Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age?
Matthew 24:3
Dear Friends in Christ,
Our New Testament is called Good News to reflect that people wanted just that: news, and something hopeful. We Christians have been that way for millennia. Plus, during those same centuries current news has been part of Gospel news: Jesus spoke of when crops are harvested, when holidays occur, and of course what was going on with the lousy Roman overlords.
Religion, including Christianity, has been in the daily news a lot lately. Religious leaders are concerned about war in Ukraine, about famine in Gaza, about ethics here at home, from convicted sex criminals to those who lose food stamps and health care. Good News, bad news, and daily news all converge in faith’s story, same as it ever was.
But there’s more: in recent days a ruling declared that a parish like ours can now make partisan political statements and endorsements. Not so long ago a friend of mine was sued by the IRS for opposing the war in Iraq from the pulpit. (He won, $200,000 later.) These days Jefferson’s idea of separating church and state has fallen. Which is sad, because Jesus had something of the same separation: his only partisanship was for God. His only politics were to care for the poor. He was executed by a Governor and an Empire — the state didn’t like him, but he never endorsed any type of government other than the one that would “give us this day our daily bread,” and work toward a community “on earth as it is in heaven.” These are good models for NHCC: we won’t be partisan, other than for God and God’s people, and, we should always be that.
On that note, we have some good news this summer: in the weeks leading to our Annual Meeting members Peter Russell and Ingrid Rudié brought us information about Konbit Santé in Haiti, where we’ve had a connection for decades. The information included how after that hospital lost all its Community Health Worker funds from USAID — workers who care for pregnant women and infants — our parish has started to fund several staff to return to work. That is, with special donations already amounting to roughly $13,000 here, we can re-hire health aids for two years; they earn $2,500/year each. And as the director of Konbit Santé wrote to me, because the loss of those funds literally led to the death of some infants, the restoration of funds is literally saving and sustaining lives. NHCC is saving lives. And if that’s not good news, I don’t know what is. So, thank you — God bless you, and there is more to come on this in September.
We have other good news, too. Wendy is on a wonderful sabbatical and will return with stories in September. On August 3 all the Newton UCC pastors join to lead worship, and our preacher is Rabbi Allison Berry. As August continues we have the second year of Worship on Wednesdays. Come at 6:00 p.m. for a light meal, starting the 13th. (We have no Sunday worship for those three weeks.) And as September arrives we start Church School, an all-church survey, a blessing for animals, and prayerful morning worship.
This is what happens when we are partisans for God, when we face bad news with Good News, when we imitate Jesus, and when we get together. So I wish you a restful, blessed August, and as always, I look forward to seeing you in church.
