About Us 2

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

This election season has put a strain on all of us. The physician and researcher Hans Seyle, who extensively studied the negative effects of stress on humans, concluded that the best antidote to stress is gratitude. With the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaching, the month of November offers us a time to focus on gratitude.

As the seasons change, we take time to pause and observe God’s creation. We notice the landscape dancing with color and before the first snowflakes we are filled with awe. Our gratitude for God’s world all around us brings healing and rejuvenates our souls.

Here at Hope Church, I am filled with gratitude. We are committed to reaching out to those in need. We continue to feed more and more families through our food pantry. We are grateful to be able to offer Hope to our community through our numerous giving opportunities.

This fall, we have been intentional about inviting people to gather together. We gave thanks for our pets at our Blessing of the Animals. We celebrated World Communion Sunday with Christians around the globe. We welcomed our neighbors and friends at Trunk or Treat. We gave Bibles to children on Children’s Sabbath, and we recognized how God is working among us on Laity Sunday. Our confirmands are hard at work and our children’s ministry is growing. On November 17th we will welcome Rev Dr. Lillian Daniel to worship and afterwards we will host a church potluck lunch.

Beginning in Advent we have a host of events and worship services to help us prepare to welcome Emmanuel “God with us” as we count down to Christmas. There are numerous ways to be involved and details in this issue of the Beacon. We are already at work planning programs and worship for 2025!

I am thankful for this congregation and the commitment of so many to share hope within the congregation and beyond our walls. I invite you to join with me, letting go of the stress and embracing an attitude of gratitude.

The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a distinct and diverse community of Christians that come together as one church to join faith and action. With over 5,000 churches and nearly one million members across the U.S., the UCC serves God in the co-creation of a just and sustainable world. The UCC is a church of firsts, a church of extravagant welcome, and a church where "…they may all be one" (John 17:21).

The Church of Firsts

Since 1957, the United Church of Christ has been the church of firsts, weaving God’s message of hope and extravagant welcome with action for justice and peace. Together, we live out our faith in ways that effect change in our communities. The UCC's many "firsts" mean that we have inherited a tradition of acting upon the demands of our faith. When we read in Galatians: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus"—a demand is made upon us. And so we were the first historically white denomination to ordain an African-American, the first to ordain a woman, the first to ordain an openly gay man, and the first Christian church to affirm the right of same-gender couples to marry. We were in the forefront of the anti-slavery movement and the Civil Rights movement. Our response to the demands of our faith is woven into the history of our country.

A Church of Extravagant Welcome

Today, we continue to change lives throughout the world. We work alongside more than 200 mission partners. We labor ceaselessly to fight injustice, in the United States and abroad. We instill our vision into our youth and young adults, forging leaders who will imagine new dreams. And we sustain and develop church leaders, pastors, and our local churches to live their faith in exciting new ways. We believe in a God that is still speaking, a God that is all-loving and inclusive. We are a church that welcomes and accepts everyone as they are, where your mind is nourished as much as your soul.

We are a church where Jesus the healer meets Jesus the revolutionary, and where together, we grow a just and peaceful world.