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Pastor’s Column – Apr 2023
“Then know, there is no hide-and-seek with the divine that doesn’t end in you being found.” I don’t know about you but I can’t read that line enough. Even though I am a reverend, there are days when God’s grace and love seem so unbelievable to me. When I fail to live out the best version of myself… when I feel like I am not doing enough… when I feel like I don’t deserve God’s love, I am reminded that…
Souper Bowl of Caring 2020
It is again time for the Souper Bowl of Caring for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me Matthew 25:35 (NRSV) The quote from Matthew is central to several of our core values, namely, love and welcoming community. This year, for the 20th consecutive year, we are participating in the Souper Bowl of Caring to benefit the hungry of Fairfield County.…
Kindness
If you are like me there are times when you watch the news, read the paper, listen to people talking about “what’s going on in the world” and get very sad and discouraged. We are, without a doubt, in a strange and peculiar time in our country. In the midst of dealing with all these strange times I find my mind going back to one particular subject. So in this letter today, I would like to share a few thoughts…
from the pastor
From the pastor…. On June 19, 1988 at St. Peter’s UCC in Carmel, Indiana, I had hands laid upon me with hope, love and the Spirit. My dad said the prayer of ordination as I was blessed with family, friends, colleagues, local church members, wider church members, and folks from my first call. They were gathered around me with love. The authorized clergy, with my family laid hands upon me and the rest of the congregation touched the shoulder in…
From the pastor…
Missional.. Transformational…. Accountable….. These are words that we are creeping into the daily language of churches. The words can mean many things, but for us, I believe they are leading us to be the church, the progressive open caring church for all of God’s children. They are about growth and change. They are about God’s transforming us to be the church that God is calling us to be. They are about the world that is changing so quickly that we…
Sing praises
My dear Grace UCC family, This morning as I was sitting at my desk, working on a bulletin, it was grey and dreary, actually it has been grey and rainy and dreary for a couple of day. I felt tired and blah and unsure… But all I had to do was look around, and I knew that God’s work was going on at Grace UCC. Food, dried goods, cans, etc has been coming into the grocery cart to celebrate “Souper”…
From the Pastor
Gratitude and thankfulness go hand in hand… Jeff and I are so blessed and filled with gratitude and thankfulness for all the wonderful gifts of time, talent, and treasure that you shared with us for our wedding. The cookie reception, with all the wonderful cookies was amazing. The hospitality that you showed our family and friends was filled with grace. The gift of money, that got used at the beach, as we didn’t have to worry about if there was…
CSEOA Prayer Calendar
Running a little late this week, for the week of 5 July, the Central Southeast Ohio Association Calendar of Prayer lifts up the Association Department for Congregational Vitality. Please keep the members of the Department and the Association Covenantal Elders in your prayers this week.
CSEOA Prayer Calendar
The Central Southeast Ohio Association Calendar of Prayer this week lift’s up Radnor Congregational UCC. Please keep the members and friends of Radnor Community UCC and their newly called pastor, Rev. Dan Bill in your prayers.
Oops…
Mea Culpa!! I got a notice yesterday (it may have actually come in Friday night, I don’t remember) that a hacker had planted a phishing page on our website. I had, unfortunately, stopped being quite as diligent about looking at the logs from the website on a regular basis. I’ve looked at the logs since then and I believe I know how they got the content on here. I’ve changed the password I believe they cracked and removed the stuff…