My Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I write to you with a joyful heart. As the rising Son of Easter approaches we can look forward not only in hope but in faith, that we will be able to gather together in person soon. And there is so much for us to talk about!

Once we are able to gather safely, we will fellowship with a purpose – having the discussions and dreaming the visions that will propel this congregation forward into the future. There are so many questions for us to wrestle with together…

Who are you, the faithful of First Congregational Church UCC? How have you changed over the years? Who has left and joined in that time and why? What do you value most as a community of faith? Where do you feel called in ministry? Who do you feel called to minister with and to? How is God moving here?

Answering these questions will make preparing a profile an easier and much smoother process. More importantly, it will help ensure your next pastorate is a successful one. These are good things for sure! This work will also be hard. That’s a lot of talking. And all this discernment will sometimes feel as if you are sitting still. But all of that we can get through together.

While we are doing all that work however, we still need to carry on. We need to offer meaningful worship, compassionate pastoral care, keep the lights on and the heat running, pay our dedicated staff, and minister to our community.

To that end I ask that you discern an additional gift to FCC in this interim period. This is a time of investment – of our dreams, our time, our talent, our commitment, and yes, our pocketbooks. Ministry may be of God but it happens on worldly terms.

I pray Easter hope will fill you from head to toe this next week and I pray that hope will seep into every area of your life. And I pray that the hope that surrounds you will inspire you to keep the faith – not just in God but in this congregation.

Humbly,
Pastor Becky

Please return the Easter Envelope you received in the mail to:
First Congregational UCC
2201 7th Avenue
Moline, IL 61265

(Envelopes will also be available Easter Sunday)