Weekly Update

Come let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice

There is much in church life and with a new and small church like Reconciler that can keep us from the truth that the Vinite of the morning office reminds us. We gather to worship God and be transformed by that worship, and we worship because God knows and cares for us and we have a relationship with God.
Reconciler exists because over a year and a half ago a small group of believers came together for worship and discussion were convinced that God was calling into being an ecumenical congregation: one that would witness to unity of Christians and the reality of one baptism one faith one God. We set out to do this through attempting to join three Protestant denominations together in one congregation by having both lay and clergy representing the three traditions and seeking institutional ties with all three denominations. The coming together to worship is proving easier than getting official denominational recognition and support. In the past few months we have come to recognize that we need to move slowly and carefully as we seek such recognition.
In some ways this along with summer has and other circumstances has taken away some of the momentum we had. In part this is due to the need for the pastoral team to reorient to this reality of a slow process, and the uncertainty of that process. As we approach the constitution committee meeting in late August we need to keep in mind these changes in our circumstances and pray and think together how God is calling us to proceed.
One of the ways we the Pastoral team have flet god leading is to gather together supportive professors from local seminaries and pastors and lay people from local congregations ,we hope to network with, for a Saturday afternoon of conversation and discernment together. We are looking to have this meeting on a Saturday in the middle of October.
Yet with all of these adjustments and activities and uncertainties may we remember the words of the Vinite, that all we do is contextualized by our worship of our great God and of our relationship with our God.

Peace,
The Pastoral Team