Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 1 Cor 12:4-6
It has been a year! To be exact, Sunday, March 24th will mark the anniversary of the first worship service I led at Second Congregational Church of Cohasset as your 17th Settled Minister. Thank you for your trust and call. I am so grateful to be here with you.
To celebrate our ministry together, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues from the Pilgrim Association of Massachusetts, part of the newly configured Southern New England Tri-Conference of the United Church of Christ, will join us to officially “install” me as your pastor.
Since it has been at least 30 years since you’ve had a new settled pastor, the practice of installation might seem a bit odd. Why, exactly, are people from other churches, led by elected leaders from the regional body of the denomination, coming to our church to make our choice of a minister official?
Three reasons: Accountability, Encouragement and Mutual Support.
So why, as proudly independent Congregationalists, would we want or need that?
One reason: Covenant.
If you haven’t yet heard me teach, preach or otherwise reference the God-given gift of community, just wait. It is a recurrent theme. In the gathered community, like this congregation, our many and varied experiences of God can serve as a corrective to the very human tendency to package God in our own image. We need each other’s insights and inspiration, challenges and doubts to broaden our view and enrich our perspective as, together, we seek the One whose majesty and mystery are more than we can fully know. That is the gift of the local church. We offer one another accountability, encouragement and mutual support.
Congregational Christians – which for us is both a descriptor and a religious category – carry that same sensibility to our understanding of the wider church. While each congregation of the United Church of Christ is autonomous, we choose to cultivate relationships with other congregations in order to keep our mission, vision and purpose from getting too small. As a community of communities, we covenant with one another to learn and grow in faith and understanding, to seek and serve the lost and alone, and to share the Good News of God’s love in Christ Jesus in a hungry and hurting world.
To do that responsibly, we embrace the concept of covenant as a way of relating to one another for the purpose of accountability, encouragement and mutual support. That’s why the elected members of the Pilgrim Association of Massachusetts received and reviewed my credentials for ministry before “transferring my standing” from the Tolland Association of Connecticut in order to “authorize” my ministry here. In other words, your neighbors in faith have your back. And mine. They – like we — have a stake in protecting our shared commitment to Christ’s work, in celebrating its expression and in supporting its potential.
That’s why our brothers and sisters, colleagues and friends will come to honor this ministry – yours as well as mine – through a Service of Installation at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 24th. I have a special sermon planned for our “family time” that morning. Then guests will come and clergy will robe, voices will raise and prayers will be lifted with thankful anticipation for all that God will yet do.
See you in church! Pastor Karen