Worship and our Life Together

Dear Friends,

"Excited and Enlivened by the Holy Spirit we are Transformed!"
-First Congregational UCC, Santa Rosa -- Mission Statement

In her book Worship for Vital Congregations UCC pastor, Talitha Arnold, reminds us that at the heart of our Sunday morning worship is the presence of God. We open ourselves wholly to the lively Spirit of God. For this reason, our worship is at the very center of our covenant, indeed at the core of our existence. We live and gather together to commune with the Holy One, to find ourselves in the "community of Christ."

As the caterpillar emerges from her cocoon transformed, so we emerge from worship changed and made new. Moving from "me" to "we," we move from alienation and isolation to grow in love for God and neighbor. Like good tea, worship infuses our lives in the love and the grace of God. What a gift! In worship we have all that we need. Even as metaphors mix, the transforming character of worship is clear. Giving ourselves to God in communal worship, we are never the same.

I'll see you in church this Sunday.

Love,

David