 |
| Rev. Dr. Ron Brown, Associate Conference Minister for Clergy Concerns |
This week's author is the Rev. Dr. Ron Brown, Associate Conference Minister for Clergy Concerns for the Connecticut Conference, UCC.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple'
Some thoughts on marking time'
I have always been one who holds on to things that mark time. In a special drawer in my desk you will find the ticket stubs from the first time I went to baseball games at Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field. The worship folders from my ordination and installation services are also in there. I still have a copy of my mother's obituary, and the order of worship for service in which my life partner, Jane, and I were married.
They sit there, in that drawer, marking time.
I remember when I first heard the term, "marking time." I played trombone in the Watauga High School marching band in Boone, North Carolina. Marking time meant marching in place. I thought that meant going nowhere. The band director, Mr. Wallace, overheard me say that one day, and quickly corrected me. Mr. Wallace yelled (as only he could yell at a freshman trombonist who had committed the cardinal sin of talking in the ranks), "Marking time is not about going nowhere, Mr. Brown! It's about getting ready to go somewhere!"
Isaiah remembered the year that he got ready to go somewhere. It was in the year that King Uzziah died. He heard God's call and replied, "Here am I; send me!"
We, in the United Church of Christ, are marking time this year--50 years of the latest leg of our faith journey as a church. But as we mark that time with a great celebration here in Hartford this summer, you won't hear anyone talking about going nowhere, because our church is on the verge of going somewhere. The United Church of Christ is a church on the move.
As we mark time together, may it always be our way of getting ready to go somewhere--to hear God's call and to answer: "Here we are; send us!"
We mark this time, O God, as your gift to us, and we pray for the vision to go where you send us. Amen.
West Suffield
West Suffield Cong'l Ch
IN The Rev. Dr. Claire Bamberg
SU The Rev. Jon T. Zappulla
Westbrook
First Cong'l Church
P The Rev. John W. Wilson
PE The Rev. Robert G. Van Gorder
CE Ms. Jill Wenker
Weston
Norfield Cong'l Church Society
P The Rev. Bernard R. Wilson
CE Ms. Penny Anderson
Westport
Cong'l Ch of Green's Farms
P The Rev. Jeffrey P. Rider
AP The Rev. John D. Twiname
CE Ms. Amy M. Forte
Westport
Saugatuck Cong'l Ch of Westport, Inc.
P The Rev. John H. Danner
PE The Rev. Theodore G. Hoskins
AP The Rev. Susanna K. Griefen
CE Ms. Abby Peterson
Willimantic
First Cong'l Ch of Willimantic
IN The Rev. David W. Minnick
The Spirit Calendar: January 29, 2007 by Rev. Dr. Ron Brown, Associate Conference Minister for Clergy Concerns
