NACCC News: The Messenger

National Association of Congregational Christian Churches:

The Messenger

Defining Your Future

Michael Chittum, Executive Director

Diana Butler Bass, who looks at the future of the Christian church, made these comments:

Yesterday I was with a 60yr old Presbyterian church in the morning and a 4yr old emergent/post-evangelical church plant in the late afternoon. Preached at both.

Here's the deal: BOTH congregations were asking the same questions -- What is vibrant faith community in the 21st century? How can we connect with our neighbors? What are the theologies and stories of Jesus that make a difference in our lives? Which spiritual practices are we called to? How do we welcome the stranger? How to proclaim God's love and justice in a world that seems ambivalent or hostile to faith? What streams of theology resonate with the world today? How to avoid the pitfalls of extreme liberalism and conservatism in theology and politics?

These are questions we are all asking. How you answer them will shape the future of your church.

Missions Update

On October 9th, the team members of Love Worth Sharing and A Voice In The Wilderness led groups of people on relief efforts to the southern peninsula of Haiti. The first group, led by Ezechiel Felix, took ten people to the village of Cavallion, which was almost completely wiped out. The second group, led by Ricardo Laguere, went to the village of Maniche, his mother's home village.

Both of these teams took rice, oil, spaghetti, bottled water as well as personal hygiene kits containing, toothbrushes, toothpaste, sanitary supplies, toilet paper and soap.

For many of these people this was the first food they had had since the hurricane made landfall. Ricardo sends his thanks to all saying "While the government is still evaluating, we were able to meet the needs in these two villages." Ezechiel and Doctor Desor will be returning with medicine to hold a clinic for those in Cavallion this week.

Mission and Outreach Ministry Council is collecting donations for Hurricane relief for Haiti, Florida and North Carolina. Please email Linda Miller at: [email protected] if you would like to contribute.

Any missions contribution received after November 18th will not get to the mission by Christmas.

Thank you to all the generous donors who supported Haiti.

Consider a Contribution to the NACCC Shared Ministries Fund at the Fair Share Level or Above!

The NACCC strongly encourages all member churches to participate in the appeal by making a gift to the Shared Ministries Fund, which directly supports programs and services offered to our member churches. Giving at the Fair Share level ($13-$14.99 a member) or the Fair Share plus level ($15.00 and above a member) is extremely important to the success of the NACCC. Our goal this Fiscal year (April 1, 2016-March 31, 2017) is to reach $293,000. We are counting on our member churches to help make this happen.

Thank you to the many churches who have already made their contribution. We especially want to thank the churches who contributed at the Fair Share or Fair Share plus level.