An ancient (8^th century) liturgy invites the community to prayer with these words (adapted ):

Creator God, source of all holiness, the work of your hands is manifest in your saints. The beauty of your truth is reflected in their faith. May we who aspire to have part in their joy be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that having shared their faith on earth, we may also know their peace in your realm.

"... the work of your hands is manifest in your saints." I've thought of those words several times in the last few weeks, and I want to celebrate with you how you and I, "saints in the household of God" have had some little roles in being the hands that God uses for God's mission in this world.

Literally I saw hands at work among our home building group in Honduras when I visited their build site in Rio Lindo as part of a short trip to attend a partnership meeting with the Evangelical and Reformed Synod of Honduras. David Piper has now led many trips to this beautiful and desperately poor nation, which is now being tested as drug gangs move over from Mexico. But our Wisconsin group was there, building a parsonage for the pastor of the Rio Lindo as well as a home for a woman who now lives with her 5 children in two rooms about the size of a large walk-in closets in some of our homes.

I watched this woman stand there and just look in utter amazement as our group worked side-by-side with her family and her neighbors to hand mix cement and lay a foundation for her home, complete with a kitchen and indoor plumbing, something she never had. But what was particularly encouraging was how many of her neighbors came out to help, and they spoke to the president of the E&R Synod and told him how excited they were that this woman would have a house, and that the church was building it for her and would give it to her. Through your gifts ("Forward in Faith") and through the energy and skills of our volunteers, this woman and her family experience the "Good News" of a home.

While at Synod, the spouse of one of our delegates spoke at the closing party of our delegation and told about speaking to the concierge at our hotel about some detail of getting around Tampa. She reported that he said to her: "Are you with that church group that's been here?" "Yes." "Well, I've worked here a long time, and this is the happiest, most polite and friendly group I've ever seen here for a meeting. What kind of church is this?" She said, "The United Church of Christ". He asked if there were UCC churches in the Tampa area, and when she said there were, he said, "Well, I've been meaning to get back to church, and I'm going to look for one of your churches." In this unexpected way, and admittedly small way, a smile and simple kindness and respect for someone with a service job communicated something about God and a church that claims to represent God's love. It needs to go farther, like advocating for working conditions for hotel workers, but it can start with something as basic as a smile.

Also at the Synod, there was a lengthy discussion of a resolution asking the United Church of Christ and its health insurance program to do what is possible to insure that all UCC pastors and their families are covered by health insurance. In the educational sessions on this issue, the Wisconsin Conference and its Shared Cost Insurance program was lifted up as a model. In Wisconsin, some 88% of our churches provide the UCC insurance program, while the average throughout the whole UCC is about 42%. Our program is now some 40 years old, and it makes it possible for smaller churches to receive a significant discount on health insurance and provides a subsidy (currently 20%) for retirees who have Medicare supplement policies. Some churches pay more than their insurance actually costs to make it possible for all churches to be able to provide this needed service. This is a mission of the churches in our Conference, and it seems to me that at its root it grows out of the mission of God in Christ that all should have "abundant life."

Where is the "work of God's hands manifest in your congregation?" Lift up and celebrate the places, large and small, where your church's faith, lived out, "reveals the beauty of God's truth."

Wishing you many blessings.

David Moyer

Conference Minister