Category: Glimpses of Faith (Page 27 of 34)

From the Pastor – December 2020

December 14, 2020 / Joe Ward

Since I announced my retirement last spring this year has been a year of “lasts” both for me and Faith UCC and to compound the inevitable feeling of nostalgia that comes with this we have all had to deal with the Covid 19 pandemic and all the dislocation that comes with that. After 15 years at Faith UCC and 39 years as a UCC minister I’ve conducted my last Palm/Passion Sunday and Easter service; led my last confirmation class; and I’m entering my last Advent/Christmas season as an unretired pastor.

The good news is that with all these “lasts” come the possibilities of new beginnings and a new chapter opens in my life and in the life of Faith UCC. It is not always easy to move into new possibilities. There is always the temptation to look backward to what was instead of forward to what could be. It is scary to leave the familiar behind and enter an unrealized future. It often takes patience, perseverance, deep thinking and reflection to imagine a new future. It often means trying something new and being open to new possibilities. It often means building new relationships and strengthening old ones. Community has been important in the past and it will continue to be important as a new future unfolds, maybe even more important. It often means extra effort and work beyond what we have been doing. It often means relying on God’s grace, power, and presence to a degree we may not have for a very long time.

I’m struck this Advent/ Christmas season that Christmas celebrates the birth of the Christ-child, Emmanuel, God with us, who comes as a baby. Not only did the Christ child have to gestate 9 months in Mary’s womb before entering the world but the world had to wait 30 years before that baby grew into an adult and began his ministry. Even then, after the resurrection and ascension, we Christians await the second coming. We Christians are always awaiting the coming future God has in store, even while we celebrate God’s presence with us now. This requires much patience, perseverance and prayer.

I ran across this quote on patience that I will close with. “Patience is not the ability to wait. Patience is to be calm no matter what happens, constantly take action to turn it to positive growth opportunities, and have faith to believe that it will all work out in the end while you are waiting.” ― Roy T. Bennett

I pray that God will grant us all the gift of active patience and the peace that passes understanding that comes with trusting in God, no matter what the future may hold.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Pastor Scott

Heart of Texas Association News

November 6, 2020 / Joe Ward

Our Heart of Texas Association Fall Meeting met on Zoom on Saturday morning, October 24th. We had a good turnout with 13 of our churches represented. Open Cathedral led our opening with a video worship on YouTube that included excellent music — with one of the musicians sharing from out of state, creative video segments, and a reflection by Ryan Hart. We appreciate deeply their skilled, faithful, and uplifting work.

The meeting began with a time of recognition for Hope United on their tenth anniversary. Their council president, Jim Robichaux, shared about their send off for Ron Trimmer as Ron and his family left for Missouri, the recent interim time with Kyle Walker leading worship, and the exciting news of a new designated pastor coming on board. Jeremy Albers, Director of Slumber Falls Camp, shared with us that the camp is in difficult financial condition because all of the groups that were scheduled to come have canceled due to COVID-19, stopping the major revenue stream. Slumber Falls was able to have our UCC summer camps last summer due to careful planning and hard work to keep people safe (no one got sick), but the revenue that is needed to support the camp is missing for now. Jeremy is working quarter time, and major fundraising is needed. We also recognized and lifted up our chaplains with great gratitude as they continue their life-giving work in this time of real risk. Our attendees connected with a breakout time in small groups, and representatives from each of the churches present shared quite a bit about the life, challenges, and things to celebrate in their churches — always a rich time in these meetings. Finally, we appreciated the excellent presentation that Campbell Lovett, our Interim Conference Minister, gave on the proposed Unified Conference level Fitness Review Committee and the work needed in the next few months to be able to make a decision on whether to join with the other South Central Conference Associations in forming this committee.

An important decision at this meeting, made during our financial report time, was to donate $5000 of our dedicated youth funds to Slumber Falls Camp. We did this both to show our financial support and because we had funds set aside to give scholarships to the National Youth Event last summer, which had to be cancelled as an in-person event. Also, we are encouraging our churches to give as generously as possible to Slumber Falls.

I also shared the news of my trip last week out to Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi to deliver 110 hygiene kits — 100 from Friends Congregational Church and 10 from Friedens Gay Hill — along with a check from Friedens. The staff at Back Bay Mission welcomed me and received our gifts with joy, as the need among the homeless people they serve with these particular donations is greater than ever. We are encouraging giving to Back Bay Mission along with Slumber Falls as an offering from our churches.

We offer congratulations to Crystal Silva-McCormick and Church of the Savior. Crystal has been their designated pastor since Mary Wilson retired last spring. In this role, a designated pastor has a contract for a specified period of time, during which the pastor and the church can decide to make the call a permanent one as a settled pastor. Church of the Savior recently voted to call Crystal as their settled pastor. Our joy and prayers for a thriving ministry go with Crystal and Church of the Savior as they embark on this profound calling together.

Blessings in Christ, Liz Nash, Association Minister

Upcoming Events/Dates

November 6, 2020 / Joe Ward

Pastor Scott to be on Vacation November 16-27th

Pastor Scott will be in Florida from Monday November 16th to Friday, November 27th. Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

Hanging of the Greens Service Sunday, November 29th

On Sunday, November 29th we will hold our annual Hanging of the Greens service in the sanctuary. This also marks the first Sunday of Advent.

First recognized in 1988, World AIDS Day falls on December 1 each year. World AIDS Day is dedicated to spreading awareness of the AIDS pandemic spread by the spread of HIV infection, and to mourning those who have died of the disease. An estimated 40 million people worldwide have died of AIDS since 1981, and an estimated 37 million are living with HIV, making it one of the most important global public health issues in recorded history. Despite recent improvements in treatment, the AIDS epidemic still claims an estimated two million lives each year, of which more than 250,000 are children.

Confirmation Sunday is November 15th!

November 6, 2020 / Joe Ward

On Sunday, November 15tth we will confirm four young people at Faith United Church of Christ: Adam Gossett, Hayes and Fischer Marlow and Ava Perry. We have been meeting for two one hour sessions every Sunday via zoom since September 13th. We’ve been using the re-form material from Spark House Publications. It has been Janet Sherman’s and my privilege and pleasure to lead these sessions and work with these talented young people who are a credit to their families and to Faith UCC. It has been our practice at Faith UCC to ask the young people to take a portion of the UCC Statement of Faith and give their take on it, what it means to them. Here are the portions they have chosen:

Hayes Marlow – “You call the worlds into being, create persons in your own image, and set before each the ways of life and death.”

Fischer Marlow – “You seek in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.”

Adam Gossett – “In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Savior, you have come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to yourself.”

Ava Perry – ” You promise to all who trust you forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, your presence in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in your realm which has no end.”

Be sure and join us in person or via zoom to hear what they have to say and be part of their confirmation.

Worship in the Sanctuary Starting Sunday November 8th!!!

November 6, 2020 / Joe Ward

Greetings Faith UCC,

The church council and Pastor Scott Martin have approved plans to safely resume in-person worship services. We have chosen November 8, 2020 at 10:30am as our start date. We look forward to being together again, but we must all do our part to ensure the health of those who choose to attend. Below are the guidelines that have been adopted.

Masks must be worn by all attendees over 2 years of age and kept on during the entire worship service. If anyone arrives without a mask, one will be provided to them.
Temperature checks will be done upon arrival. Anyone with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher will not be admitted. If you feel sick or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, please remain at home.
An usher will seat all people in order to maximize our seating capacity while maintaining the 6 foot social distancing between family units. Ushers will fill the sanctuary from front to back and empty it at the end of the service from back to front. Please remain in your seat until directed to exit by the usher.
Please do not gather and socialize closely in the pews, aisles or Narthex upon entry or exit. For now, there will be no coffee time following the service. We hope to return to this once the pandemic is over.
Nursery services will not be provided. In-person Sunday school and youth activities will not yet resume. Children should sit with their families and will remain there during the children’s time of the service.
To begin, there will be no congregational singing. The pastor, liturgist, soloist or anyone speaking or singing without a mask should be 15 feet or more from the congregation. If Covid case numbers remain low, we hope later to add congregational singing with masks in place.
Prepackaged communion elements will be used and available for pick-up upon entry so the elements will not have to be passed from person to person
An offering basket will be placed at the entrance to the sanctuary. Offering plates will not be passed.
Pastor Scott will light the candles at prayer time and prayer requests will be taken from the pews so that people will not need to get up and move around during the service.
One person at a time will be allowed in the restrooms and a person will be designated each Sunday to clean bathroom surfaces between users.

We will continue to broadcast our worship services on ZOOM and recommend those at risk for severe illness from COVID-19 (older adults and people with serious underlying conditions) continue to worship in that manner. We ask your patience and understanding during this time and your respect for the fact that people may have different comfort levels with being physically close to other people.

If you are willing to be a greeter, usher, or restroom monitor, please let Mary Owen know (830-265-0570 or [email protected]). Thanks. If you have any questions or suggestions, please call Mary Owen, Chairperson of the Reopening Committee, or Pastor Scott. Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support during these difficult times. We look forward to seeing you in our sanctuary or on ZOOM.

We look forward to being together again,

Faith UCC Council

From the Pastor – November 2020

November 6, 2020 / Joe Ward

It has a been a strange year is so many ways with all the ramifications of Covid 19. There have been stay at home orders, the cancelation of large gatherings, wearing a mask everywhere we go, the closure of restaurants and bars, the move to online school, quarantine of nursing homes and retirement communities, etc. Certainly it has affected our church and churches all the across the country. We have done zoom worship with no sanctuary worship since last March! Thankfully, to date, no one at the church has come down with Covid 19. It has been a time when we have come to realize how much the little things in life mean to us. It has been a time when we’ve drawn closer together as families, friends and neighbors and perhaps closer to God. We have all been in the same storm. It has been a time when we have been reminded of the value of health care workers, nursing home staff, grocery store clerks, factory workers, teachers, and truck drivers. and so many more.

Through all this Faith Church has continued to function, albeit in a very different way. We’ve all learned how to zoom and as bad as social distancing has been we are thankful for technology that let’s us at least see and hear each other and stay in touch. We’ve continued to worship, pray, had meetings via zoom, work at the SOS Food Bank, hold confirmation classes via zoom, put out the newsletter, contribute to mission projects near and far, and do the work to prepare for looking for a new minister.

Now we are about to regather for worship in the sanctuary even as we continue to offer the worship service online for those who need to or choose to stay at home. It still will not be “normal”. There will be no singing, or passing of the offering plates or communion plates, or hospitality and conversation afterwards. We will have to wear masks and maintain social distance. We will have to sanitize surfaces and so much more BUT we will be able to gather, at least for now. We will be able to worship and praise God TOGETHER in the same room, if not in the same pew. It will be a sign of at least partial normalcy returning. At this point we will all take what we can get or “normalcy”.

We do so with the knowledge that we are not out of the woods yet. If the covid 19 numbers go up locally we will have to return to doing worship just on zoom. We won’t be out of the woods until a vaccine has been widely distributed and a large plurality get it. This is not likely to happen until sometime next year, if we are lucky by late summer or early fall. Meanwhile faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.

Grace and Peace, Pastor Scott

Faith Rally: Election Day Home Stretch — A UCC Digital Event – October 14

October 10, 2020 / Faith UCC

Rev. Brooks Berndt UCC Minister for Environmental Justice

Feeling bruised, battered, or fatigued by this election season? Looking for a source of uplift down the home stretch to November 3rd? Then, this digital event is for you.

This will be a time to renew our energies and our focus as we approach an election day with so many profound implications for those who care about the climate crisis and the many interconnected issues of justice that we face today.

Our three featured speakers will include: Karenna Gore of Union Theological Seminary, the Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. of the Hip Hop Caucus, and the Rev. Gerald Durley of Interfaith, Power & Light. The webinar will be co-hosted by the Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt of the UCC’s Environmental Justice Ministry and the Rev. Michael Malcom of Alabama Interfaith Power & Light.

Even if you can’t make its scheduled time on October 14^th at 1 pm ET, still sign-up, and we will send you a recording of it.

Sign-up now to join the webinar!

Heart of Texas Association News

October 10, 2020 / Faith UCC

The date of the Heart of Texas Association Fall Meeting has been moved to Saturday, October 24 at 10 am to noon (a shift from the original date of October 10) on Zoom. The reason for the change in date is to allow us to prepare for a presentation on the proposed formation of a Conference level Fitness Review Committee. The formation of this committee has been a project of the South Central Conference Board of Directors, and would be a joining of Associations (rather than a taking over by the Conference) in the work of ministerial fitness reviews. I will explain a little more about what this means below.

Our Association Executive Board will be putting the agenda together before the Fall Meeting, but we expect that we will have an emphasis on sharing from the churches about how we are doing our ministry during this time of enormous change, an opportunity to give toward needs generated by the pandemic, an update on what the work and needs of Slumber Falls are, and our normal financial/budget approvals and other brief reports. The leadership of the Heart of Texas Association believes that it is perhaps more important than ever to share from our lives as churches in this time of change.

One of the most difficult, detailed, and time consuming tasks of our Committee on Ministry is a fitness review. This work happens when a complaint regarding the fitness for ministry of one of our ministers is raised in a substantial way. There is currently a thorough and demanding process for raising, investigating, and considering these types of complaints that the Association Committee on Ministry uses, as outlined in the United Church of Christ Manual on Ministry and supporting documents. Since fitness reviews do not occur often, Committee members must be trained to understand and to work with this process when one does happen. Additionally, the Committee often needs to do quite a bit of follow up work after a fitness review occurs. Normally, our Committee on Ministry has a full load of work for its meetings working with our Members in Discernment and ministers before the major addition of fitness review work. An ongoing committee, composed of members elected from all of the Associations in the Conference, could do the demanding work of fitness reviews with members who are trained and experienced in this work. That proposed ongoing committee, as well as a process to be able to join it, will be what will be presented at our Fall Meeting. We would not vote on joining this committee until the Spring of 2021. However, it is important for us to hear what is being proposed, to understand what we would be voting on, and to share feedback about it at this time.

We will be sending out the Fall Meeting Zoom link, the agenda and instructions to all of our churches, to our ministers, and to as many people on our email list as we can once we are closer to the meeting date. It is my hope and prayer that this meeting will be uplifting, informative, and a time of bonding and mutual support in our faith as we continue to do the work Christ calls all of us to do. I hope many of you will join us.

Blessings in Christ, Liz Nash, Association Minister

Category: Glimpses of Faith (Page 27 of 34)

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