Dear Members and Friends,
The brilliance of God’s Holy Light is a pleasant sight to see after so much rain. As we enter into another snowy season, we can also bear witness to the changes since the last issue of the Bell Ringer. Together you, as the congregation, and I, your new pastor, have chosen each other to continue on our spiritual journey. Uniting with the mission of Christ, we are learning to form a relationship that will enable us to be open to where God wants to lead us.
I believe in the mind, body and spirit connection of both the individual and the community. I work to bring them in healthy partnership. I firmly believe that “God is Still Speaking” since, we “have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God… Like living stones, let (us) be built into a spiritual house.” (1 Pet 1:23, 2:5) I believe that our growth will be a collaborative effort. God is still blessing us with the discovery of our talents to promote an honorable world.
I wanted to thank everyone for such a warm welcome into the Falls Village Congregation Church and the hours given to readying the parsonage. My appreciation to the hours of service by the Search Committee and to their extended service as the new Pastoral Committee is immeasurable. Thank you for the Ordination attendees, well wishers, and the gift of the Traveling Communion Set! I would also like to extend my thanks to the Interim Minister, Rev. Peter A. Dakers, for all the transitional service given…thank you for your time!
In just a short time, I have been welcomed into our family-sized church with the mega church heart. I believe that we have great potential and I can feel the energy of enthusiasm each Sunday. With great potential, we also have great responsibility to keep rooted and based in our Scripture as our written guide and listening to God’s living message, active today. The differing desires between who we are in the world and who we are in the world with faith in Christ is God laying the beloved groundwork for us! Our Scripture tells us that we should, “forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead.” (Phil 3:13) Our Lectionary texts, these past few weeks, remind us of the Light that helps us to grow.
With fellowship, we celebrated “Apple ‘N’ Things” with knits, nick knack sales, sensational chili recipes, baked goods, arts ‘n’ crafts and enthusiastic volunteers. As we gathered monetary rewards, we also successfully opened our church’s doors to the Falls Village community and were grateful to all who came.
We have opportunities to continue our fellowship and service outreach opportunities through the following invitations. We have been invited to a Community Thanksgiving Service for Wednesday, November 23 at 7:00 pm at the Salisbury Congregational Church. Please let me know if you would like to attend and participate. The Trinity Episcopal Church has invited us on December 10, to sing Christmas Carols and attend their Christmas tree lighting. We have the opportunity to create our own “Give 2” chapter for our youth which is a fellowship and service collaborative of local UCC congregations. However, we can also create a collaborative youth inter-denominational chapter. Silver Lakes Conference Center can create an appropriate foundational building project to kick off our prospective chapter!
Let us allow our faith to grow towards the brilliance of God’s Holy Light. Let us consider ourselves and our community’s togetherness to “press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14) Let us be aware that we are more than merely surviving and what we achieve in society still needs to be connected with the Living Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Michelle Wiltshire-Clement
