Jeff Barton has been [...]]]> First UCC is happy to announce it has finalized an agreement with the Reverend Jeff Barton to be the interim minister.  He will be with the church for at least one year, starting August 22.   Jeff is committed to helping the church create a vision for the future and to restructure the church and programs accordingly.  

Jeff Barton has been in United Church of Christ programs and congregations since 1979 when he was a seminary intern at Parkview Congregational UCC in Aurora, Colorado. He has been a pastor, a campus minister, an associate pastor, a senior minister and a UCC conference association minister. Jeff has served the UCC in Idaho, New Hampshire and Montana for longer calls and in Wyoming, Wisconsin and Oregon for shorter terms and interims. He has served as an interim minister in four settings before ours, and is looking to continue to do intentional interim work for the extension of his active ministry career. Jeff has been with Casas Adobes UCC in Tuscon Arizona since February of 2009, with his last Sunday being July 11. He is a native of Minneapolis, and has academic degrees from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA and from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He now permanently resides among the mountains, rivers and people of the Portland, Oregon area, where he enjoys skiing in the winter and river rafting in the summer. He’s a 21 handicap in golf and prefers jazz and blues in his musical tastes. Jeff has two young adult children. Jed lives and writes in Billings, Montana. Katie (Carleton alum, 2007) has begin her graduate studies in medical school in Portland, Oregon. Jeff has a significant other, Rev. Mary Sue Evers, a UCC pastor in the Portland, OR, area.

Thanks to everyone [...]]]> I am so grateful to everyone for the wonderful celebration of our ministry together,  for the beautiful fabric art by Dawn Carlson Conn that was commissioned for the church in honor of my time with you, and for the substantial donations made to my seminary, Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. 

Thanks to everyone for your generosity and good wishes, and may God’s blessings continue to shower down on this wonderful congregation.

Grace and peace,

Sandy

Blessings

Numbers 6:22-27;Matthew 5:1-10; Psalm 23 (choir; arranged by Bobby McFarrin)

There are two things that Ministers can do at the end of worship: they can send you forth with instructions about changing the world, [...]]]> My time as minister of First UCC has been filled with blessings, so that’s what I preached about on my last Sunday.

Blessings

Numbers 6:22-27;Matthew 5:1-10; Psalm 23 (choir; arranged by Bobby McFarrin)

There are two things that Ministers can do at the end of worship: they can send you forth with instructions about changing the world, or they can offer a blessing. Last week I gave you plenty of instructions (and copies of the handout are available for those of you who missed that sermon), so this week I will speak to you of blessings.

I have had many opportunities to ask for God’s blessings on your behalf, and this morning I want to revisit some of them. I will have a few words to say about each of the blessings, but my real aim is to offer these cherished words again to all of you.

We begin, as Christian life does, with baptism. I have presided at 116 baptisms in my time here. Six or eight of them have been for adults, and another dozen or so for confirmation youth who had not been baptized as infants; the majority have been infants or young children.

So after I have marked their foreheads with water and spoken the ancient words of baptism, and before we process around the sanctuary, we have said these words together:

The Holy Spirit be upon you … child of God, disciple of Christ, member of the church.

In the teenage years, the time comes for our youth to make a personal choice to follow the way of Christ and to be a member of this company of Christ’s followers. We call that time confirmation, and we have marked this event together 96 times with both solemnity and celebration. Each young person comes forward with her/his family, kneels on the steps, and receives this blessing:

May the God of all Grace, who has called you to Christian faith and service, confirm and strengthen you in the Holy Spirit and keep you a faithful disciple for all of your days.

As time passes, young adults – and some who are not so young – choose to unite themselves in marriage, making a sacred covenant of love, care, and fidelity; I have presided at 99 weddings and covenant services since I came to Northfield. The blessing that we offer to them names Abraham and Sarah as watching over all the families of the earth. I want to remind you that the descendants of Abraham and Sarah had some very interesting, complex, and blended families – for example, that the 12 sons and 1 daughter of Jacob had four different mothers – two wives and two servants. So although I have often offered this blessing at weddings, it is also offered to all of those who make a home for themselves …

May the God of Sarah and Abraham, who watches over all the families of the earth, bless your new family and establish your home in peace and steadfast love.

We offer a blessing, too, to all of the people who find their way to our congregation and choose to become members with us in this manifestation of the Body of Christ. There have been 251 new members (in addition to the Confirmands) since October of 1997. People come to our church along many paths: some from other churches where they have been active, some from churches where they have been disappointed or angered, some from no church background at all. And wherever they come from, we offer them these words:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,

build upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

The blessing that affects me most profoundly each time I offer it is the one that comes at the end of a funeral or memorial service; I have offered it 131 times as I served as your minister. Technically these are “The Words of Commendation,” but I think of them as a blessing for the one who has died and the ones who grieve:

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant ….. Acknowledge, we humbly pray, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a son/daughter of your own redeeming. Receive him/her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed est of everlasting peace, and into the company of all the saints in light.

The blessing that we have shared most often, week in and week out, is the one that comes at the end of the Sunday worship service. I do not know where these words came from, though I think I cobbled them together. I wanted them to be loyal to the historic understanding of the Triune God, but I also wanted them to be unconventional enough to catch your attention each week as you returned to the world. I offer them now, and will again at the end of today’s service:

And now may the power and abundance of God our Creator, the mercy and compassion of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and the courage and vitality of the Holy Spirit of Our Sustainer, go with you this day and always.

I have always believed that the members of this congregation know what the world needs, and are ready to go out and get to work. I still believe that. So this week, I do not offer any more words of commissioning, but only these words of blessing, which I offer with all my love and gratitude for our time together.

Amen.

Prayer for June 27, 2010

Almighty and everlasting God, creator of all things seen and unseen, hear now our silent prayers, as we open our hearts to you in the sacred quietness.

God of faith and hope, we bring before you our prayers for those we have named this morning – we especially remember … Bring to each of them the gifts of mercy and grace that are most needed, according to your wisdom and love.

God of all times and places, we offer our prayers today for our own congregation.

We thank you for the pioneers who came before us and established a church here in your name and in the Congregational tradition. We remember their faithfulness, their determination, and their generosity, and we pray that we may be their spiritual heirs in all of these virtues.

We thank you, too, for the women and men who carried forward these ideals through the years, who invested their talents and energies in the congregation and the community. We are grateful, too, for the bonds they formed with other churches, and for the worship, education, and outreach we have shared with our sisters and brothers. Let our continuing work and support for the church, the community, and the world be a living prayer of thanksgiving for their legacy to us.

And we thank you for calling us, in this century, to be part of the Body of Christ in this place. Inspire us, we pray, to honor the traditions of the past while moving boldly into your future. Help us to speak your word in today’s words, and to follow your way in today’s ways.

But we remember too, O Holy One, that being your church is easy on days of celebration; grant us the courage and stamina to be your church on the ordinary days, the days of challenge and crisis, the days of sorrow and blessing, the days of abundance and of need.

We confess to you our temptation to allow our congregation to be a theological debating club, or a community betterment society, or a social service agency. These are worthy activities, but they are not enough to make us your church. When we are tempted to be less than you call us to be, shake us back into clarity about our vocation as your hands, your voice, your feet, your heart. Interrupt our preoccupation with meetings and events, startle us out of our tired habits of worship, and scuttle our careful plans for the future. Ignite us, instead, with the power of your spirit, that it may fill us with the fire of our love for you and of our longing for the promised world of your Shalom.

All this we pray in the name of the one who lived among us as our brother, and lives among us still as our Risen Savior, even Jesus the Christ, and we pray together now in the words that he taught us ….

Sandy Johnson preached her last sermon at First UCC on Sunday June 27, 2010.  It was a day of joy and sadness, food and fun. 

 The Church of Our Dreams

Psalm 42; Romans 12:9-18; Luke 5:36-39

At some meeting or another, you [...]]]> When I taught college classes, I learned that the best way to get students’ attention was to number the items I was lecturing about.  So I used that tactic to share my dreams for the future life of the congregation.

 The Church of Our Dreams

Psalm 42; Romans 12:9-18; Luke 5:36-39

At some meeting or another, you may have heard me talk about “the church of my dreams.” That’s the church where things run smoothly, priorities are set and kept, volunteers are delighted to offer their talents, and the stewardship drive is always successful.

But for the last 12 ¾ years I have served not “the church of my dreams,” but this church.

Nonetheless, as I head into my last week as your Minister, I still have dreams for this church. So this morning I am going to offer a “charge” to this church – a list of things that I hope you will do and be in the future. My list is not quite as elegant and poetic as the one St. Paul wrote in the letter to the Romans; to make it easier, there is a handout. Here’s what I hope you will do:

1. Come to church. I know, it won’t be the same without me. More importantly, it won’t be the same without you. During this time of transition, through the Interim period, and into the tenure of the next Minister, the church needs everyone. And whatever has brought you to church in the first place is still a need in your life – you still need to express gratitude and praise for God, you still need to explore the scriptures, you still need to hear a word of forgiveness, you still need to share words of caring and hope. So come to church.

2. Give money to the church. If you already pledge to the church, dig down and give a little more. If you don’t pledge, call the church tomorrow and ask Elaine to send you a pledge form. Your commitment to the church will feed your own spirit as well as support the ministries and programs that you value. At the very least, you all need to contribute $3480—which is the amount that my pledge would have been for the rest of this year. That’s $580 a month.

3. Give money away. Some of the finest hours of this church have come when we have – together – given money away. The obvious examples are the $20,000 checks we gave to Health Finders and to Permanent Supportive Housing, and the $10,000 to the UCC seminaries – all gifts during our Sesquicentennial celebration. But there are dozens of smaller, equally meaningful examples: the Sunday School children’s fund raisers for the Heifer Project, the Mission Trip youth raising money for the PALS program in Alamosa, New Mexico, the small (but significant) gifts to our now-ordained members when they were in seminary. We are at our best when we are at our most generous. Keep doing it.

4. Say Thank You, Often and Earnestly. Our generosity grows most verdantly out of grateful hearts, and we can cultivate those grateful hearts by thanking one another. There are never too many gestures of appreciation, too many thank-you notes, or too frequent recognitions of those who serve faithfully and well.

5. Don’t forget that you are an Open and Affirming Congregation. I want to say this in two ways. Part A: remember that our faith (and our advertising) calls us to welcome people wherever they are on life’s journeys; please keep doing that. Some of the most remarkable stories of transformation and spiritual growth have happened to people who you might not expect to have come here in the first place. Part B: remember that we have a special vocation to welcome and affirm members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender communities. Our commitment to equality is so strong that we easily forget that there is much work left to be done to assure that GLBT people, and their covenanted relationships, are treated fairly and with dignity. Until there is no harassment or bullying in schools, until there is no stigma for same-sex couples at Prom, until the Minister signs marriage licenses for all the couples who make vows of love and fidelity – until then, there is a lot of work to do as an Open & Affirming Church.

6. Trust your leaders. The people who volunteer their time to oversee the work of the church need your encouragement, your prayers, and your trust. Assume that they know what they are doing; they usually do. Do not assume that your opinion is wiser, more faithful, or practical than theirs unless you have actually studied the problem, done the research, evaluated the options, and consulted with others.

7. Make Room for Beginners and Amateurs. The church needs to be a place where people can try new things, develop their talents, and make mistakes. Watch our musicians for good models: Theo, Chris, Bob, and Janet not only make room for beginners, they help those first efforts to be authentic contributions to our worship and our other programs. Go and do likewise.

8. Come to church on Wednesdays. The WFFF program that was initiated last year was a smashing success. It brought people together to share meals, learn new things, and make connections. Do something to help this program continue: offer to help in the kitchen, help pay to hire a cook, read stories or play games, get to know someone you never knew before.

9. Put up Banners. This one is personal. I love our worship space and deeply appreciate the handsome makeover that celebrated our sesquicentennial. But I also really miss the dramatic changes that we used to make for the seasons of the church year – banners, hanging swaths of fabric, and the like. I hope you will look at the sanctuary and imagine ways that the space could be periodically transformed to enhance our worship.

10. Figure Out what it means to be Congregational in the Twenty-First Century. First, let me remind you that being “congregational” does not mean that every member participates in every decision. Being “congregational” has meant, in the past, a belief that God works in and speaks to every gathering of the faithful: every local church, every conference, every part of the national setting, and so on. Our task is to discern what ministries God is calling us to, and what ways of organizing and resourcing those ministries is most likely to be faithful and effective. I am pretty sure that those ways are not only the ones we have been using for the past 50 or 60 years, and I hope you will take seriously the task of finding ways for the church to be nimbler, more responsive, and more focused on what is truly important than we have been in the past. Get new wineskins, people.

11. Allow yourselves time to grieve during the coming period of transition. My retirement is a bittersweet moment for the congregation and for many of you individually. And in the natural grieving that will be present in the next few weeks it will be important not to let the bitter overtake the sweet. Part of the normal process of grieving is to experience not only sadness, but also anger, confusion, lethargy, irritation, and impatience. It is awfully easy for these natural responses to develop into conflicts, resentments, or dysfunctions of various kinds. I hope that will not happen here. I hope you will trust your leaders (see # 6!) and your Interim Minister, and that you will treat one another with patience and understanding. One of the best ways you can show your appreciation for my ministry is not getting into a fight as soon as I leave.

12. And finally: Lighten Up. We who care deeply for God’s world can easily be drawn into despair, worry, or just plain over-earnestness. We who aspire to compassion sometimes forget that compassion is not just about sadness and suffering, but also about joy and healing. The Gospel of John puts it this way: What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. [John 1:3b-5] We are people of the light, and we ought to live and work and worship together in ways that the light is visible to everyone who watches us. So I hope you will play more, laugh more, sing more silly songs, and let your light shine.

You will notice that I haven’t said anything about strategic planning, capital fund raising, governance reorganization, or air conditioning; I’ll leave those for my successor. But while you are working on all those things, I hope you will remember these 12 dreams that I offer today, dreams for the health and vitality of this wonderful company of God’s people.

Amen.

Prayer for June 20, 2010

Almighty and everlasting God, creator of all things seen and unseen, hear now our silent prayers, as we open our hearts to you in the sacred quietness.

God of faith and hope, we bring before you our prayers for those we have named this morning – we especially remember … Bring to each of them the gifts of mercy and grace that are most needed, according to your wisdom and love.

Holy One, we pray this morning for all the people who have been fathers to us, both men and women – those who sired us, those who raised us, those who loved, challenged, and corrected us.

We are grateful to you, our divine parent, for all of the people who have stepped into our lives to bring your love to us in human form. We thank you for the faith and fortitude they have shown, for the sacrifices and compromises they have made on our behalf, and for lessons they have taught us. Bless each of these, and fill them with the knowledge of the ways that they have contributed to our lives.

We acknowledge with special compassion those people whose care for us was limited by their own shortcomings and by the events and complications of their own lives. Bless them for their loving intentions, and give us loving hearts to receive their gifts gratefully, even as we also acknowledge our disappointment or loss.

We thank you, too, Gracious God, for the opportunity to offer nurture, encouragement, and mentoring to others. Help us all – men and women, old and young – to demonstrate the best of what fathering is: love, discipline, hope, and health. Forgive us when we fall short of these ideals, and give us persistence and patience to continue these relationships.

In a world where men’s work is often disrespected, underpaid, unrecognized, and devalued, we ask your particular blessing on the men who serve you and others faithfully, and on the women who respect, reward, recognize, and value them.

All these things we pray in the name of the one who honored his own father and invited men into the ministry of the church, even Jesus the Christ, and we pray together now in the words that he taught us …

First offered (with other pronouns!) on Mother’s Day, May 13, 2007 and on Father’s day in 2007 & 2008