Dear Friends in Christ
I have publicly mentioned my friend and colleague Michael Caine several times. Formerly, the Regional Conference Minister in the Metropolitan Region of the New York Conference, Michael is currently the transitional pastor (A.K.A. Covenant Minister) at the Old First Reformed United Church of Christ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As many of you know, Michael was also a classmate of the Rev. Mr. Jim Hollister, the previous pastor in Norwich, when they both attended Colgate.
In the church blog the Rev. Mr. Caine recently wrote about a challenge he suggested to the Old First Reformed congregation. This is the question he asked: “Who Will Be Our Witnesses?” One parishioner suggested the church could use the fence in front of the building this summer to share the God Is Still Speaking message of the United Church of Christ.
Doing that could certainly be a witness. Graphic red and black posters and banners with the God Is Still Speaking message are available. Unquestionably these can provide a passerby a peek into the faith community and publicize the prophetic and progressive witness of the United Church of Christ which this national identity campaign provides.
Michael shared that plan with Ron Buford, the original architect of the Still Speaking Initiative. Ron said: “Michael, what do you think would happen if members share their personal stories with each other alongside the broader, overarching promises of the denomination?”
That certainly put a different spin on what real witness is about, wrote Michael. This is what he said in a church blog: “If we back up what, otherwise, may sound like the surprising, even ‘almost too good to be true’ invitation of the United Church of Christ (the invitation which insists God Is Still Speaking to us today) with real stories of real life from real people, our message of God touching the life of people (no longer sounding like just wishful thinking) could really hit home!”
Michael suggested that if the people of Old First started to share their own stories with one another, then it’s possible folks beyond that community might hear about this sharing and begin to perceive the same wonder and grace the people at Old First are starting to realize, just because they have started to share the stories with each other. A number of people have sent in stories to Michael and he has started to publish them in the church newsletter.
They are not stories about conversion or stories about big events. They are simple stories about relationship. Here are a couple of those stories.
***
A woman who moved to Philadelphia with three small children. She needed a church, searched the yellow pages for a congregation and found Old First. When she arrived with her three children in tow, someone in the congregation invited this woman and her children to sit with them during worship. They became best of friends.
One person wrote: I don’t want to be the grumpy old lady music snob! I loved the Bernstein song in worship last week, but I’m guessing there were some whose response was “Um, that’s sort of different.” The next week after that one of the offerings featured drums. And next week, I know there will be something by Handel. I love a church where no matter what music you love, you might hear it on a given Sunday morning!
Yet another wrote that the initial welcome they received at Old First was warm and genuine. But the most wonderful moment during that first visit was when they realized that their family didn’t raise an eyebrow. Two-moms-and-a-daughter was no big deal at Old First. You can’t imagine how great that felt. They still appreciate and cherish this sense of belonging and “okay-ness.”
****
I want to suggest God Is Still Speaking. And God speaks through us. Unless we speak out about how God is speaking through us, this Speaking God still talks but the voice becomes so small it is nearly silent.
We need to share our stories about God who still speaks. We need to share our stories about God who still speaks with each other. We need to share our stories about God who still speaks with the greater community.
I suppose the challenge is obvious. Do we believe God Is Still Speaking? Do we believe God can speak through us? Or do we think the voice of God is so tiny that it can barely be heard?
All the bright colored banners and fancy posters and snappy slogans won’t mean a thing unless they have something and someone behind them. That something is our story. That someone is you and me— us.
As another colleague of mine says: “See you in church!”
In Faith,
Joe Connolly
P.S. If anyone wants to submit some stories about God speaking through them in this church for the Newsletter, I would be happy to publish them.
Monday, June 28, 2010
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CHURCH
PASTOR’S REPORT 2009-2010
Many of you know that with my Annual Report I try to look toward the future, not at the past. Striving to illuminate the past is not the place on which people in positions of theological leadership should dwell. That, having been said, let’s look ahead.
***********************************************************
It is a key question for any church at all times: to where is this church called? Most people do not hear that vital question correctly. The thing most people hear when the question ‘to where is this church called?” is another, very different question: ‘To what is this church called?’ (Some would say “how is this church called” rather than “to what” but either will do.) I want to suggest that answering “to what is this church called” is close to useless. “To where is this church called” might be a helpful pursuit.
Why would I say that? Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States put it this way: “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Which is, obviously, not to say any church should fail to plan. I cherish plans. It is to say ‘where’ supercedes ‘what.’
I had a pastor friend who, many years ago, started an organization called The Institute for Clergy Renewal. It is still running. The sole purpose of the organization was to offer clergy who had ‘burned out’ by being overly involved in ‘action’ in ‘what’ to be involved in a spiritual retreat for an extended time— about three months. In those retreats they would be given an opportunity to become renewed by concentrating on issues of faith. Why? Issues of faith are the ‘where’ to which any person and any church is called. You see, without the ‘where,’ without faith, the ‘what’ becomes meaningless. And, when we pursue goals without having a spiritual grounding, the action to carry out those goals become meaningless.
So, to where are we called? I think that answer is pretty clear: we are called to be a community of faith. One becomes a community of faith and, indeed, one renews faith through a combination of the intentional study of Scripture and intentional worship.
I cannot overstress how important the study of Scripture is. But I also need to note that simply reading Scripture is not studying Scripture. Further, if you are studying Scripture alone and not in a group, I cannot overstress how important it is to have multiple commentaries (which show a variety of viewpoints) available for that study. Which, of course, argues for studying Scripture in a group because those kinds of resources are more likely be available.
That brings us to “intentional” worship. What is “intentional” about worship? There are two things members of a church need to do to practice intentional worship. The first is to strive to be, each Sabbath, the community of faith gathered together to worship the One, Triune God. The second is to make a personal commitment to each other, to the other members of the community of faith, to be present at the normally scheduled service of worship, each week, once a week, no matter what. To be intentional means that a parishioner lets nothing, lets no one, lets no other commitment get in the way of that commitment and that intentionality. I cannot overstress how important “intentional” worship is. To be clear: these two aspects of church, together— study and worship— show where our personal priorities lie.
Now, I know some will say: “O.K. that’s the ‘where’ but I am a ‘nuts and bolts’ kind of person. You really have to show me a ‘what’ or I won’t believe a ‘where’ is there.
O.K.— the ‘what’— there is a fairly popular and successful program many churches use called Five Practices of Faithful Congregations. These are the five steps. Please note: these are practices. These make recommendations about what to do, about what you can do. These all address ‘what.’ These emphasize the faithful behaviors necessary to be a vital congregation.
The Practice of Radical Hospitality
Radical hospitality happens when Christians offer the absolute utmost of themselves, their abilities, and their creativity to welcome others into the faith.
The Practice of Passionate Worship
Passionate worship is when the community explores how the ingredient of passion can transform a worship service and offers insights and ideas on how to have worship that deeply touches souls and changes lives.
The Practice of Intentional Faith Development
Faith Development is an exploration of high quality learning experiences for all ages that matures the spirituality and faith of congregational participants.
The Practice of Risk-Taking Mission and Service
We do sometimes need to be reminded that by reaching out and taking risks, churches become the resources God uses to change lives and transform the world.
The Practice of Extravagant Generosity
This has been a given throughout the history of humanity: generosity enlarges the soul, realigns priorities, connects people to Jesus, and strengthens congregations to fulfill the ministries of Christ.
************
So, there you have it: a ‘where’ and a ‘what.’ And I hope you noticed the significant degree of overlap between the two.
I’d like to end with a couple of thoughts about church on which I invite you to meditate. They are not mine. They are all taken from the writings of the late Rev. Dr. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., a Presbyterian Pastor and writer, who held standing in the United Church of Christ. At different times in a long career Coffin was a CIA agent, a chaplain at Yale University, a leader in the civil-rights and peace movements of the 1960s and 1970s, a member of the secret society Skull and Bones and, finally, the Senior Minister at the Riverside Church in New York City.
“All of life is the exercise of risk.”
“To be avoided at all costs is the solace of opinion without the pain of thought.”
“I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings.”
“The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.”
“It is often said that the Church is a crutch. Of course it’s a crutch. What makes you think you don’t limp?”
“Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.”
“When a man is drowning, it may be better for him to try to swim than to thrash around waiting for divine intervention.”
“The temptation to moralize is strong; it is emotionally satisfying to have enemies rather than problems, to seek out culprits rather than the flaws in the system.”
“Hope is a state of mind independent of the state of the world. If your heart’s full of hope, you can be persistent when you can’t be optimistic.”
The Rev. Mr. Joseph Connolly
Pastor and Teacher
Many of you know that with my Annual Report I try to look toward the future, not at the past. Striving to illuminate the past is not the place on which people in positions of theological leadership should dwell. That, having been said, let’s look ahead.
***********************************************************
It is a key question for any church at all times: to where is this church called? Most people do not hear that vital question correctly. The thing most people hear when the question ‘to where is this church called?” is another, very different question: ‘To what is this church called?’ (Some would say “how is this church called” rather than “to what” but either will do.) I want to suggest that answering “to what is this church called” is close to useless. “To where is this church called” might be a helpful pursuit.
Why would I say that? Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States put it this way: “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Which is, obviously, not to say any church should fail to plan. I cherish plans. It is to say ‘where’ supercedes ‘what.’
I had a pastor friend who, many years ago, started an organization called The Institute for Clergy Renewal. It is still running. The sole purpose of the organization was to offer clergy who had ‘burned out’ by being overly involved in ‘action’ in ‘what’ to be involved in a spiritual retreat for an extended time— about three months. In those retreats they would be given an opportunity to become renewed by concentrating on issues of faith. Why? Issues of faith are the ‘where’ to which any person and any church is called. You see, without the ‘where,’ without faith, the ‘what’ becomes meaningless. And, when we pursue goals without having a spiritual grounding, the action to carry out those goals become meaningless.
So, to where are we called? I think that answer is pretty clear: we are called to be a community of faith. One becomes a community of faith and, indeed, one renews faith through a combination of the intentional study of Scripture and intentional worship.
I cannot overstress how important the study of Scripture is. But I also need to note that simply reading Scripture is not studying Scripture. Further, if you are studying Scripture alone and not in a group, I cannot overstress how important it is to have multiple commentaries (which show a variety of viewpoints) available for that study. Which, of course, argues for studying Scripture in a group because those kinds of resources are more likely be available.
That brings us to “intentional” worship. What is “intentional” about worship? There are two things members of a church need to do to practice intentional worship. The first is to strive to be, each Sabbath, the community of faith gathered together to worship the One, Triune God. The second is to make a personal commitment to each other, to the other members of the community of faith, to be present at the normally scheduled service of worship, each week, once a week, no matter what. To be intentional means that a parishioner lets nothing, lets no one, lets no other commitment get in the way of that commitment and that intentionality. I cannot overstress how important “intentional” worship is. To be clear: these two aspects of church, together— study and worship— show where our personal priorities lie.
Now, I know some will say: “O.K. that’s the ‘where’ but I am a ‘nuts and bolts’ kind of person. You really have to show me a ‘what’ or I won’t believe a ‘where’ is there.
O.K.— the ‘what’— there is a fairly popular and successful program many churches use called Five Practices of Faithful Congregations. These are the five steps. Please note: these are practices. These make recommendations about what to do, about what you can do. These all address ‘what.’ These emphasize the faithful behaviors necessary to be a vital congregation.
The Practice of Radical Hospitality
Radical hospitality happens when Christians offer the absolute utmost of themselves, their abilities, and their creativity to welcome others into the faith.
The Practice of Passionate Worship
Passionate worship is when the community explores how the ingredient of passion can transform a worship service and offers insights and ideas on how to have worship that deeply touches souls and changes lives.
The Practice of Intentional Faith Development
Faith Development is an exploration of high quality learning experiences for all ages that matures the spirituality and faith of congregational participants.
The Practice of Risk-Taking Mission and Service
We do sometimes need to be reminded that by reaching out and taking risks, churches become the resources God uses to change lives and transform the world.
The Practice of Extravagant Generosity
This has been a given throughout the history of humanity: generosity enlarges the soul, realigns priorities, connects people to Jesus, and strengthens congregations to fulfill the ministries of Christ.
************
So, there you have it: a ‘where’ and a ‘what.’ And I hope you noticed the significant degree of overlap between the two.
I’d like to end with a couple of thoughts about church on which I invite you to meditate. They are not mine. They are all taken from the writings of the late Rev. Dr. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., a Presbyterian Pastor and writer, who held standing in the United Church of Christ. At different times in a long career Coffin was a CIA agent, a chaplain at Yale University, a leader in the civil-rights and peace movements of the 1960s and 1970s, a member of the secret society Skull and Bones and, finally, the Senior Minister at the Riverside Church in New York City.
“All of life is the exercise of risk.”
“To be avoided at all costs is the solace of opinion without the pain of thought.”
“I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings.”
“The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.”
“It is often said that the Church is a crutch. Of course it’s a crutch. What makes you think you don’t limp?”
“Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.”
“When a man is drowning, it may be better for him to try to swim than to thrash around waiting for divine intervention.”
“The temptation to moralize is strong; it is emotionally satisfying to have enemies rather than problems, to seek out culprits rather than the flaws in the system.”
“Hope is a state of mind independent of the state of the world. If your heart’s full of hope, you can be persistent when you can’t be optimistic.”
The Rev. Mr. Joseph Connolly
Pastor and Teacher
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
06/27/2010 ~ Fifth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 8 ~ 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time ~
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 or 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 or Psalm 16; Galatians 5:1, 13-25 (Used: Galatians 5:13-18, 22-25); Luke 9:51-62 ~ Annual Meeting.
“...the fruit of the Spirit is this: love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22.
Would you do me a favor? Just for a moment, would you close your eyes and try to place yourself among the disciples of Jesus on the day after Pentecost?
Now, what you need to remember as you try, is this: none of the Gospels have been written. No one knows who Paul is. None of the Epistles have been written. The term Christian has not been invented or even heard.
So, just close your eyes and try to put yourself there, the day after Pentecost, with the disciples of Jesus. (Pause.) Now, my bet is you can’t really do that. That’s because we know their future and it is impossible for us to remove that knowledge from our sensibilities. You just can’t do it. We know what’s going to happen.
The disciples, on the other hand, don’t know a thing about their future. They do not know what would happen. Did they worry about the future? Yep. Still, they moved toward the future.
What is, perhaps, even more difficult for us to understand is the writings called the New Testament are not a history of what happened and were not meant to be a history. The New Testament is not a set of facts, akin to the data we find in history. The New Testament is about the feelings and the responses to their story— the story about what happened to them.
The writers are not addressing the facts of what happened, but what it felt like. So, when Paul writes, he is interested in what it feels like to be a follower of Christ.
(Quote): “...the fruit of the Spirit is this: love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Slight pause.) And here is how the disciples were able to live through those uncertain times (quote): “...those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their ego with its passions and desires.” (Pause.)
Well, we are, today, in many ways in the same place as the disciples of Jesus the day after Pentecost. We do not know what our future will bring.
But in telling us how the disciples lived through those times with an unknown future and what it felt like, Paul is giving us some important guideposts for our times, today. (Quote): “...since we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” (Slight pause.)
We do not know a thing about what will happen in our future. Do we worry about the future? Yep. But we need to move toward the future.
So the challenge for the church today and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow is clear: can we, you and I, the church, live our lives not knowing the future and submitting our ego to the work of the Spirit, trusting the Spirit? Trusting the Spirit— that, my friends, is a definition of church. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
06/27/2010
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is an précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “This church was incorporated in 1814. A building went up on approximately the space occupied by this nave, this worship space in 1819. In February 1858 that structure burned to the ground. The brick church, this space in which we now worship, was dedicated in June of 1862. In 1860 this church calls the Rev. Samuel Scoville, son in law of Henry Ward Beecher, pastor of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and, literally, the most famous man in America at that time to be the pastor. Being the denomination who started the Civil War, as we Congregationalists are since we were key in the movement to abolish slavery in American, Sam says we will build the town Meeting House. So, in 1874 the building was expanded to its present size and the nave expanded to seat 1,300. In 1958 the size of the worship space in which we now stand moved back to its original design and renovated in 1984. It actually says in one write up that the worship space was reduced because the town did not need a meeting house any longer. All that is history. It is factual data. It says nothing about how we feel about being a community of faith. Telling our story as a church does not mean listing factual data. It means saying something about how we feel.” [1]
[1] Note: the meditation was brief because the Annual Organizational Meeting of the Church was held within the context of the service of worship.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 or 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 or Psalm 16; Galatians 5:1, 13-25 (Used: Galatians 5:13-18, 22-25); Luke 9:51-62 ~ Annual Meeting.
Stories and History
“...the fruit of the Spirit is this: love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22.
Would you do me a favor? Just for a moment, would you close your eyes and try to place yourself among the disciples of Jesus on the day after Pentecost?
Now, what you need to remember as you try, is this: none of the Gospels have been written. No one knows who Paul is. None of the Epistles have been written. The term Christian has not been invented or even heard.
So, just close your eyes and try to put yourself there, the day after Pentecost, with the disciples of Jesus. (Pause.) Now, my bet is you can’t really do that. That’s because we know their future and it is impossible for us to remove that knowledge from our sensibilities. You just can’t do it. We know what’s going to happen.
The disciples, on the other hand, don’t know a thing about their future. They do not know what would happen. Did they worry about the future? Yep. Still, they moved toward the future.
What is, perhaps, even more difficult for us to understand is the writings called the New Testament are not a history of what happened and were not meant to be a history. The New Testament is not a set of facts, akin to the data we find in history. The New Testament is about the feelings and the responses to their story— the story about what happened to them.
The writers are not addressing the facts of what happened, but what it felt like. So, when Paul writes, he is interested in what it feels like to be a follower of Christ.
(Quote): “...the fruit of the Spirit is this: love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Slight pause.) And here is how the disciples were able to live through those uncertain times (quote): “...those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their ego with its passions and desires.” (Pause.)
Well, we are, today, in many ways in the same place as the disciples of Jesus the day after Pentecost. We do not know what our future will bring.
But in telling us how the disciples lived through those times with an unknown future and what it felt like, Paul is giving us some important guideposts for our times, today. (Quote): “...since we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” (Slight pause.)
We do not know a thing about what will happen in our future. Do we worry about the future? Yep. But we need to move toward the future.
So the challenge for the church today and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow is clear: can we, you and I, the church, live our lives not knowing the future and submitting our ego to the work of the Spirit, trusting the Spirit? Trusting the Spirit— that, my friends, is a definition of church. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
06/27/2010
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is an précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “This church was incorporated in 1814. A building went up on approximately the space occupied by this nave, this worship space in 1819. In February 1858 that structure burned to the ground. The brick church, this space in which we now worship, was dedicated in June of 1862. In 1860 this church calls the Rev. Samuel Scoville, son in law of Henry Ward Beecher, pastor of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and, literally, the most famous man in America at that time to be the pastor. Being the denomination who started the Civil War, as we Congregationalists are since we were key in the movement to abolish slavery in American, Sam says we will build the town Meeting House. So, in 1874 the building was expanded to its present size and the nave expanded to seat 1,300. In 1958 the size of the worship space in which we now stand moved back to its original design and renovated in 1984. It actually says in one write up that the worship space was reduced because the town did not need a meeting house any longer. All that is history. It is factual data. It says nothing about how we feel about being a community of faith. Telling our story as a church does not mean listing factual data. It means saying something about how we feel.” [1]
[1] Note: the meditation was brief because the Annual Organizational Meeting of the Church was held within the context of the service of worship.
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