Please prayerfully consider the questions listed below on the ways you, and ourĬongregation, live out these Three Great Loves. Over the next few weeks there will be some references to the Three Great Loves in our weekly letters and worship services. The love of Neighbor The love of Children The love of Creation We make our commitment real by embracing Three Great Loves: But we need to ensure we do more than speak words. Many of us came to Church of Christ because of this sense of purpose, mission, and vision. Our purpose arises from Jesus’ greatest commandment: we will love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. This initiative reflects the deep purpose, mission, and vision of our Christian movement. “ Three Great Loves,” a shared initiative of United Church of Christ congregations, conferences, and the national setting, engages all of us in faith-inspired work for a more just world. John Dorhauer, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ Our Calling: Three Great Loves from a letter by the Rev. We give our thanks and wish him Godspeed! The congregation is deeply appreciative of Roger’s service and dedication to the Brown Church. “A celebration of Roger’s 16 years at the CVCC as church organist was held at Stonehurst Manor. Perhaps this will be the most memorable Christmas of all! God is coming … make haste … Zoom off … tell everyone you meet … and then be sure to join us for Christmas!įarewell to our Minister of Music, Roger Miklos ( Perhaps we are sharing an environment closer to the original Christmas!) The Brown Church is taking time to prepare for an unusual set of worship experiences. What do you think the Shepherds were thinking when they said, “ Let us go … and see this thing that has happened”? When they made haste, did they have expectations that their lives would be changed forever? Did they long to experience God in a new, unusual way? This year, The Conway Village Congregational Church hopes to create a meaningful and memorable holiday season to make Christmas come alive!Īs we approach Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas Eve, and the 12 -days of Christmas, we realize ‘things are not what they should be’. Things are not what they should be … can we still make it meaningful? Will Christmas be memorable? Will this be the year that we will extoll for many years to come? (‘ do you remember the year, like none other, when …’?) The Church is in the process of figuring out what we can offer for holiday worship for Thanks- giving, Advent, and Christmas Eve in a year when it is unsafe to gather. Things were not as they should have been … they strangely turned out divine!
The common place – – the downright dusty digs – – the out of the ordinary – – took on eternal significance. – they celebrated a deeply moving and memorable Christmas! Shepherds, who wondered whether it all was a bad dream, came to worship Magi, who looked for their inspiration in the starry, starry night, came to bow down angels, impressed by their ability to harmonize, sang gloriously. Suddenly, instead of comfortable surroundings, they were in an obscure village and putting their child in a feedbox! Things were strangely out of place.ĭespite their surroundings, despite their plans going awry, they not only “ made the best of it” – There was no room at the Inn, so they hunkered down in a stable. Thinking of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem, ( doing their civic duty by registering at the Town Hall to appease politicians), they found they had to muster a certain creativity, flexibility, and resourcefulness. Change forces us to adapt and can make things seem strangely out of place.
What once seemed so familiar can suddenly seem strange. “ Did it still feel like home?” a college student was asked as she returned to campus after the mid- semester break. “She (Mary) wrapped him in cloths, and placed him in a manger … there was no room in the Inn” Luke 2:7b Pastor’s Message “Strangely Out of Place”