A Message from the Pastor

I like this congregation!

This congregation has heart.  It has desire.  It is trying.

We don’t always get it right.  There are even a lot of things we could be doing or should be doing better.  It goes for the congregation.  It is also true of the pastoral leadership, me.

This is a congregation where people genuinely love and admire Jesus and follow him and his ways as we encounter God!  We are proud that we are followers of Jesus.

This is a congregation where people want to be inclusive of all.

One of the mottos of this congregation is “Building Christ’s Diverse and Compassionate Community.”  We mean it.  We are trying.

We are people who don’t think we have “THE TRUTH.”   We believe we have a piece of it, but know it is only a part.  This means we respect other Christian traditions and other faiths.

As a congregation, we try to be non-judgmental and accepting.

As a pastor, I do speak up and speak out.  While that may be true, my congregants are free to disagree with me and often do so.  Incidentally I do try to avoid things that may be political in nature.

Probably no two of us agree on everything about spiritual matters.  That though is part of the beauty of this congregation and our denomination.  We are free to think.  We are free to disagree.  We are free to encounter God in different ways.

We teach about a loving God who calls us into a way of being.

We teach abut Jesus as leading us on “The Way”, and in whom we see the very presence of God moving and living.

This is a congregation where the pastor and congregation sees itself as being in “partnership.”  Together we follow Jesus and live our faith in this community.

This congregation “draws” its members from a wide area.  We are a community church.  Not in the “narrow sense” but in the “broad sense.”

As we enter worship, we have a tension between being formal and informal.  We have a tension between a simple worship service and a more formal service.  Somehow it works.  The spirit of Christ moves in our midst.

I not only like this congregation, but feel blessed to serve with a Music Director, Michael Golzmane, who is both a “spiritual” person and is gifted as a choral director and organist.  When he plays the organ, sometimes the very rafters themselves shake.  Sometimes I have been blessed to hear as he works with the choir.  With him the music becomes more than music.

Our church office is led by a capable, competent secretary, Tracy Lovejoy-Kitzweger; who keeps me organized and helps the church communications to operate smoothly.  I can always count on her cheerful presence both in person and over the telephone.

I love the fact that this church was founded as an anti-slavery church; facilitated the ordination of one of the first preacher’s of color in this region; was most probably on the forefront of the women’s suffrage movement; and has publicly taken a stand of being “Open and Affirming.”  We really are trying to be inclusive.  Not just in word but in deed.

I love the fact that this church has made space in its building at “cost” for two non-profit organizations that are helping to make this community a better place—The Daycare Program and as an intake center for the Hudson River Homeless Shelter.

Finally, on the outside, our church looks rather forbidding.  We really don’t want it to look that way, but making the changes to upgrade part of the appearance is cost prohibitive, so…  On the other hand, when you come inside; the warmth of the sanctuary overpowers.  Color streams in and through the windows and stories from the life of Jesus wash over us.  Then the first note is struck…and you know this is a special place.  The stories of Jesus speak to us and to the living of our lives.

I invite you to join me with a group of fallible people who are “trying to do their best” and that I love as we journey together.

Peace,

Pastor Bruce