Calvin Synod Herald, 2006 (107. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2006-07-01 / 7-8. szám
8 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD saying we do not like is “Put your money where your mouth is.” When we are away from Synod, we subscribe to the saying: “out of sight, out of mind.” As if “Synod” only lasts for one week - then we are not responsible to each other for another year. One important aspect of Christianity is that Sunday morning is not the totality of our commitment neither to God nor to our church. There is the story of the tourist who happened upon a Quaker Meeting House on the day they were meeting for worship. Now Quakers do not have an organized “worship” with a specific leader. They sit quietly in their “meeting house” where they pray and meditate, and if someone is moved to share with the others he will do so briefly. The tourist sat down quietly and waited for the “worship service” to begin but there was only silence for what seemed to be a very long time. Finally he asked, “What time does the ‘worship service’ begin?” to which his neighbor replied, “This is the time for ‘worship,’ when we leave here, that is the time for ‘service.’” The Sunday morning time is the time for worship: the remaining time of the week is a time for service, it is not a time to disassociate ourselves from the church. So it is with our Synod. We come to our Annual Meeting: this is a time for sharing, for common worship, for fellowship. But this is not the END or our responsibility to Synod: this is the starting point, this was our time of “worship.” Now we have ahead our days and weeks and months of “service.” Commitments were made and will be made by each of us to take action, to provide mission support. These are done by your votes, often unanimous. Being faithful to your commitment means you take your responsibility seriously. Not taking seriously our commitments we make here means we only want to appear to be Christians, good guys, dedicated to the church, but in fact we feel no need to be part of such a fellowship, because we know we will not need these things - we have done pretty well, we have prospered. But we are lukewarm at best when we take that stand. The Lord called us together for fellowship, for mutual support, to share love. Shortly, we will be asking that he accompany each of us to our homes, to our families, to our congregations, to be with those with whom we have accepted a Call. Let us go not “lukewarm,” ready to “hide our light” lest someone see it and ask for our help. Let’s light our light with a fire that can be seen and felt by all whom we encounter as a blessing from Jesus the Christ. (Calvin Synod Annual Meeting Closing Worship homily the morning of May 19, 2006 delivered by Bishop Rt. Rev. Koloman Karl Ludwig) FWC Update Letter It may seem like a long time until August, but I am writing this before the beginning of the Faithful & Welcoming Churches’ first National Gathering at Shepherd of the Hills in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania. It’s time now to make your plans to attend. Whatever your past history, present involvement, or future ideas or plans are regarding the UCC, this is the place to connect with other ECOTs (Evangelical, Conservative, Orthodox, Traditional) in the UCC and discuss our future. Where do we go next? How can we work together? What are your ideas? Where is your church? How can we encourage each other? Our window of opportunity to connect is now. All you need to know is on our web site, www.faithfulandwelcoming.org. Click on the upper right comer, “National Gathering.” If you are planning to stay overnight, please look at the lodging list now and make your decision. We have booked blocs of rooms at several nearby hotels, but in several cases these rooms will only be held for us until July 3. Note also that whatever you decide to do about lodging or travel (including bus tours, where applicable), we still need you to register for the event itself. The registration form is on the web site as well. If you would like printed brochures for the gathering to distribute in your church, e-mail Rev. John Roberts atjdroberts@lexcominc.net. New Chat Room If you would like to join an online (mostly polite, so far!) conversation about the future of ECOTs in the UCC, please go to the following web site and sign on - http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/fwcucc/ United Church News The latest issue of United Church News includes a half-page ad on page A10 for our upcoming National Gathering. Interest has picked up a little since that ad ran. The ads are expensive, and we continue to need churches and individuals to support us financially. You may send a tax-deductible gift to Faithful and Welcoming Churches, RO. Box 5382, Hickory, NC 28603. You may also give online through PayPal with a credit card. We in FWC felt a little vindicated by the report on page A2 of this most recent issue that “at least 98” churches have left since General Synod 25. We had been directly or indirectly accused of over-reporting the numbers when official sources first report numbers in the teens last fall, then “about 49 churches” in the February/March issue of United Church News (A3). We have always tried to clarify that we were not suggesting deliberate under-reporting of the numbers - only that it takes a while for church withdrawals to be reported through official channels. We now have listed 112 “lost churches” on our web site since General Synod 25, and our suspicion is that number is still low. I just sent six more Southern Conference church names to the FWC webmaster this week that are not yet listed. When your association or conference reports withdrawn churches at your annual meeting, please check the list against our online list and notify us. We are, however, only listing (as far as we know) churches that have left since July 2005 - so please clarify if necessary. New Churches We rejoice with the following churches that have officially listed themselves FWC on our web site since I last reported (April 1). If your church has voted FWC but is not on our web site, that means that no one has registered the church on the web site - or if the church was registered recently, the webmaster might not have caught up yet! If your church or another wants more information or brochures, e-mail office@faithfulandwelcoming.org. • St. Matthew UCC in Lynnville, IN (Conference: Indiana-
