Category: Glimpses of Faith (Page 31 of 34)

50th Anniversary of Earth Day Tree Planting

May 4, 2020 / Sam Ward

The Gossett Family came out to Slumber Falls and helped plant the three trees. To dig a hole they had to use a pneumatic drill! They also had the biggest tree which means they need the biggest hole! A number of you came out to help plant the tree at the church in memory of Ken Triesch.

Our thanks to Jeremy Albers for picking up the trees and inviting us out to the camp! He, Benjamin and Pastor Scott got in on the tree planting as well. We had a perfect day and it was good to get out of the house and get outside.

(These pictures were taken by Sheila Angerer)

National UCC Strengthen the Church Offering

May 4, 2020 / Sam Ward

Please join us in common mission, vision, and purpose by taking up the Strengthen the Church offering on May 31, 2020

We are amid a crisis that is demanding that we remain physically distant at a time when so many need the love and hope of a strong church to walk with them through an extraordinary global emergency. As many of us now present our ministry online, we pray that our love is being felt across technology, reaching those who need us most. Being church in new ways has demanded much of us as we have faced this challenging time together.

As we continue to explore new ways to be the church that people want in this time, your support of the Strengthen the Church offering on May 31 is now needed more than ever. The Strengthen the Church offering builds up the United Church of Christ by providing the financial resources to be a Spirit-inspired and world-changing Christian movement. Funding supports leadership development, new churches, youth ministry, and innovation; all strategies needed as we work through this current challenge and beyond. Conferences and the National Setting equally share the gifts given by members and friends through their local congregations.

The Strengthen the Church offering ensures, together, we grow stronger

Strengthen the Church funds ministry that allows us to benefit from best practices, insights, and innovations across the life of the UCC. Because of your support, new churches emerge, congregations are revitalized, and leadership skills are enhanced. Many new and revitalized churches are leading the way now as we adapt to new technology in all our congregations.

Please continue to help the United Church of Christ expand its light by taking up the Strengthen the Church offering on May 31, 2020

Materials for the offering have been mailed to churches. If you have not received your supply or need additional materials, visit UCC Resources at www.uccresources.com. Recognizing that many churches are not meeting in person, we are providing a number of digital resources online. Visit ucc.org/stc for downloadable material.

Thank you for your continued support of your local Conference, the National Setting, and our work together to build the Body of Christ. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jacqueline Owen, Development Strategist, at [email protected] or 216-736-2169.

Blessings,

Rev. Traci D. Blackmon
Associate General Minister
Justice & Local Church Ministries

From the Paster – May 2020

May 4, 2020 / Sam Ward

Recently I was looking at the beautiful oak tree in the playground at church. I noticed that there were quite a few dead branches in the center portion of the tree. This is normal for a tree but it is often hidden by the luxurious leaves on the outside. Years can go by without noticing these dead branches. I brought a saw and started cutting some of these out the other day. There were more than I thought!

This pandemic has revealed some of the dead and dying branches in our society. These were all hidden by the seeming roaring economy we had just l6-8 weeks ago. Back then we had the lowest unemployment rate in decades, but almost 30% of American families had NO savings account! Almost 60% had $1,000 or less! The stock market was are historic highs but the U.S. government was running a trillion dollar deficit! We have the strongest military in the world that planned for all military contingencies but our health care system and government were not ready for a virus that has killed more people than we lost in the Viet Nam War and the casualties are still climbing. We lived in a celebrity culture that put rock stars and athletes on pedestal and valued stock brokers and bankers more than teachers, truck drivers, grocery store workers and farm workers but now we have come to see how essential these workers are.

Most of us are longing for a return to “normalcy” when we don’t have to be social distant, wear a mask, when we can go to restaurants again and weddings and graduations, etc. But maybe, with God’s help we can do better than a return to normal. Maybe we can take what we have learned in these last weeks and create a better stronger community.

When God helped the Israelites escape slavery in Egypt the Israelites found themselves free but in a desert wilderness with all the rigors that entails. They found themselves longing for their old lives, for the “fleshpots of Egypt” and “when they ate their fill of bread”. Their old way of life looked better than being free and heading to the Promised Land!

God had them wander around the wilderness for 40 years learning how to be a true community and depend on God. Then and only then did they get to enter the Promised Land. Hopefully we won’t be wandering 40 years in the wilderness of this pandemic but may God help us to learn the lessons of true community and may our faith in God deepen and may we keep before our eyes the vision of the Promised Land and not our old way of life. Amen.

Welcome Rev. Dr. Campbell Lovett to the South Central Conference

April 3, 2020 / Sam Ward

Submitted by the SCC Board of Directors

Beloved Friends,
The Board is excited to announce that Rev. Dr. Campbell Lovett has been contracted as Consulting Conference Minister effective April 1, 2020. Campbell will be working remotely quarter time for SCC from April 1 – Sept 30. Afterwhich, the Board may contract with Campbell for a full-time Interim Conference Minister starting October 1, 2020 in which he will be located in the SCC area.

Campbell Lovett, a third-generation pastor, recently completed almost eight years as the Conference Minister of the Michigan Conference, United Church of Christ. Before beginning his Michigan ministry in 2012, Campbell served as an Interim Minister, Pastor, Co-Pastor, and Senior Minister at both historic and new churches in New England and North Carolina. In addition to leadership positions at Association, Conference and National settings of the UCC, Campbell has served on the boards of agencies promoting food independence and community organizing.

Campbell’s ministry with Conferences is grounded in, and guided by, the statement of purpose of the Central Atlantic Conference:

The conference exists to provide its associations, churches, clergy and laity with an extensive and varied support system, challenging them to a higher, broader and deeper vision of Christian ministry; strengthening and sustaining them in their efforts to be faithful in mission, and linking them to wider church agencies and to each other. It strives to lift up and celebrate our unity in Christ, the gift of our heritage and the richness of our diversity; and to be an agent of mission in our society and the global community.

Campbell and his spouse, Eileen, a quilter and creator of liturgical stoles, reside in New Hampshire, and are the parents of two grown sons, Samuel, a university chaplain in Worcester, Massachusetts; and Nathan, a lawyer in Washington, DC.

Heart of Texas Association News – Apr 2020

April 3, 2020 / Sam Ward

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our Heart of Texas Association Spring Meeting has now been moved from April 4 to Saturday, May, 16th. We anticipate that the meeting will be a Zoom video conference instead of a face to face gathering. Because we will not have people driving long distances to meet, we will start signing in at 10 am and begin at 10:30. We will be finishing by lunchtime. Our thinking is that, by that time, many of us will be more familiar and comfortable with meeting electronically. It is possible that, by then, smaller groups may be able to gather at some churches to be together for the meeting, although of course that is something we cannot predict. As we get close to the meeting time, we will be sending out instructions for using Zoom. We are looking at some easy to use tutoring videos for those who are not experienced, and we will be offering an early chance to login to be sure everyone has a chance to learn how to use it. We anticipate having either one or two Ecclesiastical Councils, and we feel the sharing time among our churches will be more important than ever.

The United Church of Christ National Youth Event registrations for this coming summer have been suspended indefinitely. I have read on the Southern New England Conference website that the event is being postponed until 2022, but I have not received verification of that yet. We certainly will send out more news as we have it. Many of our youth were planning to go, and we want to support you in attending this outstanding event when it can happen safely.

At this time, Darrin Holub is scheduled to be installed as the Pastor of St John’s UCC in Burton on Sunday morning, April 19th. That installation is on hold at this time. We will be announcing whether this will happen on schedule or whether it will be postponed. We look forward to joining with St. John’s and Darrin to celebrate his ministry with them with joy when they are able to hold this service.

Gary Olsen, the Lead Pastor of Rolling Hills Community Church in Lago Vista, retired in February after many years of excellent ministry The new Lead Pastor, Matt Ritter, has served the church since 2017 as the Associate and Family Pastor. Our prayers are with Gary as he begins this new phase in his life, and with Matt, and Rolling Hills as they start a new time of ministry.

Mary Wilson, Pastor of Church of the Savior in Cedar Park, was scheduled to retire this month after seventeen and a half years in ministry there, with Palm Sunday as her farewell service. Crystal Silva McCormick has been called to ministry as their new minister. In light of the COVID-19 restrictions on gathering for worship, Mary has offered to extend her ministry for a few weeks. Our prayers are with Mary, Crystal, and Church of the Savior as they navigate this time of change together. We stand with them in celebrating Mary’s vibrant ministry there and in joyously welcoming Crystal as their new pastor.

Bethany Congregational in San Antonio is welcoming Jacqueline Moncrief as their new minister. Pastor Jacque will have an unusual start there as April begins, helping the church put together a service via internet to begin her ministry. Welcome, Pastor Jacque!

I am grateful for the hard work, caring, and substantial work our pastors and churches are doing to put together online worship services and to reach out to members and friends. We are in a challenging time, and our ministry with one another is perhaps more important now than ever.

Blessings in Christ,
Liz Nash, Association Minister

Faith UCC to Participate in the United Church of Christ Tree Planting Campaign for the Faith Climate Action Week

April 3, 2020 / Sam Ward

Over the course of 50 days in 2013, the United Church of Christ planted over 141,000 trees as part of Mission 4/1 Earth, which Faith UCC participated in. We planted the two large Crepe Myrtle trees on the edge of our north parking lot. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd, this year UCC is seeking to plant over 50,000 trees in ten days from April 17th to 26th. Trees, one of God’s precious gifts, provide us not only with beauty, but we depend on them for the air we breathe and the stable climate we inhabit.

Faith UCC will participate in three different ways:

We will participate in our UCC Global Ministries partnership with Theological Education by Extension in Zambia which will train new Climate Ambassadors who will plant trees on our behalf in communities across Zambia. Faith UCC will be taking up a special offering to support this program. For a donation of $12 they will plant one tree on your behalf in Zambia and you will help support this program. Deadline to donate is April 26. Write “Trees” on the memo line.
Faith UCC will be planting a tree on our church grounds in memory of Ken Triesch on Sunday, April 26th.
Church members are encouraged to plant a tree in their yard or elsewhere. You can also make a donation online to one of the 4 UCC National projects or a project of your own choosing. Here is a link for the UCC programs https://www.ucc.org/plantatree

The UCC is expanding the scope of its collaborative efforts in 2020, the Ministry of Environmental Justice for the United Church of Christ has partnered with Interfaith Power and Light to make this tree planting campaign part of their Faith Climate Action Week.

SOS New Building Update – 4/1/2020

April 3, 2020 / Sam Ward

As you may or may not know, the whole “move to a new building” process began when the board realized that our current building is completely inadequate for our growing needs. The wireless internet system does not travel from the back of the building to the front because of the refrigerators and other items sucking the signal away. The front client area is completely inadequate given the need for client privacy during intake, and comfort while they wait for their food. We had to purchase a shed to help store the food we gather at the food drives. Parking is complete chaos. We have to use the church parking across the street to accommodate the cars during board meetings, and park on the street as well. The driveway is inadequate to handle the SA Food Bank trucks so they can do deliveries. Sanitation (ie hand washing and disinfection during these corona virus times) is woefully inadequate in the front area. There are probably more inadequacies but I can’t think of them now.

I hope to show you in future what the space next door will look like when it’s done. In so many ways it will be an improvement over what we have now, especially in the areas of clients’ privacy and comfort. There are separate men’s and women’s bathrooms in the front area. There are several private rooms for client intake and recertification. What I see as a huge benefit will be a “drive through” arrangement so clients can drive their cars around the back and have their bags loaded into their cars in a quick and private manner, then they would drive the rest of the way around the building and out onto the street. This will not happen immediately after closing, but they have a plan to renovate the building quickly and at least get the client intake over to the new building as soon as possible. We will also be building a new warehouse on the other side of the new building to replace the one we’re in now, and use our current building as storage till then. As far as funding, in addition to a loan from Prosperity Bank, we are getting grants for much of the purchase and renovation costs, and the vacant lot on the corner will be sold as soon as feasible for a considerable percentage of the overall cost. The old warehouse lot will also be sold. The realtor who facilitated the sale has donated his fee to save us money. The architect from the SALT team has donated the plans for the new space, and the team will do the renovations at no charge. Other avenues are being considered as well. There will be more information coming, but this is what I know so far. Blessings to all the volunteers while we work through this!

In Faith, Mike Z

P.S. from Pastor Scott:
SOS has staid open during this crisis to help the neediest in our community. Faith UCC staffed it on our usual day on the third Friday of March, March 20th, from 1-4 p.m. SOS provided food for 16 families, many of them coming for the first time to receive an emergency food alotment. We will be back there on Friday, April 17th from 1-4.

Some Great Idea On How to Celebrate Easter In the Midst of the COVID-19 Crisis From Our Ecumenical Partners

April 3, 2020 / Sam Ward

March 30, 2020: To the leadership and members of Christian Churches in the United States of America:

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Christ! We come to you in a spirit of unity during this difficult period of time with an invitation to join together in witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus for all in the United States to see.

On Easter, we celebrate the power of Christ to overcome evil and death. As proclaimed in the Gospel of John, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:5).” This is the message of Easter and, despite any differences we may have among us, this year may be the perfect time for all of us to come together to make witness to Christ’s resurrecting power.

Holy Week is April 6-12 for Western Christians and April 13-19 for Orthodox Christians. If we are still being asked to remain physically separated from each other and our worship spaces, would you consider inviting your congregations to do one or more of the following as a witness to our jointly held faith in Christ?
Share in a home foot-washing with those with whom you are quarantined on Holy Thursday to replicate Jesus asking his disciples to serve each other.
Share in prayers at home on Good Friday and blow out a candle to symbolize the crucifixion.
Hang white Christmas lights (or other lights, or electric candles) on Holy Saturday and turn them on Easter morning in time for what might have been your Easter Sunrise service.
Hang the attached template of “He Is Risen” poster (bottom of this page) (maybe colored by your children) in your front window or on your front door.
Write in chalk on your driveway or sidewalk the words, “Christ is risen!” • Ring your church bells at noon on Easter Day.
Step outside with the persons with whom you are quarantined and offer a prayer of thanksgiving.
View an additional online service of a church of another racial or ethnic background and offer your prayers for that community.

Attached to this letter you will find a poster you are welcome to share with your membership, and a template of a cross with a discarded shroud. We hope the United States of America will see our witness of unity this year and be invited into the resurrection faith of Easter. Share this letter to your networks and social media, and please join us.

Sincerely,
Christian Churches Together, Rev. Carlos Malave
Churches Uniting in Christ, Bishop Teresa Jefferson Snorton
The National Council Churches, Mr. Jim Winkler

Category: Glimpses of Faith (Page 31 of 34)

50th Anniversary of Earth Day Tree Planting

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