Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ

[alt/church]

Pastor Gary — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:45:02 +0000

Last weekend, Pastor Gary challenged us to speak in the language of those who need to hear the Good News. For us, this means speaking 21st century young adult-ese! He discussed alt or alternative music as that sub-area of each major musical genre that had more freedom and was therefore more innovative, and called us to be an [alt/church]. The [alt/church] graphic will be used with our contemporary worship community beginning immediately.

Inside Out Faith: June 2nd event

Pastor Gary — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:40:31 +0000

Save the Date!!

June 2nd. 7.00pm
Free and Open to the Public
in our Sanctuary

One Woman’s journey as a gay person of faith. Jennifer Knapp, Inside Out Faith Tour. Music and musings of life, finding love, and being a gay person of faith.

PBS has contacted us to consider covering the event.

Don’t miss it!!

This Sunday: May 20th

Pastor Gary — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:36:58 +0000

This Sunday: We will read about the selection of the first lay leader and consider how leadership works in covenant communities. Pastor Gary’s sermon is titled “This Ain’t Athens.” Our Visual Liturgy will feature hip hop-influenced spoken word artist Micah Bournes on the scripture passage that claims “those who have turned the world upside down have come to our city.” We’ll ordain a handful of deacons that missed the previous rite, and have our usual amazing musical worship.

This Sunday at 9 am the adult Sunday School class will explore Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s teaching on the central place of intercessory prayer in a Christian community. The children will also meet at 9 am with Ronnie Schoenewolf assisted by Kari Kaczmarek All are welcome.

Facilities News

Pastor Gary — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:30:28 +0000

Pat Mahar, whose flower arrangements grace the tables of the Victorian Tea each year, has continued to keep the planter in the front of the church looking beautiful. It is now filled with wonderful Spring flowers. It looks lovely!

I am having a tree specialist look at the Norway maples in front of the church. They have many rotted branches which could hit the stained glass windows in a bad storm. Branches have been removed already from these two trees. The Japanese maple next to the driveway looks to be in excellent health and only required a little trimming back by the walkway.

Alex & George Geiger-Martinez plan on re-painting the white post holding the seasonal banners by the driveway when the weather gets drier.

Anyone wishing to donate spring or summer flowering bulbs, contact me.

Decisions Decisions

Pastor Gary — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:26:06 +0000

In most organizations decisions are made based on what the majority of members or leaders want. This “majority” rule is a preferred model, though we cannot forget that in our American democracy, the majority has seldom voluntarily extended rights to minorities.

In our church polity ( or system ), we still use majority rule, but our decisions are not based on what we want. In healthy congregations, decisions are based on God’s will for the church. You could say that we want what God wants, and prayerfully try to figure that out.

One way we accomplish that is by testing our decisions against our mission. The mission of the New York Conference of the UCC is “Led by the Spirit to faithful witness, compassionate justice, and bold Christian leadership.” Our mission echoes these themes. At its simplest, we seek to change lives through the love of Christ. More specifically, we seek to deepen faith, to make disciples, and to build God’s just and caring realm. This three-part mission provides structure to our ministry teams, and a standard by which to measure our decisions.

Exciting Vitality News

Pastor Gary — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:23:34 +0000

The Search Committee heard about Paul Nixon during our very first meetings. His “I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church” articulated perfectly my personal mission and passion.

Our moderator, Dr. Jeff Spahn, recently recommended that members of our leadership ministries read Nixon’s follow-up book, “We Refused to Lead a Dying Church,” with case studies of successful turn-around congregations.

Nixon, an experienced pastor, now runs a consulting practice called Epicenter. Last night, I received an invitation from Rev. Freeman Palmer, our Associate Conference Minister focused on church vitality, to join 11 other hand-selected churches, each judged as ready to thrive, in an Epicenter coaching group focused on Ministry Transformation. And better yet, since the contract is through the conference, UCCNY is underwriting a portion of the costs, making this very affordable.

I’ve already said yes. We’ll have to do a little work to pull it off, but it is all do-able…

It seems pretty clear to me that God wants us to be a thriving church, and keeps throwing us opportunities to help make it happen.

This Sunday: May 13

Pastor Gary — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:14:54 +0000

This Sunday in worship we will consider a passage from the Acts of the Apostles, and Pastor Gary will address efforts to reach young adults and young families. We will also have a powerful Mother’s Day visual liturgy. There will be no Sunday School for adults or children before church this week to accommodate all the breakfasts-in-bed.

What to Expect: Contemporary Worship

Pastor Gary — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:31:49 +0000

This Sunday marks the start of an entirely new worship experience at SCUCC, a once-a-month Contemporary service with Communion. But what makes this different than our normal “blended” services?

Probably the first thing you’ll notice is that the service is informal. Jeans and shorts are welcome. You can bring cushions so you or the kids can sit on the floor in front of the Chancel steps. There will be more opportunity to interact, but a whole lot less standing and sitting, less responsive reading. There will be more use of video, and the music… well, the music! You’ll find a blend of Contemporary Christian music, singable and easy to learn new hymns, and even some secular music with faithful themes. Annie will be leading our worship music, but we invite all with a musical talent to participate

We hope you’ll give this style of worship a try, and tell others about it, as we learn to speak in the languages of multiple generations.

This Sunday: May 6

Pastor Gary — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:30:11 +0000

9.00am Faith Development for Children (in the Library) and Adults (in the Vestry). The adult faith development class will meet with Liz for continued meditations on Scripture and explorations of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic book on Christian community, Life Together. All are welcome.

At 10.15am we gather for Service of the Word and Table. This service will be in a traditional style. Guest preacher the Rev. Kate Layzer will deliver a sermon called “Occupied Territory.” Pastor Kate, pictured above, has been an important christian voice in the Occupy Boston movement.

Annie and Pastor Gary lead the community in our laid-back Contemporary Worship at 6.00pm in the Sanctuary. Dress casual, and bring cushions if you want to sit on the floor.

A Thanks from Deacon Claudia

Pastor Gary — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:57:54 +0000

On April 22 Sam Lent, Alex Martinez, George Geiger, John Dean, Mark Ziobro, Chris Lypen Jr. and I planted the Chancel Hydrangeas and Tulips from Holy Week. With the predicted rain we have every hope that they’ll be blooming next spring. Alex has his eye on a painting project, as well. I hope that everyone who has fixed, painted, planted, tidied, washed and wiped knows how grateful we are. This Church and its missions are truly the work of many hands and hearts.