Coming Up Sunday, November 16

Sunday we continue our series on faith stories by finishing up our look at our congregational faith story. Having considered the heritage of our past and the challenges of our present, we are going to peer into the future to see if we can imagine what our church will look like in a few years.

There is no real science to telling the future -- it is most definitely more of an art. I think that if we are honest about history and present conditions, and we are creative and imaginative, we can sketch a pretty compelling portrait of the future. And that is what I hope to do Sunday.

We have some challenges to face, but we also have some significant opportunities. Some cultural shifts challenge the very nature of what we do; some make what we do (particularly as Disciples) more appealing.

We'll read a bit from Paul's letters to the Philippians, which has an important suggestion about how God expects us as Christians to face the future. And then we'll talk specifically about some things we can do in the coming months to build on our strengths and minimize our challenges.

Don't forget: Very important congregational and board meetings Sunday after service. We have important business to vote on (an important part of that building for our future).

Coming Up Sunday, November 2

We'll have a low-key celebration of Central Christian's 115th anniversary on Sunday. (Don't forget to reset your clocks so you're not early.) We'll share breakfast together before worship, which should be an enjoyable way to kick off the day.

In worship, we'll continue our focus on faith stories by considering the faith story of Central Christian. Sunday we'll look at Central Christian's history -- 115 years of ministry in the community of Fairmont.

Not all churches make 115 years -- in fact, a great many do not last more than a couple of generations, so we have much to celebrate. But we also have much to learn. How are we like the church that started 115 years ago? How are we different? Do we know much about our past -- our heritage?

Unlike some churches, not one member of our congregation was around when Central Christian first worshiped together in 1893. We don't know a lot about them, and we have few definite reminders of our predecessors -- some photographs, some names, a stained glass window from the previous church building. Of course, we've not totally lost our memories -- we have long-time members (some of 60, 70, even 80 years).

So what is our heritage? And how should that heritage influence what we should do in the future? This is a part of our shared faith story that we will think about on Sunday.