Late Winter 2018
Dear Friends,
Our guests here at Second Christian often remark that we are a very “friendly and welcoming” church. Indeed, I believe the gift of hospitality is one of our defining characteristics. Over the years we have worked to expand that “extravagant welcome” and while we can always do better, we generally do go out of our way to make guests feel welcomed when they visit our church. Our welcome has strengthened our presence in the community and, as with our new partnership with A House for ME, we have begun new ministries, and learned new ways, to meet the needs of the community around us. Yes, we are going...
Our dance around the idea of having “The Talk” began way back in 2005 when the UCC's 25th General Synod adopted the resolution “Equal Marriage Rights for All”. Again at the time of Maine's citizen's referendum for marriage equality in 2009 we danced a bit more. Our mission statement says that we welcome all people into our community of faith – and I believe that to be true – but I also believe that our welcome must be made crystal clear to all. A significant cohort of people have begun planning for us to move forward on this. Yes, we are going...
"The Talk," also known as the Open and Affirming (ONA) process, invites us into a period of directed discernment, study, conversation and prayer through which we can decide whether and how to enter into a covenant to clearly state that welcome. While this conversation often focuses on persons of differing sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions – persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning – it also invites us to understand what barriers there might be to others: young or old, black or white, rich or poor, differently abled and everyone in between. I know we are ready for this conversation. We have a great team in place to guide us, and we all have a part to play. Yes, we are going...
In this season of Lent, we have been invited, in our Sunday worship, to Listen. May our Lenten listening lead us to reflect on where we have been and faithfully discern where we are going in our life together. It may not always be an easy conversation, but together we can make the journey and come out stronger at the end... or will it be a new beginning? Let's talk...
Listening with you,
Brad
Dear Friends,
Our guests here at Second Christian often remark that we are a very “friendly and welcoming” church. Indeed, I believe the gift of hospitality is one of our defining characteristics. Over the years we have worked to expand that “extravagant welcome” and while we can always do better, we generally do go out of our way to make guests feel welcomed when they visit our church. Our welcome has strengthened our presence in the community and, as with our new partnership with A House for ME, we have begun new ministries, and learned new ways, to meet the needs of the community around us. Yes, we are going...
Our dance around the idea of having “The Talk” began way back in 2005 when the UCC's 25th General Synod adopted the resolution “Equal Marriage Rights for All”. Again at the time of Maine's citizen's referendum for marriage equality in 2009 we danced a bit more. Our mission statement says that we welcome all people into our community of faith – and I believe that to be true – but I also believe that our welcome must be made crystal clear to all. A significant cohort of people have begun planning for us to move forward on this. Yes, we are going...
"The Talk," also known as the Open and Affirming (ONA) process, invites us into a period of directed discernment, study, conversation and prayer through which we can decide whether and how to enter into a covenant to clearly state that welcome. While this conversation often focuses on persons of differing sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions – persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning – it also invites us to understand what barriers there might be to others: young or old, black or white, rich or poor, differently abled and everyone in between. I know we are ready for this conversation. We have a great team in place to guide us, and we all have a part to play. Yes, we are going...
In this season of Lent, we have been invited, in our Sunday worship, to Listen. May our Lenten listening lead us to reflect on where we have been and faithfully discern where we are going in our life together. It may not always be an easy conversation, but together we can make the journey and come out stronger at the end... or will it be a new beginning? Let's talk...
Listening with you,
Brad