Brrrrrrr . . . it's getting cold here in the Burgh and probably where you are as well. So, we hope this note finds you well and warm and smiling. We think we've got some interesting stuff to tell you. There's a note about our November 30th Poverty Simulation over there on the left, and, below, you can read about Hope United Church of Christ, our Saturday with Don, and a quick reflection on death and life and Sunday's lectionary. |
"Wedding" in April
Ecclesia-UCC "engagement" announced
It's official - Ecclesia and the United Church of Christ are engaged. At its fall meeting last week, the Hudson-Mohawk Association of the United Church of Christ officially designated us as a "Church in Covenant Development." What that means is that Ecclesia and the UCC are exploring our relationship with the expec tation that, come April, Ecclesia will incarnate itself as Hope United Church of Christ, the first UCC church started by a homeless ministry.
Not a lot will change. We'll still be Ecclesia Ministries of Newburgh, but some of what we do will manifest itself as Hope UCC. We'll still welcome and affirm anyone who steps in the door or into our Sunday afternoon street service. No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you'll be welcome, just as you are now.
Here's Hope's mission/vision developed by Ecclesia's board of directors:
Hope United Church of Christ is an expression of Ecclesia Ministries of Newburgh. It is an open, affirming, and inclusive faith community within which all people find the safety and support they need to grow their relationship with God, to engage with others in exploring the boundaries of faith, action, word, and worship, and to put into practice the radical love and work to which we are called by Jesus. As such, we practice loving others as ourselves; worship on the street each Sunday and at other times and places; celebrate Eucharist at a table where all are welcome; perform marriages, baptisms, and memorials; offer spiritual direction and pastoral care to all who seek it, and join with others in building the Beloved Community. Of course, we'll tell you more about all of this in the coming weeks. But for now, we invite you to check out this video on the UCC and visit the website. Click here to drop Steve a note with any questions or comments you may have about all of this.
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A day with Don Bisson
 Two dozen of us gathered in Hope's newly-renovated parlors on Saturday to explore Compassion and the Self with Don Bisson who brings a Jungian perspective to Christian spirituality. Don, a Marist Brother who leads workshops from Connecticut to California, is an ardent supporter of the spiritual center you're helping us to develop here in Newburgh. The next chance any of us will have to hear Don speak is when he leads a December 14 workshop at Mariandale Retreat Center in Ossining, NY. Discerning the Difference between
the Inner Child and the Divine Child workshop will explore the birth of the Divine child within us.
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It's a matter of death and life
 A story from Houston grabbed our attention this week - the half naked body of a homeless man lay in a strip mall parking lot for 20+ hours before anyone did anything about it. Oops! Correction - folks did take the time to whip out a cell phone for a picture.
It is painful to think that we're often so numb and so caught up in ourselves and what we're doing that we've become as good as dead, zombies going through the motions on our way to some eternal rest.
I wonder how often I'm that way too. I wonder how many times a day or week that I'm so focused on my own life, my own struggles and those of my loved ones, that I forget or ignore the pain of others.
It was in that frame of mind that I cracked open the Bible to next Sunday's gospel reading - Luke 20:27-38 - and read the part where Jesus says that God " is (the) God not of the dead, but of the living . . ."
Hummmmmm . . .
Not long before his death, Jean Valjean, the protagonist in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, opined, "To die is nothing; but it is terrible not to live." The death of the Houston homeless man was "nothing" in the sense that his struggle had ended. The tragedy was that the photo-snapping passersby missed a chance to live.
If there is good news - I think there always is - it is they and we have another chance to wake up and smell the coffee. God never stops calling us to aliveness, to wake up and see that we are not alone, that we are God's beloved, and that by God's grace we can become fully alive. |
