ONA 10th Anniv. Sunday, November 9, 2025
New Covenant, various texts
What It Means to be Pastor of New Covenant UCC?
This is a special Sunday at New Covenant. We are celebrating our 10th anniversary of being an Open & Affirming congregation. Thus, for this special service we are going away from the traditional preaching lectionary texts for this week and using various scriptures that the Anniversary Committee selected.
Also, we will have a couple of folks share their personal stories and I’ve been asked to share, “What it means to be pastor of New Covenant UCC?”
I think a text message that I received from a worshipper after last Sunday’s service can better answer that question than I can. They texted, “New Covenant has been fantastic for me. There’s so much love and lack of judgement…It’s refreshing to see Christians who are actually loving.”
Certainly, there are times that it’s difficult being the pastor of an ONA church. In the past, we’ve experienced instances of vandalism. Occasionally we must deal with internet trolls. And there are times that I don’t get invited to participate in things that my colleagues are invited too.
But, what it means to be New Covenant’s pastor is just what the worshiper wrote. I’m the pastor of a church that tries to live-out what it believes. That each and everyone is a child of God, created in God’s image. God loves you, I love you, we love you, for who you are and who God made you. Amen.
