FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH of HATFIELD, UCC
  • Welcome
    • FAQ
  • Visit
  • Community
    • Facility Use
  • Music
  • Pews News
  • Calendar
  • About
    • Reverend Randy
    • Our History
  • Contact
  • Donate

Pews News

Pastoral Letter

2/16/2019

0 Comments

 
That They May All Be One
Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer 
General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ


January 28, 2019 
​
Dear Partners in Christ: 

The vision of a body united –in purpose, in mission, in vision – is one that inspired the birth of our denomination. All of our spiritual impulses reverberate in an effort to call us into a more perfect union. Throughout our shared history as a people of faith and as a part of the Body of Christ, we have challenged ourselves to widen the circle of inclusion. Widening the circle has always come with growth pains as we shed old skins and welcome those whom we had previously thought unwelcome. And, with each new articulation of a more fully expressed Body of Christ we have realized new joy. Through it all we remain focused on the call to be one and committed to meeting the challenges inherent in that call. 

We are now living in and through a season when the threats to unity are legion. Talk of walls that mark refugees as threats, labels like ‘terrorist’ that attach too easily to Muslims, overt racial bias that normalizes fear and hatred, a pandemic of abuse to women with the trigger reflex to forgive the men who author that abuse have turned America into a land many of us no longer recognize and that too many of us are finding harder and harder to reconcile with our faith. 

Now more than ever, the Holy Spirit of the Living God and the Risen Christ is seeking to partner with anyone committed to unifying the human community. The gospel mandate to love our neighbor as we love ourselves resonates deep within us. It calls for the better angels among and within us to always resist impulses to hate, to condemn, to vilify, or to castigate. In such a time as this, the United Church of Christ’s call to fulfill the prayer of Jesus, that they may all be one, stands as an urgent mandate to disciples who envision a just world for all. 

United with you in God’s service,
The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer 
General Minister and President
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    News

    Faith, love and chitchat.


    Categories

    All
    Bible Bytes
    Events & Activities
    Jesus Said What?
    Music
    Newsletter
    Rev'd Up
    Sunday Service


    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    December 2016


    Follow

    RSS Feed

Picture
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE
First Congregational Church of Hatfield
​United Church of Christ
41 Main St - Hatfield, MA 01038

Reverend Randy (413) 824-1630 ​
​
SERVICE TIMES
Sunday 9:30-10:30am 
Children Sunday School 9:30-10:30am
Nursery care available during worship

DONATE
Make a single or recurring contribution by clicking here
FOLLOW

COPYRIGHT ©2020 FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH of HATFIELD, UCC
POWERED BY ROCKET
  • Welcome
    • FAQ
  • Visit
  • Community
    • Facility Use
  • Music
  • Pews News
  • Calendar
  • About
    • Reverend Randy
    • Our History
  • Contact
  • Donate