2026 Programs
Christopher Houlihan Organ Recital
Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3 p.m.
Christopher Houlihan has established an international reputation as a “passionate and intelligently virtuoso musician” (Gramophone), hailed for his “glowing, miraculously life-affirming performances” (Los Angeles Times). He will create a program for South Church’s Casavant organ that showcases its unique features and tonalities.
For reservations, call (413) 253-2977 or email office@amherstsouthchurch.org .
Suggested donation: $20
Amherst Regional High School Hurricane Singers
Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 7 p.m.
Choral Director Todd Fruth and the Amherst Regional High School Hurricane Singers will present Gospel, spiritual, folk and pop songs as well as their three-song set performed at the recent Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) festival in North Andover. Bring your family and friends for an uplifting evening!
Free-will donation shared by ARHS and South Church
Reading Frederick Douglass Together
Sunday, July 5, 2026, 3-5 p.m.
A community reading and discussion of Frederick Douglass’s influential speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
Sponsored in partnership with the Town of Amherst Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
This program is funded by a grant from Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
On Instagram: @masshumanities @masscultural #RFDT26
Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing – Book Group Discussion
Wednesday, September 30, 7 p.m.
Reservations: 413-253-2977 or office@amherstsouthchurch.org
This book group discussion is offered as a sequel to the Reading Frederick Douglass Together community gathering help on July 5.
Homegoing tells the stories of two Ghanaian half-sisters and their progeny from the 1700s to the present day. One sister married a British colonizer; the other was enslaved. The novel traces the impacts of slavery and the power of memory on both sides of the Atlantic.
“I think I needed to read a book like this to remember what is possible. I think I needed to remember what happens when you pair a gifted literary mind to an epic task. Homegoing is an inspiration.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates
The discussion will be facilitated by Marita Banda and Cammie McGovern. Banda teaches African American Literature (including Homegoing) and co-advises the Best Buddies club at Amherst Regional High School. She is co-authoring Supports and Challenges for Justice-Centered ELA Educators across the United States, including the chapter “Love and Joy at the Center of Everything: Teaching African American Literature as a Catalyst for Change.” McGovern is the author of 11 books, including her newest novel, The Last Letters of Sally and Walter. She co-founded Whole Children and Milestones, a resource center for children and young adults with disabilities and their families.
This program is supported by funding from Mass Humanities; the Massachusetts Cultural Council; the Town of Amherst Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Jones Library; and South Congregational Church.
The Jones library will provide 25 free copies of Homegoing to be distributed at and after the Reading Frederick Douglass Together event, as well as copies available for borrowing.
The Visitor – Pizza & Movie Night
The Visitor explores the issue of immigration and the theme of connection. When a bored professor goes to New York to present a paper, he finds undocumented immigrants living in his apartment. He befriends them, and when one gets detained by ICE, he tries to help.
Wednesday, November 4, 5 p.m.
Suggested donation: $5 per person, $15 maximum per family
Reservations: 413-253-2977 or office@amherstsouthchurch.org