First Congregational Church UCC Harwich

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Location
    • History
    • Polity & Beliefs
    • Why Us
    • Staff
    • Orders of Worship
  • Our Ministry
    • Diaconate
    • Adult Christian Education
    • Community Outreach
    • Lectionary
  • News
  • Calendar
  • Music
    • Worship Music
    • Music Programs
    • Music Schedule
  • Photos
  • Thrift Shop
  • Beacon
  • Contact

Newsletter

November 24, 2014 by FCCH Staff

It’s snuck up on us again. Advent/Christmas, that is. On November 30th we entered, simultaneously, the new liturgical year as well as Advent, that time of preparation in anticipation of the birth of the Christ-child. It’s a magical time, filled with much busy-ness yet much joy. It is, in miniature, the gospel paradox of fulfillment and anticipation, the default perspective of the Christian life.

Among other things, we will be offering yet again our annual “Christmas Concert” on Saturday, December 6th (free to the public), featuring not only the choir but various instrumentalists. The concert, led by our Music Director, Marcia Hempel, will also include a narration of the Christmas story written and proclaimed by yours truly!

Amid this celebration and preparation I did want to mention two other important though unrelated matters. The first is the Study Group. Specifically, I’ve heard it said that this group’s purpose is “church growth.” But this is not quite correct.

The intent of the group is not to develop strategies to increase membership, but to help the congregation discern who we are and what God wants us to be, now and going forward.

One unfortunate image that tends to correlate with any “church growth” approach is that of our sanctuary filled with electric guitars, drums, projector screens, and my wearing jeans and a Hawaiian shirt! This is, in my view, a fundamental mistake some churches make – the “one size fits all” approach.

My understanding is that we are called not to become something we’re not, but to use the particular gifts God has given us, and in ways specific to us. Each church, in other words, has a distinct personality, and a specific calling. Our job is to figure out what that is, and to employ all its members in effectively living that out.

In the U.S., at least, we assume that bigger is better. Though that may be true in some instances, it’s not always the case. It may be that our strength is to remain small but with a deeper spiritual presence, for instance.

In Robinson’s book, he talks analogously about church budgets. He says we make a mistake in focusing on them, as if ‘meeting the budget’ is the purpose of the church! Rather, he insists, the budget is merely the mechanism by which the church funds its ministries. It’s the ministry that matters; everything else flows from it.

In the final analysis, the church is tasked with preparing the soil, while it is God who gives the growth. Our job, in other words, is to faithfully attend to God’s work. Numerical growth is merely its natural outgrowth.

The other matter has to do with our Memorial Garden. At present we are still having a go-around with the town. At the October Cabinet meeting, a position paper was approved and sent to the town’s Cemetery Commission as well as its Board of Selectmen.

The church’s position is that the current Memorial Garden should stand as is, while avoiding in the future the “excluded areas” with graves underneath. In addition, we have offered to build a memorial to those “known, unmarked” graves as a way to suitably honor their memory. Any other approach, in our view, fails to respect either these individuals or those interred in the Memorial Garden.

 

Peace and grace,

 

Rev. Thomas C. Leinbach, Pastor

Filed Under: Letter

Sunday Worship

We are an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ.

During the health pandemic, we invite worshippers to join us on Sundays at 10:30 am. We meet in safety for a 45-minute service on our (encrypted) video-conference platform.

How to Find Us

Past Sermons

Sermon: Plan? What Plan?

December 27, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Worry, Be Happy

December 18, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Thoughts for 3 a.m.

December 11, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: The Moods of Christian Life

December 5, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Who Are We to Judge?

November 27, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Keeping One’s Marbles amid the Whistling Tree Frogs

November 20, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Interpreting the Bible

November 7, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Luther, Schmuther!

October 30, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: A Mechanistic God

October 16, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Knowing Who We Are

October 12, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: The Freedom of Constraint

October 2, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Daytime TV and Bonbons

September 25, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Mind Your Own Knitting

September 18, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Stasis, Novelty or Reform

September 11, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Decisions, Decisions

September 5, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Everyone’s Got One

August 28, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Self-Righteousness, Othering, and Violence

August 21, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Oh, This!

August 14, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: From Heel to Healer

August 8, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Unexpectedly

July 31, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Surviving Hope

July 25, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Prevenient Grace

July 17, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: The Strange Persistence of Guilt

July 11, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Freedom

July 3, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Sermon: Looking for the Lord

June 26, 2017 By FCCH Staff

Copyright © 2021 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in