Serve

Doing and Serving Together

We are a congregation that seeks to do justice and love kindness. We regularly engage in both justice and mission projects. Often that means partnering with agencies that are engaged in justice and charitable work in our community and the greater Rochester area.
We continually seek to educate ourselves about the needs in our community through second hour speakers and programs, and our Wednesday nights adult study. Our financial support of mission partners and facility usage give evidence to our commitment to doing justice and loving kindness.

Welcoming and Affirming

We are a fully inclusive, Welcoming and Affirming Church. That means we not only welcome LGBTQI+ persons into every phase and aspect of church life, but we affirm their identities as made in the image of God.

We wish such statements didn’t need to be made. We wish that full inclusion of all people and affirmation of people of all genders and sexualities were simply the norm and able to be taken for granted. Because they are not, we will continue to proclaim God’s love of all people with PRIDE!

Serving Our Neighbors

At First Rochester, caring for our neighbors includes sharing our facilities and having healthy working relationships with many self-help groups which meet regularly in our building. We welcome several Alcoholics Anonymous groups, Food Addicts, Overeaters Anonymous groups, Al Anon, and others.

Knowing that art plays a vital role in the well-being of an individual, we welcome the Weavers, Ikebana, Gardening, and Sewing Guilds, Dancers, and Recorders.

Contact us to see if we can serve you with our facility.

 Special Offerings

Through our National Affiliation with American Baptist Church-USA (ABC-USA) we have four 100% pass-through offerings which we contribute to.

  • Retired Ministers and Missionaries in January.
  • American for Christ in March or early April.
  • One Great Hour of Sharing in June and anytime there is a disaster.
  • World Mission in late September or early October.

Over the past year First Rochester chose to contribute to these local special offerings.

  • Cameron Community Ministries – Cleaning Supplies, Toiletries, and Paper Goods; High Five for Cameron – raising need funds for their Cameron Cuts program;  and our annual Giving Tree gifts at Christmas.
  • Care Portal – Assisting with specific and quick need for indiviuals through the Foster Care Program.
  • Hygine Products for those in the Brighton School District with need, especially in the summer months.
  • Sleep in Heavenly Peace – Bedding and volunteer time in the fall.
  • Royalties for Spirituals – Anytime throughout the year that we sing a spiritual in Worship we invite the congregation to donate to the Wm. Warfield Scholarship Fund through the Eastman School of Music.
  • & more.