Good afternoon, friends. This is Pastor Don from St. Johns UCC. I wanted to chat with you here at the end of the week so that I could include this last-minute reminder of the Installation Service tomorrow at 2:00 pm. I really believe it will be a meaningful service with a short reflection from our own Earl Reives and special music by Brad Bupb.
At the very heart of the service is a Three-way covenant between you all as members of St. John, and me as your pastor, and Carl Robinson, as the representative of the Heartland Conference of the United Church of Christ. That moment is saying, in effect, “We are all in this together. No reservations. We belong to one another now in this covenant relationship.” I think that is a big deal!
It strikes me as both a real encouragement (we aren’t in this project alone) and a word of wise advice (we each need to pull our weight or the work will suffer). So, it is no light matter what we do tomorrow afternoon. And the Spirit of God will be present to make the moment sacred.
Last Sunday I talked about us all doing some discernment work about what the Holy Spirit is ALREADY doing at St. Johns and then trying our best to fan that flame so that we all feel the heat! It feels to me like the Installment service fits right into this discernment. It is just one more step in the partnership and I’m glad that I am here as your pastor and that you are the specific people in the broader United Church of Christ that are making this journey with me. Thanks be to God.
LET’S PRAY: O God, your ways and your plans are so often surprising and always good. Bless these next few hours we travel together I ask. Amen.
