Greetings from First Congregational United Church of Christ!

The United Church of Christ has a new President and General Minister. He is the Rev. Geoffrey Black who has been the New York Conference Minister for the last ten years. Included in his resume are the following positions: Assoc. Pastor at St. Alban's UCC in New York City, Lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, chaplain at Adelphi U. and staff member at the former UCC Office of Church Life and Leadership. We wish him well.

The Rev. John Thomas has served the UCC well. He was with us for our 150th anniversary and all of us appreciated his most capable leadership. He served two four year terms and is ineligible for another term.

The theme for this week's "Art of Creation" is pottery. Sue Ellen Braunlin will bring her wheel and the children will work with clay. The "Art of Creation" is our summer Church School and relates Scriptural messages to various art forms.

Encounters class will deal with a DVD series titled "Dream." Living the Questions continues with their series based on a Borg and Crossan DVD. Faith and Reason will feature Elizabeth Price who will discuss "Boundary Training." Elizabeth is a chaplain at Clarian North.

New Creation worship and Traditional worship will meet at their respective hours and bring different approaches to the same Good News.

Please join me in prayer for Geoffrey Black. The UCC faces huge challenges, and his creative and faithful leadership will be critical.

On Sunday, we will gather to worship the God of all creation and our God.
See you then. Dick