For everything there is a Season: The ebbs and flows of Congregational Life

Two significant events are occurring within the bounds of the Upstate Region of the Conference this weekend.

The First Congregational UCC of Fulton will hold their last service of worship as a congregation on Sunday. Almost 125 years of ministry at 43 Bridge St. will officially come to a close. We will worship tomorrow, celebrate their ministry and proclaim the hope that is always ours through our God whose love is always steadfast. I will be delivering the message, "Between Remembrance and Hope," based upon Psalm 42. Geoffrey Black will be in attendance. Interim Pastor, Andrea Stoeckel will lead the service.


Over this weekend the Conference is rolling out it's new program for congregational vitality "Casting Your Nets on the Other Side," at Camp Casowasco on Cayuga Lake. Casting Your Nets ("CYN" in the true UCC fashion of abbreviation)is holding a training retreat for teams of volunteers from 16 churches across the conference.

These 16 churches form the pilot project for this new ministry that seeks to help churches transform their own church life to become so-called "missional churches". Part of this might be growth in membership totals. More, this transformation will lead churches to look at how their worship, mission, fellowship, generosity, and invitation can become more meaningful for their own membership and especially to those outside their membership whom they want to reach.

This weekend the 16 churches will begin to look at how to define their "neighborhood". This is the first of three training retreats that will be held between January and June. After each retreat the local church teams will hold the same retreat in their own congregation. The goal of the three retreats is to help churches develop and action plan for mission. Next fall the second phase of CYN will begin with the so-called "Fishing Schools", workshops and seminars with experts in each of the five areas of church life. These "Fishing Schools" will help provide resources for the participating churches to live out their action plan.

You can find out more about CYN by going to the New York Conference Website, or by going to www.castingyournets.org.

Please pray for our sisters and brothers in Fulton. This is a sad time for them and for all of us. It is never easy to close a church. Pray for them that they will continue to sense God's gracious presence and guidance.

Pray for the participants in the CYN retreat, that they can begin to make decisions to faithfully respond to God's call to mission and ministry.

Rick