By This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
July 2011

On Friday morning, July 1, I’ll be getting on a plane to fly to Tampa, Florida – not a typical summertime destination. I’ll be going there as a delegate to the 28th General Synod of the United Church of Christ – the ultimate decision-making body for our denomination. It offers a wonderful chance to experience how we at Memorial are connected to a much wider group of people who have chosen to follow Jesus in the particular way that expresses our faith traditions.

In the United Church of Christ, each congregation like Memorial is an independent entity –we control our own destiny – but we are also bound together as partners in a covenant with other UCC congregations in our area, our state, our nation. That covenant allows us to work together, to learn from each other, to support each other.

The Wisconsin Conference UCC, for instance, has our wonderful church camps at Pilgrim Center and Moon Beach. It provides resources for people working in Christian education, in-depth faith exploration through something known as the Lay Academy, financial support for new congregations (as it did for Memorial when we moved to Fitchburg). Those are just a few of the ways we work together with and benefit from being part of this wider church.

Our national partnership helps us respond to needs both in our nation and around the world. The national UCC acts as a voice for justice and peace in our world. It has helped push the boundaries over the decades on a wide variety of issues that enable us live out our faith in the world. And it manages much of the nitty-gritty around clergy training, placement and accountability.

The theme this year at the UCC General Synod is “Imagine What’s Possible.” We’ll be handling some fairly boring church business, but the real excitement here will come with a wide variety of presentations – spoken and musical – and the connections that I will be able to make with UCC folk from around the country.

Please keep all of us in your prayers as we head into the month of July and take a moment for a prayer of gratitude that Memorial does not have to stand alone as we imagine what is possible here as well.

Lots of hope,
Phil