Words cannot begin to express the immense gratitude I feel for having been your pastor for the past ten years. This congregation is certainly one that lives its faith: putting the teachings of Scripture and our rich, theological tradition into practice.
I am equally thankful for the incredible celebration that was held on my behalf last Sunday, September 11. The food was rivaled only by the company — and the company could not be beat. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and every fiber of my being. Cindy and I love you all so very much and we are blessed to be part of this faith community.
I am excited about the new program year and all the possibilities it holds. The Christian Education Team has a new curriculum in store for our children and youth; our Bible Study, which begins in a couple of weeks focusing on the Book of Hebrews, offers an opportunity to continue the learning and fellowship that many adults share in the Social Room each week; the Outreach Team has a calendar full of programs made possible by your generous contributions. As I often say, the sky is the limit for us, and God has sculpted that sky higher than our collective imagination.
I decided to send this letter because not all of our members and friends have (or read) e-mail. In fact, this is something I would like to do on a more regular basis to keep you all abreast of what is happening in and with our church family. With that in mind, let me share the following:
Office Hours
My office hours for this fall are:
- Mondays 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
- Tuesdays 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
- Wednesdays 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
This, of course, does not include worship planning, sermon writing, visitations, meetings, and work I do for the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) and the Massachusetts Association of Congregational Christian Churches (MACCC). For those who do not know, I am the new Moderator of the latter and serve on the Growth Ministry Council of the former.
Bible Study
The next Bible study will kick-off shortly and will run for six consecutive weeks. We will study the Letter to the Hebrews (from the New Testament). We will meet on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm for about an hour in the Social Room on the following dates covering the corresponding chapters:
- September 27 Hebrews 1-2
- October 4 Hebrews 3-4
- October 11 Hebrews 5-6
- October 18 Hebrews 7-8
- October 25 Hebrews 9-10
- November 1 Hebrews 11-13
If you are unable to join us in person, you can log-in using Zoom. The link will be sent separately.
Alex Killian
I am so pleased that Alex Killian, who has supply preached for us a few times in the past, will be fulfilling his student ministry with us this fall. Alex is a second year Master of Divinity student at the Boston University School of Theology and, as you may know, the son of Scott Killian, the Pastor of South Congregational Church in Braintree — one of our sister churches in the MACCC. I have no doubt that Alex will make an outstanding minister, as he is already in possession of a deep, pastoral heart. I am grateful that we will be part of his formative training.
I will serve as Alex’s supervisor and will assemble a small group of people who will also meet with him regularly as a support team. We are in the process of putting together his learning agreement which will clearly spell out his goals and objectives for the year. Please welcome Alex to our family.
Worship
One of the things I said in a recent sermon is that we need to make our worship more extempore-aneous. Don’t get me wrong: I do not think there are any problems with what we offer liturgically, and I do believe that worship needs to be approached with the utmost care, but since our God is one who continues to surprise us in novel ways, our worship of the Living One should reflect such joy and spontaneity.
This promises to be an exciting year for us. Our Senior Suppers will be relaunched this Wednesday, September 21. We will put the funds we raised from our Capital Campaign into play — some of the slated projects have already been completed or are in-process. I continue to serve on the Canton Help Line and lead the interfaith community. For several years I have offered chaplaincy support to the Canton Fire Department on an as-needed basis. I will be working with our new Police Chief Helena Rafferty to assist her and her officers as well.
Thank you for your love and support. I continue to offer my love as I wish you our God’s —
Peace & Blessings,
The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III