Este Año Pasado

Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:19b-20)

This is the time of year when it is appropriate to consider how we have chosen the life that God provides and how we will choose it. So, this is my looking back over this year past (este año pasado).

It may seem a bit presumptuous to judge these observations of life over the past year as if seeing it through God's eyes. I'm not really presuming to do this. On the other hand there have been some significant events and moments in the lives of our congregations, pastors, church leaders (and even me). And, I rejoice to mark them.

A Birthday, A New and Different Annual Meeting Venue, and A New Conference Office Building

What a year for the UCC! The 50th anniversary celebration at General Synod was truly a wonderful experience. The speakers at Synod in the City, as well as those that graced us throughout the event were inspirational and profound.

The New York Conference was very much a part of the celebration. We decided to hold our annual meeting in Hartford the morning that Synod started. Over 300 people attended the meeting. Many stayed for at least part of Synod.

During the annual meeting we officially kicked off the "public phase" of the capital fund campaign to raise money to pay for the new Conference Office in Syracuse. At the time we announced that 2/3 of the $600k goal had already been raised. On September 29, we celebrated the opening of the new office with worship and a reception on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. As of today, over $549k has been raised toward the capital campaign goal.

The Amistad Center (the name given to the Conference Office) is specifically dedicated to nurturing leaders for the church. There is ample room for meetings of conference commissions, association committees and NYSOM classes.

New Ways of Doing Ministry for Old Congregations

On their own initiative several of our churches entered into conversations with other congregations to do shared ministry.

• Paris UCC, under the leadership of pastor Ed Townsend, has merged with the Presbyterian congregations in neighboring Sauquoit and Waterville to form the Three Steeples Parish United. The parish sold the Waterville church building. The Sauquoit building continues to do service as a parish hall. The parish meets in the UCC building. A celebration of the new UCC/Presbyterian parish is scheduled for January 20.
• St. Luke's UCC, Auburn spent most of this past year in conversation with Calvary Presbyterian Church with the goal of merging by January, 2007. These conversations continued through the end of August, when the Presbytery took the initiative to close Calvary. The merger talks were summarily ended. However, several former members of Calvary joined St. Luke's in December. St. Luke's also called a new pastor, the Rev. David Borthwick.
• McLean and Groton Community and Groton City churches continue to discuss shared models of ministry. The three congregations have held many shared worship, educational and fellowship events.
• First Congregational, Binghamton has gone through a significant decline in almost all aspects of ministry over the last 15 years or so. Last year they were in between pastors again. They felt that they were near the end of their ability to turn things around. Working with the Pastoral Search Committee I suggested that they develope a 4 year mission plan as well as a Behavioral Covenant, and that they call the next pastor according to the mission plan. The Search Committee developed the Mission Plan and the Behavioral Covenant and facilitated their acceptance by the congregation as a whole. In November the church called the Rev. Arthur Suggs, a PCUSA ordained minister, as their new pastor. There is great excitement and new hope for a renewed sense of mission and ministry in the congregation.

Casting Your Nets on the Other Side

Casting Your Nets on the Other Side is the new church redevelopment ministry of the New York Conference. The brainchild of Michael Caine, CYN has completed the first phase pilot project with 18 congregations and has begun the second round of the program for another 16 congregations. The project provides participating congregations with the tools to look at their communities--the people who could benefit from the good news that they have to share--assess their own strengths and develop action plans to grow in faithfulness to their call.

International Church Partnerships

The New York Conference entered into two partnerships this year: the Ecumenical Partnership with the Protestant Church of Hesse-Nassau (Evangelische Kirche, Hesse Nassau) in the Federal Republic of Germany; and Christian Mission Church (Misión Cristiana) of Nicaragua.

Our German partners signed the covenant agreement at our annual meeting in Hartford. They have also provided two pastoral interns to serve in our churches. Last year Peter Dennebaum served as a pastor in Metro Association. He has now been called to a pastorate there. This year Daniel Happel has been serving as an associate pastor in Susquehanna Association.

Nathan Wright, interim pastor in Clinton Heights, went with me to establish the Global Church partnership with Misión Cristiana in August. Raul Dávila, president of the church, visited here in November as the guest of the Commission on the Global Church at Mission Possible.

A Personal Nudge toward the 21st Century

I entered into the new world of blogging nearly a year ago. I was sifting through my email last Martin Luther King Day and read, "You can start your own blog." So, I did. Since last January 15, over 1,200 visitors have made over 6,200 visits and made over 9,300 page views of the 102 postings that I published on UCCNY Crossroads. This is amazing to me. I'm very grateful, especially to the faithful return visitors. I am happy if this has helped to provide another means by which UCC people can connect with what's happening across the region (and, of course, to hear what's on the mind of yours truly).

Some of our pastors have also ventured into the "blogosphere". Tom O'Donnell, pastor at Plymouth Bethesda in Elmira, has his own website, http://www.reclaimJesus.net, dedicated toward romoting a progressive approach to Protestant Christian Theology.

Ron Farr, co-pastor at Emmanuel in Watertown, has provided resources for lay ministry through his Laity Empowerment Project for over 15 years. (http://www.laityempowerment.com/)

David Kaden, associate pastor at First Congregational in Ithaca has just started a blog posting his progressive theology. (http://www.dkblog.blogspot.com/)

And so, it's been quite a year...a good year, I think. Praise God for life, indeed for life given in abundance for all those who seek to love God and follow God's commandments of faithfulness.

Blessings,

Rick Cowles