee99b3fcf34406