From One of Our Co-Pastors

The language of the “new thing” – new creation, new wine, new heaven and new earth – permeates the New Testament?transformation and renewal are key to our Christian faith.  Our own church has shown its faithfulness over the years in changing and growing in its own practice of ministry in Pasadena!  We reached out to our community with the construction of our present church building in the 1920s; we supported the Civil Rights movement and the Women’s Movement faithfully, we offered the use of our building as a sanctuary for a family and as a shelter for homeless women and children nearly thirty years ago.  In 1993 this congregation stepped out in faith to declare itself Open and Affirming and has fully welcomed GLBT persons in the life and work of the church over the past seventeen years.  It is important to remember that beginning a “new thing” is part of the fabric and the identity of our faith and our faith community.

 

From the time we joined FCC as Co-Pastors nearly twelve years ago, there have been a series of intentional programs directed at growing our congregation.  We began with visioning retreats and received support from Rev. Nancy Elsenheimer, then on staff with the UCC Local Church Ministries Evangelism Team.  We made changes in our order of service, our worship music and developed a Called to Care pastoral care team – all to help with welcoming, retaining and nurturing those who were coming to church. Rev. Fred Plummer spent a weekend with us and led a sizeable group through a planning process to help us be more focused on growth.  The New Directions group met for nearly two years and worked closely with the Ministries of our church to implement changes that we felt would help us connect to potential new members. 

 

During our sabbatical, Marlene visited a number of churches and “emerging” ministries and became convinced that FCC needed to staff for growth – someone who could step outside of the ongoing work and ministry of our church to concentrate on developing a new ministry of worship and outreach.  As we shared our sabbatical experience with Pastoral Relations and Church Council we found that others shared our excitement about a new ministry; at the same time, we all learned more about the gifts and experience of Rev. Andy Schwiebert, our Sabbatical Pastor.  Beginning in June, with the approval of Church Council, we gathered a team of members to explore the possibility of a new ministry at FCC.  With the faithful leadership of our Moderator Carolyn Olney we have developed a proposal and a budget for a ¾ time Associate Pastor position leading a new ministry.  If approved, this position would be offered to Andy and together with his existing ¼ time position would make him a full-time staff member for youth and a new ministry gathering.

 

As you can see, our “new thing” has a three month history, or a year and a half history, or a 12 year history or a hundred year history, depending on how you connect the persons and faith of our church!  We invite you to read the related materials and come on September 12^th after church for a Forum to learn more about this proposed new ministry.  Come to this “new thing” with both your head and your heart; we need everyone’s questions and ideas – but more so, we need everyone’s faith!

                                                                                     Rev. John H. Pomeroy

From Our Co-Pastors

Pentecost Sunday is May 23rd – the birthday of the church.  We trace the history of our own faith community to this story of the transmission of the Holy Spirit to those followers of Jesus in the Mediterranean basin in the first century.  A long way from Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day and school graduations it would seem.  Clearly when we were children, seasons of the year were marked by simple and powerful events – our birthday, a major snowfall, losing a tooth or moving to a new class in school.  As we mature, we have choices about how we will experience each season of the year – and on whose terms!  As people of faith, we are called to weave together our lives with the markers of our faith.  What does it mean then to be a Pentecost people?
The Rev. Eric Law, Episcopal priest, author and diversity consultant has written about how the Pentecost story is both a miracle of the tongue and a miracle of the ear.  The Jews gathered in Jerusalem in the story, presumably the religious establishment of their day and a powerful group, are given the gift of hearing and discerning the speech that is in many different languages.  The disciples, the outsiders and religious rebels of the time, are given the gift of speech, able to speak and insert their voices into a marketplace that had been unreceptive to their ideas to that point.  Law explains that these gifts and corresponding actions offer a blueprint for how we are to respond as Pentecost people.  If we are perceived as powerful in any situation, we should seek to listen first, inviting others to speak.  If we are perceived as less powerful in any situation, we should look for ways to speak and have our voice and our experience “heard”.
Think for a moment about who we see on television and in film, who reads us our evening news, who our lawmakers are.  Who are the powerful in our society; what about in our work environment; what about in our family and in our friendships?  As you notice who is more powerful and who is less powerful in terms of their ability to manipulate their environment and make decisions, we can decide whether we should speak or listen in their presence.  Such sensitivity to the least in our society and the lost voices in our communities makes us a Pentecost people!  Perhaps our task this season is to listen others into speech, to take in the wonderful diversity of languages and viewpoints that comprise God’s presence in our midst.
– Rev. John H. Pomeroy