50 years BOLD

Today was a good day. As part of All Saints' Day, Community Protestant Church commissioned its confirmation class and asked God's blessing for their journey. Classes started on Wednesday and I've got to say, I'm excited about our journey. They've had mentor-based classes during the interim and the congregation had a rough time with it. Early reports from the parents indicate that the kids had a great time in our first class and dubbed it "cool."

Which brings me to the point of my post. This week was crazy in many ways and completely full, but it wasn't that busywork kind of full. It was stuffed with the fullness of God and the amazing joy of an entire congregation living as saints. From the death of our church's longest standing member to the birth of a new baby, from our church bazaar and barbeque to our capital campaign presentation, from our adult education night to our confirmation class - everything has reflected a church that desires to be more than a place to spend an hour on Sundays. I'm amazed by the depth and breadth of faith in my congregation. I count myself blessed to be among them.

To cap the week off, Hope and I watched the UCC webcast kicking off our denomination's 50 year anniversary. On the whole, I was impressed. I liked that they had remote links to three churches across the country and some of the YouTube videos. The webcast was thankfully devoid of the endless grandstanding speeches that can result whenever you get a bunch of pastors together. I felt it mostly celebrated what is right with the UCC, but I must admit that I would have liked to have seen a more prominent role for scripture and more talk about Christ, in whom we find our unity. We would do well to remember it's Christ who has brought us this far and Christ who will lead us into the future. It's weeks like this one when I see my church being the LIVING body of Christ that give me hope for the next 50 years.