Celebrating the Past as we seek Renewal

Sunday afternoon members of the Renewal Team gathered in Fellowship Hall to continue on this journey of renewal that we’ve been sharing with you for several weeks now. One of our exercises was to lift up and celebrate some of the strengths of our congregation. As we shared I learned a great deal about our congregation and our church’s legacy in this community. Here are a few interesting things I learned…

• The greatest asset to our congregation is YOU…our people. Stories were shared of friendships that formed and have lasted for decades. Strong bonds of love and sharing that have withstood some of life’s worst tragedies and that have celebrated life’s greatest moments. Our people commit to one another. We enter into a walk of trust that can stand the tests of time and withstand tremendous strain. We are a congregation full of folks with big hearts who are capable of great love!
• Generosity is a part of our church culture. We are generous with our time, with our facilities and with our treasure. We reach out to ease suffering on the individual level and the communal level. We seek to alleviate the ills of this broken world in ways which most members are only marginally aware. Our congregation was the birthplace of both The Well and Operation Food Basket. We have opened our doors to the Bloodmobile since the 1970s. When Hospice was first forming, we held the first informational meetings and training sessions and most of the attendees to that first training were members of this church. And, in the days before hospice had funding, our members were the ones doing the legwork and heart-work in those early years.
• Education and faith formation were a foundational part of First Christian Church. Since this congregations’ inception, we have been lifting up and training Timothys and Pricillas for ministry and for the building up of God’s Kingdom. Our church has a strong history of intense Biblical study and discernment. In the past we have hosted both Stephen’s Ministries and the Bethel Bible Study. These studies were long-term and intense, requiring serious money and time and commitments from individuals and the congregation. Stories were shared of the incredible personal benefits of these studies and of the longings for more like them. I cannot help but believe that these studies also benefited everyone our folks encountered. When we endeavor to understand scripture and God’s calling to us in the world, we become better people and better citizens in this world.
• Great love and care goes into this church facility and its people because of the great love our people have for God and the work our congregation can do for God’s people. The facilities were updated recently with a focus on ways in which we could serve the community and be good stewards of the earth’s resources. Commitments to being ‘Green’ and accessible to people with disabilities were foremost in every decision made regarding the renovation…that, too, was due to a love of God and a love of God’s earth and God’s people.

The work of the Renewal Team continues. It is my prayer that what we accomplish together will be as life-giving to you, the congregation, as it is to me, your pastor.

Blessings,
Tracy