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| Michael Ciba |
by Rev. Michael Ciba
My favorite Psalm is 107. It tells the story of four groups of people who are lost. One group “wanders in desert wastes.” Another “sits in darkness and gloom.” A third is “sick through their sinful ways.” The final group “sails on stormy seas.” The situation of each group gets increasingly worse until the people “cry to the Lord in their trouble.” God rescues them from their distress and brings them to a safe place. God gathers people from the east and west, from the north and the south. Those whom God saves “extol God in the congregation of the people and praise God in the assembly of the elders.”
What was your first experience of the United Church of Christ? Did your parents bring you to be baptized when you were a baby? Did you attend Sunday School or youth events at one of our churches? Did a campus minister help you with questions of faith? Did your future spouse invite you to worship? Did a chaplain minister to you in a time of need? Did a friend or neighbor tell you about a great music or education program? Did you go to church in response to an ad?
Each of us has a story about our relationship with the United Church of Christ. It is a story about a God who calls lost individuals out of their isolation into a community of believers. It is also a story of faithful people, lay and clergy, who proclaim the Good News in deeds and with words, who inform, invite, welcome and care for all whom they encounter. Talk with the people of your local church. Let them tell you how they got there. Ask them what they have done to welcome others. Ask yourself and ask others, “What more can we do?”
We, the members of the churches of the Connecticut Conference, are called to work together to invite and welcome our sisters and brothers into our communities of faith. My hope is to work with you in the areas of United Church of Christ identity and evangelism. We need to share ideas with each other, listen to each other, and learn from each other. The Letter to the Hebrews encourages us to “not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” What will you do to welcome the next angel to your church this Sunday?
Rev. Michael Ciba is Regional Minister for the Valley–Northwest Region of the Connecticut Conference, serving the Naugatuck Valley, Litchfield North and Litchfield South Associations.
