CUCC took the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Pastor Steve Halsted’s service among us to look back at our past and envision our future.
Looking back: In the fall of 2011 CUCC held a series of events hearing stories of how we had been “working for social justice.” In October 2011, Cy King presented a summary of CUCC’s social justice heritage. The CUCC Stories Pilgrimage was a self-guided walking tour of our property with signs and photographs featuring the people, artwork, and events which had embodied our calling to work for social justice. At the Novemberfest dinner, the table decorations included trivia about CUCC’s justice past.
In Lent 2012 we turned toward the other half of our unofficial motto, “nurturing spiritual growth.” Throughout Lent we gathered in small groups for Telling and Listening to Stories; using prompting questions about our faith experiences, we learned about each of our faith journeys. A Lenten Spiritual Practices Calendar was written by members of the congregation for each of us to use at home. Each day offers a spiritual practice from CUCC’s past and present. While some the events mentioned in the calendar were specific to 2012, the daily practices are usable any Lenten season.
Looking ahead: In the fall of 2012 we welcomed some of our former clergy, charging them to preach to us from our past and help us imagine where God might be calling us in the future. You can hear sermons from John Lackey, Collins Kilburn, Cally Rogers-Witte, Dave Barber, and Carol Ripley-Moffitt.
