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WWW.NACCC.ORG/THECONGREGATIONALIST MARCH 2024 [ VOL. 176 • NO. 1 ]Published byThe Faith Edition

RETIREMENT MAY NOT BE YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY RIGHT NOW. WE KNOW! IT’S OURS. Supporting your calling is our calling.™THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. LEARN MORE: MMBB.org/what-we-oerWhen you’re called to serve, the concerns of others are often more important than your own. Especially when it comes to thinking about your retirement. MMBB looks out for your concerns. We specialize in planning ahead for clergy and church sta. We do all the work preparing for your future. Our kind of financial expertise makes MMBB an indispensable partner for pastors and churches, 110 years and counting.

RETIREMENT MAY NOT BE YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY RIGHT NOW. WE KNOW! IT’S OURS. Supporting your calling is our calling.™THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. LEARN MORE: MMBB.org/what-we-oerWhen you’re called to serve, the concerns of others are often more important than your own. Especially when it comes to thinking about your retirement. MMBB looks out for your concerns. We specialize in planning ahead for clergy and church sta. We do all the work preparing for your future. Our kind of financial expertise makes MMBB an indispensable partner for pastors and churches, 110 years and counting.Table of ContentsFeatures 4 5th Century Perspective by Rev. Dr. Ashley Cook Cleere 5 Journeying in Faith by Rev. Tesha Kathryn Urban 6 Sacred Shifts by Rev. Tesha Kathryn Urban 8 The Joy of Giving by Rev. Catherine Anglea 12 Mrs. Peabody and the Professor by Rev. Justin Nierer14 A Season of Spiritual Renewal by Elizabeth Gasko 15 Structual Happiness by Jim Burklo16 Faith: A Philosophical Inquiry by Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III 18 Faith over Fear by Daniel Wiita Livingston20 Acts of Faith by Lyssa-Ann Clarke22 Turning the Page by Chris Walker 23 There is a Time by Art Ritter 24 Being That City upon a Hill by Rev. Dr. Daniel Rodriguez Schlorff Departments10 MISSION, SERVICE, AND OUTREACH UPDATES 23 NECROLOGY 26 PASTORATES AND PULPITS26 CALENDAR EDITORIAL STATEMENT All content in The Congregationalist appears by the authority of the editor.We reserve freedom of expression to our authors and freedom of opinion to our readers.Except for service information clearly sponsored by the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) or its component parts, content does not necessarily reect policies and opinions of the NACCC.Neither The Congregationalist nor the NACCC has a creed or holds positions on social or theological issues; but we recognize the authority of each local church to do so for itself, if and as it wishes, and we encourage thoughtful and respectful discussion of our agreements and dierences.

4By Rev. Dr. Ashley Cleere, Executive Director, National Association of Congregational Christian ChurchesIn this issue, we welcome the new editor, Maggie Helmick. Her selection of faith as the theme for this edition prompts reection on the question: What is the collective faith of 27,000 souls comprising the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC)?e local church is a natural starting point for consideration, where covenants forge collective faith. Beyond that cohesive thread, the language congregations use to make this sacred promise varies from one church to another. A discernible number adopt the historic Salem Covenant of 1629: "We Covenant with the Lord and one with another; and do bind our selves in the presence of God, to walk together in all his waies, according as he is pleased to reveale himselfe unto us in his Blessed word of truth." However, this language is not mandated, and adaptations are prevalent. Moreover, even if, as anecdotal evidence hints, versions of this text have more adherents than any other, the total count of subscribers remains a distinct minority.Congregationalists renew their covenants according to assorted schedules. One church may recite their promise weekly while others reserve it for occasions such as communion, baptism, new member reception, or annual meetings.Speaking of communion, that, too, evades a pattern. Although a common practice is to share in the sacrament on the rst Sunday of the month, some congregations gather for the Lord's Supper more oen or less oen. It is characteristic of our tradition to celebrate an open table – leaving the decision of whether to partake between the worshipper and God. But how the invitation is extended and recommendations regarding the age of readiness are diverse. e way the elements are distributed, what they consist of (bread or wafer, grape juice or wine), and who is eligible to serve also rely on the discernment of the local congregation.Another unifying trait harks back to the origins of Congregationalism – the conviction that local churches possess full authority to choose their own ministers. When congregations convene an ecclesiastical or vicinage council for guidance or recommendations, it is a choice rather than a requirement. All aspects of the search and call process are an act of faith by a covenanted people.e Pilgrims who arrived at Plymouth in 1620 came without their ordained pastor, John Robinson, who had remained in Holland. For spiritual leadership, they relied on William Brewster, an abiding member of the initial congregation in Scrooby, England, where he was employed as postmaster. Similarly, in this h century of American Congregationalism, lay leaders assume pastoral roles and are essential to faith formation. Like Elder Brewster, their careers or livelihoods may occur in other contexts. e process of discernment and raising up such individuals stems from the particular circumstances of each faith community.In a twist of irony, what binds Congregationalists together is not our sameness but our dierences, our shared recognition of the uniqueness of each local church. From time to time, I'm asked questions that begin with: "What is the NACCC's stance regarding…? " or "Does the NACCC approve of or allow … ?" When I reply that the answer lies with the local church, dialogue, another way Congregationalists live out their faith, ensues.Amid disparate, daring ways of being church, NACCC member congregations prioritize fellowship with one another. is commitment to eclectic collectivity echoes the experience of the early New England settlers. e Separatists aboard the Mayower removed themselves from the Church of England to eect change. e Puritans who followed them had tried to reform the Church from within. Later, subsequent generations of Congregationalists who crossed the pond or were born here in the New World incorporated new ideas and perspectives into our collective faith. We honor our heritage by venturing boldly into an uncertain future, trusting Pastor John Robinson's iconic pronouncement: "e Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy Word."Our Collective FAITHA Perspective from the Fifth Century of Congregationalism

5By Rev. Dr. Ashley Cleere, Executive Director, National Association of Congregational Christian ChurchesThrough times of loss, challenge, and crisis, I learned and “unlearned” a lot. Here are some reections from my own journey, with the hope that they might inspire yours:Reclaim your soul by deepening love for yourself, and “whose” you are.“I have called you by name, you are mine.” — e Lord (Isaiah 43.1)• What are your beliefs about God, and how expansive is your perception of God’s love? Select a word or image of endearment for God. Sit for several minutes in quiet, repeating the word or bringing the image to your mind’s eye. “Whose you are” is a reection of how you view God.• How do you claim your belovedness? Bring to mind someone you hold dear, and then feel your deep love for that person. Consider how God’s love is innitely deeper. Try gazing upon yourself in the same way.• What expectations, judgments, and comparisons are preventing you from living fully? Recognize when these surface, and internally say “hello” to them. Accept them with love, like a friend, and know they are only part of you. Share your concerns with someone you trust.Open to wander with God, in vulnerability.“ose who lose their life for my sake will nd it.” — Jesus (Matthew 16.25)• How might you loosen the grip of “control” and surrender in faith? Make a list of your fears and reect on how they are limiting you. Set aside your agenda and all you “think” you know. Embrace a “don’t know” mind, and open with questions, rather than answers.• How will you ask for help, and prayer? Reect on why it is dicult to ask for help. Bring to mind a situation when you helped someone else and remember how you felt. Consider how you’re denying these feelings for another person who wants to help you.• How might you open, more fully, to your emotional landscape? Get acquainted with your feelings at any moment. Practice naming them for yourself. “I’m feeling ______ .” Share them with a trusted companion, and God. Jesus brought challenging emotions to God too.Listen deeply to the life around (and within) you, in God.“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Jesus (Luke 12.34)• How do you experience “energy?” Be aware of situations and experiences when you feel naturally yourself and energized. Consider the types of people you are with, what you are doing, and how you are engaging with life in God. Commit yourself to pursue and be pursued by God.• What patterns are being presented to you? Pay attention to what you are paying attention to. Notice symbols, imagery, words, dreams, and people with whom you encounter, along with surprises from God. What you are attending to may be what God is intending for you.• What are your gis? Write down what you enjoy doing and what touches your heart. Consider the things you have been told are special about you. Reect upon what it is that you cannot not share. Your talents are God’s gis for the world, and your interior life too.Take the leap, and live generatively.“Peace be with you.” — e Resurrected Jesus (John 20.21)• What could you “try out” that has captured your imagination? Consider dreams you have deferred or areas that pique your interest. Infuse some movement in your life and take the risk to dip your toe in the water. Hold an attitude of “for now.” See life as a journey, rather than a destination. It is worth the risk for your soul’s growth.• Who are “your people?” Make a list of your go-to people you can call for support, prayers, and love. Let them know about your journey and needs, and open to theirs too. Feeling supported makes all the dierence in the world.• How will you move from surviving to thriving, and healing? Commit to your life’s transformation and resurrected possibilities. Anchor in your spiritual practices and community. Find inspiration through others. Keep trying. Share your learnings and gis with others in a generative way and hold hope together.JOURNEYING JOURNEYING IN FAITH IN FAITH through Loss, Challenge, and CrisisBy Rev. Tesha Kathryn Urban

6There it was on my doorstep: the box had arrived.I brought it into my apartment, and it became the “elephant” in the room for several days. e box was a visible reminder of the painful experience I had encountered.e week before, my corporate job had been eliminated, and I was asked to leave work, eective immediately. Leaving without saying goodbye made my head spin and my heart break. I felt shame, humiliation, confusion, and grief. I had no sense of “closure” through this sudden loss, and the experience was devastating.Someone packed up my desk and sent everything to me in the box. When I was nally ready to open it, I was surprised by what I found. All my personal items were fully covered… in dirt! A plant had been added to the mix, and it jumbled around during shipment. To top it o, the planter broke apart. It was a complete mess! My feelings of shame morphed into feelings of anger, and I allowed myself to feel it.rough my emotional outpouring, I opened to the deeper meaning of experiencing the mess in the box. I considered how everything in my life was jumbled around, yet again. It was only a few years earlier that I journeyed through breast cancer and the trauma of surgeries and treatments. Just when I was trying to get rooted again, like the plant, I was thrown into chaos.e container holding my 39 years of life had broken apart completely. My known world was dismantled, and I was disoriented, save the cross before me. ere was no going back to life as it was.Reclaiming the SoulBeing broken open through times of loss, change, or crisis can shake us to our very core. What was familiar no longer is, and we wonder what the future holds. Crisis brings forth emotional disequilibrium, vulnerability, and questions, like Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose?During much of my young adulthood, I pursued dreams that were inuenced by the culture and people around me. I focused on bolstering my “ego” with a corporate career, nancial security, and upward mobility. I could answer “Who am I?” with a job title.rough my experience of being broken apart from cancer and a job loss, I experienced the painful, and yet, freeing dismantling of all the ego layers around me. e unearthing helped reveal my soul and the deepest me in God. A shi began happening for me in my identity questioning: Instead of asking “Who am I?” I opened to “Whose am I?”1 is re-orientation made all the dierence. I felt liberated to claim my belovedness in God and enter, with intention, into partnership with God and whose I was meant to become for God. e reclamation of my soul had initiated.A crisis, I learned, can be a turning point that invites us, at any age, to re-visit our identity. It can be the very catalyst that moves us toward resurrected life if we are open to it.Wandering with Vulnerabilitye day aer I lost my job, I met with a longtime friend who suggested that instead of jumping into the next thing, I should “wander.” His prompting inspired me to return to a spiritual retreat center, where I held meaningful connections with Dominican nuns during my cancer journey.My overnight stay there awakened me to another friend’s text. Without knowing about my job loss, she shared a dream she had of me that night. “You had some kind of calling,” she wrote. “We were asking God to bring you clarity, because you were meant to share your love here.” My eyes were lled with tears of armation for this new way of being, and vulnerability propelled my soul forward. e chaos into which I had catapulted opened me into a holy dimension outside my own.I “unlearned” a lot when I decided to engage with my vulnerability. Instead of having answers for life and conceptions of God, I entered into questions. Instead of thinking things were happening to me, I wondered how they were happening for me. Instead of expectations for myself, or others, or God, I embraced a “don’t know” mind. Instead of pushing my own agenda, I opened to being led. Instead of xating on the past or future, I lived in deep time (kairos) with God.Taking the risk of being vulnerable A Journey of FAITH, PURPOSE, and SELF DISCOVERYSacred Shifts: By Rev. Tesha Kathryn Urban

7deepened my faith—and freed me to experience the Holy Mystery and its revelations for my soul’s calling.Listening Deeply to LifeAer losing my job, I sold much of my furniture, placed all my things in a corner of my parents’ basement, and packed up my little Subaru hatchback, setting out on a road trip. A few friends opened their homes to me, and I journeyed with no agenda. e corporate world became a distant image in my rear-view mirror.As the wandering with God unfolded, so did my “individuation.” e psychiatrist Carl Jung described individuation as a “second half of life” endeavor of becoming whole. It is a process of reclaiming the undeveloped parts of ourselves that were lost through the shaping of cultural and interpersonal inuences. Our authentic selves surface by opening to the hidden (unconscious) things we don’t know about ourselves and bringing them into light (consciousness).Without realizing it at the time, my wandering was an unconscious way I encountered God and the promptings of my soul. Symbols and imagery served as guideposts for unconscious material, and I was attuned to what I noticed, like crosses, monasteries, shrines, ambulances, and battleelds. I noticed who was placed in my path, like ministers, nuns, and Wounded Warriors. Words, too, etched into my heart, especially “healing” and “spirituality” and “community.” I listened deeply to how my life and God were speaking to me, and I followed the energy that gave me energy. Layer by layer, I began trusting myself to the unexpected, releasing expectations so that the direction could be revealed.Signposts from God surfaced through interpersonal encounters, outside myself. I learned that my journey of individuation was dependent on relationships, and nding my deeper self, and God, could only happen through community.While driving, I noticed a license plate with the word “CMMUNTY.” e sign was arming, as I considered the deeper meaning of the missing letter “i.” I considered how our culture is all about the “i” of individualism. “I did this,” “I want this,” and “I know t h i s .” When we “dot” our way through life with a series of “i’s”, we miss the Holy Mystery of God’s ecosystem of grace, where we can discover a dynamic interconnectivity that will lead us, heal us, and open us to the more of life, for each other, ourselves, and God.When I was led to volunteer at a Benedictine monastery, I met a minister who named gis she was seeing in me. She suggested I consider “clinical pastoral education” and the path of chaplaincy. When I learned more about it, my heart beat so rapidly, I thought it would come out of my body. e path was revealed through relationships, and my vocation awakened.Taking the LeapIt was worth the risk to follow the prompting of my soul and “try out” chaplaincy. When I made the decision to enter in, doors opened at just the right time. I was accepted into a hospital program in Washington, D.C., and housing became available.Every day, I felt like I was living heaven on earth. My spiritual gis became clear through my interactions with sta, patients, and their loved ones. For the rst time ever, I felt at home in my skin. My worth was centered on partnering with God, rather than a paycheck, and this felt healing and enlivening.e call was so strong that, for the next ten years, I lived into a multi-vocational season of preparation. I opened to settings in behavioral health, university, and long-term care, where I provided spiritual care, and at the same time, completed academic coursework in divinity and pastoral counseling. My training culminated at a hospital in Boston, where I was called to complete my clinical residency in spiritual care and live in community at a Buddhist Zen Center for a few years.Last year, I returned to my home church in Wisconsin, and with exuberant joy, the congregation celebrated my ordination, together, in October.While we cannot prevent a crisis or loss, we can be transformed by it. Like the dirty mess I experienced from the uprooted plant in the box, I, too, had been uprooted and broken apart. Chaos broke me open to individuate through faith. When I began reclaiming my soul and whose I am, I wandered with vulnerability and attuned to how life (God!) was speaking to me. I engaged with God by engaging with others and learned how faith is interactive and social. An altogether dierent “container” for my soul’s calling emerged as I risked taking the leap for my truest, authentic self. In losing myself, I found God around me and within me.Coincidentally, on the day of my ordination, friends gave me four potted plants. I continue to tend to them, feeling grateful to be planted in the ground of my being in God and rooted in community, where faith is shared, nourished, and enlivened for growth – and resurrected life.Rev. Tesha Kathryn Urban, MDiv, MAPC, MBA, has a passion for spiritual formation and growth, and she provides retreats, workshops, and individual spiritual accompaniment. Tesha serves as associate pastor, part-time, at First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and she is an instructor of pastoral care for the NACCC Lay Ministry Training Program.71Walter Brueggemann, “Covenanting as Human Vocation,” Interpretation v33, no. 2, 1979, 115.

8In the early 2000s, Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center opened its doors regularly to the youth in a poor neighborhood in Biddeford, ME, supported by those who felt called to respond in a Christian way to the youth of that community. Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center was a safe place for young people to gather aer school and during vacations for many years until the program ran out of community support and funding. ough the program at large ceased operation, its Kid’s Christmas Shopping endeavor continues, having been picked up by the Second Congregational Church of Biddeford – making a dierence in the lives of the youth in that and surrounding communities to this day. So, what is Kid’s Christmas Shopping? It’s an opportunity to teach children and teens that giving is just as important and fun as receiving. One morning in December, our church lls with families and volunteers ready to make it all happen. Each child must be registered and have their shopping list prepared, the “store” needs to be full and ready for the kids to “shop,” and volunteers need to be ready to accompany “shoppers,” stock shelves, wrap gis, and entertain the children’s other family members. And what do most families do when they go Christmas shopping? Why, they go out for breakfast, of course! So, the kitchen and dining room sta need to be prepared as well. Because of the “behind the scenes” work the project entails, we start getting everything ready as early as August. Volunteers need to be lined up and have background checks completed. Supplies like gi bags, wrapping paper, and breakfast items must be requested and prepared. Pre-registration must be arranged to ensure we have enough in our store and are ready to serve breakfast to the families. Really, this happens year-round, but most of the work happens from August on. A community aair, the local milk and juice company Oakhurst provides beverages to be served and sends their mascot, a giant acorn named “Oakie,” to attend. We love having Oakie come each year! Many local stores donate or sell to us at a discount the gis that ll our store and products that stock our wrapping station. Many other items are given by volunteers in the Altrusa program. Breakfast items are mostly donated by local community groups such as the Dunlap Lodge #47, Bon Appetit Meal Program, and our Men’s Group. Many of our Shopping Helpers come from Biddeford and Saco High School programs. All the space, oce, and registration supplies are given by our church. All of this began with Rev. Laura Holt-Haslem, the rst director of Joyful Harvest. In 2003, she oered a few donated items to some of the youth to give as gis to members of their families for Christmas. e idea became one of interest, and soon items were donated annually to oer to the youth who took part in the programs at the Neighborhood Center. Sadly, the Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center closed its doors in 2012, but we are grateful to be able to continue its tradition of hosting the Kid’s Christmas Shopping event.Today, on the 2nd Saturday of each December, Kid’s Christmas Shopping is oered at Second Congregational Church in Biddeford to anyone under the age of 17, no questions asked. It does not matter where they are from or what their family’s income is. Our goal is that they learn the joy of giving. For those between the ages of 2 and 5 or who are unable to “shop” without The Joy of Giving The sanctuary functioning as the “store.”Participants enjoying themselves.By Rev. Catherine Anglea

9the help of a parent, we pre-shop their gis, which they can pick up aer eating breakfast. Most come with older siblings who will be “shopping” and spend time in our entertainment area.As they arrive, each family checks in at the registration desk. We ensure that each child has a shopping sheet that tells the shopping helpers who they are buying for. Families then go into the dining room and have a family breakfast, where they are oered milk or juice, fruit, sausage, eggs, pancakes, and syrup. When nished eating, kids return to the registration area to have a shopping helper assigned to them. Family members who are not shopping are encouraged to go to the entertainment area, where the kids will rejoin them aer they shop.Our entertainment has entailed many dierent things over the years, with favorites ranging from Christmas shows on the TV, coloring, a “Quiet Room” for adults only, and, of course, a Santa room to visit. e church’s sanctuary becomes the “store” and wrapping area. Shopping helpers accompany the kids through the store, where they can shop for up to four adults. Once they have picked out their gis, they proceed to the wrapping station, where volunteers help get each item wrapped and tagged so they are ready to go under the tree when they get home. Our helpers remain with their assigned child from the start of the shopping process until the child is returned to a parent, at which time they return to the registration area to be assigned another kid. All this is done at no charge to the families.While this operation may not seem like a lot, we have been fortunate enough to make a dierence in the lives of up to 300 kids per year in the past. In recent years, our numbers have not been quite as high – this year, we saw 160 children – but we hope to be able to meet those numbers again in the future.In 2006, while I was director of Joyful Harvest, a local woman passed away. Her family was unsure of what to do with the food she had in her kitchen pantry, which was stocked with items for the holidays, such as canned sauces, fruit mixes, pie crusts, and cake mixes, so they donated it to us, and we were able to oer these items to our youth and families. I remember watching one day as a 9-year-old, all arms and legs, le the center with a bag hanging from each arm and a stack of presents, wrapped and tagged, ready to go under the tree, in her hands. She had the biggest grin on her face, because she was bringing home Christmas. Another year, a young girl thanked me for making it possible for her to give back to her parents, who did so much for her. ese are experiences I will always hold dear to my heart.We ask that you please keep our Christmas mission in your prayers and that you be aware of those around you who may not have the same resources as you. Rev. Catherine Anglea is the former Director of Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center. Today, she lives with her husband and granddaughter in Biddeford, Maine, where she serves as the minister of the Second Congregational Church.9The Joy of Giving By Rev. Catherine Anglea

1010Rev. Dr. Harding Stricker, DirectorOn December 3rd, we celebrated with joyful and grateful hearts the 25th anniversary of our mission as a registered non-prot organization, although our work began as long as 10 years before its ocial recognition. Many locals and visitors were present, including choirs and lay ministers of other congregations in the area. Even our recently elected City Mayor was present. Fellowship and a communal meal followed in the soup kitchen and under the roof of our mission’s sports center. Additionally, a secondary school for adults with courses including computer skills and sewing has been added to our areas of service.Please remember us in your prayers. ank you and God bless you!Crystal Tompkins, DirectorIt was a blessed Christmas for the Morgan Scott Project, as we had the honor of giving gis to 904 children, serving over 200 families in Morgan and Scott counties. rough the generous support of donors and volunteers, we were able to bless these families for Christmas and show God’s love. In 2023, we hosted 16 mission teams from all over the United States. Between the mission teams and our local help, we were able to complete twenty-three wheelchair ramps, x four rotting oors, carry out two bathroom rehabs, repair three roofs, clean up several yards, paint three community parks, replace an HVAC, help an elderly lady clean up her home to make it livable again, and rebuild the side of a house torn o from storm damage. All of this on top of our other programs - God is good. It is our prayer that the number of mission teams will increase this year, allowing us to help even more in our communities with much-needed home repairs.Rev. Jim Owens, DirectorAs always, our greatest need is prayer cover for the ministry. Our Ministry Teams and children face the dangers of gangs every time they venture out of their homes. We also are seeking donations of toothbrushes and toothpaste (you can nd the link to the Amazon list on our Facebook Page). We have many new children coming to the new locations who lack the basics to care for themselves. Finances to help with the shipments and supplying of 3 new locations are always appreciated. God Bless.A newly completed ramp. Gathered in song. Photo captionA child reading. ASOCIACIÓN CIVIL CRISTIANA CONGREGACIONAL, ARGENTINA MORGAN SCOTT PROJECT LOVE WORTH SHARING, HAITI Mission, Service, and OutreachUPDATESKatie DeJournette, Director of Fleet and Grounds and Church RelationsAll glory to God for work done in 2023! Local Programs:o 112 Projects Completed o $1.1 Million Market Value o 543 Volunteers Participated Resurrection Johnstown Program:o 74 Projects Completed o $1.5 Million Market Value o 752 Volunteers Participated Please visit our newly designed website: hosannaindustries.orgVolunteers assembled together. HOSANNA INDUSTRIES, PENNSYLVANIA

11Julie Claassen, PresidentFishers of Men thanks the Lord for the opportunity to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to the city of Acapulco, Guerrero, which was hit by Hurricane Otis, a surprise category 5 hurricane, in October. Our volunteer teams made two trips to help those most aected by the storm by cleaning up dirt and debris in several homes, replacing a metal gate, removing downed trees, providing nearly 500 medical visits (including general and specialized medicine, dental care, eyeglasses, and physical therapy), serving over 250 meals, handing out 80 non-perishable food baskets, delighting children with over 120 shoeboxes full of fun gis, and fumigating to help cut down on the instances of illnesses like dengue. As in all of Fishers of Men’s activities, our passion and purpose is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ by serving others. e Gospel message was shared with scores of local children and, of those who attended the medical crusade, 46 individuals prayed to accept Christ and will receive follow-up attention from the local church. ank YOU for your prayers and nancial support that make the transforming presence of Christ a reality for so many!Laura Rameriz, PresidentIn December, we handed out Christmas food baskets to our families. Everyone was grateful to receive food for winter break. is was our 52nd year of this wonderful tradition that brings a smile to our families and sta who make the baskets. We thank our sponsors of this program for making it possible for our families to have a great Christmas dinner. Mid-January, students came back to school well-rested and ready for the second half of the school year. Winter is very cold this year in Tijuana, Mexico. As we are not used to such low temperatures, we allow students to wear their P.E. uniform every day if they need to, as it is warmer than the formal uniform.ank you to all of our friends and sponsors for allowing us to support students in Mexico. Check out our Facebook page where we post our events: https://www.facebook.com/PanamericanInstituteTijuana/Mark and Dotty Dugle, US Directors Bishop Peter and Rev. Faith Ndungu, Kenyan Directors e Happy Life Mission in Kenya experienced great blessings in the past year. We have started the year 2024 with gratitude for all that we have accomplished through God’s help and the many wonderful partners that He has used. e NACCC and its member churches have been a huge blessing to us all. Some of the key highlights of the recent past and last year include: • Caring for over 166 children between our two centers, with over 45 children rescued last year and 17 children being adopted. • e graduation of our rst Form Four (Grade 12) class, our rst three Happy Life children among them.• We purchased our rst high school bus.• We opened our new Mariaini Clinic.• We opened a new dental unit.• We successfully hosted several volunteer groups that brought much love and joy to the children and sta.ank you all so much for walking this journey with us. Recovering from hurricane damage.To learn more about these and other mission, service, and outreach initiatives and organizations and how you can support their needs, please visit www.naccc.org/missions-outreach. For more information or to donate, contact Missions Coordinator Julie Robie at 800.262.1620 x1618 or email jrobie@naccc.org. National Association of Congregational Christian Churches Missions and Outreach Ministry Council PO Box 288, Oak Creek, WI 53154e National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) celebrates member churches’ mission endeavors. A list of NACCC supported missions is available at www.naccc.org.ASOCIACIÓN CIVIL CRISTIANA CONGREGACIONAL, ARGENTINA MORGAN SCOTT PROJECT FISHERS OF MEN, MEXICO LOVE WORTH SHARING, HAITI PANAMERICAN INSTITUTE, MEXICOHAPPY LIFE CHILDREN’S HOME, KENYA Mission, Service, and OutreachMission, Service, and Outreach ResourcesHOSANNA INDUSTRIES, PENNSYLVANIA

12By Rev. Justin Nierer Recently, I had a conversation with my eleven-year-old son about the dierence between an antagonist and a protagonist. As you know, the antagonist is usually the villain, and the protagonist is usually the hero. My son was wrestling with the idea that within certain popular writings (if you know, you know), these roles can be switched or, at the very least, identied as dierent at the end of the story. is conversation led me to remember when our dear and infamous church member, Mrs. Peabody, was not a villain at all. A moment, an event, in which, I must say without hesitation, that I was actually proud of Mrs. Peabody. at’s right, dear reader, there was a time in my life when I wouldn’t have hesitated to admit that I was her pastor, that I knew her, that she was part of my life. is event, this moment of the most memorable time, happened not in a church but on a campus of higher learning. So, dear reader, I present to you my account of Mrs. Peabody and the professor. Many years ago (every time I write that I wish it wasn’t so, but time stops for no one, as they say), I was the pastor of a church less than ten minutes away from a leading and very prominent university. One of the perks of being a community member near such an establishment was that you were sometimes invited to audit classes or attend lectures or workshops at a very minimal cost. You just needed to show that you did indeed live within the community and, thus, were invited to “enjoy” the many intellectual opportunities that were oered. On this particular occasion, an invitation was extended to attend a lecture on the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel. ere seemed to be quite a lot of interest in this prophet, likely because of the spectrum of thought and religion he covers. I didn’t hesitate to sign up, and to my amazement and, to be honest, my disappointment and extreme disdain, our beloved Mrs. Peabody signed up as well. To this day, I don’t know why she did. I would say it was to catch me in a heresy, as was a hobby of hers, but, alas, my dear friend, I don’t know why, but she did, and even though I considered backing out, I did not. ere I sat, in a large university lecture hall. ere must have been 200 seats, and most of them were taken, which surprised me immensely. I sat there with my notebook open. ose who know me know I am proud of my notebooks. I have many and always have one or two on me. On this day, it was a typical black binder type, and I was ready. e doors opened, and the professor entered – Dr. Jacob I. Morus. I wish there was a polite way to describe him, I truly do, but what I saw - what I experienced - wasn’t polite, and my dear friend, I need you to understand what I saw. Dr. Morus was at least three hundred pounds and the roundest man I have ever seen. He was actually round, not an oval or the shape of a pear, but perfectly round, and I could not nd his chin. He was a stereotypical professor with his patched elbows on his jacket but, for some reason, he couldn’t stop sweating, which made it even more dicult to concentrate on the material being given. Even with his rst word, the man looked like someone had poured a gallon of water over his head. I wish I was kidding. I truly do. I had never seen, nor do I ever again want to see a man like that, on the cusp of a heart attack. Sure, the freshman would have had a story to share, but in all seriousness, I expected the man to drop then and there. ere I sat, surrounded by students thirsty for knowledge, a few adults like myself, and a senior adult lady with a notebook open, pen in hand, waiting to learn, or so I hoped. Dr. Morus greeted everyone, gave us an outline of the book of Ezekiel, and proceeded to share the following:“e book of Ezekiel is one that should be open to examination and interpretation. Just look at the rst chapter, creatures with four faces and four wings? Under their wings they had hands? I don’t want you to worry, we Mrs. Peabody AND THE PROFESSOR

13By Rev. Justin Nierer 13will discuss these things at length but, again, to alleviate your anxiety, there are no wrong answers. Before we get into the extreme abstract of thought, let’s spend some time looking at the idea of symbol and metaphor; for example, in chapter three where it says, ‘And he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.’ So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. en he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and ll your stomach with it.’ So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.” (Ezekiel 3:1-3, NIV)With this, Dr. Morus paused, looked at the almost two hundred people in attendance, and said, “Let’s take a moment to look at what this means because, of course, he didn’t eat the scroll.” With that, as if she had been waiting for this moment, as if she had been waiting her entire life for such a moment, the hand of our beloved church member shot up and stayed up. Dr. Morus looked at her hand, absolutely perplexed. I sat there not knowing what to do, just sitting, nonetheless. He looked at her and her raised hand in awe because he had never experienced such a thing before. He had never had a hand raised in his class. How dare she? How dare she question the knowledge of such a professor as he? At least, that is what his look communicated. Aer a long, awkward moment of him looking at her and her looking at him, still with her hand in the air, he nally said something. “Yes?” he asked. “Why not?” she asked back. “Why not what?” he responded. “Why couldn’t he have eaten the scroll? It said that he did, so why couldn’t he have done it?” ere was absolute silence. Everyone was listening and absorbing what was going on. I wasn’t sinking in my chair or looking for the nearest exit, as I might have thought I would have been, but listening intently. Dr. Morus, seeming a bit ustered but more annoyed, to be honest, simply responded by saying, “We don’t have time to discuss the ner details within this particular book and what to take literally and what not to take literally.” With that, without raising her hand, our dear church member asked, “What if we were to have faith that he did?” e professor, now looking even more agitated, exclaimed, “is is not a Bible study!” Another student from the back of the hall then shouted, “Well, we are studying the Bible, so it really is.” which denitely got a few laughs, though not from Dr. Morus, who was now red in the face, breathing heavy, and holding the podium in front of him with both hands, as if he would choke the life out of it if it could breathe. Looking at Mrs. Peabody with eyes full of what could only be described as disdain, the professor said something that changed the entire class, something I would never forget. “ere is no room for faith in academic study!” He might have thought that was that, and we could now move on, but that most certainly wasn’t the case. As soon as he said what he did, dozens of hands lied into the air. Dr. Jacob Morus stood there looking around, looking around, and looking around. He had already had one hand raised during his class, that was enough – now what? I don’t think something like this had ever happened to the man. He continued to look around and then sat in his chair. He did not call on anyone, so the students, becoming impatient, started questioning and commenting as they saw t. “What did you mean by that, Dr. Morus? Don’t you think you need to have faith in a theory or an idea?” “If you continue reading, you will see that the scroll tasted as sweet as honey, so I’m with her – why couldn’t he have eaten it? It said it tasted good, so he must have eaten it.” “What’s the denition of faith? Can I not believe in a literal interpretation of something? Why not, Professor Morus, why not?” With each comment, each question, as there must have been twenty or more of them, Dr. Jacob I. Morus just sat there, looking so bewildered and confused. He didn’t answer a single one, just sat there. I just sat there as well, taking it all in. My heart broke a little for Dr. Morus. I started to realize he didn’t want to answer because he didn’t want to discuss or debate. It seemed like he had arrived in a season where he considered himself the teacher but was no longer teachable. I prayed I would never get there myself. As for our always-surprising church member, Mrs. Peabody just sat there as well. She didn’t chime in or comment on anything. She sat there, taking a few notes from time to time. Sometimes nodding in agreement, sometimes just listening to the things being said or asked around us. I was proud of her. I was. I was proud of her for asking a question, not a profound question, of course, but she raised her hand and asked it nonetheless, and that created an atmosphere I wish we would nd in all institutions of high learning – an environment of faith, faith in ourselves to question, faith in each other to listen, faith to raise our hands and ask, “Why not?”Rev. Justin Nierer is the pastor of Sandstone Congregational Church in Jackson, Michigan. He’s surprised at the positive response his Mrs. Peabody stories have gotten, having received communication from all over the country regarding “her,” and wants to thank all the fans. Thank you! Mrs. Peabody AND THE PROFESSOR

We are in the holy season of Lent, the time of year when we are to review, renew, and reect on our relationship with God. As Christians, we likely work each day to draw nearer to God and be the best servants to Him we can be. But I, like many of you, look forward to this season each year when we devote ourselves fully to forty days of deepening our relationship with God and our understanding of the sacrice He made for us – examining ourselves, striving to rid ourselves of anything that is not godlike and grow our faith in the One who cares deeply for us.During Lent, my prayer life increases, and my communication with God lets me know He is listening. I, in turn, listen for that still, small voice that gives me assurance that He is always there. In the spirit of living like Christ, I nd ways to reach out to others, which can be as simple as a smile, a "How do you do?" or "What can I help you with?" I look at Lent as the springing forth of a start-over period, getting rid of the old and nding ways to improve upon my Christian life to do as Jesus did, to do the right thing.Just as God empowers all things that died away for winter to come alive again in spring, so is Lent an opportunity for us to come alive again with renewed strength and energy to serve our Lord in a more perfect way. ree days aer his crucixion and death, Jesus rose from the grave, presenting Himself alive and letting the world know that He had fullled His purpose in His life thus far. He had taken on the sins of humanity and canceled the debt that stood against us (Colossians 2:14). He died and rose again so that we might live. us, during Lent, we remember that sacrice, honor it in our thoughts and actions, and celebrate the compassion of our Lord.Elizabeth Gasko serves as a lay speaker at Edray United Church (Edray, WV) and White Chapel Church (Woodrow, WV), where she also leads the congregation’s Bible study. She lives in Edray, West Virginia, with her husband.A SEASON OF SPIRITUAL RENEWALSTRUCTURAL HAPPINESS: By Elizabeth Gasko 14

Jim Burklo is a 1979 graduate of the NACCC’s Congregational Foundation for Theological Studies, with an MDiv (1979) from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He is currently the executive director of Progressive Christians Uniting/ZOE: Progressive Christian Life on Campus, and the pastor of the United Church of Christ of Simi Valley, California. He recently retired from his role as the Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California – a position he held for 14 years. The author of 7 books in print, Jim grew up in the Soquel Congregational Church, NACCC, in Santa Cruz County, CA.A SEASON OF SPIRITUAL RENEWAL Churches Building CommunityThe Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut knows that churches are on the front line of the struggle to solve the crisis of loneliness and isolation in America.He made a name for himself when he relentlessly and successfully pushed through a rare piece of gun control legislation in the wake of the Sandy Hook mass shooting. But he knew that such a modest improvement through public policy was only treating a symptom and not the root causes of the epidemic of gun violence.“ere are just real practical impacts to people feeling lonely and disconnected,” he said in a recent Vanity Fair magazine interview.1 “Political instability and polarization are driven by people feeling upset and angry when they can’t nd positive connection and they go nd it in darker, more dangerous places.” He has gone on a quest to learn all he can about why people have gone to those dark places and how they might be brought to better ones. His mission, in his words: “diagnose and treat the metaphysical state of America.” e epidemic of loneliness is not something he believes can be xed by “self-help." It’s what he calls “structural unhappiness,” and it has to be addressed at a social-structural level.Politico reports that "Murphy’s rst attempt at loneliness policy, the 'National Strategy for Social Connection Act,' was born out of those realizations. e bill calls for creating an oce of social connection, with a director who would advise the president and create a national strategy combining public health, technology, and social infrastructure to foster social connection.”2 Murphy is working closely with Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, in conducting a nationwide campaign to address loneliness and isolation. As a consequence of his mission, Murphy nds himself attending a progressive congregation aer leaving the church as a teenager. “All our other temples [besides faith communities] – social media, consumerism, a "me rst" individualism – are just telling you to be you.” Our churches teach “you to be you,” too, but not just “you to be you.” We teach each other to be a “you” that includes “us.” And an “us” that includes “you." We teach each other how to belong, how to be curious about each other, how to care for each other, and how to care for others beyond our circle. e fruits of this teaching? Kindness, compassion, and positive civic engagement.So simple! But for so many Americans, belonging is a lost art.Chris Murphy does not believe that connection and community can be revived in America by federal legislation, but he does believe that legislation could help, alongside the eorts of citizen activists across the political spectrum. Just by existing, our churches are part of the movement that Murphy wants to build. We don't believe that folks who believe dierently than we do are going to hell. We don't have the same imperative to convert people that motivates fundamentalists. But we do have another, even more compelling reason to invite our friends and neighbors to join us at church. We are connectors, community-builders, and friend-makers – a powerful cure for the public health crisis of isolation and loneliness. We are builders of structural happiness.Let’s celebrate our vital role in diagnosing and treating the messy metaphysical state of America!STRUCTURAL HAPPINESS: 15By Elizabeth Gasko By Jim Burklo1 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/11/chris-murphy-wants-to-make-america-a-little-less-lonely2 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/05/sen-chris-murphy-wants-to-help-you-make-friends-00125372

16If you scour the Scriptures, you will be hard-pressed to nd a more robust denition of “faith” than Hebrews 11:1, which reads, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”1 Of course, there are other passages that dene this concept, but the writer of this epistle makes it clear that faith is not based on empirical evidence, nor is it the result of critical, scientic inquiry. Faith is far more metaphysical, requiring believers to embrace that which they cannot prove.In his mammoth systematic theology, Milliard J. Erickson notes that “Sometimes faith is pictured as being antithetical to reason and unconrmable.”2 e atheist will nod in agreement and will boast, “at’s why I don’t believe in God. Believing in his existence is irrational.” e skeptic prone to converse in clichés will add, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”With the arrival of the modern period (from the Enlightenment forward), all disciplines were put to the litmus test of critical scrutiny: if a subject could not be logically defended, then it was considered nonsensical. In the case of religion, it was oen dismissed as superstition. From the eighteenth century onward, the scientic method became the means of understanding reality. is le little room for faith, which, for the most part, was considered unfounded speculation.Modern theologians proered extracanonical foundations on which to establish the legitimacy of faith. Friedrich Schleiermacher, considered the father of modern theology, claimed that faith comes from a feeling of “absolute dependence.” In other words, our religious sensibility comes from an inner feeling that our existence is predicated upon something greater and more powerful than us. is is not unlike theological cosmologists who claim that we are contingent beings and that there must be a necessary being responsible for our existence. Children, who are contingent beings, do not materialize ex nihilo. ey require two necessary beings: a mother and a father. If you keep following the trail backward, you must arrive at what some philosophers call a Prime Mover on which all of life depends.ose who study the philosophy of religion employ other methods for trying to prove the existence of God.3 Teleology (whose name has its roots in the Greek term telos, which means the end or goal of something) examines the purpose for which humans were created. William Paley, the eighteenth-century British minister and philosopher, used a watch as an example. If you found a watch in the forest and did not know what it was, you will still conclude that someone must have made it. (Aer all, watches, like money, do not grow on trees.) Even if you had no understanding of time, you would still assume that it was a manufactured product that had a purpose. How much more complex are human beings and the universe itself!On the other hand, cosmologists maintain that the universe cannot have an innite series of regressive causes. ey believe that there has to be an uncaused First Cause that spun the universe into orbit. omas Aquinas developed this argument in detail. Whereas the scientic-minded will respond that the Big Bang and the eory of Evolution explain creation, cosmologists, far from dismissing such claims, say that there must be something behind it all. In other words, they ask, “Who caused the Big Bang and guided evolution through its delicate and complex stages?” (Something, especially as complex as the universe, cannot have come from nothing.) at force or being, however understood, is God.And of course, there are other arguments. e ontological argument, proposed by Anselm, has vexed students of philosophy for centuries. It is built upon the idea of a greatest conceivable being (GCB). Essentially, Anselm maintains that if God only exists in the mind, then he would not be as great as if he existed in reality. erefore, God exists. is is a simplied version of a complex argument, but the crux is the same. God is the GCB and existence is greater than nonexistence. erefore, Anselm posits, God must exist. e problem is two-fold. First, we can certainly imagine things that do not exist (e.g., unicorns). Second, existence itself is not a characteristic of being as is height, weight, cell structure, Faith: A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY By Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III

17intelligence, and such. You exist or you do not exist. Everything else is simply descriptive.As you can imagine, atheists have used teleology, cosmology, and ontology to try to disprove God’s existence as well. e fact is, one cannot objectively prove or disprove God. I use the term objectively intentionally because it is impossible to construct an argument that will universally verify or negate God. Subjective validation, however, is a dierent matter.According to Charles Wesley, the founder of Methodism, subjective verication occurs through a fourfold process. e Quadrilateral is oen employed as a prolegomena to theology — the methodology that will be utilized to make specic, substantive, theological claims. As its name suggests, there are four pillars upon which we construct individual belief systems and corporate theologies: Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. I have long maintained that if you ask most believers about the foundation of their faith, they will point to Scripture as being authoritative. However, if you ask the average Christian why he or she believes in Jesus, that person will probably not mention the Bible rst. ey will probably tell you how they were raised. “My grandmother took me to church since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.” ey may also say that the existence of God just makes sense. ey may have come to that conclusion as a novice teleologist, cosmologist, or (less likely) ontologist, but, more likely than not, they will probably tell you a story. ey will explain how they encountered God in their lives. e Quadrilateral helps us understand faith at a tangible level.We need to break this down a bit more.In terms of reason, Saint Anselm claimed that faith is des quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding).4 It is not intellectus quaerimus dem. People typically do not nd God through intellectual inquiry. We begin with faith and seek to understand what we believe at a deeper level. is is pertinent because blind faith can easily lead to fundamentalism. Furthermore, our faith is shaped by tradition, that which we receive from our forebears. As Paul writes, “For what I received I passed on to you as of rst importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3 NIV, cf. 1 Cor. 11:23a). e Christian faith was bequeathed to Paul, though he uses Scripture as a normative foundation. Indeed, as Protestants, we believe that Scripture is the primary witness to the Christian faith.Faith, however, is more experiential; we feel or sense God at work in our lives. Indeed, our faith is informed by what was passed on to us, what we logically deduce, and especially by what we read in the Bible, but ultimately faith is something one grasps at the emotional and spiritual levels. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin makes this argument clear: “Now we shall have a complete denition of faith, if we say that it is a steady and certain knowledge of the Divine benevolence towards us, which, being founded on the truth of the gratuitous promise in Christ, is both revealed to our minds and conrmed to our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” 5 Calvin reminds us that faith is the work of the Triune God. It begins with the Father’s gracious, municent act toward us: the act of Creation, of life itself, of continual presence. It is rooted in the truth made manifest in Jesus Christ: the Word made esh. It is revealed to our hearts and minds by the sanctifying and sustaining work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, faith may be one of the best metaphors for explicating the logic of the Trinity! It is the believer’s lifelong relationship with God.Although a person may come to faith quickly, for most people it is a process. It begins with hearing the Good News proclaimed and understanding that it reveals God’s truth. en, through a life of prayer and perusing the Scriptures, faith grows. Certainly, there are peaks and valleys along the way: times when one’s faith feels full and rich, and other times when one feels mired in doubt and uncertainty. T.S. Eliot once said that “doubt and uncertainty are merely a variety of belief.” 6 Doubt is not the absence of belief. It points to a belief with which one is struggling. Most believers nd times when they wonder where God is amidst their tribulations. is is as old as the Book of Job and the theodicy question.Like most things, faith is as much a journey as it is a destination. We grow in our faith, as we traverse the ups and downs that we experience. is is the Christian life, in which “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III is the Pastor of the Congregational Church of Canton (MA). He is also a Professor of Philosophy at Salem State University. Faith: A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY By Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III 1 All biblical citations are from the ESV unless otherwise indicated.2 Millard J. Erickson, Christian eology, 3d ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 871.3 See my article “Faith Seeking Understanding: e Philosophy of Religion” in e Congregationalist 169:1 (March 2017): 19-21.4 Some historians attribute this saying to Saint Augustine of Hippo.5 John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Volume I, III.2.7 (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbatical-School Work, 1911), 496.6 Lyndall Gordon, T.S. Eliot: An Imperfect Life (W.W. Norton & Company, 1999), 189.

1818When we nd ourselves in tremulous times, it can be dicult to have hope in anything optimistic. Our relationship with God becomes cloudy, and we feel unstable and uncertain. Hope is lost, and our faith is shaken. When our faith has been shaken, we are le vulnerable, and fear overtakes us. at is when the Devil, pacing back and forth like a roaring lion, looking for a crack through which to enter, comes in and steals our faith like a thief (1 Peter 5:8-10).While visiting one of my local neighborhood churches, I heard a ery preacher say, "Our sins and temptations are manufactured to our weaknesses. Whatever we struggle with the most, that is what we will be assaulted with again, and again, and again."We have the power of our Heavenly Father to break the cycle of these evil schemes. Sometimes, we are beaten down into a sense of powerlessness so great that it takes us away from our faith, and we can forget who to reach out to for help. Regret and shame can overtake us. Self-condemnation is a harsh struggle to face, but one that everyone experiences in life - it is something I struggle with daily. To those who have turned to Christ, we must remember we have a God who gives us abundant grace and mercy. Sometimes, this waiting game gnaws at our souls, but we must say to ourselves,“…but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles;they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)I nd it rare to hear Satan's name from a Congregational pulpit, though I have from time to time. Some feel it is taboo to talk about the Darkest of Angels. God's fallen angel-turned-nemesis puts a damper on our faith and can disturb our relationship with God to its core. e Devil loves to confuse us, make us stumble, and slowly draw us away from our Heavenly Father until the late realization comes and no rescue is near.e Devil led astray many notable people in the Bible. ey did not deny the existence of Satan – Adam and Eve did not deny the Devil's existence in the Garden of Eden; a surmountable portion of the Book of Job is written about Satan's agenda with Job; Jesus did not refute the existence of the Fallen Angel when his faith was tested three times in the Book of Matthew.To deny the Devil is to give the Devil power. Given the state of the world, it is time we start talking about his nefariousness. e spiritual problems, born of our awed human nature, that plagued humanity millennia ago are still present today. e ames of evil still fuel war, famine, and injustices of all kinds, and an endless supply of human misery remains to be inicted.With the all too real dilemma of dwindling church attendance in the United States, the denial of the Devil becomes ever greater because to deny the Heavenly Kingdom entirely is to deny the Devil as well. How can one's faith be tested if they are to have no faith at all? One who evades all covenants and principles and scraps faith altogether does not have to fret over what is good or what is morally wrong. e denial of the Devil that accompanies the denial of faith only opens the door to greater human suering and inequity.Be it ashing casino lights or spirits on a shelf sparkling like jewels (Proverbs 23:31-32), the world is enticing and designed to draw us in. Quickly or gradually, it is easy to become consumed by the world's aairs and distracted from the Kingdom of Heaven. us, it is paramount to be on guard and not backslide into old habits or depraved behaviors (Romans 12:2-3).e Devil’s agenda is to divide the church and its Christians. It delights in taking down faithful followers and leading them away from their spiritual formation and Christian fellowship. e 20th century was the bloodiest in human history, and the 21st century is well on its way to surpassing it. Starvation and bloodshed are all too common to see on our newsfeeds. Poverty strikes our local neighborhoods as children gure out ways to ease their hunger while at school. ese are the Devil's schemes and ought to be combated without prejudice. “e greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist” Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) FAI H OVER FEAROVER FEAR By Daniel Wiita Livingston

19 19e solution?If people knew the meaning of Congregationalism, I do not doubt that Christians and the Christian-curious alike would ock to our doors to understand how to better their relationship with God. As "Separatists," we have the luxury of not living under a creed, which allows us to ascertain our relationships with Jesus Christ individually and in creative ways. Each of us has the duty to arm ourselves with the knowledge of what God's will is and how to execute it in the name of the Kingdom of Heaven faithfully. It is time to be bold and discuss the uncomfortable topics we wish to avoid. It is time to get honest about the Christian and secular stigmas that plague humanity. Aer all, would Jesus not want us to make progress and have a healthy dialogue that not only leads to maturity but also oers peace and tranquility within our churches? In today’s society, we are facing the consequences of a generation of Christians that chose to pursue legalistic views and the self-proclamation of moral superiority and to spend their time building onto denominations rather than seeking to help spread the gospel and Christian principles. Works were put in front of faith instead of the opposite. God was sidelined for leisure. is is the fall from grace that the Devil has always wished for. We are watching it happen in real time from within and without. No longer is the church the pulse of the community. What used to be real power and authority is now considered with skepticism and contempt. Christian voices are silenced, and the media magnies the aws of the church.It is through the mercy of God that we can face our mistakes and have the sense to correct them. We must be harsh on ourselves through self- discipline. We can educate ourselves with the Word of God to better spread our message. Love and compassion are the antidotes to healing distrust between the community and the church. Instead of leading from a place of moral virtue, we can use our Congregational polity to welcome people into our doors for God to work in their lives.When evil arises, that is when love and compassion are needed the most. Not only does the Devil hate love, but he undoubtedly hates when two or more are gathered in it. We can combat evil by bringing people to Christ, studying the Word, and being ready to proclaim it for the glory of the kingdom. “For God did not appoint us to suer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. erefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 essalonians 5:9-11 (ESV) FAI H OVER FEAROVER FEAR By Daniel Wiita LivingstonDaniel Wiita Livingston entered into Congregationalism in 2002 and continues to serve at Mount Hope Congregational Church in Livonia, Michigan. Daniel graduated from Schoolcraft College with an associate degree in Fire Science. He continues his education in the Lay Ministry Training Program with the aspiration of helping Congregational churches serve their surrounding communities.

202020I magine being told you only had a short time to live. What would you do with your time? As I pondered what I might do in such a situation, I thought about spending time with my family, having as much fun as I could during my last days, using the time to write my autobiography, to pray for my healing, and to choose a charity to donate to. What kind of stories could I share with the world? Would my life story be interesting enough for people to read? ese are some of the questions I would ask myself and the things I would do. For David Steadman Ingraham, however, things were dierent. His dying thoughts were on helping the poor and oppressed people of Jamaica who were in the bondage of slavery. Ingraham, in his diary, exclaimed, “Oh what a murderer is slavery – it murders both Master and Slave and puts both in Hell while on Earth.” iRev. Ingraham and his wife Betsy, both Oberlin College, Ohio graduates, sailed to Jamaica in 1837, where they joined Cotton Tree Liguanea Congregational Church in St. Andrew, currently known as Shortwood United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.ii Rev. Ingraham not only taught and ministered to his congregants, but he rode many miles to speak against slavery and in favor of temperance and led many slaves and freedmen to God, as he reported to his American abolitionist friends as well as Minister Wooldridge with the London Missionary Society. iii Operating a self-funded mission is an act of bravery. It took much faith from Rev. Ingraham to execute his vision without having the necessary resources in sight, and although he experienced struggles, God provided for him. Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) denes faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Rev. Ingraham took a leap of faith in starting the Jamaica Mission. He envisioned Jamaica on its path to emancipation serving as a model to support advocacy for the freedom of slaves in America, who, once liberated, might consider relocating to the West Indies for improved prospects. roughout his Jamaican sojourn, Rev. Ingraham wrote articles and letters to his friends in various American antislavery committees and societies. Eventually, some of those friends from Lane Seminary and Oberlin College and ministers connected to the antislavery movement formed the American Missionary Association (AMA), which provided nancial support to Rev. Ingraham and his family. is support facilitated the expansion of the mission of this “Lane Seminary Rebel,” an unsung hero and Visioneer who did not live to see his legacy or receive the accolades of his comrades. Rev. Ingraham died at the age of twenty-nine, leaving behind his wife and young daughter, Sarah, an unpublished diary that was lost for over one hundred and seventy years, and a few archived letters and newspaper articles that have long gone unnoticed by many who sing the praises of other AMA abolitionists. Oen, we see articles on the antislavery heroes and the visual proof of their impacts through their missionary assignments and accomplishments, and we stand in awe of their bravery and commitment to their cause. While the works of some of these men of faith are well publicized by historians, there are several overlooked, unsung abolitionist heroes whose legacies still live on today. Additionally, some known abolitionists have not been recognized for their contributions to Jamaica, their works remaining unknown despite the important work these Visioneers did and the indelible mark they made on the island of Jamaica, West Indies, in the 19th century. Our VisioneersIn 2019, I went on a mission to nd the genesis of my Alma Mater, Oberlin High School, Jamaica. is mission unearthed discoveries far beyond anything I had ever believed could be found – hidden treasures, Acts of Faith: The Unsung American Abolitionist Visioneers The Brainerd United Church, St. Mary, Jamaica. Photo Credit: Evon WalkerBy Lyssa-Ann Clarke

212121relics, communities, and buildings in cities and suburbs and surrounded by lush vegetation and picturesque views. None of them, however, contained any visual or written clues to their true historic value, worth, or ancestral legacy. ey were disconnected from the relatives, former churches, and societies associated with our sacricial Visioneers – the heroic men and women who gave a part of their lives to this tiny island. I stumbled upon a clue that led me on a treasure hunt. e name was Asa Mahan. e literature I read connected him to the Oberlin Institute in Ohio. I had heard during high school that my school was related to Oberlin, Ohio, but there wasn’t any evidence of that connection to be found in our school library. e only history accessible to me was what had been written by members of the Disciples of Christ movement, who had established missions in the area in the 1850s. However, the lone book available in the seminary library could not provide me the information I needed, so I embarked on a vicarious mission tour, immersing myself in the literature I could nd online – information that neither my church nor I had previously known existed. My research led me to Rev. Charles G. Finney, e Lane Rebels, e Great Revival of the 1830s, several American missionary societies and committees, the Congregational Association of Jamaica established on November 4, 1842, and several American missionaries who worked on the American Congregational Jamaica Mission in the 1800s – many of whom were Oberlin College graduates.iv v ese stalwarts risked their lives, health, and livelihoods to help the slaves, indentured servants, and freedmen of Jamaica. ey purchased land, established communities, schools, and churches, and lobbied for the destitute and oppressed. ese missionaries sometimes lived impoverished and in discomfort but considered the sacrice necessary and the cause worthwhile. ey believed that help would come, and it did. Now, that was an act of faith!Today, the bravery and faith of Rev. Ingraham, brought to light through the writings in his journal, inspire new discussions on faith and race in America.vi A diagram of the Ulysses slave ship recorded in his diary, as well as information related to the ship published in a newspaper by John Candler in 1840, has sparked recent interest in using genealogical research to nd the descendants of the Oberlin Visioneers and the 533 Beninese slaves who had been held on that ship docked in Port Royal Kingston.vii e possibility of this feat of reconnection is made possible, in part, because of Rev. Ingraham’s act of faith in documenting Jamaica’s importance in the antislavery movement in the 1800s. For me and other Oberlin High School alumni, one of the greatest treasures that has been unearthed is the name of the true founder of Oberlin Jamaica, Rev. Charles Stewart Renshaw – another unsung Oberlin Institute Ohio abolitionist hero who worked in Jamaica. Rev. Renshaw and Rev. Ingraham are just two of the many American abolitionists from anti-slavery societies whose Jamaican legacies live on today in the United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands – Julius Beardsley/Beardslee/Beardslie, Amos Dresser, Ralph Tyler, James Preston, George Hovey, Henry Highland Garnet, Samuel Ringgold Ward, ornton Peneld, and their wives and other friends among them.viii May we never forget their acts of faith.Lyssa-Ann Clarke is the Jamaican author of the Visioneers history series that highlights the contributions of American abolitionists and Christian women in ministry to the island of Jamaica. She is a trained educator and business consultant whose interests involve unearthing lost Jamaican history, faith tourism, and genealogical and geo-tourism. She is also involved in Christian ministry, leadership, and purpose development and is a past student of Oberlin High School in St. Andrew, Jamaica. Oberlin High School, Jamaica. Photo Credit: Evon Walkeri Ingraham, David Steadman (1841) Personal Diary, Adrian College, Adrian MIii https://archive.org/details/ oberlinamericanm00stri/page/10/mode/2up iii Clarke, Lyssa-Ann F. (2020) Visioneers Volume 1 – e Genesis of Oberlin Jamaicaiv Guilford (1901) Jamaica Congregational Churches, A History & Memorial. Billings & Sons. Pages 25, 26-30,150v Strieby Michael E. (1891) Oberlin and t he American Missionary Association pg. 11. https://archive.org/details/ oberlinamericanm00stri/page/10/mode/2upvi https://www.ivpress.com/the-dialogue-on-race-and-faith-projectvii e British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Reporter (October 7, 1840), Letter from Mr. Candler to Mr.Sturge. Vol 1-3, pg. 263.viii Clarke, Lyssa-Ann (2020) Visioneers Volume II. e Jamaican Congregational ExperienceBy Lyssa-Ann Clarke

22Research shows that regular reading improves brain connectivity, increases vocabulary and comprehension, and empowers readers to empathize with others.1 e National Institute for Literacy states that to become skilled and condent readers over time, young children need many opportunities to build print awareness and the joy of reading.2 According to Education Week, when young children see the adults in their lives reading, they are more likely to become readers themselves.3 But what if a child’s access to books is limited outside the classroom? Shungnak, a village in the Northwest Arctic Borough School District in Alaska, is located north of the Arctic Circle. It would take three plane rides to reach Seattle, the closest large city in the contiguous United States. e nearest large community, Kotzebue, is 150 air miles away. Shungnak has a small school with a dedicated sta, but they do not have school or community libraries, and books must be ordered from larger communities by mail, arriving by airplane as there are no roads.e village, comprised primarily of Inupiat Eskimos, has a population of roughly 269 people, about 80 of whom are students in Shungnak School ranging from pre-kindergarteners to high schoolers. In addition to regular academics, the students study their traditional language, Inupiat, play basketball, and cross-country ski. Shungnak School is more than a place to educate children; it’s the center of community life, as reected in the school’s philosophy that they are all part of a family. From 2017-2020, the Outreach Board of the First Congregational Church of Anchorage, Alaska sent over 2,000 books annually to Shungnak. Once arrived, the books were distributed to the community at a potlatch, a traditional gathering involving the sharing of food such as moose stew and caribou roast with desserts made from local berries, where they were displayed on tables for the villagers to browse and take home and for teachers to take for use with their students. Access to books during those years made a marked dierence in the Shungnak community. More than ever, people in Shungnak chose to read and read to others. Older students read to younger students; grandparents and parents read to their children. Scores on state tests for reading dramatically improved. Unfortunately, from 2020-2022, the program was halted due to COVID, and, as a result, test scores dropped. With the reinstation of the program during the 2022-2023 school year, 2,534 books were sent to Shungnak School with the hope that academic progress will again follow. As we at the First Congregational Church of Anchorage, Alaska once again gather books to deliver to Shungnak, we invite other churches in the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches to join us in doing so. Books and magazines for people of all ages in either new or used condition are welcomed and appreciated. If your church would like to join us in this outreach activity, books can be mailed by media rate to Shungnak School, P.O. Box 79, 99773. Taikuu (Inupiat for thank you)!Chris Walker is a retired special education teacher who spent eight years mentoring first and second year teachers in remote communities in the Alaskan Bush. She is a member of First Congregational Church of Anchorage, Alaska.TURNING THE PAGE1 https://irisreading.com/does reading increase iq/#:~:text=Reasons%20why%20reading%20 2 https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/ pdf/reading_pre.pdf 3 https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/ opinion- allow-time-for-children-to-read- whatever-they-want/2020/11Shungnak locals browsing donated books.By Chris Walker

2323James Beadle James “Jim” Henry Beadle, 88, of Bozeman, Montana passed peacefully in the presence of family on July 11, 2023. Jim was born in Billings, Montana on April 6, 1935, to Edgar and Ina (Cosman) Beadle. He grew up in Red Lodge and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Montana, followed by a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School.Jim served as a pastor in Montana, California, and Michigan for over forty years and was beloved by each congregation. His life’s aim was to demonstrate the love of Christ by helping others. He enjoyed music and outdoor activities, especially y shing.Jim was preceded in death by his parents and brother William. He is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Margaret (Hammer); his four children, Andrew (Tracy), of Creston, WA; Burk (Cindy), Bozeman, MT; Catherine (John), Denver, CO; and Michael (Janet), Tustin, CA; his nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.. Dr. William Street Dr. William "Bill" Street of North Easton, MA, peacefully passed away on July 26, 2023, at Cape Cod Hospital, surrounded by family, aer a brave battle with a brief illness. Born in Connecticut and raised in Vermont, Bill graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1952 with an electrical engineering degree. Initially an electrical engineer for jet ghters and submarines, he later became a ight surgeon for the Vermont National Guard aer graduating from the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine and the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.Settling in Brockton, MA, Bill practiced as an anesthesiologist for 28 years at Goddard Hospital and Good Samaritan Medical Center. Serving 17 years as Chief of the department, he was instrumental in shaping it into a premier service, earning praise for fairness, warmth, and helpfulness. Bill was known for his humor and curiosity, and his love of skiing, cycling, ying, and sailing took him worldwide. Survived by his wife Lorri (Hassan), sister-in-law Evelyn Nessralla, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, Bill will be deeply missed.TURNING THE PAGEArt Ritter is the Moderator of the NACCC. After serving Congregational Churches in Toulon, Illinois; West Bloomfield, Michigan; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Novi, Michigan, Art retired from full-time ministry in 2021. He and his spouse Laura live in Novi.I hope that you are making plans to attend the NACCC Annual Meeting and Conference in Spokane, Washington, June 22-25. e AMC will be hosted by the Pacic Northwest Association and will be held at the Centennial Hotel in Spokane. e theme for the meeting is “ere is a Time.”Our meetings are gatherings that celebrate our fellowship together, nding faith in a renewal of past friendships, business, and tradition. Yet our meetings are also places to be challenged, to hear God’s fresh word for our day, to meet new friends, and to nd faith in words and worship that speak to our future.In Spokane, we look forward to hearing from Alan Roxburgh from the Missional Network, author of Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World. Rev. Stephy Nobles Beans, the Assistant Chaplain at Whitworth University, will oer an inspirational opening message. ere will be worship and communion, time with our youth representatives, a mission project, opportunities for walking tours of the city, and a picnic with regional cuisine near the Spokane River. ere will be other times of learning, inspiration, and fellowship, as well. NAPF and HOPE will be meeting nearby and plan to join us for Sunday’s activities.Keep your eye on the NACCC website for registration information. ose who cannot attend in person will be welcome to join us virtually.By Art Ritter By Chris Walker

2424By Rev. Dr. Daniel Rodriguez SchlorWhen Christians hear the word “faith,” what is the rst image they think of? Well, potentially a mountain, but the one my mind always lands on is a mustard seed. ey’re related, though, aren’t they? But who wants to read another article about having faith the size of a mustard seed? Isn’t that image a bit played out for this issue? For this faith? For this lifetime? My answer is no! Few things can be more exciting than mustard seeds! And by the end of this article, I think you might agree, at least in part. So, let’s get granular.Everyone reading this article has likely heard or even written a sermon on Matthew 13:31-32 in which Jesus gives the more popular of the Parables of the Mustard Seed (the others being Mark 4:30-32 and Luke 13:18-19). e message was probably something like, “It’s a remarkable seed, the mustard, being so tiny yet growing so big. You know, your faith can be just like that.” It's like the ancient equivalent of that nerdy kid in school whom everyone underestimated but ended up becoming a tech billionaire – probably the kind that drove around in limousines oering gourmet mustard spreads, amiright? #ilovethe80sBut that’s not at all the meaning of this passage. e Matthew passage is meant to oend the sensibilities of the rst-century reader, who might be asking herself, “Why on earth would anyone go out into their elds to plant the mustard seed?” If you’ve ever grown mint or anything like it in the garden, you know what I mean by this; in fact, you might have said this about your nephew, Jeremy, too: Mustard grows like a weed. It is like an invasive species that cannot be stopped. And that, Jesus is saying, that is not just what faith is like, but that is also what the kingdom of God is like. It spreads all over the place! Once it gets started, it just cannot be stopped.I have the privilege of serving ird Congregational Church in Middletown, CT, as their Senior Minister. Faith at ird Congregational Church had once been like a mustard seed lying dormant, but as we approached our 250th anniversary, we cast new visions and set new benchmarks for the 250 years to come. We did not just celebrate BEING THAT CITY UPON A HILL: How a Congregation Turned from CONFLICT TO CREATIVITY

252525an anniversary or bask in the glow of what had been; we made room for change – progress I credit to the work of strong lay leadership. I’m particularly proud of how our Board of Music (Leslie Coutsouridis, Chair) imagined putting out a call for a new hymn to be commissioned and dedicated in honor of our 250th anniversary. We put out this call to colleagues at the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada, and the entry that rose to the top was that of Trevor Hicks, a composer and music director living in Toronto. He came down to Connecticut to say a few words at the hymn’s US premiere. e hymn, titled “May We Be at City upon a Hill,” was inspired by the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14, as famously reected in the words of a 1630 sermon by Jonathan Winthrop, a Puritan settler and Congregational forebearer, and later echoed by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.Our hymn, whose tune is named THIRD CHURCH, opens with a chorus, which I have actually used as a benediction: May we be that city upon a hill. May we act as a light for the globe. May our light illuminate far and wide. May we do good works and God extol. I wish I had room to share with you the entire hymn text, but I must share with you at least verse two, which puts it brilliantly: Where thirsty ones drink and the hungry all feast; Where mercy abounds without begging and greed; Where God is revealed in our thoughts and our deeds: Our city is built on a rock!I believe God is truly blessing ird Church and that God has given our lay leadership an ownership mentality that helps them plant and water that mustard seed at the right (or the ripe?) time.One last brag: while our church once felt as overburdened by political controversy as many families have in the past decade, ird Church seems to have turned that corner beautifully. I credit some interim ministry, a strong core lay leadership team, and a powerful sense of family at our church. In January 2024, we brought in thirteen new members, to God’s glory!If our goal is to be that city upon a hill, and if our goal is to be as wildly invasive in our faith as a mustard seed, then I challenge us to be ready for change – to sweep away the way things were, in favor of what God wants for us now. Remember, the mustard seed was a powerful metaphor in a time and place where life was oen challenging and unpredictable – rst-century Judea. And I know things are challenging for many Congregational churches now, too. Let this be our hope: that what is now small will grow into something new, something dierent, something signicant, oering shelter and sustenance to others. So, here's to the little guys, the underdogs, the mustard seeds of the world – may we never underestimate their potential! (Who knew condiments could be so deep, right?)The Reverend Dr. Daniel Rodriguez Schlorff is Senior Minister of Third Congregational Church (Middletown, CT) and graduated with his D.Min. from Pacific School of Religion. He attained his master’s degrees at Meadville/Lombard and Hartford Seminary and an undergraduate in Philosophy and Religion (minors in Greek, Vocal Performance, and Biblical Studies) from Olivet Nazarene University. For more information about Daniel, see www.schlorff.com. BEING THAT CITY UPON A HILL: How a Congregation Turned from CONFLICT TO CREATIVITY

26&Are you a pastor in search of a position, or a church in search of clergy? Visit www.naccc.org/resources/pastoral-search where pastors seeking positions can view an updated list of open positions at churches across the country and connect with those of interest, and churches seeking clergy can post open positions and communicate with interested pastors. For more information, please contact Church Services Coordinator Laura Wright at lwright@naccc.orgCalls:Rev. David Hirtle, Interim MinisterFirst Congregational Church Crown Point, NY September 24, 2023Lisa S. Manning Bircher, Ph.D., Interim MinisterGrace Church Columbiana, OH October 2, 2023Rev. Susan Caueld, Senior MinisterFirst Congregational Church Barkhamsted, CTNovember 12, 2023Installations:Rev. John Brock Evans, Senior MinisterWading River Congregational ChurchWading River, NY October 22, 2023Rev. John “Chris” Kurtz, Senior MinisterFirst Congregational ChurchRoyal Oak, MINovember 12, 2023Ordinations:Pastor Miriam eodoreFirst Church in PembrokePembroke, MAOctober 10, 2023Rev. Tesha UrbanFirst Congregational ChurchWauwatosa, WIOctober 29, 2023Pastorates PULPITSCorrection On page 28 of the September 2023 issue of e Congregationalist, it was noted that Rev. Dr. R. Clion Bailey, Shandon Congregational Church, Shandon, OH, received the Charles Rush Award for 2023. Rev. Dr. R. Clion Bailey actually received the J. J. Russell Sermon Award for 2023, not the Charles Rush Award for 2023. We apologize for the mistake. CALENDAR2024SAVE THE DATEApril 8-11, 2024 Ministers’ Convocation University of Saint Mary of the Lake Conference CenterMundelein, IL Webpage: https://www.naccc.org/events/the-2024-ministers-convocation/Contact: lwright@naccc.orgJune 22-25, 2024 70th Annual Meeting and Conference of the NACCCe Centennial Spokane, WashingtonWebpage: https://www.naccc.org/events/2024-annual-meeting-conference/ June 26, 2024 Quiet Day Retreat Immaculate Heart Retreat CenterSpokane, WashingtonWebpage: https://www.naccc.org/events/2024-quiet-day-retreat/Contact: pastor@fccmarshalltown.orge Congregationalist June Issue Intention to Contribute Deadline: April 1Finalized Submission Deadline: April 15

27Editor Maggie Helmick Graphic Design Goes StudioPublisher NACCC 8473 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek, WI 53154-0288 naccc@naccc.org Editorial and Advertising Inquiries Maggie Helmick, mhelmick@naccc.orgSubscription Inquiries NACCC 800-262-1620 naccc@naccc.orgEditorial Advisory Team Rev. Dr. Ashley Cleere, Claudia Kniefel, Sandra Leonard, Curt Schmidt, and Rev. Robb TarrSubscriptions Policy• One subscription is provided free of charge to each individual requestor who is a member of a church in fellowship with the National Association.• One complimentary “Newcomer Copy” will be sent to any person, one time only, upon request by a church in fellowship with the National Association.• A subscription to e Congregationalist is provided free of charge to each church in fellowship with the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and one to each accredited theological seminary on the magazine’s mailing list.Single copies may be purchased from the National Association oce for $3.75 plus $3.20 to cover shipping and handling.We seek and gratefully accept voluntary donations to help keep this magazine in print. e Congregationalist ISSN 0010-5856 | Postage paid at Madison, WI 53714-9998. Published quarterly by the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, 8473 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek, WI 53154-0288. Periodicals postage paid at Madison, WI and additional mailings oces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to e Congregationalist 8473 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek, WI 53201-0288. The Congregationalist OnlineOur website, www.naccc.org/thecongregationalist, features the current issue plus back issues. Each new issue is posted on the site when the printed issue is mailed, so you typically can read the magazine before the printed copy reaches your mailbox. Enjoy!SUBSCRIBING? CANCELING? MOVING? Email us at: naccc@naccc.orgArticles and editorials in The Congregationalist are by the authority of the editor and do not necessarily reflect policies and opinions of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. The NACCC reserves freedom of expression to its authors as well as freedom of opinion to its readers.Copy deadline for each issue is noted in the previous issue’s “Calendar” section.Letters to the Editor are welcome. All letters may be edited for clarity and length. We regret we cannot publish or respond to all letters.The NACCC reserves the right to refuse any advertisement.© 2024 The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. All rights reserved.To discontinue receiving the magazine contact NACCC at 800-262-1620 or email naccc@naccc.org.The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches Mission Statement: To nurture fellowship among Congregational Christian Churches and to support ministries of the local church in its community and to the world, all in the name of Christ.

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