The Villager Voice
Every now and then you will hear me speak of “UCC Firsts.” As both historic Congregationalists and, since 1957 or thereabouts, members of the United Church of Christ, our denominational heritage has been one of trailblazing. The most notable firsts are the ordination of the first African American minister (1785), first published African American poet (Phyllis Wheatley was Congregational, 1773), the first female minister (1853) and the first ordained openly gay minister (1972) – but this is only a small sampling. You can find more on the UCC web page here: https://www.ucc.org/ucc-firsts/
This week I’m going to be speaking about justice, equality, diversity and inclusion, all of which are reflected in the above. I recognize that, for the most part, this could be considered preaching to the choir. Yet as recent events have demonstrated, it is never a good idea to become complacent about things that we have come to take as given. Whether it is a mass shooting, a fatal act of racism, blatant injustice against our LGBTQ siblings, I quietly say to myself, “Do I really need to preach about this again?” Sad to say, the answer is nearly always Yes.
On a more cheery note, please join us this Sunday as we welcome six new members into our church fellowship. Every time someone new becomes part of our church family – whether they actually become members or not – our collective witness becomes stronger, our voice becomes louder and our service to God and community grows deeper.
And it is never too early (pun intended) for this head’s up: our worship time moves from 10am to 9am for July and August – a mere two weeks from now, beginning July 2.
Links to the bulletin and service are here:
