July 1,2009
Dear Beloved of God,
First let me say that by this address, I begin with my base of belief. You and I are loved by God. I believe in a God of love. God loves what God has created. God does not forget what God has created. Since God is the creator of the good we therefore are not only good basically, but we are loved by God. I would hope, that like me, this gives you an aura that is both unique and secure.
I write this because I want to thank all of you at Deltona United Church of Christ for a chance to serve you The interim installation that as a congregation and I,as your pastor affirmed, is that I would pray for you, I would pray with you, I would love you, and minister unto you. In addition as an ordained minister I have my covenant with God to give you the very best that I could. Then, this covenant is between you and me and God.
All of that being said, I see my task with the church to be minister. So including "serving the sacraments, and preaching the word rightly" I take on another role in helping you to heal the hurts, to see what you and I can do to make Deltona United Church of Christ a safe and comfortable place for people who are located in different places on their journey of faith.
I have been attempting in this first month ( June) to help you to see that you and I must journey together In addition although our locales may be different, we may even be on different paths of that journey. I would pray that you and I are aware that this is right wise for us to do. I would pray that you and I respect each other, and hence expect the same respect from others.
I do want to make clear to you that YOU are the body of Christ. It is therefore up to all of us to spread the word of love of God. Sermons this past month have been meanings for Beacon on a Hill, In this Boat Together, and Healing.
What I really seek as a part of our responsibility as a church that follows Jesus, is that you and I preach the gospel, and "when necessary use words". You and I are faced with problems new and yet old to the Church. People since Antioch have been attempting to bring people to see the love of God as expressed in the life and ways of Jesus of Nazareth. And perhaps what is newest is that we have more generations ... which have grown up different, which have moved quicker, whch have more access to both good and evil, that has ever been in the history of the world. How tough is it -- I suggest you mention to any recent school attendee 45, 78 or 331/3 record... try to see their reaction, or what their explanation for such a record.
You and I as church are attempting to appeal across the generations, and at the same time be true to what we know... or at least what we think know... and not to betray our own belief system. nor to put a period where God put a comma on our own faith journey.
Does it sound like a daunting task? I believe it sounds very daunting.. But someone once said, if a group of dedicated Christian begin to move... don't get in their way.
I take that to mean, that not only are we to love God who loves us, but we are to risk loving neighbor even when we are not sure that the neighbor will or is able to love us.
Again I thank you for this opportunity to serve. But I feel I must ask you what it is that you are ready to do to strengthen, to 'grow' this church and thus the Church universal.
In shalom,
Jim Reilly a fellow pilgrim
UCC launches new weekly e-zine called 'Keeping You e-Posted'
Written by Staff Reports
October 27, 2008
Tired of ever-bulging e-mail inboxes and lackluster messages? The UCC is trying to help.
In an effort to better coordinate the UCC's electronic communication with its members, the denomination has launched a new weekly electronic publication that will be mailed to its entire database each Tuesday morning.
Called "Keeping You e-Posted," the coordinated graphic e-mail will include minimal text but multiple links to UCC news stories, resources, events, prayers, action alerts and liturgical aids.
"Our long-term goal is to reduce the amount of e-mails that come to you from the UCC's national setting, while underscoring timely material and delivering it to our readers in an attractive and coordinated format," said the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, the UCC's director of communications. "We also want to substantially increase the number of people who receive their news and information from us electronically."
About 60,000 people, initially, will receive the weekly e-zine, Guess said, but persons can manage their subscriptions or even unsubscribe if they would prefer not to receive it. Readers can also forward the e-mail to friends and fellow church members.
"Many of our pastors will recall a time when they once received a monthly two-sided sheet of paper called 'Keeping You Posted' that contained a lot of short, helpful information that pastors and churches needed to know," Guess said. "In many respects we've come full circle by reintroducing a familiar title, but employing new technology to deliver concise bits of news."
An archived list of Keeping You e-Posted editions will be available at <ucc.org/keeping-you-eposted>.
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