27 More To Go!

As part of my first interview with the search committee, I was given a walking tour of the facilities. I was shown the Church School classrooms, the small Chapel, the fellowship hall, Sanctuary and Narthex.

For those unfamiliar with the term "Narthex," it is the vestibule leading to the nave of a church... for those unfamiliar with the term "Nave"... ok, this could go on for a while.

The Narthex is the front entryway into the Sanctuary. It is the place where worshipers are greeted on Sunday mornings, given a bulletin for the service and welcomed inside. It is also the place where several portraits of previous pastors hang on the walls, keeping a watchful eye over all of the coming and going.

As I stood in that space with two members of the committee, I remarked on how magnificent it was to be in a church that was (at the time) 370 years old.

"How awesome it will be to come back for the 400th anniversary," I said.

To which I received the response; "What do you mean, 'come back?'"

And so the running joke has been that to answer God's call to be Senior Pastor of Newman Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Rumford, Rhode Island, I was to plan on being around for 30 years.

Today, as I write this entry, it is November 15, 2016... our three-year anniversary as pastor and congregation. How time flies...

Over these past three years we have experienced together the good and the bad. We have worshipped together, prayed with and for one another, cried on each others' shoulders, and worked alongside one another to further God's mission in the world.

Being the church today is not easy... yet faithful members of this church continue to show up and do our best to do exactly that... be the church.

I am truly blessed to be the pastor of a congregation which includes those of you who have been eager and willing to share personal stories of how God is at work in your life... including those moments where the Holy Spirit has entered in, speaking to you, filling you with the breath of God and reassuring you that no matter the difficulties that come before us, everything is going to be ok. To hear of those experiences not only warms my heart but solidifies my trust in the God that is leading us to share in ministry in this place.

We have packed a lot of ministry into these three years...and yet there is much more to do.

This past Sunday evening, we gathered for an impromptu prayer service to be present with one another following the previous week's presidential election. Those in attendance spoke of personal feelings, struggles, anger and fear. And a resounding thread in our conversation was the need for community in a time such as this.

In answer to this need, we will now gather weekly on Sunday evenings at 7:30pm to pray together and to be community...supporting each other, listening to each other and being present, standing up and standing for one another.

Friends, a big part of being church together is creating and sustaining this type of community. To be the church is to be in relationship with one another, helping each other through the tough times and celebrating together the good. It is jointly taking a look around our community and the world and seeing how it is that we are being called to share God's love and peace with those in need.

This past week has provided us far too many examples of how some of our friends, our loved ones and our neighbors (perhaps even ourselves) have quickly become those in need. Hate-fueled violence continues to rock our nation. Racial tension is still on the rise. Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny... they are all playing out in the streets of our cities, the halls of our schools, around the tables in our homes. And we, as followers of Jesus, must do something about it.

The world will not change overnight. Our nation will not become safer in an instant. But that cannot deter us from doing our part. Now, perhaps more than any other time in our recent history, we who claim to follow Jesus are called to live according to Christ's teachings and truly seek to bring about peace in our nation and in our world.

Alone... not one of us will accomplish these things. But together... together in community, sharing in ministry, we will do incredible things!

In the days that come, prayerfully consider how it is that you will live out your faith in such a way that the lives of others will benefit. Prayerfully consider how it is that our stillspeaking God is leading you to act, to educate, to promote or protest. Prayerfully consider how it is that you will be a part of shaping the world for generations that follow.

And once you have settled on what it is that you must do... go forth, do it big and do it together.

I give God thanks repeatedly for the ministry we have shared over these past three years. And, "God-willing," I look forward to what we will accomplish together in the years to come. 27 more to go!

Blessings,
Pastor Timoth