First United Church of Christ

Dear Sojourners in Christ,

I share such a greeting with us for we truly are sojourners as you and I travel through the mysteries of life and death and life beyond death. We are different, however, than other sojourners who, for whatever reason, choose to walk through this life essentially on their own. We, as Christians, undergo a journey as members of a community in Christ. It is not always easy to travel together, as many of us know from our trips taken with others, be they relatives of our own families, members of sports teams or band sections, or comrades-in-arms in military service. There are a multitude of personalities and we seem to encounter a number of them during any road trip. At the same time, as we remember the stories of those pilgrims in Chaucer's tales, traveling with others can also be very memorable and meaningful for all of us, and even fun!

Beloved in Christ,

As we all bid Godspeed in our farewells to Pastor Monica, we need to begin turning our focus toward the future here at First Church. I know that many of you are wondering about the future staffing of service positions here.

Paul Nickerson, our church consultant, spoke to us last winter about "affinity groups" as we discussed the future of First Church.