“New Beginnings” is our resource theme for 2020 because there are three significant new pieces of our ministry together.
Over the summer Parsons Pipe Organ builders refurbished our historic organ. Outside, our historic building has been under reconstruction since the spring. The steeple jacks have spent long hours rebuilding our bell tower. We expect the bell to be returned to its place of honor in the newly restored bell tower by the end of October. And you also have a new pastor who began ministry here at First Congregational Church UCC, at the beginning of September.
We celebrate all of these new beginnings, and give thanks for the work that has been done to prepare us for this time of dedication and celebration. The search committee, CIS Steeple jacks, Parsons, and our Trustees, have worked tirelessly make all of these new beginnings not only possible but successful.
On November 17, we held a Rededication Celebration with members of the wider community, including the Mayor, to celebrate the completing of the bell tower project and the refurbishing of our historic pipe organ. None of these new beginnings would have been accomplished if this church did not have the courage to step out in faith. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” So many people have been involved in taking that first step and the results have been amazing. We are a church on the move and the momentum is building!
None of this could have been accomplished without the generosity of the major donors, the organizers and workers, those who stepped out in faith, and those who have stepped up to help us move forward together!
God will direct our path and show us the next steps in the staircase as we move upward and onward. Let us listen for God’s spirit and follow faithfully as we step up and step out in faith.
~ Rev. Dawn