UCC Files



September 6, 2020Fourteenth Sunday after PentecostRemember, Restore, RenewExodus 12:1-14 On this day we recall the beginning of Passover. Passover is celebrated by our Jewish brothers and sisters as a reminder of freedom from slavery. Pressed into hard toil, the people of Israel banded together, and so were able to escape to a new and more equitable life. Although this is not the season of Passover, it is appropriate to read this scripture on the secular weekend of Labor Day, as we recall the hard work by labor unions to secure freedom for workers of all kinds.In the United Church of Christ, we rejoice that “each worker - judge or janitor, salesclerk or scientist, mother or millionaire CEO - is equal in the sight of God. Each person's work, done with integrity, is a contribution to society and has value and dignity. But the world doesn't always see it this way.Workers are dependent on their employer, but employers are much less dependent on any particular worker. This unequal power relationship can lead to problems in the workplace. A common way that workers have responded is to join a labor union. Unions are one of the very best ways for workers to bring greater justice to the workplace. The right of workers to form or join unions is so important and fundamental that it is an internationally-recognized human right.” ()The right of people to gather together and speak out against workplace injustice is part of a long tradition in our faith story. As we recreate or relax on Labor Day Monday, it is also an opportunity to give thanks for the United Church of Christ’s commitment to the principles of fairness and equity in the workplace. This Labor Day, take a moment to pray using these or other words.Dear God, On this Labor Day, we pause to thank you for the opportunity for satisfying work, and for the pleasure of rest from our labors. Be with all those, we pray, who work under unjust conditions. Be with all who advocate for those who work in such conditions. And be with us, we pray, as we strive along with you for a world in which every person is afforded decency, justice and fair treatment. In your name, Amen.September 13, 2020Fifteenth Sunday after PentecostRoad to FreedomExodus 14:19-31Faith Formation SundayAs Moses and the other escaped slaves traveling with him ran from Pharaoh, they were met with a miracle on the shores of the Red Sea. The seas parted and Moses and the people walked to freedom on dry land.This is a favorite story to tell children. From cartoons to vacation bible school curriculums, the elders of the church like to share this with youngsters whenever they are given an opportunity.But this is not just a story for children. It’s important for people of all ages. If you are older than Sunday school age, try reading it again, and you may find its powerful message is for you, too. As you read it again, you may find that one of the joys of rediscovering Bible stories you thought you knew as a child is the opportunity to ask new questions of the old texts.Although this is a story full of miracle and wonder, its primary message is not about the fancy special effects. Look beyond the flashy pyrotechnics and start asking questions. For example, what does it mean to people of all ages that God showed such amazing works of power on behalf of a people who had been enslaved? Perhaps the cloud by day and the fire by night - not to mention the parting of the waters - was God’s way of getting our attention, of making sure that we especially notice this story above others.And why get our attention for this story? Maybe these miracles are so surprising and dazzling because this story is one that God really wants us to notice. Why would that be? Maybe it’s because the liberation of people is the primary Divine hope and joy for all of God’s children. Maybe it’s because God has a special preference and love for those of God’s children that are captured and enslaved. Maybe it’s because God wants all of us to keep working toward the day when all, not just some but ALL, are free.Today is Faith Formation Sunday. If you haven’t heard the story of Moses and the people crossing the Red Sea, listen again. In that old, old story, you may hear a new message, one that is as thrilling as those miracles you heard about in Sunday school long ago.September 20, 2020Sixteenth Sunday after PentecostTensions in the WildernessExodus 16:2-15Just Peace SundayIn a congregational meeting, during which the congregation was discerning about becoming a Just Peace congregation, someone once asked, “How can we say we are just for peace? We are for so much more than that.”Just Peace as a designation does not mean that a congregation is merely “for peace.” It means that the congregation understands that Justice and Peace are inevitably bound together - so closely entwined that it is impossible to separate them.Peace and justice both require careful tending and loving attention. As the scripture reading this morning reminds us, peace is easily lost. The people grumble among themselves and with their leaders. But they are not just grumbling out of dissatisfaction or irritability. They are grumbling because they are hungry. The peace issue (conflict among the people) cannot be addressed until the justice issue (people need enough to eat) is met. Justice and Peace, hand in hand, are then able to move forward into the wilderness.The Just Peace website, () states, “Justice and Witness Ministries is committed to a revitalized Just Peace Church movement and to empowering and resourcing congregations to create a stronger justice and peace witness. Now is the time to rekindle our commitment to Just Peace and make visible our longstanding witness to this approach...Does your church consider itself to be a Just Peace congregation? What is your church doing to live out its calling to be a Just Peace Church? What does it mean to be a Just Peace Church in times like these? I hope you will take the time to update your church’s information on our site and offer your responses to these questions. Your energy and voice is needed to reinvigorate and shape the direction of our collective movement.”If your congregation is not a Just Peace Church, maybe now is the time to begin a conversation about this important movement for merging justice and peace to be about the creation of God’s reign here on earth.September 27, 2020Seventeenth Sunday after PentecostGod’s Sustaining PresenceExodus 17:1-7American Indian Ministry SundayUnited Samoan Ministries Stewardship SundayHoly God,Thank You for Your sustaining presence above, below, before, behind and within us.Sometimes we cry out in suffering.We are thirsty, we are grieving, we are lost.We struggle to find You.Hear us when we cry, we pray.Sustain us with like a cool spring of waterappearing unexpectedly in a dry desert.Other times we are in the flow of things.We are moving, we are creative, we know right where we are.We know right where You are too.See us as we progress, we pray.Sustain us like a burbling and flowing rivermoving with swift clarity on its own beautiful path.And, then, there are those times when we are stopped in awe.We are struck by Your power and majesty; we recognize how small we are.We feel how grand You are.Touch us with sand and salt, we pray.Sustain us like a mighty oceantaking our breath and then giving back, over and over.Water in the Desert,Flowing River,Mighty Ocean,Three in One,One in Three,Sustain us, we pray.Amen.October 4, 2020Eighteenth Sunday after PentecostWisdom for the WayExodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20Neighbors in Need OfferingWorld Communion SundayWhy ten commandments? Why not eleven or thirty-nine or a hundred? Some scholars have speculated that there were ten because, even if the devout could not take the heavy stone tablets with them, they would always have their fingers. As long as one can count all one’s fingers, the thinking goes, you could remember all the commandments. But why remember them anyway, if you can just look them up? Memorizing, or learning a text by heart, is a way to take it deep within. In this case, we memorize the commandments to take their messages of radical connection with God and others into our lives.Brian Sirchio, ordained United Church of Christ pastor and beloved church musician and composer, believes that an even better way to memorize the commandments than counting on one’s fingers is to set them to music. As his song Live the 10 demonstrates through music, the commandments aren’t just words to be learned, but ways for living that are more deeply understood as they are more deeply known and practiced.In the 20th chapter of Exodus, it's plain what God expects of usIt says 1--no other gods; 2--no graven image; 3--don't take God's name in vain;4--honor the Sabbath; 5--honor your parents; 6--thou shalt not kill;7--no adultery; 8--thou shalt not steal; 9--don't bear false witness;10--thou shalt not covet...Now check this out...now remember right off there's only one Lord,And I didn't say two and I didn't say four and whatever you do youdon't bow down before anything you make with your hands. And whenyou smack your thumb hard with a hammer someday don't get all madand shout out God's name, 'cause God's not to blame for your lousyaim and that's right--that's right! And remember the Sabbath, orwhatever you call it, that means pray and rest--don't be aplayaholic--and you love mom and dad even when they're not wiseand don't ever kill (does that go for flies? Hey that's a goodquestion man.) And when you marry someday don't you be a cheat, anddon't you ever steal, and don't lie through your teeth, and don'twant the things that your friend's got so bad you'd take it if youcould...You can learn Bryan Sirchio’s song about the Ten Commandments, and other scriptures worth knowing by heart by checking out his music on his website 11, 2020Nineteenth Sunday after PentecostPraiseworthy LivingPhilippians 4:1-9Access Sunday and Disabilities Awareness WeekIn today’s reading, Paul sends a letter of encouragement and hope to his beloved friends in Philippi. For centuries, letters have been the way that we reach across the divide of geography to offer solace and challenge with our words. As people of the Word, we continue that tradition whenever we send a letter.Last March, as the world braced for a pandemic, The Council of Conference Ministers as well as The Officers of the United Church of Christ (The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, The Rev. Traci Blackmon and The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson) sent a letter in the Pauline tradition. As news of the COVID-19 pandemic first began to break, these pastor leaders reached across geography with words to bring hope and comfort.“As leaders in our beloved United Church of Christ, we write to speak a word of tender care to our congregations, our clergy, and our members...Remember that we are a Christmas people, and that Jesus is incarnated in every act of love and kindness we extend to one another.Remember that we are an Easter people and we know that God can reach us beyond all the barriers the world can create.Remember that we are a Pentecost people who know that the Holy Spirit can revive us and who will be our strength in times of great distress.We can do this. We are the Church, the body of the risen Christ. As leaders called to serve you, we pledge to you that we will continue to draw on every resource available to us that will help you through this season.In the love of our blessed Redeemer, we remain as always your humble servants and your beloved covenant partners.”More thoughtful than an email, more lasting than a phone call and further reaching than in-person conversation, letters were not just for Paul’s time. They have the power to move and change us even today.You can find the full text of this letter at: 18, 2020Twentieth Sunday after PentecostLiving Messages1 Thessalonians 1:1-10Children’s SabbathLaity SundayAbigail Henderson, formerly pastor at Northfield United Church of Christ in Northfield, Minnesota learned that not just a good feeling, but actual data supported a queer/trans youth group (CYAN) she had started.She reports that “a coalition of non-profits in the town received a grant to track and work to improve health and well-being outcomes for children and youth in the community. One of the people connected to that grant contacted me… ‘I wanted to share some data with you that we are finally getting from the Minnesota Student Survey (MSS) that all 5-12th graders took last year... As I am sure you recall the 2016 numbers were quite concerning; 25% of LGB youth reported a Positive Identity and Outlook score that was deemed to meet the threshold to be equipped for learning as compared to 60% of all youth. For the Social Competence numbers, they were 55% for LGB youth as compared to 74% for all youth.Well - I am so happy to be able to tell you that the numbers for LGB identifying youth have seen a significant increase! While still below the numbers for all youth they are the only group where we are seeing growth. In 2019 the Positive Identity and Outlook had increased to 43% for LGB youth as compared to 51% for all youth (an 8% difference in 2019 vs 35% in 2016) and the Social Competence number had increased to 63% for LGB youth as compared to 70% for all youth (a 7% difference in 2019 vs a 19% difference in 2016). Although I wish we didn't see any difference in numbers (and that we saw higher numbers overall), I believe this growth has been remarkable and is noteworthy! I also believe that this growth is because of you, Abby. You started something absolutely remarkable with CYAN that has made, and continues to make, a huge difference in the lives of so many. Thank you. Thank you for being a champion for youth when they needed it most, for changing the conversation in our community, and for being an authentic role model. You have left an incredible mark and I hope that you know that you changed lives. I am so glad that CYAN has been able to continue on the strong foundation that you built - it is needed in our community and for our youth.’"All those of you who pour heart and soul into work with youth without knowing the outcome, take heart! Here’s actual data to show that the work you’re doing really matters. October 25, 2020Twenty-First Sunday after PentecostThe Compassionate LifeMatthew 22:34-46UCC Higher Education SundayDear Christ, our Teacher.Instruct us, we pray.The world teaches us to compete for the right answer.The world teaches us to be better, faster, stronger.The world teaches us that bigger is better.The world teaches us to put the pedal to the metal.The world teaches us to live fast and die young.The world teaches us to go big or go home.The world teaches us to work harder and smarter.The world teaches us to put our nose to the grindstone.The world teaches us to work hard and play hard.The world teaches us that the world is our oyster.The world teaches us to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps.The world teaches us to put on our stiff upper lip.The world teaches us no pain, no gain.Instruct us, Teacher Christ.Silence all those other voices so we can hear your teaching.So simple, it can be shared in just a few words.So sophisticated, it can take a lifetime to master.So that one day, we can live what we are taught andLove our God with all our heart and mind and soul and our neighbor as our self.Amen.Today is UCC Higher Education Sunday. There are 48 educational institutions related to the United Church of Christ, including academies, colleges, universities, and seminaries. They span the United States. Each is independent, self-governing, and fully accredited... These institutions provide opportunities to explore moral values, the importance of social responsibility, an ethic of service, and the ability to think critically. Many have campus ministries that are ecumenical and interfaith. Each embodies the UCC ethos where God is Still Speaking… Find out more at 1, 2020Twenty-Second Sunday after PentecostPartners in ServiceMatthew 23:1-12All Saints DayToday in many of our churches, we celebrate the service of communion, and we gather around the common table.This table is the table of anticipation. As we gather here, we look ahead in joyful hope and exultant expectation of the day to come, when all God’s people gather around the table of justice. By coming together around this table, we express our yearning to be a part of that kingdom by our deeds, words and thoughts.This table is the table of celebration. As we gather here, we are aware that around the world, on this day and in just this way, we gather with siblings, brothers and sisters in the faith who gather around a table just like this one. By coming together around this table, we express our desire to become one with all who follow Christ.This table is the table of remembrance. As we gather here, we look backwards in time, and we glimpse Christ, gathered around a table like this one with his friends and chosen family. By coming together around this table, we express our willingness to follow Christ in all things. And above all things, he asked us to remember him when we ate and drank as we do here today.As we anticipate, celebrate and remember on this All Saints Day, we also call to mind all those who have gone before us, especially those who have died in the past year. It has been a year of great losses for many of us, and as we call to mind those we have lost, we give thanks for their lives e from the east and the west, the north and south,Come from among the living and the dead,Come from the future and the past and this sacred precious moment,Come and gather at this e, for all things are made ready.November 8, 2020Twenty-Third Sunday after PentecostTending God’s LightMatthew 25:1-13Stewardship Sunday“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this…”Whenever Jesus begins a story this way, we have a clue that a truth about the reality of the world that God dreams for us is about to be revealed.Today we learn that the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young women, five of whom have enough oil to keep their lamps burning through the night and five of whom run out of oil, leaving their lamps in darkness.As with any parable, there are many lenses through which to look at this story. But in the year 2020, one helpful way to look at this parable is as a story about being prepared.Maybe through this parable, Jesus was giving us some clues about wrong ways and right ways to be prepared. The wrong way was not to anticipate all that might lead to needing a little extra. But it was also the wrong way to keep too much, to have more than was needed.See, the wise bridesmaids did not bring too much. They did not hoard, did not stock up, clearing the shelves of all the oil and leaving none for their neighbors. They did not come to the evening with more than they would need. They brought enough to be prepared for the night ahead.If 2020 has taught us anything, it is the importance of being prepared in the right way.On this Stewardship Sunday especially, the parable of the ten bridesmaids (as it is sometimes called) gives us the opportunity to look ahead, asking ourselves what it means to be prepared enough, but not to accumulate. The wisdom of the parable teaches us that it is wise to have all that we might need. But it does not advise squirreling away a treasure hoard. What we have is to be used to make light in the world. Let us do so!November 15, 2020Twenty-Fourth Sunday after PentecostExtravagant OpportunityMatthew 25:14-30The one who was given much uses what he is given to make an even greater amount. The one who was given a moderate amount returned a moderate amount. The one who began with very little...wait for it...ended up with very little. Sometimes the parables can be hard to relate to in our modern context, but this one seems very familiar. Maybe the one who was given much really was smarter or more faithful. Or, maybe he just got better advice.We all need supportive peers, wise mentors and the still small voice that is heard in our own prayer practice. In the parable, we don’t know how the servants made the decisions they did. We don’t learn who was advising them. But we do know the kind of support that is available to United Church of Christ ministers at many places along their career path.United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance (UCBMA), the philanthropic arm of the Pension Boards-United Church of Christ, operates with a covenantal spirit as it:provides direct financial support and compassionate responses to authorized ministers, lay church employees, and their surviving spouses/partners, in times of urgent need and personal crisesadministers and raises funds for leadership initiatives that promote faithful and fruitful ministry across the United Church of ChristThrough the Minister’s Financial Vitality Initiative, Next Generation Leadership Initiative, CREDO and the Annuitant Visitor Program, the UCBMA is a financial partner and perhaps more importantly a compassionate supporter to pastors and their spouses. From providing peer mentoring and education to young pastors with promise, or financial aid for the widows of long-serving pastors, the UCBMA is available to help and support ministers wherever they are on life’s journey.To find out how you can support those who are supporting ministers and more about the work of the UCBMA please visit 22, 2020Reign of ChristReigning CompassionMatthew 25:31-46 (I was hungry, and you fed me)Thanksgiving SundayUnited Black Christians AnniversaryWe gather together to ask for God’s blessing,To live in community, seeking God’s will…*So begins a hymn that many of us will sing during the Thanksgiving season, whether we worship on Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Eve or a Sunday before or after. We Gather Together, as the name suggests, is a hymn beloved by those of us who call ourselves congregational because it’s all about, well, congregating. Written in the 16th century in the Netherlands as a hymn of celebration of freedom from Spanish rule, it is perhaps surprising that we so often sing this in thanksgiving when it is intended as an anthem to national pride.On Thanksgiving, many will gather around the table at a feast with families and friends. These gatherings, with their familiar foods and faces can be comforting affairs. Yet, too often our Thanksgiving celebrations turn inward. Although we can take satisfaction in gathering around an intimate table with our beloveds, when we face each other, our backs are turned to the world.Too often in congregations we do this, too. Comforted by the familiar intimacy of our private feasts and celebrations, our gatherings can become too comfortable, too insular.The scripture reading from Matthew reminds us that when we feed, clothe and embrace the lost and alone, we are embracing Christ. This scripture in effect encourages us to turn our Thanksgiving table chairs the other way around. If your family and friends are not accustomed to facing that way, it may be uncomfortable to face out into the world and to respond to the needs we see.So, turn around, face the world, so that we can freely and joyfully sing not just the first, but the last words of that beloved hymn.Empowering all by the hope you engender.Grant wisdom and courage to follow your way.**Bayler, Lavon. We Gather Together, #421. The New Century Hymnal. Word adaptations Copyright ? 1992 The Pilgrim Press.November 29, 2020First Sunday of Advent (Year B)Where Are You, God?Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19In the book, The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle, published at the beginning of this year by The Pilgrim Press, ten women writers responded to the 150 Biblical psalms with words of their own. Not a retelling of the psalms or an alternate translation, instead the book is a reply to those ancient words, engaging them for today.Editor Martha Spong reports that over the course of the twelve months of 2019, she “watched a book idea that had lived only in my hopes grow from a conversation in an airport in January to a manuscript being sent to the printer in December. I had the joy of inviting nine women to work with me and the delight of hearing a yes from each of them. We all felt excited, and daunted, to engage with the psalms personally, yet also for a future audience of readers. Some of us do this weekly in crafting liturgy; here we wrote not for the collective voices of a congregation, but out of our particular contexts and experiences. It is an offering both to God and readers in this season of extreme division, full of passion and persistence. My hope is that readers will recognize themselves in the words of our mouths and be inspired to articulate their own psalms for the struggle.”Like the psalms themselves, the poems and prayers in The Words of Her Mouth are both deeply personal and widely universal and address a range of human experience and emotions. In response to Psalm 88, United Church of Christ Pastor Rev. Jennifer Garrison Brownell writes,“Here are my tears,” you said. “Eat. And these are my tears, too. Drink.”“Too salty!” we cried. “We can’t eat this sorrow! We can’t drink this suffering! We will die!”You heard our protests and you lifted the plate and the cup anyway.Most of us turned away. But some of us stayed to eat and drink with you, and we did not die as we had feared.In truth, we lived. In truth, we live still.Spong, Martha, ed. The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle. Copyright ? 2020 Martha Spong. ................
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