As many of you know, Melissa and I have been traveling for the past two weeks.  What a trip it was! The Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.  Niagara Falls.  Toronto.  Montreal. Vermont.  New Hampshire. Maine.  It was the wonderful "honeymoon" which we didn't have a chance to take twenty years ago.

As we drove through New England, I think Melissa tired of me continually asking as we entered each new town;  "Melissa, where is it?  Where is the Congregational Church?"  And, we always found it. For the grandson of a Congregational pastor and a current pastor himself in the tradition, I found this quest to be strangely important to me.

These small New England Congregational churches are, somehow, connected to me and connected to you as a part of the history and tradition of the United Church of Christ.  It is a tradition we should be proud of and it is a tradition we should think about as we discern our role in advancing God's kingdom.  There is so much to speak of and think about in our tradition, but an important part of our history is about the escape from religious persecution.  That is why our predecessors in faith, the Pilgrims and the Puritans came to Plymouth and Salem.

We should be mindful today that in this church we still stand up against religious persecution.  We are not intimidated by those who would say we have abandoned God's word.  We are not shaken by those who suggest they, and only they, have discerned God's will and way in the world.  No, we accept that God's word is revealed to each of us in different ways and that God is still speaking at Zion.

That is the tradition that came to me by and through the pristine white steeples of New England during our recent travels.  It is also the tradition that comes to me each time I enter the sanctuary of Zion United Church of Christ.  What a blessing!

In Christ,

Pastor Pete