We are about to begin the all-church self-study events in preparation for calling a search committee which will prepare a church profile and then seek candidates for the pastorate here. This fall there will be four lunch meetings after church on a series of topics and a survey about church participation to which everyone— member, friend, new arrival, long-time hand, happy, disappointed, confused, younger, older, middler— is invited.
This is a pretty early stage in the parbuckling, refloating, refitting, and resailing of First Congregational. (Notice the difference there with the Costa Concordia, which will decidedly not cruise again. FCCI will. Period.)
Many months ago, the Concordia wreck got stabilized, and then the divers and engineers started to figure out what they had to work with. Then they spent a long time developing plans, testing scenarios, getting things thought out. Another long period of time was building the equipment needed and getting it in place. Finally, only last week, 20 months after the ship scraped bottom and capsized, did they get to the first big salvage effort. Now that they have it upright, the have a lot to do for the next stage of effort.
In terms of my gimmicky parallel, First Congregational and the people who love it want it not just upright and salvaged, but sailing the seas of the gospel. Now that things are more stable, it is time to see what we have to work with. At this point, that is all we are doing in the first conversations. From there we will develop plans of action to undertake the pastoral search, then marshal the resources and people to do it. But right now, we are learning about where we are and what has happened. Then we can work on the engineering and the tasks of making it happen.
Our first two conversations will be introducing the process and developing together a timeline of the events, seasons, and people in the last fifty or sixty years of First Congregational’s life. Those will be October 6 and 13. We will look at the community and our context in Ithaca and Tompkins County on October 27. Then on November 3 we will look at ourselves in the mirror and talk about the valuable missions and ministries done for God and neighbor by the congregation. On November 17 we will use part of the worship time to fill out the excellent US Congregational Life Survey, one of the very few normed across the nation and the denominational spectrum.
In all of this, your participation… your honest, gracious participation… is key.
We will gather for an informal lunch and working time after worship those four Sundays. There will be activities and care for children so they can join in. Older children and youth can sit in on the conversation. If you can’t make a session or have to leave early, don’t worry; although they build on each other, each session should be interesting and valuable on its own. We can help with rides and other things to help you attend. Even if you don’t know what you might contribute, I would really appreciate you showing up! And if you can’t stay for the meeting, at least stay for lunch and to visit with folks.
It is my intention to keep the conversation lively and honest, to share some information on church dynamics that will be helpful understanding where we need to go next, not to drag things out, but to keep very focused on the overall purpose: discovering God’s direction for First Congregational and preparing for a healthy and productive partnership with a pastor in the near future.
Are you with me? (I hope so.)
And maybe on Sunday you’ll find out how this all fits with the scripture lessons!
In Christ,
David
Texts For Sunday Worship:
From the Hebrew Bible Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
From the Epistles 1 Timothy 2:1-7
From the Gospels Luke 16:1-13
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