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by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor
June/July 2007
 |
A smiling Rev. Bill Fleming, member of the Second Congregational Church, eagerly awaits a piece of birthday cake during a special Lenten Bible Study session designed to celebrate the UCC’s 50 years of history. |
Twelve members of the Second Congregational Church, UCC in Beverly will be well prepared for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the United Church of Christ to be held in June.
For this year’s Lenten Bible Study, Revs. W. Alan Froggatt & Angela Menke Ballou designed a five-session study around the faith and history of the United Church of Christ.
The first session used the Statement of Faith as well as the preamble of the UCC Constitution as focal points for exploring some of those things that make the UCC a unique and firmly biblical denomination, Froggatt said. The participants explored how these pieces fit into Jesus’ great pastoral prayer in John 17, on whose theology the UCC denomination was founded (“that they may all be one, even as we are one”).
The second and third sessions explored the back-history of the Congregational-Christian heritage (as well as Reformation roots) and the UCC’s Evangelical and Reformed heritage. Froggatt mentioned that he was raised Congregational/UCC, and Ballou was raised E&R/UCC so the participants got to hear first-hand experiences.
For their fourth session, each member researched a different event or person of UCC history (many using both the UCC & Massachusetts Conference websites) and then made a presentation to the rest of the group, Froggatt said.
The final session was held at Rev. Froggatt’s home, and was more a birthday party than a study session.
“We had cake, candles, and sang happy birthday,” said Froggatt. “But most significantly, each person offered a ‘gift’ to the UCC. Each gift was written on a birthday card. The offerings included a prayer for General Synod, a commitment to become an Association representative, a prayer for the Conference as it undergoes its restructuring, a monetary gift to The President’s Fund (of the MACUCC), the gift of time to working on issues of peace and justice, and a recommitment to a professional organization which ministers within the denomination.
“It was a wonderful experience for everyone in the group,” he said, “and a terrific way to get geared up for our denomination’s fiftieth birthday party in June.”