My Church is Your Church
In February, 2005 Ruthann and Jan Hall from the Massachusetts Conference of UCC came to our church in Wrentham to introduce us to the My Church is Your Church idea. After listening to them we decided to embark on the adventure of forming a spiritual relationship with the Clermont Church of the KwaZulu-Natal Region of South Africa, UCC-SA.
In the last two and half years we have communicated and exchanged stories, hopes and desires. We have included them in our prayers when they lost two dear members of their church, Mr. Mdunge and Mr. M.J. Ngidi. We have met and worshiped with Thembi Mbhele. When Cameron Wardle started the peace cranes for our Palm Sunday garden, we sent oragami to them with instructions on how to do the same. We have sent them a tape of our church service with an answer from them that many of our songs are their songs. We hope to create a pen pal exchange program with the youth of both churches to further this relationship.
The My Church is Your Church is a growing movement guided by the Halls. We are pleased and honored to be a part of this vitual ministry.
This is a letter that Bob Boissy sent to the Clermont Church in South Africa to be included in their worship service on 8/5/07.
Greetings to the Members of the Clermont Church from the Pastor Search Committee of the Original Congregational Church of Wrentham, Massachusetts!
May the peace of Christ be with you.
Our Search Committee asks for your prayers. Nine of us have been working hard since January in an effort to find and call a new senior Pastor to our Church. We have gathered all the information about our Church into a profile for candidates to see, we have updated our web site with new information and many pictures, we have read many applications for the position, and communicated with many candidates. Now we are beginning to interview candidates. The process has not been easy, but we pray daily to God for guidance, and we feel strongly that we will be guided to call the right person to lead our Church. During this process, neighboring churches in Massachusetts have helped us with advice and support, and we feel closer now to the community of UCC churches than ever before. We have learned that we need to draw on the strength of our sister churches when we face new challenges, and so we ask you also to please pray to God that we may find our new Pastor. When the prayer is answered, we will surely share our joyful news with you. We thank you for your help, and also pray that your Church will have great strength and joy in the Lord. Our blessings to you. We may be 8150 miles away, but we stand next to you in spirit on this day, and always.
Robert W. Boissy
Chair, Pastor Search Committee
Original Congregational Church
Wrentham, MA USA