Moderator Musings – Come Home!
Dear Members and Friends of First Congregational United Church of Christ,
Advent is approaching. Advent is a season of open-ended expectation. During Advent we put aside all the probabilities of life, including the unpleasant ones, and we focus on possibilities. During Advent, a season of expectation, we should always be open to the unexpected.
As Moderator of the church, I don’t want to pretend that we haven’t had our disappointments. I don’t need to review them with you. We have been through an uncertain time, after a difficult time which was made all the more difficult by Covid. Our church was not alone in experiencing a decline in attendance in the wake of Covid. Some of us simply got out of the habit of attending church, and combined with the difficulties we were facing as a congregation, some of us simply stopped coming to church.
The Advent/Christmas season is a good time to think about church again, a good time to resume what really should an important part of our lives. So, I’m inviting you to come back, at least during Advent and Christmas, and, I hope beyond. While our congregation hasn’t given up on the future—we are seeking new pastoral leadership and we have realistic hopes of finding it in the near future—we also cherish the past. And part of our past is someone who will be leading worship during Advent and on Christmas Eve, Pastor Dale Bishop, who was with us as our pastor from 2006-2011. Dale loves our church, and has offered to help us during this time of transition, and yes, during this time of expectation.
So, come home! If you haven’t been to church for a while, I promise that no one will stare at you, or ask you where you’ve been. We’ll just be thrilled to see you. And we’ll welcome you with open arms.
Come home!
Submitted by Carla Chropkowski
715-362-1957